Chapter 470

Chapter 470: Gamona’s “Hint”.

The name of the Storm Goddess Gamona appeared on the pass, and Duncan found the handwriting familiar.

He had seen it before. Back in Pland, a being suspected to be the Storm Goddess had left him a message of thanks. He still remembered that God’s handwriting.

Yet Vanna said the pass had been signed by Pope Helena.

Vanna would not make a mistake about something so obvious, and she had no reason to tell such a pointless lie. That left only one explanation – in her eyes, the name on the pass really was Helena.

Who was seeing what was real? What did it mean that the same thing appeared so differently to the two of them? What message was the Storm Goddess trying to send him by doing this? Or rather… what was her purpose?

Duncan controlled his expression and pushed down his shock. He did not feel any obvious wrongness from those few sheets of paper, so he could only try to get more information from Vanna.

He raised his head and looked at the inquisitor opposite him: “What did Helena say when she handed the pass to you?”

“The Pope did not say much, only that what you asked for was ready,” Vanna answered at once, still bothered by Duncan’s strange attitude. Then she carefully recounted everything she and the Pope had discussed about the pass at the assembly, explaining why the document was signed by Helena. When she finished, she watched Duncan’s reaction and finally asked: “These things… is there something wrong with them?”

Duncan was silent for two seconds, then suddenly said: “No. There is no problem. These are very good.”

Vanna did not seem to be pretending. She clearly knew nothing. What bothered him more was that, if the details Vanna described were correct, then Pope Helena herself also seemed unaware that the signature on the pass had changed.

Unless the Pope was putting on an act – but why would she do that?

Vanna kept watching Duncan’s reaction. She had many doubts, but in the end she did not press him. Instead, she moved on to another important matter:

“Also, this time I again entered that tomb as the Listener. The parchment sheet I brought back has information about new Visions…”

“New Visions?” Duncan raised his eyebrows, a little surprised. “Isn’t that something secret to your internal assemblies? Is it really fine to tell me directly?”

“Changes to the Visions list will be made public to the whole world sooner or later. Telling you now only means you know a little earlier. Besides… the new Visions are related to you.”

“Oh?”

Vanna steadied herself and said: “Vision-Frostholm, Vision-the Vanished, Vision-the Vanished Fleet. Like the situation with Pland, none of them have a number.”

The open deck fell briefly silent. Only the wind brushed past their ears and the waves slapped against the hull. After a long time, Duncan finally spoke, breaking the silence: “Oh. That is quite a lot.”

“Yes, indeed… quite a lot,” Vanna said, a little hesitant. “Under normal circumstances, even a single new Vision is enough to draw the attention of every Church of the Four Gods. This time three Visions were added at once, and one of them is the Vanished that used to be numbered 005…”

“So all the Churches and research organizations will be rather busy next?”

“There will probably be countless scholars losing countless hairs, and the Popes will likely sleep poorly for some time… Even if the new Visions show no obvious danger, the follow-up divination rituals and data work are a huge project.”

Duncan thought for a moment: “Oh. They can work hard on that.”

Even the always calm and steady Vanna almost lost control of her expression at this. A strange feeling spread in her chest. After holding it in for a long time, she finally managed to say: “As the ‘person involved’… you really have no thoughts about it?”

Duncan thought about it seriously, then looked at Vanna with a solemn face: “Next time I will try to make less of a commotion? Or you can go back and persuade your Pope, tell them to take it easy…”

Vanna: “…”

The inquisitor seemed to fall into confusion for a moment. Duncan did not care about her reaction. He lifted his head and looked thoughtfully at the familiar deck and masts before him, and at the translucent spirit form sails billowing in midair.

The Vanished, as always, sailed silently and reliably across the Boundless Sea. As the ship’s master, Duncan did not feel that it had changed in any way. Yet in the list of Vision 004, the Nameless King’s Tomb, this vessel was no longer recorded as Vision 005.

It had lost its number.

What exactly did that change mean?

Duncan lowered his head and looked thoughtfully at his own palm, then his gaze dropped to the pass. The name “Gamona” seemed to carry a strong presence that drew his eyes.

He thought of the brief connection between Dog and the God of Wisdom, and then of that strange dark space and the record he had seen there of what seemed to be a conversation between Gods.

