"This island...... The island as a whole is a part of the old gods, and everything on the island is ...... Stones, dirt, things that look like trees, all the same......

"The Annihilationists who live on this island use the island's resources to build houses, build ships, eat what grows in the dirt here, and perform rituals and summon demons all day long...... Associate yourself with the whole island......

"There are really no living people on the island, everyone is eaten by 'it', and the island is ...... Those stupid X...... The stupid cultists have touched something deep on this island and brought it to life......"

Shirley hugged her knees, sat on the ground at the edge of the square, intermittently recounting what she had just seen, her palpitations still lingered, and the trepidation was still deeply imprinted in her mind, and the impact of the "truth" briefly put a heavy strain on her mind, although she was "dragged" out by the captain at the last moment, she still felt as if something was buzzing in her head, and there were many vague "memories" drilling around in her consciousness.

The dog stood next to Shirley, gently rubbing Shirley's thigh with its hideous and terrifying skeletal body, trying to calm the other party's frightened mind in this way - this somewhat helped, and Shirley was recovering little by little.

Duncan sat next to Shirley, shielding Shirley's mind from the tainted knowledge, and asked curiously, "Touched something deep on this island?" What exactly did they do? ”

Shirley hesitated for a moment, rummaging through her own jumbled memories—there was so much information rushing into her mind just now, the information that remained in the "memories" of the "living island", that she didn't have time to discern, think, or even comprehend them—and now, these chaotic memories were gradually tumbling out of the depths of her consciousness, and some of these useful fragments were finally becoming clear.

"They...... They dug too deep. ”

"Digging too deep?" Morris on the side immediately frowned, "What are they digging?" ”

"In the center of the island, there is a passage to the underground...... "Shirley frowned tightly, and finally found some useful memory fragments, "It was ...... when the sun went out!" ”

"When the sun goes out?" Morris's eyes changed slightly, and he subconsciously exchanged glances with Vanna and the captain while repeating the words.

Shirley, on the other hand, was suddenly a little energetic, and she matched the voice she had "heard" with the messy picture she saw, and immediately spoke: "Yes, that's the time!" When the sun goes out, there is still light on the holy island, and the cultists on the island remain 'awake'...... Then, as if inspired by something, they began to dig in the center of the island...... There was a cave there, and the depths were black rocks, and they began to dig frantically down, and then found a secret room, but the secret room was blocked by ......"

Shirley paused, and her tone was a little uncertain: "They wanted to enter the secret room, but it seems that they didn't have time to destroy it, and before they even touched that door, something happened......"

Amber walked over from the side, and the young goddess of the deep sea was extremely interested in what Shirley had to say: "So, all the cultists on the island were killed because they touched the defense mechanism of this 'living island'?" ”

Shirley blinked, and was about to nod, but suddenly felt as if she had forgotten something very important, and shook her head hesitantly.

“…… No, they weren't killed by the 'defense mechanism'......" She slowly recalled, understanding the "information" that was hovering in her mind little by little, and after a few minutes of sorting and thinking, she finally understood the "truth", "They were killed by a ...... 'knowledge' ......"

As soon as she finished speaking, before she could continue to say anything, Morris next to her instantly reacted: "Don't say it!" ”

Almost at the same time, Amber had instantly taken out the Storm Goddess's talisman from her bosom and pierced her palm with its tip, and the leader of the Death Priest next to her, who had been silent all the way, also took out the blessed urn, and more than 20 marines also used talismans and holy relics to carry out emergency protection for themselves.

Morris instantly applied several layers of spiritual protection to himself, and wrapped Rahhem's talisman and colored stone bracelet around his wrist, only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, and looked at Shirley and nodded: "You can say it now." ”

Shirley was taken aback by the scene and subconsciously asked, "...... As for this? ”

Vanna looked at Shirley with a serious face and nodded: "As for this, because this is a 'knowledge' that killed all the annihilation cultists on the entire island in an instant, although from your description, it is related to their own long-term ritual, but this 'knowledge' may still be dangerous. ”

Morris also added: "Normally, if the investigator accidentally obtains the secret knowledge and survives himself, then the safest and most professional operation is to transcribe the content on parchment with the blessing of the four gods, and use this way to mitigate and filter out the contamination carried in the information - do you know the 'secret language'?" ”

Shirley thought for a moment and shook her head honestly: "...... Well, I don't understand. ”

Morris spread his hands: "It's okay, now you can talk about it." ”

Shirley scratched her cheeks, and her tense nerves relaxed a little more than just now, so after sorting out her thoughts a little, she repeated the words she had just "heard"-

"Human beings are a kind of ghostly demons after high differentiation, and ghostly demons are primordial castings that are contained in the deep sea because they cannot infuse humanity and wisdom."

