A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 1045

Chapter 1045: Chapter 719: Soul Loss Syndrome Chapter 1045: Chapter 719: Soul Loss Syndrome When Duanmu Huai returned to Arkham City once more, everything remained orderly as ever.

The only thing to mention is…
“Mistelina, what in the world is with that crowd of people outside?”

After Duanmu Huai returned to the city, the first thing he did was to find Mistelina and voice his confusion.

Upon his return to Arkham City, the first thing Duanmu Huai saw was the long line of people queued up outside the domain's gate, which puzzled him. Considering it was the deep winter in the Faelun world, weren't these people afraid of freezing to death by aimlessly coming here?

“Ah, I was just about to report to you, Great Judge. Currently, there is a curse known as Lost Souls Syndrome spreading throughout the Northern Lands, and those… are refugees seeking sanctuary. In fact, this matter has a little to do with you.”

“Lost Souls Syndrome? What is that? How is it related to me?”

Upon hearing Mistelina's reply, Duanmu Huai looked puzzled, but Mistelina quickly started to fill him in on the details.

Previously, after Duanmu Huai had dealt with that envoy of the True God and their base, he had shared the information with all the churches in Arkham City. Frankly speaking, it was akin to how a police department shares case files with other stations, asking them to be on the lookout for similar incidents within their jurisdiction.

Putting aside Evil Gods like Shawl, benevolent Deities like Tyler naturally would not stand by idly. Upon further investigation, everyone was shocked. They had always assumed that this so-called Supreme True God was perhaps a newly risen cult, but careful investigation revealed that this faction had been lurking in the Northern Land for many years, and all the while spreading the Lost Souls Syndrome curse.

Simply put, those afflicted with this curse start by acting groggy and dazed, then appear soulless, left with just an empty shell. Subsequently, they disappear, and when found again, they have joined the cult and become its fervent believers.

For instance, Amelia and Kasim also investigated this matter and found out from the wife of a farmer outside Baldur's Gate that her husband had had an encounter with these mysterious individuals. Subsequently, he changed completely, turning from a spirited young man into one seeming to suffer from dementia, and then he just vanished.

Following the trail, Amelia and the others tracked down a base of the Supreme True God nearby. To their surprise, the missing farmer had already turned into a complete zealot and an important member of that place.

Of course, Amelia's group later stormed, overcame the cult hideout, and captured people like the farmer, who were then sent to jail. However, no matter how he was interrogated, the farmer would repeat, over and over, that he worshipped the only True God, who would eventually devour the world…
The reason this affliction was named Lost Souls Syndrome was that, after inspections by priests and Sacred Knights, it was shocking to discover that these individuals had no soul within them; their souls were completely untraceable!

Now, this was strange.

Logically, if the soul is annihilated, the body must be dead. And if a body is alive without the soul, it should be classified among the Undead Creatures. However, these people were not Undead Creatures; they lacked the characteristics of the Undead. In contrast, their behavior was almost indistinguishable from when they were alive, except for the loss of soul and the fanatical worship of the supposed Supreme True God.

“So, what's with all those people outside?”

“Ah…”

At this point, Mistelina let out a helpless sigh.

“For some reason, the investigation results were leaked, leading to widespread panic. Many people are scared of this terrible curse, and they believe that they can avoid contracting it on this land protected by the Deities. That's why they are rushing here in such a panic…”
“Have there been any cases of Lost Souls Syndrome among our people?”

“No.”

Mistelina shook her head.

“But we have found several patients with Lost Soul Disease among the immigrants; they have already been isolated. The responsibility for researching and developing treatment programs has been handed over to various temples.”

“How were the disease victims discovered?”

“It seems that they can be seen through by some sort of soul detection Divine Art… Sorry, I don't understand the magic of this world very well.”

“Is it happening everywhere?”

“Yes… According to reports, it seems that the probability of occurrence is higher in remote towns and villages. We still do not understand the infection mechanism of this curse. I have ordered the Night Guard to take charge of maintaining order, and for now, things are still under control.”

“How many people are infected in total?”

“The methods of communication in this world are rather primitive; based on the verifiable intelligence we have collected so far, at least eight hundred to a thousand people have been infected with this curse.”

“That's not a small number for this world.”

“Is this related to the Chaos Evil Gods you mentioned, Great Judge?”

“No, I don't think this is the work of the Chaos Evil Gods; this is not their style.”

In response to Mistelina's questions, Duanmu Huai shook his head. Such methods did not seem like something the Chaos Evil Gods would do, nor would the fat otaku create such a strange plague. He was more inclined to believe it was someone within the world of Faelun stirring trouble, but as for who it might be… that was not easy to say.

“Has the Blade of Judgment reported anything?”

“The Blade of Judgment squad has destroyed several Cult strongholds, but nothing significant was found.”

“I see.”

After listening to Mistelina's report, Duanmu Huai thought for a moment and nodded.

“I'll go see those Lost Soul Disease patients first… Oh, and call Mary too.”

“Yes, Grand Judge-sama.”

Soon, Duanmu Huai arrived in front of Tyler Church, located within Arkham City; most of the Lost Soul Disease patients discovered earlier had already been taken in by the Tyler Church, and Mary had also met up with Duanmu Huai, except…

“What's her condition?”

