Nighttime, central Tivian, a vast plain somewhere.
Under the moonless and windy night sky, the boundless dark plain was vast and desolate, the sturdy wheat fields tilted slightly in the evening breeze, everything was so peaceful and quiet, until a sharp whistle from afar broke it all.
Steel wheels rolled rapidly on the tracks, carrying the long train forward at high speed. The humming locomotive spewed out rumbling smoke, pulling heavy carriages rapidly towards the distance.
The train from afar sped quickly through the wheat fields in the dark night. On the train, most carriages had their lights off. Passengers in the second and third-class carriages slowly fell asleep in a crowded environment, while lights still flickered in the windows of the first-class carriages.
In a compartment of the train's first-class carriage, a Church Sister with short brown hair, dressed in a Sister's habit, sat on the sofa, carefully studying a scripture by the light on the table, her expression quite serious.
As time passed, the night deepened. The Sister who was studying the scripture couldn't help but show signs of drowsiness. After taking out her pocket watch to check the time, the Sister closed the scripture and put it back into the open suitcase beside her. Then she got up, sat back on her bed, turned off the gas lamp on the table, and quietly fell asleep.
After the Sister fell asleep, the hands on the clock dial continued to move forward. Unconsciously, it was already deep into the night. On the entire train, there were almost no lights shining. Except for a few crew members, all passengers on the train were almost in peaceful sleep at this time.
The Sister slept peacefully in her compartment, and in this darkness, an invisible aura slowly transmitted through the compartment's vent, gradually spreading throughout the entire compartment. In this invisible mist, the Sister's sleep seemed to deepen significantly.
Time continued to flow. Just as the Sister in the carriage was in deep sleep, a faint rustling sound suddenly came from inside the compartment's vent. Subsequently, a small black bat crawled out, flew towards the Sister lying on the bed, and finally landed steadily on the Sister's neck, opening its sharp teeth full of fangs and biting the critical throat area.
Under the little bat's bite, the Sister's face gradually lost color, and finally, she slowly stopped breathing in her sleep.
After the Sister stopped breathing, the little bat flew up again gently, hovering in the compartment. Then, behind the compartment's vent, more faint rustling sounds were heard, and one small bat after another flew out. These bats gathered together in the compartment, eventually forming a human shape. When the shadow on the human shape dispersed, what appeared was a young man wearing a long trench coat with a gloomy and pale face. He gazed at the Sister lying on the bed, who had no aura left, and his eyes revealed a coldness devoid of pity.
Then, the trench coat man focused his gaze on the compartment door. After reaching out and pulling it open, he walked out of the compartment and onto the equally dim carriage corridor. After a side glance, the trench coat man saw another figure on one side of the corridor. It was a middle-aged man in a black suit carrying a large suitcase. Upon seeing the trench coat man come out, he spoke softly.
"Done?"
"Yes, how about your side?" The trench coat man nodded, then asked in return, and the suit man immediately replied.
"All done. They were all guys below Chalk, no reason to fail..."
As the suit man spoke, he walked towards the open compartment door. After passing by the trench coat man, he entered the compartment, saw the Sister lying on the bed, pale and without aura. After a simple confirmation, he opened the large suitcase he was carrying.
At this time, the trench coat man also retreated back into the compartment. He gazed at the Sister on the bed, and then his face began to change. After a noticeable Creep (Creep - wriggling/squirming, but here means transformation), it transformed into the appearance of that Sister, and his body also changed into a female form.
Seeing his companion finish changing his appearance, the suit man also walked to the bed in the compartment, pulled the Sister's body down, then took out a talisman and stuck it on the Sister's body. Then the Sister's body rapidly steamed up. After a while, all the flesh and blood on the body turned into a puff of green smoke, leaving only clothes and bones on the spot.
Looking at the remnants before him, the suit man remained silent. He picked up the Sister's bones one by one and put them into his suitcase, while the fake Sister who had finished changing her face spoke.
"Is it okay to only deal with the bones and not the soul? What if someone performs necromancy?"
"Necromancy would only be done if the Church knew someone died. You guys are replacing this group to go to Glamorgan. As long as you act properly, no one will know that their real advance team is all gone for a while."
