Chapter 2569 Old Tireless <TOC> Chapter 2571 Shared Perception
Translator: SumTLMan
After passing through a short detour, the view suddenly opened up.
Ahead, a gradually enlarging space came into view.
When Angel entered, he found the underground structure was actually smaller than he had imagined, at least smaller than the great halls he had seen in the underground sewers of Nightfall City in the Nightmare Plane.
Although small in size, the structure space was hollow and multi-layered; from the bottom hall, at least four floors were visible, each with rooms, some with doors open, revealing lively interiors. These vibrant clothes were certainly not from ancient times but likely belonged to the Hero Squad’s lodging.
Leaving aside the festive atmosphere of the upper rooms, the underground structure felt much like a small town’s church.
This thought was reinforced when Angel noticed rows of nails left in the damaged marble floor. These nails were rusted but not corroded, as they were made of dense copper, a material beyond ordinary.
Such standardized nails were specifically used to secure long rows of seats.
From the arrangement of these nails, it was evident the hall once had rows of benches.
Additionally, with a conspicuously raised podium at the front, one could imagine a speaker standing there, addressing the seated crowd below, possibly discussing doctrines or perhaps engaging in secretive indoctrination.
This setup was almost identical to the churches Angel had seen before.
Only much smaller in scale.
But if this really was a church, why was it built underground?
As Angel pondered this, he voiced his theories and doubts.
He mainly wanted to hear the Black Count’s opinion, given that the count had lived the longest and seen countless religions; he might have encountered similar places.
However, the Black Count could not provide a definite answer either.
“It indeed looks like a gathering place for a church, but it’s hard to say after so many years. Perhaps, this was merely a meeting place, like the alchemy exchanges you alchemists hold in every extraordinary city, all shrouded in secrecy, afraid that others might know where it happens,” the Black Count said, his tone shifting to disdain for the alchemy meetings. Apparently, there was an untold story there.
Angel: “Lord Black Count might be right, but if it were similar to alchemy meetings, the attendees would likely have been peers. However, considering the arrangement of these nails and the deliberately elevated podium, it doesn’t seem like a normal meeting. If it were a meeting, it would more likely be between a teacher and students.”
So, was this place an underground classroom?
This conclusion seemed even more absurd than an underground church.
The Black Count seemed to think the meeting unreliable but did not change his statement; instead, he questioned back: “What proper church would be built underground?”
“No,” Angel replied without hesitation: “Even speaking of it, it’s hard for religious folks to establish a foothold in an Extraordinary City.”
Religion flourishes in the cities of ordinary people, largely due to the selfish desires of royalty and the spiritual comfort that the common folk seek after enduring hardships. However, in places where the extraordinary reside, let alone the Extraordinary City, it is rare to even see a religious temple in a wizard market.
This is because wizards who pursue Truth only believe in themselves, the knowledge in their brains, or even the power in their hands, not in those nebulous deities. If there truly were wizards who followed a religion, they would be deluded and would believe not in the gods fabricated by ordinary people but in abyssal demons, outer gods of Drulna, savage primitive gods, or the sinister gods of the Lovecraftian World.
These so-called deities, except for the sinister gods of the Lovecraftian World, all eye the Wizarding World covetously. It is common to throw some bait to seduce some wizards with weaker wills for greater benefits.
Even the followers of these gods, within the Extraordinary City, would at most engage in minor actions or form small organizations that the city lords would turn a blind eye to, nothing more significant. As for openly establishing a church, that is even rarer.
However, this situation applies only to the current generation.
In the era when Nightfall City still existed, it’s hard to say if there were exceptions.
“Secret, underground structures, resembling a church… Have I guessed right, is this a gathering place for the followers of the Demon God, or the main headquarters for the villains of the Garden Labyrinth?” Kael’s voice suddenly rose, filled with excitement.
“Perhaps you’re not wrong, but to be certain, we need more evidence,” Angel replied.
“However, confirming this situation is only a secondary mission, our main goal is still to find if there’s an entrance to the underground waterways.” Pausing, Angel turned to look at everyone: “Let’s split up and search, mark any suspicious places and we’ll check them together later.”
After saying this, Angel turned back to the Black Count: “Lord, could you temporarily lift Vai’s seal?”
Vai, previously a bit listless, suddenly brightened at Angel’s words, hardly believing what he heard.
The renowned Super Dimensional Wizard, was he really pleading on his behalf?! Could it be that during this short journey, he had seen his fragile inner spirit and restless soul longing for comfort?
