The old man's tone was flat, as if he was calmly telling a story, and he just happened to be in this story for a while.

"I'm sorry, but it's easy to talk a lot as you get older," the old priest smiled, looking at Vanna, "Do you have any friends from other sects?"

「····· I have a friend who is a cleric of the Academy of Truth," Vanna thought for a moment, "but she didn't tell me much about the teachings of Rachem, the god of wisdom."

"O believers in the God of Wisdom..... this is normal, their creed usually requires a college degree or higher to understand, and sometimes requires a higher mathematics score test," the old priest nodded with a look of course "In contrast, it is the followers of the God of Death who are better to deal with—after all, we are always going to die."

Speaking of this, the old man paused, and looked at the neatly arranged file behind Vanna with some curiosity: Your Excellency, can you tell me, what are you looking for?"

Vanna suddenly hesitated.

She didn't know whether to tell the old priest in front of her the secret, the hidden fire was very likely to point to a very dangerous shadow, and she couldn't be sure if the "shadow" was monitoring the city-state through some way, and she couldn't be sure if the old man in front of her could really help her.

But after a brief hesitation, she decided to reveal something.

This is the deepest part of the Deep Sea Church, the sanctuary of the Storm Goddess, and the old priest who cares for the archives is a staunch warrior who stays here to help visitors in this situation.

"I'm looking for a file and it's not accurate to say that it's not accurate, because it probably didn't exist in the first place," Vana said slowly, "Strictly speaking, it was a clue that happened in June of 1889, and it may point to a fire, but all the information was erased."

"The Great Fire of 1889?" "I don't remember any fires......," the old priest pondered, "and he stopped abruptly, looking at Vana thoughtfully.

"So, the erased data also includes our memories, right?"

"At least the memories of the people," Vana nodded slightly, "I don't have enough evidence, I don't have any way to prove the existence of that fire other than my own 'cognition', and I'm not sure what forces are manipulating this, I... It's just doubting."

She suddenly felt a little embarrassed, as an inquisitor, she was used to questioning and investigating, but this time the situation was completely different, she didn't know who she suspected of being targeted, and she wasn't even sure if the target was a human or a ghost, she launched an investigation based on her own thoughts, which was very different from her calm and calm style in the past.

The old priest in front of her, however, only nodded calmly, "Your piety and character are proof, Your Excellency."

As soon as the words fell, the old priest walked briskly to one of the pillars between the nearby bookshelves, and tapped a few specific protrusions on the pillar with his mechanical prosthetic hand, and the next second, a low roar came from the depths of the floor, followed by the creaking of gears and connecting rods.

The doors of the archives closed, and some of the bookshelves in the archives began to move slowly, some of them approached and closed, and in the vacant area, pillars depicting intricate runes slowly rose from the floor.

As the pillars rose, the faint sound of the waves echoed softly in Vanna's mind.

「······ There's no need to be so aggressive," Vanna was a little overwhelmed by the old priest's actions, "It's just a preliminary investigation now."

"Past experience has taught me that there is no 'preliminary' investigation of a great threat," the old priest said as he slowly walked towards Vanna, raising his mechanical prosthetic hand made of brass, "and I think that something that can interfere with cognition on a large scale, and even erase specific historical events, is a 'great threat.'"

「···· But your hasty blockade of the archives may cause a lot of attention."

"No, the Archives will be locked down randomly a few times a month so that the sacred devices and bookshelves here can be active," the old priest laughed, baring a mouthful of jagged teeth, "Don't let the ancient scrolls be quiet for too long", that's the rule.

"Then I don't have any doubts."

"You just checked a lot of information, and judging by your expression, you must have found something, right?" The old priest nodded, "I can help."

"I found some records of heretical cults—not directly related to the events I'm trying to investigate, and the records themselves are fragmented, but I don't think they're quite right," Vana said frankly, "and they all had a common characteristic, and they were concentrated in the first half of 1889 and came to an abrupt end after the factory leak in the Sixth Block......

The old priest listened carefully to Vanna's description, and then found the corresponding archival materials under the other party's identification.

