Chapter 345: The Vanished Soul

The Mind Link instantly fell silent. Everyone was stunned by what Scepter had just said.

The Life Mother Church was devouring souls? That indeed far exceeded their imagination.

Writer: 『A-Are you serious? Is the Life Mother Church really devouring their souls?』

Zoe's voice trembled slightly. She truly couldn’t believe it.

She still remembered that scene—Mira gently closed Tommy’s wide-open eyes in her arms, like a mother, kind and gentle.

Could it be that was actually feeding on his soul!?

Scepter: 『Yes. In the Life Mother Church strongholds destroyed by the Church of Candlelight, a significant number of believers’ souls had vanished. And they didn’t fade away peacefully—they were forcibly devoured.』

Fries: 『But... why would they do such a thing? Isn’t the doctrine of the Life Mother Church about saving lives?』

Scepter: 『I don’t know the exact reason either. But one thing is common—cults often “use twisted methods to achieve their desires.”』

Fries: 『Twisted methods? Could you explain more specifically?』

Scepter: 『Writer should know best about that. She just mentioned some horrifying things the Life Mother Church did—she must’ve seen their methods firsthand?』

Writer: 『...Yes. They stitched people’s bodies together... but... it was indeed to save them.』

Scepter: 『The flesh is the foundation of the soul. When the body is stitched together, the soul gets distorted accordingly. To put it simply, once the body turns into a monster, the soul will gradually fall into depravity.』

Scepter: 『This is also why Extraordinary individuals lose control so easily. As they gradually lose their human flesh, they become more dependent on anchors to stabilize cognition.』

Scepter: 『This is an iron law.』

Kenn frowned. He vaguely felt something was off—fragments of memories stirred in his mind. He tried to grasp them but always came up short. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall them.

Fries: 『No exceptions?』

Scepter: 『None.』

Zoe seemed a bit dazed, momentarily lost in confusion. Was the Life Mother Church’s way right or wrong?

If she had to choose, she would certainly think their method was extreme.

But then she thought of Tommy, that emaciated boy.

Perhaps he was a monster, but the one who made him a monster—was it the Life Mother Church, or this world itself?

Zoe could no longer tell.

Scepter: 『I don’t know much more, either. I’ll go dig into some documents later. The Life Mother Church is quite a massive cult—there should be a lot of records. Maybe something will mention why they devour their followers’ souls... though that’ll have to wait for the next Mind Link. No idea when that will be.』

Alright, I’ll arrange the next link for you immediately.

Upon hearing this, Hughes immediately made a decision.

This Mind Link was truly useful. Beatrice was basically a walking Doraemon, casually pulling out all sorts of supernatural knowledge.

Speaking of which, hadn’t she just recently ascended as an Extraordinary? Where did she get so much knowledge from?

Perhaps it came from her family’s accumulation—after all, she was a high-ranking noble of the Empire. Hughes didn’t dwell on it.

The current focus was still Blood Harbor. Maybe it was worth attempting contact with the Life Mother Church?

Then a voice came again through the Link.

Writer: 『Thank you for your trouble, Lady Scepter... right, is the Life Mother Church dangerous?』

Scepter: 『You want to contact them?』

Writer: 『...No, I... I’m too weak. I just want to understand more.』

Scepter: 『Then you’d best keep your distance. Cultists are extremely persuasive. By the time you realize it, it’s usually too late.』

Writer: 『...』

The Mind Link soon ended. After Hughes disconnected, he chose to return. He needed to process this information.

Worker Hughes’s shell quickly lowered its head again, and his eyes became empty once more.

On the other side, at Blood Harbor.

Gwen blinked and showed a slightly puzzled expression.

She tugged at the thread on her body and inexplicably looked toward the north.

“Vanished?”

Only after a long while did she withdraw her gaze, stand up, and walk out of the room.

She knew more than that Writer sister. When the followers of the Life Mother Church started their rebellion, she had still been wandering in Blood Harbor. She had personally witnessed the monster on Mira’s body tearing Tommy’s soul to shreds and devouring it.

So she had no doubt about the truth of what Scepter had said.

But she said nothing.

Gwen had always been this kind of person—burying everything deep inside, never speaking a word to anyone.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have grown up in the village with only imaginary friends. Though she had become much more cheerful now, inside, she was still that silent little girl.

Writer sister had run into trouble. She would help her solve it.

She didn’t know how dangerous the Life Mother Church was, but she could protect her.

That was what a friend should do.

So Gwen thought.

She was a stubborn person. She would secretly protect her friends. There was no need for them to know.

This belief was so firm that even the towering walls of reality could not stop her, the Sea of Unawareness could not drown her, and the pull of the mundane world could not bind her in the slightest.

Her will transcended reality. This stubbornness both limited her and defined her.

As she stepped out the door, she almost bumped into Josh, who was passing by.

Josh stumbled slightly, looked around, and then finally looked down to see Gwen raising her head to look up at him.

“Gwen? No nap today?” Josh looked curiously at the little white-haired girl. He could never see through her. Gwen always gave him a strange feeling. Though she was surrounded by many people, though many cared about her, she always seemed to be wandering through a wasteland.

She was a little girl who lived in her own world.

Josh had always wanted to help her in some way. But as the cult leader himself, having lost his parents early and never had siblings, he had absolutely no experience dealing with little girls.

He had tried many things, but the only time he ever saw her smile was when he was scooping Holy Water for her from the pot.

Josh cared deeply for this solitary little girl. But he was just an ordinary man, and there wasn’t much he could do—just a bit of cheap concern.

Josh furrowed his brows, thinking for a while, then suddenly revealed an expression of realization. “Are you hungry?”

“Kids get hungry easily. But each person only gets a fixed amount of Holy Water every day. I can’t give you more.”

Josh showed a smug expression. “But recently, the Life Mother Church got their hands on quite a lot of food. I exchanged for some. From now on, everyone can have three bowls of porridge a day...”

Josh leaned in mysteriously and whispered in her ear:

“Do you want to eat the next bowl early?”

Gwen curled her lips, showed a caring look, walked around Josh, and headed toward the room in the alley.

“Gwen drank too much porridge and needs to go to the toilet.”

Josh’s smile froze on his face.

Damn it, he really wasn’t good at dealing with kids after all.