Silencing Witnesses

Nest Beast hairs needed time after parasitizing a person before turning them into a nest.

Generally speaking, during this period, pressing on various parts of the body would reveal tiny black specks.

As long as there was a sufficiently capable priest nearby, and the black hairs had not been parasitizing the host for too long or in excessive numbers, the person could be cured.

But once enough time had passed and the black hairs bored into the brain, the individual would be controlled by the Nest Beast and officially become a Nest Beast. At that point, unless one was a god, they were basically beyond saving.

Yet now, this incubation period had vanished.

"How is that possible?" Benjamin only wished he had two more legs. He ran at full speed, fleeing for his life while waiting for rescue.

What was happening completely defied his understanding. Nest Beasts were dangerous, but they were ultimately just animals with a unique method of parasitism. Their parasitism and spread both required time.

"This isn't right! Even a deeply Alienated Nest Beast shouldn't have this ability!" Benjamin glanced back, and his soul nearly left his body. Seven or eight parasitized people moved in unison at that moment, pursuing him together.

They even used "ranged weapons" and tactics.

Someone picked up the flesh and blood scattered by the earlier victim and hurled it at him.

Black threads squirmed within it. Clearly, Nest Beast hairs were still lodged in the flesh.

As for tactics, some chose to circle around and flank him, driving him toward the outskirts of the village. If Benjamin had not spent years on the run as a frontline salesman in the gray market, he might not even have noticed.

And in just a few seconds, their bodies began undergoing different changes. Their speed and strength were both increasing as they entered some sort of temporary explosive state.

"The person behind this... that person can control Nest Beasts!!" Though he was unwilling to believe it, that was the only explanation for the situation.

A Nest Beast controlled by someone was vastly more dangerous.

Being parasitized had once been survivable. Now, those black hairs would likely bore into his brain in an instant, and he would be controlled just as quickly.

"Are the waters around Whale Skin Mine really this deep?!!!" Whenever Benjamin tried to use the Breathing Technique to increase his speed, the Sin Nail in his chest restricted his breathing, gradually forcing him into danger.

He could not understand it at all. The issue with Whale Skin Mine was not that serious. Although it was a controlled material, compared to nonrenewable resources that fundamentally damaged the Sky Whale, this stuff was renewable.

As long as it was not overmined and the Sky Whale was given time to adapt, at most it would make its flight somewhat unstable, perhaps causing dozens or even hundreds of deaths.

But compared to the millions living on the Sky Whale's back, such a matter was not worth making such a huge fuss over.

Was it really worth employing a supernatural being capable of controlling Nest Beasts, someone he had never even imagined existed?

In some people's eyes, the value of such a person far exceeded a little Whale Skin Mine.

"I can't escape!" A streak of black flashed through the corner of Benjamin's eye, and pain shot through the back of his calf. He had clearly been hit.

"After our intelligence was exposed, we became too passive." Benjamin fell into despair, and that despair brought him calm.

Neither Isabella, Jacques, nor he himself had expected to be exposed so quickly. And the other side had actually seized the opportunity while he was separated from the two of them, launching an attack with such ruthless decisiveness.

And it was an attack of extreme danger.

He could feel that thing rapidly burrowing upward from his calf into his body.

"Dorsal Fin Village must be hiding an enormous secret. What Otto is doing is definitely about more than Whale Skin Mine."

"In this situation, if Isabella discovers any secret, Otto may very well take the risk and murder a member of the clergy!"

"I... absolutely cannot let Priest Isabella come to harm!" Benjamin recalled how Isabella had saved him when he was in danger, then gently asked whether he was all right.

Then he steeled himself, reached up to seize a Sin Nail in his chest, and yanked it out with all his strength.

In this chaotic age, everyone was like a Sky Whale, carrying a multitude of burdens and living beneath this sky under all kinds of restrictions.

Their hearts drifted just as aimlessly, and it was difficult to find someone who cared for them, or someone worth caring about.

Perhaps only at a critical moment could a person see clearly what kind of person they truly were.

"I, Benjamin, grew up in the slums. I thought everything was a transaction, everything was about profit. But at the very end, I actually chose emotion!"

As one Sin Nail was pulled free, Benjamin's entire body shook. A massive current coursed through him, stiffening his limbs and nearly freezing even his thoughts.

The black hair was affected as well, its upward advance halted.

Yet at that moment, Benjamin somehow continued moving.

He suddenly drove the Sin Nail into his own thigh. The Sin Nail's power blossomed, restricting everything in the surrounding area while causing as little damage as possible, including that Nest Beast hair.

The pain made him let out a muffled groan, but it also dragged him out of that numb state.

Covered in cold sweat, Benjamin drew a deep breath. With one Sin Nail removed and the Breathing Technique unsealed, he pushed the Breathing Technique to its limit.

At that moment, he swiftly felt strength spread through his entire body. His complexion became rosy like a baby's, and even the pain in his thigh seemed to vanish.

He rolled aside to evade one controlled parasitized person, then sprinted in another direction.

He needed to warn Priest Isabella. He needed to make her understand the seriousness of the situation and prepare her to flee this place.

The conviction in his heart became exceptionally firm at that moment.

"My thigh has been torn apart..." The thought flashed through his mind. The Sin Nail embedded in his thigh had naturally caused this outcome as he ran so violently, but Benjamin no longer cared.

"Almost there, I'm about to see..." Countless thoughts flashed past, until Benjamin was gradually left with only one.

"Something just brushed past..." Benjamin felt a faint sensation at his neck.

At the same time, his body felt weak, as though he were flying and could no longer feel his own body.

"Is it an illusion?"

"No, I really am flying."

"But it's only my head..."

His flying head spun through the air, and Benjamin's vision turned with it.

Behind him, he saw his headless body collapse.

And farther behind, a thin cord stained with blood quivered slightly before swiftly vanishing.

Standing in the shadows, Naimus flicked his fingers slightly, and the blood was flung clean from the Rope of Oath.

Thank you all for your support.