Within an oasis in Bastis, in a dense forest somewhere, Dorothy manipulated her Corpse Puppet to question Alima, a Savior Sect member who had just been healed, about the past of Bastis, the Wasting Decay, the Order of Rot, and the Savior Sect. Alima, who had been successfully profiled, answered everything she knew. From Alima's answers, Dorothy began to deduce the Order of Rot's intention in releasing the plague in Buserite.
'Buserite is remote, not only outside the Church's sphere of influence but also a place where the Savior Sect, which opposes the Church, is active. If the Order of Rot truly wanted to create a large-scale plague targeting the Church, then Buserite is the perfect training ground. The Savior Sect members here can help the Order of Rot's plague virus train against it for free, helping this virus constantly evolve and iterate, thereby creating a supervirus with strong resistance to the ability of the secret transmission of salvation.
'Once this virus is completely perfected, ordinary medical methods and the ability of the secret transmission of salvation will have difficulty dealing with it. If the Order of Rot widely poisons the Main Continent at the same time, it will definitely cause a Wasting Decay pandemic. The Black Earth and Chalk Extraordinary of salvation stationed in various countries and cities by the Church cannot cope with this plague. Perhaps Extraordinary of salvation above Scarlet have a way to treat it, but how many of those are there?
'The Scarlet Archbishop Church only allocates one at most to each country. The important factor limiting the continuous expansion of the Church's sphere of influence can be said to be the number of Scarlet Archbishops. Although the total number of Scarlet Archbishops in the Church is not transparent, according to the information provided by Vanya, it is estimated to be around twenty to thirty. Most of them are dispatched to various countries and regions to maintain faith. Relying on these Archbishops, the Church controls the entire Main Continent and some key areas outside of it. In areas without an Archbishop stationed, the Church's influence will significantly decline.
'Among these Archbishops, there won't be many belonging to the secret transmission of salvation. It's questionable if there are even ten. The backbone of all Church medical care is still the vast number of Chalk and Black Earth. Once this widely spreading virus can evolve to a degree that is extremely difficult for Chalk and Black Earth to handle, then it can cause serious damage to the Church's vast base of faith. And currently, its evolution level is already close to that standard…'
Sitting on the exquisite carpet of her tent, Dorothy frowned slightly, sipping the desert herder's specialty milk tea while thinking to herself. If her deduction was correct, then the nature of this plague was even more serious.
'It seems… the Order of Rot might be up to some big conspiracy… Is this related to the slow reintegration of the Taiyi Three Teachings? The Taiyi Three Teachings are acting increasingly closely, what exactly do they want to do?'
Dorothy continued to ponder in her mind, but since her previous thoughts were just speculations and there was no clear evidence, she didn't delve deeper. Instead, she shifted her attention more to the present. She then manipulated Ed to ask Alima, who was eating bread.
"Then continue to talk about it, how exactly were you defeated by the Order of Rot?"
Listening to the Corpse Puppet Ed's words, Alima, who had just finished a piece of bread, wiped her mouth and then, after some thought, replied.
"Well… about that… those cultists used treacherous methods to defeat us. As the plague in Bastis became stronger and stronger, and we became less and less able to cope, they began to secretly infiltrate Bastis. They could convert the Lord's original followers by alleviating the symptoms and pain of those infected with the plague. Without our knowledge, those lost ones who believed in evil gods secretly became their accomplices and pawns, helping them deal with us.
"Through those lost ones, the cultists sowed tiny insect eggs in our water and food. These insect eggs were carefully cultivated by those cultists, a type of dormant insect egg with extremely low Spirituality. The Spirituality of these insect eggs was so low that they were almost indistinguishable from ordinary mortals, thus deceiving our detection and being eaten by us. Afterwards, these insect eggs used a special structure to fix themselves in our bodies and sleep.
"Later, the cultists took advantage of our reduced Spirituality and weakened spirits due to treating the plague and launched a surprise attack on us. They injected Spirituality into our bodies by spreading miasma and mosquito bites. Their Spirituality could provide power to the insect eggs lurking in our bodies and awaken them. The awakened insect eggs would quickly hatch into larvae and grow rapidly, gnawing on our flesh and nerves to strengthen themselves, hindering our actions, and absorbing our Spirituality. We were finally defeated and captured by these attacks from within."
