Chapter 15 Disaster

Duncan was beginning to understand why the world feared and hated the *Lost Country* so much, and regarded its captain as if he were a plague.

Because in a sense, this "mobile disaster" really was like a plague.

In a dark, chaotic space, Duncan quietly watched the flickering flame in his hands, feeling the power contained within this flame that was so docile to him.

Fire is the most special existence in this world—it is not only a carrier of light and warmth, but also a guarantee for the development of mortal civilization in the midst of crisis, maintaining the balance of order between the transcendent realm and the real world.

It also symbolizes the blessings and protection of the gods for the mortal world.

In most fields involving transcendence, "fire" occupies a special position and role.

And his flame seemed to carry some extremely dangerous characteristics, even in the extraordinary realm, it was more terrifying than all flames. It possessed the ultimate pollution, the ultimate secrecy, and the ultimate power of plunder and blasphemy.

Based on the currently known information alone, the spiritual fire has the characteristic of polluting and distorting extraordinary objects, can be used to occupy the bodies of the dead, and can even hide in the souls of the living. Even the power of a Saint cannot completely eliminate it—as long as there is a suitable opportunity, the flame will smolder in the soul, establishing a secret passage to the *Lost Country*.

This is equivalent to a plague that can hardly be detected and eradicated. At least for now, the power of the so-called "Saint" seems to be ineffective against this flame. Duncan sighed softly.

He still didn't know what use this weak connection established between himself and Vanna could be, but at least for now, as long as there was a suitable "medium" and some kind of "opportunity," he could directly see and hear the situation near that Saint. And according to his perception beside the "mirror" at the time, he should also be able to project his power to some extent near that Saint—the most effective way to project it should be to pollute the "flame" near that Saint.

When the passage was established, he clearly sensed the presence of "flame" beside Vanna, and that flame was responding to his peeping. Coupled with the experience accumulated from controlling the spiritual fire before, he could be sure that "flame" must be a condition for establishing the connection.

As for what the specific "medium" and "opportunity" are... The former can temporarily be determined to be the "mirror" and "flame" as carriers of the projection channel (or, in the "professional" terms of the extraordinary realm, called "ritual props"), and the latter...

Duncan recalled the sentence he heard when the connection was suddenly established:

"... instead, it may connect them to the *Lost Country*..."

He immediately sensed the establishment of the passage after hearing this sentence, so the opportunity may also lie in this sentence. "*Lost Country*, this word..."

Duncan had limited understanding of the extraordinary realm, but even with so little understanding, he knew the special role of "names" in the extraordinary realm.

The name Duncan Abnomal, the name "*Lost Country*", both possessed power.

He had a certain answer in his heart for the time being:

When Vanna, the "carrier," says the name "*Lost Country*" near the flame and mirror, the connection between her and the *Lost Country* will be instantly strengthened. And if Duncan actively responds to this "call" from his side at this time, the passage will be established.

With his thoughts gradually calming down, Duncan also withdrew his gaze from the distant "stars."

He had no conflict with the Deep Sea Church, and had no malice towards the young Inquisitor, so naturally he did not intend to use this connection to harm the other party, but if this connection could occasionally bring him some valuable information... It wouldn't be a bad thing.

The dark, chaotic space and the scattered stars faded away like flowing water. Duncan opened his eyes and saw that he had "returned" to his bedroom. The golden mask imitating the sun was quietly lying by his hand, and the pigeon Aï was squatting on the table near the mask, dozing off.

This bird had been sent to chat with the Goat Head earlier, but for some reason, the latter didn't want to talk, so he sent the bird back. After a little hesitation, Duncan reached out and picked up the sun mask.

Although he had experienced some minor episodes and had confusedly encountered a lot of unexpected information, things were finally back on track—he had time to study this "sun relic." He first looked at the mask back and forth to confirm the details of its shape and the specific material, and while looking at it, he suddenly noticed that a corner of the mask seemed to be chipped. The chipped area faintly revealed a dark tone.

