AITAMITB Chapter 147

“At the beginning, the job in the Sacred City was good. My mother became a cook, earning a monthly salary of a thousand yuan. Every day, we could enjoy many delicious things. But one day, a rumor started spreading among the workers. It said that the people who recruited us were actually followers of an evil cult. The building they had us construct was for summoning evil gods. Don’t be fooled by their current kindness; once the houses are built, they will kill us as sacrifices to the evil gods.”

According to the little girl, this information has been circulating for a long time. Zhao Xiaokui was somewhat surprised by how she knew.

“It was Vala who told me. Vala is my friend, and she said someone dug up a person from the ground, someone who worked with us,” the girl explained. Being young and unable to do much in the city, she ran errands and delivered water. Many children helping with chores were brought in by adults, creating their own channels of communication. “My mom told me that someone in our village also disappeared, which frightened us. Mom wanted to leave with me, but she found out that those who left couldn’t be contacted anymore.”

“My mom said we couldn’t just leave like that. We would be killed outside the city. Those cultists dared to build such a large city on our land; they must have bribed our officials or even the country’s prime minister. So, we can’t call the police because they might be their people. We have to seek help from the United Nations, and if that doesn’t work, we can turn to the people of Huaxia. But no matter if it’s Huaxia or the United Nations, we can’t contact them.”

“As more people disappeared, my mom never showed any intention of leaving, so we both lived safely until now. We even got a room a week ago. But a week ago, my mom suddenly fell ill. She had a high fever, and I gave her a lot of medicine, but nothing worked. There are no doctors in the city, not even shamans. I secretly went out to find herbs for my mom, but her condition hasn’t improved.”

“Why don’t you bring your mom out if you see many people coming in and out of the city? Even if your mother is sick, running out alone is better than staying inside and waiting to die. Maybe you can find effective medicine outside,” suggested Zhao Xiaokui.

“It’s useless, Sea Goddess. We’re all cursed. Whenever I leave the city for a distance, my heart feels unbearable, like it’s about to jump out. I tried running out with a boy before. He thought he was free, ran too fast and too far, then, like swallowing a bomb, he exploded into pieces,” the girl described, leaving Zhao Xiaokui in silence.

She didn’t know in what way the evil god controlled these people, but the girl’s description led her to unsettling speculations.

“Don’t worry, I and my teammates are already outside. We will disguise to rescue you and take good care of your mother.”

“Really? Sea Goddess, I didn’t doubt your intentions. I’m just too surprised. Rest assured, I will take good care of her. Is there anything I can help with? I know many people, and we are very familiar with the city’s roads. You can assign some simple tasks to us, and we will do our best to complete them for you!”

Zhao Xiaokui didn’t reply immediately. Just when the girl thought the Sea Goddess had left, her voice echoed, “… If needed, I will seek your help. Thank you.”

The girl, holding her mother’s hand, showed a brilliant smile, tears streaming down. She whispered, “Mom, did you hear? Sea Goddess is coming to save us! My sister was right. There really is a Sea Goddess. You’ll get better soon.”

“Captain, we have two pieces of information now, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?” Lin Bai, who had finished checking the instruments, said.

Zhao Xiaokui’s gaze swept over the backpacks containing various instruments and responded, “When I eat, I like to start with the least favorite and save the surprises for later.”

Lin Bai said, “This Sacred City is a domain within a domain. I detected fluctuations similar to the strange domain here. Our instrument frequencies are insufficient. Building communication channels outside the city requires precise positioning, and inside the city, our instruments need a lot of time for calibration and capture to bypass the strange domain barrier and establish an external connection.”

In other words, their originally planned method of breaking the strange domain and then using humanity’s strongest forces to attack the evil god may have encountered some unexpected issues. Breaking the strange domain requires coordination from both inside and outside. Without external cooperation, trying to break their own eggshell from the inside, like a chick without a beak and claws, is simply a foolish dream. Moreover, within the strange domain, the evil god can continuously absorb the power from the domain, even if the recently arrived god’s strength is still weak, with the support of a strange domain, suppressing the small team of people is not a problem at all.

Because they are human, they get tired, they get hurt, and the evil god doesn’t. Even if his incarnation is shattered, he can transfer to a pre-prepared body. Even if he depletes his internal energy, he can always absorb enough energy from the millions of lives covered by the strange domain.

“Is there any good news then?”

Lin Bai’s expression looked somewhat heavy. “It’s not exactly good news. Before coming here, I and other extraordinary individuals who developed their brain domains calculated the strength of the strange domain. Based on our estimation of the evil god, we prepared the strongest set of interference devices. If we can successfully activate them, instantly breaking the strange domain wouldn’t be a problem.”

The key lies in cooperation.

But now, the hardest thing to achieve is cooperation.

“It really feels like being played in the palms of fate.”

Zhao Xiaokui thought of the little girl she just met and sighed suddenly.

Lin Bai didn’t understand her sigh and asked, “Captain, do you have any ideas?”

