Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1480 Decisive Battle Weapons
In the corner was an iron box. Through the divine power of the Savior's Pivot, Lu Ning broke the seal and saw a pile of parts inside the box.

Lu Ning began taking out parts from inside to assemble them. The Savior Hub designed specialized launchers, which came in three main types: close-range weapons modeled after nail guns, jets capable of covering a large area, and long-barreled weapons supporting long-range combat.

There were many parts inside, but they were all neatly packaged and categorized. Lu Ning only needed to pick out the standard parts she remembered and assemble them. In just a few minutes, she had finished assembling the long-barreled shotgun. Then she took out a needle-like bullet, pulled out a lead tube, and pierced it into the lead seal. The bullet mixed with the liquid inside the lead tube, emitting a wave that made her feel nauseous.

After gently shaking it a few times, Lu Ning held it upright, allowing all the liquid to flow into the bullet. The two containers had each been filled halfway with the liquid, and after mixing, they were perfectly full. Then, she loaded the bullet into the chamber.

The gun is designed to hold only six bullets, but magazine capacity is a minor issue. The biggest problem is that, although it's called a gun, it's actually a staff, requiring her to spend Naa to operate it; each shot costs one Naa.

Although the spell inertia caused by this usage is only two hours, it means that the weapon cannot be used casually in a rapid-fire manner.

She grabbed two handfuls of bullets and stuffed them into her first-aid kit and waist pack. She wouldn't be able to fire many while she was awake, so this amount would be enough. Then she made five more bullets, filled the magazine, and went out with her gun.

She wasn't familiar with the various anti-god weapons collected here; if anyone knew, they were most likely from the Burial Pivot or the Secret Vision Pivot. Therefore, Lu Ning chose the weapon that was most likely to be effective from her memory.

However, as she walked out of the church, the mountain wind suddenly brought a scent that made her feel uncomfortable.

It wasn't that she actually smelled anything, but Lu Ning was, after all, a "pharmacist" and had a very strong control over her physical condition. As she was preparing to descend the mountain, she suddenly felt her killing intent towards that deity rising.

This is different from the kind of induction we've experienced before; it's a cruder, direct catalytic effect on the body.

“Petrov! There’s probably something wrong at the castle. I encountered a Plague Apostle on the way, so it’s likely fallen. I don’t know what Toril and the Archbishop are planning, but you have to prepare for the worst!”

“I know, I know,” Petrov replied. “I’m having everyone prepare their things, Pharmacist. We can’t leave empty-handed! We can still be of some use!”

"Hurry! Petrov!" Lu Ning frowned and looked up at the mountaintop. There seemed to be shadows passing through the windows of the dark castle, but she couldn't see them clearly in the night.

Right now, I only have two units of Na available.

She used a lot of spells today, and with the status spells Lu Ning cast on herself, most of her energy is currently in a state of spell inertia.

We can't just jump into battle anymore. The people corrupted by the Hungry King were still at the level of the apothecary's skills, and they retained most of their weaknesses. But the people corrupted by other Plague Lords might not be so.

"May the gods protect me," Lu Ning murmured before quickly running down the mountain.

The Spinning Star still floated in the sky, countless threads drawn from its cocoon, coiling and anchoring themselves to the earth, like a seed taking root. The flames erupting throughout the city were resistance against the gods' attempt to infiltrate the world; cardinals, paladins, guards, militia—those still able to fight—were doing their utmost to sever the connection between the gods and the earth. Although most were unaware of the dangers of the divine calamity, the very existence of the Spinning Star told them that once it was fully connected to the earth, Violet City would likely have no chance of survival.

"Why isn't this thing rolling away yet..." Remington opened the magazine again and reached to touch it, only to find that the special bullets used against the gods were empty, and the barrel was already red-hot. His shooting had to stop there.

Since joining the Burial Hub, Remington had killed countless heretics, plague apostles, and traitors, and had even faced the filth, but he never expected that he would encounter a true god in his old age.

Persistence, courage, knowledge, skills, magic—none of these mattered. He couldn't even figure out what the gods' weaknesses were.

"That's strange, how come I haven't been melted by this thing yet?"

