The tomb guardian's attitude was even more polite than last time—almost reverent.

Vanna could clearly feel the change in the surrounding atmosphere and the questioning glances from her colleagues. However, she herself didn't know how to explain this strange change—even if some vague guesses popped up in her mind, she couldn't voice them.

She could only lower her head, look at the parchment handed over by the guardian giant, hesitate for two seconds before reaching out to take it, and take a light breath.

"I'll be right back," she said quickly to Bishop Valentine, then followed the giant guarding the tomb and walked towards the pale building not far away.

The heavy stone gate slowly closed behind her, and the ancient, mysterious tomb was sealed once again. The giant guarding the tomb did not disappear but remained by Vanna's side like a qualified guide, leading her towards the deeper chambers. In the deep, long tunnel, the monotonous sound of footsteps only made the surroundings seem even quieter.

Vanna silently recited the various taboos to be aware of after entering Anomaly 004, while also carefully paying attention to the tomb guardian's actions. She recalled the guardian's behavior before her previous entry into the tomb, and the thoughts in her mind kept churning.

Due to the limitations of Anomaly 004, she couldn't remember what had happened after her last entry into the tomb, but she did remember that the guardian's attitude had already undergone a subtle change before she entered the tomb last time—she hadn't thought too much about it then, but this time, all sorts of associations spread uncontrollably in her mind.

Just as thoughts were rising and falling in Vanna's heart, a low, hoarse voice suddenly entered her ears—the giant guardian had broken the silence.

"What would you like to ask?"

Vanna was shocked—this silent, terrifying guardian was actually taking the initiative to talk to the "Listener" entering the tomb?!

Her mind quickly filtered through the information about Anomaly 004 again, confirming how to respond to the current situation among the various taboos. Then, she tried her best to calm herself, and while carefully choosing her words, she opened her mouth and said, "You are being very friendly to me. Why?"

"Because you are an emissary," the tomb guardian actually answered immediately. "Emissaries are those who transcend and transform, and should be treated with courtesy."

"Emissary?" Vanna was stunned, seemingly not understanding. "What does that mean? Does it mean I am a saint of the Storm Goddess Gemona? But those in the outer square are all..."

"The Leviathan Queen has no emissaries. Her emissaries all died before the First Long Night," the tomb guardian interrupted Vanna. His voice had almost no emotional fluctuations, and he showed neither reverence nor fear even when talking about the gods. "You are an emissary of the Fire Thief."

Her heart suddenly tightened, her mind roared, and her breathing paused subconsciously—Vanna stopped in shock. The answer she received from a casual question far exceeded her imagination. She felt as if a storm had swept through her mind, and where the storm passed, waves of speculation, understanding, and cognition surged in her consciousness!

The Leviathan Queen—she remembered this title—just recently, Captain Duncan had mentioned this name in front of her and Maurice!

Long Night—she also remembered this term. Mr. Maurice mentioned after reading that *Blasphemous Book* that it used "Long Night" several times to describe the ancient "Kings'" attempts to create the world. She also remembered that according to those heretical descriptions, there were three Long Nights and three Geneses!

As for the Fire Thief...

"The Fire Thief... are you referring to Captain Duncan?" Vanna's heart stirred, and she spoke subconsciously.

Inside Anomaly 004, one could not casually talk about the owner of the tomb or the secrets inside the tomb, but the taboos did not mention whether one could talk about the outside world—Vanna mustered her courage at this moment and questioned the tomb guardian in front of her, and a kind of intuition was reminding her that even if she asked the guardian a few more questions, there would be no danger.

However, the guardian did not answer immediately this time. After being silent for several seconds, he slowly turned his head and looked into Vanna's eyes.

"After leaving, you will still forget the secrets you learned here. Asking too much is meaningless."

Vanna was stunned, and the curiosity burning in her heart seemed to be doused with cold water.

Yes, most of the information inside Anomaly 004 cannot be brought outside. No matter how much she knows here, she will still forget it after going out.

Even if it is written on parchment, things that should not be revealed will still be torn off at that time.

She didn't dare ask the guardian what the "forgetting mechanism" of Anomaly 004 was, because that was already a question pointing to the tomb itself, and asking it would cause trouble.

She could only sigh, take a step in regret, and continue towards the deepest tomb chamber.

But just then, she heard the guardian's voice enter her ears again—

"The Fire Thief's name is not Duncan."

Vanna's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't care less about being curious as to why the tomb guardian was suddenly willing to answer her previous question. Instead, she subconsciously asked, "Then the Leviathan Queen? From what you said, is that the Storm..."

But the tomb guardian suddenly stopped and interrupted Vanna's question in a low voice: "We have arrived."

