Following the Clues / Battle

Are the Great Swarm so easy to join? They don't even know what kind of people they're dealing with.

Sooner or later, these guys will die without a burial place.

The earth will always be dominated by humankind.

"All Seaborn needs to do is live obediently in the sea."

Suika wasn't worried about the ocean.

After all, the greatest danger is Titi. As long as she is not transformed, then Seaborn is still within a controllable range.

Chapter 531 Following the Clues

Feeling uneasy, Carmen pulled Suika along to a spot not far from the merchant guild.

The two watched as Irene led the group into the Chamber of Commerce and then led everyone inside to the church.

The Iberia judges had a way to detect and distinguish between humans and Seaborn, but this judgment required considerable effort and could not be maintained at all times.

However, it becomes much simpler once a specific range is defined, like this.

Soon, a second group of people arrived, bringing with them the man's relatives, friends, and residents from the vicinity.

This was the first time the Inquisition had made such a big commotion in the town, attracting a large crowd of onlookers.

Irene walked past the crowd with her lantern in hand, and every now and then someone would be dragged out and shoved to the ground.

Then a commotion arose from the surroundings.

They quickly checked the records and found a place to stay.

Suika looked and saw that, in addition to the one she had found at the beginning, Irene had grabbed six more from the crowd.

She saw nothing unusual about the others, meaning that this group of people arrested was the entire group.

Led by Carmen, the two entered the church and witnessed the surprise interrogation in the Inquisition.

They separated the seven men and began the interrogation.

The results came out in less than half an hour.

All seven of them were members of the merchant guild.

They belonged to a small team, and the one who was knocked unconscious by Suika was the team leader.

They were almost completely unaware of the mutations in their bodies.

When questioned, they all looked bewildered and frightened.

The only problem was the captain's expression and words.

After discovering that the breakthrough lay with him, he was invited to the innermost room where he spent more than an hour with more than ten judges.

After he came out, he opened his heart and told everything.

He was indeed behind all of this.

A few days ago, he received a message from a bishop who felt that his "preaching" progress here was too slow.

He was required to recruit new followers as quickly as possible.

He knew very well that if the Inquisition discovered he was a cult member, his fate would be dire.

Moreover, the inland Iberia are very different from those on the coast. As long as they can survive, they will not choose to believe in the Church of the Deep like people in coastal areas when they have no other choice.

In this situation, if one were to reveal that they are a heretic, they would most likely be reported and sent directly to the cross to experience "warmth" (i. e., to be rehabilitated).

So he devised a plan to cut off the source of the problem.

He secretly obtained some of Seaborn's meat, disguised it as ordinary meat, and then invited his team members to his house for a meal.

Then everyone ate the Seaborn meat.

His original plan was to confess after a few days, once the others noticed something was wrong with their bodies.

By then it was too late. To save their own lives, these people had no choice but to follow a dark path, even if they were unhappy with themselves.

But unexpectedly, he was exposed before the plan was even completed.

Everyone was speechless after hearing his words.

However, they still managed to find some clues.

Firstly, the fact that he was able to obtain Seaborn meat proves that Seaborn roam the vicinity.

The second is the whereabouts of that bishop.

Suika then told Carmen that she believed there must still be members of the Church of the Deep in the town, otherwise the other party wouldn't know how efficient this guy was at "missionary work".

Carmen wholeheartedly agreed with this.

The two silently walked out the door and wandered around outside. Finally, Suika decided on her target: the owner of a clothing store not far from the Chamber of Commerce.

The confirmed reason was also unexpected.

After the man was arrested, the clothing store owner sensed something was wrong and prepared to close the store and go into hiding for a while.

He wasn't worried about being discovered, since he had never contacted the person in the chamber of commerce. His job was to act as a backup plan; if the person in the chamber of commerce ran into trouble, he would take their place and continue preaching locally.

However, I was a little worried about the other party being arrested for no reason, but I didn't dare to suddenly close the shop, because that would be telling others that I had a problem.

So he pretended to fall and took a break, intending to use that as an excuse to "rest" for a while.

But I never expected to run into Suika, who loves to get involved in trouble.

After seeing someone fall, she went over to see what was wrong, but as soon as she got closer, she realized who the person was.

But this time she didn't make a fuss; instead, she secretly told Carmen about it.

Carmen gave her a thumbs up after hearing this.

"Looks like this guy is planning to hide."

