Chapter 1 The Gods Possessing Supreme Power

The Gods possessing supreme power reside within the foundation stones of this world, watching its operation with a perspective that transcends time and space. Spiritually powerful and devout believers who submit to the Gods can, to some extent, glimpse the future direction of reality or changes occurring in some unknown corner of the world at this moment through their own hidden connection with the Gods.

This kind of glimpse is not restricted by time and space, and it contains the risk of being eroded by the subspace. However, for those devout believers with strong wills, this dangerous and powerful force is their greatest reliance when protecting the fragile light of civilization in this endless ocean.

The devout Inquisitor had been seeing a similar illusion for many days.

In a state between sleep and wakefulness, she saw the boundless ocean stained with a layer of ink, followed by thunderous roars from the depths of the sea. The ocean split in two, creating terrifying trenches that reached the seabed. A giant ship burning with flames rose from the seabed, slowly floating into the air like an airship. An invisible giant covered in starlight followed behind the giant ship, step by step, heading towards the city-state of Pland.

In Inquisitor Vanna's life so far, such a massive and terrifying "omen" had only appeared twice.

The first time was in her childhood when she woke up from a nightmare filled with blood and lost her parents in a cultist attack, leaving a scar on her face that would accompany her for life.

The second time was four years ago when she saw a dark sun rising from the underground of the city-state in a dream, thereby eliminating the largest stronghold of the Solar Cult that had infiltrated the city-state. To this day, the lingering claws of those cultists are still hiding everywhere in the vast, complex, and ancient tunnel system under Pland, engaging in meaningless entanglements with the church's guardians.

This was the third time she saw a ship returning from the deep sea, bringing an unspeakable giant into this world.

She lied to the priest in front of her – the omen she saw was actually very clear, so clear that it had caused even an Inquisitor like her to suffer from insomnia for days.

The priest looked at the calm gray-white eyes of the woman in front of him, hesitated for a long time, and then opened his mouth and said, "But you prayed to God, and you don't seem to have received any bad feedback?"

"...The Goddess may not remind of all the risks; sometimes, hardship is a test," Vanna said calmly. "Let's not talk about this. What news is there from the Explorer's Association?"

The priest nodded immediately: "The contact person from the association just sent a message that the relic left at the association headquarters has sensed that the ship has appeared in the southwest sea area, but the ship's telegraph device seems to be malfunctioning. It is currently in a state where it cannot be contacted, and it can only be determined that the ship is approaching the coast of Pland at a normal speed and heading."

"...Once disappeared from the perception of the relic, and then appeared out of thin air on another sea surface far from the planned route. The current state is that it cannot be contacted, and it is sailing straight towards the city-state...and it was performing a mission to escort anomalies before it lost contact," the Inquisitor frowned slightly. The intuition brought about by years of dealing with strange things was throbbing, making her feel alert. "I remember that ship was called the White Oak, right?"

"Yes, the White Oak. The captain is Lawrence Creed, a member of the Explorer's Association and an experienced captain. Because the goods being transported were special, the ship reported to the church before setting sail from the city-state of Lunsar," the priest said as he recalled. "By the way, the accompanying priest on the ship is a registered clergyman of the Storm Church."

"A fellow member of the church...I hope the situation is not too bad," Vanna said seriously. "In short, something is wrong with that ship. The entire route from Lunsar to Pland is within the 'safe zone' controlled by the Explorer's Association, but that ship once disappeared from the relic's perception...I suspect that the White Oak most likely left the real world briefly, or even...may have gone to a place it shouldn't have gone."

"Notify the guardians of the port to keep an eye on the ship immediately after the White Oak enters the port. Before all the inspection work is completed, no one or nothing can leave the ship – has there been any response from the security forces?"

"Please rest assured, your uncle...His Excellency the Governor has ordered the magistrates to control the surrounding area of the port and raised the port's alert level. From now until the alert is lifted, all ships entering and leaving Pland will temporarily dock at the spare port on the west side."

"That's good – my uncle has always been a cautious person," the tense expression on Vanna's face finally relaxed a little. "As long as he doesn't let those ordinary people in the security forces get involved in this matter."

The priest looked at Vanna's light gray eyes, carefully choosing his words before saying, "Do you think...that ship has been 'contaminated'?"

"It's not certain yet, but even if ships that have briefly left the real world eventually return, they are rarely completely normal. It may be that certain items on the ship have unknowingly been alienated into 'anomalies,' it may be mental illnesses hidden deep in the hearts of the crew, or even extra sailors and replaced captains...It is never wrong to be highly vigilant about sea ships that have experienced abnormal phenomena."

"Alas...I hope that ship and its crew are all well," the priest couldn't help but put his hand across his chest, chanting the name of the Storm Goddess, "May the Storm Goddess protect those who bravely challenge the sea."

"May they all be well," Vanna also lowered her eyelids and blessed softly, then as if reminding the priest in front of her, "But if they unfortunately fail to be 'well,' we must also be prepared."

"Yes, I understand."

Vanna nodded, but just as she was about to refocus her attention on the city outside the window, a burst of rapid footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the stairs.

The next moment, a guardian wearing a black uniform with silver trim and a symbol of waves and a dagger on his chest ran up the stairs quickly.

"Inquisitor!" The young guardian took two breaths and said quickly, "We found a cult sacrificial site worshiping the Sun God in the sewer and caught a group of cultists!"

Vanna's expression instantly became extremely serious: "Those cultists who worship the Dark Sun? Wait, you said you found a sacrificial site...not a hiding place? They dare to hold sacrificial activities again?!"

"Yes, it is a place for holding sacrificial rituals. We found evidence of sacrificial rituals," the guardian said quickly. "And we also found a large number of victims in the crypt not far from the ritual site – most of them had their hearts sacrificed. However...the situation at the ritual site is a bit wrong."

Vanna saw a look of absurdity and confusion on the guardian's face. She picked up the heavy greatsword blessed by the Storm Goddess from the side, and while carrying it on her back, she quickly walked towards the stairs: "Lead the way, I will go to the scene myself."

"Yes!"

The heavy blessed greatsword and metal shoulder armor made a crisp collision sound. Rapid footsteps passed through the long steps inside the clock tower. Vanna came to the small square in front of the clock tower and saw several guardian team members already gathered here waiting for orders. Two steam walkers were parked at the edge of the square, and constant clicking sounds came from the spider-shaped mechanical bodies.

Vanna didn't stop, just gave the guardians a gesture to set off, and walked straight to one of the walkers – this huge machine, which was the size of two two-wheeled carriages, looked like a mechanical spider lying on the ground. The edges of its steel limbs were equipped with wheels for sliding on flat ground and steel hooks for dealing with special environments. On both sides of the upper shell of the walker, there were shooting cabins with Gatling guns installed.

Pure technological creations are difficult to have enough impact on "anomalies" or "visions," but overwhelming firepower can kill those heretical cultists who are hiding behind the scenes and manipulating anomalies – of course, this thing can't exert its power in the sewer, but it's quite useful for blocking doors.

The holy 8mm bullets poured out, and in the blink of an eye, they could send a large group of heretics who attempted to escape to the subspace to serve their master.

The gray-haired and gray-eyed Inquisitor jumped directly onto the shell of the walker, standing steadily in the night with her long sword on her back. Two other guardians skillfully climbed into the shooting cabins on both sides of the shell. Then, with a series of hissing sounds as the cylinders and compression pipes pressurized and depressurized, white steam spewed out from the limb joints of the walker. The huge mechanical spider then stood up, jumped to the nearest main road in one step, and quickly rushed towards the nearest sewer entrance in sliding mode.