A man among dragons, building a mysterious ancient church.

Chapter 296 All sides lose, the church wins alone

Although the ancient city and underground river only appeared for a moment, they brought a huge natural disaster to Bello Island.

The connection between Bello Island and the hardened crust has broken, leaving it teetering on the brink of collapse. The surrounding seas, which were originally calm, have also been affected by the 'disaster,' with towering, raging waves rising higher than warships.

The sky crackled with muffled thunder from time to time, and the wind howled rather than blew, as if a giant bartender had stuffed the entire sea into a shaker and shaken it violently.

For a moment, it was difficult to distinguish between water and sky.

The invisible moisture was violently shaken into a torrential rain, and from the billions of needles, it violently drenched everything in this sea area.

Amid howling winds and torrential rain, the mixed-race individuals from various factions trudged through the grey water with immense difficulty.

Not long ago, they burned the forests on Bellow Island to ashes with their own hands. The torrential rain turned the area into a murky, gray-black mud. Every step they took into the mud felt like nature's revenge on them.

The heavy rain stung my face, and in the fierce wind, every step was so difficult.

Under normal circumstances, the hybrids could easily board the ship regardless of the storm.

But now, they are suffering from unknown diseases, and their violent coughs rise and fall, sounding as if they are providing accompaniment to this symphony of wind and rain.

Each cough triggers a tremor throughout their body, forcing them to stop their already unsteady steps, either hunching over like shrimp or leaning on their equally shaky companions to barely maintain their footing.

The mixed-race group of handsome men and beautiful women all looked sickly at this moment, their faces sallow and their eyes cloudy, reflecting the chaos of the storm, only seeking the last bit of light in their vision—the high beams of the ship's headlights.

"What a mess." Nuwa casually wiped her face, but it was covered in rain again in the next moment, so she didn't bother to wipe it anymore.

Turning to look at Yuan Zhisheng, who was being helped along by his junior, Zhou Minhao, and who could barely stand, he asked a rather hurtful question: "Will you be able to get on the ship later if you're like this?"

Yuan Zhisheng's head was dizzy and he was weak from a high fever, which made his brain almost numb. Rainwater was running down his hair and across his burning forehead, but he could hardly feel anything.

The wind howled in his ears, and the heavy rain obscured his vision. Yuan Zhisheng could not even see or hear what Nuwa was saying. He could only subconsciously nod at Nuwa and force a smile.

To be honest, Yuan Zhisheng was quite grateful to Nuwa.

Nuwa and Asou Makoto have been taking Erii around lately, and Erii is clearly having a great time, with a smile on her face every day.

During the final battle, she stood in front of the dangerous 'Lu Mingfei' and saved Erii several times. Now, she has even sent people to help them leave Bello Island.

After things recovered, we should properly thank the old church.

Erii, supporting the equally confused Sakura Yabuki, glanced worriedly at Chisei Gen and then turned to Makoto Aso.

A small moon mirror always floats above Asou Makoto's head, shielding him from the wind and rain. When he sees Erii looking over, he affectionately strokes Erii's wet red hair: "Don't worry."

"When I returned to the ship, I studied the diseases they were infected with and made corresponding medicines."

"Hmm!" Erii was finally relieved. She knew that Aso-neechan was particularly skilled in pharmaceuticals, so she quickened her pace, trying to get back to the ship as soon as possible.

The Snake Clan is in the best situation, thanks to the support of the Old Church. The believers of the Old Church, though coughing, all have rosy complexions and are in high spirits.

It was only because the rain was too heavy; otherwise, with their rosy complexions, anyone could tell that they weren't sick at all.

In comparison, the other forces were in a much more tragic and miserable state. The gangways on their original ships had been lowered, but the rain was torrential and the waves were towering.

The rainwater mixed with the waves turned the boarding gangway into a waterfall. The steel steps were icy cold and slippery, no different from a 'ladder to the sky'.

For these weak and feeble-blooded mixed-race individuals, their steps were unsteady and weak, and they could barely grip the wet and cold railings. Every step they took almost drained their remaining strength.

Even worse, the uncontrollable coughing that would rise from the lungs from time to time could easily cause the mixed-race person to lose strength due to coughing, and slip and fall backward. If it weren't for the fellow patients behind him barely holding him up, he might have slid straight into the sea.

The situation in Kassel was slightly better because the warships dispatched transport ships.

The school workers on the ship were decaying internally, but the decay was short-lived. If they could endure the pain, they could still manage to drive the amphibious transport boat back and forth to the shore to pick up people.

The students were taken to lifeboats at the bottom of the warship, and cranes could automatically lift them up, unlike other forces that had to painfully climb a 'ladder to heaven'.

Silence reigned on the amphibious transport ship. The students were all resting listlessly, except for Fingel and his group, who were having a great time using the secret technique of telepathy.

"The ancient city and the underground river are definitely our church's backup plan, there's no mistake. So many people were injured, and even Lu Mingfei's mysterious backer, Lu Mingze, was unconscious, but we are all fine."

Chu Zihang supported his still unconscious father, Chu Tianjiao, with one hand and nodded gently: "That ancient city feels very familiar and attracts me. It must be the church's method."

"So what exactly are the ancient city and the underground river?" Susie was very confused and wanted to find out.

Faced with this question, no one could answer it. Even the most learned Fingel shook his head and sighed, "We can only ask Mr. Fool when he restarts the gathering in three months."