The two men said this after watching the man limp away.

"Follow the clues!" Suika raised an eyebrow.

"You clever little devil are still the best to me." Carmen stroked his beard with a smile.

After watching the man enter his residence, the two found a place nearby to sit down and chat.

However, neither Suika nor Carmen showed any intention of asking Irene for help.

After all, there are quite a few people watching the church now, and if we alert them, they might try to escape.

After dark, Suika asked Shanghai to keep an eye on the other party, while she and Carmen found a hotel nearby to stay in.

"How can you be so sure he'll run away tonight?" Carmen asked Suika, inquiring about her assessment.

Looking down from the window, Suika could see the other person's house not far away, and there were children walking back and forth in front of the door.

"Because his family members are all ordinary people."

Carmen was surprised to hear what Suika said.

As a member of the Church of the Deep, it turns out that the other person's family has no connection with the Church of the Deep.

"Isn't this normal?"

That way, if it's not exposed, no one will know he has a problem.

Those who frequently act as spies know that to remain well-hidden, one must blend into the crowd.

When the people around you are all ordinary people who know nothing about you, the truth they tell can naturally cover for you.

"I see, I've learned something new."

Carmen nodded humbly.

As the moon hung high in the sky, Suika, who was drinking with Carmen, suddenly had a bright idea in her eyes.

"That guy has made his move."

"Elbow!" The two secretly slipped out of the window and followed each other at a distance.

At this moment, Shanghai was flying high in the sky, and the moonless night concealed her figure. She had no idea that her every move was being clearly seen by the "sky eye" in the sky.

About two kilometers after leaving the town, we came to a dry riverbed.

The man turned around and disappeared into a crack in the riverbed.

Suika and Carmen came to the outside of the crack.

"It seems the other side is hiding in here. What should we do, the two of us go down?"

After examining the crack, Carmen was somewhat impressed by the cleverness of the hiding spot chosen by his opponent.

These cracks were left by the jet stream that had previously blown Suika into the air.

Normal people would stay far away from such a gap, because no one can guarantee that terrifyingly hot steam won't burst out from it again.

Therefore, they wouldn't even choose to approach it, let alone go deep into it. As long as they were certain that the rift would not continue to erupt, it would be the best hiding place for Seaborn and the Church of the Deep.

Chapter 532 Battle

"Elbow!"

Carmen jumped in without a second thought.

Suika quickly followed.

After all, the old man is so old; if he were to hurt his back on the way, Suika's reputation would be ruined.

Once inside the cave, Suika frowned.

The main difference between inside and outside is quite significant.

The main problem is that the humidity is quite high, unlike the dryness outside.

Carmen, on the other hand, seemed quite satisfied with this feeling.

"This tastes amazing... it feels like being at the beach."

Carmen sighed.

"Is this what the seaside feels like? How come it's different from Siesta?" Suika sniffed the fishy smell in the air, her disgust deepening.

"Siesta?" Carmen asked, puzzled.

"Located in western Iberia, above the Sargon Rainforest, at the southernmost border of Victoria and Columbia."

It is also the deepest point in the ocean from Terra's interior.

A tourist city called Siesta has been established.

Carmen nodded after Suika finished speaking.

"I know that place you're talking about. Although it's called the seaside, it's actually deep inland, just connected to the sea."

Seaborn wouldn't go there easily, because once his escape route was blocked, Seaborn inside would have nowhere to escape.

"That's not right. I don't see a single river here, let alone an inland sea. Aren't those guys afraid of dying?" Suika complained.

Carmen pointed around.

"Look at this humidity level, do you think their bodies will really dry out?"

I suspect there's an underground river here, and quite a large one at that."

Suika realized that with this level of humidity, even she herself would wonder if mushrooms would grow on her corners if she stayed there for too long, so how could Seaborn possibly feel parched?

The two walked forward, chatting in hushed tones.

"You don't seem to like this environment?" Carmen asked softly, noticing Suika glancing behind her every now and then and fidgeting with her fingers.

"It's dark, damp, and stuffy, and there are enemies hiding somewhere. Don't you feel uncomfortable?"

Just as Suika finished speaking, she saw Carmen raise her hand, signaling her to stop.

"Hmm! What did you find?"

Suika looked around warily.

"We must have been discovered!" Carmen pointed to her feet.

As Carmen lifted his foot, Suika saw a faint blue-green glow in the darkness where he had stepped.

"Miasma"