In the dark night over the Conquest Sea, a hijacked passenger ship sailed onward. Inside one of its cabins, Vania, who had been treating the injured, finally had the opportunity to speak directly with the hijackers. Yet, their conversation quickly stunned her. In disbelief, she responded. "Tyrannical oppression... brutal slaughter... like pirates... Are you really talking about the Church? Could the Church actually do something like this? There must be some misunderstanding." "Misunderstanding? There’s no misunderstanding here, Sister. The Radiance Church has a long history of brutally suppressing non-believers. Over the years, countless people from the islands in these seas who refused your foreign faith have been exterminated by your hand. Many innocent people you label as heretics have died because of you. Before Summer Tree, countless examples already existed. You’ve conspired with mainland nations, slaughtering island inhabitants and seizing their lands. These are facts I’ve witnessed myself. Do you still insist there’s some misunderstanding?" Bahoda spoke coldly, leaving Vania momentarily speechless and unsure how to respond. "Well... I think there must be some mistake. Typically, anyone who doesn’t worship the Three Saints is considered heret—" Vania instinctively began to repeat teachings she’d grown up with, but suddenly realized what she was about to say and quickly stopped herself. Previously, Vania believed wholeheartedly that anyone outside the worship of the Three Saints was an evil heretic, something she’d accepted without question. This belief persisted until she experienced Aka’s divine revelations and encountered Dorothy. After recent events, Vania no longer felt comfortable labeling everyone outside the Three Saints’ worship as heretics—especially since her own beliefs had somewhat shifted. Observing Vania’s hesitation, Bahoda assumed his arguments had silenced her. He pressed further. "Hmm... It seems you can’t defend your Radiance anymore. Isn’t the truth already clear? Radiance has no right to force its beliefs onto others, nor the right to randomly slaughter innocent lives. From our perspective, you are the heretics we must resist." "Even so," Vania countered anxiously, placing a hand over her chest, "even if the Church has committed many wrongs, you shouldn’t target these pilgrims. They’re mostly ordinary people devoted to the Holy Mother, not official Church members. I’m the only true Church representative here. Even these soldiers from the Knight Order are minor figures. Could you not release the others?" Bahoda responded coldly, "When Radiance targets non-believers, you never consider their innocence. We’re just returning the favor. Countless have already suffered your persecution in these seas. Now it’s our turn, and we don’t have the luxury to care more." Realizing something from his words, Vania asked, "Your turn...? Are you currently being..." Bahoda, appearing impatient with further discussion, abruptly interrupted, "Enough. Our affairs don’t concern you, Sister. Just focus on your task here—treating the wounded." Vania paused momentarily, sighed, and resumed attending to the injured soldiers. Far away, Dorothy sat in her cabin on another passenger ship, carefully analyzing the information she’d just received. "From their perspective... they seem to be natives living on remote islands within the Conquest Sea. In certain areas, untouched by the mainland’s so-called ’civilization,’ these islanders maintain their traditional indigenous faiths, similar to the natives in the New Continent, Kapak." "Yet these islands are much closer to mainland countries and the Radiance Church, making them more susceptible to external influences. It appears the Radiance Church, collaborating with colonial powers, is forcibly proselytizing these islanders. If the islanders resist conversion, they face harsh repercussions, including military action. Currently, the Summer Tree islanders—represented by these hijackers—are experiencing exactly such threats." "Thus, their hijacking of the pilgrim ships is likely an attempt to use hostages as leverage to halt Radiance’s planned forced conversion. These passengers are their bargaining chips. However, it’s improbable that the Church will compromise its stance or dignity just for these hostages." Dorothy felt increasingly anxious, recognizing the imminent danger facing Vania and the passengers. If the Church’s rescue efforts failed, hundreds could perish. Amidst this worry, Dorothea began considering another troubling aspect. "How did these islanders manage such a precise strike? With the recent Navaha incident, the fleet’s primary Beyonder combatants had been detained by the Tribunal, creating a vulnerability during the journey from Navaha to Ivengard. The hijackers perfectly exploited this window of weakened defense—almost as if they knew exactly when and how to strike." “So how did they get this information? Could they possibly have an informant within the Church? But that doesn’t seem likely… Do these islanders even have the ability to plant spies inside the Church?” