Yama Rising

He stopped in his tracks and began to ponder the situation at hand. He had already diverged away from the highway and was situated in a lush forest. As he landed on the ground, all of the surrounding animals and insects quickly fled in alarm. It was a habit of his to find as quiet an environment as possible when he needed to think deeply about something.

The forest was completely silent, and Qin Ye casually strolled back and forth as one question after another sprang up in his mind, allowing him to better arrange his thoughts.

After a long while, a cold smile appeared on his face as he chuckled, "Looks like I underestimated those three. Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa are turning a blind eye to everything and none of the other death gods want to attack these three Abyssal Prefects, either. No matter who attacks them first, they'll be sure to be met by all-out retaliation from the three death gods, and even if they succeed at eradicating the trio, they'll be sure to suffer heavy losses in the process. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be all that significant, and perhaps one of them would be inclined to bite the bullet, but under the current circumstances, all of the death gods are looking to conserve their forces, and that's given the three Caribbean death gods space to grow. As a trio of pirates, they must also be aware that they don't mean anything in the context of the world. All of the current surviving underworlds have at least 1,000 years of history, and if they want to truly step onto this stage as influential figures, they'll have to wait for 1,000 years."

He casually walked a few steps, and the fallen leaves crunched audibly beneath the soles of his boots, further accentuating just how silent the night was.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "Excessive ambition has been the death of many a plan."

The three death gods clearly didn't want to wait that long. This was an extremely rare opportunity, and they wanted to take advantage of it to attain the entire world's acknowledgment.

How could they do that? If they didn't want to wait 1,000 years, then the only way would be to reach the Duke level! There was no way that a Duke would be ignored on the world stage!

If that was the extent of their ambitions, then Qin Ye couldn't give less of a damn.

Do you think you'll be able to tell everyone what to do once you become a Duke? My apologies, but you'd still be nothing in front of the four pillars.

However, Brand had said something else that had caught Qin Ye's attention: "Aside from our common duty, which is to keep an eye on the witch hunters and the church, everyone has an additional important mission, which is to protect Matthew Conn. If anyone tries to attack him or investigate that incident from several decades ago, our job is to have them killed!"

This was the root of the conflict of interest between him and the three death gods of the Caribbean.

"In order to find out the location of the underground church, Matthew Conn is my only lead. Why are the three death gods of the Caribbean intent on protecting him? Does he have something to do with their hopes of ascending to the Yama-King level?" His brows knitted tightly together as he mused, "No matter what happens, there's no way Matthew would be able to become a Yama-King in the next few decades. All Yama-Kings require mythology to act as foundation, so what makes him worthy of protection in the eyes of the Caribbean's three death gods?"

He felt as if he were looking at a ball of yarn with loose ends all over the place, yet only one of them led to the truth.

He needed a game-changing piece of evidence that could help him see the truth. Otherwise, he would never be able to uncover the truth. If things were to develop to a point where his only option was to track down Matthew and force him to reveal the whereabouts of the underground church, then he had to know who Matthew's superior was, what cultivation rank they were at, where they were located, and how many evil ghosts they had under their control.

Otherwise, if he were to dive in headfirst recklessly, there was a very good chance he would get caught up in the swamp that was the new continent.

After a long while, he heaved a resigned sigh as he murmured to himself, "It's not a matter of whether I want to get caught up in this anymore, it seems like I have no choice if I want to get to the bottom of things."

His body began to dissipate into a gust of Yin wind as he continued, "Seeing as I've been dragged into all of this, I'm going to make them regret ever forcing me to get involved."

………………………………………………

The plane flew across the sky as a silver line, flying directly from Phoenix to Philadelphia.

A grim look appeared on Qin Ye's face as soon as he disembarked. The atmosphere in Philadelphia was completely different from that of Los Angeles.

There were police officers everywhere, but all of them were just normal humans whom Qin Ye paid no attention to. What really caught his attention were the countless strangely dressed figures in the crowd. They were wearing tight-fitting leather cloaks that were parted at the chest and formed an elegant dovetail at the back. The cloaks were held together by antiquated-looking buttons, and some of these figures didn't wear cloaks, but were wearing black cowboy hats much like the ones seen in western cowboy films.

Their skin was extremely pale and the black circles around their eyes were very severe. This was a sign of staying up late at night over extended periods of time. What was even stranger were the faces with eyes and mouths sewn shut peeking out from beneath the shadows of their tattered cloaks. Those faces belonged to the terrifying dolls that they were holding, and all of them had a common trait, which was the triangular emblem on their chests, within which was a flaming fist.

This was the Fist of Judgment, the premier anti-supernatural organization on the new continent, equivalent to Cathay's Special Investigations Department and SCI. The only people who could join this organization were true witch hunters and "odd individuals" from all over the nation.

Under normal circumstances, they remained a complete secret to the general public, and the fact that they were appearing en masse in such a densely populated area was a clear indication of just how terrible the situation in Philadelphia had become.

Edward emerged from the passenger boarding bridge with his luggage, and he was greeted by the sight of Yin energy detection devices, which he hadn't seen for a very long time. A long line had already gathered in front of him, and he took this opportunity to inspect his surroundings.

In doing so, he discovered that the air temperature in Philadelphia was at least three to four degrees below that of other cities on the same latitude. This was a sign that Yin energy was already spreading quickly and it was no wonder that the Usonian government was so tense and uneasy.

After a half-hour wait, he finally reached the front of the line.

Behind the table sat a Caucasian male wearing an immaculate suit, and the emblem of the Fist of Judgment was also present on his chest.

