"The crown of emmanuel..."
On a small boat in a river channel somewhere in Adria, Dorothy couldn't help but murmur after hearing the boatman's words, her gaze fixed on the dazzling reflection on the spire of the grand Church in the distance.
Dorothy had heard the name Emmanuel before. While 'attending' Saint Crown University, Dorothy spent most of her time practically living in the library, reading books. Crown University's extremely rich collection of secular books greatly expanded Dorothy's understanding of this world. There, Dorothy had also read the mundane history of Iweig.
Emmanuel was an ancient king of Iweig and the founder of the Azure Wave Dynasty that rules Iweig today, known as 'King of Light Bearer' Emmanuel.
In secular history, hundreds of years ago, Rio, the last monarch of Iweig's Vortex Dynasty, known as the 'Arrogant King', openly invaded the northern nations guarding the faith, triggering the Turbid Current War. Ultimately, the allied forces of the nations guarding the faith counter-attacked and invaded his territory, and the Arrogant King was defeated and died.
This Emmanuel was originally a distant branch of the Vortex Dynasty's Royal Family. During the Turbid Current War, Emmanuel, who was then serving as the Grand Duke of Adria, had resisted the Arrogant King's rule and, together with the allied forces guarding the faith, overthrew the Arrogant King's rule. Due to his merits in the war, ultimately under the will of the Holy See on Holy Mountain, Emmanuel inherited the Crown of Iweig after the war, founding the Azure Wave Dynasty that continues to this day. Emmanuel's title of King of Light Bearer actually carries the meaning of 'receiving the Light of the Lord'.
Of course, Dorothy, having read the secret transmission, clearly knew the hidden secrets beneath this mundane history. The Arrogant King's Vortex Dynasty was in fact highly corrupted by the Sea Abyss Church at that time. The Sea Abyss Church's influence in Iweig expanded rapidly, and even the populace openly worshipped the Abyssal Serpent. This war was a Holy War directly led by the Church. The Church itself took action, leading the Holy War Army of the nations guarding the faith to sweep across Iweig, purifying the heretics here.
""So it belongs to King Emmanuel. I almost forgot, this is Adria, which used to be King Emmanuel's territory."" After quickly reviewing the information about Emmanuel and Iweig in her mind, Dorothy thought this to herself. Then she controlled the Corpse Puppet beside her and spoke to the boatman. Seeing that the passenger was somewhat knowledgeable, the boatman immediately started speaking volubly.
""Oh, the guest even knows that this place used to be King Emmanuel's territory. Not many people know a bit of history these days... Although our Royal Family now lives in Peizi, they all came from here. The Crown on top of that Church is the best proof.""
Rowing the boat, the boatman pointed towards the distance, towards the light reflecting off the top of the Church, and then continued speaking.
""The Crown of Light Bearer... This was the token sent by Holy Mountain to recognize Emmanuel as Iweig's true hero when he officially declared his resistance against the Arrogant King in Adria. After King Emmanuel completely defeated the Arrogant King, Emmanuel needed to formally go to Peizi to wear the Crown of Iweig.""
""Before leaving, the people of Adria were reluctant to see their wise lord depart. So Emmanuel left the Crown of Light Bearer here to commemorate his time as their lord. Since then, this crown has been preserved in the Net Flow Church and continues to be so to this day. This crown is also a treasure of all Adria.""
With a hint of pride in his tone, the boatman explained to the Corpse Puppet. After hearing the boatman's words, Dorothy couldn't help but nod, and she roughly understood why that crown emitted the Light of """Lamp""".
...
Afterward, Dorothy and the Corpse Puppet continued to travel forward along the waterway in the small boat. Before long, they arrived at a section of the waterway beside the wide square in front of the Net Flow Church. After Dorothy had the Corpse Puppet pay the boatman, she stepped off the small boat.
Next, Dorothy did not immediately go to visit the Net Flow Church. Instead, she went with the Corpse Puppet carrying the luggage to find a hotel nearby. After completing the check-in procedures, Dorothy went to her room. In the room, after putting away her luggage and recalling the Corpse Puppet, she went downstairs and left the hotel alone.
With light steps, Dorothy walked quickly along the embankment beside the waterway. After crossing an arch bridge, she left the residential area densely packed with buildings and waterways and arrived at a wide square.
The entire square was paved with white megaliths. In the center of the square stood an obelisk. Not far behind the obelisk was the tall Net Flow Church. On the square, there were countless ordinary citizens strolling and tourists visiting. The large doors of the Net Flow Church in the distance were wide open, and a constant stream of people could be seen entering and exiting.
After glancing around from the edge of the square, Dorothy continued to walk into the square. During this process, she kept her Spirituality vision active while continuously monitoring the consumption of """Shadow""" Spirituality in the ring of concealment.
As she continuously approached the Net Flow Church, Dorothy found that the Light of """Lamp""" on the crown of emmanuel atop the Church became increasingly obvious and dazzling. The Spirituality consumption of the ring of concealment on her hand also began to slowly increase almost imperceptibly. After approaching the Net Flow Church for a considerable distance, Dorothy roughly estimated the detection efficiency of the crown of emmanuel based on the rate of increase in the """Shadow""" Spirituality consumption of the ring of concealment.
