Chapter 716: Karen's Funeral! (2/4)

Chapter 716: Karen's Funeral! (2/4)

But fortunately, Mr. Eisen could calculate based on his own level of starvation;

He replied:

"I don’t know the exact time, but it’s been at least ten days."

At least ten days...

"What's wrong, Karen?"

"Uncle, it's probably not suitable for us to go out right now."

"Why?"

"If you were outside in charge of maintaining the sealing array, and the first batch of volunteers had already returned with those two divine artifacts, and then after at least ten days, you saw two more people walking out from inside, how would you react?"

Mr. Eisen replied, "I would think I’d seen a ghost."

Sometimes, one can create miracles, like surviving on a battlefield, or executing a special mission where you live while the main force is wiped out;

Under the premise that everyone thinks you are already dead, your sudden appearance would indeed bring everyone a pleasant surprise;

However, this place is the source of divine pollution.

After so many days, not only are you not dead, but you’ve also come out looking completely unscathed. This will only bring everyone a massive fright.

When that time comes, just wait to be sliced up for research by the higher-ups.

Karen checked himself over; it seemed his current self was extremely clean, and no loopholes should be found, but the problem was that being excessively clean right now was the biggest loophole of all.

The head of the Whip of Order's enforcement department for a major district, who once possessed a "glorious military record," turns out not to even be a divine servant upon inspection?

"Karen, you don't want the secret of your identity to be exposed, do you?"

"Yes." Karen nodded. "It cannot be exposed."

"Then what do we do?"

"Uncle, is it possible to use another method to leave this place? For instance, a teleportation array?"

"A teleportation array?" Mr. Eisen pursed his lips and said, "There is a sealing array outside. A temporarily arranged teleportation array simply cannot pierce through the seal."

"There should be a permanent teleportation array inside the laboratory."

"Yes, there should be. If it is repaired and activated, it should be able to pass through the seal. However, there is a Throne of Order levitating above. The Throne of Order will lock down the surrounding space, making it impossible for the teleportation array to open at all. If we force its activation, we will immediately encounter strangulation from the power of the Throne of Order."

The Throne of Order...

"Let's try it first. I can attempt to deal with the strangling power of the Throne of Order."

"But you don't have any power right now, Karen..."

"Uncle, what is the greatest capability of the Throne of Order?"

"To return everything to a state of order."

"Right now, I should be in the cleanest state of order possible."

Within his own soul, nothing remained but the starvation addiction of Order, and this addiction originally belonged to the purest state of Order.

"But this is risking your life, Karen."

"Please trust me, Uncle."

"Alright." Eisen nodded. "But this method can only be used once. Because of the Throne of Order, I believe they shouldn't have arranged an extra array to lock down the space. Therefore, we only have a chance of success during our first attempt at teleportation; there will absolutely be no second chance. Of course, under normal circumstances, it is also difficult to have a second chance when facing the strangulation of the Throne of Order."

"Let's go with that for now, Uncle. Let's head back."

"Alright."

Karen supported Eisen as they walked back. Halfway there, Mr. Eisen suddenly thought of something and asked:

"It doesn't matter much for me. If I die, it just means Memphis dies, and I can still continue to live under my original identity;

But Karen, if you don't want to walk out openly and honestly, doesn't that mean your identity will be completely gone? Because to the outside world, you must have already been deemed dead."

"It should be so."

The people outside would certainly think he was dead. The original Head of the Whip of Order, Karen, was already a grayscale photograph.

The official identity within Order that he had previously worked so hard to create was equivalent to being erased.

In his heart, Karen inevitably felt a pang of loss.

However, to protect his secret, Karen could only choose this path.

Moreover, the greatest consolation was that he had now obtained his most important trump card, which was the golden chain that could be continuously charged.

As long as he went back, his core subordinates would definitely still be his people, and he could still "awaken" his helpers.

In fact, he had still come out ahead.

As for Rasma,

Heh,

He really wanted to see what kind of expression Rasma would have when he left Mink Street and returned to kill him, only to find that he had already become a martyr.

Nevertheless, although he could comfort himself, Karen's mood remained somewhat somber.

Returning to the laboratory, Mr. Eisen found the internal teleportation platform.

"Karen, fortunately, this place hasn't been damaged at all. When the accident happened, they probably only had enough time to activate the lockdown array and couldn't manage anything else. I only need to make some specific adjustments."

"Where exactly are we teleporting to?"

"A long-distance teleportation array is unsuitable because the preparation time is long, the difficulty is high, the risk is great, and it easily alerts the people outside to intervene in advance. Therefore, we can only choose short-distance teleportation.

I know the coordinates of a teleportation array in York City. It belongs to a special area of the Array Department used for executing certain special missions within this district. Someone there will actively respond after receiving the call, and it is anonymous. We can teleport there."

