Ark Heroine Development Plan

The smell of the tide.

Chen had been to the beach only a few times, but in just that instant she recognized that this was the smell of the tide.

But how could there be a smell of the sea in a church in Longmen, a mobile city in the wilderness?

Like the nun, she cautiously stuck her head out to observe the scene inside the church.

The dim candlelight was arranged in neat rows. The first three rows in the church were filled with believers bowing their heads in prayer. On the high platform in front of the believers, a gray-haired priest in a black robe kept gesturing and muttering.

The gatherings and prayers were so solemn and dignified that it was no wonder the nun said it was quite proper.

But the candlelight captured the murals on the inner walls of the church in a semi-dark area. The patterns that Chen didn't recognize flickered strangely at the junction of darkness and light. The dim silence and the glorious holiness were mixed together. Chen could not see the beauty, but only felt a chill.

The largest wall of the church behind the priest was covered with patterns. The strokes, mainly in black and dark blue, were deep and dark. Even the candlelight only made it darker, like a bottomless whirlpool.

The priest's shadow cast on the wall twisted and squirmed as the candlelight swayed, as if blending into the strange and incomprehensible darkness.

The more he stared, the more confused Chen's mind became. The priest was so far away from him, but Chen seemed to hear his whispered prayer clearly:

"Praise our gods, and sing praises to the Almighty Spirit."

“His will, which covers the sea, will be done on earth.”

“We need to offer spirit and flesh, and chant…” “Little girl, little girl?”

The nun's whisper startled Chen suddenly, and she reached out to grasp Chi Xiao's hilt. The intense stinging sensation completely woke her up from the strange chaos, and she broke out in a cold sweat on her back.

What the hell was that just now!

It was as if some invisible tentacle had crawled up her back, easily drilled through her skull, and twisted itself around in her brain, rewriting her senses and will.

"You look so pale. Why do you suddenly...look so scared?" The nun looked at Chen, who looked pale, in confusion. "What happened?"

“…You didn’t feel it?”

"Feel...what?"

Facing the nun's puzzled eyes, Chen breathed a sigh of relief. Even she could fall into the trap accidentally. If it were an ordinary person, once trapped in it, there would be almost no possibility of escape. However, this nun seemed to be extremely insensitive to this and was not affected by it at all.

"It's dangerous here, Sister Sister!"

At this point, Chen no longer cared about hiding her identity. Everyone in this church might have been brainwashed, so she had to let the nun escape through the secret passage first.

At first, she thought she couldn't stop the nun, so she was careful to contact the priest while protecting her. However, in this situation where everyone was an enemy, there was no need to contact the priest through the nun.

"Little girl, what are you talking about?"

The nun was also a little flustered. She looked at Chen's expression and it didn't look like she was lying. Moreover, the coldness that Chen revealed at that moment was not what an ordinary girl should have.

"No time to explain, listen to me, it's dangerous here, let's go!"

"Sister Meng Zian, since you are here, please come to me first."

On the stage, the priest who had originally closed his eyes in prayer suddenly looked up and opened his eyes.

“…Father?”

The nun who was discovered walked out subconsciously, but was pulled back by Chen.

"The priest is no longer the same priest!" Chen gripped the nun's wrist tightly. "Don't be fooled!"

She revealed Chi Xiao from under her windbreaker and quickly explained, "I'm an inspector from the Imperial Guards, in charge of a very serious case. Trust me, and get out of here quickly. If you don't believe me, you can call the police directly!"

"But--"

The nun looked at Chen in disbelief. Psychological analysis told her that Chen was serious, but... if there was something wrong with his brother, how could she not see it?

"I forgive you for bringing a stranger to ruin this party, but only this once."

The serious tone was exactly the same as that of the priest the nun knew. She looked towards the platform, and the priest's expression was also exactly the same as she knew it.

"How long do you want to keep pretending?"

Chen held Chi Xiao in her arms and threw off her windbreaker. The uniform made her words more convincing. "Father, I suspect you and everyone in this church are connected to an extremely dangerous individual. Please kneel on the ground with your hands behind your head immediately, or I may resort to violence."

"Is this how you arrest people without a search warrant or a police ID?"

The old priest spoke surprisingly naturally, not at all like someone who had been brainwashed and was confused. "Also, please let my sister go."

"Officer, can you...can you let me go first?"

The middle-aged nun looked at Chen timidly. In this situation, would you choose to believe a policeman who had deceived you before, or believe your own brother who is a senior psychological counselor and has not seen any problems?

