Chapter 550: Ghost Soldiers

Chapter 550: Underworld Soldiers

The words cried out by the corpse upon its awakening caused Neo and Karen to look at each other instinctively, and the expressions of the others behind them also grew solemn.

Did this place actually have something to do with the Church of Order?

Or perhaps, the "Order" this man spoke of referred not to the Church, but to the God of Order himself.

This scene felt utterly absurd; after all, they had carefully concealed their tracks and taken two long-distance teleportation arrays to come here for an adventure, only to dig up their "own home."

Didn't that make all their previous preparations and setups look like a complete joke?

The corpse shouted "conspiracy" many times. Finally, he seemed to calm down slightly. No black could be seen in his pale eyes, but the turning of his neck meant he could "see" the people in front of him.

"Hurry and tell Commander Falin that all of this is a conspiracy of Order!" Neo immediately spoke up in an anxious and urgent tone. "Yes, my Lord, we will take you out of here right away!"

As he spoke, Neo even took a few forceful steps forward.

"No, I can't leave anymore, it's too late. You must leave quickly, leave this place at once, and tell Commander Falin that Compasini did not defect. Compasini has always been loyal to our Church." Neo continued anxiously, "My Lord, please be more specific, this is of paramount importance!" "Compasini failed to bring the Placer Gold Scepter out from the Church of Order, but he brought back a secret. Our God of the Desert fell because of a conspiracy of the God of Order! The Church of Order has been assimilating our faith system. Compasini speculated that in just over two hundred years, the Church of Order would be able to perfectly establish and complete our faith system, and when that time comes, the Church of Order is highly likely to launch a war of annexation against our Church!

Tell Commander Falin to report to the Chief Seat, and to the elders of the Abyss of the Sand Sea. We still have enough time to prepare to resist and defuse the invasion from the Church of Order more than two hundred years from now—"

At this moment, the corpse suddenly froze. Because he had just been awakened, he was still in a state of having just died, so he hadn't had time to form a clear realization of his final fate and his current condition. But now, he realized something.

He immediately said in horror:

"No, I am already dead. I was killed by the people of Order. Because I killed several of them, they tortured and killed me in the end. I am already dead, I am dead!

Why can I still wake up if I'm dead? Why can I still speak if I'm dead—"

The corpse suddenly fell silent.

After a while,

He said eerily:

"I was awakened. Are you... people of Order?"

It was somewhat cruel. Awakening three hundred years after a brutal death, still desperate to pass on the secret, only to find that those standing before him were the enemy.

Neo spoke, "My Lord, we kidnapped a priest of Order specifically to awaken you."

"You kidnapped a regional bishop... Heh."

Clearly, the corpse did not believe it.

"Ah... Alas." Neo stretched. "Then there's no helping it. I'm sorry, but the message you wished to transmit to the Desert is destined to never arrive."

"How many years... have I been dead?"

"By my calculations, it should be close to three hundred years." "Three hundred years... my Desert Church..."

"Rest assured, the Desert Church is still around, and it still holds a status somewhere between an orthodox church and a large-scale church. If I remember correctly, since the beginning of this era, the Desert Church has always hovered up and down in such a position."

In the previous era, the Church of the Desert was undisputedly one of the orthodox churches. However, during the latter half of that era, due to the bizarre fall of the God of the Desert, the God of the Wilderness—originally a branch deity of the Desert Church—had to succeed the position of their main god. This caused the status of the Wilderness Church to drop significantly, falling from an orthodox church to a large-scale church. Therefore, the God of the Desert and the Desert Church were originally the primal faith of the current Wilderness Church believers. After succeeding the throne, the God of the Wilderness always considered himself the successor of the God of the Desert, neither purging the predecessor nor rectifying his own name. As a result, the current doctrines and common phrases of the Wilderness Church often feature "Desert" rather than "Wilderness."

"Then everything is too late..."

"If what you say is true—and I'm not doubting your genuine display of emotion and candid disclosure just now, I'm just saying, if what you say is true—then the time left for the Wilderness Church might really be running short."

