Chapter 11 The Statue

In the darkness, the statue of Gomona, the Storm Goddess, stood silently in the center of the underground chapel, a veil covering her face, overlooking the mortal world.

Of course, according to strict theological distinctions, the "goddess" in the underground chapel was another aspect of Gomona, and should be called the "Silent Sea Maiden."

Duncan stared intently at the cold stone sculpture, and he was certain that he had just heard a voice, a whisper like a murmur in a dream, coming from the statue.

However, Sherry and Old Dog, who were close by, showed no reaction—clearly, he was the only one who heard the sound.

"Mr. Duncan?"

Sherry noticed Duncan's strange behavior and widened her eyes nervously, involuntarily sticking close to Old Dog, "Did you find something?"

"Did you guys hear anything just now?"

Duncan casually extinguished the flame at his fingertips, cautiously approaching and observing the statue of the Silent Sea Maiden as he asked in a low voice.

"Sound?"

Sherry and Old Dog exchanged glances and shook their heads, "No."

The goddess statue showed no reaction to Duncan's renewed approach, and no further sound came.

Duncan felt that he might have been a bit reckless this time.

He had only felt that the connection between the Storm Goddess and this church had been severed, and that summoning Old Dog and burning down the chapel door had not caused any strange phenomena. Therefore, he gradually relaxed his caution while exploring, but he had not expected that after burning it with a ball of flame…

It had actually attracted the gaze of that "god"—if that questioning sound just now really came from Gomona.

He reflected on this in his heart and decided to be more careful when being reckless next time.

While reflecting in his heart, a question suddenly popped up:

Judging from the condition of this church, before he and Sherry entered, it had clearly been completely abandoned and forgotten. The connection between the Storm Goddess Gomona and this place had also been obviously blocked. Logically speaking, his flames were also an "invading force" in this church, and after the flames burned…

The erosion and shielding of this church should only become more severe than before, like adding fuel to an already badly burned ruin, but how…

After his fire, the connection between the Storm Goddess and this place was briefly strengthened instead!?

Wasn't he an intruder? Shouldn't his flames have a strong destructive effect on the divine power with order attributes? How did he end up energizing the goddess?

The more Duncan thought about it, the more confused he became, but he didn't dwell on it for too long.

In the end, he couldn't be sure whether that vague whisper just now was actually Gomona's voice. He was just wildly speculating based on this guess, and the immediate priority… was to think about how to deal with this strange church next.

After the whisper disappeared, there was no follow-up. Duncan didn't know what a goddess usually did, but she didn't seem to be continuing to watch this place. The rest of the underground chapel remained in its original state, and the flames he released didn't reveal any "veil" like they did in the abandoned factory.

He also didn't sense the situation on the other side of the "veil" anymore. The flame he had left in the split body of that umbrella monster was still nowhere to be found. He could only confirm that the flame was still burning, even beginning to spread, but he couldn't touch the "dimension" where the flame was located.

“…Mr. Duncan, do you not have any plans?”

Sherry waved his hand as soon as he heard it: "What is there? Just planning to contribute to maintaining the order of the city-state."

Duncan's throat gurgled, and he thought that even if he said that to those crazy demons in the abyssal sea, someone might believe it. The expression on the little rascal's face just now was clearly the smile of a subspace invader who had finally figured out what a subspace invasion meant and was preparing to launch one…

"Alright, there's nothing more to see here," Sherry didn't care about Old Dog and Duncan's reactions. He just glanced back at Gomona's statue, left a meaningful look, and then turned to walk towards the exit door, "It's not wise to stay here for long."

The group quickly walked towards the exit, but before leaving, Jie Yi couldn't help but stop: "Mr. Sherry, what about… what about the dead nun?"

Sherry also stopped and quietly gazed at the woman who had fought to the death.

She was still very young, so young that it was regrettable. She was not a church guardian specializing in combat, but she died in the darkness of this underground chapel with a sharp sword in her hand.

Sherry suddenly realized a problem.

Nun… why was a nun guarding the chapel? Under normal circumstances, shouldn't there be a team of specially trained guardians stationed here?

He recalled the scene he had seen earlier in the main hall.

That team of guardians seemed to have died in the main hall of the church… and according to the scene he had seen in that "overlapping reality," those guardians had not died in battle, but seemed to have all suddenly died while sitting on the benches praying.

The guardians who should have been stationed in the underground chapel suddenly died in the main hall of the church without any traces of battle. The nun who should have stayed in the main hall died alone in the chapel. The invaders were suspected to be from subspace, and they didn't leave any aura after the battle. The church…

After that, it was sealed off and forgotten. A certain "echo" of the nun returned to the main hall and continued to maintain the daily prayers…

Sherry's attention returned to reality. He quietly stared at the nun for a few seconds and said softly, "I'm sorry, I can't bury you. Stay here for now, perhaps someone will be able to find out the truth of what happened back then."

This matter really needed the help of some "professionals."

Sherry stood up and walked towards the exit leading to the main hall. Old Dog couldn't help but say from behind, "Ah, are we just leaving her there?"

"This is called preserving the scene," Sherry didn't turn back. "Let's go, the investigation here hasn't started yet, it's just that we don't need to do it ourselves next."

Old Dog gave an understanding 'oh' and followed Sherry's footsteps with Jie Yi. They left the underground chapel and headed towards the stairs leading to the main hall.

A soft bumping sound came from behind them.

Jie Yi suddenly stopped and looked back in the direction of the sound.

A dark wooden door stood at the entrance of the main hall. The wooden door was slightly ajar, reinforced with steel and rivets. Faint sacred rune patterns could be seen on the door.

Jie Yi looked back and slowly widened her eyes in horror.

Then she turned her head and saw Sherry with a straight face, his expression as deep as water.

"The… the door…" Old Dog raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the door, opening his mouth several times without knowing what to say.

"I saw it."

Sherry interrupted Old Dog, then stepped back to the chapel entrance. He glanced at the dark door and gently pushed it.

The door wasn't locked, but you could feel resistance if you continued to push.

The door was being held back by someone.

He withdrew his hand and quietly pondered for a few seconds, restraining the urge to set another fire to burn the door open.

He already knew what the situation would be outside the door after opening it, and the overly strange phenomenon here made him give up the idea of trying brute force methods again and again.

"Twisted spacetime… it really is twisted to a certain extent."

At the same time, in the Deep Sea Cathedral located in the Upper District, Vanna, with a calm expression, began her daily routine of praying. After arranging the day's work for her subordinates, she dismissed her attendants and came alone to the depths of this magnificent and sacred building.

This was the archives of the cathedral. Under the gaze of the goddess, this archives recorded all those extraordinary and confidential records.

In a sense, this place stored the history of the Pland City-State, storing the church's "memory" of this land.