But Chen would not let go. The whispering and the bewitching power of the pattern had already raised Chen's vigilance to the highest level. If it were not for the purpose of not alerting the mysterious force, Chen would definitely call for a large force from the Guard Bureau to come and raze the place to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Sister." Chen pulled her behind him forcefully. "I can understand why you choose to believe the priest, but I don't have a choice now."

Inserting Chi Xiao into the belt around his waist, Chen held the hilt with one hand, ready to draw the sword at any time.

The priest stared at Chen intently, and his eyes gradually made the nun begin to be afraid, because this was not the look a priest should have.

"I'll say it again, let go of Zi'an."

The icy cold tone was as if he wanted to crush Chen's flesh and grind all her bones into pieces. It was totally unlike the tone and expression that an old man like him should have.

The nun looked at the priest on the platform and asked in a trembling voice, "Brother...what's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine, Zi'an." The priest looked at the nun and his tone returned to normal. "Come to my side. I won't let them hurt you."

"They... who are they?"

Unable to understand what was happening, the nun could only hide behind Chen and beg the priest:

"Brother, don't mess around. Listen to the officer, okay? You've been doing good things your whole life... Don't get confused when you're old!"

The priest's old and kind face twitched, and every wrinkle seemed to tell of his struggle and pain. Even Chen was a little unbelievable.

She even wondered how terrifying that strange and bewitching whisper was. The pattern and the whisper were enough to almost make her fall for it, but this old man, who looked to be in his sixties, was actually able to struggle even when he was already trapped?

"Praise...our...gods."

However, the cloudy pupils lost their clarity in the struggle, and the inhuman syllables uttered from the old man's throat made Chen's heart fall to the bottom.

"Praise... the Almighty... the Great Spirit."

This time, the believers recited it intermittently, and they, who were originally as unmoved as wooden stakes, turned their heads in unison, with dozens of eyes fixed on Chen.

The nun fainted at the sight of the emotionless, puppet-like face.

The candle flame is still flickering.

The shadows of priests and believers are reflected on the huge and strange mural composed of pitch black and dark blue.

Like a ball of dancing tentacles.

Chapter 96 - Dragon's Fury (7K)

Chen protected the nun and retreated step by step, holding Chi Xiao tightly with his other hand.

Judging from the existing intelligence, the mysterious mercenary, or the organization behind this mercenary, currently only has the ability to control the will of others, and has no other extensions. The person whose will is controlled will not suddenly become a super soldier.

The people in the church were all ordinary people. Even if there were about thirty or forty people, Chen could handle it. The only thing he had to be wary of was the interference from unknown sources.

"Quick victory."

Chen pushed the nun back into the confessional, closed the door, and rushed into the crowd with the sheathed Chi Xiao in hand!

The lifeless-eyed believers rushed towards Chen like zombies. The girl with a stern face kicked the believer who blocked her way away. The flying body scattered the crowd like a bowling ball. Without stopping at all, she ran towards the priest on the platform and jumped high.

A trace of distress and ferocity flashed across the old face, but soon it returned to calm. The old man standing in front of the mural looked up and stared at the dragon in the air. His long blue hair fluttered in the dim candlelight, dragging a charming tail flame, and the dazzling red sword chopped down without mercy!

"Praise the Great Spirit." The priest murmured softly.

On the indescribable and mysterious mural behind him, the deep darkness began to wriggle and twist like a living thing. At that moment, it seemed as if some boundaries were broken.

The boundary between virtual and real.

Thick, wild, pitch-black lines broke through the invisible wall. Solid and three-dimensional, they were endowed with substance and life, and they slammed down towards Chen in mid-air with pure, willless violence.

Everything happened in a flash. The thick and huge black tentacles hit Chen hard. The dull sound of flesh colliding echoed in the church, followed by a low roar.

Chen, who was hit by the stone pillar, fell to the ground. She supported herself on Chi Xiao with one hand, her eyes full of disbelief.

She had never seen such Originium skills before. If she had to say there was a sense of déjà vu, the inky black, lifeless crow that Guan Yueli had once ridden did have some similarities with this tentacle, but this tentacle gave Chen a completely different feeling.

The crow beside Guan Yueli was clearly not a living creature, but rather some sort of... tool in the form of a crow. But this tentacle was different. Chen could sense a chilling coldness from it, and with it came a strangeness.

This isn't right.

If this mysterious force possessed this ability, why hadn't they found anything in the intelligence? If they didn't want to be exposed, why would they allow this priest to use this power so freely?

"...Tsk."