Duncan frowned. The next second, the pigeon, which had been dozing on the table, suddenly opened its eyes, flapping its wings and shouting, "Iron plated with copper! Iron plated with copper!"

When Duncan heard the pigeon's words, he felt that the damaged part of the mask was even more glaring. He quickly scratched the damaged area with his fingernails and studied it carefully for a while. Finally, his expression became wooden and he came to a conclusion—

It really was iron plated with copper, not even gilded.

Because some parts of the mask corner had even started to turn green...

"Isn't this cheating people!" The psychological gap made Duncan unable to help but mutter. He looked at the heavy iron lump in his hand with great depression, and recalled the "resale" plan in his heart when he was about to study the mask, feeling a chill in his heart. "I was still hoping to squeeze a few more layers out of those cultists... Even mass-produced relics can't be made like this, right?!"

Listening to Duncan's mutterings, the pigeon Aï rolled its eyes and fluttered its wings, shouting, "Are you sure these melons are ripe?" Duncan reacted for a moment before understanding what the pigeon meant—it meant "Are all the goods in your store genuine?" He recalled the pile of substandard modern industrial products in his store and glanced at Aï with a blank expression: "Shut up." After saying that, he ignored the bird next to him and turned his attention to the golden mask.

After confirming that this thing was really a worthless mass-produced item, his "test" was no longer a concern.

A wisp of faint green flame rose from his fingertips and covered the patterns on the surface of the golden mask like flowing water, and then, under Duncan's control, gradually penetrated into the interior of this "relic."

Mass-produced relics were also relics. Even if the real material of this thing was iron plated with copper, the runes engraved inside and the sun shape on its surface must be able to exert extraordinary effects. Since that sun priest could use this thing to communicate with his "god," it meant that this sun mask could be analyzed and studied according to the laws of extraordinary objects.

Duncan had some experience in the field of extraordinary object research. His main experience was to set things on fire if he disagreed—the most recent practical operation was to burn Alice's coffin box with green fire, and the facts proved that this research method was very effective. Feeling the flame gradually invading the inside of the mask, Duncan also concentrated his mind and began to perceive the information that might be contained inside this extraordinary object.

This was a mass-produced item, and its "level" was definitely not comparable to Alice's doll coffin. Duncan believed that he should be able to figure out the function and usage of this thing soon, and reverse its pollution and usurp it to become his own. With such thoughts in mind, he peered into the depths of the mask—however, the next second, the development of things exceeded his expectations!

A thunderous roar suddenly exploded in his mind, as if a channel had been "blasted" open in the depths of this ordinary mask. His spirit, which had penetrated deep into the mask, suddenly felt a huge and scorching power spreading out. Immediately afterwards, he felt as if he had "passed through" a channel, or pushed open a door, and a magnificent illusion poured into his head!

It may have only been a second, or even less. It was just a few fleeting images—in those images, he witnessed a blazing fireball burning fiercely and suspended in the dark space. The sun, a real, burning, releasing huge gravitational pull... a star.

In the amazing heat and tearing gravity, Duncan faced the scorching sun, but he did not turn into ashes in this sun—the sun seemed to be just a phantom from ancient times. It retained the majesty and momentum of what had once existed, but could not really affect the real world.

Duncan stared blankly at this round of scorching sun burning in the illusion, and then watched the sun slowly turn an angle in his sight.

On the back of the sun, there was dim, pale flesh and billions of twisted and withered tentacles. These limbs, stretching for billions of kilometers, jointly supported a huge eyeball that was half-open and half-closed, and had been decayed for countless years.

The scorching corona was burning fiercely on a layer of false shell woven and supported by the flesh and tentacles—releasing a power that desperately imitated the "sun," but was ultimately a counterfeit.

A weak and ethereal voice, almost like an illusion, sounded in Duncan's ear:

"Fire usurper... extinguish me... please..."