Phil suddenly vanished, making Alina’s heart tighten.
Just then, Hilia stepped forward and said, "Don’t worry, Ms. Alina, Phil is still inside the base, she just hasn’t come out yet."
Actually, Hilia hadn’t noticed Phil disappearing—Rose was the one who noticed and reminded Hilia.
After reminding her, Rose manipulated Hilia’s magic puppet to follow along.
Originally, Hilia hadn’t planned to say anything, but seeing Alina so flustered, she decided to speak up.
She didn’t know why Phil was still in the base.
But with Rose following, there shouldn’t be any trouble, no matter what.
Alina looked at Hilia and asked, "It’s team assembly time now. Why is Phil still inside?"
Hilia shook her head, "I don’t know."
"Forget it, I’ll go look for her myself. You stay here and don’t move."
Saying this, Alina took to the air, flying towards the base.
But after circling the base once, she didn’t spot Phil anywhere.
She frowned slightly, gathering Magic Power in her vocal cords to broadcast her voice across the camp: "Phil, time to go. Come out now."
There was no response.
Alina quickly returned, coming to Hilia’s side.
"Hilia, take me to where Phil disappeared last."
Hilia said, "Ms. Alina, don’t worry, Phil is really safe."
"Safe? She doesn’t even respond, you call that safe?" Alina glared at Hilia. "Take me there. This isn’t outside—it’s dangerous at any moment."
"Alright."
Hilia had no choice but to lead Alina toward the base.
Meanwhile, she called out to Rose in her mind: "Lord Rose, Ms. Alina is going in. Can she come see as well?"
After a pause, Rose’s voice came: "Yes."
"Okay!" Hilia couldn’t help but wonder—what was Phil doing?
She could only sense where her magic puppet was.
The magic puppet was currently underground, inside the base.
The Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association stuck to their habits—beneath the base, they built a dungeon to serve as an outpost.
But since Rose hadn’t mentioned it, maybe there weren’t any heretics in the underground base.
As Hilia led Alina inside, she sensed her magic puppet moving quickly, racing back to the surface.
By the time she and Alina arrived nearby, Phil happened to step out of a stone hut.
Alina strode forward, grabbed her shoulder, inspected her up and down, and only exhaled in relief after finding nothing wrong.
Feeling the thickening of Demonic Qi contamination inside Phil, she scolded: "Phil, you’re messing around again absorbing pollution. The pollution here is different from elsewhere—don’t absorb it randomly."
Phil nodded obediently. "I got it, Ms. Alina. I won’t absorb it recklessly."
Hilia noticed her expression was strange, as if she’d encountered something down below.
Wait, maybe Rose did something to her?
The girl wrinkled her nose and asked, "Phil, what were you up to inside?"
Phil said, "There’s a secret passageway inside this building. I went down to investigate—found a huge space below with an altar in it. Surrounding the altar were runes leading up to the surface. Judging by the rune patterns, they connect to every single house. Too bad, the altar was already destroyed—nothing much left to see."
Alina was slightly stunned. "An altar? Alright, I got it. When we get back, I’ll have the Holy Court’s Array Masters take a look."
Hilia raised her hand. "Let me check it out! I’m an Array Master too."
Alina shook her head, "We’ve been here for a long time, your physical conditions can’t endure too much longer. Let’s retreat for today and come back tomorrow—leave this place to the Holy Court. If you’re curious, wait till the Array Masters record the runes, then you can take a look."
"Alright." Hilia didn’t insist.
Since Rose went with Phil, they must have already figured out the Array inside before coming out.
No need to be curious—just ask Rose directly.
Following Alina back, Hilia voiced her question.
Rose replied, "It’s a sacrificial array. By sacrificing souls, it grants temporary power."
"Sacrificing souls?" Hilia blinked.
Rose nodded. "That Tier Four heretic you killed—that was the result. They constructed an altar and array underground, with the array connecting every house. As long as someone sleeps in the house, the array absorbs their soul energy, accumulating it in the altar. Then the offering climbs up to receive this power, combined with the dense Divine Power pollution in the environment, briefly grants the offering Tier Four or higher strength."
Rose paused for a moment, "This is nothing like the power of the sea... it’s more like the power of the god of death."
"God of death?"
Hilia blinked, instantly thinking of the relevant Sect.
"Is it the Dusk Sect?"
Rose shook her head, "Not certain, but it’s definitely not a power the Mutual Aid Association could possess. Their power comes from the deep sea, not those messy enhancement tricks."
Rose mentioning the Mutual Aid Association was actually referring to Ethel.
As the bottom rung of the Twelve Main Gods, Ethel was never renowned for combat—wasn’t skilled in boosting fighting power or empowering his believers.
Rose wasn’t belittling Ethel—just that judging by all the ’labor reform’ he’d been subjected to recently, it turns out outside of water, he didn’t have much to offer.
Manipulate souls? No clue.
Infuse Demonic Qi? Doesn’t understand.
Burn life? Still clueless.
According to him, he only managed to join the Twelve Main Gods because he could control the ocean, and now and then calm storms for navy ships to earn loyal followers.
When Rose asked him why he secretly ’ate shit’ (meaning secretly absorbed faith tainted by Demonic Qi pollution), he went silent.
"So that means, maybe there’s another heretic sect here working together against the Holy Court?"
Hilia wasn’t sure, and dared not say it out loud.
She’d have to see the runes herself before passing Rose’s speculation on to the academy and the Holy Court.
To avoid any mishaps, Hilia said to Alina, "Ms. Alina, get the Array Master to record the array runes as soon as possible. I feel that altar is unusual—I want to see the array in full."
Alina nodded. "Alright, I’ll report it back. The Holy Court isn’t the Northern Alliance, they’re quick."
Hilia nodded.
For a large-scale operation directly led by the Holy Court’s upper ranks, there’s no room for mistakes.
At this moment, their Pollution Warning Badge started to emit faint beeping sounds, indicating they were approaching the limits Tier Three Mages could endure.
Though Rose’s protection kept Hilia from feeling anything, she kept quiet about it, choosing to follow Alina. After reuniting with the students outside, they all returned together.
The trip back was uneventful. Upon returning to camp, Alina immediately moved toward the depths—the core of the Law Enforcement Knight Order’s camp, otherwise known as the command center.
Alina stepped inside the command center, only to realize Melina was missing.
She asked, and someone inside replied, "Ms Meilina, the Archbishop, encountered fierce resistance from heretics while attacking their main base and already..."
Alina’s eyes widened. "Already dead—"
Everyone in the room looked up, shocked at Alina.
Alina quickly covered her mouth.