My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Xia Zuo listened for a moment, and a not-so-good thought popped into his head.

He had heard the name Vasaksat from Christo.

The alien legion of the stars that is invading this planet is the vanguard of Vasaksat.

It is conceivable that Vasaksat was the leader of the entire legion.

Then, considering that the Church of the Otherworldly Demons had gathered all the Otherworldly Demons and were holed up in their headquarters, completely ignoring the situation on the ground...

Could it be that... Vasaksat has already arrived at the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworldly Demons?!

All the Otherworldly Demons are currently giving Vasaksat a grand welcome somewhere within the Church headquarters!?

Chapter 61 Sacrifice

Xia Zuo forced himself to calm down.

He knew he was getting closer to the truth, but he didn't forget that he was in the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworldly Demons. He kept in mind that the magnificent scene and peaceful atmosphere before him were products of distorted senses.

The Blood Servant lingered around the ventilation shaft for a while, and after confirming that there were no guards or surveillance devices in the corridor, it cautiously floated out and searched the interrogation room, prison, and other rooms that might be holding "Lone Peak" amidst the music.

Apart from a few people, almost no one in the temple knew the layout of the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworld.

Those in the know were all high-ranking decoders in the Decipherers' Hall; there were three of them in total.

Rexor explained that they were reformed Outlanders, special humans who were originally Outlanders but were transformed into humanoid beings after being inspired by the Temple.

Generally speaking, once a demon falls into the hands of the Temple, it has only one path: death.

However, a very few demons who hold high positions within the church still have some value in being recruited.

For example, Kadum, who has octopus-like ears, was once the chief clerk of the Church of the Otherworldly Warden, responsible for compiling and managing documents related to punishment, such as trial drafts and arrest warrants.

Kadum originally held a high position in the Church of the Otherworldly Demons, but due to the church's strict management, he had never left the prison office and was completely unaware of the layout of the headquarters.

However, he recorded the situation in the church prison.

He meticulously recorded information such as the shift changes of prison guards, the composition of the guard team, and the prison passageways, and handed it all over to the Temple in its entirety—the method of submission was that the person in charge of persuading surrenders still read his memories.

If the Church of the Otherworldly Demons hadn't undertaken extensive renovations to its headquarters over the years, the prison's layout was unlikely to have changed. The enemies imprisoned there needed constant monitoring, and renovations would only create unnecessary chaos.

Xia Zuo's destination was a room with an obelisk placed at the entrance.

The obelisks will record the names and crimes of those being judged in the script of the Church of the Otherworld.

The Church of the Otherworld's punishment for traitors is the Obelisk torture—the executioner lifts the prisoner up, keeping him supine, and then presses him against an obelisk, allowing the obelisk's sharp points and edges to pierce the prisoner's abdomen. Blood flows down the grooves on the obelisk, eventually dripping into the sewers.

The surface of the stone tablet, stained with blood over the years, is covered with bloodstains. There are also blood streaks formed from dried blood on the base of the tablet, extending from the edge of the base all the way to the sewer pipe opening.

But if reflected in distorted senses, a different picture emerges:

A bright beam of light streamed down from the ceiling, reflecting off the inscribed stone tablet. The reflected light fell on the surrounding smooth stone walls, refracting the text on the tablet onto the surface.

This is a place of trial imbued with a sense of sanctity.

The prisoners who died on the obelisk would sleep peacefully, curled up in a serene position, embracing the obelisk's pointed tip that pierced through their abdomen, as if they were hugging a soft pillow.

It is conceivable that once his body withers and his arms are too weak to maintain their current posture, his corpse will spread out like a blooming flower.

When Xia Zuo saw this scene, he knew he was too late.

Although Xia Zuo had never seen what "Lone Peak" looked like, nor did he know how "Lone Peak" stole intelligence, nor how "Lone Peak" contacted the Temple or cooperated with Rexor, the only person who could be here in human form to be tried and punished as a traitor was "Lone Peak".

The Church of the Otherworldly Demons swiftly executed "Lone Peak".

