章節 285: Chapter 285: The Corrupted
"What is that?"
Jimmy watched as his brother Pedro rummaged through the items, discovering some very delicate equipment.
"I don't know."
Pedro continued searching, finally finding a notebook and an ID from beside the box.
"This is a government ID."
Pedro's brow furrowed deeply.
"It belonged to a man, a government official, looks like he just came from the city."
After saying this, he tossed the ID to his brother Jimmy, who was keeping watch, and then flipped through the notebook.
He found a map and stood up to compare it.
"This man was either heading to or coming from..."
Jimmy stopped flipping through the notebook and leaned in closer.
Pedro pointed along the map and traced a line.
"He planned to take a shortcut uphill."
Then, Pedro pointed at the final destination noted in the notebook and looked at the recorded name.
"He was taking a shortcut to Maria Elena's house."
Jimmy gripped his shotgun, recalling the layout:
"Why? Is she a relative of Maria's?"
"I don't know, and maybe not. If he was a relative, why would he take a shortcut in the middle of the night?"
Pedro shook his head, putting away the notebook.
"It looks like he was going to check something out. But now we have a place to go, let's head to Maria's house first."
Pedro closed the notebook and the box, picked them up, and started walking uphill.
Jimmy scanned the area once more, shaking his head as he followed his brother.
Maria's house was among the residences near the farm, located at a corner of the farm with a path leading directly to the town.
Therefore, Pedro and Jimmy quickly arrived at Maria's home.
It was a very simple house with wooden ceiling panels.
Outside, there was a vegetable garden and a clothes drying area.
An old woman was just placing a bucket on a simple stove that had just been lit.
"Maria!"
The voice rang out near her, and Maria turned to see the guards from Antonio's farm, the Pedro brothers.
"How are you?" Pedro, carrying his shotgun, looked at Maria, his gaze sweeping around.
"It's been a while. We're here because of the gunshots last night. Did you hear them?"
Maria instinctively became wary and defensive.
"So, what brings you here?"
Pedro continued, "Jimmy and I took the dogs and patrolled the area. We found a body, a man's."
Pedro paused as Alex came out of the house.
"It seems he was headed to your place. Do you know what this is about? Was the man someone you know, or a guest of your family?"
Maria hesitated, her gaze fixed on Pedro as if trying to discern something, but ultimately she sighed, her expression complex.
"So it's like that. We've been waiting for him, waiting for him to deal with my son's issue,"
Pedro glanced at Alex standing in the doorway, frowning.
"You mean Urial?"
Maria nodded, her face numb: "He had to kill Urial, and Urial had to die by his hands."
Pedro and Jimmy exchanged a look, a foreboding sense rising in them, making their skin crawl.
"What's wrong with Urial?" Pedro asked.
"You should come in and see for yourself," Maria said flatly.
Pedro took a deep breath, looked at the dilapidated house, and stepped inside, shotgun in hand.
Following Alex's lead, what he saw lying on a bed was a shock to his system.
The man's body was swollen, covered in pustules.
This was the first time Pedro had seen such severe decay in someone still alive. From his experience, this was a person infected with the corrupted, though he had never seen such before, the term spontaneously came to mind.
"He's been decaying for a long time," Alex said from behind.
"We've all been waiting for someone to come and handle it."
Pedro covered his mouth and nose; he was already feeling unwell.
"It's all my fault." Maria's weary voice followed.
"I thought that by praying, Urial could be cured. We even went to the church to light candles..."
Hearing this, Pedro felt a surge of anger and turned back to Maria and her son Alex.
"The churches are all gone! Mrs. Maria!"
Seeing the mother and son fall silent, Pedro tightened his grip on the shotgun, his voice growing stern.
"Why didn't you tell us there was no church?"
"We were afraid to talk about it, afraid of being driven out by Antonio and the neighbors. We have nothing, nowhere to go."
Only Alex spoke up to explain.
"Damn it!" Pedro cursed, stepping back from the severely decayed Urial.
"So you never reported this to the authorities?"
"It was reported, a long time ago," Alex replied again.
...
The sun had just risen in the west.
The sunlight shone on the freshly tidied Pluto Church, bringing it back to life.
"After a busy day yesterday, it's good to see some results," York stood at the altar of the church, scanning the area.
The undamaged pews had been reused and reorganized back to their original positions.
Of course, there were still many empty spaces.
"But the most important thing right now is..."
York turned to face the incomplete image of Jesus. Naturally, it was impossible to craft a new statue in just one day.
"We need to get a new statue of Jesus."
To erect a new statue of Jesus, he needed better materials.
Marble, fine wood, brass, copper, gold, and so on.
These things inevitably required money.
"It turns out that the main difficulty is still money." York shook his head, sat down on the front pew facing the incomplete image of Jesus.
"Money makes the world go round."
His favorite spot was still the same.
Mirta had gone into town to the police station to look for cases of the corrupted, as the police station had people she knew, or nearly everyone in town was somewhat familiar.
So, for now, York was alone in Pluto Church.
"Let's give it a try..."
York glanced at the task window that appeared in the void. In addition to the ongoing random task, there was a daily fixed task of 0.5.
He wanted to test whether this church could truly function as a real church.
If the fixed task could be successfully completed here, it would mean that the church had the functions of a real church, otherwise he would have to find another place or acquire somewhere else.
Because only a church that could gather faith was a real church.
York closed his eyes and prayed.
"Lord, I am your faithful spokesman, York John..."
"Now I have come to another world, and I have found land not yet illuminated by Your glory..."
"This is not allowed, it shouldn't be like this, the most important thing is that evil lurks here, an insult to You..."
...
The only police station in Amara town.