The suit man said this quietly. After he had collected all the Sister's bones and stood up with the suitcase, he continued.
"Actually, to be most cautious, we should have prepared soul-sealing methods, but unfortunately, this mission was issued too hastily. We didn't have time to contact Corpse Coffin and prepare for soul processing. However, given the current situation, the impact is not significant..."
"Yes, that's true. The Church won't know they've lost people in a short time."
The disguised Sister nodded and said this, then she saw the suit man walk out of the compartment door with the suitcase. After giving him one last look back, she closed the door.
For a moment, in the dark compartment, only the fake Sister was silently looking at the pile of Sister's clothes slumped on the floor.
...
Inside the train speeding through the night, a series of dark murders were taking place. The Church team from Tivian had their lives taken by bloody killers from the Shadow in a short period, and were then quietly replaced.
A dark conspiracy was thus completed silently. The bloody murderers thought they had done it perfectly, with no one noticing on the scene, but the reality was far from it.
Also on this train, in a compartment far away from all the killings, Naifnis was currently sitting on the sofa in the darkness, focusing on meditation, connecting with the distance through a mysterious link.
"Miss Dorothea, they are all done. Five Corpse Puppets, not one left, they have all been 'killed' and replaced..."
In meditation, Naifnis reported to Dorothy in the distance through the consultation channel, and soon she received a reply.
"All replaced? Very good, then what about the spirits that were arranged on those Corpse Puppets beforehand? Were they restrained by them?"
"No, these people seem to have been in a hurry to prepare and did not prepare the means to deal with souls. The spirits I embedded beforehand did not take effect. I have now collected all the spirits back and will hold a ritual to return them to Mr. Uta later."
Neff responded to Dorothy in the distance like this, and Dorothy pondered for a moment before continuing.
"Didn't have time to prepare soul-capturing methods? That's right... The 'advance team' itinerary I revealed to those guys was quite tight. They needed to act immediately to catch up. It's understandable that they didn't have time to make these preparations. After all, Eight-Pointed Nest is not a'Silent' society. If their plan was successfully implemented, they wouldn't need to capture souls. Dealing with souls is at most an insurance policy...
"You did well, Senior Nefelnis. Now you just need to return those essences. I will thank Utar Shaman later, even though they didn't help."
"Okay, understood. Soon, I will also return to Glamorgan..."
After ending the consultation call with Dorothy, Naifnis sighed slightly, and then she began to control the spirits lingering on the train to perform follow-up work.
...
At this time, in Glamorgan in the distance, Dorothy sat on a chair in the hotel suite. After listening to Neff's report, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
'Neff's operation has finally come to a complete end. Now, the Church's real advance team is imprisoned, and the fake advance team has been 'replaced' as the Eight-Pointed Nest wished. In the eyes of the Eight-Pointed Nest, everything seems to be within their plan...'
Dorothy thought to herself. She had previously sent Neff back to Tivian to help Grego and Adele attack and imprison the Church's real advance team there.
Then Dorothy had Neff use her Corpse Puppet Ring and the Corpse Puppet Brooch obtained from the Werewolf Alex, using both Corpse Puppet items together to control four Corpse Puppets. In addition, Naifnis herself used her soul to possess and control one. Without Dorothy present, a total of five Corpse Puppets were raised. They wore equipment taken from the real advance team, disguised themselves as the advance team, and departed from Tivian station.
During this process, Dorothy not only controlled Neff's soulless body but also provided Neff's mind with powerful external computing power through the consultation channel, allowing Neff to outsource the massive computing power required to control five bodies simultaneously to Dorothy. Dorothy assisted in the calculations, enabling Neff to perfectly control the five bodies, displaying a level of vitality exactly like living people, no different from when Dorothy controlled them herself.
These Corpse Puppets were specifically prepared for the Eight-Pointed Nest's people to assassinate and replace. To make it more realistic, Dorothy even asked Uta to communicate with some easy-to-communicate and obedient essences from the New World and put them inside the Corpse Puppets to prevent the Eight-Pointed Nest's people from checking and imprisoning souls. Although these essences are very similar to undead, there are still many differences. Without modification, the methods for capturing undead souls would have reduced effectiveness against essences, so Uta could easily communicate with them and bring them back depending on the situation. However, this measure was not actually used, after all, the Eight-Pointed Nest is not a "Silent" society.