Based on his professional experience, Xia Zuo judged that "Gu Feng" died 10 to 15 days ago, that is, within one or two days after he delivered the intelligence container, he was executed.

Xia Zuo sat in the alchemy room, looking at the image of the Blood Element servant before him, and bowed slightly in respect to the hero who sacrificed himself for the temple.

Shazo brought up Rexor's perspective.

The bald man was currently driving a "borrowed" mountain bike, speeding along a muddy mountain road.

Shazo manipulated the red vest and used a thin, bright red thread to describe to Rexor what he had seen and heard at the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworldly Demons.

Upon seeing the words outlined in red, Rexol slammed on the brakes. The mountain bike left two long tire tracks on the muddy road.

"Sigh..." Rexor sighed, his face full of exhaustion, and his bald head seemed to have many more wrinkles.

“We…failed…” Rexol pulled out his flask, gulped down several mouthfuls, sat on the car seat, looked up at the sky, and closed his bloodshot eyes.

Xia Zuo believed that the strong bald man could pull through, so he abandoned words of comfort and instead wrote with red thread:

"It wasn't entirely fruitless. At least we know that the bone sac inventory at the headquarters of the Alien Group was completely wiped out by the Alien Demon Church. Moreover, I discovered that the major project the Alien Demon Church is preparing may be related to Vasaksat."

Rexor heard the red thread twitching rapidly in the air, creating the swishing sound of words.

He opened his eyes and read the text before him, his gaze instantly sharpening. "Vasaksat...this...this Star Demon we've only heard of by name, but never truly faced, has actually arrived at the Church of the Star Demons?! How did it get here? The cosmic boundary above the Eastern Continent has never been breached..."

“I’m not sure if Vasaksat has arrived yet,” Chazo wrote. “It may be on its way, or it may be right at the ‘door’.”

Rexor pondered for a moment, put away the flask, and gripped the handlebars with both hands. "I need to hurry and rejoin Ceritus and the others. Once we return to the Temple, I'll propose a state of total war to the Council of the Two Temples! Shazo, go find Christo and tell her about Vasaksat's possible appearance at the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworld, and... and the fall of 'Lone Peak,' so she can inform the key figures of the Two Temples."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Xia Zuo was about to get up when he quickly sat back down and continued writing:

"I plan to use Blood Element servants to infiltrate deep into the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworld and continue to gather intelligence."

“No, Shazo, this is too dangerous.” Rexor said solemnly, “You are the only pure-blood mage in the temple whose bloodline characteristics have not been discovered by the Church of the Otherworldly Demons. We have already lost ‘Lone Peak’ and cannot let you put yourself in danger again. If the Church of the Otherworldly Demons gets hold of your bloodline, they will soon deconstruct the blood magic principles of bloodline servants and fill the blood magic gap caused by the loss of your bloodline.”

After Rek'Sorrow finished speaking, a look of confusion flashed across his face, but it quickly disappeared.

"Master, one should strive to be a hero in life, and even in death, one should be a hero among the dead." Xia Zuo translated a classic quote from his previous life and continued:

"The fearless spirit of 'Lone Peak' inspired me. Although I don't know his past deeds or how he became a demon, that doesn't stop me from taking him as a role model."

Shazo looked at the silent Rexor and continued:

"Besides, think about it. If I go a little deeper, I might see what the Church of the Otherworldly Demons is doing with the bone sacs, right? Maybe a complete troop deployment map is right there on the table around the corner. The price I have to pay is very minor compared to the risks I take and the gains we make. At worst, I can just stay in the temple for the rest of my life and never go anywhere else."

“Shazo…” Rexor took a deep breath and spoke slowly in the breeze of his ride, “Alright… go. But you must promise me that no matter what you see or hear, don’t delve into its meaning. Just record it. Never let your distorted senses or the words of the demons lead you astray.”

“I promise you.” Xia Zuo nodded. “I have a feeling that even if Vasaksat stood in front of me, I wouldn’t be affected by it.”

Shazo stood up, walked to the door, and went to explain the situation to Christo.