Remington leaned against the wall, sifted through the remaining bullets, selected the incendiary bullets, and loaded them into the magazine. The barrel would need some time to cool down; he had time to think things through.

At that moment, a monk on horseback rode up to the foot of the water tower, waved a flag at him, and then climbed up. Remington glanced at the monk's insignia and asked, "What is it?"

"The losses are mounting, but strangely, as the troops retreat, the number of people turned into bubbles is decreasing. Your Excellency Remington, Father Charles requests your presence at the temporary command post in District Two."

“Alright, let’s see if we have any spare ammunition.” Remington shouldered his gun and followed the monk out of the water tower.

Charles, the highest-ranking monk in the current Priestly Order, is acting as Archbishop.

When Remington arrived, besides seeing him, he discovered that one of the seven cardinals was missing.

“What about Franz?” he asked.

“Franz died from the corruption of the gods,” answered a female monk covered in blood. She was Rosalyn of the Warning Hub, and it seemed she had been fighting some targets that needed to be eliminated.

“Xin Shishu should be the one among us who is most able to stabilize his mind,” another gray-haired cultivator said. “Why was he the first to die?”

“I don’t know. Shouldn’t we let Charles tell us?” Remington pulled up a chair, sat down, and said loudly to the middle-aged man standing in front of the map. “Hurry up, my old bones are about to give out.”

“I’m ready to start the church,” Charles said.

Remington was silent for a moment, then looked at the others, each of whom had a solemn expression.

“I won’t ask for agreement. Who objects?” Charles asked.

No one objected; at this point, unanimous approval was naturally expected. However, the gray-haired cultivator still asked one more question: "Aren't you considering using a divine kingdom?"

“It’s better to consume items than to consume people.” Charles reached out and tapped the east, west, south, and north of the map. “I don’t have permission to access the Church of East, but I can activate the main churches of the four large parishes. This descended god isn’t that aggressive, and its defensive capabilities seem average. Violet City’s defenses should be able to drive it away.”

"No objections," everyone said.

“But—we need to consider the next issue: how to deal with the aftermath of the divine calamity. Even if we can expel the gods, it doesn’t mean the pollution they caused is solved. Such a major event has probably already been dealt with by the capital. At the fastest possible pace, they can march to Violet City in five or six days,” Charles said. “Please be prepared.”

"Five days...tsk." Rosalyn clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. "How can that possibly be enough time?"

“Five days is just the time it takes for the capital to get here. If we send people from the nearby churches, it would probably only take a day,” Remington said in a low voice. He knew very well how fast the church’s elite troops could strike; this was not a convoy slowly making its way along the road. But this also meant there was no chance for evacuation; everyone would be confined to the area around Violet City.

Their duties also prevent those who have suffered divine calamity from leaving the contaminated area without any inspection. "Now that the objective is clear, let's move out. The Privy Council will activate the final battle function of the four churches, and the firing parameters will be adjusted before activation. Before dawn, we must expel the gods, and everyone... if you have anything, don't hide it. Anything that can restrain the gods is acceptable."

"The Burial Council will cooperate... I hope there is a Burial Council armory administrator here."

"some."

"The Salvation Hub has prepared a group of elites. We will inject the divinity of the Plague Lord into this deity's body to interfere with his divine power."

"The warning council should block its movements to ensure that it does not cause a greater spread of pollution."

"The Secret Vision has already dispatched a cleanup team to retrieve the fragments of the god as soon as possible."

"The Oath-Taking Center...will ensure that no one's faith is disturbed."

Charles nodded. Although Xin Shishu had not yet been able to contact someone who could take overall charge, Xin Shishu was not responsible for combat-related matters. As for the other cardinals, they were clearly preparing to use their respective ultimate means.

At this moment, Lu Ning also found this place. However, this place was not like the Church of St. Ist, where one could enter freely. There were already paladins stationed outside the church, and people were blocking the entrance.

They stopped Lu Ning at the door, refusing to let her in even though she had the holy emblem.