Vanna raised her head and found that this deep, long tunnel had reached its end at some point, and the gate leading to the central tomb chamber stood abruptly in front of her. Pale firelight flickered in the tomb chamber, as if urging her to hurry in.

In the next second, she understood: she couldn't continue asking questions.

Even with the blessing of the strange and inexplicable identity of "emissary," the "courtesy" that the tomb guardian could give her was limited—or rather, the questions that the guardian himself could answer were limited.

She just didn't know whether this "restriction" was limited by the number of questions or the scope of answering them—unfortunately, all her memories would be cleared after she left Anomaly 004, and she probably wouldn't have the opportunity to verify this question through repeated tests in the future.

Several messy thoughts flashed through Vanna's mind, and finally, she breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the guardian in a low voice: "Thank you for your patience."

"Please enter, I will send you out later—although you will not remember."

Vanna nodded and stepped into the tomb chamber. As she crossed the gate, the guardian wrapped in bandages, between life and death, disappeared silently into the tunnel.

On the simple and solemn throne, the headless nameless king sat silently as if from ancient times. Pale fire basins burned quietly in the corners of the tomb chamber, and the air was filled with a silent and solemn atmosphere.

Vanna came to the front of the throne and saw a comfortable-looking armchair with a backrest placed in the position left for the "Listener." There was also a table in front of the chair.

On the table were fruit platters and pastries, and even a cup of red tea—steaming hot.

Vanna: "..."

She controlled the changes in her expression and tried to sit calmly in the chair.

Although the Listener cannot bring the memories from inside the tomb outside, she was sure that the people who entered this tomb chamber under normal circumstances definitely did not have this treatment!

Because none of the information occasionally brought out with the parchment that described the "listening" process mentioned fruit platters and pastries!

However, after a brief moment of stunnedness and the urge to complain, Vanna quickly calmed down, and her eyes became serious.

She looked around.

Anomaly 004 only contained pale, cold stones. In theory, there was no place to store food, and there could be no facilities like kitchens. The tomb guardian might know how to make tea, but she couldn't imagine the giant baking pastries.

She observed the things on the table.

The fruit was fresh, the tea was steaming, and the plate holding the pastries was a beautiful silver-inlaid wooden plate. The patterns... vaguely carried the style of the southern city-states, very much like the specialties of elven city-states such as Lightwind Port or South Port.

Vanna picked up a cookie, feeling the residual heat on it.

Perhaps an hour ago, this thing was still in the oven of a pastry shop in some city-state.

So... these things were "brought" directly from a southern city-state by the tomb guardian? Can he directly enter the real world in physical form? Or... are there hidden worshipers in the real world who accept the tomb guardian's orders and make "sacrifices" to Anomaly 004?

The fruit and the plates holding the pastries all looked like southern specialties. That area was elven territory, and elves... this mysterious and long-lived race did retain many unique belief habits. Some of these beliefs were completely different from the current Four Gods Church, and even formed their own system...

Did ancient elven books contain explanations about Anomaly 004?

Thoughts rose and fell in Vanna's mind, and her professional habits made her start digging to the bottom of the "unusual" things she saw before her.

But her thinking didn't last long.

A slight rubbing sound suddenly rang out in the tomb chamber, interrupting Vanna's thoughts.

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw the headless king slowly raising his arm, as if about to stand up from the throne—

Vanna opened her eyes.

The simple and solemn pillars of the assembly ground came into view. Chaotic and obscure streamers swept across the square, and the soul projections of the saints were gathering from a distance. In the corner of her eye, the pale, mysterious building was slowly sinking into the ground with bursts of rumbling.

Had she completed the mission?

Vanna was a little dazed. She shook her head, feeling that her memory was still stuck at the moment when she followed the polite tomb guardian into the gate—this feeling of memory interruption was not unfamiliar, after all, it was not the first time she had entered Anomaly 004 as a "Listener," but for some reason... this time she always felt that her memory had a strange tinge, as if...

Some incongruous impressions still left shallow traces in her cleared memory.

But soon, she couldn't care less about studying the little sense of incongruity in her mind.

Her compatriots had already gathered, and Bishop Valentine's projection was among them. In the distance, she could see the late-arriving Pope Helena standing at the edge of the square, seemingly watching this scene quietly.

"Vanna," Valentine said first, "how do you feel? This is your third time entering the tomb. Have you been affected?"

"I..." Vanna frowned, as if trying to confirm her mental state, but before she could feel anything in detail, she couldn't help but hiccup, "Hic—"

On the assembly ground, the saints who were gathering with concern suddenly fell silent.

Even Bishop Valentine was stunned. The old priest, who had watched Vanna grow up, was stunned for a long time before finally uttering a sentence: "Did you gnaw on stones in there?"

(End of this chapter)