Rhodes Island does not exist.

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"Hmm?" Kal'tsit raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Many people died in my trial.” Although she still felt a lingering fear from the memory of that noon, she could no longer be unable to utter a complete sentence. “Apart from myself, almost everyone who participated in the trial died inside.”

“I’ve heard what the healer and Sister Kal’tsit said, and I’ve also heard what Sister Skadi said before,” Levin said slowly. “So if there’s anything related to the sacrifice, it can only be this.”

“A sudden and massive number of deaths.” Kal'tsit nodded. “This is one of the prerequisites for sacrifice.”

“Now that you mention it, Skadi once said something like that.” The doctor realized some details from his memory. “She used to be an executioner and witnessed the large-scale capture of Agorians by Iberia and their mass slaughter at the execution ground.”

“Yes, and the one who orchestrated this operation must be the administrator of Iberia, the Cardinal.” Kal'tsit nodded. “Also, let me make a guess: were there many people at that so-called trial? Or to be more specific, were all the residents around the courtroom there?”

"Yes," the doctor and Levini answered simultaneously.

“This is the result of suppressed desire thresholds,” Kal’tsit sighed. “Because life lacks sufficient stimulation, they will naturally regard all such activities as a grand entertainment. In other words, the rulers here are trying to cultivate this habit in the people, treating every killing as a ritual.”

“Then let’s count them.” Kal’tsit shook her head. “First, there was the mass killing of Agor in Iberia, the mass sea burial of the infected, then today’s trial which was like a mass execution, and the self-sacrifice of the cardinal and this clan. Thinking about it this way, doesn’t it seem like there were quite a few people sacrificed in Iberia, both in terms of quantity and quality? And even the types are all there.”

"indeed……"

The doctor realized that he seemed to have never thought about such a thing before.

“Skadi, as a deep-sea hunter, hunted down a large number of her people who had gone mad; the cardinals, in order to gain power, slaughtered a large number of innocent people; the bishops, in order to maintain a healthy environment, banished a large number of infected people; and Levini’s trial sent a large number of ordinary Liberians to hell,” the doctor murmured.

"Thus, the madman, the Agor, the infected, the Liberians, and the Families—these five creatures existing in Iberia are all gathered together," Kal'tsit said. "In these chains of sacrifice, no link is unnecessary; all the characters that make up the links are placed in their proper places, and their value is fully reflected."

“Especially Skadi.” Kal’tsit cast a pitying glance at the mentally dead Deepsea Hunter. “She almost single-handedly strung together every link in this chain, and she even thought she was doing the right thing.”

“Perhaps.” The Doctor closed the black leather case in front of him, stood up and looked at Skadi kneeling on the ground. “Perhaps she was indeed used, but at least in these links that make up the chain, she did do the right thing.”

The pale green liquid swayed in the warm syringe between his fingers, exuding the fresh scent of new life.

That was a brand new medicine he had created.

"She saved my life and Levi's life."

Before the words were even finished, the Doctor walked behind Skadi, stared at her, and said, "Although I don't know if this is also part of some messy plan, without her, Levini and I would probably still be in prison, so I am very grateful to her."

In other words—

The doctor took a deep breath, then pointed the tip of the syringe at Skadi and slowly inserted it into her pale, paper-white skin.

"It's time to wake up, Deepsea Hunter."

Chapter 130, Chapter 129: Deep Sea Tales, Part 63: Summer Breeze

It was a summer one year.

It is Iberia, and it is Agor.

The warm sea breeze swept across the water and became a hot wind when it reached the sandy shore.

The air was distorted and deformed, creating ripples on the golden sand, as if it were about to evaporate even the sounds of the place.

It was a summer one year.

A moist atmosphere permeated every inch of the alleyways along the seawall. Stranded sea creatures lay languidly on the shore, their skin cracked from thirst, exposing their flowing flesh and smooth interior to the scorching sun, releasing the sweet aroma of their fat.

Skadi stood on the edge of the seawall, one foot dangling in the air.

She didn't know why she was standing there, nor what she was waiting for.

The tides that surged ashore came and went, the hot wind brushed against my ankles and caressed my cheeks, while the enormous sea monsters gradually decayed under the erosion of time.

The shimmering midday sunlight sparkled in the slightly ethereal landscape, like a bright pink filter blurring the entire field of vision.

Sunlight streamed down.

The blue water ripples gently.

Fat melts.

The aroma of rotting flesh.

Skadi stood on the edge of the seawall, one foot on the shore.

"Hi, Skadi."

A voice sounded from behind her, greeting her.

Skadi was puzzled.

