The whole affair was not complicated. It took only about fifteen minutes to hear the subordinate's account.
But Sandella sensed something deeply amiss.
What exactly was wrong? Was it the disappearance of the corpses? She pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized where the unease came from. She raised her head and looked at Shi Dong. "Do you really think they were pirates?"
Shi Dong looked confused. "My lady, they certainly looked like pirates... and they were doing what pirates do. If I hadn't stopped them, the four of us might have let them..."
"But the key point is that you showed up." Sandella cut him off. "A Glorious Fortress patrol squad, equipped with rifles and armor, and outnumbering the other side. Where did those pirates get the nerve to face you head-on?"
"Uh... well..." Shi Dong was at a loss for words.
The adjutant also realized it. "That's right. How did they dare?"
Even elite soldiers could lose heart when faced with certain death. But what had the pirates done?
According to Shi Dong, they had drawn their weapons, charged into battle, and all died fighting!
No one surrendered.
No one ran.
It was as if they had never intended to turn back from the moment they landed.
Pirates could never be that fearless.
They might look vicious and act with extreme brutality, but that was only toward the weak who fell into their hands. If these people truly had more courage than the army, they would have been ruling Glorious Fortress by now.
"There's another kind of person who doesn't fear death." Sandella fell silent for a moment. "Or rather, they no longer know what death is."
At her words, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"You mean... cultists?" Dailam, the head of the fourteenth squad, sucked in a sharp breath. "From the Hidden Mist Sect?"
"You've heard the rumors too?" Sandella looked at her subordinates.
"Yes." He answered frankly. "The closer the frontier city gets to completion, the more we hear such reports."
Rumor had it that the Hidden Mist Sect worshiped the ever-present mists of the New Continent, hoping they would forever blanket the skies. The sect's followers hated and opposed any attempt to dispel the mist.
"I can't make a judgment based on this alone. There are so many kinds of cultists; who knows which sect they belong to?" Sandella shook her head. "But as far as I'm concerned, anyone who devotes themselves to evil has something wrong with their head. We can't treat them as ordinary people."
"My lady..." Shi Dong swallowed. "Actually... even before this happened, someone knew that pirates would appear in the southern outskirts of the city."
"What do you mean?" Sandella and the adjutant asked at the same time.
"In the West District of the Old City, there's a Fortune Telling House." He honestly recounted the fortune-telling incident.
"Why didn't you mention this at all in your report!?" Dailam snapped.
Shi Dong lowered his head, not daring to argue.
"Because this isn't something that needs to go in the report." The commander-in-chief waved a hand, signaling that the matter was closed. "I'll investigate later, but there's something more important to deal with right now. Dailam, go get your weapon and bring Shi Dong. We're going to the Old City at once."
"Understood."
As soon as the two left the office, Woody immediately began helping his superior put on her armor. "How many men should we bring?"
"No need to call in the troops. Just the four of us. The sooner, the better."
"Isn't that too rash?" Woody asked in surprise. "This might be connected to cultists..."
"That's exactly why we need to catch them off guard."
"You suspect there are cultists in the city guard..."
"I don't." Sandella picked up her sword, stopping him from continuing. "But it's best to be cautious at a time like this. Besides, with my skill and strength, what's there to worry about?"
Ten minutes later, the four of them reached the Fortune Telling House's location.
But there was nothing in the alley.
"How... how is this possible?" Shi Dong stared at the empty alley entrance in disbelief. "I had my fortune told right here. It was a simple wooden shack, with a sign hanging above it!"
"Are you sure you haven't got the place wrong?" Dailam asked skeptically.
"I swear! This is the place. I couldn't possibly be mistaken!" he said urgently. "Right, right, someone else must have seen the Fortune Telling House too. We just need to ask around..."
"My lady?" The adjutant instinctively looked toward the commander-in-chief, only to see Sandella crouching at the entrance to the alley.
"Someone really was here. There are footprints on the ground, as well as marks left by tables and chairs." She spoke softly. "The footprints aren't from passersby. They're from someone pacing around here many times."
"I can't make anything out..." The adjutant carefully walked over to her, afraid of disturbing the scene.
"When you reach my level, your powers of observation will naturally improve." Sandella's expression was grave.
"Is something wrong?"
"There are no signs of anything being dragged away or dismantled... not even any wood shavings. It's as if the shack never existed."
"But you said someone was here... and that there had been tables and chairs..."
"That's the problem. Do you see it?" Sandella sighed. "If someone was here but the building wasn't, what state was Shi Dong in when he spoke with the fortune-teller?"
The thought alone was deeply unsettling.
The adjutant's expression stiffened. Seeing a vivid, detailed vision and then remembering it clearly afterward was a warning sign of delusion.
As for the so-called "fortune-teller," he was very likely the one who had caused it.
No one dared to take delusion lightly.
Medical research into delusion was still in its early stages, but one thing was certain: left unchecked, it would gradually turn into madness. At best, the sufferer might mutilate themselves and die; at worst, they could bring disaster upon those around them.
That was right. Delusion was by no means a simple mental illness. It was not only contagious, but could also gradually affect reality.
The corpses the officer had seen and the pirates the villagers had encountered might both have been aftereffects of delusion.
If a fortune-teller could induce delusion in a well-trained soldier, then sooner or later, he would become a ticking time bomb hidden somewhere in the city.
They had never heard of anyone causing delusion before, but who could say for certain that it was impossible?
After all, it was a power beyond reason. Even the Grand Cathedral, blessed by God, could not cure those who had fallen into madness.
Worse still, the other party might be a cultist.
Although many cult sects had claimed in the past that this power belonged to them, not a single case had ever proved it. But Sandella couldn't guarantee things would always stay that way, any more than she could stop the world from changing.
"Seal off this district. Question every household and find out how many people have seen this Wonderful Fortune Telling House. If anyone knows where the fortune-teller is, offer a generous reward."
"I'll see to it."
This was just routine procedure. Considering that most of the West District's residents were poor and gang members, Sandella didn't have much hope for the inquiries that would follow.
She turned her head and looked toward the hazy yellow skyline, sighing to herself.
This city was probably in trouble.