After a brief inspection and confirmation that Layton was just sleeping and not dead from some unknown curse, Angel felt relieved. She picked up two used Charm on the ground and left the suite.
Before leaving, she found a small wooden box in the corner of the room. The lid of the box was open, and there were already many strange-shaped Copper Mine stones inside.
This is the "result of your hard work" over the past week... Angel smiled secretly, locked the door, and left the hotel invisible again.
Early on Thursday morning, I was fully prepared. I carried all Charm and Mystical Item and Angel to the entrance of yesterday's mine. Before the tourists who mined during the day and mined in their dreams at night had not arrived, I took the lead in entering the mine.
Summarizing yesterday's various clues, Angel is almost certain that the source of the abnormality in the mine and even the town should be the location where the collapse occurred half a year ago, and the location where Layton and others dug points to the deep pit that has been filled in.
After seeing the map inside the mine yesterday, she realized that the mine dug underground from the other side of the hill outside the city had gradually returned to the vicinity of the town.
After twists and turns, she arrived at yesterday's excavation location. In the vast cave, a pit dug several meters deep was extremely conspicuous among Angel's Dark Vision.
She reached out and took out the "Good Luck" revolver, cocked the hammer and was ready to fire at any time. She then carefully leaned forward and looked at the stone wall that was pitted with the mining pick. Except for some gravel that had not been transported away, the interior was no different from other passages in the mine.
No... there seem to be a few cracks deep down?
Angel manipulated the invisible silk thread to explore into the hole, groping back and forth on the stone wall that had been cracked with several lines after being excavated, and quickly stretched into the thickest crack. Until she reached the limit, she passed a handful of Black Flame along the silk thread into the stone wall, and then...
Flaming Jump!
After activating another item of the "Hypocrisy" ring, Beyonder Ability, Angel instantly passed through the crack in the stone wall that even a finger could not penetrate and came to the other side.
At this moment, she was extremely grateful that the new "Faceless" Mystical Item had the more powerful Flaming Jump, and she did not need to use "Magician Pocket Watch" herself. Otherwise, she would face the dilemma of having another fatal weakness in ten minutes.
She took back her reverie and looked at the area behind the stone wall.
This is the "Collapsed Area" marked in the accident report in the Government Affairs Hall archives. The only access to the main trunk of the mine has been sealed, and it was almost brought to light through the excavations of Layton and others.
Behind this supported passage is an equally wide mine, but there is a cavity in the center of the ground that occupies almost two-thirds of the area. The stone walls around the hole are irregular, as if they have collapsed naturally rather than being dug manually.
Whether it's the man in the trench coat in the dream, or what attracts Layton and others to keep digging, or even everything that causes the residents of Linhai Town to be weird, they should all be under the cave...
Angel took out a side of Magic Mirror that had been smeared with his own blood to strengthen the connection with Spirituality, and placed it in the corner of the passage as a last resort to save his life. Then he jumped down and slowly fell under the effect of "floating".
The cave was about twenty meters deep and about the same width as the mine above. The ground was rugged and rubble, and no one should have cleaned it after the collapse. There was a new passage on one side of the cave wall, which sloped downward with a very steep slope. Following the slope, she came to the bottom of the narrow cave amid a gradually increasing putrid smell.
This place seems to be closer to Linhai Town... As soon as such an idea came to her mind, she was stunned by the scene she saw.
In the cave, the simple wooden furniture has decayed, and the uneven ground is covered with dried blood. In the center is a ball of Flesh Chunk, which is as tall as a person, flowing with yellow-green pus, looking decayed and bloated, with a few slender white feathers stuck on it, and some yellow oil stains.
Out of control monster!
Angel immediately raised her gun and took aim, and several Black Flame appeared around her. The surrounding environment quickly cooled under the erosion of the ice under her feet, and even a hazy Frost Mist appeared.
"You're here."
Flesh Chunk There was a weak voice.
"Are you the person in Layton's dream last night?" Angel asked hesitantly. She recognized the other person's voice, but couldn't believe the scene she saw.
"It's me. I'm sorry about what happened last night. It was not my intention. I had already sensed you above, but unfortunately I still couldn't pull you to the Dream Invasion state. Fortunately, you found this place." There was some apology in the voice, and the tone was a little lower. "I am the senior deacon of the church, Pierce Turner, huh, at least I used to be. I originally thought you were also Nighthawks, but you seem to be one, Demoness."
Senior deacon? One of only nine senior deacons in the church?
Angel did not remember all the names of Archbishop and senior deacons, but she could confirm that she had not heard any news about senior deacons missing or losing control in Tingen's more than two months.
