Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 171 Anchor, disappeared

"To prevent... getting lost?"

"Indeed, in the Sea of No Consciousness, there is neither direction nor distance. Ignorance allows us to float above it, and will allows us to move forward. But without an anchor, no matter how hard we struggle, it will only be an illusion before drowning. The anchor here is a strong belief, a belief so strong that it can interfere with reality. If you want to explore the Sea of No Consciousness, this is essential."

Do you have this belief? The priest did not ask this question out loud, he just looked at Beatrice with a questioning look.

"Faith." A figure appeared in Beatrice's mind. She slowly placed the teacup on the table. "Please continue."

There was a hint of surprise in the priest's eyes, he was a little surprised.

Originally, he told Beatrice, the young lady who was ignorant of the world, about the dangers of the Sea of Unconsciousness in order to make her give up, so that she would continue to explore with the help of the church. However, he did not expect that she would be so determined.

Isn't Castel a deserted island? What is there that is worthy of her attention?
But facing Beatrice's inquiring gaze, he had no choice but to give up, put aside these messy thoughts, and continue with the introduction.

"Knowledge is pollution, and exposure to pollution can also lead to knowledge. Countless investigators from the Candlelight Society have been constantly exploring the Corridor of Truth, and have found some methods through this."

"When we built each church, we buried an anchor. This anchor serves as a beacon to guide the direction and transmit information in the sea of ignorance."

"You know, there is no concept of distance in the Sea of No-Knowledge, so we can cross any distance and allow information to flow through various churches."

"It's a great invention." Beatrice frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at the priest. "But how did you advance in the Sea of Unknowing? I don't see that you are a transcendent being, so you shouldn't be able to explore the Corridor of Truth."

The priest laughed. "Do you remember what I once said? Ignorance allows us to float above it. Compared to the transcendent, mortals are more likely to float in the sea of ignorance. The Divination Spectrum can help me move towards the beacon."

The church regularly selects personnel from among mortals, trains them in the ability to sneak in the Sea of Unconsciousness, and has them serve as liaisons to transmit information between various churches.

This group of people is called the Mind Whisperers.

However, the Sea of Unconsciousness has never been safe and stable. Even with the method that the church has explored for so long, accidents still often occur.

Fortunately, the accident only caused casualties and did not affect the anchor point and beacon. We just needed to replace someone to continue.

Simply put, these mind-talkers were merely consumables. Their average lifespan wasn't even thirty years, and their ultimate fate was to sink into the sea of unconsciousness. Whenever the young priest thought of this, a wave of anxiety welled up in his heart.

His recent voyage in the sea of unconsciousness has become increasingly difficult.

"So under what circumstances will the beacon disappear and the anchor point become unreachable?"

The priest hesitated and whispered, "The church was destroyed, or something is blocking the anchor."

"Blocked? Didn't you say there's no direction in the Sea of No Consciousness? How could it be blocked?"

Beatrice was a little confused. The light could be blocked because the line of sight could not turn, but there was no direction in the sea of ignorance, so what could block the beacon?
unless
A terrifying thought suddenly emerged in Beatrice's mind. She opened her eyes wide and suddenly turned to look at the priest.

The priest nodded slowly and said with some difficulty: "Unless there is some kind of existence that swallowed the anchor whole, it would block the beacon." The room became quiet, and the steam from the tea rose.

The sky over the Rhine is always gray.

Coal smoke and mist intertwined into a lead-gray curtain on the surface of the Rhine River. Brass gas lamps cast a hazy halo on the street, like a loose copper collar around the neck of a drowned person. The cast iron railings were condensed with black ice crystals mixed with oil and coal ash.

A choking cough suddenly broke out at the entrance of an alley. A hunchbacked old cleaner was scraping away the coal slag at the base of the wall with a shovel. The dust and mist raised by the smoke mixed together into a gray gauze, which fell on his worn corduroy shoulders.

A horse-drawn carriage rushed past the alley, its wheels making a dull sound as they rolled over the cobblestone road. After turning a few corners, it stopped in front of an apartment building.

Beatrice got out of the carriage, glanced at the street, then lowered her head and walked into the apartment building.

This is a remote property of the Joan family. Beatrice has the key here and she comes here occasionally to do some less shady things.

It hadn't been long since she returned from Castel, but Beatrice felt like she had met more people in the past few days than in the previous decades combined.

Some are interested in Castel, some in her soap, some in her family, some in her identity, and some in her as a person.

Desire, interests, power, all kinds of ugly and gorgeous things are woven together, and it is impossible to tell who is who. This is the Rhine, the largest vanity fair in the empire. When she came to her senses, she was already in it and could not escape.

Beatrice felt like she had been kicked overboard and had to turn into a fish before she drowned.

Fortunately, she learned quickly enough.

The investigator gave her extraordinary perception. She could see the most subtle expression on everyone's face and remember the most easily overlooked details in conversations. The family and the royal family behind her helped her gain a foothold. She slowly learned to put on a mask and flatter everyone.

Gradually, she also learned how to deal with others and began to thrive in the upper circles of Rhine.

There was no light in the dark corridor, but Beatrice's pace did not slow down at all. She moved forward quickly in the darkness like a nimble cat.

Soon, she came to a door, took out the key from her pocket, and after the door lock clicked, she entered the house.

The room was not large. A faint mist floated outside the wooden window frames. The carved iron grilles of the fireplace had a matte finish. The gas lamp, with the brass switch turned all the way to the end, cast a semicircular spot of light on the wallpaper. Beatrice walked to the window and pulled the dark red velvet curtains to block out the gray Rhine.
Only then did Beatrice breathe a sigh of relief. She hung her veiled hat on the hat rack, kicked off her shoes, and fell straight onto the soft sofa.

With a puff, soft velvet wrapped around her and she rubbed it with satisfaction.

For some reason, she always felt tense and couldn't relax no matter what. Even in the room where she had lived since she was a child in the Nuoan family manor, she felt inexplicably depressed.

Only here, in a small, unknown room, with the curtains drawn and herself thrown on the sofa, could she find a moment of peace and comfort.

(End of this chapter)