Chapter 17 The Task

Duncan quickly withdrew his gaze from the golden mask, making himself look like the other ordinary cultists around him, his eyes slightly lowered, as if preparing to listen attentively to the teachings.

He hadn't heard anything useful yet, so he couldn't attract the attention of this cult too early.

But the moment he lowered his head, the feeling of being scanned by someone's gaze came over him again.

Duncan frowned slightly and looked in the direction of the feeling, and sure enough, it was the girl in the black dress with the strange bell around her neck who was secretly observing him—and when his gaze turned to her, she turned her head away without a trace.

This made Duncan feel particularly puzzled.

He was certain that he didn't know her, and there was no information about this girl left in the original owner's memory—why would a follower of the Sun God who was meeting him for the first time pay so much attention to him?

Could it be that the pigeon on his shoulder was really that unique?

He was lost in thought when he suddenly heard the voice of the cult leader from the front—after putting on the golden mask, the leader had become the embodiment of some kind of divine power, and even his voice sounded low and majestic. It was hard to tell whether this was him deliberately controlling his vocal cords, or whether the mask had really mixed another consciousness into his voice:

"The prayer is over, and the Lord has witnessed our piety and reverence—grace has illuminated our souls. Brothers and sisters, be grateful, for we have persevered for another day in this difficult and dark world, and we are one day closer to the resurrection of the blazing sun and the reconstruction of order."

The "priest" wearing the golden mask opened his arms and spoke in a highly seductive tone, then his gaze suddenly fell on a corner among the believers, and his tone became gentle and friendly.

"But before we begin today's gathering, we must first welcome two compatriots—they were once trapped in darkness during these difficult times, but fortunately, with the guidance of the Lord, they were able to return to the group… Please introduce yourselves, briefly is fine."

Two compatriots?

Duncan suddenly remembered that this leader had indeed told him that there was more than one unfamiliar face at this gathering. Immediately afterward, he looked in the direction the leader was looking—he saw the girl in the black dress.

For some reason, he didn't feel surprised.

"You can call me Shirley," the girl took a half step forward very naturally and spoke generously, "My parents were both believers, but they were unfortunately killed by the claws of the Deep Sea Church four years ago. These years, I have been hiding in the Crossroads District, and have never contacted other brothers and sisters… Fortunately, you are here."

Her voice was not loud, and she sounded quiet and well-behaved. If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, it would have been really difficult to associate such a child with a bloody cultist.

"Welcome back among us, young sister," the leader nodded, then looked at the surrounding cultists, "Shirley's parents were killed in the church's great purge four years ago. We found her parents' names on the list from that year—next is another compatriot."

The leader's gaze finally fell on Duncan.

"Duncan, lives in the Lower City," Duncan had been prepared for this and stepped forward frankly, "A few days ago, the Deep Sea Church destroyed a sacrificial ritual in the sewers. I am a survivor."

He spoke very briefly, but his attitude was sincere and frank enough, and the news of the Deep Sea Church's raid on the sewer cult stronghold was widely known, occupying the front page of several newspapers. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, several cultists around him began to whisper to each other. The leader in the center of the gathering nodded, supplementing the situation: "This is also a compatriot who has been tested. After experiencing the ravages of those hyenas of the Deep Sea Church, he is still trying his best to return to the embrace of the Lord—he has a blessed emblem as a token, so he is trustworthy."

As soon as the leader finished speaking, the cultists who didn't know the situation immediately turned their gazes toward Duncan. Some nodded, some sighed, while Duncan continued to cover most of his face and recited the multiplication table backward…

"The brief introductions are over," the leader finally said, getting to the part that Duncan was interested in, "Next, I will announce the latest situation."

Duncan's ears immediately perked up.

