Chapter 371

Chapter 371: Anomaly Aura.

When she reached the street, the icy wind swept through the open space between the buildings and blew against her face, bringing Agatha fully back to her senses.

Yet in her mind there still echoed that string of questions that had almost shattered her worldview and rebuilt her understanding—

“In Frostholm, you don’t give bonuses to helpful citizens who actively report cult clues?

“You never used a bank account? Do you people in the Church never deal with ordinary life?

“You didn’t see that was a bank account number?”

Agatha had never imagined that the biggest loss of composure she would ever suffer while dealing with an supernatural being would happen under circumstances like this.

And she was quite sure that Bishop Ivan of the Grand Cathedral, and that group of Cryptographers and Divination masters who were still gathered in the Cathedral desperately studying the ‘Secret Cipher’, would react almost the same way she had when they found out the truth.

Footsteps sounded nearby. Several subordinates who had been waiting in a sheltered spot near the building stepped out. One black?clad guard noticed the distant look in Agatha’s eyes and grew worried at once: “Are you all right, Gatekeeper? In that house…”

Agatha raised her hand and cut the subordinate off. She glanced back once, then lifted her Gatekeeper’s cane and slowly walked toward the steam car not far away, speaking as she went: “Do not disturb the residents of that house. Inform the Cathedral in this district and have the Guardians keep their distance from here—the Silent Cathedral will take over all contact with this place directly.”

“Yes, Gatekeeper,” the black?clad guard bowed his head at once to take the order, then could not help asking, “Do you… need to rest a bit?”

Agatha’s steps paused for a moment. She sighed: “If I could, I would go to the nearest Cathedral to seek mental counseling, or consult a well?known psychiatrist…”

The subordinate froze. “Ah?”

“Never mind, I don’t need rest,” Agatha waved her hand. “Let’s go back to the Grand Cathedral. We have to start the search under the city as soon as possible.”

…

“The Church people have left,” Morris stood by the window, watching the movements on the street outside. When he saw the gray?blue steam car drive out of the intersection, he turned and looked at Duncan. “I thought they would at least leave a few ‘eyes’ behind.”

“A Gatekeeper’s position in the Death Church is equivalent to an Inquisitor in the Deep Sea Church. She has to keep her word. Since she said they would not disturb us, there will naturally be no tricks,” Vanna said from the side. “Besides, she knows those little tricks would be meaningless.”

Duncan lifted his eyelids and glanced at Vanna: “I thought you might talk with that Gatekeeper a bit more. You two are colleagues, after all.”

“…I really couldn’t think of anything worth talking about,” Vanna shook her head. “My status is a little awkward. Whether I speak as an Inquisitor of the Deep Sea Church or as a member of the Vanished, forming ties with Frostholm’s Church at a time like this would only bring trouble.”

Duncan grunted in reply and said nothing more. It was Nina at his side who suddenly broke the silence with curiosity: “That Gatekeeper sister seemed a bit excited before she left, as if she had some kind of plan… What search plan was she talking about? Uncle, do you have any idea?”

Vanna and Morris both looked at Duncan. After a short silence, he nodded slightly.

Although he had been confused at first, by now he had figured it out. Agatha’s reaction showed one thing: after fruitless searches in the main areas of the city?state, Frostholm’s Church had apparently turned its attention to the dark world underground.

The Second Waterway.

In the past, limited by high costs and the practical difficulty of the task, Frostholm’s authority had always let the Second Waterway left from the Queen’s era lie dormant in the depths beneath the city. At most they did some symbolic purification and sealing work in the upper sections connected to the waterway. But now… it seemed they could no longer afford to worry about costs.

Duncan raised his head and said to Vanna: “Go to Nemo’s tavern again this afternoon and warn him. The Church may soon launch operations targeting the Second Waterway. He and his ‘colleagues’ should be careful.”

The Second Waterway was enormous, and in truth Nemo and his “peers” only controlled a small part of the entire sewer system. That part was very well hidden and had been intentionally concealed and sealed off. In theory, the authority and the Church would never notice it. But no one knew how determined the Church would be this time, so it was better to warn him.