Overall, as a Hui Jian Lamp, the detection efficiency of the crown of emmanuel is very high. Dorothy estimated that once she reached the outer perimeter of the Net Flow Church, within about twenty meters, the detection efficiency of the crown of emmanuel would be equivalent to that of an ordinary Hui Jian Lamp. If she went further inside, the detection efficiency would continue to rise, eventually reaching three to four times that of an ordinary Hui Jian Lamp.
""'The Extraordinary detection efficiency of this crown of emmanuel is a bit frighteningly high. Maintaining such high detection efficiency around the clock, how much """Lamp""" must it consume to maintain it? Or is the crown of emmanuel's utilization rate of """Lamp""" Spirituality more efficient?'""
Looking at the reflection shimmering under the sunlight atop the Church in the distance, Dorothy thought this to herself. With such powerful detection efficiency, this crown of emmanuel could not only detect Extraordinary traces, but when too close to it, it could probably even directly detect the contained Spirituality within an Extraordinary, even if the Extraordinary themselves did not use any abilities or display any Extraordinary traces.
After calculating the approximate detection efficiency of the crown of emmanuel, Dorothy continued walking towards the Net Flow Church. She chose the most suitable angle to proceed. From this angle, Emmanuel's Light could be blocked by a Church spire, allowing her to save some Spirituality as she approached.
Before long, Dorothy arrived at the side of the Net Flow Church. Here, the detection from the crown of emmanuel on the roof could not reach due to a blind spot, so Dorothy could save a little """Shadow""". Then she came to the entrance of the Church. Here, like other tourists, she entered the Church.
Upon entering the Net Flow Church, Dorothy did not see a wide grand chapel like in other Churches, but instead a large counter. Here, one needed to buy a ticket from the service staff before being allowed to continue inside for a visit.
That's right, the Net Flow Church had long since ceased to function as a Church. It was converted into a museum hundreds of years ago. Before, when Dorothy heard Beverly mention the Net Flow Church Museum, she was a bit curious, wondering why this perfectly fine place was both a Church and a museum? It wasn't until Dorothy had a long chat with the boatman guide just now that she got the answer.
Originally, the Net Flow Church was the grand cathedral where the people of Adria worshipped. And ever since Emmanuel, to soothe the longing of the people of Adria, left his crown here, it has been stored within the Net Flow Church.
For a long time afterward, more and more people came to the Net Flow Church to visit the crown, gradually affecting the Church's own religious activities. Therefore, the Adria City Government and the Church decided to build new Churches elsewhere for the normal religious activities of Adria's citizens, while the Net Flow Church was specifically designated as the place to store the crown of emmanuel for citizens to visit. Finally, with the passage of time, more and more collectors of various kinds continuously donated their collections to the Net Flow Church in the form of donations so that their collections could be exhibited alongside the crown of emmanuel. Consequently, the Net Flow Church's collection grew larger and larger, and it was eventually simply converted into a dedicated museum. This is one of Adria's most famous tourist attractions.
After buying the ticket, Dorothy entered the Net Flow Church for a visit. To display more and more collections, the Net Flow Church had undergone several expansions, so the internal space was quite large. Holding a guide booklet, Dorothy walked through one exhibition hall after another, viewing the precious collections in the glass cabinets.
The sources of these collections were diverse, including artifacts from Iweig and abroad, and exquisite handicrafts by artists... But these things that ordinary tourists could see held little value in Dorothy's eyes. Although they were genuine artifacts, they did not show any trace of Spirituality in Dorothy's Spirituality vision. In other words, these things were all ordinary items.
Looking at the series of exhibits in the exhibition hall, Dorothy couldn't help but fall into a slight contemplation.
'Azamu's divination tool is undoubtedly an Extraordinary item, but if Azamu donated it to the Net Flow Church for exhibition, it would likely be directly illuminated by the crown of Emmanuel, revealing abnormalities. Even if the divination tool was lucky enough not to be illuminated during transportation, the Church staff at the Net Flow Church might discover problems during inspection... This means that under normal circumstances, this Church museum is the least likely place to exhibit Extraordinary items.'
'However... even so, Azamu still chose this place as the destination for donating the divination tool. This indicates a problem: Azamu is confident that the Church people will not discover that divination tool.'
Standing in the exhibition hall, Dorothy looked at the diverse exhibits before her and pondered about Azamu's divination tool. In her opinion, there was only one reason why that divination tool could remain undiscovered here: it did not yet possess Extraordinary power; it was not yet an Extraordinary tool.
'Beverly once said... this divination tool needs three years before it can be used again after one use. That is to say, before this divination tool recovers its function, it is just an ordinary item.'
'During the three-year cooldown period, the Extraordinary signs of this divination tool are likely too weak to be detected or it has directly become an ordinary item. Only after the cooldown period ends and it recovers its function can it be detected by the power of "Lamp". This is like my puppet mark; if it's simply drawn on a person, there are no Extraordinary traces, and no matter how much you use the Hui Jian Lamp to illuminate it, you can't detect anything. But as soon as I use it together, it will become an Extraordinary mark and can be detected by the Hui Jian Lamp.'
