A bird?

Duncan had indeed thought about where to start explaining to people the truth about the "Great Annihilation" and the current situation of the deep sea era. After all, the collision of worlds and "incompatibility" was such an abstract concept that not everyone could understand it all in a short period of time. But he had never expected that Rune would start this topic with a seemingly ordinary little bird.

He looked up and found that Morris beside him had a thoughtful look when he saw the "crazy bird".

Rune placed the bird on the table in front of him under the gazes of curious people. His voice was calm and clear, like a patient instructor in class, explaining the ultimate truth of the world to the bishops present.

"The black-feathered auk is probably one of the oldest and most widely distributed birds in the world. They live on the coasts of stable cities, on isolated islands in the sea with dangerous environments, and even in some terrifying seas that are classified as 'anomalies'. Explorers have found traces of these birds... But judging from their physiological structure and living habits, the black-feathered auk is not special at all. They are just a kind of bird with tenacious vitality, nothing more.

"Until 1723, scholars suddenly came up with an interesting, or creative idea - what do animals that live in the world with humans but have different ways of perceiving things from humans look like in their eyes?

"The first person to come up with this idea was Hepard Strong, a famous scholar at the Academy of Truth. He came up with this idea while playing with his pet dog at home. He looked into the dog's eyes and suddenly thought of the different eye and brain structures of this animal from humans. He thought that such a special set of senses would inevitably recognize and understand the surrounding environment in a wonderful way that was different from humans. When this curiosity became so strong that it could not be suppressed, he designed the famous 'Hepard Experiment'.

"Using a series of complex mystical methods, he connected his senses to the animals, and the initial test was conducted between him and his pet dog.

"The first experiment failed, and the dog nearly died in the experiment - subsequent examinations showed that the dog was under tremendous mental stress at the moment the connection was established, which was completely beyond the limit of an animal's tolerance.

"So Hypa Strong designed a second test. This time, he decided to choose a slightly 'lower' creature with a simpler brain structure. He only needed to share the perception of this creature, and did not want the latter to die prematurely in the experiment because the brain was too complicated and could not withstand the pressure. The one finally selected was... the black-feathered short-beaked guillemot.

"One afternoon in August 1726, Hypa Strong finished all the preparations. He placed the bird in a special cage so that the bird could see the sky outside, and he lay beside the cage to start the experiment - the ritual.

"An hour later, Hepa Strong died. A terrifying scream and a strange roar shattered all the windows of the laboratory. The scholar's soul collapsed when he died, causing a howling in the spirit world. Twelve assistants and apprentices were subsequently traumatized by this howling.

"Compared to many experimental accidents or supernatural disasters that have caused more serious consequences, the casualties caused by the 'Hyper Incident' were not serious. However, some of the... chilling 'facts' revealed in this experimental accident have left a long-lasting shadow in the academic community. Since that experiment, all attempts to establish shared perceptions between different species have been listed as an absolute taboo.

"This is the 'fact' revealed in that experimental accident."

As Rune spoke, he reached into his robe and took out something - it seemed to be just a folded, ordinary-looking piece of paper.

He opened the paper, and dense patterns appeared in Duncan's eyes.

"People found a torn record next to Hepa's body. When the body was discovered, it was severely twisted, and the flesh and blood on the body had been deformed into a horrible form as if it had been contaminated by an ancient god. The record was tightly grasped in the scholar's only right hand that still retained a human form. Investigators judged that this should be something that the scholar hastily drew with his last bit of sanity as he quickly fell into madness...

"Please rest assured, this is just a 'replica' copied from the data. The contaminating parts have been removed. You can watch it safely."

Rune held up the paper and showed it to everyone in the meeting.

What was up there? What did Hepa Strong see before she died?

Frankly speaking, even Duncan couldn't associate those abstract and chaotic lines with the "Hyper Experiment" mentioned by Rune. He only saw a lot of curved lines that seemed to be convulsing, trembling shadows covering a series of inexplicable geometric patterns, and countless structures that looked like eyes or strange holes were scattered all over the paper. The first impression it gave people was... weird and chaotic.