This plan could deceive Eight-Pointed Nest Extraordinary below Chalk, but it would definitely not deceive Scarlet. However, for the two Scarlet of the Eight-Pointed Nest, they have the duty to constantly monitor the Mirror Moon Church and cannot act rashly. In their understanding, the Scarlet of the alert faction in Prit's upper echelon are secretly plotting against the Church. They will not leave Glamorgan casually. The replacement operation targeting the advance team can only be handed over to subordinates. And this is indeed the case; if either of them leaves Glamorgan, Dorothy would dare to bet all her resources and forcibly perform the ritual.
'The release of the real advance team needs to wait for the right time. And now the fake advance team has been replaced by an even faker one. Next... let me see your performance.'
Looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, Dorothy thought to herself. What she had to do now was to wait silently.
...
Time flew by quickly, and soon, the "advance team" from the Tivian Church arrived in Glamorgan. At the Glamorgan train station, when the five members of the "advance team" dressed in priest and Sister habits stepped off the train, they were met by the Glamorgan Church's reception. Of course, Vanya, as the leader of the pilgrimage group, was also present.
After the meeting, the parties had a small gathering and meal together, introducing their situations to each other. The Glamorgan Church suggested that the advance team rest before investigating the temple's situation, while the "advance team" expressed that they could go to the temple for a brief inspection first.
Finally, under the leadership of Vanya, the "advance team" crossed the wide surface of Dazzle Star Lake, took a small boat to the Church in the center of the lake. In this Church with a unique style, the "advance team" began their investigation.
Then, in the eyes of Vanya and her escort team, the five members of the "advance team" dispersed to various parts of the Church, carefully observing various details. After a thorough inspection, a Sister with short brown hair from the "advance team" came to Vanya and said to her.
"Sister Vanya, we have a preliminary understanding of the general situation of this Church."
"Uh... you... I think your name is Gray Sister, right? May I ask what you have interpreted?" Looking at the Sister before her, Vanya recalled the name the other party had introduced herself as earlier, then asked, and the so-called "Gray Sister" immediately replied.
"This Church is a Church of an otherworld god. It belongs to a belief in an otherworld god of lakes and the moon that once spread across the land of Prit. The Church in Prit had already saint-ified most of the ruins of this otherworld god hundreds of years ago. I didn't expect such a large one to appear here now."
"Belief in an otherworld god... I didn't expect that a Church with so many similarities to the saint church would belong to an otherworld... I originally thought it was some otherworld branch..."
Listening to the Sister before her, Vanya couldn't help but muse in response, and at this time, the so-called "Gray Sister" spoke again.
"Although this Church is very large, there is nothing overly important inside. Sister Vanya, you don't need to waste too much time here. Perhaps you can hand the Church over to us now and continue your pilgrimage. We will investigate here while waiting for subsequent personnel from Tivian to arrive."
"Gray Sister" said this to Vanya, and Vanya immediately replied.
"Hand over the Church to you now... No, no, Gray Sister, there are only five of you here. Isn't it too difficult for such a small number of people to guard such a large Church? Why don't we help you continue to guard it for a while until the main force from Tivian arrives? We are not short on this time. Everything should prioritize safety. We will continue the pilgrimage after the main force arrives.
"After all, ensuring the safe performance of the saint ritual here and allowing this magnificent hall to smoothly return to the glory of the Lord is the most important thing at present. Nothing can go wrong. For this, the pilgrimage can be slightly postponed."
Vanya said this to "Gray Sister" as a matter of course. Hearing Vanya's words, "Gray Sister" paused and didn't know how to continue responding for a moment, finally speaking slowly.
"Well... then thank you very much for your kindness, Sister Vanya..."
"Gray Sister" replied like this, and after her eyes flickered slightly, she seemed to remember something and then continued.
"By the way, Sister Vanya, listening to your words just now, you seem to be interested in the saint ritual, right..."