[You have spoken the true name of the special anomaly “Clown” and obtained his friendship. You are now on the same side. Obtained title: Clown. ——Your performances will be more realistic. Strong bodily coordination will prevent you from falling into imbalance when receiving non-disabling fatal attacks. The first fatal damage you receive will not be fatal. Refreshes when your body returns to health. Note: Now, you can become a clown, or rather, make all enemies become clowns.]
…
At this moment, in the sewer passage, Ling was leaning against the corner, lowering her body as much as possible, listening to the conversation coming from the darkness.
“The sacrifice is ready. They are indeed down there. I am afraid they will not be able to come out before dark.”
“But the priest told me…”
“The priest? Never mind any priest. We are likewise advancing for the faith. It is not only he who can save everything. We can do the same!”
“Fine… I am willing to believe you, but what use is that woman? She is only the daughter of a painter.”
“A painter?
Heh…
He is not any damned painter at all.
That painting was not painted by him at all.
He stole it.
It is something humans could never understand in this lifetime.
But he, that thief, knew what it represented, so he left everything to his daughter.
Wealth, status, knowledge, and that damned mark!
If we do not do this, sooner or later she will ruin everything!
That man has already told me everything.
Every one of us can be Constantine.”
“But have you not thought about it? What if it fails? What if the eternal night does not arrive in time… What if the moon does not have enough faith…”
“You do not understand the faith deeply. I do not blame you. But no matter what, do not question your god. You only need to pray, pray for the arrival of eternal night, worship the darkness! Worship the night!”
“…”
The conversation quickly disappeared.
They seemed to have left this place.
Even though Ling looked over, there was only a dead end there, yet their figures had indeed disappeared from where they stood.
There was probably some hidden door.
But Ling had no time to think about those things now.
Everything they had just exchanged kept turning over and over in her mind.
Without a doubt, the painter’s daughter they spoke of was Chrisuna.
They seemed to greatly fear Chrisuna, or rather the thing on her.
This also indirectly showed that she was currently safe.
But whether it was the so-called mark or the matter about that painting, she could not quite understand it.
It seemed Chrisuna herself also possessed some special secret.
And most critically, their goal seemed to be to trap the Special Task Force people in the sewer.
And the message Thousand Faces Hundred Aspects had told her earlier, that is, the sentence that there was only a dead end in the sewer, probably also explained a lot.
She actually should have suspected earlier, suspected why an injured officer could still run out of a place like this, suspected why, even when Pasa was also missing, an ordinary police detective could escape.
But saying those things now was useless.
Ling did not know if she could do it.
She did not have Pasa’s powerful combat ability.
She was only an intelligence officer of the Special Task Force, and even her sidearm did not have much ammunition.
The special equipment she carried was also not for combat.
Someone like her would even be in danger when facing slightly more believers.
How could she possibly easily resolve this enormous conspiracy?
She could not do it.
But she had to do it.
Even if she could not, she had to do it.
Rather than continuing to search aimlessly in the sewer for Pasa and Igris, there was something she needed to do even more at this moment.
“…May God bless me.”
She did not believe in God, but that also depended on whether she would go to worship.
It did not mean she would not pray to Him at a time like this.
Ling took a deep breath, walked out of the corner, and came to the wall where the two people had just been talking.
After a slight examination, she discovered something wrong.
Looking at the brick before her whose color was clearly different, Ling slightly pushed with force.
The next moment, the stone wall before her suddenly moved.
As she walked into it, a cold aura also came out, making her slightly frown.
She seemed to no longer be in the sewer, but this place was still underground, and the temperature was very low.
“…Wine cellar.”
She remembered.
This was beneath the church.
The empty space had been made into a wine cellar.
The Rotten Coral Bar got its alcohol from here.
“And…”
Her brows slightly frowned, and she held her breath, coming before a pot of sunflowers.
“…Sunset Sunflower.”
There were many ways to spread the spores.
Whether personally taking the Sunset Sunflower out and giving it to the corresponding person, and using this to attract attention, or secretly through wine, passing the Sunset Sunflower’s spores into every townsfolk’s body.
Although the effect would be weakened, it was still effective.
“Sure enough… the chief culprit, Priest Constantine.”
Ling did not dare stay here any longer.
She hurriedly came to the wine cellar exit, but did not rush out.
Instead, she listened slightly to the movement at the door.
Only after confirming there was no sound did she quickly slip out.
And as she had guessed, she was currently right beside the church’s wine cellar entrance.
There was no one around, so no one would notice her suddenly emerging from the wine cellar.
The ritual would be held at night, and currently the sun had not yet set.
Although it was not far off, if she acted rashly now there would be no chance at all.
She planned to return to the police station, get some ammunition, and incidentally get some important “little things.”
Most importantly…
she also needed to incidentally find that injured so-called “officer.”
At least for now, leave the church first.
…
“Miss Ling, you are back? How is the specific situation?”
Many police officers were stationed near the police station.
Although when she left she had ordered the sewer exits to be surrounded, the police station was also one of the protection targets.
“Notify everyone, withdraw to the police station, wait for my orders, take your sidearms and ammunition. We may have to fight a hard battle… Where is that injured officer now?”
The officer who was suddenly told they might have to fight was somewhat dazed, but still quickly answered.
“According to regulations, personnel participating in special operations need to enter the temporary detention room. A doctor is currently treating his injuries.”
Ling’s brows slightly frowned, but she only nodded and said nothing.
“Fine, go notify everyone. Assemble here within thirty minutes.”
“Yes!”
Watching her leave, Ling directly reloaded her sidearm, chambered a round, and aggressively charged into the temporary detention room.
As that officer had said, the doctor was here helping him treat his injuries.
Seeing Ling suddenly burst in also gave him a fright, and he hurriedly stood up.
“Officer, what is wrong?”
“You go out first.”
Without giving more chance to react, Ling directly dragged the doctor out and kicked the temporary detention room door shut.
The gun in her hand pointed directly at the innocent-looking officer.
“Tell me, who are you!?”
“Miss Ling…? I do not understand what you mean! Put down the gun! We can talk about anything!”
“To hell with talking! I will only give you three seconds! Three!”
“Tch, cursing is not ladylike behavior.”
Before Ling could continue counting down, this officer suddenly ignored the wounds on his body and directly stood up from the chair.
The next moment, his skin seemed to fall off, instantly becoming incomparably loose, then he simply tore it off in one motion.
A blank face also appeared in Ling’s continuously widening pupils.
“Very pleased to meet you, Officer.”
He bowed politely to Ling like those men who prided themselves on being gentlemen, and lightly patted the dust off his suit.
“You may call me… Faceless Man?”
+++
T/N: This arc/volume is rather interesting.