In the end, Duncan still didn't understand what "offspring" was.

Goat Head was vague about this aspect, and it seemed that he himself did not know the details of these ancient things wandering on the edge of the civilized world. As for Duncan, he could only summarize a few concepts from the limited clues -

The Offspring are the product of ancient times and hate the modern world. They possess strange and dangerous powers and hide in the dark secretly. Except for the Offspring of the Sun, other "Offspring" almost never appear in the civilized world, but threaten the safety of explorers in the marginal areas.

Among all this information, there is one thing that is very interesting:

The Children of the Sun seem to be able to disguise themselves as humans - only the extraordinary people of the church can distinguish the disguised Children of the Sun from ordinary people.

Duncan thought of the recent changes in the Plande city-state and those "Sun believers" who suddenly revived in a high-profile manner after keeping a low profile for several years.

Are the cultists' high-profile activities... ordered by the "offspring"? Are those ancient and strange beings plotting something from the Plande city-state?

Duncan stood on the edge of the deck of the Lost Homeland, staring at the heaving sea beneath his feet for a long time.

There are also offspring in the deep sea, ancient beings different from the offspring of the sun, and "they" threaten the safety of the long-distance fleets between various city-states.

Duncan was wary and curious about these deep-sea creatures.

He believed that although he had never dealt with these things, as long as the Lost Homeland was still sailing on the sea, he would encounter these strange things sooner or later. It would not hurt to make some preparations before that.

Whether it is collecting intelligence, further controlling one's own power, or exploring the potential of the Lost Hometown, it is all about planning for the future.

Of course, he was not afraid of the dangers lurking in the deep sea - after all, he had been drifting on the sea with this ship for such a long time, and he could more or less guess how many strange things there were in the deep sea. Offspring were just one of the countless strange threats. As the saying goes, too many lice will not itch, and too many debts will not worry. As the captain of the Lost Hometown, there are so many things he needs to be wary of here.

He pondered for a long time on the deck and found that what he needed to worry about most at the moment was whether the "supply channel" he had found with great difficulty would be affected - those deep-sea offspring would not affect his fishing, right?

Although Pigeon Ai has the ability to transport supplies, its carrying capacity and reliability are still uncertain. Moreover, the city-state of Pland is an orderly place, and the supplies transported to the ship have to be purchased with money, so it is not certain when this supply line will be useful.

With the rich catch from his last fishing trip still fresh in his mind, Duncan knew very well that the improvement in living conditions on the Lost Homeland was ultimately inseparable from the gifts of nature.

And those "offspring" are now a potential threat - they might affect the gifts of nature.

Duncan was a little worried. He just hoped that the weird things in the sea would not affect his fishing.

※※※

The bright gas lamps glowed, dispelling the darkness in the church's underground facilities. The deep-sea runes engraved in the long corridors exuded a reassuring power. The lines symbolizing waves and coasts contained in those runes were connected to each other, as if outlining an invisible giant net, shrouding the entire building's underground structure in a sacred and quiet atmosphere.

Vanna walked in the underground sanctuary of the church. This sacred and quiet place gradually calmed her slightly restless mood.

The goddess of storms controls the most powerful force in the vast ocean, but she not only symbolizes the violent side of "storm", this ancient deity also controls the power of tranquility and sealing.

Just as the sea has two sides, calm and storm always coexist, the same is true of the goddess's authority - the basement of the cathedral symbolizes the "mirror image of the storm."

There are many gods in this world who are like this with two sides, or have the characteristics of two sides. The god of death also controls life, and the god of wisdom also has the power to deprive people of sanity and drive them foolish and crazy. Ordinary people may not know much about this, but as a high-level priest, Vanna has a wealth of knowledge in this area.

She also knew that it was precisely because of the duality of many gods that some extremely controversial and even heretical ideas were born. Some scholars even believed that the entire world was dualistic. In a certain dimension, there was even a "dry land" where the sea and land were completely mirror images. There was an endless dry land, and extremely rare rivers and oases dotted the drought. In that dry land, there was even an intelligent civilization that seemed to be similar to the real world, and they were a reflection of everything in reality...

