CHAPTER 983: CHAPTER 176: THE NEW CONVERTS

Zadok Allen once believed in the Father God and Mother God more devoutly than anyone, yet they never cast their gaze upon him.

Because of the Deep Diver bloodline, he could remain as a "human" in Insmouth Town, unaffected by contamination. Yet because of that bloodline, he was out of place in the town.

The untransformed townsfolk looked down on him, and the Deep Divers considered him a pitiful fellow.

"Boy, what do you plan to do... hic... become a Deep Diver, obtain eternal life?"

Zadok Allen’s drool, mixed with the liquor, lay across his whiskers, exuding an indescribable putrid smell.

He didn’t have many years left in him.

"I once passed through Insmouth Town by train, and many townspeople surrounded me at the station, do you remember?" Lu Li didn’t continue Zadok Allen’s inquiry.

And regarding the Deep Divers, perhaps Lu Li already encountered them, or even Daqi or the Lord of the Deep...

On Friday or in a final trial of unknown entities, Lu Li saw humanoid creatures resembling fish or frogs on the coast, and beneath the sea, there were those called the Old Ones, slumbering in the deep.

The train passed through Insmouth, and the townsfolk gathering around resulted in this: Lu Li had a faint aura of their master.

"Old Era? Train station? I don’t remember, perhaps at that time you... hic, had something that attracted them."

Mentioning them, Zadok Allen raised a shaky finger towards the sea, with more hatred than closeness.

"Hic... what did you ask me earlier? That woman called Wala Wula."

Zadok Allen drooped his eyelids, the spirit was gradually rushing to his head.

"Katerina, she was taken by the Deep Divers a few days ago at Vena Ice-Free Port."

"Vena Ice-Free Port? Hic... Does their cult exist there as well?"

"No, she was taken after being contaminated."

"Today is the 31st of October... I understand."

Zadok Allen once again pointed to the sea, to a harbor Lu Li couldn’t bring himself to gaze upon: "Today hic... they will conduct their Revival Festival tonight, summoning their Father God and Mother God, and let your Katerina become a Deep Diver."

Lu Li wasn’t too late.

But only a few hours remained, not much time to prepare.

"Not her!"

Seated on a stone wall, swinging her legs, Anna retorted.

"Do you really not want to become them? It’s not a bad thing, you’d no longer be weak, unafraid of contamination, possess power, and almost live forever..."

Zadok Allen slipped into a strange drunken dream-like state, seemingly about to nod off at any moment.

"In the port square?" Lu Li asked.

"Right there..."

After asking some more information, including issues about contamination, Zadok Allen’s responses gradually became meaningless mumblings of a dream.

"If you don’t want to become them, leave here. Insmouth doesn’t welcome outsiders... unless they’re no longer outsiders."

Gathering his spirit to leave the final words, he leaned against a broken wall and dozed off.

Lu Li observed the surroundings briefly, confirming no townsfolk were nearby, leaving Zadok Allen, who was drunk and grinding his teeth, and bypassed the stone wall towards the town.

Those born of mixed blood and contaminated will transform into deep-sea creatures, Deep Divers.

The Deep Diver tribe worships their Father God and Mother God, Daqi and Mother Hydra.

Daqi and Mother Hydra were the Old Ones who once slumbered in the seabed, followers of the Lord of the Deep.

Optimistically, they might not have to face the Lord of the Deep, possibly not needing to confront Daqi and Mother Hydra, as well as their other follower servants, only dealing with the local cult and Deep Divers in Insmouth Town.

Yet when the fog dissipates, the endless mountain range looming ahead can indeed fill travelers with despair.

Returning to the town, the omnipresent sense of being watched surged again. Ignoring Anna and the townsfolk, Lu Li retraced his path, heading south toward the southern ruins.

But he couldn’t return to where Ophelia awaited.

A few townsfolk followed him openly. Lu Li spent some time trying to shake them off, but to no avail. Even when not seeing townsfolk in his vision, that gaze of watching lingered—Lu Li had aroused suspicion.

Under the eerie yet dull stare of the townsfolk, Lu Li returned to the town.

"Our Great Exorcist can’t help us either?"

Anna, following behind, asked.

Lu Li sat on a bench outside the inn, ignoring the townsfolk not far away who watched and whispered, gazing at the sea. As he caught the bay harbor in his peripheral vision, he withdrew his gaze, stood up, and entered the inn.

"Looks like you’ve got the answers you sought."

The elderly man, noticing the missing bottle of liquor, chuckled softly.

Unlike Zadok Allen, the elder was a human without the Deep Diver bloodline.

The simple reason he’s lived safely in the town for decades: he was cowardly enough and long enough, long enough to even converse with the Deep Divers. Though he never actively engaged with them.

After Lu Li requested gloves and a scarf, the elder found it strange.

"Why? Those things will only make you stand out and appear suspicious."

The elder asked, puzzled.

As someone who lived in the town for decades, his opinion should be valued, but Lu Li still acquired these two items and returned upstairs.

"For Katerina, you pay such a high price, yet you say you don’t like her?" Anna chuckled lightly, sitting on the bed. "Or are you... wanting your story to end here?"

Bang.

Closing the door, Lu Li took off his hat and placed it on the table, along with the scarf and gloves.

Strands of black hair drifted down.

"You should try to believe Ophelia’s words, believe I am real."

Lu Li didn’t answer, adjusting the spyglass.

"You’re more concerned about human identity than anyone because of Anna. Now you wish to discard this identity? When she sees the new you... will she accept it?"

His hand paused momentarily, continuing to extend the spyglass to its full length, placing it on the table.

"Once I find Katerina, I’ll revert," he replied.

"Maybe you won’t."

Anna gently tilted her head: "Then Anna, unrecognizing you, considers you a monster and kills you... interesting."

Lu Li shook his head, saying nothing.

"You don’t think so? Yet the real Anna personally, pierced your heart, killed you." Anna curved her eyes, speaking cruel words like a lover.

"Do me a favor."

Lu Li no longer remained engrossed in the illusory conversation, picking up the spyglass and walking to the window.

"During the contamination process, I might lose consciousness. I need you to wake me every five seconds."

"You’re actually asking a hallucination to help you?" Anna stopped her swinging legs.

"You saved me twice."

"That’s just to stop you from being taken away by something other than me," Anna’s clear eyes gazed at Lu Li.

"Then it works perfectly."

Lu Li closed his left eye, steadily raising the spyglass to his right eye.

"When my consciousness sinks into the abyss, pull me back to your side."