The current situation did not allow Chen to think too much. She swept away her complicated thoughts and concentrated on the battle.

Thanks to Guan Yueli, Chen has become so obsessed with improving his martial arts that it makes people's scalp tingle. Violence is needed to implement order and justice, and to correct mistakes and problems. This world is not so good that all problems can be solved by reasoning. Chen, who regards Guan Yueli as his biggest imaginary enemy, is of course working hard every day to move towards that unattainable goal.

She is stronger than ever and getting stronger every day.

Her ruby-like pupils reflected the tentacles that were smashing down on her again, but in Chen's mind, the scene of the next second had already emerged.

A dazzling red light burst out from the sheath, accompanied by the sound of a sword like a dragon's roar, and rose into the sky like a flame.

As expected, he cut off the front end of the tentacle with a sword. Chen jumped into the air, stepped on the fallen tentacle, and jumped up again, directly stepping on the still dancing piece of meat.

"That's disgusting."

The young dragon had a distinct resistance and disgust towards this strange power. While whispering, she stabbed Chi Xiao's tentacle through with a knife, and then ran wildly along the entire tentacle!

Dark blue blood spurted out, and the entire tentacle swung violently as if it could sense the pain. Chen, holding the knife in his backhand, injected his strength into it, and the bright red blade light bloomed again, but this time, it was in this ball of dirty flesh and blood!

Chi Xiao's sword energy blew the entire tentacle into pieces, and Chen's body was inevitably stained with dark blue blood, but she did not smell any blood at all, but a pungent smell of pigment or paint?

After wiping off the "blood" on his hair, the overly sticky and dry feeling told Chen that it was really just paint, but the tentacle that looked like a part of a monster was clearly a living thing!

The old man on the platform fell to the ground with a pale face. The pain and torture on his face seemed to become tangible, as if countless swords pierced his body, leaving cruel scars on his face.

"Please...go quickly..."

A hoarse voice uttered from the old man's throat: "Take Zi'an with you...quickly..."

A skinny arm stretched out from the black robe, and the old priest was strangling his throat as if he was fighting a formless devil. The skinny palm without much flesh was bulging with blue veins, like the roots of rotten wood exposed from the soil. At this moment, the old man over 60 burst out with incredible and amazing strength, using it to... kill himself.

"Father!"

The sudden change made Chen scream. Holding the Chi Xiao, which had not yet been sheathed, she quickly approached the priest who seemed to want to strangle her with caution. She was confident that she could fight back even if it was a trap - even if it was not the case, she would not let this priest who obviously still had some self-awareness commit suicide like this.

Just when Chen chose to save the priest, the dark lines on the mural began to wriggle and twist again. She was about to swing her knife to cut it, but she saw dozens of tentacles that were much thinner than before suddenly pop out and roll directly towards the believers below!

Chen suddenly turned around and saw that all the believers were tied up tightly by tentacles. For these ordinary people, the tentacles could easily break their ribs and crush their internal organs with just a little force.

The priest stared blankly at the believers hanging on the tentacles with numb expressions. Endless sorrow chiseled his face like a chisel, and tears of blood flowed from his turbid pupils.

"kill me."

The old man, unable to strangle himself, squeezed every inch of strength out of his body and made a hoarse request to Chen with a desperate soul.

Chen was stunned where he was.

"Kill me!"

The old man, who had been kind all his life, roared like a lion at the end of his life. The mysterious whisper that seemed to tear his brain and soul apart could no longer control his will at this moment. The priest, who had drained all his strength, struggled to his feet and ran towards the young man who was holding a knife against him.

Chen was actually able to react. At this moment, the whole world seemed to slow down in front of her. She could see the sadness and anger on the old man's face, and she also understood the old man's intention - he wanted to die on Chixiao. He believed that as long as he died, the mysterious power without the carrier would be unable to do anything, and those evil believers would be able to survive.

Before the old man hit the tip of the knife, Chen already understood why the old man did this.

But she did not move. She neither made up her mind to swing the knife to end the old man's life, nor did she draw the knife to avoid it and look for other solutions.

At this moment, in this instant, the young dragon missed the most precious opportunity because of the heaviness of life.

Another tentacle suddenly stretched out from the mural and pulled the old man back at the moment when he was about to commit suicide. The old man, who had exhausted all his physical and mental strength, felt complete despair the moment he was wrapped by the tentacle.

He looked at Chen slowly, and in the moment when his consciousness sank into the deep sea, he cast his gaze at the young girl.

A hateful, apologetic look.

Hatred for my own incompetence and apology to the innocent people involved.