Touching her wrist, Dorothy thought like this. Because she had experience operating puppet marks, she quickly came up with this most likely point.
'Azamu donated the divination tool to the Net Flow Church, perhaps valuing that this place is on the Church's territory, which is why Garib would not dare to act rashly. During the period when Azamu's strength was continuously declining due to the curse, he was monitored and placed under house arrest by Garib. He could not guarantee whether he would ultimately escape alive, so during the donation, he specifically sent the most important divination tool here.'
'Azamu's plan at the time must have been like this: if he successfully escaped, he would claim or exchange the donated divination tool from the Net Flow Church as the donor. If he could not escape and eventually died at Garib's hands, then the divination tool would remain here forever, waiting for its cooldown to finish after three years, and then be directly recovered by the Church people after they discovered the abnormality. He would rather give this item to the Church than to Garib...'
Walking through one exhibition hall after another and viewing the exhibits, Dorothy thought like this in her heart. At this moment, among the many exhibits in this vast Church museum, there was the divination tool she wanted, but this divination tool currently had no Extraordinary characteristics. Dorothy could not use Extraordinary means to confirm which one was the hidden treasure.
Among this vast number of exhibits, every single one could potentially be that divination item, but currently, Dorothy had no means of confirmation at all. In her Spirituality vision, none of the exhibits here showed any abnormal traces; everything was an ordinary item.
'Hiss... Azamu's secrecy work is too good. That divination tool hasn't revealed any characteristics, so now I have no idea how to find that thing.'
'If I want to find it now, I can only wait a few more days for that thing's three-year cooldown period to completely end and for it to recover its Extraordinary characteristics. That way, I can find it using Extraordinary means. But by then, will I be the first to find that thing, or will the Church people discover it first?'
While contemplating, Dorothy continued walking forward. Unconsciously, she arrived before a wide, open door. When she reached the entrance, the Light shining from within made her pause in her tracks.
After pausing in place, Dorothy looked into the wide doorway. What she saw was a huge domed room. The spherical dome was adorned with magnificent religious ceiling paintings. Below the dome was a luxurious carpet, and on the carpet were display cabinets arranged in circles.
And at the central apex of the huge room's dome was a slightly shimmering Light. Dorothy had seen this Light before; it was the Light from the top of the Church when she was outside the Church earlier.
That was the Light of the sun refracted by the light-bearing gem on the crown of Emmanuel. The top of this huge room's dome was connected to the opening in the Church roof. The crown of Emmanuel, fixed in the small pavilion on the roof, could also be seen inside this room. The crown of Emmanuel was the top decoration of this domed room. While the crown of Emmanuel emitted Light outwards, it also illuminated the interior of this domed room, serving as the ceiling Light for this huge room.
'Damn... the Light from the roof can also shine into this room... what kind of weird design is this...'
Cursing inwardly, Dorothy immediately hurried past the wooden door of the huge domed room, ensuring she was no longer illuminated by the Light inside the room. For ordinary people, the Light emitted by the crown of Emmanuel was just the reflection of the sun, but in Dorothy's Spirituality vision, the crown of Emmanuel was constantly and autonomously emitting dangerous detection Light.
Next to the domed room, Dorothy, having avoided the detection Light, checked the guide booklet in her hand. She then found the name and function of this room on the map.
'Crown Hall, a domed hall specifically used to house the crown of Emmanuel. The crown of Emmanuel is placed at the top of the dome, connecting inside and out, appearing like the sun in the Crown Hall. The exhibits that can be displayed alongside the crown of Emmanuel in the Crown Hall are all the most valuable treasures.'
'The Crown Hall, specifically used to house the crown of Emmanuel... No wonder...'
Looking at the words in the guide booklet, Dorothy nodded in understanding, and suddenly she realized another problem.
'Speaking of which, if Azamu's purpose in sending the divination tool to the Net Flow Church for exhibition was to ensure that after his death, the item would fall into the hands of the Church so that Garib would never get it... then he must ensure that after the divination tool's cooldown period is over, it will be immediately discovered as abnormal by the Church. If the divination tool were exhibited elsewhere in the Net Flow Church, even after the cooldown period ended, it might not be discovered promptly, because even people within the Church would probably not spend all day using Spirituality detection to examine those ordinary collections one by one.'
'Therefore... if Azamu wants the divination tool to be discovered immediately after its cooldown is complete, then it must be in a state of being constantly subjected to Spirituality detection, and this state... can only be achieved in this Crown Hall!'
'If that item is currently being exhibited alongside the crown of Emmanuel in this Crown Hall, then once its cooldown is complete, it will immediately be illuminated as abnormal by the crown of Emmanuel!'
Dorothy thought this way. At this moment, a hint of eagerness appeared in her eyes as she looked at the wooden door before her.
And at this very moment, on the other side of the Crown Hall, near another entrance, two men in trench coats were standing by the door. While trying their best to avoid the Light from inside the door, they were secretly observing the scene within the Crown Hall.