The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Less than a minute after the small settlement's rusty copper bell was rung, Hayes found them surrounded by Fizz's people.

These people were generally deformed. Recalling Fizz's appearance, Hayes realized that Fizz was actually quite normal in comparison. These Bubble-Eye Clan fishermen averaged no more than one and a half meters in height, and their eyes were very large. Some didn't even have eyelids, and the pupils in their eyeballs were as small as pinholes. The large whites of their eyes sat in protruding sockets, making it seem like they would fall out at any moment.

Secondly, the most conspicuous feature was their large mouths, which was also reflected in Fizz. At the same time, their skin had fish scale-like psoriasis and markings.

In the past, Hayes would have been terrified by such a scene, but now he just answered each of their questions gently.

But they were all asking the same thing.

Where is Fizz?

Obviously, this represented one thing: the death notice had not been delivered to them.

"Fizz... Fizz is back?"

Just as Hayes didn't know how to answer, an old voice parted the crowd.

The person who had spoken with Hayes earlier supported an even more hunched figure as they walked forward. Upon reaching Hayes, the newcomer pulled back the heavy hood of their cloak, revealing a head of thin white hair and a face weathered by wind and rain.

She looked relatively normal and bore some resemblance to Fizz.

But the old woman still had some mutated features: sunken skin, covered in blemishes, gray dead flesh glistening, eyes set wider apart than normal, and a large mouth.

"You are-"

"Oh, good sir, forgive my lack of introduction. I am Fizz's grandmother. You can call me Muva Makkah."

Hayes said nothing, but took out Fizz's expedition manual, the copper pendant he had clutched before his death, and his dog tag.

The moment she saw these three items, the old woman swayed. Those around her quickly supported her, and then came the sound of weeping.

Hayes had never imagined that he would take on the role of a harbinger of death. It made him sad, but also somewhat guilty. If it weren't for him, would Fizz's family have continued to hold onto hope?

Even if it was false hope...

Afterward, he learned that these people could all be considered Fizz's family. They were a large, ever-growing clan that had settled here for hundreds of years, but had always suffered from mutation and deformity. Fizz was considered the least mutated of the young people among them, and in a sense, was the only "hope" for this tragic family.

In the eyes of others, such mutations often represented impiety and depravity. For the Bubble-Eye Clan people, who had little knowledge, the suffering they endured from birth gradually formed a kind of bloodline original sin under the subtle influence of their surroundings. This argument, repeatedly proclaimed by the priests, had become an unwavering belief.

To atone for their sins, they often donated half of their harvest to the lakeside town's church, hoping to gain salvation through this.

But for hundreds of years, salvation had never come.

They continued to suffer the torment of mutation, continued to donate their hard-earned catches to the church, and endured poverty and discrimination. Only Fizz hoped to change all of this.

But Fizz also didn't understand anything. All he could do was listen to the priests' propaganda and ultimately take his deceased mother's pendant to the battlefield.

Hayes felt terrible after hearing this, but he couldn't describe the emotions in his heart.

The scene of Fizz's death rolled through his mind like waves, and all he could say was to tell these tragic people that their Fizz had sacrificed himself like a hero, that everyone was proud of him, and that the God-Emperor would bless them all.

That was all.

Knowing that it would probably be difficult to use deposit slips in the underhive, Hayes had exchanged those precious metal currencies before coming, put them in a sturdy little bag, and gave them to Fizz's family, saying that it was what Fizz had left behind.

To thank Hayes, the Bubble-Eye Clan specially prepared the largest and cleanest house, and brought out the best food to entertain him.

Although Hayes felt a bit of resistance in his heart towards those "fish," he couldn't directly refuse. Fortunately, there weren't many, only two or three.

His two wives would definitely not be willing to eat it. He steeled himself, peeled open the boiled red shell, picked up the pale white flesh inside, and put it in his mouth.

Actually, aside from a fishy smell, it wasn't bad, and the texture could even be described as delicate.

But soon Hayes discovered that he seemed to be the only one in the village eating "fish." Everyone else was huddled in the distance, gathered in the shadows.

When he went over to take a look, he found that they were all eating something similar to algae and seaweed, simply boiled in water, including the children. He curiously asked Fizz's cousin, but the other party hesitated and didn't want to say. At his request, he finally told Hayes that fish was very precious and was their only means of obtaining various daily necessities. Therefore, they usually ate this salty algae salvaged from the water—and part of the fish had to be given to the church, and another part to the town. Finally, a little was left to be dried and taken out to eat during certain festivals or to sell for a good price in the town.

"We are... used to everything, we can eat it, it doesn't hurt the tongue."

Hayes wordlessly squatted down, and under their astonished gaze, picked up a piece of wet, salty algae from a pottery basin that looked like some kind of filthy swamp and put it in his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth, it was as if he had been directly poured a mouthful of salt. After a moment of rejection, he felt that his tongue and upper palate were almost numb, as if there wasn't seaweed in his mouth, but a whole dry hemp rope.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't swallow it. Even during the most difficult moments in the regiment, he had never eaten anything so terrible.

And these people of the Bubble-Eye Clan had been eating it for hundreds of years!

Before leaving the Bubble-Eye Clan, Hayes repeatedly asked if anyone had come to deliver letters or anything during this time, but they all replied that no one would come to deliver letters to this place, that they were all sent to the church in the town, and then the church would notify them to pick them up.

It had always been like this.

Hayes finally understood something, but he said nothing, and said goodbye to these fishermen who looked ugly but were actually simple, kind, and even a little timid.

When he returned to Lakeside Town, it coincided with the church's mass time. The towering white church was already surrounded by people. The bishop in his vestments stood on the high platform reciting scriptures, and the priests looked very strong and radiant. At the end of the mass, several people in military green uniforms walked to the bishop and knelt down to receive blessings. They were all children of prominent families in the town. After returning from the battlefield, they would become protectors of the town, that is, law enforcement officers, enjoying honor, status, and power.