In the entire house, except for the room where Brown Scott was last, nothing unusual was found anywhere else.

In fact, even in the room that was "polluted" by the gray-black mud, there was no trace of the supernatural left - apart from the visual shock brought by the strange mud substance, there was no supernatural power in this building.

All that was not of this world had gone with Brown Scott's disappearance.

On the first floor of the house, Galoni was still sleeping. This tall Senjin with stone-skinned skin was leaning against a corner of the sofa. His sleeping posture was peaceful and calm, with a relaxed look on his face.

In her dreams, she was still a student studying under her teacher, still living a peaceful life. Her knowledgeable and kind teacher had just ended his many years of traveling and had recently returned home. He wanted to tell her many things that happened far away.

"It would be great if Heidi was here. She would mix some potions that would at least make this girl feel better after she wakes up." Morris looked down at Galoni on the sofa with a complicated expression. "I can see that she and Brown have a good relationship."

"...The haze will eventually pass," Duncan said. He was silent for a moment, fumbled in his pocket, and took out a small crystal pendant. He put it to his mouth and whispered something, then stuffed it into Galoni's hand, "Have a good dream, everything will be fine."

Morris watched Duncan's actions quietly for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask: "You brought these pendants here?"

"...I bought too much last time, and I have half a box left that I can't sell. No one wants it even if I give it away," Duncan said with a blank expression (mainly because of the bandages), "I thought I'd give them away when I travel next time... Do you want one?"

"No, thank you," Morris waved his hand quickly, "I'm not really suited to this kind of women's jewelry."

"Oh, that's right."

※※※

At night, the cold wind blew through the dark and silent alley. In the faint light from the gas lamp at the intersection, Vanna watched the movements around her with alert eyes.

Alice stood beside her, trying to look around in the same way - but it was obvious that she had no idea what Vanna was paying attention to.

"The streets are very quiet, no one is around," Miss Doll finally couldn't help but speak out, perhaps because she was not used to this overly silent and depressing environment. "Miss Vanna, what have you been looking at?"

Vanna said calmly, "Some extraordinary beings that might appear, or some suspicious shadows that are lingering around that building, if there are any."

"Ah?" Alice was stunned. "Will there be?"

"…Why do you think Mr. Duncan asked us to wait outside?"

Alice thought for a moment and said, "Don't you think I'm making trouble?"

Vanna: “…You are right.”

She felt it would be difficult to explain it to this thick-headed man, so she simply gave up explaining.

But she herself knew very well the significance of surveillance here.

There is a "replica" that returned from the deep sea and has been active in the city-state for many days, and that replica lives in a building not far away - it is impossible for the Annihilation Cultists who follow the Lord of the Deep to have no reaction to this matter.

It's even possible that they were behind this.

Mr. Duncan and Mr. Morris went to investigate the situation in the house. They were both investigating and tempting - would there be cultists paying attention to this place? Would the power that sent "Brown Scott" back move tonight? Would there be a shadow lurking in this street? Would the shadow still be able to sit still when an uninvited guest appeared?

Fanna controlled her breathing and heartbeat, restrained her aura and strength, and after confirming that there was still no movement on the street, she hid herself in the shadow of the building again.

Then she saw Alice next to her suddenly remembering something and leaning forward - then the doll raised its hand, held its head and shook it, and pulled it off with a "pop". Then it held the wall with one hand and raised its head with the other, swaying in the corner of the wall facing the outside.

Even the battle-hardened Inquisitor couldn't control the trembling of his eyes when he saw this scene. Vanna stared and lowered her voice: "What are you doing?!"

Alice shook her head in the corner, and when she heard Vanna's voice, she quickly pulled her head back and put it back with a "pop" sound, looking innocent: "Let me see what's going on over there..."

"Next time you have such a plan, you should plan ahead..." Vanna glared at the puppet opposite her, but swallowed her words halfway through and waved her hand tiredly, "Forget it, don't worry about it."

Alice looked confused, but just as she was about to speak, she seemed to sense something again and couldn't help but look outside: "Miss Vanna, I always feel... as if someone is nearby, but I can't see anyone."

