Rhodes Island does not exist.

Share the food.

A surge.

Overflowing.

Perfect.

On the bodies of the deceased saints, the beasts were able to feast.

And this, perhaps, is also a manifestation of compassion.

[The floodwaters had just receded when a hare stopped amidst the donkey grazing and bellflowers, praying to the rainbow through a spiderweb.]

The filthy streets were set up with butcher stalls, and the small boats were once again being sailed by fishermen towards the sea that resembled the scene depicted in those woodblock prints.

Blood flowed—in Bluebeard's house, in the slaughterhouse, in the circus—the mark of God turned the doors and windows of those places pale. Blood and milk flowed together.

"Color Album" by Artur Rimbaud

Chapter 90, Chapter 89: Deep Sea Tales, Part 25: Why Worry About Having No Excuses?

Twenty minutes ago, probably no one would have imagined that the courtroom would look like this.

Because this place is so sacred, so majestic, and so inviolable.

But not anymore.

Judging from its current state, even the reefs on the coast that have been eroded by the waves for hundreds of years probably look more intact and elegant than it.

It was at this very moment that the doctor arrived in front of the courthouse and witnessed the ongoing proceedings.

So, what was reflected in the doctor's eyes?

What did he see?

He saw a man.

A priest dressed in a black ceremonial robe.

What is this priest doing?

The priest did nothing but kneel on the ground, holding his unruly head high, gazing at the sky.

A church dagger was stuck above his heart, and blood seeped out from the wound, soaking his clothes and dripping onto the ground.

There was no one else around except him, making it as eerie as a satirical religious painting.

So... was this suicide or homicide?

At this moment, the doctor had only one thought in his mind.

A man lay dead in the square, alone, a knife stuck in his chest. He either committed suicide for some purpose, or he was murdered and left here.

But this is a courtroom.

It was Levini's trial that I should have attended twenty minutes earlier.

The fact that there was no one around could be interpreted as them all being inside attending or observing the trial, but even so, this was still far too blatant.

No, wait.

A glimmer of hope flashed through the doctor's mind.

Perhaps this person is not dead yet; we cannot draw any conclusions rashly.

So he quickly ran towards the kneeling black-robed priest. At this point, there was no point in reasoning or pondering things that wouldn't lead to conclusions; it was better to focus on the life at hand.

"Can you still hear me? Are you still conscious?"

The doctor rushed over with his briefcase, squatted down in front of the man, opened the briefcase, and took out a medical flashlight, shining it into the man's pupils.

The priest did not make a sound.

His pupils remained stubbornly dilated, refusing to contract or yield to the bright light of the flashlight.

In other words—he is dead.

"How could this happen..." The doctor lowered his hand in disappointment.

If I hadn't gotten lost in my thoughts, I wouldn't have been so captivated by the stunning seaside scenery, which is why I'm only arriving now.

But if he hadn't arrived late, would he have been able to save this person?

Not at all.

After all, if he had arrived on time, he would be in the courtroom now, facing Levini's judgment.

But who exactly killed this priest?

In Iberia, where the church held almost complete power, would anyone really dare to publicly murder a priest? Or was it truly suicide? Or was it some kind of sacrificial act or something?

"what--"

Just as he was pondering these possibilities, a familiar voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw the bishop of the Yu Hui Cathedral, who had bid him farewell that morning, standing at the intersection directly opposite the square, with a dense array of armed troops behind him and the papal knight he had seen at the cathedral entrance that day.

"You murderer, what have you done?!" Upon seeing an acquaintance, the bishop did not exchange pleasantries but instead turned directly to the doctor and issued a strong accusation against him.

In fact, from the moment that "Ah" was uttered, the doctor had a vague idea that things would develop this way.

After all, there's no way to explain this scene, even if you wanted to.

There was no one around. The priest had a dagger stuck in his chest, and the man was squatting in front of him.

The doctor wasn't unaware of the principle of avoiding suspicion, but as a physician, he would only put avoiding suspicion after his own life.

Therefore, it is only natural that such a thing would happen.

But even if there is no room for explanation, an explanation must be given, because sins should never be easily admitted.

After all, even sins that have already been committed need to be embellished and hidden, let alone sins that have never been committed at all?

"I didn't do it! I just arrived and saw him lying on the ground, and I wanted to see if I could do some first aid. I'm a doctor!"

So the doctor vehemently argued his case.

He knew that arguments were futile, but remaining silent was tantamount to admitting guilt.

Because the other side spoke first.

