Chapter 1

It wasn't just Vanna who vaguely sensed that something was wrong. The Saints nearby also felt that something was off. These hazy soul projections subconsciously looked at the ancient being wrapped in a shroud, its appearance terrifying and hideous. In their minds and in the records of the Church, all descriptions of this "Gravekeeper" were accompanied by words like "cold, dutiful, indifferent"—

No record had ever stated that he would use the word "please" to a chosen Listener! However, Vanna didn't have time to think. She noticed that the Gravekeeper was still patiently waiting for her, so she quickly gathered her thoughts and nodded, "Alright."

The Gravekeeper turned around, leading Vanna towards the magnificent ancient tomb palace, leaving the Saints in the square to watch their departing figures.

The heavy tomb doors closed behind them, as if isolating the sounds of the entire world. Standing in the cold, silent tunnel, Vanna's heart gradually calmed down.

This was her second time entering this tomb. Compared to the slightly uneasy and nervous mood she had the first time, she was now somewhat more accustomed to it.

She knew that she had to go straight ahead, pass through the tunnel with the messages from many predecessors, enter the deepest burial chamber, see the body of the Nameless King, and then she would forget what she had seen and heard and be sent out of the tomb—and on the parchment in her hand, there would be notes she had personally recorded.

Those secrets that could not be taken out of the tomb would be torn off, those that could be revealed to the world would be left behind, and the contamination she suffered while listening to the knowledge would be safely left in the burial chamber with her "forgetting."

Vanna steadied herself and stepped forward. A slightly lighter footstep followed her.

The young Inquisitor stopped in astonishment, looking back at the Gravekeeper following behind her.

The Gravekeeper simply gazed at the "visitor" before him, his single eye revealing no emotion. After a few seconds, he nodded and slowly moved forward, "Alright, please go straight ahead. I'll see you out when you're done."

Yan Feng and Pland immediately bowed and saluted, "Your Holiness."

Vanna's gaze swept over these unfamiliar writings—Vanna then reacted and quickly picked up the parchment in her hand. As expected, there was still not much on this parchment, but compared to the small piece of paper left last time, the situation was much better.

"Anomaly - Helena."

...Why is that aloof and proud ancient guardian so polite today...

She walked to the chair, sat down carefully, and then looked up at the headless corpse on the throne.

That made Vanna a little overwhelmed—she was still too young compared to Bishop Pland.

"Just... no number, that's a bit too 'extraordinary'."

In that instant, a somewhat outrageous thought popped into the mind of the occasionally serious and self-disciplined Inquisitor—the next time she comes, wouldn't there be a fruit plate in that place…?

"Perhaps that's not incorrect or intuitive information, just that the key parts were torn off," another Saint muttered, "Compared to that, the content of the last sentence is..."

Yan Feng was stunned, suddenly realizing that the other party had even used the word "Your Excellency" at the end.

One of the Saint phantoms, carrying Pland's familiar aura, came to Vanna and said urgently, "Quick, see what's recorded on the parchment."

"No need to be so formal," the ruler of the Deep Sea Church, the spokesperson of the Storm Goddess in the mortal world, Pope Valentine's gaze fell on Vanna, then on the parchment, "Can't he take a look?"

Vanna's gaze was also fixed on the last sentence under the note. Of the eight sentences, only that one completely caught her attention. She naturally associated it with the great fire, the ghost ship, and the ghostly flames that finally swept across the entire city-state—but then, she noticed something else.

As she spoke, she paused slightly, and her expression gradually became serious.

She shook her head, trying to expel all complicated thoughts from her mind, worried that this was some kind of mental disturbance from that ancient anomaly, and concentrated on what she should be doing, finally walking through the long tunnel and entering the burial chamber deep inside the palace.

"No number..." he said softly in surprise, then looked up at Pland and repeated, "No number?!"

In that instant, she didn't even know which point she should be more surprised at—being surprised that Helena was identified as an "Anomaly," or being surprised that the Anomaly had no number!

