Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1470 Overwhelmed
What exactly happened inside the city?

Inside Blue Cobalt's mansion, a group of apostles gathered once again.

Lady Red and the Pocket Watch were the two most excited, with the Ranger not far behind. In contrast, Blue Cobalt, Serpent Dragon, and Rosemerada were relatively calm, sipping their tea or wine. As for the letter? He was somewhat at a loss. As a newcomer, he had never witnessed the Church's full-scale intervention before.

"I assume none of you have been affected by the plague within the city, so it wasn't caused by our actions. Excluding those incompetent fools, it was only Pan De'ang and his group who created this incident; they made a huge fuss." Lan Gu swirled his wine glass. "Then let's not rush things. Just lie low. Our advantage lies in the shadows; we can stop at any time, after all—"

"The outbreak of a plague is very difficult to control," the pocket watch said coldly.

"Are you saying that you can't control your plague?" Rosemerada scoffed.

"how?"

"Alright, alright, I know everyone likes to leave things to chance, since what we're doing is destruction, not protection. In that case, we need to find a way to cover up the traces. What does your 'future' look like?"

"Precognitive dreams. After people become addicted, there will be an outbreak period. Infected people can only foresee disasters, which will gradually worsen to death in a short period of time. This will drive them to desperately try to solve the cause of death."

“Looks like the old trick of a scam, the beginning is real, the end is fake, right?” Rosemerada sighed. “Is this the plague you meticulously designed? The effect is alright, but it’s really not interesting.”

"Little girl, I won't listen to your provocation. I need the life it brings, to keep me alive. No matter what you say—"

"You don't need to keep emphasizing that you're a follower of the Undying King; I have no interest in that. I told you to describe it so that if any traces were left, it would be easier to deal with. Lady Red, the letter, the Ranger—are there anything you three haven't cleaned up properly?"

"Just drop it off, there's nothing to deal with," the ranger grinned.

"No! If this lockdown interrupts my ascent, how will I continue climbing?" Lady Red exclaimed. "The coral steps have already been planted; I must watch them grow—"

Rosemerada waved her hand: "I know. If you're not afraid, you can try to enter the city now. Of course, the most likely outcome is that you'll be killed at the city gate."

"I haven't... taken any action yet," the letter whispered. "I'm still a little scared, so I haven't..."

“That’s the easiest one to deal with.” Rosemerada glanced at Blue Cobalt. “What if I assume that all the ‘born perfect’ infected individuals have already been created?”

“Yes, I selected thirty pregnant women who are about to give birth. They should all have already been born. But these children may not receive the best care. Is that alright?” Lan Gu said.

"No need, we have to fight for our own way out. But the next one will be a bit more troublesome, we need to select people from the church or the garrison."

"Then I'll help you," the snake dragon suddenly said.

The burly man, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke, making everyone in the room seem to remember that he was there. Rosemerada didn't question it, and took out a box and tossed it to the snake dragon: "Still thirty people. Choose those with some power, but not too much power, like team leaders, and spread them out. As long as this plague enters its incubation period, I can cover up what they leave behind."

The serpent dragon gripped the box firmly, tapped it gently with its finger, and asked, "What is its name?"

“A most pious hymn,” Rosemerada replied.

"Then I shall take my leave."

"Wait, you dare to go to the city at this time?" Madam Hong said, frowning.

Snake Dragon opened the door without turning his head, saying only, "I can come in." Then, he strode down the stairs.

=
The pharmacist has returned to the vicinity of the Clock River district, where church personnel have begun to set up a cordon. It is clear that the situation here is much better than in the areas she passed through, suggesting that someone may have taken action in advance.
When she arrived at the church, she found Vanessa negotiating with the people from Kissborg who had come there. She clearly had her own ideas about the development of this area, at least not in the completely isolated way that Kissborg had done elsewhere.

"It hasn't spread here! Different situations require different management methods, and hasn't the church always done the same?"

“We have not received orders to obey the church staff in the current area.”

"You have not received any orders to take over! Church regulations state that, in the absence of takeover, all actions in the area take precedence over the intentions of the local church personnel! Unless you produce an order from the church authorizing you to temporarily take over the Clockwork River district!"

The pharmacist was somewhat surprised.

She hadn't been paying much attention to Vanessa's situation lately, and she hadn't expected that just a few days later, Vanessa would dare to argue so forcefully with the people sent by the Church of East. It's worth noting that even if Kishchut were to renovate his house, he wouldn't touch the church; Vanessa was completely standing up for the parishioners—many priests wouldn't even risk a falling out with their colleagues over something like this.

The head of the church, who came from the Kiss, was not good at debating. With Vanessa well-versed in the church's various rules and regulations, he had no way to refute her and finally agreed to the construction method led by Vanessa.

After finally seeing the group off, Vanessa saw the pharmacist approaching. She smiled at him, but she was clearly not as energetic as before; instead, she looked a little tired.

Good afternoon, it's getting late. Vanessa, you look tired?

“There’s so much to deal with. Father Thorne and Veronica are both busy… The priest was urgently summoned to assess the situation in the city and probably won’t be back until the day after tomorrow. Veronica needs to run around trying to calm everyone down, since this kind of activity can easily cause panic.” Vanessa forced a smile. “Oh, right, Pharmacist, I’ve found the antidote for the poison in the water. If it were just something like that, it wouldn’t have been necessary…”

"Perhaps it's not just about that."

The pharmacist didn't want to discourage Vanessa's enthusiasm, but keeping it from her wouldn't do her any good.

Vanessa visibly dejected. “It’s not just a toxin, nor a plague. Father Thorne will bring the same news: a filth, or something similar, has appeared in the city. They are not gods, but merely appendages that depend on the gods for their existence. Even so, it is still a disaster that we need to deal with with caution.”