Inside, there were only two police officers, one old and one young, both in uniform.
The older officer glanced at Mirta, who was dressed in a religious habit, and spoke:
"Mirta, you're back in your old habit. Have you forgotten what happened before?"
Mirta didn't respond to the question, instead flipping through the files in front of her.
"Lack, have there been any strange incidents lately?"
Lack, the chief of police here, commanded six subordinates
.
If anyone knew about the corrupted, it was him.
However, Lack shook his head: "What strange things could possibly happen?"
Continuing, Lack looked at Mirta, who was still searching for cases.
"Mirta, I know what you're trying to do, but you should know that remote and rural areas aren't suitable for the corrupted. They need more fresh blood to flourish..."
As he saw Mirta pause, he smiled: "I suppose I'm right, aren't I?"
Mirta glanced at Lack, an old acquaintance, and spoke calmly.
"The corrupted can appear anywhere."
Hearing this, Lack felt slightly uncomfortable and spread his hands.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any here. Go look somewhere else. Of course, if there really is something strange, I'll let you know immediately, since it's your duty. But didn't you come back here to rest?"
Mirta sighed and stopped flipping through the files, preparing to think of another approach.
"Rest doesn't mean I'll just keep resting."
"So I really admire you cleaners," Lack sincerely said.
In this world on the brink of collapse, the only ones who could offer salvation were the cleaners, a unique profession.
When the corrupted, those tainted by demons, appeared among the populace, it was necessary to report to the government, which would then send cleaners to handle the situation.
Thus, cleaners were respected by the populace, including this small-town police chief.
Because they were the only line of defense in this world.
So Lack didn't mind Mirta's casual attitude at all.
"Oh."
Mirta looked at Lack, her mind flashing with the image of the formidable Father York.
"Lack, the person you admire is going to change."
Lack raised an eyebrow, not understanding and assuming that another cleaner would be joining their small town of Amara.
"Are you leaving? Or is the government sending another cleaner?"
Mirta didn't explain, just picked up her coat, ready to head outside.
She needed to report back to Father York.
There might be corrupted cases in the future, but there were none here for now.
Just as she was about to leave, a pickup truck, even more rustic than her car, rushed up the street outside the police station.
Seeing the urgent braking, the screeching sound, Mirta could tell that the driver was in a hurry.
"Something big must have happened."
Mirta shook her head, putting on her coat.
"I'm heading back now, Lack."
"Okay." Lack frowned as he looked at the pickup truck outside. "If something really is going on, I'll let you know."
"Mm."
Mirta walked out unconcerned, spotting two men with anxious and very tense expressions getting out of the truck.
"Who is this?"
Mirta paused briefly, just outside the police station.
"Jimmy?"
She recognized one of the men, a former student of hers when she had been a teacher.
Of course, she knew Pedro as well, but she wasn't as close to him as she was to Jimmy.
Pedro, who went ahead, noticed Mirta but didn't care and walked past her into the station, while Jimmy also saw Mirta.
"Mirta?"
Jimmy stopped: "What are you doing here?"
By then, Pedro had already burst into the police station.
"There's been an incident! Lack! There's a corrupted at Maria's house! Urial has turned into a corrupted!"
His voice was loud enough that even Mirta could hear it; she widened her eyes, not responding to Jimmy.
"A corrupted?"
Mirta ignored Jimmy, turning to look.
...
"Amen."
York had prayed for a long time and opened his eyes, a trace of incredulity in their depths.
Indeed, the sound of the daily fixed task rang in his ears.
He heard it clearly.
"This works too?"
York looked at the incomplete image of Jesus, doubting himself for the first time.
The newly tidied Pluto Church could hardly be called a church.
Because the image of Jesus was incomplete, and the church had not yet been consecrated with mass or other sacred rites.
"Wait, it seems I haven't prayed outside yet; I've always completed the daily fixed tasks inside the church. Does this mean that as long as I pray, I can complete this fixed task anywhere..."
A storm of thoughts began in York's mind as he applied the daily 0.5 to his all-around physique.
[All-around Physique 115.5 increased to 116]
Through previous accumulation and today's 0.5, his physique finally reached the number 116.
But it didn't bring any related abilities.
Even if there were sensations, they were very basic, like increased strength and faster speed.
"That's not important. What's important is that this church can be used. Just get the image of Jesus right, and after a few sacramental blessings, it can accumulate the faith of the believers."
York sat thinking.
"I just don't know if Mirta will be able to find the corrupted. No matter what, the first step is definitely to understand and resolve the corrupted, to declare the return of the church, to announce that real clergy have appeared in this world."
So he hoped that Mirta would bring good news.
He also wanted to see what was so special about this corrupted, why it could evolve all kinds of rules and mechanisms, like not using electric lighting and so on.
He had secretly tried turning on the lights, but unfortunately, there were no anomalies.
This indicated that using electric lighting near corrupted or evil spirits could cause something to happen.
That is, the mental infection of the corrupted might have a range limit.
"I want to see how impressive you are."
York stared at the incomplete image of Jesus, muttering to himself.
Just then, York felt a stir in his heart and his consciousness delved into the 3D map.
From a God's-eye view, he looked towards two pickup trucks and a vehicle resembling a police car that had entered his 100-meter 3D map range.
"That's Mirta's car, and she's brought the police." York thought to himself.
"Did she find the corrupted?"
Thinking this, York stood up and walked towards the church entrance.
Just as he reached the front courtyard, the three vehicles, carrying a whirl of dust, rushed from the right and screeched to a halt on the road in front of the courtyard.
"It looks like..." York squinted his eyes as the vehicles abruptly stopped.
"There's a chance to witness a paranormal event in this world."
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