Chapter 616 Capture Performance
In the morning at Prit, in front of the train station in the western district, countless travelers bustling around the entrance of the station building, many people surged towards the crowded doors, eager to leave this enormous city filled with oppression and suffering, while more people poured out from the doors, facing the bleak steel and concrete jungle with anticipation or unease.
However, neither of these two groups had anything to do with Pierson, as he was a cleric on duty at the Tivyán Church, enjoying a stable and well-paid job in Tivyán, handling various affairs in the name of God and reinforcing His authority. As a reward, he not only didn’t have to worry about his livelihood but also possessed some supernatural abilities.
Dressed in a cleric’s robe, Pierson clutched a suitcase as he navigated through the crowd with a few similarly attired companions, heading into the station. They needed to take the train for a work assignment far away, but the crowd in front slowed their movement, causing Pierson, as the leader, to furrow his brow, contemplating whether they would arrive at the platform on time given the congestion.
“I’ve heard that the western station is crowded, but I didn’t expect it to be this busy,” Pierson said to a companion next to him, who nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, I’ve often come to the western station, but I’ve never seen it this packed before. I guess we’re just unlucky this time; in any case, we have to hurry up, or we’ll miss the train.”
“Right.” After hearing his companion’s words, Pierson confirmed, preparing to quicken his pace as they moved towards the station.
At that moment, a surge of even more people came rushing towards them from the front, doubling the chaos and congestion around them. In this sudden turn of events, neither Pierson nor his companions had enough time to react; their group was instantly scattered, each swept away in different directions by the tide of humanity.
“What… Eben!”
Feeling a rush of anxiety, Pierson steadied himself amidst the crowded throng and looked around, trying to locate his companions, but all he saw were countless heads. He called out their names loudly, but his voice was easily drowned out by the surrounding noise.
Faced with the situation, Pierson found himself helpless, carried along by the crowd. After finally managing to break free, he discovered he was in an unfamiliar corner of the station, completely alone, with none of his companions in sight.
“This is troublesome…”
Looking at the scene before him, Pierson couldn’t help but despair and rubbed his head in frustration. He then scanned the area, trying to find his companions, but after coming up empty, he took out a pocket watch from his robe, opened it, and noticed that the departure time for their train was drawing near.
‘I’ll have to go to the train myself first; the others will eventually make their way to the platform, and we can meet up on the train.’
Thinking this, Pierson closed the pocket watch, put it away, grabbed his suitcase, and began to look for the way to the platform.
However, this search was not easy for him. The place he had ended up in was entirely unfamiliar, and there were no signs around. He could only ask for directions as he moved through the station. After a series of searches, Pierson not only failed to reach the platform but found himself inexplicably in an empty corridor.
‘Not here, seems I went the wrong way…’
Looking ahead at the strange area at the end of the corridor, Pierson frowned. After confirming that continuing forward would not lead him to the platform, he turned back to retrace his steps.
At that moment, he saw a tall female figure, her face concealed by a veil, coming towards him.
Although he was also approaching, Pierson felt a flicker of caution inside him. As they brushed past each other in the corridor, the veiled woman suddenly turned back and reached out her hand towards Pierson’s back.
Feeling instinctively cautious, Pierson quickly turned around as he sensed the disappearance of footsteps behind him. When he saw that the woman was reaching for him, he immediately extended his hand in an attempt to grasp her wrist. At that moment, a phantom shadow drifted down from the ceiling of the corridor, slipping into Pierson’s blind spot.
Suddenly, Pierson found himself frozen in place, completely unable to move, his body no longer responding to his commands, leaving him at a loss for words.
Unable to obey any of his own commands, Pierson stood there, wide-eyed, as the mysterious woman reached toward his neck. He felt a sharp pain there and then lost consciousness altogether.
As Pierson collapsed, a wisp of shadow emerged from his body, manifesting in mid-air as a translucent spirit, which, after subtle changes, took the shape of a hazy, indistinct female figure.
After exchanging a silent glance with the veiled woman, the spirit nodded subtly.
…
Fainting, dazed, and with scattered energy, Pierson’s consciousness wandered in darkness for an unknown duration before finally showing signs of awakening.
Pain from his head pierced Pierson’s nerves, gradually activating his consciousness. After a dizzying burst of confusion, Pierson began to re-acknowledge himself amidst the chaos.
“Urgh…”
Fighting against the throbbing headache, Pierson gradually opened his eyes. Once awake, confusion enveloped him; he began recalling the events leading to his fainting at the station, breaking out in a cold sweat.
‘Was I ambushed? I, a church envoy, was ambushed?! And now I’ve been kidnapped? This is an extraordinary assault against the church!’
Pierson thought in shock before promptly attempting to rise. However, the moment he moved, he nearly toppled over. After a careful check, he discovered that his entire body was tightly bound, iron chains coiling around him, even his mouth was covered, making it extremely difficult to speak or move, limited to barely wriggling.
Seeing his predicament, Pierson’s heart sank suddenly, and he began observing his surroundings. He realized he was confined in a small, sealed prison cell. The entire cell was dim, with solid walls on three sides and a steel door on the fourth. He was clearly imprisoned inside, with the only light coming from the cracks of the steel door.
In a panic, Pierson wished to escape but found it exceedingly difficult to break free from his restraints. Just as despair settled in from his fruitless struggles, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.
“Looks like… you finally sorted it out?”
“Yeah, that guy’s face was a bit too ordinary, nothing special, took some time to remember.”
Hearing the voices from outside the cell, Pierson was momentarily stunned, quickly stretching his head towards the door to peep through the crack. He then saw a man and a woman standing together in the corridor outside his cell.
