Above The Sky
Chapter 242 - 242 230 Spiritual Tool Church 33

242: Chapter 230: Spiritual Tool Church (3/3) 242: Chapter 230: Spiritual Tool Church (3/3) “Could it be an illusion?”

After several instances of alertly looking back due to the sensation of being watched, the squadron leader saw nothing.

Turning his head with some trepidation, the man couldn’t help but sigh internally, “It seems I’m only superficially sane, while the psychological aftermath of that war has penetrated deep into my marrow.”

“And who knows what those above are thinking, actually sending me back to the jungle, damn it.”

Because of his past exemplary performance in the Yingye Forests, the squadron leader, now supposed to be in retirement within the king’s troops, was given a heavy responsibility five years ago.

He needed to infiltrate the forests of Sertar Empire’s Southern Ridges, assist, help, support the local natives in resisting the imperial tyranny, establish modernized armament, and strike against the empire’s official domination in the Nanling Forests.

To tell the truth, the squadron leader really didn’t want to come—he indeed suffered no psychological barrier to jungles, but only an idiot would want to experience something like this a second time.

The squadron leader was a Crimson Person, and his dark red hair and deep red eyes declared this fact.

He was indeed an expert at stealth techniques.

For a full five years, the Imperial People had no clue about the operations his squad led amongst the colonies and autonomous regions of the Southern Ridges.

But the current situation, it obviously exceeded his range of experience.

“Stay alert, watch out for cracks in the rocks, they might harbor poisonous snakes or insects.”

He spoke, issuing commands, his pupils slit as a snake’s.

However, he didn’t rely on these eyes to perceive the world, but rather on two protrusions located at his forehead, heat sensing organs that detected heat.

This was the capital that allowed him to navigate freely in the darkness and forest, a thermal vision so acute that even the flapping of a mosquito’s wings was visible to him.

He didn’t see any signs of snakes or insects in this cavern, but better safe than sorry.

Moreover, in this kind of ancient subterranean cave network, strange and terrifying creatures could emerge at any moment.

The squadron leader’s cautious command was implemented—the team indeed became more careful with every crack and detail of the rock walls, as well as the small caves.

But among the few in special priest robes by the squadron leader’s side, one laughed.

“Captain, there’s no need to worry.”

A gentle and charming feminine voice with a trace of mechanical electronic sound rose, which, while seemingly warm and amicable, actually felt slightly uncomfortable, like a disguised tone, “The instrument isn’t reacting; there’s no life fluctuation worth noting within a three hundred meter radius centered on us.”

“…All right.

Monks, I know this will slow down the speed of the team.”

Turning his head to look at the group of monks dressed in black robes with silver patterns, the squadron leader furrowed his brows imperceptibly, then spoke as gently as possible, “What I mean is, in these unknown ruins that both of us are unfamiliar with, one cannot trust these instruments too much.”

“Not to mention, as far as I know, there are quite a few methods that could shield against the scanning of that instrument— whether it’s magical beasts or people, or even certain special wild beasts can manage that.

We need a hundred percent certainty, not a machine’s ‘assurance’.”

——Indeed.

Ian, who was following them more than a hundred meters behind a corner, couldn’t help but nod inwardly, “Not to mention the Silent Voice Ring, even a Sand Armor Apprentice could disguise themselves as a moving rock; this instrument probably just checks for wild animals and magical beasts that are poor at hiding; it’s quite limited.”

At this moment, the young man had been following this team for a while.

Through the team’s interchange, the soldiers’ mission notifications, report contents, job titles, and other information, he had already roughly figured out what kind of troop this was.

In simple terms, they were the ‘Fiery Flame Land Special Forces Squad,’ covertly embedded in the Southern Ridges, secretly assisting the natives in standing against the official forces from Harrison Port and other imperial authorities.

This was an exceptionally powerful elite squad.

Among them, the squadron leader and three squad leaders were Sublimators, and among the fewer number of monks present, there were also three Sublimators—although none were at the Second Energy Level, they were all strong individuals at the First Energy Level, equipped with armored clothing, weapons, and various other firearms and shields.

