Deep Sea Embers

The sound of machines running reverberated in the factory facilities, roaring water flowed from giant pipes, and the pungent chemical smell permeated the air, which was disgusting to smell.

Agatha stood by the protective railing, poked her head and glanced at the buffer pool below, and saw the filthy liquid tumbling and surging in the huge cistern, with bubbles and strange-colored floodlights emerging from time to time, she just Nauseous as the stomach acid of a monster.

An administrator wearing a light brown coat with thinning hair stood behind the young gatekeeper, with a tense expression on his face, subconsciously tugging on the button on his chest with one hand.

"The drainage from the north area of ​​Oak Street and Cemetery No. 4 has converged here," the manager carefully reported while paying attention to the gatekeeper's expression, "After receiving the order, we have cut off the surrounding water immediately. plumbing, and every buffer pool alarm has been checked and found no signs of desecration..."

Agatha listened silently, and asked suddenly after a while: "How do you usually deal with sewage?"

"How to deal with it?" The management staff was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied, "First of all, use high-pressure steam to purify the profane pollution that may exist in it-you know, the sewage has been in contact with humans and flows in dark pipes, it is inevitable It will be a carrier for something. After steam purification is sedimentation and filtration, what you see is the sedimentation tank. Then there is a second steam purification. After this purification, part of the water will be sent to the factory for recycling, and the other part... …discharged into the sea.”

Agatha nodded lightly, and then asked, "How long will it take for the sewage discharged from the northern part of Oak Street to flow here?"

"It depends on the specific situation, but generally no more than two hours." The manager replied.

"How long does the sewage stay here?"

"The water in the sedimentation tank is changed every seventy-two hours," the administrator raised his hand, and became more and more nervous under the gatekeeper's questions. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, but still answered accurately, "Purification and The inspection process has strict regulations and will not be shorter than this time."

Agatha nodded slightly, and at the same time quickly calculated in her mind the time of the "fake incident" in that private house and the time relationship of sewage treatment, and said thoughtfully: "That is to say, if that thing can really Escaping through the drainage system, it should still be here now..."

"Your Excellency the Gatekeeper," the manager wiped Jingjing's forehead again, and finally couldn't help but ask curiously, "What the hell... happened? Is there pollution spreading through the sewage system?"

"...This situation cannot be ruled out," Agatha glanced at the manager, and then looked at the guards in black who were collecting samples and testing the facility not far away, "but according to the situation we have tested so far , everything is normal here."

"Yes," the management staff showed a reluctant smile, "every link here has an alarm device, which is specially designed to detect possible profane pollution. There are also three resident priests in the processing center, and they will also test water samples every day... ..."

"Resident priest?" Agatha seemed to suddenly think of something, and turned her head, "How many resident priests did you say just now?"

"Three... three," perhaps Agatha's tone suddenly became a little scary, and the manager stuttered subconsciously, "Is there any problem?"

"You can only have two priests here - there are strict regulations on the number of resident priests in municipal facilities at all levels. Where does the third one come from?"

The manager's expression froze for a moment, and then a layer of sweat visible to the naked eye appeared on his forehead, and nervousness and fear appeared in his eyes.

Seeing this, Agatha immediately raised her cane and put it on the opponent's shoulder, forcibly suppressing "fear" from his mind, and at the same time said with a serious expression: "Listen, you must remain calm next—go and put all the resident The pastor brought them all, and said that the gatekeeper needs to know more about the situation, and don’t show any other emotions, understand?”

The administrator's mood quickly calmed down quite a bit, but there was still a little nervousness left. He nodded hurriedly: "Yes, Ming...Understood...I'll go right away."

Agatha nodded and put away her cane, but when the other party was about to leave, she thought of something and said quickly: "Wait, not only the resident priest—call everyone here."

The manager turned back and was taken aback: "Everyone?"

"Everyone," Agatha repeated in a deep voice, and then asked worriedly, "Since yesterday, has anyone left this processing center?"

"No!" The manager immediately replied, "When the order was received, it happened to be fifteen minutes before the shift change, and all the people working here stayed."

"Very well, bring them all - just say it's a necessary inspection, relax your attitude, don't arouse suspicion, go."

The somewhat bald management staff turned around and walked away quickly, calming down while walking. Agatha stood motionless by the buffer pool until she watched the other party's figure disappear behind a door not far away, She just raised her hand to signal to the guards around who had noticed the movement here.

