Chapter 675

Chapter 675: The Gathering

The leaders and Bishops of the Churches of the Four Gods were going to gather on a ghost ship that had returned from Subspace to hold a meeting. No matter when you said that sentence, it would sound explosive. In any city state, if someone shouted such a thing in the street, everyone who heard it would have to think hard about whether to report it to the Inquisitors or to the nearest mental hospital.

But now it was really happening.

The Vanished arrived at the appointed place at the appointed time. It stopped in the calm waters near Lightwind Harbor, close to the great storm Cathedral. Then the Visitors from the four Pilgrimage Arks began to arrive one after another in small boats.

Shirley lay behind a railing at the stern deck, poking her head out as she watched the priests on the middle deck. They were all either nervously looking around or trying to act calm while their whole bodies stayed rigid. As she watched, she whispered to the Shadows beside her: “They really dared to come… Do you see that bald uncle over there? His forehead is so shiny, his whole head is covered in sweat…”

Dog’s muffled voice came from within the Shadows. “This is way too scary… Back in the city state, we would avoid even a few Guardians, let alone people at this level…”

“Times have changed… That’s the phrase, right?” Shirley said proudly. “Now they’re the ones who have to avoid us, at least on this ship. Hey, do you want to jump out and scare them? You don’t get chances like this very often…”

“I can jump out, but the captain might beat you up afterward. Should I really jump?”

“No, no, no, I was just joking…”

On the deck, Lunie, the doll who had come to the Vanished with her Mistress, was calmly giving mental guidance to the Visitors, leading them across the central deck toward the door into the ship. The clockwork doll glanced back toward the stern deck, then turned to explain to a Deep Sea priest in Bishop’s robes beside her: “That is Miss Shirley. She is the Old Master’s student. You don’t need to be nervous.”

“But I can feel the presence of Abyssal demons…” the nervous Deep Sea Bishop couldn’t help saying. “It’s right next to that ‘Miss Shirley’…”

“That is Mr. Dog, Miss Shirley’s guardian dog,” Lunie explained calmly. “He is also the Old Master’s student. You don’t need to be nervous.”

The Deep Sea Bishop: “…?”

Lunie did not care about the strange look that suddenly appeared on his face. She clapped her hands and looked up to address the priests who had just boarded around her: “Let me stress some common points again

“The ropes on the ship may sometimes start moving on their own. If they tie you up, don’t worry. They’re just playing, and if you greet them they will loosen up. If you see buckets rolling around, don’t mind them either, they are probably just carrying things. If you pick up a silver haired doll’s head and don’t see the rest of the doll nearby, please bring the head to the main mast and give it to a talking pigeon. The pigeon will help return the head to its body.

“Also, do not go into areas that are not open to you. If you get lost, stop where you are right away. You are not forbidden to pray to a deity on this ship, but your deity cannot help you escape from a sealed cabin, so it is better to remember the rules I mentioned before. If you see something on the ship that looks like a Deep Sea spawn, stay calm and walk away. They are fish. Don’t mind any strange shadows that suddenly appear in mirrors or dark corners. That is Lady Agatha taking a walk, she will not enter the Visitors’ rooms…

“Always remember, the ship is safe and friendly in spirit. If you feel like you are about to die, please repeat this line in your heart, the ship is safe and friendly in spirit. Reflect on whether your own actions broke the rules, instead of doubting that the environment is at fault…

“Finally, I hope you all have a full and productive day aboard the great Vanished. Food will be served after the meeting. Please rest assured, it will all be substances that humans can eat.”

The clockwork doll smiled and bowed to the Visitors.

“Now, please follow me. We will head to the hall.”

The priests who had boarded were nervous, doubtful, or quietly on guard as they watched this ghost ship wrapped in countless strange tales and a dangerous aura. The “safety briefing” given by a clockwork doll on the deck did not ease the tension in the minds of these fairly normal people at all. It only made the eerie feeling of the place even stronger. But under the push of duty and responsibility, they could only swallow their misgivings and honestly follow the strange clockwork doll toward the ship’s interior.

Vanna stood at a distance under a mast, watching the busy Lunie with a trace of worry. She couldn’t help muttering quietly, “I don’t think Miss Lucretia should have sent Lunie to do the ‘reception’… It would have been better to send me and Mr. Morris…”

“But I think this is fine,” Helena’s voice sounded beside her. The dignified female Pope stood next to Vanna with a faint, puzzling smile on her face. Her gaze fell on the distant deck, and there was even a hint of cheer in her tone. “This will let them understand, in the shortest time, why I kept telling them before we boarded ‘not to make a fuss’ and to ‘treat everything on the Vanished as perfectly normal’.”

