Chapter 1 Old Blue and the Light Ball
[“Damn it! Old man, please pay attention to me! Can you hear me?”] The voice sounded a little angry and a little irritated.

Old Blue listened attentively but ignored the incomprehensible and inexplicable mumbling.

"Mr. Blue, did you hear the 'mumbling' again?" A gentle voice came from behind the wooden baffle in the confessional of the River and Sea Church in Tingen City.

"I haven't heard any whispers for a long time. It's been so long that I almost forgot that I'm a Beyonder."

Old Blue had deep wrinkles on his face, his hair was all white but not sparse, and he said with a somewhat sad expression:
"But recently, the mumbling has become completely different from before. I can't understand it at all. Haha, I don't want to understand it either."

"The best way to deal with things you shouldn't hear or see is to ignore them and not understand them. This is what you once taught us."

There is a middle-aged priest in the confessional, and the old man in front of him is Bruce, a long-lived and senior former "Substitute Punisher" who lives alone in Daffodil Street in the West End after retirement.

"Oh, come and report it, otherwise I will become a monster and the Punisher will be defenseless." Old Blue picked up the silver-inlaid cane, tapped the ground, put on his felt hat, and bowed slightly.

The middle-aged pastor was startled, and then realized that the old man was already 70 years old? The aging of the body was accompanied by the decline of the will, and the emergence of delirium - "out of control".

[“Hello. Nice to meet you! Can you hear me? Damn, I still can’t understand! What country are you from?”]

"Mr. Blue..." The middle-aged pastor wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat.

Old Bruce turned around, pushed the door open and left, making room for the gentlemen and ladies queuing behind him.

——On weekends, many believers come to the church to attend the mass. The confessional will only be opened after the mass ceremony.

The whispering in your ears does not bring any mental or physical burden for the time being, but it does not mean that it is harmless.

This sound has a unique melody and pronunciation. Is it some kind of language? Is it the whisper of a hidden being?

Shake your head and stop thinking about it.

The River and Sea Church is the headquarters of the "Storm Church" in Tingen. It is connected to the Tingen City Punisher Squad through a secret door. During the busy days of the Punishers, it is completely possible to report and pass on information in the church confessional.

Of course, you can also say a prayer.

Large prayer hall.

Behind the arched altar, on the wall opposite the gate, there are windows inlaid with blue and white glass with fine patterns. The bright sunlight shines in through the glass, forming the blue of the ocean and the white of lightning.

The believers who come here feel like they are on a raging ocean, feeling the power of the storm all the time.

Old Blue sat down in the last row of chairs on the right side of the aisle, looking at the altar in front of him.

There were no statues dedicated there, only a huge holy emblem of the storm, on which were painted symbols of strong winds, waves, and thunder.

With his black felt hat on his lap and his cane leaning against his waist, Old Blue muttered to himself:
"The king who rules the sky, the emperor who dominates the sea, the great god of storms!"

Of course, this prayer would not be answered. In fact, Old Blue had been a believer all his life and a Beyonder for half his life. He had prayed all his life but had never received any response, not to mention that the language he silently recited was Loen.

But at this moment, a ball of light in Old Blue's body was dumbfounded. It stared blankly at the Holy Emblem of Storm in the distance, with stormy waves surging in its heart.

[“Church? I didn’t notice it just now. There’s no statue? Holy emblem? No way?”] Old Bloomer repeated the name of the Lord of Storms several times, stood up and left the prayer hall, leaving the Church of River and Sea.

According to the route that had been booked long ago, he took a public horse-drawn carriage to the dock area.

When the sunlight took on a burning feeling, the carriage stopped. Old Bruce, with an old face but a straight back, leaned on his cane, glanced at the real dock area across the road, and then walked towards the "Dragon Bar" diagonally opposite.

In the dock area, there was a riot at the cargo ship two or three days ago, but fortunately, the bar owner Swain and two passing "Nightwatchers" took action in time and killed the "troublemaking" fish monster.

"Mr. Blue," the burly man guarding the door obviously knew old Blue. He saluted respectfully, turned around and pushed open the heavy door of the bar. The stuffy heat and the smell of alcohol hit him in the face, but it did not affect the old man's pace at all.

There was a boxing ring in the middle of the Dragon Bar, and dozens of drinkers were shouting around it.

Old Blue walked around the boxing ring and pushed the door into a billiard room at the back.

There were two people in the billiard room, talking and laughing with their cues in hand. When they saw Old Bruce, they suddenly became quiet, silently made way, and allowed Old Bruce to pass through the secret door behind them.

Old Bruce walked through a series of rooms, and suddenly the view in front of him opened up. He came to a place the size of a classroom.

There are people setting up stalls here, which are piled with bottles and jars, and there are people walking among them, examining, communicating, or comparing prices.

This is the only underground trading place in Tingen City, belonging to the owner of the Dragon Bar and the former captain of the Punisher Squad - Swain.

Of course, Old Bruce also participated in the establishment process, which can be regarded as a re-employment for the retired punishment agent.

There were people making trouble here before, but after being severely punished by the two grumpy old pigeons passed by the "sailors", everyone just handed over one twentieth of their income as the venue fee and shelter fee.

So regular customers of the bar and the market all know not to mess with these two old men, because when they take off their shirts, they are even bigger than the young and strong men.

Old Blue stopped at a few stalls, pulled out his wallet to pay, and then walked over to a young man with a pale face and messy black hair.

The young man had a very distracted but crazy look in his eyes. He sat on the ground with his hands around his legs, and he didn't seem to care at all about getting his clothes dirty.

When their eyes made contact, the young man was stunned, and then clear tears flowed from his eyes.

"Still not feeling better?" Old Blue knelt on one knee, touched Admisol's head, and quietly stuffed a handful of change into his trouser pocket. There were 1 pound, 5 pound notes, and more were soles, totaling nearly 10 pounds. "Live well, Ad. Pretend that those who can't hear or see things don't exist. Remember this."

No one paid any attention to the customers passing by or the vendors setting up stalls. Admisor's nickname was "Monster", an orphan who was born with great inspiration and was often injured for unknown reasons. Swain and Old Blue felt sorry for him and often gave him a meal and asked him to do some heavy work.

Old Blue stood up, turned around and was about to leave.

Ademisol pressed his head with one hand and stretched out the other hand to grab the old man's right hand and refused to let go. Tears flowed from his eyes again and a vague voice came out: "No, don't die..."

"..." Old Blue held the cane in his left hand and covered the small bottle in his pocket, muttering to himself: "Maybe we are the crazy ones? He is the normal person?" Then he broke free from his right hand and walked away.

All of this was seen in the light ball. Although he still couldn't understand what they were saying, combined with some memories, certain things were slowly being confirmed.

　thanks for watching!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)