Zhao Xiaokui glanced at the time, realizing there was still half an hour before their scheduled gathering time. She instructed Lin Bai and Hill to pack up the neatly organized things. She closed her eyes and immersed herself back into her consciousness.

“Julia, can you still contact your sister?”

Julia was the girl Zhao Xiaokui had just contacted.

Hearing the voice of the Sea Goddess again, Julia was pleasantly surprised and immediately responded without hesitation, “Of course! As long as we are willing, we can call each other in our hearts at any time.”

“Julia, can you contact her now and ask her to make a phone call?”

Julia was delighted to help the Sea Goddess and said excitedly, “I can do it right away.”

Then, Zhao Xiaokui heard her continuously calling in her mind, “Salabie, Salabie… Can you hear my voice?”

After a while, a voice that resembled Julia’s but had slight differences echoed.

“Julia, do you need something? Is Mom feeling better?”

“I received a response from the Sea Goddess. It’s the Sea Goddess who asked me to contact you!”

“Really? You’re not lying to me?!”

Zhao Xiaokui felt it was time for her to speak, “Salabie, do you remember me?”

“It’s the Sea Goddess!” The little girl’s voice screamed, and anyone could hear her excitement. “Sea Goddess, are you with Julia now?”

“No, the Sea Goddess is not with me. It’s the voice of the Sea Goddess. The Sea Goddess has joined our telepathic link. It’s amazing!” Julia exclaimed, and the two little girls chirped like cheerful birds.

“Salabie, where are you now? Have you left Africa?”

Without wasting much time, Zhao Xiaokui directly asked.

“I’m in Hu City now, with Dad. Thank you, Sea Goddess, for saving us that day.”

Hu City is a city in Vietnam. As far as Zhao Xiaokui knows, it’s not chaotic, which relieved her. If Salabie were in a place where even electricity wasn’t accessible, it would have been a real headache.

“Salabie, can you make a phone call now? I need you to call someone for me!”

“We have a phone on our ship; I’ll go make the call right away!”

Upon hearing the Sea Goddess’s request, Salabie rushed out of her room without a second thought.

The man who was cooking saw her running to the cockpit and asked, “Salabie, where are you going?”

“I have a very important task to do!”

A strange call reached the naval communication center and was answered.

The communication officer, after understanding what the caller said, had an instant change in expression. He quickly stood up, grabbed the phone, and ran towards the meeting room.

“What happened?”

Sheng Boming asked the communication officer who was approaching.

Pointing to the phone in his hand, the officer said, “It’s a call from Captain Zhao!”

Sheng Boming’s expression changed. “What did you say?”

“The caller is a little girl. She said it was a call from Captain Zhao!”

“What did she say on the phone?” Sheng Boming stood up, looking authoritative.

Zhao Xiaokui and her team were inside the anomaly, carrying out their mission. External knowledge about their mission was scarce. No one knew exactly where they were or if the mission had succeeded. Apart from a rough estimation of the team’s size based on the remaining statues, everyone could only wait in suspense.

At this moment, any piece of information was crucial and couldn’t afford to be misjudged or overlooked.

The communication officer, understanding this, didn’t hang up when he heard the voice of a very young girl on the other end. Making a call to their naval ship required special lines, and each transfer needed the correct identification code. Since the girl’s call came through a satellite phone used on a common fishing boat, it must have been identified. Therefore, the communication officer didn’t ignore what the girl said and reported directly to Sheng Boming, the person in charge of this operation.

“In the call, they discovered another anomaly within the anomaly, rendering normal communication methods useless. However, the girl who made the call, along with her sister, is a pair of twins with special abilities. They can have instant conversations in their minds. Captain Zhao’s intention is for us to contact the other girl. After setting up the instruments, she will communicate directly with us through them.”

…

“Salabie, come and have lunch!”

The middle-aged man who prepared lunch shouted, “Who are you talking to on the phone? It’s been so long!”

“I’m doing the task assigned by the Sea Goddess…”

The man chuckled, “What task could the Sea Goddess assign to you?”

As they spoke, the sound of helicopter blades spinning echoed. Many fishermen docked in the harbor turned their attention to a helicopter landing in a recently cleared area.

“Salabie, where are you going!”

Without checking, the middle-aged man was startled to see his daughter running in that direction.

He was worried that his daughter might offend someone important.

Their livelihood was already difficult enough with fishing, and their residence was covered by a mysterious force. Unable to return home, they now docked in another country’s harbor, being extra cautious not to stir up trouble without anyone to vouch for them.

Before he could catch up, he saw his daughter being lifted up by a man heading straight to the helicopter.

It seemed like this group of people had come specifically for her.

Salabie waved to her father, “Dad, I’m going to help the Sea Goddess with a task. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon!”

As soon as she finished speaking, a local official from the city of Hu walked up.

“Are you Miss Salabie’s father? We have received documents from the United Nations, inviting Miss Salabie to complete a special task. Rest assured, this task carries no danger; it just requires the use of her special abilities. Here’s a document, and we need you to sign it. Once you’ve signed, we will transfer Miss Salabie’s compensation to your account.”

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