The hall fell silent. The "Hepah Incident" was no secret, but not everyone understood these professional matters as well as the scholars did. Many bishops from the Church of the Deep Sea, the Church of Death and the Firebringer heard these details for the first time, and the strange and suspicious parts of this incident made everyone fall into deep thought.

"This is what Hypa Strong saw through 'shared senses' when she was dying," Rune's voice rang out in the silent meeting room. "What you are seeing is the 'world' in the eyes of the black-feathered short-beaked auk - the trembling, stacked curves on the edge are Hypa Strong himself."

There was a buzz of discussion all around. The bishops sitting at the edge of the hall were talking in low voices, and some of them looked at the ordinary-looking black seabird still on the table with astonishment or thoughtfulness.

The "crazy bird" seemed to be frightened. It jumped in the cage, flapped its wings, and made a series of crisp and shrill calls.

Rune put the black cloth back on the cage.

"This is what happened in our world, and this is what is still happening in the 'underlying nature' of all things." He raised his head and looked across the hall calmly. "The essence of 'pollution' stems from the 'incompatibility' of all things. From our perspective, one thing is fatal pollution and erosion from another perspective, or under another set of 'rules'..."

Over the next period of time, Rune recounted everything he had seen in the deepest part of the Nameless One's Dream.

About the nature of the mass annihilation, about the truth of the world collision, about the reasons behind many pollution and erosion phenomena in today's deep sea era, and the "eternal conflicts" that still remain in the underlying laws of the world.

"...On the day of the Great Annihilation, many worlds 'collided' with each other. We still don't know the cause of this collision, but the result... was a 'Hyper Event' that spanned many civilizations, many races, and many worlds. In this collision, every world was each other's 'Loonbird' and 'Hyper Strum'. From the perspective of the 'foundational rules of the world', indescribable pollution eroded and distorted everything. All the old order was completely destroyed, and the survivors..."

Rune stopped, he slowly stood up and looked around at everyone here.

"We, everything around us, and the entire deep sea era are the scream of 'Hyper Strum' at his death. This scream is still echoing, but it is coming to an end."

The old man exhaled softly and slowly sat back in his seat.

"I've finished speaking. Does anyone have anything to add?"

As he spoke, his eyes fell on Duncan across from him.

"You've said it very thoroughly," Duncan said. "That's all we know about the Great Annihilation. Now let's talk about the gods, the nature of the gods, and what you've been doing recently. That's what I'm most concerned about."

The bishops around seemed to be slightly nervous again, and the four popes sitting across the table briefly exchanged glances after Duncan finished speaking. Soon, the crowd quieted down, and the "Fire Bearer Pope" who was dressed in simple robes, had skin as gray as rock, and was exceptionally tall, nodded slightly.

"Based on the clues we have, the gods should represent the powerful or special individuals that survived the destruction of each world in the Great Annihilation - just like the 'burnt core' after burning, carrying the... afterglow of a world."

Frame spoke in a low voice, raised his hand, and outlined the emblem of the Firebringer on his chest, as if to repent for his offensive act of "judging the gods" at this moment, but he continued to speak -

"...The Great Annihilation destroyed everything in the old world. Strictly speaking, the gods did not survive the disaster. As for this... we have actually noticed it a long time ago."

Hearing Frame's words, Duncan's eyes widened slightly: "You have already noticed this before?"

At the same time, he also noticed the stunned expressions that instantly appeared on the faces of Morris and Vanna beside him - obviously, even as saints, it was the first time for them to hear such words from the Pope.

This is a "secret" confined to the "Pilgrimage Ark"!

Frame nodded slightly.

"Yes, we have long noticed it - it's just that we didn't know the reason until now.

"The gods are dead, and have begun to enter the 'corruption stage'... but only a few church leaders who patrol the border with the Ark of Pilgrimage know this truth. The other truth is..."

Frame paused, then raised his head and looked into Duncan's eyes.

“The creation of the Pilgrimage Ark was to delay the ‘corruption’ of the gods—and today, this ‘delay’ has basically reached its limit.

"The 'filth' produced by the corruption of the gods...is about to seep into the mortal world."