The table was very wide, roughly around a meter in width, and on either side of it were barricades formed by metal bars. Behind the table was an orderly row of gun-wielding police officers, while witch hunters were present on either side of Edward. After a thorough investigation, Edward placed his passport into the verification device, and a beep soon rang out. Before he had a chance to recover his passport, the man behind the table had already taken the passport from the device and was looking at Edward like a hawk. "What have you come to Philadelphia for?"

"An investigation," Edward replied as he pulled out his independent case approval form, which was accompanied by the important details of the case. "I'm investigating a suspected murder."

The man didn't say anything. He took the form from Edward, then verified the authenticity of the stamp on the form with another device. Perhaps it was because both of them were public servants, but the man's cold demeanor softened a little as he said, "I must warn you that Philadelphia is a very dangerous place to be right now."

"I'm aware of that."

"Are you still determined to enter the city despite this?"

"The truth cannot wait."

The man nodded in response before lowering his voice as he said, "There are no problems with your documents, but in order to ensure your safety in Philadelphia, I hope you can do the following few things. Firstly, every night at 6 PM, the bell of the Masonic Temple at the center of the city will toll, and we'll broadcast this to all homes in the city through the radio network. After that, make sure to stay in your home, and if you notice anything abnormal, call the helpline right away. This is not a joke, Mr. Edward, it's a matter of life and death."

In the face of the man's serious gaze, Edward nodded in response, and only then did the man continue in a grave voice, "Secondly, the Masonic Temple is off-limits for normal people, but you're in the police force, so this restriction doesn't apply to you. If you're unable to return to your home before 6 PM, you can live in the church. Thirdly, do not let your curiosity get the better of you, do not go to sparsely populated areas, do not question some things that will most likely seem strange to you, and try to avoid traveling alone wherever possible. Fourthly, make sure to follow this manual at all times."

He pushed a small green booklet over to Edward along the table as he spoke. "I hope you survive your trip. Next."

Qin Ye recovered his passport and briefly leafed through the manual, which was essentially a "what not to do" list, including entries such as "don't look into any mirrors after midnight", "don't privately set up occult arrays", "don't call out any name that you hear", "go to church as much as possible", etc...

How is this going to help anything?

He placed the booklet into his own pocket with an amused smile. Even if you followed this manual to a tee, it still wouldn't save your life amid such severe supernatural disasters. Under these circumstances, it was definitely far more convenient to have a one-party system rather than a multiparty political system.

After emerging from the airport, Edward discovered that there weren't many taxis outside. After all, not many people would dare to accept strangers into their cars for income at a time like this. Edward picked a random taxi and got into it. Before the driver had a chance to say anything, he said in a casual voice, "Just take me on a short drive around the city, then go to the nearest hotel to the Masonic Temple."

The driver was a Caucasian male, and he was looking at Edward with a wary expression through his rearview mirror. Edward leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes as he said in a casual voice, "Don't worry, I'm a police officer."

If he wanted to strike, then he would have to organize his thoughts and familiarize himself with the city first.

The can began to move, and several minutes later, he opened his eyes to examine the city around him, the oldest city in Usonia.

It could be said that this was the city with the best landscaping in all of Usonia, and it also had the earliest Cathaytown in Usonia. At the same time, it was the home of the Usonian flag, the Declaration of Independence, the Hershey's sandwich, scrapple, Black Cherry Wishniak, and other symbolic food items.

Passing through the streets of Philadelphia, Qin Ye could see countless Britannia-style buildings, all of which were relics of Usonia's history as a colony of Britannia. These buildings were extremely rare in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. There were also Usonian flags hanging all over the city, and the city of Philadelphia itself was a melting pot of different cultures with buildings of the Britannia style, Italia style, renaissance style, and even Cathayan style standing next to one another.

From the city, one could reach the sea by boat through the Delaware River. The river was very wide and it was framed on either side by lush greenery, so the scenery was fantastic. However, no matter how exceptional the scenery was, a place would inevitably be lacking in vitality without the presence of people, and that was exactly the case for Philadelphia.

The streets were almost completely deserted, and the only people that could be seen were ones hurriedly rushing in and out of supermarkets or convenience stores. They carried box after box of groceries into their cars, then immediately drove away, clearly not wanting to stay outdoors for even a second over what was necessary.

Those weren't the only signs indicating that something was wrong. Edward cast his gaze toward the tops of all of the tall buildings in the city, and perhaps normal people wouldn't be able to see them, but he could clearly see that at the top of each building stood at least three witch hunters, the most powerful of which were Soul Hunters, while the majority were Netherworld Operatives. In total, there had to be at least over 10,000 witch hunters present in the city.

If any parts of their cloaks were raised up by the wind, the crossbows forged from holy silver strapped to their arms would instantly be revealed with runes of the church engraved onto their surface. Weapons were strapped to every single part of their bodies, and this was a style of battle they had honed throughout the extensive battles they had waged against the Yin spirits of the new continent. After all, the religions of the new continent could be said to be the most belligerent religions in human history.

The main religion on the new continent was the Aztec religion, and one of the defining traits of the Aztec religion was its tendency to devour.

With each tribe that it defeated, the Aztecs would absorb the opposition's deities into their own religion. Thus, the developmental history of the Aztec religion was rife with war, and as a result, their religion became more and more massive, to the extent that three separate branches arose. Of course, every single deity that was absorbed into the religion inherited the belligerent tendencies characteristic of the Aztec religion, and Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa were prime examples of this.

At this point, the taxi had already driven into the main area of Philadelphia, and Edward's eyes suddenly lit up as he pointed toward a certain direction. "What's going on over there?"

It was a church, but the symbol of Death God Dax was hanging all over the street across from the church!

The symbol depicted a darky starry sky, beneath which was the inky-black sea, and between the sky and the sea was a blood-red eye.