Alima said this to Ed, who nodded slightly after hearing her description, and then continued to ask.
"So, did you ask for help from your saint church above? Do they know the current situation in Buserite?"
"They know about the severe plague in Buserite, we reported it specifically to the superiors, but now the saint church probably doesn't have the energy to deal with the problem of Buserite. Since the Adus incident last year, the Northern Heretics have been putting strong pressure on us. Recently, the actions of the Northern Heretics have become increasingly unusual, and some areas have become very aggressive. In Yija… large-scale direct conflicts have already occurred. The Mufah has used most of its energy to deal with the changes of the Northern Heretics."
Picking up another piece of bread, Alima replied to Ed while eating, and Ed raised his eyebrows slightly after hearing her words and continued to ask.
"Mufah? What is that?"
"It is the leadership body within the saint church. Mufah are the high-level leaders of the saint church, meaning The Revealer. They form the Mufah, jointly receiving the teachings of The Revealer, and conveying the will of The Revealer. They are beings that all middle and low-level followers need to look up to."
Continuing to eat bread, Alima continued to answer. Hearing her words, Dorothy became more interested and had Ed ask.
"Who is The Revealer?"
"The Revealer is the most authoritative being in the saint church, the most noble person besides the Lord. He is the messenger chosen by the Lord to convey the truth. He calls himself 'The Revealer'. He conveys and explains the true meaning of the Lord to us, organizes and leads us to uphold the truth, and endure hardships. One day, under his leadership, we will eliminate all otherworld and restore the truth to this world…"
While eating bread, Alima spoke unhurriedly, and Ed raised his eyebrows slightly and said.
"So… The Revealer is actually the founder of your saint church?"
"Yes, the saint church was indeed founded by The Revealer and has been maintained ever since. In the saint church's history of over eight hundred years, due to the suppression of the Northern Heretics and the interference of other cults, it has risen and fallen several times, experiencing destruction and rebirth several times. It is The Revealer who has maintained the saint church to this day. As long as The Revealer is still here, the saint church will not perish."
While eating a new piece of bread, Alima affirmed to Ed, and Dorothy also thoughtfully stroked her chin after hearing her words.
'The Revealer? Interesting… So, the Savior Descends Faction has been able to exist for eight hundred years under the continuous suppression of the Church, always maintaining the title of the biggest otherworld of Light, all thanks to this person called The Revealer? What is the origin of this person… and how capable is he to be able to contend with the Church for so long without being destroyed?'
Dorothy thought curiously in her mind. Then she controlled Ed to ask Alima more about the high-level members of the Savior Sect and about The Revealer, but because Alima's status was too low and she didn't know much, Dorothy didn't get any specific information in the end.
Finally, when all the topics were almost finished, Dorothy had Ed ask Alima one last question.
"Speaking of which… do you know how I should go about learning about the history of Buserite? Are there any written historical records of Buserite? Are there any rumors about the place name 'Heopolis' here?"
Ed asked Alima this question. Regardless of the Order of Rot and the plague period, Dorothy's primary task in Buserite was to find Heopolis, and her search for clues about Heopolis could not stop.
"Heopolis… I have been in Buserite for some years, and I haven't heard of this name… But if you are talking about the history of Buserite, there are indeed written records.
"Although Buserite is chaotic, several short-lived unified dynasties have appeared here. Among these dynasties, the dynasty closest to today is called'Santo'. This Santo Dynasty, in order to publicize its legitimacy and to ensure the long-term unification and stability of Buserite, and to get rid of the previous chaotic and complex situation, once strongly promoted and shaped the national identity of Buserite.
"For a long time, the chaos in Buserite originated from the mutual struggles between the various tribes living here. Therefore, the Santo Dynasty attempted to create a mutually recognized national identity for these diverse and numerous tribes, to create a Buserite nation, so as to maintain stability for a long time.