She paused, then looked thoughtfully at the huge silhouettes of the ark ships out on the sea. “The Bishops have deep learning and high skill in divine magic. But they have spent too long on arks where ‘order is normal’. That kind of ‘normal’ will not last forever.”

Vanna felt there was some deeper meaning in the Pope’s words. But before she could ask, Helena spoke first: “Are you getting used to this ship?”

“Uh… it’s fine,” Vanna said, startled, and quickly answered. “Everyone is very kind. I can also come into contact with a lot of knowledge I never knew before, and I keep gaining experience fighting heresy and blasphemy.”

“That’s good,” Helena said with a smile. Before Vanna could speak again, Helena was already walking toward the ship’s interior on her own. “We can talk after the gathering. We mustn’t make the ‘captain’ wait too long.”

Vanna froze for a moment. Right after that, she noticed that a pair of eyes seemed to be resting on her.

She followed that feeling and looked toward the source of the gaze, and saw a very tall figure, especially striking among the crowd, watching her from the distant deck.

It was a Senkin, dressed in a simple short robe, with skin like gray white rock and deep, steady eyes.

It was Frem, the leader of the Flamebearers.

The Senkin Pope, who was like a small giant, nodded to her from afar and then left in silence.

Vanna felt dazed. In the instant her eyes met that calm gaze, she could not help recalling that endless desert, and the old giant who had walked across the sands beside her…

A second later, Vanna suddenly snapped out of it. After a brief hesitation, she too stepped toward the ship’s interior.

The captain’s call was sounding in her heart. The time had come.

Everyone gathered in the largest cabin on the upper deck of the Vanished.

It was called a “meeting hall”, but in truth it was just the dining room on the Vanished. The servants Lucretia had sent ahead had cleaned it up a bit, rearranging the tables and chairs to make it look like a conference room.

Compared to the splendid temples and grand shrines on the Pilgrimage Arks, this “meeting place” was clearly not very magnificent.

But the people gathered here obviously did not dare focus on how “plain” it was.

This was the Vanished, a shadow that had returned from Subspace, the “Fifth Ark” revealed and confirmed by the Four Gods together. Any unremarkable corner on this ship carried a different kind of meaning for the world.

Just being able to set foot on this ship was enough to become the memory of a lifetime, even for venerable Bishops and the “inner court” priests of the Pilgrimage Arks.

All unrelated personnel had already left. The automaton servants sent from the Radiant Star as “support” closed the doors of the hall as they went out.

The ordinary priests sat around the outer edge of the hall. Dozens of Bishops were divided into four areas according to the deities they followed. In the center of the hall, a ring of chairs had been set up. Helena, Frem, Banster, and Rune sat on four of those chairs. Facing them were the true Master of this ship and the Master’s followers.

Duncan had deliberately asked Lucretia to arrange the venue this way.

He could tell that every gaze in the room was focused on him, and those looks were very complicated.

The nervous air around these people had never faded from the very start.

But he did not care.

“We meet again.” His gaze first fell on Helena opposite him. This female Pope of the Deep Sea had been the first orthodox leader he met in this world, and one of his starting points for contact with the civilized world. “Welcome to my ship. I have kept my promise. I still stand on the side of ‘civilization’.”

Helena returned the greeting with proper, polite manners, but her eyes still could not help drifting toward Vanna, who sat not far from Duncan.

The Pope’s expression stayed calm and gentle, but there was something odd deep in her eyes.

Just now, Vanna had very naturally sat down on the side that represented the Vanished…

This Saint of the Storm and Inquisitor of the Deep Sea had not hesitated at all.

But soon she put away that strange feeling. After quickly smoothing out her expression, she spoke, breaking the somewhat frozen mood in the room.

“This is a closed door meeting. I trust that everyone already understands its nature. So let us skip all formality and get straight to the point.

“We are here to discuss what has already happened to our world, and what is about to happen.”

She turned her head, her gaze landing on Rune beside her.

“The most learned among us has brought something. It may help explain to those here who still do not know the truth what… the ‘Great Annihilation’ is.”

Rune nodded, then gestured to the side.

A Scholar immediately stepped forward and handed him an object covered with black cloth.

Duncan watched curiously. He saw Rune lift the black cloth, and what lay under it surprised him for a moment.

It was a birdcage.

Inside, a small black bird sat quietly, looking very ordinary.

But Rune’s expression had become serious. He lifted the birdcage in his hands and showed it to everyone present.

“This is a black feathered short beaked auk. It has another famous name, well known in scholarly circles.

“Madbird. In 1726, the famous ‘Haipa Incident’ gave this little bird that terrifying name.

“To talk about the ‘Great Annihilation’, I must start with this little bird.”