“Vanna,” he suddenly turned his head and looked straight into Vanna’s eyes. “How can someone establish communication with the Gods?”

Vanna snapped out of her daze at once, then was startled by Duncan’s question and looked a little at a loss: “Ah?! You mean… establish communication with the Gods?!”

“That is right,” Duncan nodded. “Establish communication with the Gods.”

He had just thought of something. If that strange dark space really hid some kind of “communication platform” between the Gods, and if the Blasphemous Tome that had been burned was only a key used to open that dark space, then such a key was likely not only in the hands of a few cults. In other words –

Since even the “blasphemous sacred relics” held by cultists could open that “communication platform” of the Gods, then what about the orthodox churches that were closely linked to the Four Gods? Would the items or techniques in their hands not work even better? It was a very logical thought.

Duncan had not considered this direction before. Part of it was habit of thought. The Golden Sun Mask from before and the Blasphemous Tome this time had both come from cultists, so he had instinctively formed a simple plan of “finding cultists and dealing with them on the spot.” The other part was that he had been avoiding this direction without realizing it.

He had truly seen the role the Churches of the Four Gods played in the city-states, and so he had a natural goodwill toward the power behind Vanna and Morris. Probing that dark space carried risk. The destroyed Golden Sun Mask and Blasphemous Tome proved this. The power of Truth was not something common objects could bear. If handled poorly, at best the sacred relic serving as a medium would be destroyed, and at worst those assisting from the side would risk their lives. It seemed more suitable to let cultists shoulder that kind of danger.

But now, Duncan suddenly had a new idea.

This idea came from the Storm Goddess’s signature on the pass.

It might be a sign of goodwill, or some kind of reminder.

Of course, he could not explain this to Vanna in too much detail. After all, she was still a devout Saint. If he said straight out, “I think cultists’ sacred relics are too hard to find, so I want to try using your Deep Sea Church’s sacred relics instead,” it would obviously be quite improper. She might very well leap at him with an overhead strike…

Vanna did not think about the reason behind Duncan’s casual question. She was only surprised that the captain had suddenly taken an interest in the Gods. But she soon remembered that he did seem to have unique insight and study in theology, so she thought carefully and answered: “That depends on what kind of communication you mean. In general, we call all acts of worship ‘communication with the gods’. Even a simple evening prayer by an ordinary member of the congregation is a conversation with the god.

“Above that are the ordained priests. Through years of training and practice, and with the help of special rituals and items, they come to understand the god’s ‘knowledge’ and draw power from that knowledge and Truth, or use Listening Rites to receive the god’s revelations. That is a further level of ‘communication’.

“A higher level still is a Saint like me. A Saint does not need very complex ritual preparations. We only need our own spiritual insight to resonate, and we can communicate with the god’s will more directly, because our spiritual insight is connected to the god’s spiritual insight…”

There was a hint of pride in Vanna’s voice at the end, but she noticed Duncan slightly frowning. Clearly, these were not the answers the captain wanted.

“Not that kind of communication,” Duncan shook his head. He slowly searched for the right words, wanting Vanna to understand what he meant. “I mean… something more direct, closer, more efficient… a link, do you understand? Not vaguely receiving a revelation during prayer, but being able to talk directly with the Four Gods.”

Vanna slowly opened her mouth and did not come back to her senses for a long while.

So Duncan knew he probably could not get an answer from her. It was about what he had expected.

“Forget it. This is a bit beyond the mortal realm,” he waved his hand and let out a light breath. “The ritual techniques you use are not useful for me. Maybe it would be more effective if I just found a few Sacred Tomes from the Four Gods’ churches and read them myself.”

Vanna blinked. As usual, she felt she could not quite keep up with the captain’s train of thought.

But thankfully, the captain did not linger on this strange topic.

“Later, go to the White Oak and hand the pass to Lawrence. I will not go over,” Duncan instructed. “If he asks about what comes next, tell him to act with the Vanished for now. When matters here in Frostholm are completely settled, we will plan further.”

Vanna lowered her head: “Yes, Captain.”

Duncan nodded, but then he seemed to hear something. His brows knitted slightly: “Hm?”

Vanna asked curiously: “What is it?”

“Agatha is looking for me,” Duncan said slowly, his expression growing serious. “She says she has found a way to enter the Deep Sea.”