In Wu Chang’s eyes, above the manor’s main house, there was a giant nun whose upper body alone reached nearly ten ters in height.
The nun had no face, resembling the counterfeit Great Saint Mother outside the Great Cathedral. Her hands were clenched in fists against her chest, as if in prayer.
The lower half of the giant nun was like the roots of an ancient tree, with a dense network of roots plunging into the main house, as if they had rged into one.
If, as Sword Star said, he let go of his inspiration to perceive, he could sense that the giant nun in the photo was an empty shell.
Inside the giant nun, there were seven empty slots.
They correspond exactly to the Seven Deadly Sins.
Count Jemaine’s layout of the Inner World was all for the giant nun above the main house. When she is filled with various sins, who knows what will happen.
Although the giant nun was just an empty shell, the sense of oppression was still overwhelming. Just a few glances made Wu Chang feel as if she could perceive his gaze through the photo, looking directly at him.
He moved his gaze away from the giant nun, and the sense of being tracked vanished.
Whew, fortunately, Sword Star’s inspiration wasn’t high enough.
Just seeing the two Stone Ghost statues at the entrance, an inspiration assessnt could already break through his Will’s defense. If he saw the nun, even if he didn’t collapse on the spot, he’d be drooling in the future.
He shifted his gaze to the two players, ready to watch sothing lighter to ease his mood.
The two players, crushed into at patties and buried at the base of the Stone Ghost, were the forr postman and the reporter’s teammates.
Their ti of death should be later than the reporter’s.
In their grievances, Wu Chang saw the chaos in the Inner World. They were much luckier than the reporter, not getting separated from the main group in the Inner World, and entering Count’s Manor with the other three companions.
Here awaited the last Inner World for them.
Just as Morena had said, on Briff Island, approaching Count Jemaine’s Manor was a serious cri.
The arrival of a few players directly caused a Divine Envoy to appear.
The Divine Envoy could summon Stone Ghosts continuously, summoning 7 to 10 per wave. The fighting strength of the Stone Ghosts surpassed that of the fishmongers at the dock, putting considerable pressure on the group.
Besides the Stone Ghosts, the Divine Envoy could also evoke a rain of falling rocks so powerful and relentless that each hit would reduce the players’ Will, making them want to give up resisting from their hearts.
To avoid the falling rocks, they had to enter the main house.
But waiting for them inside the main house was the faceless nun.
In the grievances, when the players saw the nun, she wasn’t as giant as she is now. She was only three or four ters tall, with human legs, just a larger version of the eight-foot-tall woman.
Her thod of controlling the main house wasn’t using root-like tendrils to rge with it. Instead, she could alter the room layout at will with just a flick of her finger.
Under the nun’s control, a few players seed to enter an endless labyrinth, making it difficult to escape. By changing rooms slightly carelessly, the last player would be trapped inside, left alone.
Each ti they entered a different room, they risked getting separated from the others by the nun’s attack. But they couldn’t stay in any room for long.
Lingering too long in one room, a group of fully ard townfolk would appear behind the door, wielding weapons, their eyes blood-red, possessing even greater fighting force than the Stone Ghosts.
Having endured terrain traps and townfolk, they also had to withstand the nun’s whispered prayers.
The prayers would erode the players’ Will, showing them terrible illusions.
The two unlucky fellows stuffed into the base got delayed by a sudden attack just as they were about to enter a new room. As he stepped over the doorway, he entered a completely different room, becoming separated from the other players.
The isolated unlucky soul would beco the focal point of the nun’s attention, falling into illusions in the endless whispers, having their Attributes weakened by the Divine Envoy’s judgnt, and finally dying under the chaos of the townfolk’s blades.
Wu Chang closed his eyes, and the scenes of resentnt disappeared.
He sighed and shook his head at the way the players handled things.
If they had stayed clear-headed and not been affected by the chaos of the Inner World, they should not have rashly entered the main house. Instead, they should have thought of a way to eliminate the Divine Envoy outside.
Unfortunately, like Sword Star, their Inspiration was too low to notice the giant nun inside the main house.
Sword Star assud he was regretting not seeing the Stone Ghosts and consoled, "Your Level is still low now. It’s normal not to have extra points allocated to Inspiration. Even for , I rely on that cara to boost my Inspiration to see the hidden patterns in the photo."
Wu Chang agreed, "Yeah, I still have to practice."
As for who still needs practice, that’s hard to say.
