What do you know?

Seeing the look of disdain on Dulin's face, as if he couldn't believe him at all—well, it made sense. After all, the Light Bearer was a secret nun who stood above the Church's hierarchy, answering only to the "Saintess." How could she possibly be in league with him?

Even Gelong himself still felt like he was dreaming; it was perfectly normal for Dulin not to believe him.

However.

The priest let out a cold snort, released his foot from Dulin's chest, and hauled the captain of the Knights Order up from the ground.

Immediately after, the priest pulled a surveillance device from his robes and held the screen up to Dulin.

"Take a good look, at these two poor little mice now lured into the sewers by the cheese."

Following the priest's words, Dulin looked at the surveillance feed, and in an instant, his already grim complexion turned completely ashen.

For on the screen, in the dark, abandoned underground drainage channel, three figures were slowly moving forward.

Dulin recognized two of them immediately—a man and a woman—the young man from the cafe earlier and the female companion he had once taken to the Haisha Bar.

And leading the way in front of them was a nun whom Dulin had never seen before, a complete stranger.

Liao Ji had definitely not entered through the underground entrance of the Sacrament Archive that he had once told the young man about. Combining this with the priest's words and the surveillance footage, Dulin understood in a heartbeat.

That young man and woman.

They had fallen for a trap.

This was a setup, a snare laid by the priest and that strange nun. The young man had been exposed long ago; Liao Ji and his companion were no longer hunters, but prey walking step by step into a death trap.

"See that? That is Lady Maria! Tsk tsk. As expected of a Light Bearer, to achieve her goals, she can easily cast aside her noble stature and not hesitate to take the field herself, acting as the key bait to ensure these two excellent test subjects cooperate obediently."

"Excellent test subjects!?"

Dulin gritted his teeth. He seemed to understand why the priest and the Light Bearer had gone to such great lengths.

"That's right. Although I don't know exactly what happened at the Kalleva factory last night, there is no doubt that the pair can make the 'Relic' react. Incredible, simply incredible! Is there anything better in this world than these test subjects!!"

"Since he can awaken the 'Scarlet Star,' he can absolutely make my two 'Great Emperor's Emblems' come to life! Dulin, do you have any idea how long I spent trying to use those two Great Emperor's Emblems, trying to fuse them into my own body? Do you know how many rats I used for experiments?"

"It's a pity that among all those rats, many of whom were Corrupted, over half of them either went completely insane after using a 'Great Emperor's Emblem' once, went berserk and turned into Corrupted Corpses, or suffered an even worse fate—exploding and dying halfway through. But now it's different. Lady Light Bearer told me that the young man can use the power of the 'Great Emperor's Emblem' perfectly. Such a damnably enviable talent! But—"

"It doesn't matter, it's mine now!" The priest extended a hand and clenched his fist tightly.

"That young man's talent and power will be seized by Lady Light Bearer and me. From now on, not just the 'Great Emperor's Emblem,' but we will have the power to use every legendary 'Great Emperor's Relic.' Hahahahahaha!"

The priest let out a maniacal laugh that echoed through the Sacrament Archive, the Church's symbol of the "Hall of Knowledge," sounding incredibly ironic.

Watching Dulin, the once most "rebellious" and "thorny" knight, whose eyes had now completely lost their light, becoming murky and dim, the priest felt an incomparable sense of pleasure.

This was why, even though Dulin's little actions no longer mattered, he still had to come over, ruthlessly crush Dulin, and then lay out his entire grand plan.

Greatness requires witnesses; it requires an audience.

Therefore, Gelong would not kill Dulin.

He even spared the captain of the knights.

After all, no matter what Dulin did, he couldn't change the outcome. So why not let himself continue to enjoy this wonderful feeling of bestowing despair upon others for a little longer?

"Alright, get up, Captain Dulin. Don't worry, you are the most excellent knight under my command; how could I bear to let you exit the stage? It is merely a punishment for your restlessness."

The priest pulled a small medicine bottle from his robes and tossed it in front of Dulin.

