"Nio took off the ring in his hand and handed it to Karun: 'Do you want to try wearing this mask?'

Karun shook his head and said, 'I'm more curious about why you did this, Captain.'

Nio put the ring back on his finger, and a light flashed.

Nio, once again, became Nio...

'The reason for doing this... is because one morning when I woke up and looked at my own face, I suddenly felt tired of it and wanted to try a different face.

But after I took off this face, I regretted it and could only turn it into a mask and put it back on.'

Karun knew that this answer was nonsense.

The reason it was nonsense was because the captain had already placed a chip on the table, and now it was Karun's turn to place an equivalent chip.

It was agreed in advance that everyone would proceed step by step in an equal manner, so that no one would be at a disadvantage.

Nio pulled over a chair and sat down, nodding at Karun.

Karun couldn't find a second chair in the collection room, it seemed that Lemar didn't like sharing his collection room with others, so Karun could only lean against the wall next to him.

'I'm not afraid of contamination. Under normal circumstances, I don't have to worry about contamination.'

'Karun, do you know what the consequences of saying that are? When the team encounters a contamination threat during a mission, you may be the first one to charge forward.'

'No problem.'

Karun answered decisively.

The contamination source under the sausage factory was so strong that it made him uncomfortable at first, but it didn't leave any real traces. It was enough to prove that he didn't have to worry about most of the contamination threats in the world.

'Continue.' Nio raised his hand, apparently, this secret was not enough for Nio.

Karun continued, 'Because my body was personally modified by the Evil God.'

Nio paused.

They were not ordinary people who used exaggerated words like "God", "Devil", and "Demon". In their mouths, the Evil God they mentioned only represented one kind, the existence judged as an Evil God, a god!

After a long silence, Nio asked, 'Lanedar?'

'Yes.'

'When you mentioned this name to Tarina, did you know that I was watching nearby and deliberately said it for me to hear?

Or did you predict this moment of confession in advance, so you made preparations beforehand?'

'Actually, I didn't think that much at the time.' Karun looked at Nio. 'Captain, do you know Lanedar?'

Nio shook his head and said, 'I don't know. I rarely pay close attention to the mythological narratives in those books. I think this Evil God didn't leave behind any inheritance, right?'

'Yes.'

Karun knew that his dog didn't leave any followers, no, it didn't establish a church.

This meant that unless Lanedar could shine in the previous era like the God of Order, it was destined to be forgotten in the long river of history, and its name might only appear unexpectedly in the mythological narratives of other churches.

Of course, this did not mean that an "unknown" god was not powerful.

Some Evil Gods might indeed be very powerful, stronger than ordinary deities, stronger than true gods with church inheritance, and even stronger than the main gods with orthodox church inheritance.

It mainly depended on who suppressed them.

His dog only barked, and it seemed unwilling to tell its own story before. Karun only saw some memory images when he helped it lift the seal. He only knew that it used to be the admirer of the goddess Mills. It should also have its shadow in the process of the split of the Sea God Church.

'What is your relationship with Lanedar?'

'It's hard to say. It's like a pet dog that I raised.'

'A pet dog?'

'Yes, usually, you can feel its quiet and gentle nature, as if it would actively come to you, stick out its tongue, and show a smile, letting you touch its head.

But you can't really treat it as a pet dog because it's hard to determine what's behind its smile.

The happier it looks, the more intense the hatred in its heart.'

'A strange metaphor.'

'Yes.'

'Are you a descended Evil God?'

Many people have misunderstood this question before, Mr. Hofen, Puerh, Alfred, and Lady Molly, they all once thought they were Evil Gods.

Only Dis always knew that he wasn't.

After hesitating for a moment, although Karun felt that his chips for this round were enough, he didn't mind raising the stakes a bit more.

'I am not him. Although I don't know what your situation is, Captain, I am very clear that I am not an Evil God, and I will not be influenced by Evil Gods. I am just me, pure and simple.'

'Then what about your body?'

'It's just that my body was modified by an Evil God, so I can ignore most of the contamination effects because maybe I myself am the biggest source of contamination.'

'How did you do it?'

'When I was a child, I was naughty and fell from upstairs, that's it.'

Nio tilted his neck and smiled, 'It seems that it's my turn again.'

'Yes, Captain.'

'Where should I start? Forget it, you ask, and I'll answer.'

'Who is the "it" inside you, Captain?'

'Before answering this question, I want to know what your previous guess was.'

'I used to think that you, Captain, were an undercover Bright Remnant Strongman in the Order of the Gods.'

'And then?'

'And then, I began to suspect that your confusion was a confusion of your true identity because people wearing masks are easily influenced by their masked identities.'

'And now?'

'Now... actually, when I was doing psychological counseling in the café, I knew that I was wrong from the beginning. Until you just took off the mask, I felt that I didn't need to guess anymore, and I wanted to get the answer from you, Captain.'

