Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 786 - 677: Cleanup Operation
September is near.
A sudden storm hit the coastal region of the Phaletis Kingdom along the Black Sea.
Swish... swish... swish...
In the midst of the white, blurred curtain of rain, an abandoned manor stood quietly on the outskirts upstream of the Taim River, which runs through the Royal Capital Bekele, and beyond the city limits.
The wrought-iron gate was mottled and rusty, as if it could fall with a gentle push, and the windows and doors inside were damaged and incomplete, as if they had been looted several times. Wild grass, thorns, and even small shrubs had completely taken over every inch inside and outside the manor.
However, now.
The dilapidated main building of the manor was occupied by a group of uninvited guests after a simple repair, taking advantage of the storm that seemed to sever the world, to initiate a long-prepared conspiracy.
In the original banquet hall, a ghostly green campfire was burning fiercely, and prayers buzzing like flies urged people to vomit.
"Great Lord, 'God of Rotting Flies', 'Ruler of the Bottomless Swamp' Baalzebub...
make me your terror-bound child, sow your hatred within love, sow your doubt within trust...
make me your dread-bound child, sow your despair in hope, sow your darkness within light..."
A group of figures clad in linen robes with sickly complexions formed a circle around a mottled, filthy stone coffin. Each held an iron Holy Emblem engraved with rotting maggots, buzzing as they projected their gaze into the stone coffin at a pitch-black, thoroughly desiccated corpse.
Glug... glug...
Within the stone coffin, seemingly freshly unearthed from ancient ruins, strange ink-black liquid continuously flowed from the shriveled corpse and mingled with some malevolent energy rippling through the void, incessantly accumulating in the coffin.
Chaos amid revelry, lamentation amid celebration, the collapse of happy times... such were sources of power for certain evil existences. Although the cunning "God of Rotting Flies" had no plans to personally appear, He was prepared to offer His greetings to humanity's festivities.
And that is... the plague!
The foul liquid in the stone coffin was the most terrifying source of contagion. Once it finds its way into the Taim River, every single person in this vast city would have to face a death verdict!
While a group of Evil God Cultists was performing the Divine Art Orbit, two Holy Professionals with clearly higher ranks next to them revealed joy on their disease-ridden faces:
"Bauer, where did you find this ancient stone coffin buried with a disease-dead Extraordinary for hundreds of years? It's far more effective than what we originally prepared."
"Sir, I happened to visit the 'Crow Market' nearby before the gathering and found this item by sheer luck. The credit isn't mine; it's all the grace of the 'God of Rotting Flies'!"
"Well done, your merit will be recognized by..."
However, before he could finish his sentence.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Over twenty black spheres were hurled in through the broken holes in the building, and the massive flames accompanied by a terrifying shockwave sent the Evil God Cultists flying.
In quick succession, a team of twenty-four Crowmen, wearing bird-beak masks and clad in black leather, burst through the torrential rain, divine soldiers descending from the sky! The downpour not only provided cover for the crime but also blotted out their eyes and muffled their ears.
With two kinds of miniature bombs, the [Alchemy Bomb] and [Holy Salt Bomb], as the prelude, the Crowmen's short firearms and longswords were simultaneously unleashed.
The [Holy Salt Bomb] produced by Vulcan Metals Company was comparable to high-concentration Holy Water in effect, yet extremely economical, becoming the standard equipment for Crowman Teams across the countries of the Tulip Alliance.
Encountering something bizarre, they would fire a [Holy Salt Bomb] first as part of their basic operation, as they didn't care about wasting them.
"For Her Majesty the Queen, kill!"
"Kill—!"
"Run away!"
Without the ordinary citizens of the Royal Capital noticing, a covert search and annihilation operation had commenced systematically.
Knowing there were people with ill intentions on their turf and not taking action to preemptively defend, only to wait until the end for a final battle with an entirely prepared enemy, now that would be truly foolish.
Since the official coronation ceremony time was announced, under the command of the Military and Defense Departments, the Kingdom had already begun large-scale roadblock inspections on surrounding roads. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Many insignificant roles had actually been filtered out since then.
Even if a supernaturally powered Extraordinary could bypass the perimeter lockdown, they couldn't avoid interactions once in the capital; wherever they tread, traces would surely remain.
Pursued by intelligence personnel, they would naturally be tracked down back here.
The city was likewise not at peace today.
In the warehouse area near the Taim River.
A group of men with blood-red hands and fierce expressions now stared at a pile of wooden crates in the middle, looking at each other.
Yesterday, a large quantity of explosives disguised as fireworks had inexplicably been moved into the warehouse next to their temporary shelter, and then, naturally, they 'ended up in their hands'.
"This... boss, we're just here to see if there's any fish to catch in these muddy waters; is there really a need to go this far? This stuff of unknown origin is very suspicious!"
"Yeah, maybe we should ask the boss for instructions."
"What's there to be afraid of? With so many people causing trouble…"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The knocking outside the warehouse suddenly grew urgent, each knock more rapid than the last.
