Shrouded Seascape

Flashing red lights pervaded Site 66, and towering steel plates descended, isolating the containment chambers from each other. However, these countermeasures were ineffective against Anna's corrosive flames.

The clown was right. Site 66's defenses were not as good as the polar site. In fact, Anna felt that escaping was a tad bit too easy, but perhaps this wasn't strange.

After all, the polar site contained Anomalies, while the other contained humans affected by Anomalies.

BOOM!

Site 66's oil tanks on the surface burst into flames, and a mushroom cloud appeared before the weary faces of Anna and the Fhtagnists. There was chaos on the surface, and there were nonstop explosions and gunshots.

There were even helicopters still circling overhead.

Anna had no intention of staying amidst the chaos. Fortunately, the ongoing chaos was enough distraction for her to escape safely.

"Seize the cars! Let's go to the garage!" Anna exclaimed. However, it seemed that she wasn't the only one who thought that way, as more than ten off-road vehicles rushed into the pitch-black desert, fleeing Site 66 as fast as possible.

The wind blew across Anna's bangs as she sat in the passenger seat of an off-road vehicle. She turned to look at Site 66 and saw that it had been engulfed in flames.

"High Priestess, where are we going?" Li Long asked, still shaken.

Anna looked up at the Big Dipper and replied, "We're going to meet up with Wang Sheng."

The accelerator was pressed to its limits, and the car sped through the desert. They encountered some minor issues, such as dehydration due to the lack of fresh water, but Anna easily resolved it by finding water underground.

The dusty and utterly exhausted group had a hearty meal as soon as they reentered civilization. Once their hunger had faded away, Anna finally led them to the rendezvous point.

The small hotel with its signature red walls was the rendezvous point that Wang Jianshe had mentioned to her, and it was just right in front of Anna. For some reason, Anna felt uneasy.

She had no idea whether Wang Sheng and the others were still there or not. In addition, it'd be troublesome to bring these Fhtagnists back to their home country.

Anna observed the hotel with her face covered in a black veil like the local women. Once she had seen enough, she nodded slightly and led the Fhtagnists behind her into the hotel.

"Bonjour, puis-je vous aider?" the male attendant wearing a red hat asked, smiling at Anna with his white teeth out in the open.

"Le soleil sort de la mer," Anna replied with the code phrase before leading the group up the stairs.

Rows of guest rooms appeared before Anna's group, but she ignored them and walked on the exotic striped carpet and made a beeline for the deepest guest room.

Tobba's grumbling echoed from the innermost guest room, and Anna relaxed instantly upon hearing that.

Fortunately, they were still here and hadn't left her behind.

Anna proceeded to knock on the door.

"Who's there?" Tobba asked.

"It's me. Hurry up and open the door," Anna said, removing her veil.

Anna waited quietly, but the door remained closed even after a few seconds had passed.

What's going on? Anna reached for the doorknob.

Shwik!

A sharp blade pierced the wooden door, nailing Anna's hand to the doorknob.

The next second, another blade pierced the wooden door, and it made a beeline for Anna's head. Just as the blade was about to pierce Anna's head, her figure vibrated at incredible speeds, allowing her to phase through the fatal blow.

Then, she retreated a few steps, distancing herself from the wooden door. She waved her hand, summoning a clump of corrosive green flames to reduce the wooden door to ashes.

When the door became a pile of ashes, Anna finally saw her attacker.

It was the clown.

Clad in a black suit, the clown raised its two daggers, which were stained with Anna's blood, and prepared to defend itself against the oncoming attack.

Instead of an attack, the clown received a scolding.

"Have you gone mad?! Why are you attacking me?!" Anna exclaimed. She raised her hand, stopping the Fhtagnists who were about to attack the clown with their guns.

A tense air hung above everyone.

Just then, Tobba poked his tiny head out from the left and glanced at the ashes on the ground. The wooden door had been reduced to ashes by Anna's signature corrosive flames. Tobba then turned to the clown beside him and said, "You know, I don't think she's an impostor. I think she's the only one around here with this kind of special ability."

The clown pondered briefly before lowering its daggers. However, it remained cautious and refrained from sheathing them.

"What happened after I left? Why are you so nervous?" Anna asked, leading the group into the room.

"Come and see for yourself. I don't know how to explain it," Tobba said. He turned around and led Anna and the others into the bedroom.

Anna parted the door curtain and stopped dead in her tracks. There was someone on the bed, but it was none other than herself!

There was another Anna with a face identical to hers on the bed.

Tobba sat on a tiny stool next to the bed and explained, "I don't know if you remember, but you said that you wanted to take a nap, but you never woke up.

"You shouted at the clown to shock your hypothalamus, but you remained asleep. In the end, we eventually made our way to this rendezvous point. Just as we were thinking about splitting up and going our separate ways, you knocked on the door."

Tobba cast a curious look at Anna. "Um, you're Anna, aren't you? Or are you something else pretending to be her?"

Anna walked over to the sleeping Anna and examined her carefully. In the end, she discovered that the sleeping Anna was indeed her human body. The biggest proof of it was her severed arm and her arm affected by the corrosive flames.

Anything else could be faked, but there was no way the corrosive flames from the Primordial Fire could be fabricated. With that in mind, there was no mistaking it—the sleeping Anna was real.

If she's real, then am I... Anna's pupils constricted. She looked down and examined herself. However, the inspection only led to more questions rather than answers.

She had everything that the sleeping Anna had, including the severed arm and the corrosive flames. In other words, she was real as well.

Is it because of her dream? Had she imagined an Anna into existence? Anna pondered with furrowed brows.

When she thought more about it, it became highly unlikely.

That was an ability that perhaps only a god would possess. Anna's fight with Luvlyn had told her that the latter wasn't even a demigod, so how could she possibly imagine an entire human being into existence?

Wait, a god? Anna suddenly remembered the ritual earlier.

Now that she thought about it, Anna discovered that her memories of the ritual had already become hazy for some reason. She proceeded to recount everything to Tobba.

Tobba propped his chin with his hands and asked, "Who were you summoning with that ritual?"

Anna was in deep contemplation, and she snapped back to reality upon hearing Tobba's words. She turned to stare at Tobba and replied, "Edikth. That was the only array dedicated to Edikth throughout the Subterranean Sea."

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