Chapter 85: Eye of Wisdom (10)
“…Ha ha.”
In the dimly lit little chapel, I heard a sudden, somewhat sarcastic laughter.
For a moment, I realized that it was my own laughter.
The odd chuckle startled the already tense Sword Demon Miss, making her jump a bit.
She looked at me without saying a word and instinctively shifted her body slightly to the side.
“Oh, it’s nothing, nothing…”
I quickly waved at her with a smile, “Don’t worry, I just suddenly remembered something… interesting.”
Interesting things…
Yeah.
Very interesting.
So interesting, in fact, that I want to make things even more interesting.
What if Angel knew I was still alive and still their so-called “most successful” test subject, and had already become more successful than he could ever imagine…
What kind of expression would he have then?
Shock…
Regret…
Or remorse?
“This notebook records a series of live experiments that happened here before… um, the experiment process. The Church has been using women from the fortress, along with those refugees, treating them as test subjects to study the powers of ‘God.’”
I quickly pushed my emotions aside, temporarily shoving down the negative thoughts that had suddenly popped into my head. After my smile faded, I said seriously to Sword Demon Miss, “Some high-level clergy have their eyes on even more powerful divine abilities and have committed many inhumane acts for it… You have no idea about any of this?”
After I said that, I fixed a calm gaze on her.
“No idea.”
Sword Demon Miss shook her head, her expression casual and showing little emotional fluctuation, as if she didn’t care much about the “experiments” I mentioned or the affair of experimenting on refugees. To her, it probably didn’t matter much at all.
But perhaps out of curiosity, Sword Demon Miss thought for a moment and then asked, “Divine power? Isn’t that the power of faith?”
“…More like a power beyond that.”
I blinked, diverting my gaze from her face: “Perhaps some people want to become new deities, gods of humanity.”
“Gods of humanity?”
Sword Demon Miss sounded confused: “Becoming gods of humanity… what does that even mean? I don’t get it. After becoming one, then what? What’s the use?”
She paused.
“They’re already eating well and have warm clothes.”
“……”
I turned my head away, staring at her for two seconds.
Then, seeing her increasingly puzzled expression, I burst into a grin: “You think everyone is like you? As long as they’re fed and warm, everything’s fine…”
This time my smile seemed much more natural.
The little swordswoman looked at my smile with deep confusion in her eyes, but her expression began to relax. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something: “You mean… Pope Angel?”
“Ha.”
I shook my head lightly: “Who knows…”
With that, I ignored the still-confused Sword Demon Miss and refocused on the open notebook, flipping to the next page and softly reading the content.
“September 8th: Test subject 4-1 contracted septicemia during the further washing procedure with the divine bl**d pill, and we carefully handled her corpse.”
“Septicemia?”
“Don’t speak. Just listen quietly.”
This little one can’t even grasp the point…
I impatiently interrupted her and continued to read: “Test subject 4-2 barely made it through. Rabishixemos’s flesh has already begun to stabilize within her, and no strong rejection reaction has emerged yet. This is the smoothest progress of experiments in recent years; in less than two months, we found one subject capable of initially merging with Gidales’s flesh tissue from the two selected test subjects.”
“All thanks to Cardinal Michel. His progressive research ideas and the ‘Splitting Theory’ have been tremendously valuable in our study. Prior to this, none of us could have imagined that the key to merging wasn’t entirely physical; the mental factors are actually more important. Those with unstable minds are less disturbed by the will of the Mother Deity during the merging process. What a genius idea!”
“Allow me to express my respect once again to Cardinal Michel. His thoughts and courage are indispensable on our path to the light.”
“I feel ashamed for my previous strong opposition to using the Eye of Wisdom in stage experiments to interfere with and split the subjects’ mental worlds. I am but a mediocre person, trapped by my own shallow understanding. I thought the Eye of Wisdom could only be used to erase memories; its peril limited all our thinking and made us overlook its true capabilities.”
The softly read words echoed in the little chapel, and Sword Demon Miss listened with deep furrows in her brow, filled with questions, but she didn’t ask again. She sat quietly next to me, listening.
“…Today is the last day of September.”
“d*mn, this might hint at something. Test subject 4-2’s body grew weaker after that, and we tried every means to save her, but it was futile. She died, succumbing to bone marrow sampling after the fusion of flesh. However, it wasn’t a mistake on our part; during the extraction process, the test subject suddenly retaliated, chaos energy surging within her. We had to k*ll her, costing us two experimental members, one of whom was my subordinate, the finest guy in the department.”
“This day didn’t just see this awful event—Cardinal Michel called me to the in the afternoon. The sins we’ve nurtured, the flowers of sin, all withered due to the influence of the Eye of Wisdom’s divine power. d*mn it, I know this means something ominous. Our experiments are not going as smoothly as we imagined; we still have a long road ahead. I shall reflect on everyone’s negligence.”
“October 1st. I didn’t sleep a wink last night, pondering the severe issues we will face next. Just when I couldn’t think of what to do, I received some good news: among the refugees in the inner fortress who have been deeply affected by the power of dreams, suitable experimental candidates have begun to emerge.”
“This will be the second batch of test subjects the Silent Fortress is about to welcome. Their numbers aren’t many, but since their wills have been contaminated, they are the perfect candidates for patients.”
“More and more refugees are gathering here; the resources and funds for the experiments are very sufficient, and new progress reports have been sent to the Holy City. From now on, there must be a detailed report every two weeks. I can tell the Pope has confidence in this experiment. He has too much to bear; none of us can let down such great determination…”
“Pfft, determination.”
Out of nowhere, Sword Demon Miss interrupted me.
So I set the notebook down and turned to her: “Do you understand any of that?”
“Not at all.”
She quickly shook her head, then thought for a while: “I don’t know what they’re doing… I just think, what you read sounds a bit like those evil dogs in my hometown.”
“Evil dogs?”
“They don’t regard people as people, and even… don’t consider themselves as human.”
“…Oh.”
That’s quite a fitting description.
I understood the meaning she was trying to convey, so I nodded: “You often mention your hometown… where is it?”
“…If I tell you, a person like you wouldn’t know.” Sword Demon Miss murmured to me.
Hmm?
Is this looking down on me?
“Go on, maybe I know.”
I wasn’t really angry.
In fact, I had no interest in where her hometown was.
I just wanted a slight pause in my reading to casually discuss another topic, to adjust my increasingly subtle mood—a feeling that was hard to describe, just wanting to destroy something.
“I used to live near Cartelgarin…”
Sword Demon Miss probably didn’t want to talk about it, but after hesitating for a long time under my indifferent gaze, she slowly began to speak.
