Night Journey

Chapter 98 Couple's Room
With a gloomy face, Decal walked through the damp, moldy corridor to the end of the platform, from which he could overlook the entire vertical farm.

The originally suspended planting platform collapsed into ruins along with the dome module. The crisscrossing steel beams and broken iron sheets were piled up together, and a large amount of river water poured in, soaking the severed limbs.

"It can be preliminarily determined that this is a safe house of the Claws, where they cultivate evil offspring and also nurture Chaos bacteria for advancement and other rituals."

A woman walked over from the side, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and with her hair in a high ponytail.

"Unfortunately, we did not find any survivors... Perhaps a few survivors did survive, but they fled the area before we arrived."

De Karl's breathing grew heavier, and his hands, hidden in his pockets, clenched into fists silently.

"Hannah, what's the situation outside?"

Hannah hesitated for a moment, but still reported the truth: "It's terrible. A large number of corpses have been discharged into the Flower River through the pipeline system and have accumulated on the riverbank."

We have joined forces with other departments to cordon off the scene, handle the bodies, and purify any possible chaotic forces, but…”

Dekar's voice turned stern. "But what?"

“The Flower River… it’s too long,” Hannah said, trying to sound calm. “We can’t block off the entire river in time, and many citizens have already witnessed what happened…”

“That’s not what I meant,” Decal interrupted Hannah. “What’s the public’s reaction?”

"Very complicated."

Hannah organized her thoughts, “The people were initially panicked, but as a rumor emerged, they gradually calmed down and even became somewhat… fanatical?”

De Karl let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and knew without a doubt why the people were so fanatical.

"go on."

"Okay... okay."

Hannah swallowed hard, then continued, "After a brief investigation, we found an elderly man named Negan. He calmed the panicked crowd, and then..."

He then claimed that this was a message of the return of the Reverse Falcon, and that the city of Hull would be purified.

The atmosphere fell into a deathly silence, with only the continuous sound of rushing water remaining.

Hannah did not live through the era when the Reverse Falcon was active, but she knew clearly that Decal's father had been hanged by a Reverse Falcon.

Compared to his predecessors, Decal's focus was clearly not on the City Guard itself, but on vying for power in the City Council.

Many people are discussing this, saying that it was Decal's excessive pursuit of power that made him forget his original responsibilities, which caused the Chaos threat to intensify in the city of Hull.

Hannah didn't know what this ambitious director would do next—whether he would eradicate the chaotic threat buried deep within Hel City, or act for his own selfish purposes…

"Who?"

Decal suddenly opened his eyes and looked into the darkness behind him.

Hannah's thoughts were interrupted, and she became tense.

Although the city guards have sealed off the area, they have not yet conducted an in-depth investigation, and no one knows whether there are other forces lurking here.

The visitor did not answer, but kept walking forward until his figure emerged from the darkness.

Upon seeing who it was, Hannah paused, wondering why he was there, but she still instinctively saluted.

"Chief Rolf...!"

Rolf ignored Hannah and didn't even look at Decal. He went to the edge of the platform and began to observe the mess.

"What are you doing here? This is the City Guard Bureau..."

Decal was interrupted by Rolf, who spoke with an air of authority that was not angry.

"Shut up. At a time like this, are you still thinking about ridiculous power struggles?"

Rolf surveyed his surroundings with a serious expression. As the chief technology officer of Hel City and a figure who had led several transformations in the city, he immediately recognized the origin of the vertical farm.

“We’ve looked through the files. This place should have always been under supervision, but during a power transition a few years ago, someone deliberately hid it. It just disappeared from our sight and has been operating under the control of the Claw ever since.”

Rolf questioned, "The City Guard has been investigating the Claws for so long, what exactly do they know?"

De Karl knew he had to say something today, for whatever reason.

"The Claw of Evil serves the Mother of Evil."

Dekar slowly began, “At the same time, they are suspected of being funded by forces outside of Hel City. After a preliminary investigation, it can be confirmed that the force is the Spore Sanctuary.”

Upon hearing this name, Rolf's expression grew even more serious.

To Hel City, the Claws were a mysterious and terrifying chaotic group, but in the grand scheme of the Outer Flame Frontier, and even the entire civilized world, they were nothing but a bunch of insignificant scum.

The sac sanctuary is different.

In the era when the Mother of Fungi was still known as the Giant God, countless believers on the path of destiny gathered together and united to form an extraordinary force called the Spore Sanctuary, which became the Giant God's sword.

As the Mother of Fungi degenerated into evil, the Sanctuary of Sporangia also succumbed to the chaotic black tide, becoming one of the great enemies of the civilized world.

To this day, the Spore Sanctuary remains active on the fringes of the civilized world, joining other Chaos forces in launching one assault after another against the Iron Wall in the far north.