"The medicine for your wife this month will be halved. If there is a next time, you can just watch her turn into a Corrupted Corpse!"

Having done all this, the priest strode away, heading toward the underground entrance of the archive, ready to rendezvous with Maria and welcome his own "rebirth."

As for Dulin, who had collapsed to the ground in a daze, before he could even crawl up, a frantic ringing sound erupted from his pocket.

When Dulin answered the phone in a panic, the anxious voice of Tamik came through.

"Ma-Master! The Mistress's illness has suddenly worsened! Where are you? Come back quickly!"

Morning Glow Hospital.

This was the largest and best hospital in the Black Cave Settlement, established by the Church.

Sitting at the entrance of the emergency room, Dulin held his head in his hands, his fingers buried deep into his hair. One could feel the thick, heavy self-reproach radiating from him. The young knight accompanying him, Tamik, opened his mouth several times to offer comfort, but in the end, he could only remain silent by his side.

Finally.

The light in the emergency room went out. Several Church physicians walked out. Facing the rushing Captain Dulin, the doctor nodded at him, signaling that the rescue had been successful and the patient was temporarily out of danger.

However.

"Captain Dulin, your wife's illness... we have never seen anything like it before. I suspect it is a chronic condition triggered by Corrupt Calamity. We cannot estimate when the next attack will occur or how severe it will be, we..."

Dulin signaled for the doctor to stop; there was no need to say more. He knew more about Susan's illness than anyone else, more than anyone. Dulin's hand, hidden in his sleeve, gripped the medicine bottle the priest had bestowed upon him tightly.

"Captain, that's... that's great! I knew Sister Susan would pull through!" Tamik walked over, having held it in for a long time, finally managing to say a word of comfort.

However, Dulin ignored Tamik completely.

He pressed his head against the window of the hospital room. Or rather, in the eyes of this knight captain, the only thing left in the world was the sleeping blonde woman on the hospital bed inside the intensive care unit, who had just finished surgery.

After a short silence between the two.

Tamik knew that Dulin must be in great pain and had no energy to think about anything else, but—

"Captain, I have a very important matter to report to you. According to my investigation, it is highly likely that a Corrupt Calamity item with a contamination level of at least C-rank was stored in the Kalleva factory last night. However, after our search throughout the night, the Knights Order still hasn't been able to find that Corrupt Calamity item. So I suspect... there is a high probability that that pair took it from the factory!"

"That is a C-rank or higher source of contamination; if it were to erupt, the consequences would be unimaginable! Most of the people in the Black Cave could be implicated, Captain! We cannot just sit idly by, we cannot let everyone in the Black Cave be exposed to such a Corrupt Calamity crisis! Therefore, Captain! I request to re-establish contact with that Mr. Liao Ji! I want to implore him to tell me what happened last night, I want to implore him, for the sake of the people of the Black Cave, to hand over that source of contamination, that Corrupt Calamity item, to our Chu—"

"Enough!"

The young knight's report was cut off by an angry shout.

Dulin finally stepped away from the door of the infirmary. He stared at Tamik standing opposite him, and as he recalled the words just spoken, an inexplicable rage welled up from the bottom of his heart.

"The events of last night end here. Tell everyone in the Knights Order to... withdraw and return! No one is allowed to continue investigating this matter, including you. If you understood me, then get out of my sight!"

However, Tamik, who had always been obedient to Dulin, stubbornly chose to remain in place this time in the face of Dulin's order, and then firmly shook his head.

"Captain, I cannot comply with this order!"

This, it seemed, completely ignited Dulin's fury. He even began to lose his composure, letting out a roar filled with signs of a breakdown.

"Cannot comply? Ha. Hahahaha! Tamik, let me tell you, I **--ing hate self-righteous brats like you! You refuse me? On what grounds do you refuse my order? Do you think you're so **great? Do you think you're so *--ing capable? Do you think you know more than I do? What do you know?"

"Tell me, you—"

"What the *-- do you know!!"