After parting ways with Sword Star, Wu Chang returned to the post office and pulled out the map of Briff Island that each player had when they first entered the ga.
Upon reviewing the map, he found that it seed to divide the island into seven parts, intentionally or not.
The area near the sea was divided into four sections, two sections for urban areas, and one section for the mountainous region.
The characteristics of the regions correspond exactly with the currently explored Inner World.
Based on the information he has gathered so far, the mountainous region, the Inner World within Count’s Manor, represents Pride.
The town center area, including the Great Cathedral, represents Envy.
The Murloc Pier and the areas housing the Golden Flying Fish represent Sloth and Gluttony, respectively.
The ones not yet encountered are Wrath, Greed, and Lust.
Wrath and greed are easy to understand, but how will lust manifest itself?
The seven deadly sins in the Inner World correspond to the behavior of townspeople in the real world.
For example, sloth represents the town’s past as pirates: instead of working hard to create wealth, plundering others is much easier, that is sloth.
Whether wrath or greed, like sloth, are emotions seen everywhere and are unrestrained.
But lust is different.
At least on the surface, Briff Island pretends to follow the Ogre Kingdom’s National Church, and there are no red-light districts here. Even the hosts in hotels and inns are n.
How will lust manifest?
"What do you think lust is?"
"Huh?" Spirit Fox was a bit taken aback. Although she didn’t mind discussing this topic, as a morning greeting, this opening was sowhat explosive.
Wu Chang seed to realize the inappropriateness of the question and added, "What I an is, from a religious perspective, how is lust defined?"
"Oh." Spirit Fox breathed a sigh of relief but felt a hint of disappointnt inside.
She thought for a mont and responded, "I have been following the nuns’ prayers these past two days. During their leisure ti, they discuss doctrines, and I actually heard related passages."
"In the doctrine of the Ogre National Church, lust is defined as an original sin, not simply rejecting the desire of lust itself. Lust is rely a representation, behind it refers to any desires that value physical satisfaction over mind communication."
Wu Chang furrowed his brows in understanding.
"So, if one only seeks physical satisfaction from soone, disregards the other’s thoughts, even if this desire is not purely sexual, does it count as committing the sin of lust?"
"This question is beyond my understanding of doctrines within the ga; I can’t give you the correct answer. But from my perspective, I think it does."
Spirit Fox nodded while her face reddened a bit, asking, "Why are you suddenly interested in lust?"
"I’m asking for a friend."
"Your friend..."
"Definitely not myself."
Wu Chang wanted to ask more about wrath and greed, but an old nun ca out of the Great Cathedral and called Spirit Fox to prepare the items for the prayer ritual.
"What’s the day today, why is there a prayer so early?" Wu Chang asked puzzledly.
Yesterday was Divine Grace Day, so logically, things should return to normal work today.
Spirit Fox sped up her pace in clearing leaves from the square, whispered to Wu Chang:
"This morning, I heard the townspeople and nuns say that the Count’s copper statue at the dock fell down. I also overheard them talking about punishnt and revenge. The townspeople are very fearful of the statue’s collapse, requesting the Bishop to hold a prayer to pacify the presence causing this."
Wu Chang’s eyebrows rose, asking, "Is it the Stitch-Eye Bishop you ntioned before? Will he preside over the prayer?"
"The Bishop will lead the prayer at dusk, do you want to co and see?"
"Maybe."
Wu Chang watched Spirit Fox leave hastily, pondering.
The Count’s copper statue collapsed, yet the townspeople didn’t seek the cause of the collapse but rather held a prayer.
They fear punishnt and revenge, but from whom?
A guess erged in his mind; he had already gathered enough clues about what’s happening on the island.
These clues piled up, chaotic.
Now, all they need is a protagonist, a central figure connecting these clues, and the truth can be fully unveiled.
Woo～
The steamship’s whistle sounded from the port.
This ti the ship docked at a small port diagonally opposite Briff Port, located on the other side of the island.
New mail had arrived.
Perhaps due to complaints, this ti the cargo handlers placed the mail with a light touch, without throwing the crate directly off the ship.
Instead, they tied two swim rings under the crate and gently lowered it onto the sea with a rope.
Once confirming the crate didn’t sink, they imdiately started the cargo ship and left.
So progress, but not much.
Wu Chang rowed his small boat to retrieve the mail crate from the ocean.
Upon opening the mail crate, besides a few ordinary mail pieces, there were also two bottles of wine.
The recipient is Morena, the sheriff.
Oh wow, seems like tonight will be busy.
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