"This island... this island as a whole is a part of the ancient god. Everything on the island... stones, soil, and things that look like trees are all the same...
"Those Annihilation cultists who live on this island use the resources on the island to build houses, make boats, eat things that grow in the soil here, and perform rituals all day long to summon demons... and destroy themselves and the entire island.
The island is connected...
"There is indeed no living person on the island. Everyone has been eaten by 'it'. The island...those idiots...the stupid cultists touched something deep in the island and made it come alive."
…”
Shirley hugged her knees and sat on the ground at the edge of the square, describing intermittently what she had just seen. Her lingering fear was still lingering in her mind, and she briefly glimpsed the "truth."
The impact brought about put heavy pressure on her mind. Even though she was "pulled" out by the captain at the last moment, she still felt like something was buzzing in her head, and there were many blurs in her consciousness.
The "memory" is coming and going.
Agou stood next to Shirley, using its ferocious and terrifying skeletal body to gently rub against Shirley's thigh, hoping to use this method to soothe the other person's frightened mind - this had some effect, Shirley was gradually
ground recovery.
Duncan sat next to Shirley. He protected Shirley's mind so that it would not be affected by the contaminating knowledge. At the same time, he curiously asked: "Have they touched something deep in the island? What did they do?"
What?"
Shirley hesitated for a moment, rummaging through her messy memories - too much information just poured into her mind, which was the information left in the "memory" of this "living island"
, she had no time to identify, think, or even understand them - now, these chaotic memories gradually rolled out from the depths of her consciousness, and some of the useful fragments finally became clear.
"They... they dug too deep."
"Dig too deep?" Morris on the side frowned immediately, "What are they digging for?"
"In the center of the island, there is a passage leading underground..." Shirley frowned tightly, and finally found some useful memory fragments, "It was when the sun went out...!"
"When the sun goes out?" Maurice's eyes changed slightly in an instant, and while repeating these words, he subconsciously exchanged glances with Vanna and the captain.
Shirley suddenly became energetic. She matched the sounds she "heard" with the messy pictures she saw, and immediately spoke quickly: "Yes, that's when! After the sun goes out, on this holy island,
On the contrary, there was still daylight, and the cultists on the island remained in an 'awake' state... Then they seemed to have received some inspiration, and they began to dig things in the center of the island... There was a cave there, and it was full of things in the depths.
They started digging frantically into the black rock, and then found a secret room, but the secret room was sealed..."
Shirley paused, and her tone was a little uncertain: "They wanted to enter the secret room, but it seemed that they didn't have time to destroy it, or even touch the door, and something happened..."
Amber walked over from the side. The young Priestess of the Deep Sea was extremely interested in what Shirley said: "So, the cultists on the island were all killed because they triggered the defense mechanism of this 'living island'.
Killed?"
Shirley blinked and was about to nod, but suddenly felt that she had forgotten something very important, and shook her head hesitantly.
"...No, they were not killed by a 'defense mechanism'..." She recalled slowly, understanding the "information" hovering in her mind bit by bit. After a few minutes of sorting and thinking,
, she finally understood the "truth", "They were killed by a...'knowledge'..."
As soon as she finished speaking, before she could continue to say anything, Morris next to her reacted instantly: "Don't say it!"
At almost the same time, Amber instantly took out the Storm Goddess's amulet from her arms and pricked her palm with its tip. Next to her, the leader of the Death Priest, who had been silent all the way, also took out the blessed urn.
More than a dozen marines also used talismans and sacred objects to provide emergency protection for themselves.
Morris instantly applied several layers of mental protection to himself, and wrapped Lachem's amulet and colorful stone bracelet around his wrist. Then he relaxed slightly, looked at Shirley and nodded: "You can say now
Already."
Shirley was startled by the scene and asked subconsciously: "...Is this the case?"
Vanna looked at Shirley seriously and nodded: "As for, because this is the 'knowledge' that instantly killed all the Annihilation cultists on the entire island. Although from your description, it seems that this is not the same as what they themselves have been doing for a long time.
Ritual related, but this 'knowledge' can still be dangerous."
Morris also added: "Usually, if investigators accidentally obtain secret knowledge and survive, the safest and most professional operation is to use the 'secret language' blessed by the four gods to transcribe the content on parchment.
