Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1039

The spacious area beneath the hospital ward buzzed with activity as preparations for the divine ritual began.

While the Scribes, who had been called in to assist, were busy drawing the intricate ritual array on the floor, Papa Oliver informed Jenkins that this place had once been used to hold prisoners and conduct experiments during the war years.

"Experiments under the hospital ward?"

Jenkins froze for a moment. Papa Oliver raised a finger to his lips, signaling him not to voice his suspicions:

"Jenkins, you were born in a time of peace, so it might be hard for you to grasp just how filthy, terrifying, and twisted past eras were. This sort of thing was normal. I think it's time you started learning about modern history—real modern history."

Jenkins was silent for a good while. The world he knew, while technologically behind, was indeed civilized and prosperous, with order governing most aspects of human life. Though Papa Oliver's words surprised him, they didn't come as a total shock.

After all, in the stranger's original imagination, a world intertwined with magic, nobility, churches, other races, and the supernatural was supposed to be ignorant and terrifying.

"In fact, it's the current order that surprises me the most." Thɪs chapter is updated by noveⅼfire.net

He murmured to himself. A small corner of his heart felt a pang of disappointment, knowing he couldn't share these thoughts with anyone. He was alone; some things he could only ever know himself.

The divine ritual array laid out on the floor immediately lit up with a golden radiance. Golden motes of light appeared on the bodies of every believer present, including Jenkins.

The runes and symbols drawn on the floor flickered with a dazzling brilliance, and a resplendent golden light enveloped the patients in the center. This glow was visible to everyone. As the choir's singing reached a crescendo, a few wisps of black energy materialized within the surging divine light.

The wisps were being corroded by the divine power. They tried to fly out of the ritual array but were blocked by a pre-established barrier.

The fingers of the unconscious patients began to twitch, and the black energy was swiftly worn down until only a few threads remained. Just before dissipating completely, these black threads coalesced into a single strand, drilled through the divine barrier like a bit, and shot toward the iron door of the underground space.

Jenkins and Papa Oliver happened to be standing right by the door. Seeing the strange thing fly toward them, Jenkins instinctively reached out and grabbed it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the thin, thread-like substance immediately made a sizzling "Tssss" sound before melting away in Jenkins's hand.

"I didn't do anything."

Jenkins said guiltily, opening his palm as he spoke and taking an involuntary step back.

"I know you didn't do anything."

Papa Oliver patted his shoulder, signaling that he shouldn't worry about it. He then walked forward to greet the professor and the others who were now waking up. Everyone else seemed to treat the incident as a normal occurrence, leaving Jenkins, who had already concocted a whole set of excuses, with no opportunity to voice his fabricated story.

"Could it be that the ultimate form of lying is doing nothing at all, and people will automatically weave and believe the lies for you?"

He thought in amazement. The cat at his feet, having read his thoughts, looked up at him nervously, wondering if its own secret was out.

The awakened individuals seemed to be in good spirits. Jenkins wanted to ask the professor what they had encountered, but Papa Oliver, apparently thinking that knowing too much would put Jenkins or others in danger, sent him straight home to bed:

"Don't you have a divination lesson at Audrey's tomorrow? Go on home. If you're really that curious, Bevanna will tell you the outcome after she's resolved this matter."

Without another word, Papa Oliver arranged for a carriage to take Jenkins home, not even giving him a chance to say goodbye to the professor.

The carriage brought Jenkins back to St. George Street. He then left an illusion of himself reading in the second-floor study, grabbed Chocolate, and soared into the night sky on a unicorn.

Normally, he wouldn't willingly involve himself in such troublesome affairs. But the wisp of black energy he had seen on the professor and the other three was simply too bizarre. In Jenkins's judgment, the original owner of that energy was definitely a problem. The twisted, eerie feeling, so out of place with the world, probably belonged to a Cursed Item.

"I'm just going to see if Miss Bevanna can handle that thing."

He told himself, then urged the unicorn to fly at top speed toward the river ruins outside the city.

A thick fog hung over the city. To avoid being seen from below, Jenkins had to fly high enough, so he had the unicorn ascend straight through the layer of fog. Looking down on Nolan from above, it was just as Professor Burns had described: the entire city seemed to be shrouded by that blanket of mist.

If the fog could somehow turn from gas to solid, it would be as if the whole of Nolan was trapped under a dome.

"It's going to be a problem sooner or later."

Jenkins was quite certain of this. He could already faintly discern a black spiritual aura within the massive fog bank. It wasn't a Cursed Item, but the entire layer of fog was in the process of becoming one.

But even having realized this, there was nothing Jenkins could do to stop it. Even if he temporarily cleared the fog, it would inevitably return. The only real solution was reform in steam-powered industry and the implementation of a royal decree. Thinking of this, Jenkins recalled the so-called five-year plan he had seen in the "future."

"Someone said the Queen wouldn't live past the end of this summer. If Miss Windsor is the one who ultimately wins the crown, I'll definitely persuade her to truly implement the Air Protection Act."

The cities of this era were dimly lit at night, let alone the deserted river ruins. Once he flew beyond the city limits, Jenkins was completely lost. The world below was pitch black, with no landmarks to guide him; finding a signpost was out of the question.

He hadn't expected to return during the day, so he hadn't bothered to memorize the route from the carriage. By the time he realized he was lost, it was already too late. After all, the unicorn flew incredibly fast; a moment of thought was enough for Jenkins to stray several kilometers off course.

He gently stroked the soft fur on his mount's neck. The small beast let out a soft cry and immediately froze in mid-air. This suggested that the unicorn's ability to fly wasn't just because of its pair of wings—which it could hide at will. Of course, those wings might just be for show.