'I am Nio.' Nio looked at Karun and smiled. 'Just like the way you described yourself just now, I am pure me, at least for now, but I can't guarantee the future.'

'So, the "it" inside you is actually the outsider?'

'Yes, do you know the Gran Sea?'

'It seems to be north of Vain, not far from Vain.'

'Ten years ago... to be exact, eleven years ago, when I was still a member of the Order of the Whip, I went with the team to the Gran Sea to perform a mission. We chased the target on a ship, but a sea eye appeared in that sea area.'

Nio used his finger to make several clockwise circles in front of Karun, and Karun understood that it should be a scene similar to a whirlpool at sea.

'The ship we were on was sucked into the sea eye. I struggled to break free. Although I left the ship and forcibly separated myself from it, I still couldn't resist the pulling force due to the depletion of my spiritual power. I passed out.

When I woke up, I found myself in an underwater cave. The cave was not very big, and because of the drop in the middle, seawater wouldn't flow in where I was, but it was very difficult for me to get out. At that time, not only was I injured, but I was also very exhausted.

The combat supplies that should have been carried with me, such as healing potions and energy supplements, were all lost in the sea.

I found something similar to seaweed around me, although it was black.

At that time, I didn't care about anything else and started eating these seaweeds. They did provide me with a sense of fullness, but soon I realized that I was wrong. What I ate was not only seaweed, but also some insect eggs. They began to grow inside my body.

I could feel that my body was constantly losing weight, and they were using the power in my body to nourish their growth. I was parasitized.

Looking back now, it was because of my lack of experience at the time. All the seaweed I ate was not only given to those insects, but also added to my already injured and weak body.

But my survival instinct was strong, no, my survival instinct has always been strong, perhaps this is the reason why no matter what happens, I will habitually continue to strive to live.

I started searching in that small platform. I hoped to find something other than those black seaweeds to eat. I was really hungry at that time, the hungriest I have ever been in my life.

Then, I found a corpse in a crevice of a reef.'

'A corpse?'

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Karun was quite surprised. He originally thought that according to the normal process, the captain should have obtained a notebook or treasure, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a corpse.

'Yes, a corpse, the corpse of a middle-aged man. He was wearing an ordinary divine robe, the kind without any insignia. I pulled him out of the crevice. What surprised me was that I could tell from the details that he should have died here many years ago, but his body showed no signs of decay at all. Everything was like when he was alive, as if he could open his eyes and talk to me at any time.

And then, I smelled the fragrance on his body.'

'A fragrance?'

'Yes, a fragrance. It's not because I was so hungry that I found him fragrant. I'm not making excuses or laying the groundwork for my actions. Because at that time, I carefully confirmed that the fragrance did indeed come from him, a real and existing fragrance.

And then... I ate him.

Does it sound disgusting?'

Karun shook his head and said, 'Not only does it not sound disgusting, but it also feels somewhat natural.'

'I was eating, and those insects in my body were also eating. I even gnawed and ate his bones. His bones were soft, every part of them was soft, biting them was like eating crispy bones.

In this way, I survived for several days by eating him until those insects seemed to have grown to a certain extent and voluntarily left my body.

I still remember that feeling until now. They crawled out of my body like moving houses, and at that time, I even felt grateful to them.

Thank God, they were not completely parasitic insects. They just treated my body as a temporary warm bed.

That corpse had high nutritional value. It not only provided the necessary conditions for the growth of those insects but also gave me time to recover my energy and heal my injuries.

And, I could clearly feel that because I ate him, the spiritual power in my body seemed to become more abundant.

When I felt that my injuries had almost healed, because even the bone residue had been gnawed and eaten, I could only choose to take a gamble and dive out of the platform. With the enhanced spiritual power, I took a great risk and finally successfully surfaced.

I was lucky to encounter a fishing boat in the water, and they rescued me and brought me back to Vain.

After coming ashore, I learned that my entire team, including the captain and other team members, had all died, and I was the only one who came back alive.'

'So, when did the changes start to occur?' Karun asked.

He believed that the captain must have been affected by eating that corpse, and there must have been subsequent effects, which were the "it" that the captain had to face.

'In the month after coming ashore, I didn't go to work at the church, and the church didn't bother me either. I just stayed quietly at home. The deaths of the captain and teammates didn't make me negative. At that time, I just wanted to rest for a while and then continue to devote myself to the church's work, and apply to join another Order of the Whip team.

However, during that month, I started to have frequent dreams at night. I dreamed of the person I had eaten, appearing in my dreams.

He was talking to me, constantly preaching the doctrine of light.

My inner self was not influenced by him, but my body gradually underwent changes that I could not control. Light energy began to flow in my body.

Ridiculous, isn't it?

