The last rays of the dim sunset faded, finally disappearing into the steel horizon forged by towering buildings.
But before darkness fully descended, the glittering neon lights of Saint Foucault City's distant commercial and entertainment district had already flickered on, a vibrant, colorful spectacle of dazzling lights and bustling nightlife.
However, in a corner of the Infected settlement, in front of the small clinic where Kaltsit was temporarily staying, it was pitch black, with only an Originium streetlamp, which had been there for who knows how many years, still flickering incessantly.
Goki and Skadi's first night in Columbia had arrived.
"Mon3tr, highest security protocol—lock down the room, prevent contamination from spreading, don't let anyone get close, if they get close, knock them out and throw them away."
Standing calmly in the room, Kaltsit quickly gave Mon3tr his instructions.
"Gada dada dada."
The crystalline beast dutifully accepted Kaltsit's command. His several-meter-long body suddenly contracted, shrinking into a small form, easily breaking free from Skadi's embrace, which could crush an ox.
He quickly moved around the house, nailing shut the few windows with wooden boards, and finally darted out the front door, disappearing into the profound darkness of the night.
Mon3tr sensed Kaltsit's tension and excitement. She was also afraid of the thing Goki had just pulled out and then immediately made disappear, so he quickly ran off.
"Ah… did you just climb onto the refrigerator?"
After placing her ice cream in Kaltsit's refrigerator, Skadi tilted her head curiously, looking at Kaltsit, who was now acting particularly agitated.
Just moments ago, with a speed that even Skadi couldn't react to, Kaltsit had directly leaped onto the refrigerator in front of her. That speed and explosive power were completely unlike her usual self, who always claimed to be "just a normal researcher."
Skadi knew that even without Mon3tr, this woman was very dangerous.
"That was just… a stress response, it's normal—Skadi, please take this. The Spell on it can protect your mind and help you maintain your sanity."
Her movements paused for a moment. Kaltsit, who had been frantically rummaging through a storage box, finally pulled out three twisted and bent metal staves.
The staves showed no signs of modern craftsmanship. Embedded in the rusty, ancient-script-adorned metal bodies of the staves were three pitch-black Originium crystals.
Handing two staves to Goki and Skadi, Kaltsit's tone remained calm, but she seemed a bit anxious, and her gaze towards Goki held a hint of reproach and anger.
Skadi looked at the oddly shaped stick and didn't take it seriously, instead continuing to pester her.
Simple and childlike, she was more likely to notice Kaltsit's recent embarrassment.
"But you really were scared just now, you even meowed. I heard it, it was so noisy."
Hearing Skadi's words, Kaltsit's cat ears twitched, and a barely perceptible blush crossed her cheeks.
"Forget about that! This isn't the time to talk about it, Goki, do you know what kind of dangerous item you brought back from Sargon—if the contents of this thing are released, at least everyone in the entire region will turn into madmen!"
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Kaltsit had never expected that Goki would, without any warning, pull out such a dangerous item.
"The Nation of Yellow Sands has been silent for a hundred years since the Nightmare Expedition. Such a thing shouldn't appear here—how many people came into contact with that item just now? How many people touched it at the sensory level? Once cognitive contamination is generated, its harm is immeasurable."
Her long-maintained composure was completely shattered. Kaltsit knew exactly how immensely dangerous the item Goki had just been holding was.
"Don't be nervous—don't worry, I know what's stored in this thing. It can't be seen by too many people. Only Skadi and I have seen it. I usually keep it put away. This thing is very safe, really."
Goki knew that the item he had just taken out was indeed extraordinary.
As an Old Hunter who had long been in contact with Great Ones, he naturally understood that the wisdom of the Old Gods could beguile human minds and even drive people mad.
The skull he had just taken out indeed needed to be handled with care.
Even Goki, when facing it directly, would still hear whispers in his ears.
However, the Old Hunter had long been accustomed to these sounds. There were many Great Ones in Yharnam; if you put them all together, they could play football. Goki's ears were constantly surrounded by the whispers of at least two or more Great Ones.
Therefore, he had long been immune to this kind of mental contamination.
As for Skadi, Goki knew that the Seaborn God stood behind her.
The blood of the Abyssal Hunters was the power of the Seaborn God's kin, and Skadi was a particularly special existence among them.
In a sense, Skadi's essence had already been eroded by the power of the Seaborn God. It was just that now, she had not yet begun to transform into Red Skadi, and Goki was even planning to find a way to stop this process.
Therefore, the contamination of the God of Burning Wind's wisdom was also ineffective against Skadi.
And Goki knew that Kaltsit must also have some understanding of Terra's gods. He just hadn't expected that this thing could make the usually calm her jump onto the refrigerator in a fright.