Use this method to reduce and filter out the pollution carried in the information - do you understand the 'secret language'?"
Shirley thought for a while and shook her head honestly: "...Okay, I don't understand."
Morris spread his hands: "It doesn't matter, you can talk now."
Shirley scratched her cheek. This interruption made her tense nerves feel a little more relaxed than before. So after sorting out her thoughts for a while, she repeated the words she had just "heard"——
"Human beings are a type of highly differentiated deep demons. Deep demons are primitive molds that are contained in the deep sea because they cannot be infused with humanity and wisdom."
The square was quiet for a few seconds.
Alice was the first to break the silence. She blinked and looked at Shirley: "...it's gone?"
"It's gone," Shirley nodded, "That's it...but after those cultists knew this 'truth', they almost turned into these...disgusting and scary states in the blink of an eye."
Shirley spoke half-understanding, and Alice listened half-understanding, but beside them, an expression of thinking and understanding gradually appeared on Duncan's face.
He stood up slowly, thinking and muttering: "This is more than just one sentence... This sentence explains a lot of things."
Amber lowered her head and traced Gemona's holy symbol on her chest with her hand: "The goddess has mercy..."
The corner of Morris's mouth also twitched: "...Humans are a kind of deep demon. This sentence seems a bit too extreme even in the theory of Annihilation Sect."
"This is not the first time we have encountered such 'extreme' information, ever since we first obtained the "Book of Blasphemy."" Vanna shook her head with a strange expression, then raised her head and looked around at the people around her from the tide.
Marines sent from the USS No Rest.
Surprised, pensive, confused - but no one seemed shaken.
This is a force that specializes in handling border affairs - tenacity and a stable mental state are essential qualities. Considering the actual situation in the border waters, "maintaining a mentality in the face of incredible information and knowledge" has probably been engraved on
These people have it deep in their bones.
"No wonder those 'humanoids' floating on the sea exude the aura of the deep demon..." Amber suddenly said thoughtfully, "I have heard before that the 'Netherworld Holy Lord created all things in the third long night.
"All living beings", but I have never thought that the connection between "human beings" and "deep demons" can be understood from this perspective... But if this is true, it can explain the "summoning" ability of those Annihilation cultists, as well as their relationship with
What's going on with the symbiosis between the deep demons..."
As she said this, her eyes couldn't help but glance at Agou, who was lying next to Shirley's legs.
Agou noticed Amber's gaze instantly and immediately raised his head: "Don't look at me, Shirley and I are in a different situation from those cultists - and I am different from my brainless relatives.
, let me tell you, I am at least at the level of a high school graduate, and maybe half a step into City State University..."
Shirley was stunned by Agou's last two words: "...Agou, what are you talking about?"
Agou whispered: "I don't know either, the captain taught me..."
Amber opened her mouth with a subtle expression: "Even if I have heard of it before, I can't believe that there really is a deep demon with a 'heart' in this world until I see it with my own eyes... I'm sorry, I don't mean anything else.
"
Agou muttered: "You'd better not, I'm messing around with the captain..."
Duncan didn't pay attention to Agou's muttering. After confirming that Shirley's condition was stable, he broke the silence: "We can discuss the connection between humans and demons later. Now we should think about the follow-up actions.
"
As he spoke, he turned back and looked at a certain location in the interior of the island that Shirley had just pointed at casually.
"Shirley, do you remember the exact location of their 'dig'?"
"Yeah," Shirley nodded immediately, "I remember this part quite clearly, and I even know the road."
"Then our next target is the 'secret room' dug out by the cultists," Duncan said, but his eyes quickly fell on Amber and the other marines, "But now there is a problem -
Do you still want to go deeper? The next area may not be as gentle as the port area."
"...Captain, we are not canaries who need protection," Amber's expression became serious, "We have been dealing with 'weird things' on the border, including many dangerous and strange beings like this island.
——We have our own experience and means."
Looking at the other party's serious expression, Duncan was silent for a few seconds and finally nodded slowly.
"Okay, then let's go deeper."
(Book recommendation time, "The Gatekeepers of All Realms" from Fireworks Chengcheng, science fiction category + weird elements, although the number of words is still small, but it is an interesting subject matter, if you are also interested, you can check it out!)