The woman Pierson recognized; she was the mysterious figure who had ambushed him at the train station. The man appeared to be a middle-aged man, around thirty, and they were now engaged in conversation.
“Since you’ve memorized it, let’s hurry up.” The veiled woman said to the man, who responded promptly.
“Just a moment…”
Saying this, the man stroked his chin, and then Pierson watched in astonishment as the man’s formerly strong and determined face began to shift, rapidly morphing in a violent upheaval. In a moment, the man’s features transformed into an entirely ordinary face he recognized—his own.
‘This is… the Shadow Faced Man?! They are from the Eight Pinnacle Nest! The same group that assassinated Duke Barret!’
Seeing this scene outside the prison door, Pierson was taken aback. The assassination case earlier this year had a significant impact in Prit; the name of the Eight Pinnacle Nest had spread throughout the secret world of Prit. Even someone like Pierson, who did not belong to the search department within the church, had heard of them and knew what they were capable of.
“Alright, this should work.” After adjusting to his new face, the man addressed the veiled woman. She crossed her arms in response.
“That works. Since you’ve changed your face, hurry and switch your clothes too; they were stripped off the backs of a group of deity followers. The other four are already set, just waiting on you.”
‘The other four… Could it be that besides me, the other members of my group have also been captured here?’ Pierson thought in shock as he listened to the woman’s words.
Initially, Pierson had considered that if his teammates couldn’t find him for a long time, they would report to the church and send help for his rescue. But he never anticipated that his other companions were now captured, with no one to report his situation to the church.
“Five people… Among those five we have to impersonate, there shouldn’t be any familiar faces from that nun; if there are any, it’d be troublesome to fool her.”
The man outside the prison remarked after changing his face, and the woman quickly replied.
“According to the information from Gramorn, those five have no connections with that nun; her guards are mostly not local to Prit, so you don’t need to worry about that. That nun only knows the name of the transposition ceremony and nothing else; once you get to Gramorn, you can deceive her however you wish; after all, to that nun, you are the ‘experts’ she requested from Tivyán…”
With a hint of malice in her smile, the veiled woman spoke to the man from the Eight Pinnacle Nest, making Pierson’s heart freeze again.
‘The nun in Gramorn… Their target is Sister Vania! They plan to use our identities as the investigation team to get close to Sister Vania!’
Pierson thought in astonishment, and at that moment, the face-changing man continued speaking.
“The gospel of Summer Tree Archipelago… the savior of Adus… the Holy Mother Glimmer, who redeems the fallen city… Vania Chafirel, heh, how fortunate it is to lure one of the church’s most radiant young talents into blasphemous deeds, tainting the night sky while pushing forth a grand scheme for the Deep Web Queen to encompass all of Prit, I wonder what expressions the folks on Sacred Summit will have when they find out that the nun they focus on has become our pawn…”
With a triumphant expression, the face-changing man spoke, and the woman before him waved her hand.
“You seem really motivated, but you’d better save some of that enthusiasm for Gramorn; there’s plenty left for you to do over there.”
“Alright, it’s time to set off…” the man said, and then he and the veiled woman began walking away, but just a few steps later, the man seemed to recall something. He turned back to Pierson’s prison door, causing Pierson, who was eavesdropping, to quickly lower his head.
“By the way, when I checked the face earlier, I found that guy is still alive, just unconscious. Why not just k*ll him? I only need the face; there’s no need for him to stay alive.”
The man questioned, looking puzzled at the prison door, to which the veiled woman quickly replied.
“We had some logistics issues on our side; a bunch of fools messed things up. The soul-binding measures were inadequate, and if we k*ll them now, their souls would be susceptible to communication from other parties, so for now, we can only keep them alive. Once your side’s tasks are completed, I will promptly deal with them.”
“Is that so…”
Listening to the veiled woman, the face-changing man nodded silently and then followed her as they walked down the corridor. Inside the prison cell, Pierson silently heard their footsteps fading into the distance.
After the footsteps disappeared, Pierson clenched his teeth, filled with anger in his heart.
‘I must find a way to escape and report this to Archbishop Francesco!’
…
Meanwhile, further down the long, dark corridor, the face-changing man and the veiled woman halted after walking for a while. The woman glanced back and said slowly.
“Alright, at this position, he won’t hear our voices, Mr. Shadow Faced Man.”
“Is that so… good. How do you think I performed just now, Madame?” The man smiled as he heard the woman’s words, who quickly responded.
“Not bad… It seems the detective has trained you; although not perfect, it was more than enough to deceive someone in a panic.” The veiled woman said, and the man continued speaking.
“Phew… I didn’t expect Detective Sir to let us directly target the church people this time. I wonder what he’s plotting, to necessitate opposing the church to this extent…”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s opposing the church, at most just utilizing them. According to the great detective’s words, when the time comes, I will release all five priests we caught today. Clearly, he has no intention of burning bridges with the church; if he truly wanted to be enemies with them, I wouldn’t dare help him indiscriminately.”
The veiled woman said this, pausing slightly before continuing.
“Well then, aside from the final instruction to release them, we have finished our part. The focus of the great detective’s plan will not be in Tivyán anymore, so Mr. Shadow Faced Man, you can go back and rest; you have your own matters to attend to.”
“Yes, then I shall take my leave for now, Madame. It was a pleasure to collaborate with you once more.”
With that, Gregor quickly left, still wearing a face that didn’t belong to him. The veiled woman, Adele, stood in place, leaning against the wall and silently contemplating.
‘It seems… after 101749498… your long-term plan is finally reaching its most critical stage… I wish you luck, my little detective…’