“Also, the matter of Dagger Island is worrying,” Duncan added after a brief thought. “The way that island disappeared is clearly abnormal. I’m afraid something else may happen later. Morris, watch all kinds of news in the city over the next few days, especially in the districts near the eastern Harbor. See if any unusual rumors come up.”

Morris nodded. “Understood.”

“We also need to remind Tyrian later, and have him watch for changes in that stretch of sea…”

Duncan rubbed his chin, muttering in thought as he wondered if he was missing anything. Just then he saw Shirley sidle over from the side.

She moved on tiptoe, looking very sneaky.

“What is it?” Duncan asked casually when he saw her.

“It’s not me, it’s Dog,” Shirley waved her hands quickly, then lifted her arm. A pitch?black chain emerged from the air, and Dog, who had hurriedly hidden himself earlier when the Gatekeeper arrived, appeared in front of Duncan. “Dog says he has something to report to you…”

“Something?” Duncan frowned, looking at the cowering Deep Sea hound. “What is it?”

Dog shook his ugly big head, then carefully glanced toward the door before speaking: “I don’t know if I’m sensing wrong. That ‘Gatekeeper’ called Agatha just now… I kept feeling she had a familiar aura about her…”

The room went quiet at once. Duncan’s gaze turned serious. “A familiar aura? What do you mean? Deep Sea Demons?”

“No, not Deep Sea Demons,” Dog shook his head at once. “I can’t really explain it. You know my memories from before I got a ‘heart’ are a bit blurry. But that aura… it reminded me a little of the Deep Sea Lord. Mm, of the feeling I had when I was near the Deep Sea Lord.”

As soon as Dog said this, everyone looked at each other. Duncan’s expression grew stern at once: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I didn’t dare show myself just now!” Dog hunched his neck. “She’s a Gatekeeper, after all. Of course she wouldn’t be your match, but Frostholm is hunting Annihilators and Deep Sea Demons across the whole city right now. I was afraid that if I showed up, I wouldn’t be able to explain myself and would end up delaying your work…”

Dog’s explanation did make some sense, and Duncan did not press him. Even so, what he reported clearly took everyone by surprise.

Frostholm’s Gatekeeper, Agatha… how could she carry the aura of the Deep Sea Lord?!

“Could it be… that Gatekeeper has already fallen? Or already been corrupted?” Morris said, his face grave. “But she behaved completely normally. There was nothing wrong with her words and actions…”

“Maybe she doesn’t even know?” Shirley said carefully from the side. “Isn’t cognitive corruption the hardest to notice? Especially for the person it’s happening to.”

Duncan said nothing, only looked up at Vanna.

“She didn’t seem like someone who has already fallen or been corrupted, and she was clearly not a ‘replica’,” Vanna said slowly, brows tightly knit as she carefully recalled every detail about Agatha just now. “I didn’t feel any abnormal aura on her at all. Dog, are you sure you weren’t mistaken?”

“I already said I’m not sure I sensed it right,” Dog replied, sounding especially guilty. “It was only a very, very faint aura that made me think of the Deep Sea, that’s all… Maybe it didn’t even come from her herself. Right, didn’t she say they’d caught some Annihilators recently? Even if none of them were important figures, if she’s been dealing with them every day lately, it’s normal for her to pick up a little aura from the Deep Sea on her, isn’t it…”

Duncan still frowned.

Dog’s explanation sounded somewhat reasonable, but he could not shake the feeling that things were not that simple. Would a professional servant of the Goddess, the city?state’s Gatekeeper, forget to perform self?purification after interrogating cultists? Would she really walk around outside carrying the cultists’ aura on her?

Vanna took a step forward: “Should we call that Gatekeeper back and ask about it? Or should we go to her?”

“Neither. If she truly is at risk of falling or has formed a link with the power of the Deep Sea, any direct contact could alert her,” Duncan shook his head, then looked toward the direction where Agatha had left. “I will keep a covert eye on this matter. You must not approach her.”

Covert eye?

Vanna paused for a moment. She was about to ask what exactly Duncan meant by “covert eye” when she suddenly seemed to remember something. Certain memories surfaced in her mind, and she immediately understood.

“You… already left a mark on her?”

“She has already seen me.”

Duncan nodded slightly. In his other field of vision, some distance away from here, a small green flame flickered gently.

It was exactly in the direction where Agatha had gone.