Chapter 1

This sewer system was extremely large, so much so that in Duncan's eyes, it had completely exceeded the necessity of the single function of "urban sewage." The runic gas lamps and reinforced structures, which could serve as shelters, seen everywhere in the sewer, made him have many conjectures about the positioning of this underground facility.

But no matter what the builders' initial ideas were for this huge facility, one fact was obvious: in the depths of this vast facility, beyond the gaze of the surface world, this dark and cold place had become a nursery for some kind of evil power.

A cult group that nominally worshiped the sun, but only made people feel cold.

The intersection of several corridors of the sewer was a wide underground space. Solid concrete pillars supported the brick-paved dome. Metal-cast pipe structures were connected vertically and horizontally near the dome, like a spider web. Bright gas lamps illuminated the entire space, as well as the crowd gathered at this "meeting place"—

At first glance, at least hundreds of people in black robes gathered in this dirty and humid place. In the middle of them was a high platform protruding from the ground. On the high platform stood a tall figure also wearing a black robe, who was obviously the person with the highest status among this group of black-robed people.

This person standing on the high platform did not wear the same hood as the others, but wore a golden mask. The mask was of a strange style, like a disc radiating endless flames in all directions, and its surface was engraved with a large number of fragmented cracks.

Behind the person wearing the mask, there was also a peculiar totem on the high platform—a tall wooden stake, with a burning fireball fixed on the top of the stake. The core of the fireball seemed to be some kind of metal, and there were many small holes on its surface, from which flames spewed out.

When Duncan was "escorted" here, this was the scene he saw.

The black-robed people gathered in the assembly hall also noticed him.

"We caught a runaway sacrifice on the way to the assembly hall!" One of the black-robed men who was responsible for escorting him stepped forward and said respectfully to the "leader" on the high platform, with a hint of flattery in his tone. "This sacrifice has been in the darkness for too long, and his mind is a bit confused. May you display your power and let the glory of our Lord descend on this pathetic body!"

The cult leader wearing the golden mask on the high platform turned around and stared at the expressionless Duncan, with a hint of surprise and coldness in his tone: "A runaway sacrifice?"

Duncan did not react in any way. He was just curiously observing this place, including the golden mask on the cult leader's face, and the totem of the burning fireball behind him.

Perhaps these symbols are strange and bizarre things to ordinary people in this world, but he could almost see at a glance that these things... were imitating the sun.

Not imitating the "ball of light" in the sky today, which is bound by a large number of flame streams and two rune rings, but imitating the sun that Duncan was familiar with, which radiated thousands of rays of light and burned fiercely.

These people are really worshiping the sun, worshiping a sun that seemed to have "fallen" in ancient times, and worshiping it as some kind of god.

Duncan raised his head and looked calmly at the black-robed priest who was overlooking him on the high platform, but perhaps due to the necrosis of his facial muscles, his calm appearance seemed more like some kind of numb person who had lost his mind in the eyes of the other party.

The priest wearing the golden mask looked at Duncan for less than two seconds, then turned his head and instructed a person standing next to the high platform: "Go check the place where the sacrifices are held, and come back quickly."

After giving the order, he nodded to the black-robed men who had "escorted" the sacrifice back, with a hint of praise in his tone: "You have done well. Even if it is a small功劳(gong lao, merit) to the Lord, it will turn into your eternal glory after the sun shines on everything again."

Just a lukewarm and routine compliment, but the black-robed men seemed to have received great encouragement, and they became excited one by one, praising the "true sun god" while pushing Duncan to the front of the high platform, and the priest wearing the mask did not speak to Duncan until this moment: "Poor person who has gone astray... Can you feel the deep cold between the lightless rocks and soil?"