With my unwavering faith in my heart,

my body was filled with the power of light.

I knew,

I was contaminated.'

Karun licked his lips. The captain was contaminated by light.

Light and contamination seemed difficult to connect, but what happened to the captain was indeed like this. As a believer of the Order of the Gods, the captain still possessed the power of light while maintaining his unwavering faith. This was contamination, light contamination that transformed the captain's body.

Just as Puerh once said: the distinction between priests and demons is not so clear.

Nio looked at Karun and said, 'I thought that you and I were the same, both using the power of light as a conversion, using the spells of the Order. But later I found out that you and I are different. Your body still retains pure power of order.'

'Yes.'

'Realizing this, I was initially nervous because I felt that it was a blasphemy against my faith. But there was no way, I could only learn to hide myself by using the method of converting the power of light into the spells of the Order.

So, I am not lurking in the Order of the Gods, because I am originally a member of the Order of the Gods.

Later, I applied to join another Order of the Whip team and continued to serve the church. After that, I was promoted and could form my own Order of the Whip team.

It was during this period that I discovered something. I originally thought that being contaminated by the power of light was the end, but in fact, it was just the beginning.

I could sense that he was awakening inside me, not only appearing in my dreams but also speaking to me in my mind during the day. After contaminating my body, he began to focus on contaminating my soul.

My initially firm faith began to weaken.

He started to try to influence me, control me, change me...

He even told me his plan. He wanted me to become him and continue to lurk in the Order of the Gods.

At that time, I couldn't seek help from others, I could only rely on myself. Then, I came up with a solution.'

'A solution, the mask?'

'Yes.' Nio nodded, his finger stroking the ring. 'That's the purpose of me making this mask. I gave up all resistance to him and even actively obeyed his guidance, letting him dominate me at that time.'

Nio looked at the portrait on the wall.

'I succeeded. During that nearly one year, he became me, and I became him. Our roles and identities completed the exchange during that time. He was the one doing things, lurking, working, and building my own Order of the Whip team. It was him who created the precedent of recruiting criminals into the Order of the Whip team. I just followed his old rules and used them as standards to recruit new members.

Then, while he was working, living, and sleeping, I began to influence him and preach the doctrine of the Order of the Gods to him.'

'...' Karun.

'Doesn't it sound ridiculous?'

'No.' Karun shook his head. 'Captain, you're really amazing.'

This method is not something an ordinary person can think of.

It's like, I can't solve my inner demon, so I let the inner demon become me, and I become the inner demon, and then I go to influence him.

Nio pointed to the ring in Karun's hand and asked, 'So, this mask is the most powerful psychological suggestion you gave yourself.'

'Yes, it serves this purpose. When I first wore my own mask, he became me, and I became him. When I first took off this mask, it proved that I had become myself again.

In the end, it took a year, but I succeeded. I regained my soul, my consciousness, my body, and my faith, except... the damn power of light cannot be changed, and he left me with a high level of light system and many light spells.'

'What about him?'

'Dead.'

'Dead?'

'I can only say that the part released by him has been assimilated by me, or killed by me. But I know that there is still a huge part of him that has not been triggered.

You are not making a metaphor. I am walking towards the depths of the flame in a sober state. After Elisa died, I started trying to browse him.'

'So that's how it is.'

'In fact, before I met Elisa for the first time, I was originally performing a mission with a moderate level of danger, but I happened to kill him at that time and regained my soul and body, which made me mentally depressed and my thoughts confused. When I was performing the mission, I was even talking to myself while fighting the target.

Then, I was seriously injured.

Elisa saved me and shared her bloodthirsty demon bloodline with me in order to let me survive.

So, you know why even though I now have the bloodline of a bloodthirsty demon, I don't need the restorative fluid, right?

Compared to the whispers of those ancestors, it's nothing. Hehehe, I even feel that since he was assimilated by me, my whole soul has become too quiet and boring. It's good to have the voice of the bloodthirsty demon ancestor occasionally, it can relieve boredom. It's a pity that the bloodthirsty demon ancestor always likes to talk nonsense and won't come in actively. Otherwise, I would be willing to let him continue to play such a game.'

Nio took a deep breath, looked at Karun, and said, 'Alright, it's your turn. I hope your second round of chips won't disappoint me.'

'My surname is Inmelais.'

'Inmelais?'

Nio frowned slightly. Obviously, he was unfamiliar with this surname because Nio himself was not born into a prestigious family of the church, and the family of the judge Dis was far less famous than the famous family of the judge Richard.

'Captain, you should know about the explosion in the Temple of the Order of the Gods, right?'

'Of course I know. That incident triggered a series of chain reactions and even directly pushed forward or rather advanced the war between the Order and the Cycle.'

'Yes, my grandfather caused it.'

"..." Neo.