Chapter 1864: Chapter 1864

Jenkins and Papa Oliver sat on the ground facing the campfire, both silent for a time. Jenkins was mulling over the entire situation, while the old man was lost in memories of an adventure from thirty-three years ago:

"Oh, Jenkins, there's something you need to be aware of. Everything I've just told you happens without any interference. The actions of anyone who enters will alter the events I've described. Then, they and the impact they've had will become part of the next loop."

"So, the more loops that occur, the more it deviates from what originally happened in the hospital?"

"Not exactly. When the next loop begins, outsiders who enter the hospital won't remember the previous cycle. They'll just think they've only just arrived. So, the next loop is nothing more than an identical replay of the last. It's more accurate to say that the more groups of people who enter, the more severe the deviation. If no new people enter, the thousandth loop and the seventh loop will be exactly the same.

Right now, including the Church's team, a total of three groups have gone into the hospital. While we don't know the duration of the loop they encountered when they entered, I don't think the impact will be too significant. At least, it won't affect the person on the roof."

Because the length of each time loop was uncertain, it was extremely dangerous for anyone to enter the fog-shrouded hospital. With bad luck, you could take a single breath and the next loop would begin.

Of course, the Church had countermeasures for time-related incidents. But any item or ability involving time came at a price. During his thirty-one-day loop, Jenkins hadn't asked the Church for help. Besides the fact that he'd made the decision by counting leaves in Bevanna's office and his reluctance to immediately expose his unique nature, preferring to try a few more times on his own, he also knew that as the only one aware of the loop, he couldn't afford the cost even with items the Church provided.

But things were different now. Both the Church and Jenkins were outside the time loop. This particular loop was confined to a small area, and they even had someone who had personally escaped right beside them. Based on the report from that incident years ago, the Church had decided to use a Cursed Item that only a Saint could wield. This was the very reason Jenkins was here. Papa Oliver had told him all this because the Sage's Church wanted Jenkins to enter the hospital.

There was divinity in the hospital.

Hearing this news by the campfire, Jenkins watched the shadows flicker restlessly across Papa Oliver's face. He remained silent for at least two seconds, replaying the old man's words in his mind, checking and rechecking them before finally speaking:

"Are you saying... div—"

"Don't say the word out loud. There are too many people around here." For origınal chapters go to NovєlFіre.net

Papa Oliver said hastily, then lowered his voice to tell him:

"You don't need to attend any meetings. The Church has already decided; they're definitely sending you into Bigges Hospital. There will be an action plan from a meeting later, but that's just to mislead the other churches. You don't need to worry about it. I'll give you your real mission. Before ten minutes and thirty-one seconds have passed, you must get to the back of the leftmost staircase on the ground floor and wait in front of the door leading to the basement. The moment two men burst out, you go in immediately. The power of the great ones is inside that basement."

Jenkins only then noticed his mouth was slightly agape. He snapped it shut and, while he was at it, tapped the cat on his shoulder, which had started to stir for some reason.

"I don't understand."

He spoke as if the words were caught in his throat:

"Why would something like that be in there?"

Both he and Papa Oliver were avoiding the specific term "divinity," and Jenkins's heart was now hammering in his chest. He knew the Church wanted the divinity to offer to the Sage. He himself had sacrificed a single drop on a rainy autumn night last year and received the status of a Saint—a symbol of transcending the mortal coil and stepping toward a higher plane, something an ordinary person could never touch in their entire lifetime.

At the end of an Epoch, the gods typically don't interfere in the affairs of the material world, as the cataclysm is a necessary process. But if mortals were to offer divinity to a god at a time , the god would not be stingy with their aid. That was the Church's plan.

And for Jenkins, divinity held an even more extraordinary meaning. If he had divinity, he would even dare to face the Difference Engine directly, to meet it head-on in a fight.

"Nobody knows where those two men in the basement got it from. But since we were able to come across a heretical god's statue containing it last autumn, it's plausible that two men from an older time could have stumbled upon some as well. The hospital becoming a Cursed Item was very likely the result of them unwittingly using that stuff as part of a ritual, thereby triggering a disaster of this magnitude."

Papa Oliver explained.

Jenkins held down the suddenly active cat on his shoulder and continued to ask in a low voice, not even noticing the haste and flicker of excitement in his own tone:

"What form does it take? If I find it after I get into the basement... how much of it is there? What method should I use to touch and contain it?"

Papa Oliver shook his head.

"Old Jack and I were only able to make this discovery because of... that key. To keep from getting lost in the time loop, I used the key's power back then to forcibly drag the cycle out to eleven minutes and three seconds. But I've told you how terrifying that key is. After escaping the hospital, it took a full year for Old Jack and me to recover.

During that time, because of his own potions and some other reasons I can't discuss with you, Old Jack nearly returned to the banished hospital in his dreams. But it was because of this that he saw in a dream what I just told you. He touched upon Bigges Hospital's deepest secret.

But all of this is just our account. I can't even guarantee that the stuff is really in the basement. Regardless, it's worth a try."

Jenkins nodded firmly, the fatigue from the day's travels vanishing as his spirit surged with excitement.

"If it's really there... and if there's more than one drop, and I can get it..."

he thought to a corner of his mind, then held his hand out to Papa Oliver.

Papa Oliver asked, confused.

"Give me the key, Papa Oliver. So I can also delay the time to eleven minutes and three seconds."

Papa Oliver didn't place the key with its wondrous power into Jenkins's palm. Instead, he casually picked up a small twig from the scattered firewood and tapped it against his hand.

"I won't give that key to anyone before I die. Jenkins, don't even think about the key's power. That thing is a disaster. Don't covet it."

With that, he tossed the twig into the campfire. Together, he and Jenkins watched it burst into flame, burn brilliantly, and then slowly turn to black charcoal.