Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 170: Sea of Ignorance, Corridor of Truth

The stained glass of the church dome cast mottled light onto Beatrice's knees, and her fingers unconsciously twisted the lace collar.

It was a spacious room. A priest sat motionless on a stone platform in the center of the room. He wore a metal device made of mechanical structures on his head, which obscured his eyes and made it impossible to see his face.

A bright candle burns quietly in the corner of the room. The Candlelight Society's church will offer many candles, which are never extinguished day or night.

The girl bit her lip lightly and stared at the candle silently. When she counted to the thirty-seventh drop of wax falling from above, the flame of the bronze candlestick suddenly shrank half an inch.

The priest sitting on the stone platform suddenly raised his head, grabbed his collar, and gasped.

Beatrice suddenly clutched the silver holy emblem on her chest and stood up with an expectant look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Lord Ruoan, we still haven't found Castel's anchor. It seems their beacon disappeared directly into the Sea of Unknowing."

The young priest removed the divination device from his face, his face slightly pale. Diving into the sea of unconsciousness would place a great strain on the body. Even with the help of a special device, the candlelight was still very exhausting.

Beatrice's eyes dimmed slightly, and she nodded gently. "You can just call me Beatrice. What does the disappearance of the beacon mean? I've never dived into the Sea of Unknowing, so I'm not familiar with the communication methods between churches. Could you please explain it to me in detail?"

"Of course, sir." The priest nodded and forced a kind smile skillfully. Although Beatrice was just a noble lady without a title, he did not dare to neglect her at all.

The Rhine is not very peaceful now. Her Majesty the Queen's attitude is getting tougher and tougher, and the bigwigs of the Secret Keeper Council stay indoors all day long. People in the church are already in panic.

Although Ms. Joan has only been a member of the Candlelight Society for a short time, she has already become a popular figure in the upper circles of the Rhine.

I heard that she recently brought out a kind of medicine block called soap in the salon. If used to clean the body, it is as effective as Holy Water No. 9, but without the pungent smell of holy water. The most important thing is that its origin is mysterious. Only Ruoan has a small amount of stock, and it is very popular among noble ladies.

Compared to the mysterious soap, Beatrice's identity is even more important.

The Ruoan family has always been trusted by the Queen. Even though the royal family and the Candlelight Society are increasingly hostile, the young lady of the Ruoan family has not been affected at all, which is particularly valuable in the current situation.

Especially for the Candlelight Club.

perhaps
The young priest's heart moved, and his expression became more enthusiastic. He took out a silver candle from his arms, shook it gently, and the candle began to burn.

"Lady Beatrice, these moon candles are very effective. They are made by the most devout believers. As long as you are under the illumination of the candles, you will not be contaminated by the secret knowledge."

Secret knowledge, also known as secret teachings, will be contaminated by anyone who comes into contact with it, assimilated by anyone who understands it, and imprinted by anyone who thinks about it.

Pollution is extremely difficult to eliminate and can only be reduced or alleviated at a huge cost, but every church has some means to reduce the impact of pollution. The Candlelight Society is particularly good at this. Their extraordinary path will almost inevitably come into contact with pollution.

[Investigators] can listen to the whispers of the Corridor of Truth, but [Secret Keepers] cannot even enter the Sea of Unknowing—they carry too much secret knowledge and will be swallowed up by the deep sea in an instant.

Beatrice lowered her eyes. "Thank you." "You're very kind." The priest guided Beatrice to a seat nearby, then fetched a pot of tea and poured it for Beatrice. "How can I begin to explain this to you? Since you're an Investigator, you must be familiar with the Sea of Unconsciousness, right?"

"I only have a superficial understanding of it. It is an ocean of pollution, but also an infinite sea of knowledge and truth."

"Yes, knowledge is pollution, and exposure to pollution can also lead to knowledge. They are one and the same. Therefore, the doctrine requires us to strictly keep secrets and imprison the pollution in our hearts. This is our shackles, but also our salvation. Sooner or later, the Candlelight Society will collect all the polluted knowledge and throw it into the sea of ignorance. From then on, the candlelight will illuminate the world, and there will be no more pollution in the world."

"I'm looking forward to that day."

Beatrice put down the teacup in her hand and absentmindedly put her hands together, forming the shape of a candle flame.

The priest rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "I heard that there's only one nun left in Castel. You want to contact her because she's your good friend? Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to pry into your relationships. It's just that in the sea of ignorance, there's no direction or distance. Without a sufficient [anchor], you'll get lost."

"Are you saying I can also explore the Sea of Unconsciousness?" Beatrice raised her head in surprise, her emerald eyes widening. "My uncle, I heard from a friend that Secret Keepers can only explore the Corridor of Truth."

“Didn’t your friend tell you that the Corridor of Truth and the Sea of Unconsciousness are the same thing?” The priest smiled gently, picked up the jar next to him, dipped the honey stick gently, and dripped a few drops into the tea.

"The same thing?!"

"Yes, we call it the Corridor of Truth, the Temple of Silence calls it the Land of Eternal Sleep, and the Sons of the Sleepless call it the Kingdom of Night. In fact, they are all the Sea of Unconsciousness, but the methods of exploration are different."

Beatrice blinked and said with confusion on her face, "Sorry, I still don't quite understand."

"There's no need to understand. Any understanding of the Sea of Unconsciousness is both right and wrong. It exists in the world in different forms simultaneously. What we see are its different silhouettes. No one can step into the same river twice." The priest shook his teacup. "You may think I'm using some obscure metaphor, but this is actually a positive description of it—you can see it in whatever form you want."

"Sounds like cognitive interference?"

"You are more perceptive than I thought, Lady Beatrice. Cognitive interference is to penetrate the walls of reality with one's will, but what lies beyond those walls?"

"!"

Beatrice's hand slipped and the teacup almost fell, but fortunately she was a transcendent and she caught the cup calmly.

"I've heard that cognitive interference can bring pollution upon the world. Could this be the result of a rupture between reality and the sea of unconsciousness, leading to a backflow?"

"That's not necessarily true. The cause of cognitive interference is taboo in the church, so no one knows."

"Well, then you should continue to talk about the Sea of Unconsciousness."

"As you wish. Now that you know the Sea of Unconsciousness has no fixed form, you can surely understand why an anchor is needed to navigate within it."

(End of this chapter)