"That's it," Vanna said, gesturing to the documents that had been found out, "the sacrificial rituals that were supposed to be ineffective, the substantial mental damage, and the small scale of which were all real acts of heresy. The closing reports of all the cases also look normal, those who should be arrested and those who should be sentenced are sentenced, but I think each of these cases is actually ······ There is no investigation in place."

"For a case of this magnitude, the arrest and trial of those involved is equivalent to an investigation, but you are right, when several similar incidents are stacked together... The situation is different," the old priest looked at the file and frowned, "All the people who held the sacrifice were subjected to 'inexplicable bewitchment', but the source of the bewitchment could not be investigated.....

He grunted, and suddenly looked up.

"Your Excellency, you only examined the 1889 file, did you?"

"Yes," Vanna nodded, and then reacted, "What do you mean.....

"It is true that the incident you are interested in happened in 1889, but have you ever thought that these strange cases of heresy did not necessarily start in 1889," the old priest said quickly, and then looked up at the other rows of the bookshelves, "The earlier records are here, and there are three rows from the bottom to the top, all of which can be flipped through." Vanna immediately walked over to the files and began to examine the records in the case file with the old priest.

Vanna immediately walked over to the files and began to examine the records in the case file with the old priest.

Moments later, almost simultaneously, they found similar records of heretical cult events in their respective case files.

1888, 1887, and even all the way back to 1886.

"There's a record here, too... The sacrifice that took place in the port area, and here, is only two months after the last record!"

Vana flipped through the file book in her hand, feeling her heart pounding, and she looked up to tell the old priest what she had discovered, only to find the old priest standing in front of the bookshelf, staring motionlessly at something.

"Did you find anything?" Vanna immediately frowned and asked a little nervously.

"There is no record of 1885," said the old priest softly, as if muttering to himself, "it should be here, in this row, after 1884... But now after 1884 is directly after 1886......

"That's it," Duncan said with a slight sigh of relief as Duncan glanced back in the direction he and Shirley had come from, "and there's probably nothing more to be gained from investigating here."

They had been in that chapel for a long time, but their current occult level of "two people together are not as good as a dog" was obviously not enough to break the strange space-time lockdown in the underground sanctuary.

Before they left, the underground sanctuary was restored to its original state, and the nun, who was between the ashes and the living, was still praying in the main hall of the church, unresponsive to Duncan and Shirley's departure.

The exterior of the church is still dilapidated, and the surrounding area of the church is still empty.

But Shirley doesn't really care much about what secrets are in the church anymore. "I····· Can I really go home?"

She looked at Duncan nervously, her tone mixed with an inexplicable hesitation.

"Of course, I've never restricted your freedom to leave," Duncan smiled and rubbed the other's hair, even though Shirley was about Nina's age, the girl's petite and thin size always made him feel like a younger child, "Today's investigation is over, you can go home."

Shirley subconsciously turned her head in the direction of her home, wanting to move her steps, but suddenly hesitated: "That... Will we continue to investigate after that?"

"Of course, this is far from over," Duncan raised an eyebrow, "What? Are you reluctant to leave?"

"Ahh Shirley quickly waved her hand when she heard this, "I am... It's time for the next survey:

"I'll find a way to contact you, and you can also take the initiative to come to me," Duncan smiled and rubbed Shirley's head again, "And not just investigate, if you encounter any other difficulties, you can also come directly to me for help."

Shirley blinked, always thinking something was weird, but finally nodded slightly, but before turning away, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "What about ······ What are your plans for the next step?"

"Me?" Duncan was stunned, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm going to buy a bike in the afternoon." Shirley was stunned: "······ Huh?"

"Buy a bike," Duncan repeated earnestly, "it's been a few days since I promised Nina, and it's time to make good on that promise." What, what's wrong?"

Shirley opened her mouth for a long time before she finally held back a sentence: "Ah······ Ah Dog said, you have to do something about the subspace invasion...

Before she finished speaking, a shadow suddenly appeared in the air next to her, and Ah Gou's broken gong voice hurriedly shouted in the shadows: "I didn't say it!!"

In the next second, this shadow disappeared again, and it was obvious that Ah Dog was afraid that he would be seen when he showed his head outside.

Duncan:......

He was stunned for a long time, and finally let out a helpless smile: "Okay. Now the subspace invasion is going to buy his niece a bicycle - let's leave it at that."