Fir City, small chapel.
After employing some tricks to switch shifts, [ Zhong Lele ], [ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ], and [ Dark Archmage ] finally all ended up working the night shift today.
There are seven priests and nuns on night watch in the chapel. Three of them are in charge of the orphanage area, which is located in the core area above ground level of the chapel.
The church was eerily quiet at midnight. Occasionally, one could hear the whispers of orphans in their sleep, and apart from that, only the whistling wind and even breathing could be heard.
A soft knock sounded, and [ Zhong Lele ] opened the door to find two nun companions.
"Time is up."
[ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] said quietly before the other party could ask.
"Okay, let's begin."
With the plan confirmed to be in effect, [ Dark Archmage ] and [ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] quietly made their way to the area near the top of the clock tower.
From here, you can see not only the surrounding residential area and the main body of the small church below, but also the entire " Holy Tree Garden " in your field of vision.
[ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] The two took out signal flares they had prepared beforehand from their pockets, broke them easily, and, empowered by the symbiotic plants, threw them into the snow in the distant Holy Tree Garden.
The gray-white signal flare blended easily into the snow, but the specially modulated pheromones had already begun to spread outwards with the cold wind.
At the same time, a furtive figure—no, a tree shadow—fleeted near the cathedral in Fir City.
Enzo had earlier accepted a mission assignment from [ Howling Pothos ] and had been lurking in the vicinity for the first half of the night.
When the appointed time arrived, he made sure there were no other priests or tree people around, and then slowly approached the Fir City Cathedral.
He pulled the signal flare from the tree hole in his body, broke it in half as instructed by [ Howling Pothos ], and threw it towards the corner of the cathedral...
Above Fir City.
Seeing his sister's "So it's this Little Boy?" expression, [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] burst into laughter.
Yes, that's the expression!
He came here today for this very reason; he found pleasure in making a scene in front of Xiaodeng, and he didn't even notice the cold wind blowing into his mouth.
The flying squadron, composed of players and Soldier Bee, continued forward and soon passed through the residential area on the outskirts of Fir City, arriving at the core area of Fir City.
However, Fir City is so large that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the two churches even from the air without cloud cover.
The " Fir City Operation " event has been running for today, and players already know the appearance of the cathedral and chapel.
The church near the west of the city has a gray-white bell tower. Although the main building is not very tall, it occupies a large area. This is where the small chapel is located.
In the heart of Fir City stands a tall and magnificent twin-towered church with two bell towers; this is the location of Fir City's cathedral.
However, high in the sky late at night, it's difficult for players to find these two targets among the numerous buildings.
Looking down at the densely packed buildings, one player couldn't help but ask:
"Sir, what do we do now?"
[ The Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] was prepared for this, and he turned around and said seriously:
"Don't scatter, everyone. The Soldier Bee can pinpoint specific locations."
"Yes!"
The pheromones, detectable only by Soldier Bee, drifted up from below little by little.
Despite being diluted tens or even hundreds of thousands of times by the air, the Soldier Bee still managed to identify the scent using their sense of smell.
Upon smelling the scent, the Soldier Bee immediately reacted in a special way, wriggling their bodies and making peculiar sounds to attract the attention of the person on them.
[ The Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] noticed the change, turned around, waved, and shouted:
"Everyone, we've arrived!"
"All personnel, dive and drop bombs, then immediately ascend!"
"Yes!"
The cold wind dispelled the [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] command, but all the Soldier Bee chose to follow the Soldier Bee flying at the forefront and swooped down together.
Nearly a hundred Soldier Bee descended in unison, emitting a sound like a Stuka bomber.
As the twin towers of the cathedral became increasingly clear, the [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ] felt a nauseating sense of Weightlessness and pulled hard on the Bee Silk in front of it as it approached the ground.
As he pulled a highly resilient Bee Silk back into his hand, a long gash appeared on the cage that the Soldier Bee was holding.
The cage, filled with Thorn Rat, opened to both sides, and hundreds of Thorn Rat squeaked and fell downwards.
The snow on the ground and their fur absorbed most of the impact, and with a "thud," a Thorn Rat fell to the ground near the cathedral.
It twisted its slightly uncomfortable body and got up again, relying on its animal instincts to sniff around. Nearby, Thorn Rat fell to the ground like a summer downpour.
These rats quickly adapted to their new environment; however, many more rats landed in less ideal locations.
A series of dull echoes came from the church, the sound of many Thorn Rat hitting the church floor.
Although each of them was not particularly large, their sheer number still created a dull, thud, like being struck by hail, throughout the cathedral.
Inside the cathedral, the priests on duty frowned, while some who were sound asleep in their rooms opened their eyes in confusion.
The team responsible for releasing the Thorn Rat completed their mission quickly, while the second team's mission had only just begun.
As another wave of Soldier Bee swooped down, the players behind them eagerly pulled out the Bee Silk in their hands.
This time, what was falling freely down toward the cathedral were not Thorn Rat, but fish as thick as a forearm, frozen stiff.
Compared to the small and soft Thorn Rat, frozen fish neither struggle nor cushion their impact.
The extreme cold makes them much harder than when they were alive, which also makes them make a louder sound when they collide.
Bang bang bang!
A loud and rapid thud jolted all the priests in the cathedral awake.
They walked out of the dormitory in confusion, looking in the direction of the sound, and felt that the once towering church dome was about to collapse.
With a gasp from one person, everyone turned their gaze to the window, whereupon a scene they would never forget unfolded before them:
On the pristine white snow, countless rats scurried about, while even more rats and something else fell from the sky, crashing to the ground with unsettling sounds.
Above the church, the [ Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop ], pulled back into the air, closed its eyes and murmured to itself in the cold wind:
"Now I have become the Rat God, the destroyer of churches..."