Rolf remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "This is no longer a threat that Hel City can handle on its own. We must..."

"We must request aid from the Holy City of the Day and allow those torchbearers to occupy Hel City again, until my homeland becomes their servant, sacrificed as a bridgehead against Chaos?"

Dekar's voice grew louder and louder until he almost shouted it out.

"Damn it, Rolf, even now you're still stubbornly clinging to your own ideas, trying to drag Hel City into this quagmire?"

Rolf calmly retorted, "No, Dekar, it is you who are stubborn, and it is you who have dragged the city of Hel into the mire."

He stepped forward and looked into Decal's eyes.

“If our enemies are not only the Claws, but also the Spore Sanctuary behind them, then please tell me, with the current strength of Hel City, what should we do?”

"I...we..."

De Karl wanted to say something, but swallowed his words. He was no longer a young man and had long understood that many things couldn't be solved with passion and ideals alone.

Silence descended once more, this time even more oppressive and heavy, making it hard to breathe.

Hannah looked at the two men facing off and complained about why she was there and why she had to hear their shouts. Just thinking about the terrifying possibility made her uneasy.

Let's each take a step back.

Dekar broke the silence first, "Give me some time, I'll resolve the Claw problem. If I can't, then I'll consider your suggestions..."

He didn't have the strength to continue speaking.

Rolf sighed helplessly, for he came from the Foundry Court, not from the native city of Hel, and he could never understand some of Decal's ideas.

"So, who did all this?"

Rolf looked down at the ruins of corpses below, his heart filled with bewilderment.

De Karl took a few steps forward and stood beside him.

"When you came, didn't you hear the rumors in the city? They all say that it was done by the Reverse Falcon."

Rolf said emotionlessly, "This wasn't done by the Reverse Falcon."

Upon hearing such a definite answer, De Karl seemed thoughtful and asked in return.

"Is Reverse Falcon dead?"

“I don’t know.” Rolf shook his head and added, “I only know that he will never come back.”

Decal pointed upwards at the badly damaged iron wall.

"Really? Then take a look at this."

Rolf's gaze remained fixed on the ruins below, and he never looked up.

Only then did he notice the enormous pattern formed by countless sword and blade marks on the iron wall.

Six narrow, sharp eyes.

It was as if some terrifying thing was silently watching everyone.

……

"This is the couple's room you prepared for me?"

Cillian looked around. The room wasn't very big, only slightly larger than the interrogation room. There were two iron chairs in the center, and Tania was sitting on one of them.

Tania has now regained consciousness. The thin nails are embedded in her joints, locking her in place, and specks of blood seep from her straitjacket.

On either side of her stood two IV stands, covered with IV bags filled with different colored liquids, prepared by Cillian and Bruce.

"Are you not satisfied?"

Dalin completely ignored Tania's presence and introduced her to Cillian like a real estate agent.

“This place is located at the core of the Lighthouse, and not far up is the Lighthouse Array… Now you know how difficult it was for me to find a place like this?”

Dalin tapped on the wall and reminded him, "When the Torch Array is running, this place will be filled with Soul Essence Power, which can greatly prevent the release of Chaos Power and exert a strong suppressive force on it."

For example, right now.

The air inside was unbearably hot and dry. Cillian only felt warm, while Tania found it extremely difficult to endure.

The dense soul essence power almost seemed to seep out of the air. Just sitting there, she felt as if her body was being scorched by raging fire. No matter how much she pleaded and called out, the chaotic power within her body did not respond.

"This is the maintenance area. Normally, no one comes here. And even if someone does come, I've temporarily soundproofed the area, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

Cillian walked around, stopping occasionally, and asked curiously, "What was this place originally intended for?"

"Safe house."

Dai Lin made no attempt to hide anything, saying, "As you know, the enemy we're investigating is very dangerous. If something happens, we'll need a place to hide, and this place is pretty good."

He paused, then cautioned, "Don't go too far, Cillian. I might need this place again later."

"Don't worry, I'll handle the aftermath."

Dalin didn't believe Cillian's nonsense and continued.

"Then I'll leave this place to you. See you in a bit."

"it is good."

The heavy door closed, and from then on, only Cillian and Tania remained in the room.

At that moment, Cillian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sigh, he's finally gone."

Cillian turned around and walked toward Tania with a smile.

"I often say, don't care about other people's opinions, just be yourself."

But as she gradually became familiar with others, even becoming friends, she unconsciously started to care about their opinions, thus binding herself back down.

Cillian unfolded the instrument bag on the table, which was filled with all sorts of strange metal tools.

"Now that it's just the two of us, I feel much more relaxed..."

He breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed.

"And you, Tania?"

(End of this chapter)