"To do this, the Santo Dynasty, during the period of unifying Buserite, once made every effort to create a common culture for Buserite. This process, in addition to various propaganda and education, also included widely sending people to collect the legends and histories of various tribes, and then centrally compile them into an official history of Buserite, which was promoted and used as the official history book.
"However, it is a pity that after these historical materials were collected, the founder of the Santo Dynasty, the most capable King Santik, passed away. Although his successor had some ability, he was not enough to manage the complex situation in Buserite, and eventually, the contradictions that King Santik had always suppressed erupted. The new war destroyed the Santo Dynasty, and those collected historical materials were not uniformly compiled when the dynasty was destroyed."
Alima said this. After finishing another piece of bread, she looked towards the distance in the forest, in the direction of Bastis.
"The capital of the Santo Dynasty was in Bastis. All the historical materials collected at that time were preserved in the Bastis Museum. Because they were hidden in the underground library, they escaped many wars. After we took over Bastis, Jamal Hai discovered the hidden library when clearing the ruins of the old library, and also found various documents that survived the war.
"Most of these documents were written by mortals and contained few secret transmission, so Jamal Hai was not interested. She just sorted them out a bit and put them back in their original place. However, this underground library was used by Jamal Hai as her secret study and research room due to its hidden location. During the outbreak of the plague, she had been studying this strange virus here. Because I often helped Jamal Hai, I also often went in and out of there, and the stories there were also told to me by Jamal Hai…"
Alima said this. As her words fell, a trace of sadness couldn't help but appear on her face. Dorothy paused slightly when she saw this, waited for Alima to finish her brief moment of sadness, and then picked up a piece of bread to eat again, and continued to have Ed ask.
"Then, how can I enter that underground library, and do the people of the Order of Rot know about its existence?"
…
At night, on the Church camp on the lakeside grassland on the other side of the Bastis oasis.
Just as Dorothy was communicating with the rescued Alima to obtain information, in the center of the camp, in the large white tent, Vanya had just sent away the Sister who came to report. Only Vanya was left in the entire spacious tent.
Sitting in the large tent space, Vanya looked at the tent cloth, the flickering firelight from the camp and the figures of people coming and going shining on it, listening to the noisy sounds outside, and fell into deep thought for a moment.
And at this moment, in the spacious tent space, a faint light distorted, and a translucent phantom of a Sister appeared out of thin air. Vanya, who perceived this phenomenon, turned her head and looked at the suddenly appearing phantom.
"Sister Evi… you can appear now?"
"I've been able to appear for a while. I've found a suitable mooring point around Bastis, and I was able to perceive through the relay on you since noon today. It's just that there have always been people around you, so it wasn't suitable for me to show up."
Looking at Vanya who stood up from the carpet, Evi said this. Hearing Evi's words, Vanya paused slightly, and then continued to speak.
"You were able to connect at noon today… That is to say, you know everything that happened on my side after noon, and you are already aware of the situation in Bastis now?"
Vanya asked Evi this question, and Evi nodded and replied.
"That is indeed the case. The current situation in Buserite and Bastis is indeed somewhat beyond our previous expectations. To be honest, such a special situation has reached the point where we can apply to cancel this operation…" With a serious expression, Evi said to Vanya, and Vanya was surprised after hearing her words. She couldn't help but blurt out.
"Can… can I apply to cancel? Can I do that?"
"Of course. Your primary task is to ensure the completion of the relief and the success of the promotion. However, with the strange plague raging in Buserite right now, plus the interference of cults, the difficulty of completing the relief here is already very high. The problems here are no longer something that the resources we have prepared can solve.
"So you can directly give up the relief of Buserite, give up all the people here, and carry out the relief in a relatively easier place to complete the ritual. There are still many places in this world similar to Alita, and there are also many people who need relief, so it doesn't matter if this place is one less. Since the problems here are caused by unexpected circumstances, it is not your fault. As long as the report is properly made, no one in the saint church will blame you.
"In such a place, our abilities are limited and cannot be fully utilized. But if you change to another place, you might be able to carry out relief better and complete the promotion when facing some conventional famines and wars…" With a meaningful tone, Evi said to Vanya, and then she began to smile and look at Vanya in front of her, waiting for her answer and choice.