Chapter 984: Chapter 554: First Encounter with the Ruins (2)

"I know what you’re thinking, we need to deal with the matters at hand first, until the army is free to handle things, otherwise relying on just a few of us is pointless."

He emphasized, "Remember, I’m even more anxious than you, but we cannot lose our minds. This is our most vital power to defeat the Evil God."

Lance knew what the silent Junia was thinking. As someone from the Church and a devout believer, she naturally loathed the "evil" Necromancers.

Under persuasion, Junia merely nodded quietly.

Lance took one last look back, his expression calm, but his mind was filled with chaotic thoughts.

After many years, they might be the first to step into this place again, aside from the Heretics.

Lance didn’t know what exactly happened in Hamlet back then, causing a city of a million people to turn into ruins overnight.

Lance gazed at the burnt and collapsing buildings, the bizarrely shaped broken brick walls, and the scattered, peculiarly posed white bones on the ground.

The ruins seemed to still retain signs of that night, walking amidst them felt like being transported back to that evening.

When the ancestor completed the ritual, the door unearthed beneath Hamlet was opened, releasing the uncontrolled and incomprehensible power of the Primordial God.

The disaster struck unexpectedly, seemingly claiming most people’s lives while they slept, their flesh peeled away, their souls devoured.

The city of Hamlet was undeniably vast, even with the Primordial God’s power, the ritual required time to spread.

No human could withstand the power of the Flesh Ancient God, so these forces, instead of instantly claiming their lives, twisted their flesh, transforming them into grotesque monsters.

Perhaps one moment they were ordinary parents or lovers, but the next moment they craved flesh, and the madness of flesh desolation swept across the city, further spreading chaos.

Rampaging Flesh Monsters might still cling to a remnant consciousness in their embedded skulls, calling out names they couldn’t forget even in death, yet might kill more people in the next second.

Perhaps it was a toppled candlestick amidst the chaos, or perhaps weapons deployed to intercept the monsters, either way, the fire descended, igniting buildings into torches.

But ironically, the firelight brought not hope, but a stark view of despair.

In front of those monsters, how fragile humans were, their only purpose became becoming part of the monsters’ flesh.

Everything was irretrievable.

But these Flesh Monsters were merely puppets under the ritual, when that power reached this place, their flesh was instantly peeled away, transformed into nourishment.

And amidst the irrigation of millions of flesh, Hamlet gave birth to a "god"...

Lance withdrew his gaze and turned to leave this area.

They seemed like an accident, rushing over, only to leave in haste, leaving the ruins as they always were.

......

As dawn broke, the appearance of sunlight dispelled the morning mist shrouding Hamlet.

While Lance controlled the wilderness, Hamlet was as unusually busy as he imagined, even though many jobs in town had already paused.

Because it was uncertain if those retreating monsters would attack again or if the Heretics would seize the opportunity to disrupt the order.

Thus, a massive workforce was mobilized to defend Hamlet. They held muskets just distributed, still carrying the scent of gun oil, and with gunpowder smoke indicating they had already been fired.

Unfortunately, these weapons couldn’t provide them with a sense of security. These hastily recruited militia couldn’t guarantee order or action, loosely revealing the true state of common folk armies of this era.

"Why have the Lords disappeared?"

"Did you hear?" a guy whispered mysteriously...

Hamlet’s administrative building bustled with people coming and going, not stopping since last night, as Grendel continuously dealt with the consequences.

"My Lord, those fleet merchants want to leave."

"Tell them the monsters are underwater, if anyone wants to leave, I won’t stop them, but once they leave port, we won’t be responsible for their safety."

"My Lord, the Association of Healers not only wants to contact lepers but also desires to obtain Fishmen corpses."

"Then see what price they can offer, find someone to talk to them, don’t agree immediately, probe to see what they can provide."

As Grendel busied herself, a sheriff with a rather tense expression entered the office.

"My Lord, the Church has had many contacts with the townspeople, and there’s already a negative trend, the chief asked if we should take action?"

Upon hearing this, Grendel fell silent.

According to her cautious thinking, the approach should be to find excuses to control the situation, even if there’s no issue, create one to separate the Church Duo and the public.

But Lance wanted to use this chance to clear out a group of hidden followers in Hamlet, requiring tolerance, waiting for them to reveal themselves.

These were Lance’s intentions, but they couldn’t appear as his.

A rather strange statement, only Grendel understood. Such matters couldn’t be ordered by the Lord, because presently the Lord was unaware, and it would damage Lance’s reputation, so she had to do it.

"Don’t worry about them, tell William not to act against them, even if things get tense, retreat rather than conflict directly."

Grendel soon regained her calm demeanor, handing down instructions even the sheriff knew were unreasonable.

Their existence was meant for Hamlet’s security, now those people were already showing signs of disturbing the peace, yet instead of stopping them, they were letting them?

"This might exacerbate the situation, the guns distributed for arming the militia are difficult to control, Hamlet can’t bear more chaos now."

This inevitably led him to question, a true sheriff should voice doubts, even if the person before him was his superior.

These words reminded Grendel of William, the hothead, who wouldn’t easily agree without reason.

"Of course I want to arrest them, but as you said, Hamlet can’t endure more chaos, we’re facing threats from those monsters, they’re watching us from the coast waiting for opportunities.

If we trigger chaos, those monsters will immediately charge forth and destroy everything, now we need unity, not infighting, we need the Church’s power, at least for now we can’t allow further chaos."

Grendel’s reasoning was strong, although they repelled the monsters, the shadow still loomed over Hamlet.

The sheriff remained silent but suddenly asked.

"So, where is My Lord?"

Last night’s battle was incredibly fierce, over a hundred died, yet strangely, the army and Lord didn’t appear.

Such a situation was bound to arouse confusion among the townspeople, let alone Grendel not intending to explain, instead suppressing the matter.

Yet the townspeople’s voices can’t be suppressed easily, especially amidst the Church Duo’s presence, it had already spread throughout the town.

They didn’t understand the idiom "three men make a tiger," but hearing it repeatedly stirred unease in their hearts.

Even when facing doubts just now, Grendel could patiently explain, but with this question, her demeanor changed strangely, sharply questioning, "Do you, like those people, think the Lord has given up on Hamlet? Do you think it’s possible, or do you believe in your heart that the Lord is that kind of person?"

"Don’t doubt my loyalty to the Lord!" the sheriff also roared angrily, "No matter who you are."

Seeing the furious sheriff in front of her, Grendel knew the pressure might crush him, and the reason was simple.

In this place, she wasn’t the only one striving for Hamlet.

"I can tell you the Lord hasn’t abandoned Hamlet, nor will he forsake everyone, other details are not for you to know."

Grendel slightly loosened her stance, but didn’t disclose more, accepting the role of the villain, while reminding him.

"So, go back and tell William, for now, don’t bother with those people, our mission is to buy more time for the Lord."