"I've seen this in some books, but it's not very clear. When Veronica comes back, could you tell us about it? Like in class?"

"it is good."

Veronica returned very late, and she looked travel-worn. The Clock River district is not small, encompassing several streets along the river, and she had clearly visited every house with the knights.

Vanessa and Veronica quickly discussed the renovation of the area in Kissborough. Veronica immediately agreed to visit the affected neighbors again the next day, based on the map showing the areas to be renovated. Vanessa then produced a clean map, and the two discussed how to strategically plan the renovation blocks. The renovation of Kissborough involved creating isolated zones for easier inspection and management; they needed to work on this foundation.

During this time, the apothecary returned to his room and used the spell "Touch the Stars".

This spell drew half of her wealth as a price. As the title of the summoned one was added to the end of the spell, the stars in the dark sky twinkled. Then, an invisible storm swept across the atmosphere, igniting a dazzling brilliance on the distant horizon.

This unusual celestial phenomenon made the pharmacist feel uncertain, but the voice in her heart reassured her somewhat.

[Such a small movement. If that's all the reaction she gets, it means she didn't even glance at you. Don't worry, what you're getting in return for this little effort is nothing to her.]

Before the pharmacist could react, several spells appeared in her mind.

"This is……"

First tier "Stepping on the Gang", second tier "Condensing the Soul", third tier "Thunder in the Palm - Ren", fourth tier "Snow Light Sword - Gui", fifth tier "Secret Yin Returns to Heaven", sixth tier "Recalling Dreams and Entering the Past", seventh tier "Mastering All Martial Arts".

Stuck at the limit of single-person use, Bai Tianzi returned a complete set of spells. Clearly, these were not her abilities after finally breaking through the barrier and transcending, but precisely because of this, they could be used by mortals.

"A full-system status spell?" The apothecary was quite surprised. Status spells are what are commonly known as enhancement spells. Generally, they must last at least half of the cooldown time to be considered status spells. Because of the time limit, spells like "Frenzy," which has strong side effects and cannot be maintained for a long time, and "Hand of the Storm," which has a short duration, do not qualify.

[Complete combat techniques, it's a pity I didn't manage to get her internal cultivation method. Tsk, so when she fought me, she was only at around level three...]

The pharmacist ignored the inner turmoil of her mind and instead focused entirely on the spell. Learning spells was no easy task; even she needed to practice diligently.

This meant that she didn't have time to tell Vanessa and Veronica about the filth until midnight.

First and foremost, it needs to be made clear that filth is not a deity.

Despite being imbued with divine aura and possessing some divine characteristics, these beings that depend on the gods for existence cannot live independently. They are not even considered parasites, since they have no right to plunder anything from the gods.

The Plague Lord is surrounded by numerous filth-filled entities. Analogous to the Fountain of Youth in the Sacred Heart, all the plants growing around that fountain, if they truly existed outside the world, would be considered filthy.

The harm of defilement goes without saying, but even if it only carries a trace of divine aura, its direct impact on the mortal world is enormous. Most of them possess intelligence and a desire to become gods independently, but to achieve this, they must undergo a transformation from the mortal world once again.

The pharmacist is unaware of the means to transcend, but one should not expect any safe and harmless methods from the filth. The emergence of those who transcend comes at a great cost, and life is the most readily apparent of these costs.

“So… what is this filth that has appeared this time?” Vanessa asked.

"That's exactly what I find strange. We haven't observed any unusual phenomena, so how did the filth come into this world? It needs to pass through the barriers of the world to get here, just like when the pituitary gland was about to descend. Therefore, it would almost certainly cause some dramatic celestial phenomena, but this time there were no warning signs at all," the pharmacist said.

She was puzzled by this, but it was the church's judgment, and she wouldn't deny it casually.

"Excuse my bluntness, Pharmacist. The Church of East...won't there be any problems? Perhaps I don't know enough, but the person I met today, Kiss, seemed to have very little familiarity with the church's rules. If I hadn't argued with him, would he have used such unreasonable methods to seize the homes of the residents here?"

"Of course, any church can have problems; this is a lesson the church has learned over many years. Even saints can be misled, and those who have not seen God for many years cannot guarantee their piety."

“In that case, we can’t just blindly follow the church’s guidance,” Vanessa said. “We need concrete evidence to determine whether it’s unclean or not.”

Vanessa's statement is also correct, but unfortunately, she is of low status and her voice carries little weight, and the pharmacist has no way to verify this matter at this moment.

The lockdown of the southern district was carried out simultaneously with other districts. Even if Vanessa managed to secure a change in the lockdown area, none of the necessary procedures could be omitted. The people of Violet City hadn't experienced anything like this in a long time; the younger generation had no idea the Church could pull off such a stunt.

Vanessa and Veronica had to run around for the next two days, reassuring the local residents while also overseeing Key's work to prevent them from building a cordon as usual. The result was that the Clockwork River district was divided into six zones, four of which were residential, while the other two were natural areas like riverbanks and woodlands, largely undamaged.

And what followed was the church's inspection.

Father Thorne returned with the inspection team, bringing back news that was hard to describe as good or bad: "The Church, through direct questioning of the gods, learned that the defilement did not originate from outside the world. Therefore, if the defilement did not originate from within the world, it must be something of a similar nature."

The transformation from a known threat to an unknown one is difficult for the pharmacist to assess, and it's unclear who exactly was in charge of this matter at the Church of East.

"The toxins found in the Clockwork River area are indeed related to this matter, and the church has focused its investigation on the cemetery, preparing for further searches. However, we cannot rule out—"

Just as Father Thorne finished speaking, a muffled explosion suddenly came from a distant place outside the church.

"--The possibility of the other party finding out and resorting to a fight to the death cannot be ruled out."