Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1490 "Destiny"

Lugo will no longer attack recklessly.

After summoning the star's attack once, Lu Ning had a basic understanding of Lu Ge, and she shared this understanding with the pharmacist.

This guy is someone who values ​​his life. Even after becoming infected and turning into this grotesque state, he will still avoid anything that could actually harm him. The beacon with its multiple burrows, and his subsequent escape here, suggest that running away is probably as instinctive as breathing for him.

Now, a deadly attack is imminent. The apothecary's sniping is an act of divine corruption and annihilation, and Rosalyn, a first-level bishop of the Warning Hub, stands in front of them. A rash attack would surely be detected by the Warning Hub's search spells.

“So if he doesn’t retreat, the next step will be to wear him down with the mist. That will take a long time.” The apothecary loaded a bullet into the chamber. “He can’t interfere with the casting of the divine spell.”

The spells within the hall were becoming increasingly stable, indicating that the analysis was nearing completion; Krom's speed was still quite fast. For a first-order bishop, casting an eighth-order divine spell wasn't particularly difficult.

Lugo clearly realized this as well. He dared not risk his life to rush through the church door. As for taking a detour... proper churches have anti-theft measures in place during construction, and taking the wrong path would invite divine punishment.

“Not coming up? Then you can’t stop me.” Rosalyn said with a sneer.

"Hmph... It's not that I'm not willing to work. Even if I tried to charge in, I'd die. My abilities are completely unsuitable for this kind of head-on confrontation." Lugo retreated a distance, his bulging veins gradually moving away from the church entrance.

At that moment, the divine magic within the auditorium was also completed.

The moment "Disintegration" was activated, the gloom surrounding the church and even the entire area melted away like ice and snow. Even the blood mist outside was dispersed by the power of this divine spell. Lugo immediately shrank his surrounding blood vessels and disappeared into the river.

Rosalind waved her hand, stopping the illumination and protection from the nine eyeballs, and glanced somewhat displeased in the direction Lugo had fled. If she hadn't been injured, she would have already given chase, but unfortunately, she was too weak to do so now.

"It went very smoothly."

On the other side, Krom opened the door to the auditorium, looking slightly tired but still with a smile: "Nothing went wrong, and they performed very well."

The pharmacist peeked at Veronica and Vanessa. Being young, they were still full of energy after casting an eighth-tier divine spell, even whispering about their spellcasting experience. They looked much better than when they were burdened with official duties.

“I’ll go tell Father Thorne that we can come out. Then we need to test the effectiveness of the disintegration,” the pharmacist said.

"That's right, I've expelled as much of the bad stuff from this area as possible, but I still need to verify it. As for the rest, I need to check on everyone's injuries."

Immediately, people began to mobilize. The "disintegration" not only lifted the seemingly cursed blockade, but also dispelled much of the confusion in everyone's minds.

=
Within a city that had been transformed into a forest, Poirot sensed the fluctuations of this high-level divine magic.

He marveled at the other person's good fortune, then looked at the inventory list of supplies he had just compiled.

This area was largely covered by dead branches, a forest formed by the ever-growing "Excessive Nursery". In the center of this forest, the nursery's owner had transformed into a giant tree, but no one could approach it.

The withered trees possessed extremely high magical resistance; furthermore, fire, poison, and blades had little effect on them—they were practically not wood at all. People's living space was compressed to a very narrow area; if it weren't for the presence of a parish here, the entire region would likely have been overrun.

The good news is that those far from the giant tree don't need to worry about being killed by the branches growing underground. The farther away you are, the weaker the nursery owner's perception becomes. He will indiscriminately kill any creature that gets close to him, but that's all; the continuous growth is merely a result of his instinct to spread himself and doesn't possess much aggression.

This gave Poirot the space to gather manpower and supplies. He now had about five thousand people in the parish, mostly local residents, but also some scattered garrison and church personnel. In fact, it was their numbers that prevented him from leading them out. The parish was surrounded by jungle, and many people didn't have the courage to take a single step.

“I need to… work even harder.” Poirot put away the list, pondered, and flicked his wrist, revealing a die in his palm.

D13:

Even when things have reached a point of no return, you still have a choice.

10/12 used
Re-roll: Roll the dice to reveal new possibilities based on the current situation and the user's current focus. The user can then freely choose one of these possibilities to become reality. (Note: This effect can be applied to tasks posted in the distribution center; the number of options is the current number of uses + 1.)

Reversed Torrent: If this item's effect is used more than once in the same scene, the user must choose one of the four "Torrent" calamities as an additional responsibility to bear in the next scene.

Perfect Dodecahedron: Each time this item is used, one face will be imprinted with the rejected timeline, which will be stored inside the die. (Currently saved content: Death 2 times, Doomsday 3 times, Exposed Scheme 1 time, Unsalvageable Person 4 times.)
Inevitable Destruction: After twelve uses, this item will automatically be thrown for the thirteenth time.

Scene addition: Fate and probability collapse: Your fate should be above that of others.

Fate is forgiving, giving you choices; fate is harsh, not giving you choices forever.

Bad omen.

Poirot was prepared to take considerable risks when using items from the distribution center. He chose the dice as the item to bring into the scene for two reasons: first, he didn't have anything else of value, and second, for such a scene, the dice could at least be used one last time, making it a powerful life-saving item.

After casting it, the different route options that appear can go back to before the tourist entered the scene. In other words, he can even completely reselect an identity and a new set of gathering point tasks to enter the scene. He can also start over for the task line he chose incorrectly before. It can be described as a complete reshuffle, a powerful tool for cheating.

But once he entered the scene, an additional description made him extremely concerned.

Distribution centers might not provide complete information, or they might play word games, but they rarely leave things ambiguous. If something like that happens, it means the matter is likely significant.