"...Currently, there are still many compatriots gathering in this city-state, including both devout ordinary believers and powerful envoys and priests. Our strength in this city-state is gradually increasing, and the day of order's reshaping is approaching…

"But undeniably, the claws of the Deep Sea Church have also reacted. Recently, the city-state authorities have become increasingly strict in their investigation of foreign populations, and several of our gathering points have already been destroyed by the authorities. Therefore, the brothers and sisters operating in the city must be careful, and the matter of collecting sacrifices can be slowed down—the Son of the Lord has issued a decree that the power we have collected recently is already more than half. For the remaining vacancies, the Son of the Lord will personally resolve them…"

The surrounding cultists immediately seemed to be greatly moved and began to praise the Sun God's love and greatness. Duncan immediately thought of the sacrificial ritual he had seen in the sewers before—these cultists were indeed using that kind of ritual to collect power, and it sounded like… those behind-the-scenes manipulators called "Sons of the Sun" were also personally participating this time?

The power currently collected by this group of cultists still seemed to be insufficient, because the Pland Municipal Hall and the church had already noticed their activities, but if those sons also took action personally… the plans of these cultists would probably continue to advance!

Just then, he heard the leader continue to say: "...Our most important task at present is to determine the specific location of the Sun Shards. Remember, our goal is always to bring the true Sun God back into the world, and recovering the lost Sun Shards is the most critical step!"

Duncan's heart stirred—Sun Shards? What the hell were those?

Could a stack of Sun Shards get the Spear of Adun a major upgrade?

He felt the pigeon on his shoulder suddenly become restless. Eiai was shaking his body vigorously while making low cooing sounds from his throat.

Through the connection transmitted by the spirit fire, he could vaguely feel what this pigeon wanted to do.

It wanted to beep, wanted to beep loudly, wanted Duncan to take up the solar battle-axe and re-summon a wave of troops.

But it couldn't speak—it was just a pigeon here.

This made it extremely depressed.

"Quiet." Duncan could only mutter softly, while rubbing the pigeon's head with the back of his hand to show comfort. At the same time, a cultist closer to the leader asked, "Can we now determine the approximate location of the Sun Shards? Is there any way to… detect it?"

"The Sun Shards are currently in a dormant state and cannot be detected by any means," the leader shook his head. "But the Lord has issued guidance that the shards should be hidden near the Lower City of Pland. Also, considering that new compatriots have joined us today, I will explain the situation again:

"According to the information we have, the shards first appeared in the human world eleven years ago and most likely caused some kind of large-scale extraordinary phenomenon—possibly a large fire, possibly an abnormal high temperature in the entire district, or possibly collective spontaneous human combustion or group hallucinations. This is our current direction of investigation.

"The city-state authorities have detailed information on extraordinary phenomena over the years. The great God-blessed ones are already trying to find these records, and ordinary people living in the Lower City may still remember the 'strange things' that happened here eleven years ago. Our task is to collect clues in this regard to deduce the location of the Sun Shards.

"But be careful that all inquiries must be cautious. Although the authorities have always been lax in their management of the Lower City, the hyenas of the Deep Sea Church sometimes have a particularly keen sense of smell… They have already become alert."

The leader explained the current situation to the surrounding followers, and Duncan's mind was also racing. He paid particular attention to the time point "eleven years ago"—according to the leader, eleven years ago was the day when some kind of extraordinary object called "Sun Shards" appeared in the world. But Duncan noticed this time point because of something else.

Eleven years ago, Nina, who was only six years old, lost her parents.

It seemed to be because of a big fire.

Was it just a coincidence? Could there be such a coincidence?

Duncan tried to sort out the chaotic and fragmented memories in his mind, but most of these memories had already dissipated with the death of the original owner of the body. He tried hard to recall, but could only remember one or two vague fragments: the original owner of this body rushing out of the fire, holding his dying niece in his arms, a building of indiscernible appearance burning and collapsing behind him, and in the distance, the distorted and dim city streets that seemed like phantoms, with countless frenzied crowds howling and running wildly on the streets…