He was holding the wisdom of an Old God, not a cucumber he had secretly placed behind Kaltsit… But in the brief moment just now, Goki had indeed felt the emotion called dread from Kaltsit.
Of course, Kaltsit's gaze wasn't one of fear towards something, but rather… seeing some terrible dangerous item.
Kaltsit was indeed afraid, but she wasn't worried about herself; she was worried about the spread of this thing's harm.
[Maybe next time I should try putting a cucumber there?]
He could think about it, but judging by the speed at which Skadi had jumped onto the refrigerator just now, Goki knew that even without using Mon3tr, this big lynx's physical fitness was definitely not just "ordinary" as stated in the Operator files.
Goki was not as fast as her at the moment, and if he dared to play a prank, he would definitely be turned into a grip strength tester!
"Don't worry, Kaltsit, I can confirm I have complete control over it—as for the origin of this thing, that's an interesting story."
After ensuring that the surroundings were completely sealed and no fool would come near, Goki once again took the knowledge of the Old God from his Hunters Dream.
The skull silently burned with fierce flames, instantly raising the room's temperature by several degrees.
Skadi, meanwhile, casually picked up two grilled sausages and habitually placed them on the skull to heat up.
She had seen Goki tinker with this skull many times along the way and didn't know what was so fun about it—but it was very convenient for grilling things.
Although Goki could also conjure fire, his fire control wasn't even, making it easy to burn things.
"This thing is not interesting at all, Skadi, please don't use it as a heating tool—Goki, I hope you truly understand what this thing represents. Although some madmen have already begun research, the nations of Terra are not yet ready to face this truth."
Kaltsit finally calmed down. Holding the staff given to her by an old friend, she approached Goki, looking at the skull with an expression of disgust and vigilance.
She could feel the mad and violent power contained within this seemingly fragile skull.
And its owner… was definitely a great enemy of the Terra continent.
"Goki, I believe you came for this matter—and I do indeed know knowledge about these existences."
Kaltsit took a deep breath, calming her somewhat agitated emotions, and looked at Goki with a serene expression.
She could actually already guess what had happened.
Another ancient ruin had been excavated, unearthing such a seemingly ordinary but exceptionally dangerous existence.
The excavators were perhaps some Sargon exploration team from Columbia—perhaps an entire village had already been cognitively contaminated, fallen into madness, and would eventually be completely destroyed by Sargon's military might…
As for how this thing got into Goki's hands—given Skadi and Goki's strength, getting this item shouldn't be difficult.
Kaltsit calmed down. No matter how absurd things got, she was accustomed to remaining composed.
Goki, however, cleared his throat and excitedly began to tell Kaltsit the story.
"Ah, then I'll make a long story short—the Rhine Lab expedition team found a fragment of the God of Burning Wind in a temple, allowing this sealed Incarnation to escape prematurely."
Skillfully grilling cheese-filled hot dogs for Skadi, Goki recounted his god-slaying—or at least, one-thousandth god-slaying—feat in the Akahula Rainforest as if it were a trivial matter.
Because of the different perspectives, the plots understood were also different. Some things, even if told to Skadi, she definitely wouldn't understand.
But for the omniscient Kaltsit, Goki was willing to say a few more words.
"And then, Skadi and I cut him down—now only this one piece remains intact."
Thus, Goki casually described his experience of slaying a god.
"Ha… what did you say? That was alive? Are you sure it wasn't an illusion or a projection?!"
Kaltsit, meanwhile, had widened her eyes and directly leaned in front of Goki, grabbing his collar with both hands—calm, calm my ass?!
The situation was simpler than imagined, yet much more complex.
For how many years, even when the thousands of lighthouses on the Iberian coast suddenly extinguished for the first time, and the power of the ocean began to seep onto the shore, Kaltsit had never had such a headache as she did now.
"Mr. Goki, I think I understand… what the Hunters of Yharnam take as their prey."
Taking two steps forward, standing in front of Goki, and meeting the Hunter's gaze, Kaltsit saw emotions and power not belonging to a Mortal in the black eyes of this usually cheerful man.
"Ha… actually, our most common job is still hunting beasts, because beast meat tastes a bit better."
Goki's gaze, meanwhile, swept downwards, past the collar of Kaltsit's white coat, still maintaining his composure.
He could only say, it was slightly bulging, right?
"But this time, do you have more to tell me, Teacher Kaltsit?"
Goki could guess Kaltsit's purpose in wandering the land, but if he wanted to gain her true trust and achieve cooperation in Columbia, Goki needed to have an open and honest conversation with her.
Friendship and love needed to be cultivated later. For now, Goki and Kaltsit's relationship temporarily needed common interests to maintain.
"This is a very long topic, Goki—and also, don't call me teacher."
Kaltsit rarely sighed, taking off her white coat.
"We can talk about… the issue of gods."
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