My Abyss Survival Diary

Chapter 59 Severing Ties

Iron Wing Confession Room.

The air was thick with the acrid smell of gun oil, mixed with the wormwood smoke wafting from the incense burner in the corner, and a faint rusty smell seeping from the cracks in the steel plates of the wall.

Andrei sat on a wooden chair behind the counter, a thick file spread out in front of him.

Next to the file was a dark gray envelope, sealed with the Inquisition's seal and a dark red wax seal.

The things he asked someone to look up were quickly sent from the capital by the old priest's messenger.

A brand-new harpoon sat to his left.

The fork head is iron gray, triangular, with the cutting edge already cut, and the handle is wrapped with non-slip hemp rope, tightly and neatly.

A small crossbow launcher is added to the rear of the fork, which is more exquisite than Bell's. The latch is made of brass and makes a crisp click when pulled. It also has a longer range and a more stable trajectory when firing.

There were six crossbow bolts in the iron box next to it: four explosive bolts and two steel bolts.

He carefully read the contents of the file, occasionally comparing it with another picture. In the upper right corner of the first report was a simple sketch, outlining a handsome young man with curly hair in just a few strokes. It was Simon.

A series of knocks suddenly came from outside the small window of the counter.

Disturbed, Andrei looked up, frowned, walked behind the counter, and pushed open the metal plate of the small window.

The old priest stood hunched over outside the small window, his wrinkled face appearing particularly somber in the dim light of the day.

"Dad?"

Andrei was somewhat surprised, but a smile immediately appeared on his face. He closed the small window, turned around, and quickly walked behind the iron gate, pulling open the heavy bolt.

The iron gate was pushed open inwards, and he stepped aside to move aside from the door frame.

"Father! Why did you come in person? Please come in."

The old priest walked in, and Andrei closed the iron gate, turned around to look at him, rubbed his hands together, and then pulled out a wooden chair from behind the counter and pushed it in front of the old priest.

"Please sit down. I don't have any good tea here, but the water is clean." He turned around, picked up a tin kettle from the counter, poured a glass of water, and placed it next to the old priest.

The old priest sat down, placed his hands on his knees, and did not pick up the glass of water.

He looked up at Andrei.

"The Abyss Watchers are returning to the Abyss one after another, the Hungry Angels have fallen, order is being restored, the elevators at the outposts are running again, the latest batch of sinners have arrived in the Abyss, and a new batch of supplies will be delivered this month."

Andrei's eyes lit up, and his smile widened: "That's great!"

The old priest stretched out his withered hand and patted Andrei on the shoulder.

"You are a hero. I have read your report. The recovery of the remains of the Angel of Death has begun, and the Sisters of the Holy Hammer are also summarizing their battle reports. You played a significant role in killing that monster this time." The old priest's hoarse voice carried a gentle praise.

Upon hearing this, Andrei was not particularly happy.

"Father, don't say that. The real hero is someone else..." His tone became serious, and he leaned forward. "The real hero is a sinner named Simon. At the most dangerous moment, he climbed onto the back of the monster's neck and used four explosive crossbows to blow up the flesh of the Hungry Angel, the evidence of its sins."

"Without him, none of us could kill that thing!"

He stood up from his chair and walked to the counter. He pulled the stamped note from the charcoal-gray envelope, opened the file, found the page with the bookmark, and laid it out in front of the old priest.

"Dad, look at this. I've long suspected he wasn't a criminal, so I had someone check his file..." Andrei's fingers traced the words on the file, his tone carrying the excitement of a detective uncovering a conspiracy. "The day he was convicted of rummaging through contraband happened to be his shift. Think about it, what petty thief would be so foolish as to steal something on his own shift?"

"And look, this is the floor plan of the forbidden library." He pushed another map under the old priest's nose. "The forbidden books that are about to be destroyed are all sealed here. If he wanted to steal something, wouldn't a scholar who has worked in the forbidden library for so many years know where the hidden exits are? Why would he go around to the main entrance of the forbidden library after the alarm goes off? Wouldn't that just hand him over to the judge?"

"The case file says two blasphemers were arrested, Simon might be innocent!" Andrei reasoned seriously. "He might have been chasing a thief, but the judge mistook him for an accomplice."

"What do you want to say?" The old priest didn't look at the file; his eyes were fixed on Andrei's face for a long time.

"I think we can win him over. You haven't seen his skills. He doesn't have any prosthetics, but I think he's stronger than many soldiers with prosthetics..."

"None of that matters," the old priest interrupted him, shaking his head. "I'm here for something more important."

Andrei removed his hand from the file and stood up straight.

"The Impure World Physician reported to me that no traces of flesh, evidence of sin, were found at the scene of the Hungry Angel's corpse."

"Because Simon blew it up..."

"No!" the old priest interrupted him sharply. "The self-destruction of the angel of death failed to completely burn the monster, let alone a few explosive crossbow bolts. Even if the flesh was blown to pieces, there should still be residual flesh samples as evidence of the crime at the scene."

Andrei's brow twitched as he recalled Simon emerging from the ruins, covered in blood and carrying nothing in his hands.

He was about to retort when he remembered that Simon was still carrying a backpack...

The evidence of the crime, the flesh, and the cave raider—when he connects the two, the truth emerges.

Andrei's face turned ashen. Simon had colluded with the Cave Thief, using his connections with the Abyss Watchers to mobilize the Impure Doctor and the Holy Hammer Sister. Simon was the first to board the Hungry Angel's body, then hid the Flesh of Evidence in his backpack, deceiving him by saying it had been blown up by the Explosive Crossbow.

He should have thought of it, but he was too excited at the moment the hungry angel fell, so he never expected that his trusted friend would deceive him in such a clumsy way.

"The value of that piece of meat is far greater than you imagine." The old priest stood up and walked towards the iron gate. "Find him and retrieve the flesh that is evidence of the hungry angel's sins."

Andrei lowered his head and looked at the new harpoon on the counter.

He specially stayed up all night to make this for Simon; it's lighter and easier to handle than the one Mr. Bell pieced together from parts.

When he first started making the harpoon, he wondered if Simon would be happy to receive the gift and whether their friendship would be strengthened.

But all of that vanished into thin air...

Five nuns with holy hammers stood outside the door; they were the same five who had attacked the Hungry Angel. The lead nun gestured to Andrei:

"Father Andrei, give the order."

Andrei took a deep breath of the frigid air from the first level of the abyss, then slowly exhaled, his eyes turning icy cold.

"Let's go!"