Enforcer Manual
Chapter 272: Two Wills_1

Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Two Wills_1

Under the leadership of the Captain of the Guard, they passed through an intricate labyrinth. Following the subtle markers along the way, they arrived at the sacred land the believers spoke of.

Song Lan couldn’t help but feel fortunate that they had encountered the Captain of the Guard; otherwise, if he and Lu Xiang had to find their way on their own, they might not have been able to locate the exit of the labyrinth even by tomorrow daylight.

He guessed that Andrew, who had broken into the cave earlier, must have only walked around the outer perimeter and immediately returned after deducing the "Queen’s Nest" information from the murals.

The sacred land was located in a spacious area deep within the pit. Believers had erected wooden huts there, and the candles on the roofs of these huts illuminated the entire sacred land. At the very bottom of the sacred land was a strange pool, in which rows of mutated creature eggs, over a meter tall, were arranged.

Many believers moved among these giant eggs, occasionally pressing their ears against the shells, listening to the sounds inside.

"What are they doing?"

Song Lan asked curiously; he speculated that the flying mutated creatures Dr. Oleg had mentioned hatched from these eggs.

"They are checking the degree of hatching," the Captain of the Guard explained. "The High Priest once said that the Old God had decreed that all offspring about to hatch should be carried to the entrance of the cave to greet the Newborn."

Well done, High Priest!

So it was you who sent those unhatched Flying Dragons right to the gunners’ faces!

He had previously wondered why the Wild Devourers nested in the deepest part of the pit yet were able to bring their eggs to the entrance of the pit every night; it turned out that the believers were the ones transporting them there.

They seemed to be unaware of the events outside the pit; if they knew that the eggs they laboriously moved to the cave’s entrance each night were being incinerated by Dr. Oleg’s team, he wondered what they would think.

Song Lan could only sigh at the multitude of coincidences that led to the current situation, and they were undoubtedly fortunate, having had the chance to recruit an experienced medical team and arriving here just before the Wild Devourer was due to emerge from its cocoon.

If they were to arrive a few days later, after the Devourer had hatched, the prospects for Oleg and the others would likely be grim.

But it was evident that the High Priest was not welcoming of their arrival; from the moment the two declared their identities upon entering, this hunched-back, white-haired old man had kept a stern face. He made no attempt to disguise his vigilance and dislike for Song Lan and his companions.

Song Lan soon realized that this somehow also represented the will of the Devourer.

According to what the Captain of the Guard had said, the High Priest had once received the baptism of the "Queen’s Nest," which he described as the assimilation process between the Devourer and individuals.

"We do not welcome your arrival," the High Priest said coldly after the Captain of the Guard left. "I do not understand the Mechanical Bug Swarm, nor do I wish to communicate with you."

Song Lan ignored the other’s hostile attitude and instead asked, "You must be aware of the consequences of moving the eggs to the entrance; why do you do this?"

He felt there was something subtle about this.

The most prominent characteristic of the Devourers was their swarm consciousness. Whether this decision stemmed from the High Priest’s own will or that of the Devourer’s, they definitely knew that all the eggs moved to the entrance were being destroyed.

"Because this can delay the process of metamorphosis."

Although verbally stating a reluctance to communicate, the High Priest actually answered Song Lan’s question through his actions.

"Delay the process of metamorphosis... What benefit does that hold for you?"

This answer took both of them by surprise; in their understanding, if not limited by external conditions, the Devourers would follow their instincts to spread endlessly. Yet a Wild Devourer had seemingly learned to restrain its own evolutionary desires.

"There are enemies outside; we are not yet prepared."

The tone of the High Priest had undergone a subtle change, and Song Lan, who was well-studied on Devourers, immediately realized that a Wild Devourer had connected to his mind.

It seemed that in the matter of communicating with the Mechanical Bug Swarm, the High Priest, as an individual and a collective, had developed differing opinions, but in the end, he had no choice but to abide by the will of the Queen’s Nest.

"Enemy? Do you mean that medical team?"

Song Lan was even more puzzled. Even if Oleg had stolen the heavily armed "Commander IV" models, they would amount to nothing in front of the Devourers. All it would take was a horde of mutated creatures piled up in the burrows; he wouldn’t have to intervene personally to eradicate Doctor Oleg’s squad completely.

"Not them, our enemy lives in the sky."

"So, that strange moon isn’t your doing?"

Song Lan instantly grasped the implication in the other’s words and asked, still unable to understand the principle behind that bizarre moon, and after seeing the holy land of the believers, he increasingly felt that they were not of the same species.

This town actually had two Devourers!

Or perhaps one Devourer, and a mysterious species they had never encountered before.

"The moon is the enemy; it’s interfering with my thoughts; it’s waiting for me to complete my metamorphosis!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the High Priest’s tone shifted dramatically, his eyes threaded with blood, "Haven’t I told you already? I don’t want to communicate with you, stop meddling in my affairs!"

Having said that, he threw his walking stick aside and frenziedly began to scratch at his forehead with both hands, digging his nails into his skin with such force that he tore the flesh.

What followed became unintelligible; the High Priest completely fell into a state of confusion, his words disjointed as if two different wills were struggling for control of his body.

"Don’t... trust... the moon... it’s eroding..."

"Get out, get out! You are not welcome here!"

This was the first time Song Lan had seen anyone resist the will of the Queen’s Nest. The situation seemed to suggest that another will was vying for control over the High Priest.

"Let’s all calm down a bit."

In order to prevent the High Priest from tearing himself to pieces, Song Lan hurriedly said, "Do me a favor and sit down for a talk."

However, this time neither side heeded his suggestion. As the internal struggle for consciousness heated up, suddenly a pitch-black arm pierced through the dome and the building, pressing down towards the High Priest.

But as it touched the exoskeleton armor that enveloped Song Lan, the dark arm retracted as if shocked by electricity.

The frenzied High Priest paused, his head encased in the grip of another of Song Lan’s exoskeletal arms, his pupils emitting an ominous black aura, forced to meet Song Lan’s gaze.

At that moment, his face was covered in blood, the wounds so deep that his skull was visible, making him look no different from a zombie. If it had been an ordinary person not enhanced by a Devourer, they would probably have been dead by now.

The two stared at each other.

The room fell into a silence as profound as death.

"Interesting, interesting indeed!"

After an uncertain amount of time, the High Priest suddenly stretched his mouth into a smile. With his face covered in blood and wounds, the grin was exceptionally chilling.

——"Come find me, I’ll be waiting for you!"