Duncan couldn't understand what this swindler was saying at all, so he could only wait in silence, and the priest obviously didn't care what kind of reaction the "sacrifice" in front of him could have. His words were not for Duncan to listen to, but more like for the surrounding believers, and for the "sun god" he firmly believed in:

"Cold and darkness are the suffering that the false sun has left to this world. Under the rule of the false sun, the deep and dark ocean ravages the world, and only fragmented pieces of land allow living beings to survive. But even on these fragmented pieces of land, people can hardly get rid of suffering. Old shadows are entrenched in the underground, and their man-eating claws wriggle in the lightless caves. The ground is full of hatred and disputes, and the pure souls of human beings are stained by the breath exhaled by the evil gods..."

"How can we endure this long suffering? How can we endure the twisted and absurd world brought about by the false sun?

"We cannot endure it. We only wish our Lord to return, only wish the true sun god to descend on the earth again, burning in blood and fire, and bring order and prosperity back to the world!"

Under the extremely inciting tone of this masked priest, Duncan could clearly feel the atmosphere in the assembly hall changing. The black-robed believers became excited one after another. They first echoed, and then this echo turned into fervent shouts: "May the true sun god descend on the earth again! Burning in blood and fire!" "May the true sun god descend on the earth again! Burning in blood and fire!"

"May the true sun god descend on the earth again," the priest on the high platform said loudly, then pointed his finger at Duncan, "And today, our Lord will further wake up from his slumber—the blood of the lost will soothe the wounds after the sun's collapse!

"Bring the sacrifice up!"

Several black-robed men swarmed up from the side, but Duncan was faster than them—he didn't even need to be pushed, he just flipped over and climbed onto the altar.

Although this body is not very useful, it is still possible to climb a platform.

After climbing up, he came to the front of the masked priest, who was still maintaining the solemn and mysterious posture when he gave the order—the change happened very suddenly, and the way the development completely exceeded past experience made this cult leader not react all of a sudden. He looked at Duncan face to face through the golden mask, and the surroundings of the altar suddenly became strangely quiet.

Duncan, however, seemed to have completely ignored the changes in the surrounding atmosphere. He just felt that he had collected more information about this world, and was very much looking forward to whether he could see more rare scenes before this temporary body was "scrapped."

"Well," with a sense of exploration and anticipation, Duncan rubbed his hands and asked very seriously, "What's next? What's the next step?"

The masked priest: "..."

"Didn't hear clearly?" Duncan frowned—but because the muscles on his face were not very useful, he didn't frown, "I said, what should I do next?"

At this time, the priest finally reacted. Although there was a mask between them, there was a clear moment of confusion in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed his low voice and said, "The shadows in the darkness have indeed affected your mind, but don't worry, the supreme and holy sun will end your suffering... Take the sacrifice to the totem!"

Two black-robed men immediately walked up to the stage from the side, grabbed Duncan's arms and walked towards the totem pole with the fireball on top. Duncan didn't understand this step, so naturally he couldn't "cooperate in advance," but he still maintained a state of non-resistance, and stood honestly under the burning fireball under the "control" of the two black-robed men.

Although Duncan didn't make any resistance in his body, the two black-robed men who grabbed his arms still used great force to restrain the "sacrifice's" arms, as if they were afraid that the sacrifice would struggle violently and break free at the last moment. They used so much force that Duncan could even feel the bones of this temporary body cracking little by little, which made him look at the two black-robed men in considerable surprise.

And then, the priest wearing the mask came over again.

Duncan's attention was immediately attracted, and he saw the priest take out a strangely shaped dagger from his arms. The dagger was curved and strange, like dry and twisted knuckles, and the blade was as black as if it was made of obsidian. Its surface reflected the firelight from the totem, looking extraordinarily strange.

Duncan silently prepared to cut off the "soul projection." He knew that this temporary body should be able to collect information up to this point.

The evil cult priest's prayer sounded on the high platform:

"O supreme and holy sun god! Please accept this sacrifice on the high platform! I offer you the heart of this sacrifice, may you return from blood and fire!"

Duncan immediately stopped his action of cutting off the soul projection and looked at the evil cult priest in front of him like an idiot.

(Oh my god!)