Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 358 Strange Scars

Brussels, the Cathedral of the Dead, Catherine's office.

Because of various follow-up tasks, her team returned much later than Daphne's team.

This time, the Star Sand Squad's mission to the third tier of the Icefield was aboveboard. They had received official orders from the Cardinal Council: to assemble the most elite forces of the Northern Branch to track down the "Cult of Truth of Calamity Bell" that had appeared in the North, in order to ensure the safety of the Holy Mountain "Divine Prison" and "Sea of ​​Divine Grace".

The mission, of course, was unsuccessful. In his report, Gerndahl detailed how diligently his team had investigated all the suspicious locations, but ultimately found nothing.

The Glorious Holy City had already discovered the Holy Mountain's disappearance, and even found Warden Sabina, whose memories had been altered, and was extremely shocked by the horrific scene she subsequently witnessed.

Although the news has not yet spread widely, various rumors are already circulating. It is said that the scene was horrific, with no survivors. The perpetrators allegedly brutally slaughtered everyone, even provocatively arranging thousands of heads into a massive mound of skulls.

However, no suspicious glances fell upon the Star Sand Squad. They were just ordinary elite troops; the more than two thousand meters of steep elevation difference in the Dome Mountain Range, along with the extremely harsh natural conditions, were far beyond the Star Sand Squad's ability to traverse in an organized manner.

Not to mention their strength was insufficient to attack the formidable defenses of the Holy Mountain. Moreover, judging from the number of people who returned from the Star Sand Squad, only four claimed to be away visiting relatives—this hardly seemed like the situation of a high-intensity war.

During this period, with the ongoing investigation into the "Bell of Calamity," various forces have finally obtained more information about them. Based on fragments and clues pieced together, it can now be confirmed that this cult organization possesses at least four powerful Saint-level experts, whose origins and backgrounds are unknown.

Past heinous incidents with unknown perpetrators have begun to point to this place, suggesting that it was the work of this mysterious organization.

Therefore, the most mainstream speculation in the Glorious Holy City is that the "Bell of Calamity" gathered Saint-level experts to launch the attack, creating this horrific tragedy.

Catherine was fully aware of this outcome and was not surprised at all—much of the "information" about the Bell of Calamity's immense power and numerous evil deeds was fabricated by her own embellishment and cleverly infiltrated into the information flow through various channels.

In short, the glorious holy city was covered in white banners almost overnight, and many of the temple's high-ranking officials turned gray overnight, their expressions filled with overwhelming grief. This overwhelming rage was now completely focused on the "Bell of Calamity."

It is said that when news came that Su Ming had won a great victory in the Battle of Giant Horn Island and captured most of the ships in the mixed fleet, the Cardinal Speaker vomited blood on the spot and fell into a coma, from which he has not yet woken up!

“We’d better take action within three months,” Catherine wrote in a letter to Su Ming.

"The Temple of Light has lost nearly half of its naval power, severely damaging its control over the seas. As for its land forces, although it still has an army of 50,000, three of its ten elite battle groups at the top of the power pyramid have been completely wiped out by us, which will trigger a series of disastrous chain reactions."

The demise of the Holy Mountain Knights, the Choir, and the Azure Sky Puppet—these three units—was an unprecedented and devastating blow to the Temple of Light. In the thousand-year history of the Temple of Light, it had never suffered such a severe loss in such a short period!

"Therefore, the development plan for the Bone-Ending Berserker is urgent. We must complete the formation of a large-scale land combat force as soon as possible and begin to implement the 'Bury' plan."

After finishing the letter, Catherine put down her pen and sighed. While the Star Sands members were numerous, their development time was ultimately too short. Their core value lay in serving as the organizational framework for the future reorganization of the Temple of Light and as a spark to spread a more inclusive doctrine.

However, "the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons." Only by completely destroying the "covenant faction" on a physical level can a real opportunity be created for all this change.
"My lord, the bathwater is ready," the maid announced softly as she entered.

Catherine nodded and got up to go to the bathroom.

She took off her clothes and stepped into the bathtub. Although she tried her best to clean herself every week while traveling, taking a bath like this was simply not an option.

Now that she was finally able to soak in the warm water, Catherine felt completely relaxed, and involuntarily let out a satisfied moan.

After enjoying the soothing warmth of the water for a while, Catherine picked up a soft towel and began to carefully clean her body.

On her chest, from directly below her collarbone to the center of her chest, there was a straight scar about ten centimeters long.

Catherine noticed the scar when she was very young. At that time, the scar covered almost her entire upper body, nearly a third of its length, and was red, swollen, and raised, looking gruesome.

As I've aged, the scar has lengthened slightly, but its proportion to my body has significantly decreased. It has also softened, thinned, and faded in color. Now, it looks more like a faint mark, lying quietly between my breasts.

If you squeeze it in a little, it won't be so easy to see.

Catherine had already conducted an in-depth investigation into this scar. After careful examination by several top doctors, they unanimously determined that it was a "median sternal incision".

The wound was clean and in a very precise location. The doctors determined that it was not caused by an attack, but by a meticulous open-chest surgery!

Since the pioneering work of the physician known as "Silver Pheasant," this type of voluntary open-chest surgery has seen slow development in its application in the field of disease treatment, with few actual cases.

One of the renowned physicians even deduced from the suturing technique of the scar and the level of postoperative healing that he was certain that the silver pheasant himself had performed the surgery.

Catherine's fingers unconsciously and gently caressed the scar on her chest.

It's understandable that she suffered from an illness as a child and sought help from a great doctor—of course, this was certainly not done by her later adoptive parents.

And that's where the strange thing is.

Since the Silver Pheasant personally performed the surgery, there must be an organ that needs repair or treatment. Judging from the location of the wound, the heart is the most likely candidate.

However, after a very careful examination by the doctors, they unanimously concluded that none of the organs in Catherine's chest cavity, including her heart, had ever undergone any form of surgery!

(End of this chapter)