Hathaway muttered to herself, not bothering to discuss the next steps with Jenkins. He couldn't begin to guess what the young won around him were plotting, just as he could never fathom exactly how much Chocolate could eat.
After their al, Jenkins took a carriage to see Hathaway ho. He then made another tour of the city, and when there was still no sign of the Doomsday Illusion appearing, he headed for the professor’s residence. It was Saturday, so the professor wouldn't be at the university; Jenkins knew he would find him at ho.
The professor was delighted to see Jenkins at his door and promptly welcod him inside, asking what flavor of tea he preferred.
"Jenkins, have you heard about what happened yesterday?"
The mont they were seated, the professor asked eagerly.
"The heavy rain and the earthquake yesterday? I heard my coachman ntion it. Apparently, many houses collapsed in the slums of the lower districts. Quite a few people also claid they saw a giant running through the city, but the newspapers have already debunked that. They're calling it a mass hallucination brought on by the stress of the storm and quake."
"A giant in the city? I hadn't heard that one. It must have been so sort of hallucination. But that wasn't an earthquake—it was a Titan! A Titan from ancient mythology!
You'll never believe it—an ancient Titan appeared! And right beneath the abandoned hospital where the Corpse Gentleman was! It all makes sense now. The so-called 'Corpse Gentleman' was just a body controlled by an ancient Titan through so prival ritual! The Corpse Gentleman who t with us every month was actually the Titan itself!"
The professor was practically screaming by the end, his voice filled not with fear, but with sheer excitent.
"It's a good thing you heard those rumors about the hospital from your friend. We were able to pull out early; otherwise, who knows what might have happened. If you get the chance, you should go see the hospital on the outskirts—after you return, of course.
The Titan and the White Bone Giant have now both turned to stone, standing together amidst the hospital's ruins. Oliver and I went to see it last night. You can't imagine how breathtaking the sight was."
The professor grew more and more animated as he spoke, his face flushing crimson:
"Titans are real! The archaeological value of ancient myths might be far greater than we ever imagined. The Church is clearing out the abandoned gem mine beneath the hospital right now. If things go well, the materials recovered from this excavation will completely change our understanding of history."
Jenkins opened his mouth, then hesitated for a mont before asking:
"That's certainly... impressive. But is that really the most important part?"
"Is it not the most important part?"
the professor retorted.
"Shouldn't the main focus be on the Titan's purpose and origin?"
Jenkins countered quietly.
"The Titan has already been defeated by the Believers of Lies. Professionals will investigate its purpose and origin—what does that have to do with us? The Titan's greatest value remains in how it bridges the gap between myth and history. Oh, Jenkins, do you realize what a montous opportunity this is? The textbooks of the next generation might dedicate entire chapters to this day... I an, to yesterday,"
the professor declared, thrilled.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but I think even if there are major archaeological discoveries, the chances of them being approved for textbooks are... slim."
Professor Burns was surprisingly unshaken by the Titan's appearance in Nolan; in fact, he was ecstatic. But Jenkins knew that when the professor had been at the church with Papa Oliver yesterday, he had already gotten the full story, so he understood the causes and consequences of the event.
"The Church reported traces of a Series B event at the abandoned hospital, which is likely what forced the Titan to the surface. They can't determine the exact nature of the event yet. The Titan has a strong aura of a Cursed Item about it; the Church suspects it assimilated sothing terrible while it slumbered underground.
Furthermore, in the morgue we'd inspected before, we found dozens of Series B Extraordinary items, including the [Elents' Blood]. That room was also the entrance to the underground mine. In the cellar behind the main building, they discovered nurous monsters stitched together from corpses, and so of those bodies match Nolan's missing persons cases from the past decade. While clearing the surface debris, they found the body of a suspected mber of the Perfu Appreciation Committee. And under a collapsed building, they even found a trapped ghoul... So what in the world happened at that hospital yesterday morning?"
the professor explained.
"Do they know why they were there?"
"After the Church of Death and End perford a séance on the corpse, they learned the man was indeed a mber of the Committee, but not a follower of the [Spiraling Mist]. This further proves the tobacco incident had nothing to do with that pseudo-god; it was likely orchestrated by non-believers within the organization. The Committee's local mbers in Nolan, through an introduction from an administrative manager at their Turin headquarters, made a deal with the Corpse Gentleman. He would teach them how to create the hospital's white mist, and in return, they were to send people to the hospital yesterday to await orders and eliminate any strange intruders;
As for the ghoul, it refused to talk no matter how they interrogated it, so the Gravediggers had to use so... special thods. They learned that the ghouls had also made a deal with the Corpse Gentleman. He would give them the precise location of a treasure, and they, in turn, were required to dispatch their own people to the hospital yesterday to await orders and either kill or capture so strange intruders."
The professor paused for a mont before continuing his explanation:
"The ghoul didn't describe the intruders' appearance; it seems to have completely forgotten that part. The Church believes this mory loss is connected to the Series B event that triggered the Titan's appearance, so the investigation is ongoing."
This lined up with Jenkins's own information. The treasure the ghouls were seeking was likely what Mr. White Cat had ntioned was beneath the bank construction site. This was a valuable clue. It ant the ghouls knew the general area of the so-called treasure but couldn't pinpoint its exact location. That would make tomorrow's ambush a little easier.
Beyond all that, based on the remnants of that psionic device, the Church confird that the ancient Titan was controlling far more than a hundred people. Although the Titan's demise would likely leave them imbeciles or madn due to the backlash on their minds, it didn't an this group was without value.
Aside from the value of studying the psionic device itself, the identities, social standing, and even the ho cities of these controlled individuals could help the Church uncover the Titan's true objective. At least, until they could identify the Series B event that took place in the hospital ruins, this was their only lead.
Furthermore, according to Miss Audrey's on-site investigation, divination and prophecy would be completely impossible in that area of the hospital for at least the next ten years.
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