Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

Legend has it that when the Great Silence arrived, the first observer to spot the approaching giant waves warned the king of the Golden Kingdom, urging him to flee inland. But as we all know, the king, whether out of arrogance or pride, ignored the warning and ultimately sank into the sea along with his magnificent capital.

After the Great Tranquility, the positions of tide watchers were retained, only their status changed from government employees to military personnel. Every tide watcher is a member of the Punishment Army, stationed on land very close to the coastline. Their sole daily task is to observe changes in the ocean, record all information and anomalies, and report them to the Inquisition. Even so, they are the branch of the Punishment Army with the highest casualty rate, bar none.

There are thousands of such tide-watching stations scattered along the Iberian coastline, and the Elias station is just one of them. But as the person in charge of this station, tide watcher Edward Asturia has never slackened in his duties.

At six o'clock in the morning, he got up to the sound of the crashing waves. After a quick wash, he grabbed the ear of the adjutant on night watch.

"Lena, why are you sleeping again?"

The adjutant, whose ear had been grabbed, snapped back to reality. Despite his youth, his face, roughened by the sea breeze, immediately showed an expression of pain and annoyance.

"Ahhh, stop lying, Commander Edward! I only rested for ten minutes. It's almost dawn, and there wasn't a sound last night!"

Asturia looked up and glanced at the calm coastline outside the glass window. He sighed helplessly, released his grip on her ear, and looked at his good-for-nothing daughter and adjutant, speaking earnestly:

"Lena, how did I teach you? The Tidewatchers can't slack off for even a second. Even if they die, they have to wait for their successor to arrive. Ten minutes is a long time. Do you know how long it took for our capital to go from prosperity to ruin when the Great Tranquility came?"

“It’ll only take five minutes! Commander Edward, you’ve told this story countless times.” Lena touched her ear with a pained expression and said.

Edward shook his head, looking disappointed: "That's because my father told me this story countless times. He was a witness to the Great Silence; he had just left the city the day before it sank."

"Sigh, never mind. You'll understand someday. You had a hard night last night, go to sleep."

Edward turned around, focused his gaze on the coastline, and waved to his daughter with his back turned.

Lena was silent for a moment, then shrugged and prepared to leave.

[Waaah————]

Without warning, a melodious conch shell sound came from the depths of the sea. Asturia, who was gazing at the coastline, frowned and instinctively picked up the notebook beside him. Behind him, Lena also stopped walking and turned to walk towards Edward.

"An unknown conch shell sound came from the sea."

Hearing his daughter's footsteps returning, Edward turned his head slightly and quickly gave the order.

"Lena, go to the communications station and report this to the Punishment Army. Be quick. I'll continue monitoring the coastline from here."

The footsteps stopped behind her, but Lena didn't make a sound, as if she hadn't heard Edward's command.

The tide watchers were somewhat puzzled, but dared not take their eyes off the coastline for even a second, and could only urge, "Hurry up, I'll keep an eye on things here!"

But there was still no echo from behind.

Edward finally couldn't hold back his anger and turned around to look behind him.

His daughter, who was also his adjutant, stood not far behind him, looking at him with a puzzled expression. Her mouth was open as if she was saying something, but Edward couldn't hear a single syllable.

He opened his mouth in surprise, trying to ask, "What are you saying?" But as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a strange sensation.

He didn't hear any of his own voice either.

Am I deaf?

No, even if I were deaf, Lena couldn't be deaf too. She couldn't possibly not act after hearing my command.

He suddenly realized that it wasn't just language that had disappeared; the ceaseless, repetitive sound of the waves had vanished, the mournful cries of the feathered beasts had disappeared, and the buzzing of the various devices at the observation station had disappeared. The world seemed to have fallen into some mysterious state, and Edward could hear nothing except for the pounding of his own heart.

All sounds are silent.

He suddenly remembered the story he had heard and recounted countless times.

Great stillness.

The light suddenly dimmed, and Lena, who had been in a state of tranquility, abruptly opened her eyes, raising her hand in terror and pointing behind Edward. The tide watcher, his eyes wide with shock and trembling teeth, turned around. What greeted his eyes was not the familiar, unchanging coastline, but a dense, countless monstrous sea monsters that had covered the entire observation window. Their filthy limbs and hideous mouths clung firmly to the sturdy glass of the observation station, writhing incessantly and emitting sounds that, even if inaudible, were utterly repulsive.

Soon, almost without giving the onlookers time to react, the walls, which had been tested and proven undamaged even by the Judgment Army's individual hand cannons, began to show dents and cracks, and spiderweb-like patterns appeared on the tempered glass. Within five seconds, the spiderweb-like patterns had covered the glass, transforming the sea monsters outside the windows into indescribable objects. Ten seconds later, the station was completely engulfed by the overwhelming swarm of terrifying fish, and the outer walls, utterly overwhelmed, began to collapse. Edward staggered towards his daughter, reaching out to embrace her.

Immediately afterwards, they filed in.

At the same time, the first alarm message from the Tidewatchers' station was transmitted to the nearest Punishment Army camp, followed by a surging tide of terrifying fish.

Unexpectedly, their ordinary lives were disrupted.

Volume 1: Chapter 282 The Golden Age

Iberia, headquarters of the court.

The few remaining telephone lines were overwhelmed with calls, and urgent requests for help from all over the country flooded the office like snowflakes. The high-ranking judges didn't even have time to properly understand what was happening on the coastline before they had to pick up their swords and lamps and rush to the front lines as quickly as possible.

Even so, the problem of insufficient manpower has been fully exposed. The court had to temporarily use a large number of junior judges and candidate judges who had not yet received training and instruction. These young people lacked experience. When they went to the front line, the most glorious ending was nothing more than a heroic sacrifice. But without them, Iberia would have become a footnote in Terra's history, just like Gaul.