He had been living a secluded and independent life in Iberia, trying his best not to reveal his identity as Agor or to let others discover him, so as not to attract gossip.

After all, her mission is to protect people on land from the dangers of the deep sea, so all she needs to do is fight.

But since the other person greeted me, they must know me or have heard about me from someone.

So she turned around and nodded to the man.

Skadi was well aware that she was not good at talking, so she generally did not speak in unnecessary situations.

"Why are you standing here? Are you looking at the sea?" The man was dressed entirely in black, his long, ink-black robe covering his body, and his face was obscured by a hood. One couldn't help but wonder if he was hot.

"I...I don't know."

Skadi's eyes were somewhat vacant.

She was telling the truth.

Because she really didn't know anything.

She didn't even have a memory of how she got here; everything seemed abrupt and bizarre, as if she had been born from the void at the beginning of time.

"Don't you know? That's fine too." The man smiled.

"And what about you?" Skadi didn't know what to say to him, so she could only return his question, "Did you come to see the sea?"

"To see the sea?" The man laughed again.

His laughter was natural, an outpouring of heartfelt emotion, and the kind of laughter Skadi hadn't heard in the city in a long time.

After all, most people here suppress their desires and emotions under the management of the church and consider it reasonable.

“No.” He shook his head.

Although she couldn't see the man's eyes, Skadi could still feel his gaze from under his hood.

It was a gaze directed at her, with a very strong purpose.

"you--"

So she wanted to ask the man his purpose.

But the sound was interrupted halfway through, drowned out by the person.

"Do you remember who you are?" the man asked Skadi.

His voice was steady.

“I am Skadi,” Skadi replied. “I am a Deepsea Hunter.”

"If that's the case, why are you standing here?" the man asked. "Your prey isn't here; it's further away."

"My prey..."

Skadi muttered to herself, her gaze drifting to the massive, rotting carcass of a sea monster stranded on the shore.

Was that her prey?

No, that's just a stranded sea monster.

Where is her prey?

"Think back to what you were doing before."

The voice lingered in Skadi's ears, as if it were coming from all directions, as if the person was not in front of her and she was only talking to a holographic image.

"It's time to wake up."

He gently approached her and then brought his head close to her ear.

To her own surprise, she did not show even the slightest aversion to this behavior.

Skadi stood there quietly, waiting to see what the man would say to her.

Then the person slowly opened their lips, and the syllables transmitted through the vibration of their vocal cords flowed perfectly into her eardrums.

"It's time to wake up, Deepsea Hunter."

Wake up, deep-sea hunter.

What does this sentence mean?

"Am I dreaming?" Skadi felt something warm slowly trickling down her cheek.

what is that?

Is it the blazing starry sky? Is it the boundless sea sand? Is it one's own tears? Is it the blood of one's comrades?

Maybe they are, maybe they are not.

The surrounding environment is gradually becoming distorted.

The man before me began to dissipate, the rotting sea monster on the beach exposed its skeleton, and then sank into the vast earth like a fluid. As for myself, I also gradually became indistinct.

The high noon becomes the falling dusk, and the twilight sun is trapped in the eclipse, dim and without light.

All objects with light are gradually disappearing.

"It's time to wake up, Deepsea Hunter."

Then, the man's body vanished, leaving only that one sentence behind.

"me……"

Skadi stared blankly at her hands, her gaze sweeping over everything around her. For some reason, a feeling of déjà vu welled up in her heart, a feeling that seemed familiar yet did not exist in her memory.

That was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

It wasn't damp tentacles, nor a blood-soaked madman, nor a ferocious beast lurking among damp seaweed, nor a gigantic clan reeking of a fishy stench.

“...Ti”.

Then, as the eclipse gradually enveloped the beach, she heard a voice.

The voice was quite faint, but she could hear it because it was calling her name.

Darkness gradually grew and spread, and under the shadow of the eclipse, a large number of horrifying creatures grew.

They crawled beneath the deep black sky, their forms indistinct and their physical forms unseen, slowly making their way towards Skadi.

"...Ti!"

Then, Skadi heard that voice again.

This time the sound was much clearer and more discernible.

The darkness surging from all sides began to creep toward her, and she knew very well that these things were probably not something that could be dealt with by the greatsword on her back or by brute force.

Skadi stood there, motionless.

Darkness gradually surged up the seawall, enveloping her.

"Skadi!"

But at that moment, the sound finally became loud.

Skadi finally identified the source of the sound.

It comes neither from the sky nor from the sea, but from one's own heart.

"Skadi!"

The voice called out again.

"I'm here."

And she responded.

Thank you segment.

Thank you Moxiaochentu for the monthly pass, thank you.