If this squad were to launch a frontal attack, they’d likely be wiped out by Harrison Port’s artillery within a hundred seconds—Harrison Port had more Alchemical Cannons than ordinary Gunpowder Cannons, which were used to deal with Totem Masters at the Second Energy Level, and would severely damage these ordinary troops at the First Energy Level with a direct hit.

However, if used for infiltration and destruction, the harm they could cause would likely be no less than, and perhaps even greater than, a Totem Master.

Not to mention, the commander of this troop, the great captain of the Crimson People, was clearly an old soldier seasoned in battle, extremely adept at jungle operations.

Yet, he was not the one who needed the most attention.

It was the three beside him, leading a Monk Squad, who did.

“Spiritual Tool Church…”

Ian exhaled softly, this name was not unfamiliar to him.

On the Terra Continent, there were many sects, ranging from small sects similar to indigenous totem spirits in rural areas, to the Orthodox Church that entire nations believed in.

Their number might exceed a thousand if overstated, but to say four or five hundred would be a severe underestimate.

Among the many sects and churches, four grandes enjoyed a lofty reputation across the Tara Confederation and were recognized as the Orthodox Church.

They were the “Huai Guang Church,” “Spiritual Tool Church,” “Retrospection Sect,” and the “Hall of Ten Thousand Spirits.”

Only these four major Orthodox Churches had the technology to artificially cultivate Spirit Energy Users and the inheritance of the Prophets.

They were also ‘super-massive Sublimator collectives’ where every formal monk personnel was a Sublimator.

The four major Orthodox Churches were significant powers that held considerable sway on Terra, and even the confederation countries had to respect and accept their mediation.

The naval battle that swept across the Tranquil Sea by the Seven Cities Alliance and Far Shore Island years ago was halted by the Spiritual Tool Church negotiating peace talks.

The disturbance in the Dark Mountain Range that once spread to Steep Ridge Fortress, the northern side of The Empire, and the western side of Yanjiang, invading the Three Kingdoms, was also suppressed and counterattacked under the coordination of the Huai Guang Church—Huai Guang Church even relocated its core from the Great Graveyard Wasteland to what is now known as ‘Huai Guang Holy Mountain’ to keep the terrifying disturbance in the Dark Mountain Range at bay.

Other churches will not be mentioned for the moment, but the Spiritual Tool Church is a rather special Orthodox Church.

It is widely spread in both Fiery Flame Land and the City of Knowledge, embraced by many people, and because it venerates the trinity of machinery, science, and spirituality, it has numerous mechanical engineers and researchers within the church who are developers of many cutting-edge technologies in the countries of Fiery Flame Land.

In fact, the initial actual deployment location for Constructed Knights was within the two great Holy Knight Orders of the Spiritual Tool Church, ‘Oath of Vigilance’ and ‘Sleepless Eye.’

According to Hiliard’s description, the Spiritual Tool Church reveres the technology of a previous era civilization—they believe that the civilization of that time was nearly divine, and the Calamity of Heavenly Fall was not a pure disaster, but the result of a grand Ascension.

The people on earth should follow the path of the previous era civilization, draw closer to the noble Mechanism Soul, so that they may Ascend during the next ‘opportunity for Ascension.’

Ian labeled it as ‘Spirit Energy Canning’ and ‘preposterous.’

He did not believe that the Spiritual Tool Church could fail to see that the civilization of the previous era was utterly destroyed in the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, that there was no Ascension at all…

Their doctrine seems to be aimed at reaching the cosmic starry sky, somewhat similar to his goals, but…

Ian somewhat suspected that the so-called Ascension of the Spiritual Tool Church might actually pertain to ‘Cyber Ascension’ and ‘Consciousness Upload.’

If that were the case, the so-called Ascension of both sides would indeed be two utterly incompatible extremes.

Typically, monks from the four major Orthodox Churches would serve the countries where the churches were based, but they wouldn’t send their Sublimators to participate in disputes between states, maintaining almost absolute neutrality.

However, this time, Ian saw three Sublimator monks and a small squad of Spiritual Tool monks coordinating with the special attack team from Fiery Flame Land.

“They must be seeking something significant.”

With that thought, Ian continued to follow closely behind this team.

He felt that if he kept on following, more secrets could be unearthed from these people of Fiery Flame Land.