“Some of the inquisitors are working as free supporters within the city, but this place is not open to the public.” The paladin blocking their way spoke sternly. “If you have anything important to say, please let me know, and I will pass it on to everyone.”

"I'd like to know if there's a plan for dealing with the aftermath of the divine calamity? After all, based on what I know..."

“This matter can wait until after the divine calamity is resolved.” Remington came out from inside. He recognized Lu Ning and nodded to her. “Things must be done one at a time. If you have time, you can join your cardinal team. Whether dealing with the gods or pacifying the people, your participation is needed.”

"Understood." Lu Ning nodded, meaning that the people inside had already considered this issue, so there was nothing more to say. She turned and ran towards the city. Now that the church was prepared to confront the gods, she had to do the next thing—

Hunt down that plague apostle.

After that person summoned a group of people corrupted by the Plague Lord's power, Lu Ning knew that this guy had likely done a lot of things during the recent turmoil in Violet City. She wouldn't leave him for the apothecary to deal with alone later; killing him now was the best course of action.

A glint flashed in her eyes, and her permanent "Secret Rebirth" spell took in everything around her.

Bai Tianzi's magical artifact was transformed into a spell, but its function remained largely unchanged: predicting attack movements. Whether it was dealing with the invisible man or anticipating the plague apostle's gunfire, she reacted after seeing it in advance.

If she concentrates, she can even see a certain course of fate—the dangers and safety of each path, whether she will encounter help or enemies, all very vaguely, and… disgustingly.

This nausea is nausea in a physical sense, because the fate of the entire Violet City is like a ball of yarn that has been tangled up on the ground countless times, and looking at it too much will cause severe motion sickness.

So Lu Ning just glanced at it and then chose the most dangerous direction to walk in.

The deity in the sky wasn't the most dangerous thing to her; coming from the distribution center, she had extra mental resistance to gods, but enemies might not be so. Lu Ning believed that the mysterious plague apostle was probably the most threatening existence to her in Violet City right now.

She crossed some neighborhoods that had been reduced to ruins; the people in these areas had all been evacuated, probably because they were near the Second District. Normally, the evacuees were taken to the parishes or churches for shelter, and if that wasn't enough, priests would lead them to relocate to nearby areas. Now, that work was probably all done.

Lu Ning glanced at the map occasionally to confirm her location and then continued walking, but she didn't find any trace along the way.

Was the other party truly a hidden master, or... did she misjudge?

The high threat isn't just the plague apostle, but also the tourists?

Just then, a shadow flashed past her eyes, and Lu Ning immediately dodged, an arrow grazing past her.

Immediately afterwards, she made eye contact with the attacker.

Both of them felt a sudden realization from the bottom of their hearts.

"Ah...so it's someone from the same background."

Standing opposite Lu Ning was a woman with an artistic air about her. Although her clothes were not particularly luxurious, they were clearly handmade and she had a gentle and refined demeanor.

However, Lu Ningke would never let her guard down when facing unfamiliar tourists.

"Who are you?" Lu Ning asked directly.

"An ordinary tourist. If you're asking about my identity within the scene, I'm a saint of the Heart Pivot." The woman smiled slightly, taking out a badge-shaped pendant from her neck. "This is proof of my true form. Of course, I can't prove anything myself. My code name is Danxi; you can call me that. How should I address you?"

"Pharmacist." Lu Ning glanced at her belongings. "You didn't bring a crossbow, so how did you fire the arrow?"

“It’s a painting,” Danxi said with a smile. “Can’t one person bring in just one item?”

Lu Ning then noticed a simple line drawing of a small figure holding a bow on the wall of the art museum behind her.

"I know this attack has made you very hostile, but the defense is automatic, after all, it's for safety reasons. I won't expect you to dispel your doubts. If you don't trust me, you can go around it." Danxi said something else before Lu Ning could speak.

"No, I want to know what your purpose is here." Lu Ning rubbed her eyes. She had just glanced at Danxi again and noticed that Danxi had very complicated "knots" on her body and a strong aura of danger, indicating that she was very likely to become an enemy.

"Ah, you can't just say such crucial information casually. If I ask you, I'll probably get a half-truth and half-lies in response," Danxi said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)