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦 Dorothy frowned in confusion, thinking to herself. But for now, the intelligence she had was still too limited. She couldn’t draw a conclusion, nor was she entirely sure how to respond. “I’m currently too far from Vania’s location, and right now I can only exert influence through her alone. What I can do is very limited… I need to find a way to expand that influence.” So she thought to herself as she continued observing the situation in the distant ship cabin through Vania’s senses, trying to find other entry points. Vania was Dorothy’s first companion, subordinate, and follower. Dorothy valued her deeply and did not want anything to happen to her in this incident. Regardless of whether the Church would launch a rescue, Dorothy had to ensure Vania’s safety. Aboard the hijacked passenger ship, Vania was continuing to treat the wounded sailors with full focus. With her deep medical knowledge and the abilities of a Healing Prayer Priest, her treatment was efficient and effective. The hijackers watching her grew increasingly curious. As Vania continued treating the injured, more and more of the hijackers came into the cabin to observe, some of whom had also sustained minor injuries during the earlier skirmish. Although none of their wounds were serious, they still caused considerable pain and discomfort. While Chalice Beyonders had self-healing abilities, those usually only manifested at the White Ash rank. Most of these men were at the Black Earth rank, and without mystical items, they lacked regenerative abilities. So, after witnessing Vania’s healing powers, some of the injured hijackers began to show envy. As Vania was finishing treatment for the last few sailors, one hijacker spoke to Bahoda in a language that neither she nor Dorothy could fully understand. Bahoda thought for a moment and gave a direct response, after which the hijacker seemed a little disappointed and shook his head. Seeing that, Dorothy stroked her chin, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Finally, Vania finished treating all the sailors and stood up amidst the wounded in her white robes, silently facing the hijackers. “Is it done? Thank you, Sister. You may return to your cabin now. Just remember—don’t wander or do anything suspicious.” Seeing the sailors mostly stabilized, Bahoda addressed her, but Vania responded seriously. “No, my work isn’t finished yet. Didn’t you say I was to treat all the wounded in this cabin? These sailors have been treated, but what about you? You’re hurt as well, aren’t you?” Vania looked sincerely at Bahoda and his men. Bahoda was visibly surprised. “You… you actually want to treat us? We’re the ones who hijacked you. We’re your enemies.” “So what? The Holy Mother teaches me to treat everyone with compassion and kindness. That includes all of you. From what I can see, the fact that you let me treat these sailors means you aren’t the kind of people who regard life as worthless. You were simply forced to take these actions.” “So… I believe you are people with kindness in your hearts. As thanks for letting me help these innocent sailors, please allow me to treat your injuries as well.” Vania clasped her hands over her chest and spoke earnestly. Bahoda was stunned by her words, then said, “You… you’re not trying to use healing as a cover to do something to us, are you? A patient under treatment is, in a way, like a fish laid out for the butcher.” Bahoda spoke warily. In fact, someone from his group had already asked earlier if Vania could treat them, but Bahoda had refused due to the risk. Now, unexpectedly, the nun was offering to help on her own initiative. Her compassion made him instinctively suspicious. “Please rest assured,” Vania said seriously, “I truly wish to heal you. I have no intention of harming anyone. I’ll treat each of you one by one. While I’m treating you, you can watch everything I do. The one being treated can also speak up at any time. If anything seems suspicious, you can stop me immediately.” “Given my current situation, I absolutely wouldn’t dare do anything harmful to you. I sincerely want to follow the path of the Holy Mother, to ease the suffering of all those I love.” Facing Bahoda’s suspicion, Vania spoke with conviction. After thinking for a moment and considering