Looking at Shirley standing not far behind, Duanmu Huai frowned and turned to ask Mary, who looked puzzled and tilted her head slightly.

“Shirley has been with me all this time, is that not okay?”

“It's not that it isn't okay, but… never mind.”

Duanmu Huai looked toward Shirley, who was standing a short distance away and respectfully bowed to him. However, Duanmu Huai always felt that something was not quite right. How to put it, he felt that the way Shirley looked at him was not entirely normal, somewhat akin to the fervor of a fanatic fan seeing their idol star…

“`
It must be my imagination, right?

I mean, come to think of it, with the way I am, how could there possibly be anyone fanatically worshipping me?

I'm overthinking it, overthinking it.

Duanmu Huai withdrew his gaze, not giving it further thought.

“Alright, let's go in,” he said.

“Yes.”

Having explained their purpose, the priests of Tyler quickly led the two to the underground facility where the lost souls were contained, and also started to fill them in on the condition of these patients.

“Although it's called soul-loss, their behavior doesn't show any abnormalities, and they're even quite lucid. The only thing worth mentioning is their extreme fanaticism towards that so-called Supreme True God…”

“Are you sure they haven't just been reading too much of the He-Man Scripture?”

Duanmu Huai chuckled, and the priest gave him a strange look.

“I'm sure… Grand Judge-sama, it should not be the case.”

The so-called He-Man Scripture was a book written by somebody after Sherrick ascended to godhood, which basically says all other deities are false gods and only Sherrick himself is the True God. So, he had someone write the He-Man Scripture, its content nothing more than how great Sherrick is and that he is the only true deity of this world.

Of course, it would have been fine if it was just for self-entertainment, but whether it was due to the writer's compelling style or some other reason, after the He-Man Scripture was completed, everyone who read it really became brainwashed, turning into Sherrick's most loyal and insane followers.

Seeing this, Sherrick thought, hey? This book is actually quite useful. Let me have a look.

And then… well, Sherrick went mad.

To read one's autobiography and then become fanatical and vain to the point of insanity–this deity was truly unique in history, ancient and modern, here and abroad.

The funniest part was, the way to resist the power of this book was actually very simple: just read “The True Chronicle of Sherrick” before the He-Man Scripture. Simply put, the difference between the two is much like that between the “Three Kingdoms” and “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”… After you've read the “official history,” you won't be confused when reading the He-Man Scripture.

So, in the end, the He-Man Scripture is just like a novel from the “Romance” genre. Sherrick, after reading it, found it conflicted with his memory–Am I really like that in the book? Am I not? Am I? Or not? Am I? Or not?

And then he went mad.

This shows that even blowing smoke up someone's skirt can be dangerous.

While they talked, the three arrived at the place where the patients with soul-loss were confined.

To Duanmu Huai's recollection, it looked somewhat like a mental hospital, with each room separated and a small window in each door. The Sacred Knights and Guards of Tyler stood on both sides of the corridor, and from inside the rooms came angry shouts and curses–indeed, it was just like a cross between a mental hospital and a prison.

“You haven't found any way to deal with this?” he asked.

“No.”

The priest shook his head.

“We are also puzzled. Clearly, their souls have vanished, yet their bodies are still alive. They don't look like undead creatures; they can be in sunlight and need food and water. If it weren't for their fanatical worship of the Supreme True God and the divine arts detecting that there really are no souls in their bodies, one would hardly think there's anything wrong with them.”

“The Supreme True God is the only deity!! You dogs of false gods!”

“Let us out! When the Supreme True God reappears, it will destroy all of you……!!”

However, before the priest could finish speaking, the shouts of those people could be heard from the rooms around them. They stuffed their faces into the window openings and began to yell loudly, startling Mary, who was somewhat at a loss–she had never seen such a scene before.

“Hmph!”

Duanmu Huai's expression darkened as he heard the yelling. With a cold snort, the next moment his Fearful Aura spread instantly, and the shouting lost souls suddenly fell silent, as if choked.

“You should starve them for ten or fifteen days, see if they dare to spout nonsense again,” he suggested.

Duanmu Huai looked towards the priest, who shook his head.

“That's not the Tyler way of doing things.”

“Alright, even though I knew that,” Duanmu Huai responded wryly, then turned to the guards.

“Bring these lost souls out.”

“Yes.”

On Duanmu Huai's command, the guards promptly unlocked the doors and brought out the lost souls, now trembling in Duanmu Huai's Fearful Aura, barely able to stand, collapsing to the ground like their legs were made of jelly. Despite the guards' help, they seemed unable to stand up from the ground.

“It's up to you now, Mary.”

Duanmu Huai turned his head to look at Mary, speaking to her.

“You check these people out.”

“Uh… I know, it may be hard to describe…

“Would you like me to do it again?”

At Mary's response, Duanmu Huai quietly pulled out the Pink Book, and seeing his action, Mary instantly blanched and vigorously shook her head.

“No, no, no, no need!! I can express it through drawing!!”

Remembering her past experience, Mary truly did not dare to let Duanmu Huai use that move again.

Chapter end

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