Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 229 Shadows in Memory
Suddenly, many turbulent currents appeared beneath the canal, and in some low-lying areas, rolling eddies formed, stirring up all the silt. Milo could hardly maintain his balance.

"It seems angry."

Eric's shadow quickly gestured in sign language.

Milo then stomped on a sinking rock at the bottom and quickly took a breath from the backwater.

Although the Scarlet Witch made his physical functions much stronger than ordinary people, Milo could still clearly feel weak after a long period of not having fresh oxygen.

To his astonishment, the feeling of weakness came on even faster than the feeling of suffocation...

……

The rain continued to pour down on the water.

When Milo plunged back into the water, he expected to be faced with a vast, ink-black world, but in fact, his vision began to brighten.

Strange points of light underwater were magnifying in Milo's field of vision.

For a moment, he couldn't tell where those light sources were coming from.

However, Milo is not worried:

—Well, thankfully my will is strong enough that I won't be controlled by the consciousness of the Ancients. What's that thing called again? Dream Guide, right? That's good; it's like having another life-saving ability. Wait, why does that person in front look so familiar…

One second I was feeling relieved that I wouldn't be affected by the dream.

The next second, Milo's eyes widened in shock, and then his heart sank to the bottom.

Because several figures that shouldn't have been there appeared in his field of vision.

……

"Why……"

Milo was stunned.

In his field of vision, the murky, rolling canal water was no longer there.

He couldn't even feel the stinging sensation in his eyes from the industrially polluted river water.

Before him lay a desolate and barren land, surrounded by dilapidated houses, with black rags hanging everywhere in the streets.

The air was thick with a stench and the villagers' feeble groans.

……

All of this happened so suddenly. Milo just went back to the surface to catch his breath, but it was as if he had plunged into another world in an instant.

As he continued to recognize things in the surrounding scene that were related to his memories, his gaze gradually shifted from confusion to sadness.

Because this was the first place Milo encountered when he came into this world.

An ancient village located in the eastern coastal region.

The village did not survive the great plague; most of the villagers died from the virus, and only a very small number, like Milo, escaped the terrifying infected area.

This place holds a memory that Milo least wants to recall.

Although it was brief and illusory, for a long time, every night when Milo closed his eyes, he saw his past in the village.

……

"This isn't right."

Milo frowned.

He walked through the broken village alleyways.

Beside the well at the village entrance stood a wooden stake with a black cloth bearing an arc-shaped triangular symbol representing plague nailed to it.

There wasn't a soul in sight around.

"Buzz...buzz...buzz..."

The melodious sound of bells drifted from the distant coast.

The sound was deeper and more resonant than any bell Milo had ever heard, as if it came from the depths of the ocean.

"So this is the day?"

Milo's face showed a look of sudden realization.

The tolling of the bells sent his thoughts into memories.

This was the day that small seaside village perished.

What truly destroyed the village was not the plague, but the ancient faith within it. Just like the religious sect of the villages in the Seven Valleys, that nameless little village also had its own ancient traditions.

They worship the inhabitants of the sea.

They firmly believed that the one who could save their souls was in the vast ocean, and that as long as they served devoutly, one day they would be able to join the ranks of the immortals and become a member of the sea.

This belief is like a beautiful wish, residing in the hearts of every simple and honest villager.

Until the outbreak of the plague.

"The land is filled with the scent of death; only the sea is the true home."

This was the sentence Milo heard most often during his last period in the village.

At that time, Milo had just left his familiar world. He had been washed ashore by the sea and was rescued by a fisherman in the village.

The villagers were amazed by Milo's ability to survive in the turbulent waters.

Another theory suggests that Milo was blessed by the sea creatures, and that the inhabitants of the sea brought him ashore.

Of course, Milo scoffed at this claim. He clearly remembered what he was doing when he left his original world, so it had nothing to do with the so-called sea dwellers. It was purely due to his incredible luck that he didn't drown in the saltwater.

However, the villagers did not think that way.

They believed that Milo's arrival was a sign and premonition from the gods.

Just like the family that took Milo in said—

"The seawater returned life to us; it was the gods showing us their mercy."

……

It's easy to imagine what attitude Milo, who had just left modern human society, would take towards this statement.

But despite their madness, the villagers were still very kind and simple. The family that took Milo in was also a family of three: an elderly father with his son and daughter...

They are very similar to the current Valrocan family.

……

Unlike others, Milo enjoyed unprecedentedly good treatment in the fisherman's family.

His appearance was like a wonderful coincidence, coinciding with a certain belief within the villagers' faith system.

Therefore, Milo had to face the villagers' "longing" and "yearning" gazes every day, almost as if they were worshipping him as a god.

At first, Milo just didn't understand, but faced with the abundant food and real clothes, the shameless man chose to accept it gladly.

The fisherman's family treated him very well, even to an excessive degree.

After a while, Milo felt unworthy of it, so he decided to help the fishermen with some work as well.

……

Just at this time.

A great plague has arrived.

Just as the villagers later said.

"Death permeates the land."

Rivers flowing from the northwest of the continent carry deadly viruses, causing more and more people to rot and stink.

The country simply had no time to attend to this remote little village.

In fact, there wasn't even a horse-drawn carriage in the village capable of traveling long distances to seek help in big cities.

In the end, everything returned to peace.

On this day, the bells rang by the sea.

……

However, the last remaining group of villagers did not die from the plague.

Their deaths were meaningless to Milo.

What Milo found even more unacceptable was that those people were willingly going to their deaths.

Even the fisherman's two children were like that.

(End of this chapter)