that she was under their control and unlikely to do anything rash, Bahoda finally relented. “…Alright. You’re not like the other Radiance lackeys. I’ll trust you—this once. But don’t try anything.” Bahoda said this, then spoke a few words in his native language to his companions. After a brief exchange, a hijacker with an injured hand and a grim expression stepped forward. "Alright, please have a seat. I’ll take a look at your wound." With that, Vania began treating the hijacker. Bahoda closely observed the entire process, alert for the slightest unusual movement from her. However, there was nothing suspicious about Vania’s healing. She used the same medical supplies from the ship’s first aid kit, the same ones already applied to the sailors. Her actions were meticulous and careful. There was no trace of wrongdoing, and under the orange-yellow glow from Vania’s hands, the hijacker’s wound slowly closed. He showed no signs of discomfort throughout. Vania treated the hijacker with even more diligence than the average sailor. After about ten minutes, she finally finished healing his injury. The hijacker stood up, incredulous, looking at his almost fully recovered arm. After testing it with several movements and finding it completely fine, he excitedly said something to Bahoda in a language Vania couldn’t understand. Bahoda, after seeing his subordinate fully healed, activated his Lantern spirituality detection ability to scan the wound. Finding no abnormalities, he let out a sigh of relief and turned to Vania. "No issues… It seems I was being overly cautious before. Sister, you truly did heal him sincerely. You’re indeed different from the other Radiance lackeys. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Please treat the rest of our wounded." Bahoda spoke with a slightly apologetic tone. Vania smiled in response. "I’m simply following the Holy Mother’s teachings—doing what I ought to do." She replied humbly, then continued treating the other injured hijackers. After experiencing her healing, they were delighted with the results. Even those who had previously been hesitant now eagerly stepped forward for treatment—some even brought up old injuries, asking Vania if she could heal those too. What they didn’t know, however, was that for a few of them, shortly after being healed, subtle changes had already begun to occur in their bodies. Under these changes, their senses were now being shared with someone far away across the sea. “…It’s starting to work—my mark.” Sitting in her own cabin, Dorothy murmured. She was now using the Living Marionette Mark to sense the perceptions of two hijackers—seeing through their eyes, hearing through their ears. And on the surface, there was no visible trace of the marionette mark at all. The mark that allowed Dorothy’s spiritual threads to attach to them was hidden inside their bodies—beneath the wounds that had seemingly healed, in a place no normal person could see. In a sense, Vania’s healing of the hijackers had been a kind of surgery—a procedure that “engraved” Dorothy’s Living Marionette Mark beneath the skin. During the final stage of healing, Vania used her Healing Prayer Priest ability to carefully guide the growth of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, shaping a small marionette mark beneath the surface. This mark was minuscule and specifically designed not to leave any impression on the recipient—it caused no discomfort and left no trace on the skin. When inactive, it emitted no mystical signature, and thus couldn’t be detected by Lantern spiritual scans. And even if it could be, Dorothy could use her thread-conducted Shadow traits to obscure it. This kind of precise organic shaping was the result of Vania’s mastery of both her healing ability and her extensive medical knowledge. It was a delicate surgical act requiring intense focus and time, and could only be done in uninterrupted conditions—not feasible in fast-paced combat, but perfectly viable now. And so, thanks to Vania’s actions, Dorothy’s foothold for influencing the situation had greatly expanded. … On the dark sea, somewhere on Summer Tree Island, inside a dimly lit hut, a grotesque altar stood—built from blood and bone, its surface covered in writhing, twisted flesh and grotesque facial features: ears, noses, and mouths. Before the altar, a figure knelt respectfully. “Lord Swordscale, the operation on Summer Tree has gone smoothly. They followed the intelligence I gave them and struck the clerics’ poorly defended fleet. They successfully hijacked three ships carrying pilgrims and are on their way back.” “The conflict between Summer Tree and the Church is now irreconcilable. I can already see the flames descending…”