You must know that they are at least Beyonder of Sequence 5, and there are even some who have stepped into High Sequence and become Saint. The loss of any one of them will be news within the church, even if it is a traitor like Ince Zangwill, it will be known to everyone.
"I was indeed Nighthawks, but not 'Sleepless' Sequence. The reason why I can resist Nightmare's ability is the blessing of Saint."
She replied slowly, raising her right hand holding the revolver high, showing Hidden Holy Emblem on her wrist.
I hope Flesh Chunk, which looks like it has no facial features, can see it... She cursed.
"I see. This is the reason why you are not affected by me and him."
It seems that Angel's worries are completely unnecessary, Pierce Turner, who claims to be a former senior deacon, said with a hint of relief.
"Him?"
"He, he is also Pierce Turner, the other part of me, the part that has gone crazy."
Pierce's voice continued to be heard in "Flesh Chunk", and it became a bit louder, and even the epidermis dripping with pus began to tremble, making Angel's eyelids jump.
"I used to be Sequence 5 of 'Corpse Collector' Pathway, 'Gatekeeper'. I followed Holy Cathedral's plan a year ago and prepared to be promoted to Sequence 4. Unfortunately, after Ince Zangwill's attempt to be promoted failed, the Potion license for 'Undying' was no longer issued, so I switched to another method under the arrangement of Holy Cathedral."
"Do you mean to jump to 'Sleepless' Pathway?"
Guessing that Pierce was hesitant due to some kind of oath, Angel took the initiative to tell her what she knew about the Pathway swap.
She also swore an oath in front of Arianna, but the oaths within the church seemed to be obsessed with "not telling people who don't know." If both parties knew something, there would be no need to hide it from each other.
"Yes, you know a lot of high-authority secret knowledge, so our communication will be more convenient," Pierce was obviously relieved. "It took me half a year to prepare the ceremony for promotion to 'Nightwatcher', and the place where the ceremony will be held is in this Para Island, in this hidden mine."
"Why here, not inside a kingdom under the rule of the Church?"
Angel asked doubtfully.
Most of the Rhoside Islands and Berserk Sea are under the jurisdiction of Church of Storms in cooperation with the local garrison. Even after Backlund Great Smog, Church of Evernight has gained more rights through this, and has never touched many islands in the sea. As a senior deacon of the church, it is incredible to come to this isolated island overseas to complete the promotion ceremony to Demigod.
"This is due to the needs of the ceremony. The promotion of 'Nightwatcher' requires the ability of Nightmare to control the dreams of a large number of people and connect them together. The more real the dreams, the more people there are, the greater the hope of successful promotion. This is not for the senior 'Spirit Warlock' Difficulty, they can complete many tasks with the help of the spirits they have collected, but it is the biggest problem for me who needs Switching Pathways. I think you also know that 'Corpse Collector' Pathway does not have the ability to pull people into Dream Invasion."
"So you completed the preparations with the help of Charm and Sealed Artifact. Is this why you chose a sparsely populated island with little mobility?"
"You are very smart," Pierce chuckled and continued, "After completing all the preparations, I entered 'United Dreamland' through Charm. According to the plan, the me in the dream and the me in reality will take Potion of Fiction and Reality together, and be promoted to Sequence 4 under the anchor of the dream, but..."
There was some confusion and anger in his words.
"... Everything was out of control. The dream suddenly shattered. Before I could escape from the dream, I took Potion in reality, and my promotion naturally failed. What's even more frightening is that I didn't die immediately, but my body collapsed. Just like now, Spirit Body was torn apart, partially stuffed into the body, and partially left in the dream, and my consciousness became me now, and another completely crazy me.
"You must want to ask about the reason for the failure. I was also confused at the time, but in retrospect, there seemed to be endless lightning and hurricanes in the south of Para Island in the dream. In reality, the mine suddenly collapsed. The top of the cave I chose collapsed. Many miners broke into the broken dream and were affected, and I missed the only opportunity.
"I later learned from the passenger's dream that a violent Storm broke out on the Berserk Sea that day. After that, frequent Storm attacked nearby islands almost every week. Oh, I just happened to catch up with that day."
Pierce's tone became deeper, as if he was recalling the day when he tried to get promoted.
"So, you attracted me here so that I could notify the church and ask them to think of a way to rescue you from this state?"
Interrupting the other party's contemplation, Angel asked.
"No, you should know that there may be various ways to prevent it before it gets out of control, but after it gets out of control, there is only one solution."
The voice of Pierce slowly came out from "Flesh Chunk".
"I want you to kill me."