Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 1284: Chapter 701: Hidden Plot Twist (Part 2)

”I won’t disturb your rest, take a bath and have a meal after you wake up, and breathe some fresh air.” Grendel raised a hand and took out a bottle of light blue potion, handing it over and adding, ”This is a calming herbal potion, you should know how to use it.”

”Oh, thank you.”

Amanda did not refuse any further and reached out to take it over.

As Grendel left, Amanda stood there in a daze for a moment before slowly returning to consciousness from the void.

She looked at the potion in her hand and remembered the previous conversation, involuntarily lowering her head to look at herself.

Although it was all about throwing and whipping, without much melee combat, in such a scene, it was inevitable to get stained with some filth, not to mention the sweat and sour smell, which was indeed unpleasant.

To be honest, she was a bit of a clean freak, but she was so tired she had forgotten, and it was truly uncomfortable.

Very soon, she arrived at the bathhouse. As the temperature dropped and thanks to Hamlet’s promotion, more importantly, people had some spare money on hand now.

Who doesn’t like a clean and refreshing feeling? It was just the conditions that limited them before, so now that conditions have improved, more people were frequenting the bathhouse.

There was a large bathhouse here, but Amanda, with her status and character, couldn’t possibly bathe with those people, and in fact, there had always been private bathrooms available here.

Inside there were no pools, but rather shower facilities and a large wooden tub for soaking.

These were specifically prepared for various herbal bath projects. After all, various potions are very expensive and adjusted according to the water volume.

If you wanted a higher concentration of potion in the large bath, you needed to pay a higher price, and nobody wanted to unwittingly benefit others.

This specially made wooden tub was just enough for one person and required fewer bath materials, so the price was lower, and it could achieve a certain effect.

Of course, compared to a regular bath, the price was still quite high, whether it was for a herbal bath or a private space, it was typically unaffordable for ordinary people.

But Amanda was quite wealthy, she didn’t lack money at all; not to mention Lance’s bounty, if she truly ran out of money, she could extort Sela for funds mercilessly on Romani people’s expenses.

She usually frequented this place, and the staff knew she was a big shot, just a casual wave and someone would assist her with everything.

She even skipped a simple shower and directly stepped into the large tub.

As her body immersed in the warm water, Amanda inexplicably felt much lighter, the buoyancy lifted her chest and eased the feeling of oppression she felt, which was precisely why she loved soaking in the bath.

She took out the potion given by Grendel, opening it to take a sniff, with a fresh fragrance hitting her nose without being overwhelming. Even she had to admit the mixing technique of Hamlet’s best pharmacist.

The ones used by ordinary people were diluted from the original liquid in large batches, so the effect was reduced many times, as this was the only way they could afford it.

But the potion she had was specifically researched and hand-mixed by Grendel for Transcendents, the effects were much better, it was even considered hard currency as it was scarce, and no amount of money could necessarily buy it.

The azure potion dripped into the water, quickly turning the water a light blue color, and her body relaxed, the pressure from dungeon anxiety gradually fading away.

Audrey could only hide in the inn like a stray dog, suffering silently alone from the aftermath of entering the dungeon.

The pressure could torture her beyond recognition, completely twisting her sanity, or maybe days later when the inn staff came in they might find her body curled up, long dead, and starting to rot with a foul stench.

After all, with cooler weather now, nobody would know she was dead for three or five days.

But Amanda could receive concern from her companions and various means to relieve the stress.

Who was to blame for the disparities?

Those who should jade themselves did so, and those who should relieve stress did so. Lance wasn’t clear about the specific situation; after returning he stayed in the room handling documents, eating hastily with no time to spare.

Lance wasn’t very clever, he didn’t have the genius ideas of the Ancestor, but having experienced the modern information explosion, he had a natural advantage in information processing, unlike the people of this era whose thoughts were constrained.

He didn’t know how the Ancestor ordered those cult leaders, but he could infer from the information given to the people below by those leaders.

No need for detailed information, just a general understanding was enough to piece together more information bit by bit.

Undoubtedly, the Ancestor planned to sacrifice Hamlet’s millions to possess and seize the Primordial God, but this foolproof plan encountered problems.

Originally, Lance thought it was the church’s disciples charging into the dungeon that led to its failure, but the truth was that even a million lives couldn’t allow the Ancestor to complete the ritual.

It was equivalent to insufficient sacrifice, he was stuck and couldn’t advance or retreat, giving up was impossible, so he was trapped.

Whether the church’s seals were effective wasn’t clear, but even after being trapped, the Ancestor didn’t give up; he actively sought ways to solve it.

He supported the Ascension Sect, constantly inciting wars within the ritual’s range, the lives lost were absorbed by the ritual to strengthen his possession of the Primordial God.

Like a cancer cell, it needed to continuously devour and corrupt other healthy cells to gain power and nutrients to gradually infest the entire life.

The Ascension Sect, Pigman, or Unseen Flesh were expected meals for the Ancestor, and the [Heart of Flesh] was likely cultivated by the Ancestor to escape ritual constraints.

But all of this shifted direction due to Lance’s arrival because white blood cells could also devour, just let’s see who would eat whom first.

But why was the game’s steward so eager to push players to eliminate all parties, and then charge into the dungeon?

Lance fell into deep thoughts, his mind swirling with chaotic thoughts, but soon he grasped a trace, instantly organizing the jumble of information.

”I understand... I understand... so that’s how it is...”

Lance suddenly laughed, the innocence of that expression was hard to suppress.

Doubt? Comprehension!

Simply put, the Ancestor’s true form is now trapped deep in the dungeon and can only corrupt the outside world through special means, with limited influence on the outside.

He wanted to retain the ritual and also escape, so he needed to create a perfect clone to replace himself.

That was why the steward provided players with various items, encouraging them to kill into the dungeon and then seal the ritual with the church’s remaining [Hands of Praise], even helping the Ancestor pause the ceremony.

This allowed him to clone himself with [Heart of Flesh], replacing the trapped body, freeing it.

By then, once the true form broke free from confinement, the church’s seals would be a joke, plus if he could appear in the real world, the corruption would cause widespread chaos.

A million lives didn’t work, so the Ancestor intended to sacrifice the entire world’s life to ascend to godhood.

I understand everything now!

Once Lance figured it out, he calmed down instead, couldn’t help but sigh—what a calculation by the Ancestor!

No wonder so much stuff was needed, Legendary equipment, Limping Walker, and a large batch of priests, all just to break the saint’s power and grab the items.

But now he held the upper hand, Lance took out the [Heart of Flesh], feeling its power, his mouth involuntarily curved into a grin.

He returned because he was worried about the trouble caused by breaking the church’s ritual, wanting to investigate before deciding, but now having figured it out, Lance became bolder.

Originally he planned to rest for a few days, now he decided to skip rest and act quickly.

”Quick, call Baldwin for me, and have someone notify them over in the new town, I want Junia and an Honor Guard ready.”

Lance quickly went out to call Susan, issuing instructions.

Sensing the urgency, she immediately replied and turned to leave.

”Yes!”