The nearby guards in black immediately started to act, arranging concealed runes in the open space around the buffer pool, sprinkled essential oils and crushed incense powder at intersections and pipes, and stood in specific positions to make a still Checking the appearance of the facility.

Agatha raised her cane while the guards were in action, and slowly drew a triangle outline with a side length of about two meters around the area where she was standing. Then she stood in the center of the triangle, leaning on her cane with both hands, and waited calmly. with.

Not long after, footsteps came from the direction of the gate, and the manager returned to the factory building where the buffer tank was located, with a large group of people following behind him.

Among them, three clergymen wearing the robes of the Church of Death and the holy emblem can be seen impressively.

A dozen processing center employees came to Agatha under the leadership of the manager, lined up in a loose line, and nervously greeted the "gatekeeper" in front of them, while the three resident priests came from the side of the line. Come and salute Agatha according to the internal etiquette and identity of the clergy of the Church of Death.

Agatha ordered the three priests to stand apart, and then slowly glanced over all the faces.

She sensed a sense of incongruity.

Although she didn't see any suspicious expressions or actions with her eyes, and even though she didn't feel anything wrong with her senses, Bartok's blessing had already made her confirm the existence of a sense of disobedience—it was hidden in the breathing of these people hidden in their heartbeats, hidden even in the shadows they cast on the ground.

Agatha blinked her eyes, reconfirming that everything she saw was normal, so she understood clearly.

Sure enough, there was cognitive interference—and even in the presence of the "gatekeeper" himself, this cognitive interference still existed.

Is it simply because he is very courageous? Or is it because of ignorance of the power of the gatekeeper? Or... this cognitive disturbance is not controlled?

Agatha turned her head slowly, and her eyes fell on the three priests.

Leaving aside a dozen staff members, one of the three pastors must be a fake—but which one?

"Recite Bartok's name," Agatha said slowly, "let the Lord of Death watch us, and let us discern falsehood in this world."

"In the name of Bartok, Lord of Death," a priest said immediately, "may he watch us..."

Immediately afterwards, the second and third priests also spoke immediately: "In the name of Bartok, the master of death..."

Three voices sounded one after another, like echoes.

Agatha frowned.

Being able to recite the name of God shows that none of them are "fakes" made of mud, let alone heretics, otherwise the violent conflict of beliefs will be enough to tear their sanity.

But how is this possible? Are all three priests true?

Agatha's thoughts flowed in an instant, but her expression remained calm. She nodded to the three of them: "Next, I need to do some necessary tests, please understand."

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand towards her left eye—a live eyeball immediately jumped out of the eye socket and landed precisely in her hand.

Agatha held up her eyeball and "looked" at the three priests opposite.

The figure of the first priest caught her eyes—a skinny old man wearing a linen robe, with a black chain extending from under his ribs, and the dark hound at the end of the chain was raising its head towards this side, The filthy energy of profanity in its mouth is rapidly gathering and forming!

heresy!

How dare you stand here majestically!

Agatha's complexion changed slightly, but she had already prepared for it. The moment the deep hound opened its huge mouth, her figure moved aside. At the same time, the cane in her right hand was raised, and there was a pale flame on the end of the cane. Burning.

However, just as she was about to ignite the heresy, another low and obscure sound of chanting a spell suddenly came from the side.

The eyeball in Agatha's left hand turned suddenly, and in the next second, she saw a young man with withered yellow hair and a high nose raised his hands towards her, and behind him was floating a gray bird that seemed to be condensed from mist. Black floating jellyfish.

That's the second "priest".

Feeling dizzy, Agatha was about to stabilize her body when she heard the third spell chanting.

A pale woman raised her hand to this side at the edge of the field of vision. Beside the woman was a cat made of bones and mist.

That's the third priest.

All pastors are fake.

Roaring and fighting sounds came from all directions.

At the moment when the three Annihilation Cultists went into trouble, the surrounding guards reacted and tried to support them, but they also encountered their own enemies.

The dozen or so "staff" brought by the managers had a fierce fight with the nearby black-clothed guards.

Out of the corner of Agatha's eye, she could see sticky filth like mud cracked on the surface of the "staff" after being hit.

Only the manager with thinning hair ran to a nearby pipe, screaming helplessly and terrified.

The entire sewage treatment center... there is only one "human being".