"Is there someone nearby?" Vanna was instantly alert. She did not relax just because Alice was usually unreliable. Instead, she immediately tensed up her nerves and asked in a low voice while sensing the surrounding atmosphere, "Where is it?"

"It's just across the street, under the streetlight," Alice whispered, even squatting on the ground to show her caution, while raising her hand and pointing outside the alley, "But I only saw the line, not the person."

Vanna didn't react at first. She just looked in the direction of Alice's finger. After two seconds, she was suddenly stunned and looked back at the doll lady: "String? What string?"

"It's the lines on people's bodies. Everyone has them. They float from the body to the sky," Alice gestured and said as if it was a matter of course. "There are some behind the head, on the hands and feet..."

She paused for a moment and added, "Oh, yes, Mr. Duncan doesn't have it - but he's Mr. Duncan, so it's normal..."

As Alice continued to speak, her voice finally stopped hesitantly.

Even though she was slow-witted, she finally noticed the strange expression on Vanna's face.

"...Can't you see?" The puppet hesitated for a moment and thought of the only explanation. "Well, I won't laugh at you. The captain said that people's eyes are different..."

"...I can't see it, but now is not the time to talk about this." Vanna suddenly woke up and forced herself to focus on the street lamp not far away. "Are those wires still there?"

She knows what's important and what's not.

Alice can see invisible "lines" floating on humans, and she has always taken it for granted that this is a normal phenomenon, and that other people can see it, too. Because she took it for granted, this matter was not suddenly exposed until now because of a casual remark she made - perhaps this is her special power as Anomaly 099, or there may be a more complex and weird explanation behind it, but in any case, these things should not be studied now.

Someone was hiding nearby, and now he or they were exposed to the puppet's sight - that was what mattered.

"It's still there, and it's swaying slightly from side to side," Alice raised her head and glanced at the street light across the street, reporting in a low voice. But then she frowned again, "Ah, it seems like a few are missing?"

"How many are missing?" Fanna's heart suddenly started to tremble, and the next second, alertness arose in her heart. The combat instinct honed over the years and the sense of crisis bestowed by the goddess exploded in her perception at the same time, causing her to suddenly look towards a certain location deep in the street.

In a strange shadow that could not be illuminated by street lights, a dark and creeping shadow suddenly emerged!

Almost instantly, a skeleton-like shadow emerged, followed by a deformed monster connected to the skeleton shadow by chains.

It was a human being, or at least the outline of a human being, but his body had long since twisted and swollen into a shocking state. His skin was charred and curled as if it had been burned by fire, and his bones had proliferated disorderly, forming discontinuous bone plates on his body surface. Sharp bone spurs protruded and extended from his back, like the remains of some deep-sea monster, and where the face should have been, there was only a hollow depression with a dark red halo flickering inside.

After just one encounter, Vanna realized what that thing was—a Priest of Annihilation who had achieved a deep symbiosis with the Abyss Demon and had "purified" his body to an extremely high degree.

The Annihilation Cultists regard their own flesh and blood as a cage created by the gods, and the way they show loyalty to the Lord of the Abyss is to constantly use demonic power to transform their bodies and "purify" their own form. This process will cause them to have more and more demonic characteristics, making them less and less like humans. Annihilation Cultists who have been purified to a certain degree have their limbs mutated to the point where they cannot return to human form even with temporary transformation spells, and can no longer move around in human society. Therefore, they can only rely on lower-level believers for support, but in return, they will also gain more powerful power, and a stronger and more direct connection with the Abyss.

These cultists are really eyeing this place!

This thought flashed through Vanna's mind, and at the same moment, her body jumped high.

In order to move around in the city-state, she did not carry the blessed steel greatsword.

But for the loyal priest of the Storm Goddess, the "sword" is not such an inconvenient thing.

The air was compressing, the water vapor was condensing, and the breath of the sea and the wind was instantly compressed into a sharp ice blade in her hand - just enough to be usable.

"heresy!"