“Ancient city, underground river—it’s clear at a glance that this is an extraordinary existence, beyond our current reach.” Seeing this, Chen Motong didn’t ask any more questions about the ancient city, but instead turned to look at the location of Bello Island: “But won’t the sinking of the island really affect Mr. Fool’s plans?”

“No,” Fingel explained. “Mr. Fool has already said that the purpose of faking the Black King Hatchery is to make more people believe it, thereby creating waves in the river of fate.”

“Essentially, as long as there are enough people who believe this is the Black King’s incubation ground and that the Black King Nidhogg is inside, Bellow Island itself is irrelevant.”

Chen Motong understood, and then helped Caesar and Lu Mingfei change the hot towels on their foreheads: "So this group mission has finally come to a successful conclusion."

"Everyone else in the world is losing money, but we're the only ones making a profit."

At this point, Chen Motong wrung out a towel and looked at Susie again: "Right, we are the Lady of the Wheel of Fate, capable of making Odin suffer~"

That's true. All the mixed-race forces around the world that got involved suffered casualties, heavy losses, and didn't make any profit at all.

No matter how much dragon blood material we obtained from previous dragon hunts, it's meaningless if there's no one around!

In the final battle in the core area, whether it was the second-generation dragon servants, the third-generation dragon servants, or the group of dead servants brought by Odin, all of them caused considerable casualties to the hybrids of various forces.

With so many people lost, it's impossible to replenish them with just a portion of dragon blood materials.

For all the factions, if they can successfully defeat the Black King, protecting the honor of the world can be considered their 'return on investment'.

But now the Black King is not dead. He has even created amazing things like the Ancient City and the Dark River, and declared that all the traitors will die on the day of his return.

All parties involved have really suffered a huge loss this time.

The Old Church is different. Its strategic direction has been successfully completed, which has made all mixed-race people in the world have a deep belief in the Black King Hatchery on Bello Island.

The church members also gained something from it.

For example, Chen Motong himself, through repeatedly infiltrating Lu Mingfei's dream, has almost finished digesting the Dream Walker, and is about to advance and possess an incomplete mythical creature form;
For example, Chu Zihang successfully advanced in the mission; Susie completely absorbed the Calamity Priest by using Odin's position; and Nuwa also successfully absorbed the Dawn Knight by using Lu Mingfei's position before parting ways with them.

All things considered, the Old Church was arguably the biggest winner in the Hatchery incident.

If it weren't for the need to pretend to be sick to fit in, Susie would have already tickled Chen Motong: "Don't say anything, you saw how dangerous the situation was, I was risking my life."

"And the promotion ceremony is also very troublesome. You have to be unlucky for a whole month and can't have a single lucky moment."

Upon hearing this, Fingel retorted irritably, "Enough, enough. Your ritual is simple enough. The Calamity Priest can actively draw in misfortune; just draw it in for a month."

"My subsequent promotion ceremony is the real trouble. It requires me to foresee a disaster involving high-level forces. Where am I supposed to foresee that?"

Chen Motong originally wanted to say something, but upon hearing Fingel's words, she immediately shut her mouth. Compared to Susie and Fingel, her subsequent promotion ceremony was much simpler.

All it takes is for tens of thousands of people to consume a magic potion amidst their shared emotions, and all it takes is a large sum of money to organize a carnival in some region of Europe or America.

If you're willing to wait, you can even save some money by simply going to a carnival. Many places in Europe and America have all sorts of carnivals every year, so it's not difficult at all.

Susie, upon hearing Fingel's words, immediately had an idea: "It would certainly be difficult for you to make the prediction yourself, but what if you ask someone else to do it? For example, Fenrir."

When the island of Bello was first set up, both Fingel and Susie had met Fenrir and knew that this king of the earth and mountains was not very smart, but his status was high enough.

According to Fenrir's ascension ceremony, it involves a disaster affecting a high-ranking individual? Why not just have Fenrir find a deserted area, cause an earthquake, and that would be the end of it?
Fingel was taken aback at first, then overjoyed: "Susie, you're a real genius! I'll contact Junior Sister Xia Mi as soon as we get back!"

Although Fingel's potion hasn't been fully digested yet, at least the ritual is starting to take shape!

After discussing everyone's digestion progress, the transport boat arrived below the warship and was lifted up by a crane.

"Fingal!" Eva had been waiting at the ship's side for a long time. Seeing her lover return safely, she didn't care about pretense anymore. She excitedly ran a few steps and threw herself into Fingal's arms.

Upon seeing this scene, Chen Motong, who had originally wanted to follow Fingel to see how he would negotiate the ritual with Xia Mi, shook her head, picked up Caesar in one hand and Lu Mingfei in the other, and turned to leave.

Susie first glanced at Chu Zihang, then at Chu Tianjiao: "Uncle, over here...?"

"I can just do it myself."

Seeing this, Susie stopped pressuring him. She figured she could be more attentive once Chu Tianjiao woke up. So she picked up the Renata and followed Chen Motong.

Chu Zihang watched the two leave, then turned to look at the Lionheart Society members and executive force members who were almost too exhausted to return to their dormitories, and sighed silently.

First, he took his father to the empty dormitory that Eva had prepared in advance, then went back to the deck and carried the executive department and Lionheart Society members one by one back to their respective dormitories.

(End of this chapter)