Vai’s eyes shone, his heart stirred, but his understanding was obviously skewed. The Black Count, even with just a nose, saw more clearly than he did.
The Black Count directly asked: “What do you need him to do?”
“Let Vai inquire about this place from the logistics team of the Hero Squad we just encountered, especially Old Tireless, about the original appearance of this place, any major changes they made, and if there are any symbolic patterns or textures, among other questions,” Angel explained.
While confirming whether this place is a Demon God temple is not the main mission, knowing this information might allow us to find clues about the entrance based on some details.
The Black Count pondered for a moment, also roughly understanding Angel’s intentions.
In the room, Daus possesses spiritual perception, Angel is adept in magic formations, and Kael has a passion for exploring ruins; hence, Vai, the homebody, would be the one to ask these trivial questions.
“I understand.” The Black Count said no more, immediately removed the seal from Vai’s mouth, and then flew out from his embrace, signaling Vai to search for the group of people alone.
At this moment, Vai had not yet awakened from his beautiful dream, and he gave Angel a grateful look before returning to the passage, looking back three times with each step.
The Black Count took control of the slab and flew up: “I’ll look around first, stay in touch via the mental connection.”
As he finished speaking, a mental connection connecting everyone quietly formed.
The Black Count’s target was clear; he flew directly towards the top, seemingly having discovered something.
Angel looked at Daus: “Shall we go together?”
Daus hesitated: “Why?”
Angel: “This place isn’t very big, splitting up into three groups is enough. Moreover, your intuition is strong, you might find clues along the way. If you miss anything, I’m here.”
Daus: “…The second reason is the real one, isn’t it?”
Daus, already too lazy to admit that his intuition had not kicked in at all, agreed to accompany Angel since he had offered, and it would also be an opportunity for Daus to improve their rapport while investigating why his intuition becomes biased whenever Angel is involved.
“Let’s start in this lobby.” Daus suggested, heading towards the reception desk.
Angel did not immediately follow; the lobby was small, so he first looked around the perimeter for any extraordinary traces.
Angel walked to one side, extended his hand to touch the somewhat damaged but still icy cold wall, and slowly closed his eyes, dispersing his mental power.
In less than a few seconds, Angel retracted the mental power he had extended.
“It’s tough, isn’t it? I tried as soon as I got here. Mental power doesn’t get through here; forcing it only results in backlash.” Daus, standing on the reception desk, looked at Angel with schadenfreude.
Angel, however, remained calm: “Since you tried it as soon as you arrived, did you discover anything at all?”
Daus exclaimed, confused: “I, do I need to discover anything?”
Angel lightly said: “I anticipated the result of the mental power exploration; I was just testing the penetration of the mental power. From the current mental power feedback, there must be a rather large magic formation nearby, but it’s worth mentioning that, although this magic formation is quite vast, possibly even beyond our imagination, it doesn’t encompass this place.”
“That is to say, this underground structure is built right next to the magic formation. Moreover, its position is extremely close to the magic formation; otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible for all the walls, except for the exit, to produce the same mental power feedback.”
Daus furrowed his brows: “I know there’s a magic formation outside, but what does that mean?”
Angel replied: “It means we’re not far from the deeper parts of the underground sewer system, the real labyrinth.”
The sewers of Nightfall City, even at the surface level, had residential areas with few extraordinary facilities, hence the occasional collapses. But deeper down, it was different; there were magic formations still in operation. Feeling the underground magic formations meant that the real underground labyrinth was right next door.
Daus then realized what Angel meant: “This building is constructed right beside the actual underground labyrinth, surrounded on multiple sides. Such proximity is definitely not unintentional.”
Since it wasn’t unintentional, it was deliberate. Why did the original builders choose to construct next to the labyrinth? Was there a conspiracy? Could they have planned to secretly enter the labyrinth from here?
“It seems we made the right choice to explore here first,” Daus murmured softly: “It’s probably not as calm as it appears on the surface; there must be secrets.”
While Daus was pondering, Angel silently agreed in his heart: It’s not that we chose correctly, but that you did.
This proved once again that bringing Daus along to lead the way was a very wise decision.
Confirming that there might be secrets hidden here, Angel didn’t idle, continuing to search the lobby for clues.
The lobby was filled with many items from the Hero Squad, mostly everyday supplies and some weapons. Generally, these were worthless.
Angel didn’t disturb their supplies but used his mental power to observe the ground and walls through these mundane objects, looking for any extraordinary traces or hidden patterns.
