Chapter 406
She felt as if she were bound by some invisible force, unable to move an inch.
Meng De strained every muscle in her body, slowly turning her head to look down.
Under the clear blue sky, her shadow stretched and twisted, morphing into countless tendrils of darkness that wrapped around her silhouette.
Crack, crack—
From the intensity of her struggles, the bones in her arms emitted faint cracking sounds; with just a bit more force, they would snap.
Before Meng De, the shadows swirled like a pool of black water on the roof in front of her, and a figure slowly emerged from the thick darkness. After a brief flicker, a faceless figure wearing a mask appeared not far from Meng De.
The Goddess of Salvation Church, Eleanor, a Level 4 "Punishment Saint."
Meng De recognized the figure instantly; she had thoroughly investigated the high-level extraordinary powers in Ansu City.
The moment she identified Eleanor, Meng De surrendered any thought of resistance, not even attempting to use poison against her.
Yet disbelief lingered in her eyes as she stared at Eleanor.
How is this possible...
The Keybearer... has turned Eleanor? A Level 4?
Even if the Keybearer is a "Subverter," the difficulty of turning a Level 4, especially a lunatic from the Tribunal, was something Meng De understood all too well.
"Meng De von Lien," Eleanor said calmly, her raspy voice cutting through the air. "It's you, isn't it..."
"Could I say otherwise?" Meng De forced a smile, her lips twitching.
"Hello, Tribunal," Eleanor continued, presenting her Archbishop insignia.
"I need you to come with me for some questioning. If this takes up your time, the Tribunal will compensate you once it's over."
...
In an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Ansu City, Meng De sat there, bound by shadows.
Eleanor stood calmly beside her, not asking questions or making any moves, as if she were simply waiting for someone.
It wasn't until Eleanor seemed to see something through the shadows that she commanded the darkness enveloping Meng De, covering her entirely except for her facial features.
Even if Meng De had poison hidden in her teeth, she couldn't activate it; the shadows in her mouth moved faster than she could.
Who is she waiting for...
After about four or five minutes, a figure finally approached the factory entrance, with a shadow leading the way.
A black-haired girl spoke lazily.
"Your Goddess of Salvation Church's carriage is pretty shabby... not even a cushion to rest on..."
The newcomer was Xia Er.
Eleanor seemed uninterested in responding to Xia Er's banter. She spoke up, "Is it her, from the Pleasure Society?"
Xia Er walked over to Eleanor's side, glancing at the figure bound by shadows, leaving only her features exposed.
Xia Er: "..."
Xia Er had never seen this person from the Pleasure Society before; how could she be sure?
She bent slightly, resting her hands on her knees, and smiled at the figure sitting on the ground. "Found you..."
Meng De's pupils constricted slightly.
As expected... the Keybearer...
Xia Er's keen perception allowed her to catch these emotional nuances. She stood up and looked at Eleanor. "It's her."
"Leave her to you," Eleanor replied slowly.
Eleanor didn't want to handle the interrogation herself; she knew she wasn't good at it... not that she was completely inept, but she had a tendency to accidentally kill people midway.
Judgment was her forte.
Xia Er walked over to a nearby abandoned crate, dusted it off with a handkerchief, and sat down, looking at Meng De. "I'll just call you Meng De, okay?"
Since earlier, Meng De had been observing the interaction between Xia Er and Eleanor... but it seemed that Xia Er and Eleanor were acting completely like they were not on the same side.
"Xia Er..." Meng De began slowly. The other party hadn't directly revealed her name, so she refrained from mentioning the Keybearer's name. "We need to talk..."
"We definitely need to have a serious talk," Xia Er replied with a slight smile. "Let's discuss why you're in Ansu."
Hearing the question from the black-haired girl, Meng De felt a flicker of confusion.
Her eyes darted between Eleanor and Xia Er, and a bold idea formed in her mind.
Eleanor... doesn't know that Xia Er is the Keybearer.
If Meng De were to directly reveal that Xia Er was the Keybearer, who also came from the Pleasure Society, it would likely spark infighting between them... but Meng De didn't dare to gamble.
Because the Keybearer seemed to only want to talk; she wasn't truly after Meng De's life...
It appeared the Keybearer hadn't completely lost her sanity; there was still some rationality left...
Did Eleanor need some information?
She needed to provide some intel to try to send Eleanor away, creating a space for a private conversation with the Keybearer...
From the perspective of the Goddess of Salvation Church, what kind of information would they want?
What would the Keybearer want her to reveal?
Meng De's mind raced, and soon she lifted her head, looking at Xia Er as she began to speak:
"I work for the Farloss Medical Society under the Natura Medical Group, tasked with protecting Professor Eve Lafayette and her research."
Xia Er immediately pressed, "What research?"
Meng De glanced at Eleanor, and in that instant, she understood the Keybearer's intentions.
So... you think Ansu City isn't chaotic enough?
I take back my earlier thought; the Keybearer is indeed an irredeemable lunatic.
"I'm not interested in their research or plans. If revealing their plans can save my life, I can disclose everything," Meng De said, her gaze shifting toward Eleanor.
"Get the information, spare her life?" Xia Er looked back at Eleanor.
"I can pretend I never saw her," Eleanor did not deny it.
With Eleanor's response, Meng De finally felt a sense of relief.
"The Farloss Medical Society and the Church of the God of Order are collaborating on a secret research project, but... I actually don't know much about the content of the research," Meng De began.
"Tell me everything you know," Eleanor's voice was laced with barely concealed anger; she seemed impatient with Meng De's roundabout way of speaking.
"The Artificial Divine Fragment Project."
Meng De no longer held back, speaking directly:
"The Church of the God of Order, in its years of obsessive exploration of the Otherworld, has attempted to create a stable summoning blood array."
"This blood array can directly open a door to a node in that Otherworld, and each time it opens, it releases fragments of brains, along with some documents from the Otherworld."
"They have no idea how many Holy Maidens they sacrificed to piece together those texts and obtain a technology from the Otherworld..."
"They used the technology from the Otherworld as a bargaining chip, allowing Farloss to conduct practical applications."
Technology from the Otherworld?
Aside from the pages of the Otherworld she had drawn herself, Xia Er had never seen any other texts related to the Otherworld; she had only encountered a few creatures from there.
So, it really is possible to extract things from the Otherworld? And they even have pages with useful written content?
"What technology?" Xia Er pressed.
"They named this technology 'Divine Fragment Restructuring,'" Meng De had completely abandoned any reservations; she intended to fully betray the Farloss Medical Society and the Church of the God of Order, directing the Goddess of Salvation Church's focus toward them.
"Currently, through this technology, they have completed several practical applications. They can precisely extract parts of a person's memory and stitch them onto another person... They can also turn someone into a soulless puppet that executes commands without any emotions."
"All brains modified with this technology share a common trait... their thoughts will be interconnected."
"And their ultimate goal is to completely transform all members of the Church of the God of Order from top to bottom, connecting everyone's thoughts together—this is the envisioned final form of the Church of the God of Order... the Artificial Divine Fragment."
At this point, Meng De paused briefly before continuing, "A being devoid of human emotions, with absolute fairness, absolute order, and shared thoughts."
Table of Contents