"Don't try to glorify yourself with your profession! There's no one around except you. Do you think His Holiness the Cardinal committed suicide?!" the cardinal shouted sternly, leading his troops forward.

"Cardinal...?"

Upon hearing the term representing a title, the doctor paused for a moment, then slowly turned his gaze to the kneeling corpse beside him.

Was this corpse the Iberian cardinal? The de facto supreme ruler?

How could he have died here?

At that moment, countless possibilities related to this matter flashed through his mind.

But neither of these possibilities is related to suicide.

This cardinal definitely did not commit suicide.

However, the Doctor should be more concerned with his own safety than with the Cardinal.

"The prisoner is silent. Arrest him immediately! Take him to the courtroom!" the bishop shouted.

Tribunal?

Speaking of the courtroom, isn't Levini's trial still in session right now? How is she doing?

Overwhelmed by a multitude of events, the doctor's mind went blank. He could only stare blankly at the courtroom doors in the distance, imagining what might happen inside.

"Punishment troops, go up and handcuff the prisoners. The rest of you, come with me into the courtroom. There are definitely still enemies inside. Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

While the Doctor was still struggling to prioritize his thoughts, the Bishop had already arrived with his troops and ordered the fully armed soldiers to subdue him and head towards the courtroom.

"Wait!" More concerned about the situation inside the courtroom than his own safety, the doctor exclaimed, "You just said there were enemies in the courtroom, what's going on? What happened?"

"Can you still pretend you know nothing now?" The bishop glared at the doctor. "You are clearly the one who colluded with someone from the inside to lure the cardinal out and kill him. Stop pretending to be ignorant!"

"Please! I really just arrived, I just wanted to save his life! If I really came with some ulterior motive, I wouldn't have been able to pass through immigration. I was just late because I got lost! If the time were right, I should be in the courtroom right now attending Levini's trial! So let me go in with you and see what happened!"

The doctor knew that if he didn't say something now, he might never have the chance again, so he could only shout his defense at the top of his lungs, each sentence accompanied by an exclamation mark.

“...But the suspicion against you still cannot be cleared.” The bishop’s gaze darkened slightly.

"Take him with you."

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you for the blades and monthly passes, thank you.

Chapter 91, Chapter Ninety: Deep Sea Tales - The Feast of Twenty-Six

What did the girl see?

From an outsider's perspective, it's unlikely they could possibly see anything at all.

But the doctor will never forget what he saw when he pushed open the door to the courtroom.

-

The time is 1:05.

For many normal families on Terra, this is the time to relax on the sofa after lunch.

The doctor, handcuffed, followed the group of soldiers known as the Punishing Army and the bishop leading the group towards the courtroom.

The first thing he smelled was blood.

As an experienced doctor, he was more sensitive to this smell than anyone else.

But the smell was so strong that even ordinary people with rhinitis could probably smell it easily.

After all, people are always particularly sensitive to foul smells, and only secondarily to other smells.

And the level of bloodiness has undoubtedly reached that level.

In other words, it was definitely not just blood, but rather the smell that would develop from a mixture of various blood-related substances piled together.

body temperature.

Temperature.

Room temperature.

Like cooking soup, like fermentation, it evaporates the aroma and steams out the fragrance.

A damp, fishy smell mixed with the peculiar odor unique to living organisms permeated the two mahogany doors, spreading throughout the front hall's porch.

"Behind this door."

The bishop nodded to one of the officers of the Punishment Army.

The officer, having received instructions, led several team members behind him to the door in a silent press. After exchanging glances, they simultaneously raised their legs and delivered a powerful kick to both doors.

"boom!"

The door lock shattered, and wood chips flew everywhere.

A magnificent scroll of colorful paintings unfolded before everyone's eyes in an instant, rushing towards them.

-

What exactly was that scene like?

Even during the Doctor's decades-long journey through Terra, this was probably the first time he had ever witnessed such a magnificent sight.

He had seen Victoria's prison for the infected, a place like a gladiatorial arena where the local elites forced the infected to fight each other in iron cages until one of them was completely defeated.

Sometimes, the powerful and wealthy would throw the ferocious beasts into cages and let them tear each other apart with the infected.

Sometimes, when big spenders come to watch the games, they will have dozens of ferocious beasts and hundreds of prisoners thrown in at the same time for their own amusement, and tell them that if they can survive to the end, they can be released from prison.

In the end, only one person can survive, but there are more cases where everyone perishes together.

But whether they both perish or one survives, the Colosseum after the dust settles will inevitably be a horrific sight.

However, even in that scenario...

Even that scene was far less impactful than what he was seeing right now.