"We have no choice."

The old man, with a snow-white beard and wrinkles etched all over his aged face, tightened the straps of his leather vest, then put on his dark gray trench coat and loose top hat, and solemnly picked up his gleaming sword and lamp.

Having just returned from the front lines and not even having had a moment to rest, Dario pushed open the door and stumbled upon the scene before him, unable to resist asking:

"Ms. Carmen, are you leaving too?"

Saint Carmen, Carmen y Iberia, was a devout believer, a holy monk, and a steadfast inquisitor. After the Great Tranquility, she and eleven other surviving allies, following the legend of the Twelve Lateran Saints, changed their surname to Iberia. Together, they transformed the former Church of Iberia into the Court of Inquisition, rebuilding order in Iberia from the ruins, a order that continues to this day.

The second great stillness has arrived.

The sound vanished in an instant, and the calm sea was once again churned with towering waves. Although it did not have the devastating tides that altered the coastline as during the first Great Stillness, it still easily wiped out almost all of the Inquisition's tide-watching stations along the coastline and destroyed a third of the Punishment Army's camps in a short period of time.

Although it all lasted very short a time—the tsunami and the Silent War both lasted less than three minutes—it was undoubtedly a devastating blow, a blow that Iberia could not afford.

Even if Iberia manages to survive this disaster, it will be reduced to a third-rate country, comparable to Bolivar and Rembitton. What a despairing reality.

But Carmen didn't even have time to think about the future, and most Iberians, at this moment, didn't even have the right to think about the future.

Reality has gripped them all by the throat.

“Dario, I have to go.” Carmen turned around and looked at the middle-aged man in front of her. This was her disciple, and also the one she had the most faith in among the current judges.

He was steadfast, brave, fearless of sacrifice, and unwavering. Carmen knew that the secret technique could not last forever and that his days would eventually come to an end, so he intended to hand over his position to Dario.

But everything happened too fast, too suddenly, and it didn't even give him a chance to hand over the reins or a peaceful death.

“Eighty years ago, the Great Tranquility struck Iberia, and I could only watch as it destroyed everything we were proud of, destroying that golden age from which none of us could escape. Now, I cannot let it destroy us a second time.”

He may be unable to do anything. But he has to do it.

If someone could accomplish everything with ease, they wouldn't be a hero, they'd be a god. Most people's lives are full of surprises, and only those who can remain calm and composed in the face of unexpected events can be called heroes and create "miracles."

"After I leave, headquarters will need someone to take command. I'll leave it to you."

Carmen gave the order seriously. Dario almost immediately wanted to object:

"Teacher, let me go with you—"

"Do you want Eleanor to take over as commander?" Carmen countered.

The girl saved by the scriptures during the building collapse is now Dalio's apprentice and a new generation of junior inquisitors. After Dalio teaches her the proper understanding and use of her powers, she will be able to become a true grand inquisitor.

But to put her in charge of all this now would be irresponsible. Dalio also couldn't entrust the lives of the Inquisition and the Punishers to Elene, who hadn't even grasped the meaning of "judgment."

He bit his lip and remained silent for a long time. When he looked up again, Carmen was already gone.

"Master?"

A soft call brought him back to reality. Dario turned around and saw Eleanor standing behind him, looking at him with worried eyes.

"The saint has left. We must now..."

Dario took a deep breath, waved to Eleanor, and went into Carmen's office.

"Help me categorize the information and transfer the connection; Iberia is now in our hands."

...........

"Mom, what is the Golden Age?"

"The golden age was... was... was when the city streets were clean, the uncles and aunties on the street were kind, everyone had food to eat, and we could occasionally go out and play together."

"That's a lie! The story says that during the Golden Age there were huge ships! Huge ships that could fit the entire city of Lisbon!"

"What does that have to do with us?"

Hearing the squeaking sound of some slippery limbs wriggling on the floor outside the door, the woman smiled, walked to the door, and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"What you're describing is a golden age only for high-ranking officials in the city. Don't you want to see our golden age, child?"

"I want to!" the girl replied crisply, her face full of anticipation.

The woman opened the door.

The sea monsters, faithfully carrying out the orders to cleanse and transform, swarmed in and instantly tore the woman's fragile body apart. Sitting on the bed, the legless girl stared blankly at everything, seemingly unable to comprehend what had happened. The next second, tentacles with terrifying spiral teeth reached for her.

Her blood was rapidly drained, her flesh quickly shredded, her mind was being spoiled, but her soul seemed to find liberation. She began to sense the kindness in the minds of those who fed on her, and began to accept, acknowledge, agree with, and even willingly sacrifice themselves for them without reason. This transformation was subtle and irrational; in just a few seconds, she had begun to call herself "the horde."

Her mind hadn't died; on the contrary, she suddenly felt her own existence more clearly and acutely than when she was shivering in the cold, biting sea wind in a daze in the dark room. She was no longer hungry, no longer exhausted, no longer drained. She felt full of strength!

She even felt as if she had legs she never had before, as if she had eight legs at the same time, manipulating the stem to jump forward joyfully, feeling this hard-won happiness.

"Mom, you didn't lie to me, this is the golden age."

She let out a laugh, which came from the sea anemone's rudimentary vocal organs and sounded like the hissing of a clogged toilet.

"boom--"

A sudden cannon blast struck the somewhat unusual-looking anemone and the countless sea monsters behind her with perfect accuracy, leaving a disgusting mass of flesh on the ground.

Her golden age ended too quickly, just like Iberia's.

Volume 1: Chapter 283 The Lateran Contract (Part 1)

"Stop her!"