Since the Church of Order had already begun integrating the Wilderness Church's faith and planning its establishment three hundred years ago, combined with the fact that the Church of Order had recently altered its past style and begun heavily intervening in the disputes of other churches, it was highly probable that the node for the Church of Order to strike at the Wilderness Church was already very close.

"I will curse you, I will curse all of you, I will curse the Church of Order, and curse the God of Order! The yellow sands will eventually bury everything of yours!"

"Do you have anything else to say?" Neo ignored the other's curse. "If you are willing to believe us." "Believe you?"

Neo raised his hand, and a flame of Light rose up. "In truth, we are remnants of Light hidden within the Church of Order. The Church of Order is our true enemy as well; without overturning Order, Light can never truly return. If you are willing to take a gamble, perhaps you could tell us some other valuable information."

Karen looked at Neo and asked, "Shall we continue forward then?"

Neo looked at Karen very calmly and asked back, "Why not?"

"You should know clearly." Karen spelled it out directly. "He said he was tortured to death by people from the Church of Order, which means our people won the fight that took place here against him back then. But the problem is, when we were investigating this matter, we didn't find any corresponding records in the internal documents of the Church. Of course, it could be explained as our clearance level being insufficient, but regardless, the Church should have sent people over to clean this place up, instead of letting this corpse stand here for three hundred years."

Karen walked forward a few steps, looking at the corpse that had just spontaneously combusted:

"His initial welcoming posture was actually a human signpost made by the person who tortured him to death for their own people who would come later, meaning the person who killed him back then knew that this place would receive follow-up handling. But... there was none."

Neo sighed and asked, "Then what do you mean?"

"Three hundred years ago, our people paid a certain price to deal with him, or rather, his group; however, our people failed to return to the Church alive.

I strongly suspect that the Church lost track of their reports, and the Church doesn't know about this place either.

The most reasonable explanation is that they might have died inside."

"Doesn't that just bring us back around?" Neo smiled. "We came here precisely to find Compasini's burial ground, and we already knew that there should be quite a few people who surrounded and killed it next to Compasini's corpse. We've long been eyeing the weapons they left behind—why not continue forward?"

"They even had the leisure to turn the person they killed into a welcoming doll, which means they must have confirmed that all targets on the surface had been dealt with. In other words, Compasini was dead, and this group of people was dead too.

That is to say, it is highly likely that a third party existed here back then, wiping all of them out."

"Walk forward, and you'll get the answer you want." Neo pointed ahead. "Three hundred years have passed. How could any threat still exist, right?"

Karen pursed his lips and said, "Stay alert, continue forward."

Such a swift turnabout caught Neo off guard for a moment. He immediately asked, "I thought you would hesitate a bit longer."

"It was what you just said that reminded me. Three hundred years have passed; if a threat still existed, it should have already seen us by now."

"Tsk, the atmosphere suddenly intensified." Neo said as he walked at the very front. "Everyone, stay sharp. Because there's a good chance that the ones who left weapons ahead of us are seniors of our own Church, which means the weapons we find might have a higher degree of compatibility."

Continuing forward, after passing through a stone tunnel, the sound of flowing water came from ahead.

By the time everyone walked onto the platform, they discovered that what flowed below was not an underground river, but a massive pool of sand. The quicksand here was so fine it truly resembled pouring and flowing water; it was "alive."

In the center of the sand pool lay a massive skeleton, half-exposed above the sand, looking like the skeleton of a whale.

However, after hundreds of years, the bones were still crystal clear, which was enough to display its extraordinary nature.

"Who wants to go down and try first?" Neo asked.

No one answered.

Karen spoke up, "Director..."

"I can accept a few superficial flesh wounds, but that doesn't mean I won't be buried alive and die. This sand pool is clearly being drawn by a force, and it's not a formation."

Alfred activated his Succubus Eye to inspect: "The Director is right. This sand pool is alive. I can see a force arranging and mobilizing them systematically.

Hmm? Young Master, Director, look over there!"