Even after Violet City was corrupted by the divine calamity, he dared not use the item to make a second choice. So now he has always relied on his own abilities to do things, and even constantly alternates with his original body to exchange opinions in order to maintain this place.

But after only half a month, supplies began to run out. The parish had few production facilities; even with rationing, it was pure consumption. Poirot had anticipated this, but he hadn't expected supplies to be depleted so quickly. Five thousand people was indeed not many compared to the population of Violet City, but for such a small parish, it was a huge burden. The standard capacity of a small church parish was ten thousand people, based on an abundance of regular supplies.

"Teacher, a few more people have come in. They say their relatives are sick and need medicine."

His apprentice, who often accompanied him, knocked on the door and came in, bringing some not-so-good news.

"Have you seen a doctor? What did the people from the Salvation Pivot say?"

"A regular decoction will suffice, but..."

Seeing his apprentice's hesitation, Poirot recalled for a moment and then knew the reason.

The decoction needs to be taken for a long time and will not produce immediate effects. In the current situation of scarcity of resources, no one can guarantee that the raw materials will not run out halfway, after all, the raw materials have more than one use.

“Let them take it first. Also, prepare to notify everyone to be ready to evacuate within three days,” Poirot said.

"But... we told everyone that reinforcements would be coming."

“Situations are always changing, and we can’t always rely on others for rescue. We only said there was a high probability back then. But now, it’s clear that something bigger is happening inside and outside the city.” Poirot made up his mind. “Tell them that if they don’t want to die, they’d better move quickly. I can’t guarantee a safe place, but staying here will only make things more dangerous every day!”

=
"The total population of Zhongbiaohe District is currently 24,000."

Father Thorne looked at his two daughters sitting in front of him, his expression cold and hard.

“If it’s just adding a few more people, or helping a dozen or so fellow church members, I certainly wouldn’t object. We can afford to provide that much food.”

"We've just finished the autumn harvest! Although the southern region isn't particularly rich in produce, we can still afford to feed ourselves—"

“We can’t afford it, Vanessa. You can’t measure the costs in this situation with peacetime data.” Thorne stared at Vanessa’s rebuttal and threw two sheets of paper at her.

"The people Liu brought were mostly the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled; less than one-tenth of them could be considered as laborers. Given this ratio, how do we assess a team of nearly two thousand people?"

“They traveled through the western region to get here, so it shouldn’t be that bad,” Veronica said.

Father Thorne snorted and tapped the paper: "That's because a large number of them are members of the Church of Christ! They can use the existing defenses to cover themselves and avoid battle, which is not their ability! I welcome my fellow Church of Christ, but I don't think those people are really worth taking in."

“I’ve heard your reasons,” Vanessa insisted. “But the Church’s duty is to protect civilians, whether they are believers or not. Now that we have the resources, we should take them in, not drive them elsewhere—”

"What if there are more people coming?" Father Thorne asked coldly. "Another group? Four hundred, five hundred, that's a number you can accept, would you still accept it? How much more water do you think the Clock River can hold? For the sake of some extra people, are you going to reduce the benefits that those who originally supported us deserve? How are you going to explain to them that because there are more people, you will have to eat one less meal?"

“I need to know more! Including what the Church of East is thinking, and what the outcome of the discussions outside the city has been! Otherwise, I cannot give you a definite answer!”

"...If you need to know all the information to make a judgment, then you are still unqualified."

The argument grew louder, and even Veronica's attempts to mediate were mixed in.

The pharmacist, Rosalyn, and Crom stood outside, looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Has Father Thorne always spoiled them like this? Do these kinds of things always get resolved through arguments?" Krom asked.

“If he were in the army, he should be punished.” Rosalyn smiled. “But I think Vanessa’s point is valid. After all, her idea aligns with what the Church, or even the Saviour’s Cardinal, promotes, right?”

“Without the premise of deliberately sacrificing ourselves,” Crom said, “should we accept those from outside? We currently lack monks of the Oathkeeping Council, and we cannot be sure whether they still follow the doctrine.”

“Liu should be trustworthy,” the pharmacist said. “I don’t think the recent changes in the city can affect a saint who has buried the dead, and the saint’s identity is easy to verify.”

“It’s not easy. We don’t have another Saint of the Burial Cauldron here.” Rosalind crossed her arms. “We trusted you, Thorne and those two nuns because of the circumstances at the time. But newcomers have to be verified under these circumstances, otherwise, if any internal strife breaks out, this area that we’ve worked so hard to protect will be finished.”

“The most important thing is that we’re leaving in a couple of days. Although many others will stay here, it’s still far from enough,” Krom added.

There's nothing we can do about it.

Liu only came this way after sensing the "Disintegration" spell. She alone wasn't a problem, but she was accompanied by a group of people who had met up with her along the way. These people were protected by a monk named Sneed, who tried to avoid the areas where those highly dangerous monsters roamed, and searched for any supplies that hadn't been taken away. They barely managed to survive.

The able-bodied men were either taken away to fight or selected to be taken away, leaving mostly the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled among those who remained. Liu couldn't stand idly by and do nothing about these people, so after arriving, he immediately explained the situation to the people guarding the entrance.

As a result, Father Thorne started arguing with Vanessa and Veronica.

"I'll go meet with Liu." The pharmacist wasn't prepared to be caught between two first-class bishops; the pressure was too great. "Since they want to come, they should at least show some appreciation. Or at least... prove their worth."

“Alright,” Krom and Rosalind agreed.

The apothecary quickly left the church and hurried to the entrance. Separated only by a magical barrier, Liu sat cross-legged opposite him. She was covered in dust, though her weapons were still in good condition. The bloodstains on her body proved that her journey hadn't been easy either.

It's clearly just within one city.