Chapter 21: “Divine Oracle”

Chapter 21: “Divine Oracle”

At night, cold wind howled across the platform, making the hanging gas lamps sway unsteadily.

In such a scene, the dim yellow light stretched longer and shorter by turns, causing the steam train that stood silently on the tracks to intermittently break free from darkness and intermittently sink back into shadow. It gave off an increasingly indescribable sense of eerie, deathly silence.

At that moment, a squad of police officers in black-and-white checkered uniforms entered the platform. Led by the duty manager of the railway company, they walked toward the slightly old, massive train.

“I don’t know why, but after all the passengers left, every train attendant, including the conductor, returned to the carriages and never came out again. I sent someone—I sent someone to find them, to tell them to come out quickly and rest early. In the end, in the end, the person I sent ran out of the carriage very quickly, like he had caught some illness. He could only shout hysterically, ‘They’re all dead! They’re all dead!’” Wearing a blue coat and carrying a lantern, the railway company’s duty manager introduced the situation as he walked.

From his somewhat stammering words and slightly trembling body, it was not difficult for the police officers to see that tremendous fear was hidden inside him. It seemed that as long as someone suddenly patted his shoulder, he would jump up, abandon everything, and run toward the platform exit.

This emotion also infected the police. Every one of them placed a hand at the waist, pressing down on their gun holsters.

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of leather boots stepping on the hard ground echoed in waves. The police followed the duty manager and cautiously entered the front of one carriage.

Inside this carriage, two people sat in each row, divided between the left and right sides. All of them were far from the windows, leaning back against the seats, completely motionless.

By the light of the gas lamps outside the windows and the lantern in his hand, the lead inspector quickly saw the scene before him clearly.

Everyone here was a member of the steam train staff. They wore blue uniforms whose styles differed by gender, sitting quietly in different seats. Their faces were bluish-white and their eyes were open. Although there was no longer the sound of breathing, the corners of their mouths were obviously raised, revealing eight teeth.

As those almost identical smiles entered their eyes one after another, everyone present felt their hair stand on end at the same time. They subconsciously held their breath.

To them, this scene was far too bizarre and terrifying. They only wanted to immediately turn around, leave this place, and wait until dawn to come back and investigate!

The lead inspector secretly took two deep breaths, then instructed the officer beside him:

“Go confirm whether they are, whether they are all already dead…”

At this point, he looked again at the railway company’s duty manager.

“You go with them. See whether anyone is missing, or whether there are any extra people.”

“O-okay, officer,” the duty manager said, trembling.

As he and several police officers moved deeper into the carriage, the rest all drew their revolvers and heightened their vigilance.

In the unbearable quiet, time slowly passed. Finally, the officers stopped at the end of the carriage, turned around, and shouted:

“Confirmed. All are dead!”

The railway company duty manager followed up, shivering as he said,

“Two people are missing. One conductor, one driver…”

Seeing that nothing unexpected had happened after so long, the lead inspector calmed down considerably. After thinking for a moment, he said to all the officers,

“Preserve the bodies in their original state and wait for the cause-of-death examination.

“At the same time, split into two groups. One group will search the other carriages for the conductor and driver. The other will investigate traces at the scene and collect the relevant information. Once the sun rises, begin questioning both train staff and earlier passengers to search for common points and unusual details.”

Although many passengers had not shown identity documents when purchasing tickets, the lead inspector believed they would still be able to find some people who had registered their details truthfully, then ask whether they had discovered anything unusual on the train or noticed any passengers worth attention.

The moment he finished speaking, a cold wind that chilled to the bone rose from nowhere and howled through the carriage.

After everything settled, the lead inspector was about to emphasize his earlier words when he suddenly noticed something wrong:

The steam train staff leaning against their seats still had open eyes and bluish-white faces, but at some unknown point, their mouths had closed. They no longer revealed eight teeth.

…

Inside a luxurious hotel room, the wall lamps reflected one another, brightly illuminating the area where the carpet, tables, and chairs were arranged.

Klein had already changed into the appearance of Gehrman Sparrow. He sat on the single-seat sofa, his left foot crossed over his right leg.

Beside him stood Winner Enzo, now localized as a native of the Southern Continent. Before him stood a row of cultist marionettes.

They were some of the people who had tried to sacrifice every passenger on the steam train, led by the man with the small red swelling on the side of his face, along with the conductor and driver.

They had taken different appearances, detoured through different streets and districts, and gathered here.

“Who told you to conduct the sacrifice?” Klein asked in a low voice.

After advancing to Sequence 4 and becoming a Bizarro Sorcerer, he could no longer merely read thoughts from the shallow consciousness of his marionettes. He could also use his improved control over Spirit Body Threads to directly accomplish something similar to spirit channeling.

Of course, the higher the level of the marionette itself, the worse the effects of this channeling.

After a brief silence, the conductor—who was clearly Loenese and had comparatively abundant body hair—spoke woodenly:

“It was the oracle of God.”

“Which god?” Klein accepted the bone china teacup handed over by Winner Enzo and took a sip.

The conductor responded blankly,

“God is God. There is no other.”

Klein put down the cup and asked instead,

“How did He bestow the oracle? What did He say specifically?”

The conductor instantly became extremely respectful.

“He gave the command through the divine object, ordering us to use a sacrifice composed of many lives to please Him. In return, He would grant us eternal life in His kingdom.”

A massive sacrifice of lives… Compared to the Numinous Episcopate, the Rose School of Thought prefers matters like this. They have always been known for bloody sacrifices… But the claim of receiving eternal life in God’s kingdom resembles certain concepts of the Numinous Episcopate. Of course, it might also be something deliberately fabricated to deceive these people… Klein pondered briefly and asked,

“What divine object?”

The conductor did not answer. He looked toward the man with the small red swelling on the side of his face.

That man immediately took out an object from the inner pocket of his clothing.

It was a cloth doll of ordinary workmanship, with curved eyes and a curved mouth.

“God will, at specific times, issue commands to us through it. I bought it at a miscellaneous goods market.” The man with the red swelling on his face spoke evenly, his tone without fluctuation.

This… In an instant, several possibilities occurred to Klein. He then had Winner Enzo take the cloth doll and examine it carefully, but no abnormalities were discovered.

With his experience, this meant the problem was not with the doll itself. In that case, the situation could be divided into two categories. First, someone nearby might be using the cloth doll as a cover to impersonate a god. Second, there truly was some hidden existence who had placed a special mark on this item and used it to issue divine oracles.

“If it is the former, they must have already discovered the train attendants’ deaths and become prepared… If it is the latter, perhaps they have not noticed anything at all…” After considering for a while, Klein had Winner Enzo place the cloth doll on the desk in front of the window.

He himself immediately stood and transformed in an instant into another train staff member, standing together with the row of cultists.

After Winner Enzo returned, he also underwent a similar change.

An unknown amount of time passed. The night grew deeper and deeper.

Suddenly, on the desk bathed in crimson moonlight, the cloth doll with curved eyes and mouth moved its limbs and slowly stood up.