Chapter 259

Chapter 259: After the Coin Flipped

Ever since Vision 004 delivered the first “list” to the world, every Anomaly and every Vision had its own number. No matter how their locations shifted or their traits changed, even when some Anomalies and Visions vanished and some transformed into each other, there was always a matching slot for them on that list.

For thousands of years, this rule never changed.

Because of this, people believed that Vision 004 was, in essence, a “focus” that crossed the order of time and space. All Anomalies and Visions, whether from the past or from the future, had already left their marks in this focus—even if they had not yet been born. Their positions had long been decided.

Yet today, this rule was broken.

A Vision without a number had appeared before the world.

What was even more disturbing was that this Vision was called “Pland”—the pearl of the Boundless Sea, the busiest stop on the sea trade network, and the largest gathering of believers of the Deep Sea Church.

But for some reason, Vanna kept feeling that the calm and reserved Pope in front of her did not seem very worried. When Helena saw that Pland had become a Vision, she was only a little surprised. She even seemed more concerned about the fact that “Pland had no number” than about “Pland becoming a Vision” at all.

Vanna looked at the Pope with some nervousness. Helena was thinking about something. After a few minutes of heavy silence that felt almost suffocating, Helena suddenly raised her head: “Since that ‘disaster,’ how has Pland been?”

“Order in the city-state is being restored. Everyone who died because of the historic corruption, and every damaged place, has been restored—of course, that does not include the people who truly died eleven years ago,” Bishop Valentine said at once. “We checked every corner of the city-state, including every sewer, every factory, every machine, and even every pipe. We did not find any trace of supernatural distortion. The city-state is in a… very, very ‘normal’ state. Oh, except for…”

“Except for the matter with the fries, right?” Helena said calmly. “I saw that in the report.”

Vanna looked a little embarrassed: “It did feel a bit strange to write that in the report…”

“Not strange. After an supernatural incident, every clue should be taken seriously,” Helena said, her face calm. Her eyes fell on Vanna. “Then what about you, Saint Vanna—have you felt that anything is wrong?”

Vanna grew nervous without thinking. She had guessed the Pope would ask her this sooner or later. After all, she had written everything in her report, except the part about her shaken faith.

“I… actually do not feel anything special,” Vanna said. “I have no mental corruption, no Cognitive Distortion. Bishop Valentine even helped me run several tests. The conclusion was that it was just a simple ‘connection.’”

Helena gently clenched her fist and rested it under her chin, as if thinking seriously for a moment. Then she suddenly spoke to the Saints gathered nearby: “Everyone, disperse for now—I have some things to discuss with the two Saints from Pland.”

The shadowy figures on the plaza did not hesitate. They all bowed to the Pope and then faded away one after another. In less than half a minute, the vast meeting place held only Helena, Vanna, and Valentine.

“You are a bit nervous, young Saint—relax a little.”

When the area was quiet, Helena turned to Vanna and spoke with a smile. “You walk on the right path. The Goddess’s favor and grace for you remain as always. You do not need to feel uneasy just because you have touched some ‘dangerous’ power. As defenders of order, dealing with all kinds of dangerous powers is exactly our duty, is it not?”

Vanna took a light breath and tried to keep her voice as calm as possible: “…It is just as you say.”

Helena nodded and turned her eyes to Bishop Valentine: “I saw a point mentioned in your reports. You think that the famous ‘Captain Duncan’ has already regained his reason and humanity, and that there is a chance to communicate with him?”

“Strictly speaking, it is not just that there is a chance to communicate. We are already building that communication—though the start of this matter was not in our plan,” Valentine said with a slight nod, his voice deep. “We still do not know why that ghost captain is especially focused on Pland’s situation, and why he chose Vanna as his contact. But up to now, he has not shown any hostility toward the civilized world.”

“The Vanished’s flames once burned across the entire city-state?” Helena asked.

Valentine nodded again: “Yes. Those flames drove out the historic corruption created by the Heretics and reset the city-state to its state before the corruption.”

“…You could also say that those flames corrupted the entire city-state and corrupted it into a state of never having been corrupted.”

Helena fixed her gaze on Valentine’s eyes and spoke in a steady tone: “On this matter, the line between ‘corrupted’ and ‘not corrupted’ is already very blurred.”

Valentine exchanged a glance with Vanna without thinking.

Right after that, they heard Helena’s voice continue: “This may be the reason Pland became a ‘Vision.’ The parchment sheet did not mention the exact traits of this new Vision, but we can boldly describe it like this:

“Vision Pland: a city completely burned by Subspace flame. Duncan Abnomar’s power shaped this Vision into a normal form. Its distortion lies in the fact that it twisted its own distortion. The whole city-state runs as if it had never suffered corruption. The only fact left by the corruption is that the corruption really did happen.”

Helena stopped and quietly set her gaze on the two Saints before her.

“A coin that was heads up flipped once in the air and landed with heads up again.”

Vanna opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something, but then she saw the Pope in front of her wave lightly, cutting her off.

“But there is nothing bad about that, Saint Vanna.” Helena spoke gently. “Compared with the twisted shapes that most places in our world show, what does a coin that is still heads up after it flips even count as?

“At least, in fact, Pland still exists. Whether this coin flipped once or countless times… is not something we mortals should worry about.”

For some reason, Vanna kept feeling that there was some deeper meaning hidden in the Pope’s words, but she still could not understand it. She only frowned: “Then how should we announce this news? How should we explain to people that they live inside a huge Vision—and still let them live normal lives after they learn this fact?”

“A shocking fact born from a great change should either never be announced, or be announced while the echo of that change is still there and people are most able to accept it,” Helena said in a low voice. “Right now, the citizens of Pland should still not be fully out of the shadow of that disaster. They have not fully sunk back into calm daily life… so announce it as usual.

“But pay attention to mental guidance. Let people understand how very special this ‘Vision’ is—not all Visions are dangerous. Always remember, our world has survived to this day because it still lives under the light of Vision 001.”

“Yes,” Bishop Valentine said, lowering his head. “I will discuss this with City Hall and see how to release this news in the safest way.”

Helena nodded. Her eyes swept over Vanna without meaning to, and she said: “There are also some other matters.”

Vanna and Valentine answered at once: “Please give us your orders.”

Helena thought for a moment: “…They are not that urgent. We will talk about them in detail when we meet in person.”

At first Vanna did not react. Two seconds later, she suddenly realized something: “Meet in person… you mean you are going to…?”

“The great Storm Cathedral has sailed around for many years. It is about time for it to come to shore once,” Helena said, smiling at Vanna. “Make some preparations. The great Storm Cathedral will arrive in Pland within a week—then I can use my own eyes to see what shape this coin looks like after it has flipped.”

The two Saints left.

In the vast meeting place, only Helena’s figure remained.

But only half a minute later, faint flickering lights appeared in the nearby darkness. Then Banster, the tall, thin, aged leader of the Death Church, and Rune, the kindly faced and slightly plump head of the Truth Academy, walked out from the dark and came to stand before Helena.

Banster first turned his head to glance in the direction where Vanna had just left. Then he turned his gaze back to the Pope of the Deep Sea: “It is her? She does not… look very special.”

“But the ruler of the storm chose her,” Helena said calmly. “That is the Goddess’s will.”

Rune, with his rounder figure and kind face, thought for a moment. There was curiosity in his voice: “But why would the ruler of the storm choose her?”

“…No one can guess the storm’s intent.” Helena shook her head lightly and then changed the subject. “Let us not talk about that. Let us first discuss the information that Vision 004 released this time—a Vision with no number. That is far more puzzling than the Vision itself.”