The square was quiet for a few seconds.

Alice was the first to break the silence, she blinked and looked at Shirley: "...... It's gone? ”

"It's gone," Shirley nodded, "and that's it...... But those cultists became these almost in the blink of an eye after knowing the 'truth'...... Nausea and scary state. ”

Shirley said half-incomprehensibly, and Alice listened half-incomprehensibly, but beside them, a thoughtful and knowing expression gradually appeared on Duncan's face.

He slowly stood up, muttering as he thought, "This is not just a sentence...... This quote explains a lot of things. ”

Amber bowed her head and drew the emblem of Gemona on her chest with her hand: "Goddess ...... mercy"

The corners of Morris's mouth twitched: "...... Humans are a kind of ghostly demons, and this sentence seems a bit too extreme even in the theory of the Annihilation Sect. ”

"It's not the first time we've encountered this kind of 'extreme' intelligence, from the very beginning when we got the Book of Blasphemy." Vanna shook her head with a strange expression, and then looked up at the Marines sent down from the Tides and the Restless.

Surprised, pensive, confused - but no one seemed to waver.

This is a force that specializes in border affairs - tenacity of will and a stable state of mind are indispensable qualities, and given the actual situation in the border seas, "maintaining a state of mind in the face of unbelievable information and knowledge" is probably already engraved in the bones of these people.

"It's no wonder that those 'humanoids' floating on the sea exude the aura of a dark demon...... Amber said suddenly thoughtfully, "I have heard the rumor that the 'Dark Lord created all living beings in the Third Long Night', but I never thought that the connection between 'humans' and 'dark demons' can be understood from this perspective...... But if that's the case, it would explain the 'summoning' abilities of the Annihilation Cultists, and the symbiosis between them and the Nether Demons......"

As she said this, her eyes involuntarily glanced at the dog who was lying on Shirley's lap.

Ah Gou instantly noticed Amber's gaze, and immediately raised his head: "Don't look at me, the situation between me and Shirley is different from that group of cultists - and I am not the same as my brainless relatives, let me tell you, I am at least at the level of high school graduation and consummation, maybe there is still a half-step city-state university......"

Shirley was stunned by Ah Gou's last two sentences: "...... What are you talking about? ”

Ah Gou muttered in a low voice: "I don't know, the captain taught ......"

Amber opened her mouth with a subtle expression: "Even if I heard about it before, I can't believe that there really is a dark demon with a 'heart' in this world until I see it with my own eyes...... Sorry, I didn't mean anything else. ”

Ah Gou muttered: "You'd better not, I'm messing with the captain......"

Duncan didn't care about the dog's whispering, and after confirming that Shirley's condition was stable, he broke the silence: "The connection between humans and demons can be discussed later, now it's time to think about the next steps." ”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at a certain part of the island's interior that Shirley had casually pointed to.

"Shirley, do you remember exactly where they 'dug up'?"

"Well," Shirley nodded at once, "I remember this part quite clearly, and I even recognize the road." ”

"Then our next target is the 'secret room' dug up by the cultists," Duncan said, but his eyes quickly fell on Amber and the other Marines, "but now there's a question - do you want to go deeper?" The next area may not be as mild as the port area. ”

“…… Your Excellency, we are not canaries in need of protection," Amber's expression turned serious, "We've been dealing with 'weird things' on the border, including many as dangerous and weird as this island - we have our own experience and means. ”

Looking at the other party's serious expression, Duncan was silent for a few seconds, and finally nodded slowly.

"Okay, let's go deeper."

(Push book time, from the fireworks into the city of "Gatekeeper of All Worlds", science fiction classification + weird elements, although the number of words is still small, but it is a subject of interest, if you are also interested, you can take a look!) ）

(End of chapter)