Vinnelag had lost contact.
First, rchant Anthony was unable to reach Mayor Matteus, and then he couldn't even enter Vinnelag at all. Soon, a ssage arrived from Midnicht: an hour ago, Vinnelag had been enveloped by seawater.
"How much longer do we have to sail?"
Lu Li, standing on the deck, asked Andrea, his gaze fixed on the endless sea.
Prusius brought a clock, and when his paw pointed counterclockwise, Andrea sounded her horn.
In twelve hours, in the dead of night, they would arrive in Vinnelag.
"Will we... still make it in ti?" Ophelia asked.
"I don't know."
In the ti that followed, Lu Li contacted Midnicht more frequently, asking for details about the Deep God's arrival.
The Deep God's intention hadn't been to destroy Midnicht.
Learning that Lu Li needed information, Dean Lawrence of the Academy of Giant Trees uncovered the hidden circumstances known only to Midnicht's inner circle: the Deep God wanted to seize the faith of Midnicht.
The Midnight Lady had led the city's deities, along with the willing leaders of the Old Sewer, to stop the Deep God outside Midnicht. They then thwarted the attempts of those who coveted the ancient being, drawn by its grave injuries.
Moreover, He brought other problems with Him. Anomalies from beyond the World's Spine mountains and the Wastelands flocked like mosquitoes drawn to the scent of blood, and the activity of anomalies around Midnicht increased significantly.
Perhaps the Deep God had not betrayed them; wounded for so unknown reason, He needed believers to restore His strength and heal. After Midnicht's refusal, Vinnelag beca His next target.
Vinnelag's situation was grim. They lacked the power to resist the Deep God, and Midnicht could not help in ti. Their only hope was that Vinnelag had its own hidden ace in this dark world, and that the grievously wounded Deep God would need ti to convert the city.
Lu Li returned to the captain's cabin to rest, preparing himself for the hardships ahead.
That night, Prusius woke the sleeping Lu Li to tell him that the anomalous fog had dissipated.
Stepping out of the captain's cabin onto the deck, they felt that the cold night wind was no longer shrouded in mist; a profound darkness stretched over the boundless sea.
They had already entered the zone enveloped by the Deep God's power.
"Less than two hours until the ti Andrea ntioned," Prusius added.
Shortly after they resud their voyage, a silhouette appeared on the sea in the distance, resembling a luminous jellyfish.
As they drew closer, it grew clearer and more massive until it ca into full view: a mysterious, glowing do of water that had risen from the sea to envelop the entire city.
The seawater churned within, obscuring any details of what lay inside, with only a faint, dim glow seeping out.
"Can we break through?"
They were already very close to the aqueous do.
Andrea answered Lu Li with a blast of her horn and, without slowing, charged toward the do of water, demonstrating her resolve.
After sealing the hatch to the lower deck, they retreated to the captain's cabin, stowing and checking everything that could be secured or was already tied down. Then, Lu Li used ropes to lash himself, Prusius, and Ophelia to a post, bracing for the violent impact to co.
The aqueous do outside the cabin window gradually filled their entire view, growing ever clearer until they could almost make out the glowing, swirling seawater within.
With a violent shudder, Andrea plunged into the do of water. Darkness replaced the glow, enveloping the cabin, while bursting bubbles and marine debris flashed past the glass.
Seawater burst through the weakest door in the cabin, bringing with it a chilling cold and a frightening, oppressive sense of confinent.
A few seconds later, light suddenly appeared outside the window as Andrea broke free of the aqueous do—
And then plumted from a height of several dozen ters.
Under the combined effects of weightlessness and imnse pressure, the ship's hull emitted a distorted, muffled groan as it slamd into the seabed.
Giant waves surged outward before the Vinnelag bay gradually cald.
Suddenly, a large ship erged from the waves, bobbing on the surface. Shaking water from its deck, it surged toward the port.
Lu Li untied the ropes, stepped onto the newly steady floor, untied Prusius, and walked past a waiting Ophelia to look at Vinnelag in the distance.
The do of water enveloping the city shimred like an underwater tropolis. Lights... and fires... burned within. There was so turmoil, but it didn't seem severe yet.
"Lu Li..."
Ophelia, having burned through her ropes, gestured for Lu Li to look at her wrist.
The Sanity Counter was crackling. Contamination was everywhere inside the do.
Twenty-four hours.
Lu Li recalled the analysis he had received a few hours ago, signed by the Academy of Giant Trees.
It described a study on the alteration of faith conducted by a scholar many years ago. The Academy of Giant Trees had substituted and modified it, reaching a final conclusion: the Deep God required twenty-four hours to change a population's faith.
Thus, Lu Li and his companions had twenty-four hours before they succumbed to the Deep God's will. If they wanted to save the people of Vinnelag, however, they had only twelve hours left.
Silent and cold, Andrea entered the calm and gloomy port.
The warships and soldiers were gone. There was no wreckage on the sea. It was unknown if they had perished in the battle against the Deep God, or—
Bright searchlights suddenly flared to life on the water, decisively refuting Lu Li's guess. Two warships approached Andrea and their position at the port, dozens of cannons aid directly at them.
"We've been waiting for you, fallen exorcist."
Guards from the Inquisition, carrying torches, erged from the work huts.
Clearly, their arrival was anything but friendly.
"Don't make any sudden moves, or it will be the end of Mr. Lu Li beside you," the guard captain, a man with a goatee, warned Ophelia, gesturing toward the cannons aid at them.
"I ca to resolve Vinnelag's crisis," Lu Li said calmly, looking at the unfamiliar Inquisition captain.
"Here in our hour of need... I don't think so. And you know this evil god, don't you?" With an unpleasant sort of pity and a sigh, he motioned for his subordinates to approach Lu Li.
"Pride and prejudice," Lu Li said simply.
Calling an ancient being an evil god was born of pride; believing Lu Li had fallen was born of prejudice.
Under the guns of the warships, Lu Li offered no resistance, allowing the Inquisition Guards to take Prusius, Ophelia, and even rchant Anthony into custody.
Andrea, by contrast, received better treatnt—the inquisitors were reluctant to set foot on an anomaly, so she was rely guarded by the two warships.
Allowing the subordinates to roughly bind his wrists, Lu Li looked at the captain:
"Will Bishop Ussa co to see ?"
"The bishop did indeed have that intention, but not now," replied the captain, who had kept his distance from Lu Li from the very beginning.
"After we deal with the evil god's invasion..."
"Do you have a way to get rid of Him?" Lu Li retorted.
A faint, mocking expression appeared on the captain's face:
"You have no right to know."
"But that's the ancient Deep God! Without Mr. Lu Li, there's no way you can handle Him!"
Prusius, bound like a lamb, shouted with all his might.
The captain showed his disgust, refusing to speak with Prusius.
"In my outer pocket is an analysis from Midnicht's Academy of Giant Trees. The Deep God's conversion will take twenty-four hours. There are now twelve hours left," Lu Li said, looking at the still-confident captain.
"Midnicht, too? Not surprising."
Prejudice had already warped the captain's mind. He stubbornly believed that Lu Li had fallen into the abyss and waved his hand at his subordinates.
"Take them to the dungeon."
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