However, perhaps too much time had passed, and all extraordinary traces had disappeared. Only the remnants of the Hero Squads’ items remained.
As for hidden patterns… there were none. Instead, he discovered that the floors and walls were mixed with a material of the same grade as dense copper, which also explained why this building hadn’t been completely eroded by time.
Honestly, seeing the smoke and fire marks left by the Hero Squad on the ground, and the sword cuts on the walls, Angel felt a slight sigh of relief. Although these extraordinary materials seemed worthless to him, they were still more valuable than the junk scattered on the ground. Taking a few bricks to some alchemy shops, even if they couldn’t be exchanged for magic crystals, would still yield some gold.
And wasn’t money what the members of the Hero Squad were after?
However, one couldn’t blame them for their lack of discernment; after all, the world of the extraordinary was far too remote for them. And even if they took a few floor tiles out, they probably wouldn’t find an alchemy shop to sell them.
Angel shook his head, not dwelling on it any longer.
After another round in the lobby with no findings, Angel looked up and saw Daus still at the reception desk, silently wondering if Daus had discovered something.
Just as Angel was about to check the reception desk, a stone slab flew down from above.
“Lord Black Count, did you find anything?” Angel paused to ask.
Black Count replied: “Found a little gadget, but it’s not useful to me, I didn’t take it. However, it’s worth some magic crystals, you might be interested in fetching it.”
After a conversation, it turned out that the Black Count had headed straight to the top of the building because he noticed the wisps of smoke drifting from the rooms on the second and third floors, all heading to the top.
The Black Count was only a nose, making his sense of smell unmatched. He smelled something wrong immediately. There were traces of a bonfire in the lobby, and the lodgings had the smoke from cooked food, but the air throughout the building was exceptionally clean and clear. The Black Count guessed there might be a smoke exhaust duct, possibly leading deep into an underground labyrinth.
In the end, the Black Count had overthought it.
At the very top of the building, he discovered a card embedded in a sculpture.
The card was an extraordinary object, capable of lasting many years without decay.
It was an inscription card.
The inscription on the card depicted a graceful lady in a thin robe, pouring water from a pitcher with a gentle flow.
The card, quite classic in its design, symbolized “The Goddess’ Purification” and could cleanse the air of impurities.
However, purification cannot operate unilaterally; after impurities are collected, they slowly turn into substance, forming a sculpture on the outside that looks exactly like the goddess.
The larger the sculpture, the more impurities it has absorbed, until eventually, the sculpture completely envelops the card. At this point, the purification card’s effectiveness begins to decline; the thicker the wrapping, the weaker the effect.
Time passed, and over the years, the purification card was completely enveloped by the sculpture, significantly reducing its effectiveness to merely absorbing ordinary smoke.
However, removing the external sculpture and retrieving the purification card to have it repaired by someone knowledgeable in inscriptions could restore it to like-new condition. So, in the eyes of the Black Count, it was still somewhat valuable, though he disdained to claim it.
Angel also had no interest in it; inscriptions, due to suppression by the Extreme Sect, were rare in the Southern Region but not in other Wizarding Worlds. He could travel to other Wizarding Worlds across the Old Land Continent, so he did not care about a low-value inscription card.
Daus also declined; with the strongest purification spells in his lineage, why would he need it? Moreover, to sell it, he would need to find someone who understands inscriptions, which he didn’t know where to find. Even if it was properly restored, it couldn’t be sold openly since, being a wandering wizard without a backing, he wouldn’t dare to oppose the Extreme Sect openly.
As for the other two, Kael had already gone upstairs, and Vai had not returned; they hadn’t communicated mentally, so they were unaware of this matter.
As for the purification card, it was left as is.
“Did you find anything over here?” the Black Count asked.
Angel shook his head: “The power of time leaves not a trace of the extraordinary.”
The Black Count: “And him?”
The “him” the Black Count referred to was naturally Daus.
Angel: “I don’t know, he’s been standing up there for a long time, not sure what he’s doing. He might have discovered something but hasn’t realized it yet. Since you’re here, why don’t we go and see?”
The Black Count naturally wouldn’t refuse; indeed, it was Daus’ inspiration talent that was incredibly strong. They had come this far not without Daus’ guidance; otherwise, they might still be lost outside.
Of course, Daus himself didn’t yet realize how significant his role was.
By the time he recognized it, perhaps that would be the moment his talent manifested.
Chapter 2569 Old Tireless <TOC> Chapter 2571 Shared Perception