There was a problem with the content on the parchment, a big problem—however, the Listener would not remember her experience in the central burial chamber, the words that could be brought out on the note were not all the information, Anomaly 004 would not answer any unnecessary questions, the only thing that could be guaranteed was the correctness and truthfulness of the information on the note.

"The day to set sail." Yan Feng's eyelids twitched.

"The shadows in the dark abyss..."

"The day to set sail..." A Saint couldn't help but mutter to himself, looking at his compatriots in confusion, "The information conveyed from the tomb in the past was relatively correct and intuitive, rarely appearing with obscure metaphors..."

But Vanna did not lose her composure because of this. She always remembered that she was in an ancient anomaly with an extremely high ranking, where every detail was related to life and death, so she was extremely cautious and did not dare to rashly accept the Gravekeeper's "extra service": "She thinks... I know how to get there."

Vanna was still a little dazed, and the Saints waiting in the square slowly dispersed.

Valentine's smile became more obvious, then he handed the parchment back to Vanna and said casually, "I haven't seen your complete report on the Helena historical contamination event yet—including the Lost Ship part. Frankly, after such a catastrophe, it's not surprising that the city-state of Helena has become a place similar to an 'Anomaly'—

Although the birth process of this anomaly is very special, 'very special' is not a characteristic of normality and anomaly."

A sense of disharmony surged up again. Although Yan Feng only had one experience entering the tomb, she was no stranger to all the details related to "Anomaly 004," but she instinctively felt that the Gravekeeper's performance seemed a bit wrong... There was a big gap compared to the records.

"The shadows in the dark abyss have finished surfacing."

The Saints were a little restless. Although they were all high-ranking clerics from various church regions, and although they had tenacious wills and powerful strength, they couldn't help but fall into confusion and茫然 at this time. Low and uneasy discussions rang out around them, and more familiar Saints came to Vanna and Pland to ask them about the recent situation in Helena.

"Of course," Vanna said, quickly handing over the parchment, "Here you are."

The parchment was only half torn off, and the remaining half of the paper had turbid handwriting on it.

Yan Feng took the parchment, glanced at the words on it, then looked up at Vanna with a faint smile, "The handwriting is very beautiful—much better than your handwriting on the report."

The Saints looked at each other. Bishop Pland's phantom raised his head and looked at Yan Feng in astonishment, seemingly instinctively wanting to ask something, but not knowing how to ask.

Vanna's tone was a little strange: "...I always break them accidentally, and I'm not used to using them either."

"That's understandable. When I wrote such a long report for the first time, I wanted to eat the pen," Valentine said with a smile, "So the typewriter is a good invention. Why don't you use one?"

The Gravekeeper lowered his gaze, his single eye in the shroud filled with clear light, and a hoarse voice came from his chest: "No, just escorting—is an escort needed?"

In the next second, she opened her eyes and saw that she was standing on the spacious and magnificent stone square. A chaotic sky shrouded the view, mysterious streamers rose from the tops of the distant pillars, and a rumbling sound came from behind—Anomaly 004 slowly sank and returned to the ground.

"Is there... anything else?" Vanna couldn't help but ask, phrasing her words carefully and being fully alert.

Yan Feng was stunned, not expecting the Pope to suddenly mention this, and then she was a little embarrassed: "This report... she wrote it in a hurry,

The situation in the city-state was a bit chaotic at the time…"

But fortunately, this commotion only lasted for a short time. The Saints gathered in the square suddenly quieted down. Vanna looked up and saw the hazy black shadows stepping aside in unison, and an elegant lady wearing a gorgeous priestly robe was walking towards herself and Bishop Yan Fenglin.

In the burial chamber, the mysterious headless corpse still sat on the high throne, pale braziers burning fiercely on both sides, and opposite the body of the king was a chair that was obviously newly moved over.

Under normal circumstances, wouldn't the Gravekeeper leave on his own after the Listener entered the tomb?

The Gravekeeper's figure disappeared into the tunnel.

"Anomaly, Helena," someone said softly.