Rexol gripped the throttle. The roar of the mountain bike echoed through the forest, disappearing into the splashing mud and water.

Chapter 62 Plane Projection

While Rexor headed west to the anti-magic field, Shazo was slowly exploring the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworld.

Besides Kadum, there are two other high-level codebreakers in the temple who control the headquarters of the Church of the Otherworld.

Margolan comes from the breeding area of ​​the church headquarters, while Kirk is the supervisor of the reptile area.

When the two were still Otherworldly, their range of movement within the church headquarters was much greater than that of Kadum.

Margolan is responsible for making and transporting feed, cleaning the livestock sheds regularly, and giving the livestock regular checkups.

The reptile area under Kirk's jurisdiction, together with the aquatic, flying, amphibious, and burrowing areas, forms the biological breeding area of ​​the church headquarters.

Margolan and Kirk each contributed all their memories, providing the temple with a small portion of the map of the Otherworldly Church.

Starting from the obelisk where the "lone peak" met its tragic end, walk straight along the widest corridor, and go up any stairs that lead upwards to investigate.

If, after climbing the stairs, you find that the doors to the rooms on the next floor are arched and there are signs with animal images hanging on the doors, then you are close to the animal breeding area.

If a license plate has a mortar and pestle pattern, it's either in the pharmaceutical area or near the breeding area.

The abstract map routes caused Xia Zuo's blood element servants to become completely disoriented within the headquarters of the Otherworldly Church.

Xia Zuo had to find paper and pen in the alchemy room desk and hastily draw a map of the headquarters of the Otherworldly Church.

To prevent his blood servants from getting lost, Xia Zuo left tiny bloodstains on the wall to mark his path, so as to avoid going around in circles.

At the same time, he can also more accurately measure the area, room size and building structure of the Church of the Otherworld headquarters by sensing the distance and location of the blood points.

About five hours later, as Rexor rode his "borrowed" mountain bike on his way, dozens of hand-drawn maps filled with route diagrams appeared on the desk in front of Shazo.

Xia Zuo discovered a strange place.

As Rexor and Ceretus ascended to the summit of the Mogus Mountains, Shazor, through the perspective of his Blood Servant, witnessed the fleshy wall that covered the entire sky.

Note that it covers the entire sky.

Above their heads, and in every place within sight, there was no blue sky, sunshine, or white clouds, only fleshy walls.

In other words, the area of ​​the flesh wall would be at least several million square kilometers.

This is the result obtained through direct observation with the naked eye.

However, after measuring the church headquarters on the flesh wall, Xia Zuo discovered that the headquarters' area was at most only two or three hundred thousand square meters, roughly equivalent to 30 to 40 football fields put together.

The data obtained from this on-site measurement is far different from the data obtained from visual observation of the flesh wall; the former is only about 1/3333 of the latter.

Why is this?

Xia Zuo frowned and remained silent, completely puzzled.

He posed the question to the bald man who was riding a bicycle.

After reading the red text in front of him, Rexor deduced:

"I suspect it's due to [plane projection]. The headquarters of the Church of the Otherworld is probably located at the boundary between the natural world and the dark chamber plane. The church headquarters used the [proportional reduction property] between the sub-plane and the natural world to enlarge the area of ​​the physical wall thousands of times and project it into the natural world."

The relationship between nature and the sub-plane can be understood as two nested circles with overlapping centers.

The larger circle represents nature, while the smaller annulus represents a secondary plane.

Suppose we take a sector with a center angle of 30 degrees on each of two perfect circles.

Because a perfect circle in nature has a longer radius, while the radius of a perfect circle in a secondary plane is smaller, the side lengths and areas of the two sector intervals are different when the circular angles are the same.

It is obvious that the smaller the radius of the circle of the secondary plane, the shorter the side length of the sector of this circle, and the greater the difference from the circular sector in nature.

This is the [proportional reduction characteristic] of the sub-plane.

To expand on this a bit, let's consider this question:

Why can teleportation be achieved using a secondary plane?