Following the direction Alfred pointed, everyone looked toward the far edge of the sand pool, where human figures were slowly emerging.

First one person, then the numbers began to gradually increase, until finally ten people appeared.

Yet they did not look like living people, for they remained completely motionless throughout, yet they were "advancing." But this advancement was more like the flowing sand carrying them along.

Most importantly, what they wore were the divine robes of Order.

Garments like divine robes rarely rotted away like ordinary clothes under natural conditions.

"They are our people," Karen said. "Pay attention to their 'trajectory of movement'."

Although the figures of these ten people would be buried in the yellow sand for periods of time, upon emerging, they would "advance" along an arc. Picturing their "marching" route beneath the yellow sand, one could imagine them walking in a circle around a single point.

"I think what deserves more attention are the weapons they carry on their backs. Their weapons are still slung over them, and just like their corpses, they have been preserved perfectly," Neo said.

Philomena stepped forward and said, "Captain, let me go down and scout first."

Karen raised his hand and said, "No rush, let us observe further."

It was no longer a question of scouting the path, for the "problem" had already manifested before them.

Muri spoke up, "The area surrounded by those ten Inquisitors of Order must have some sort of issue."

Alfred remarked, "Indeed. The sand in that specific patch is the calmest; in that solitary spot alone, the sand does not move."

Karen and Neo nodded simultaneously, and almost in unison, they spoke.

Karen said, "The most perilous position is right there."

Neo said, "The most valuable thing is right there."

Karen commanded, "Alfred, keep your eyes on Muri. Philomena, watch Ventura. This is the burying ground of phantom beasts; I worry we might be pulled into an illusion at any moment. Then, the four of you will remain here to provide backup. Remember, if anything occurs and I do not call out to you for aid, do not presume to come down and rescue me."

The four replied, "Yes, Captain."

Neo added, "Yes, Captain."

Karen looked at Neo and pointed a finger at him, "The Director comes with me."

"And here I was, just beginning to feel touched."

"You ought to be touched. Otherwise, if neither of us moves forward, you would eventually be the one to do so anyway. The greediest person is always the most reluctant to walk away empty-handed."

"Heh."

Karen and Neo leaped down together.

The moment Neo landed, it was like falling freely into water; without waiting for the quicksand to slowly consume him, his entire form sank instantly.

A pair of black wings unfurled from Karen's back, allowing him to hover steadily in mid-air.

"Splash..."

The submerged Neo resurfaced above the sand, grinning as he assumed a swimming posture, "This sand is actually quite warm and comfortable. It is truly a pity you will not come down to test the temperature."

Ignoring him, Karen began flying toward the area enveloped by the ten corpses of the Inquisitors of Order.

Neo returned his body to the surface of the sand. After giving himself a few shakes, he began to follow Karen in the same direction, his feet pacing across the sand as if walking upon the surface of water.

Halfway there, Neo spoke up, "Wait a moment."

Karen froze in mid-air.

"So, it turns out one must still have both feet on solid ground to see reality clearly." Leaving these words behind, Neo dove forward, plunging beneath the sand once more.

Before long, a white skeleton was unearthed, followed immediately by a second, a third, a fourth... some skeletons were devoid of clothing, while others wore desert divine robes... there were dozens of them in total.

In the distance, the ten corpses of the Inquisitors of Order had intact clothing and retained their flesh, whereas these newly appeared remains had clearly dropped several tiers in terms of preservation—resembling the difference between broken toys by a trash can and premium collectible figurines.

Neo resurfaced once more and said, "They were all floating down below, so I brought them to the surface. It seems there are still more at the very bottom. I primarily suspect that their weapons and the valuable sacred artifacts on their persons might all be in the deepest depths. Shall I dive to the very bottom to check?"

"How deep is it?"

"Unimaginably deep."

"Then let us finish scouting the most dangerous place first," Karen suggested.

"Fair point. Let us first secure the most valuable gifts left by our church's predecessors.

Let me tell you something, this group of people... our fellow