These outrageous speculations based entirely on conjecture were of course not recognized. Even the famously enlightened Bishop Valentine of Plande sneered when he heard such claims.

To use the old man's original words, the fact that there is a subspace at the bottom of this world is already enough to cause headaches. Can some folk theologians please stop hanging things under the subspace?

Vanna suddenly shook her head, trying to calm her uncontrollable thoughts.

In the quiet underground of the cathedral, it was easy for people's thoughts to diverge uncontrollably. This was because the "Mirror Image of the Storm" brought an overly peaceful psychological suggestion. The sense of security brought by the Goddess's sanctuary could weaken the psychological barriers of mortals to the greatest extent. This effect was invisible and powerful, and even a rigorously trained Inquisitor like her was not immune to it.

But on the other hand, this special environment has special uses.

For example, let some fanatical and crazy cultists speak.

Vanna stopped at the end of the corridor of the underground temple. There were several doors leading to various "interrogation rooms", and a statue of the Goddess of the Storm stood quietly in the hallway between the doors.

This statue is different from the statue of the goddess on the ground in the church - the statue on the ground has its hands open, as if accepting the worship of all people, surrounded by infinite majesty, while the statue of the goddess underground has its hands clasped in front of the chest, quiet and gentle, as if a girl listening attentively.

However, no matter which statue it is, the face is covered with a veil - this symbolizes the unknowability of God.

This listening statue with folded hands is another form of the Storm Goddess: the Maiden of the Tranquil Sea.

She suppresses the waters below the sea level and protects the peace of the city-state's underground world.

Vanna bowed before the statue of the Maiden of Tranquility, then turned and pushed open the door of a nearby interrogation room.

The sound of the door hinge turning broke the silence in the underground facility. After the door opened, a spacious but dimly lit room appeared in front of Vanna.

There was a large table in the middle of the room. Ms. Heidi, wearing a black dress, was standing up from the table. Opposite the table was a chair with restraint chains. A Sun Heretic was sitting quietly on the chair.

The heretic had lifeless eyes and leaned crookedly against the armrest beside him. It seemed that all his reason and strength had been drained out of his body, leaving only chaos.

The room was still filled with a strong scent of incense. Ms. Heidi's medical box was still on the table, inside which could be seen empty large syringes, wriggling thorny vines, and golden cones that seemed to still have traces of blood.

"Oh, Ms. Vanna, you're just in time," Ms. Heidi turned around and greeted her when she heard the door open. "I just finished a 'treatment'."

Vanna glanced at Heidi's medical kit, her expression the same as always: "To be honest, I still find it hard to associate your stuff with 'treatment'..."

"These are all standard tools for psychiatrists...Okay, I admit that I probably use them more frequently than ordinary doctors," Ms. Heidi said, shrugging, "but who made me a 'hypnotist' employed by the city hall and often working for the church? The 'patients' I come into contact with are not normal patients, especially cultists like this one. Shaking crystals and low-frequency pendulums are not as effective as a triple dose of 'midnight potion'."

"...I doubt that the reason you give the cultists triple doses each time is because your big syringe can only hold triple doses," Vanna complained about the acquaintance in front of her, but then shook her head, "But it doesn't matter. As long as you can pry open these guys' mouths... Tell me, what did you gain?"

"Yes, and the results are not small. The situation is strange," Ms. Heidi replied immediately. "I have put several cultists into deep hypnosis and used some special methods. Now I can basically confirm... these cultists who participated in the sacrificial ceremony most likely did not go crazy after the ceremony got out of control..."

"Didn't he go crazy after the ritual went out of control?" Vanna frowned immediately. Although she knew that the matter would be more complicated than expected after talking with Bishop Valentine, Heidi's words still exceeded her expectations. "What does this mean?"

"I searched their memories and found that these people's thinking... or cognitive logic, was problematic before the last failed sacrifice ceremony began. More strictly speaking, these cultists seemed to have been affected by some kind of... cognitive filter before the ceremony began, so that in their memories... Hmm? Master Vanna, you don't seem too surprised?"