The Bishop of the York City District's Array Department was his own maternal grandfather, Mr. Eisen's father, so having this kind of backdoor convenience was only natural.

"Then, Uncle, you handle this place first. I'll go outside to take a look."

"Alright, no problem. I do need a bit of time to omit some unnecessary measures and accelerate the teleportation speed as much as possible. Additionally, do we need to set up a self-destruct mechanism after we use it?

Of course, that's assuming we can successfully leave."

"There's a Throne of Order above our heads, Uncle."

"You want to preserve this channel?" Eisen immediately understood Karen's intention.

"If this channel can only be passed through by me alone, then why not preserve it?"

"Alright, I understand."

Karen swept his gaze around the array room with a warning look, and those small insects that had originally clung to the walls immediately vanished.

Only then did Karen walk out of the array room, heading to the spot where he had previously "crawled" out.

A small puddle of sludge remained here, still wriggling and looking very glossy.

If things hadn't been obvious when he first woke up, then after feeding his uncle and going out to return once, Karen clearly noticed the changes here.

The viral strains and insects that were originally in a state of "hibernation" showed a clear trend of revival.

The concentration of divine pollution here should have decreased, but it was currently reconsolidating.

After all, the true source of divine corruption stemmed from the wrath of the purple-haired people; as long as that anger endured and faith continued to be instilled, the corruption here would persist, remaining entrenched and continuously spawning new mutations.

No wonder the God of Light had to sign a covenant regarding the Land of Divine Burial, why the God of Order had to have Ranyedal exile it after trampling it flat, and why gods tasked specifically with transporting and disposing of divine corpses had even appeared in the history of the previous era.

In truth, the pollution left behind after a deity's death was simply too difficult to manage, and the issues legacy of a god who suffered an unnatural death would undoubtedly be far more troublesome.

"If the corruption here is bound to coalesce again, then does it mean the red-necked boy is fated to be reborn after a period of time?"

The red-necked boy was the incarnation of the purple-haired people's wrath and brutality; he was not an isolated, independently existing life form.

Karen bit his lip, feeling that he ought to do something; if the problem of corruption was not truly brought under control after his arrival and subsequent departure, what would be the purpose of his journey down here?

When the time came and the red-necked boy reassembled, wouldn't he still be able to channel the corruption through the pathways of faith?

It was surely impossible to have the Church of Order completely slaughter all the purple-haired people of Wien just to evade this threat, right?

Though... Karen felt that if this problem were submitted to the higher-ups, the Church of Order might actually do exactly that.

For such was the conduct of the Church of Order, accustomed to erasing any external influence that should not exist in the coldest possible manner.

Karen extended his hand, facing the puddle of sludge below:

"Order... Awaken."

The chains manifested once more, but this time they were not gold, but white; according to his prior experience of "awakening" Loya, the white chains were effective in reassembling ideological forms—provided, of course, that there was a splintered consciousness available to gather, rather than fabricating one out of thin air.

Yet here, to say nothing of the puddle on the ground, it could be said that Mr. Luke was splashed everywhere, even across the walls.

The white chains sank into the sludge, beginning to exert their power.

At that moment, the muck on the ground began to drift and disperse, appearing as though it were being purified in mid-air, gradually coalescing into a spectral shadow that was none other than Mr. Luke.

Only, the Mr. Luke before his eyes seemed a bit too young, one might even say callow.

"Everyone, I have a dream, and that is... ah!"

Mr. Luke caught sight of Karen, and in his state as a "ghost," he let out a sharp cry.

For Karen, everything had been a trial of struggle and tribulation, but for Mr. Luke, his emotions had abruptly plummeted to this place from the moment he beheld the colossal statue.

"Mr. Karen... this..."

"I have awakened you," Karen explained. "I hope you can remain stationed here, Mr. Luke, to suppress and control the corruption within this place, preventing it from spilling out to cause harm."

"So, I must continue to exist?"

"Yes. I am sorry."

Karen knew that Mr. Luke had originally yearned for liberation.

"No, you needn't apologize." Mr. Luke looked down at himself. "I feel much better than I did before."

Promptly, Mr. Luke bent down and, from the scant remainder of the sludge, scooped up an infant; the baby possessed a red neck and purple hair, but he was very small now, cradled asleep in Mr. Luke's arms.

The moment Mr. Luke came into contact with the infant, darkness reappeared at his feet; evidently, the rot had manifested once more, beginning to corrode him.

The silver lining was that, at this intensity, Mr. Luke should be able to endure for a very long time.

Yet he could have chosen not to touch it at all, which would have allowed him to live within this cavern like an artifact spirit.