Before dawn, on a mountain trail that should have been beautiful during the day, there was a group of people walking silently.
The black-clad brigade was silent, and thirteen brown coffins were placed on their shoulders, steadily and gently.
"Snapped!"
This remote hill was not high, and the funeral team quickly reached the top.
Shovel after shovel, sand and gravel were sprinkled down the pit, and the coffins without corpses were buried one by one.
Except for a few men in black who were moving shovels, the others just watched silently. There was no sound of gunfire or music.
The Keepers don't need these extra possessions, they understand what death means.
What they fear is that death does not end everything.
The coffin was empty as always. Most of the secret keepers themselves were high pollution sources, and their bodies had long been destroyed.
The clothes in the tomb should not be touched too much. Tomb robbers all know that there is nothing in the tomb of the secret keeper.
"Perhaps, soon, I will be buried here..."
Seeing the sand being scattered into the deep pit, Xia Qin in the crowd felt a little dazed.
She saw that on other hills, tombstones were already standing there.
It seems that it won't be long before the administration will find a new hilltop.
"salute."
The host's voice interrupted Xia Qin's thinking.
The neat salute ends and the ceremony ends here.
No eulogy? To the polluter, words themselves are a curse.
Past experience has proven that the accumulation of consistent and emotional eulogies from "polluters" is also a kind of pollution, a very deadly pollution.
"farewell....."
"Brothers, let's drink together in the next life."
But rules are rules and people are people. The people keeping the secret quietly sent their wishes.
And among all the "wishes", the most numerous ones are still...
"...I will remember you."
Information is inherently a kind of pollution. Remembering the lives of comrades is probably the only thing that fellow polluters can do.
"I will remember you, Xiao Min, Xie Wancheng, Aaron, Min Thean..."
Among the thirteen coffins, four belong to the third team of Zion District.
Of the ten-man establishment, two more "retired" after this incident, leaving captain Xia Qin with only two soldiers.
Deputy team member Xia Qin has been promoted to a full-time job and has just received an urgent notice.
The original captain died in battle, and most of the other teams were vacant. It was impossible to transfer captain-level leaders.
Most of the other teams were like this. The seventh team directly canceled its establishment and replenished its personnel to other teams.
Originally a junior deputy, he was directly promoted to captain without assessment. This actually meant that the administration was extremely short of personnel and the official combat power of the ancient city was reduced again.
"What a troubled time..."
Looking at the buried coffin, Xia Qin naturally thought of the ZZZ-level pollution incident half a month ago, the night that almost destroyed the third team...
In the arena shaped by white jade, there are joyful sacred beasts on the podium, various monsters and monsters in the audience, and the leading actors are miserable human beings.
The two secret keepers were fighting brutally, with guns and swords causing wounds and plagues.
The older one covered his injured chest and was already cornered by his younger apprentice.
The rules of the secret realm are simple and crude. The first rule is to fight between two, the winner lives and the weak dies.
The selected masters and apprentices fight each other for a place to survive.
"Great mother tree, I, Rusty Ax Leyun, am willing to dedicate ten years of my life in exchange for strength..."
But how could a weak person be willing to die? He prayed to the mother tree and activated the second rule - exchanging life for strength.
The old Keeper became even older, but he gained a surge in power.
The situation has been reversed, but how could the original winner be so willing...
"...I can also sacrifice, I am younger..."
The final result is that both parties continue to sacrifice their lives, and the old man dies and becomes part of the icon of the mother tree, becoming an "example" of the truth of the Lord of the Secret Realm.
The victor lost most of his lifespan and became a new old man... Among the thirteen victims, two of them died of old age not long after they came out of the secret realm.
In a desperate situation, everyone is waiting for death and helplessly waiting for the disaster to expand.
The result was that it was doomed from the beginning that the three teams of secret keepers with the highest level four were unable to stop the plan of the ninth level quasi-god to ascend to heaven.
Familiar figures are forced to establish "life links" with the people closest to them, and then meet the end of life or society.
Until that skinny boy came.
He smiled and said the wild words that no one dared to say.
"The one I want to challenge is you...yes, that big cat with the silly smile is you. Quasi-god? Haha, great."
The result? It exceeded everyone’s expectations. As soon as he opened his mouth, it was...
"I exchanged all my life for strength. Since you said that the Mother Goddess is loving and looks at every child equally, then she will not let the weak have no possibility of victory, so she will take away all my life.
Let me see if your kindness is real..."
The figures that suddenly appeared in front of her interrupted Xia Qin's memories.
They were a group of staggering old men, heading up the mountain with their heads lowered, while the other secret keepers were descending silently.
The two teams interacted with each other, but there was no communication. It was obvious that they were colleagues and comrades not long ago.
"There are only seven..."
These few were all once young people, the aging "winners" in the secret realm, and they had just completed the early retirement procedures.
The funeral procession became more and more silent, and faint cries could be heard from behind, painful and hoarse cries.
No one looked back, no one blamed or scolded, it was just that the two teams went their separate ways.
Some people can continue to move forward, while others stop after crying.
Xia Qin took a deep breath and continued moving forward.
"Captain, we need to talk about the person you supervise."
As soon as I returned to the office, someone came to see me.
It's Thunder Fire Blade, one of the only three remaining members of his team.
At the same time, he has always opposed his own "supervision" proposals.
"He is very dangerous, very dangerous. I am not saying that his ability can survive in that secret realm. His ability will definitely be quite extraordinary, but the most dangerous thing is him himself."
Xia Qin still remembers when she offered to vouch for her "savior" while dealing with her memories.
The man in front of me, who was always very fast, immediately expressed his strong objection.
This time, I found it again, and there seemed to be no difference.
"Captain, you know my abilities. I move very quickly because my powers allow me to instantly see through a person's hidden emotions and make decisions and reactions instantly. And in that desperate situation...
....."
Unable to understand, unable to read, unable to identify.
When he thought of that young man, Thunder Fire Blade was filled with worry and uneasiness.
“I have seen many dead people, whether they were saints or villains, whether they made impassioned speeches or regretted and begged for mercy, at the moment of death they would be filled with negative emotions, anger, uneasiness, hatred, or at least reluctance.
Fear, reluctance to leave this world, fear of the unknown of death, and that boy...only had joy, complete joy."
"Didn't you read his information? He was a terminally ill patient, so he probably thought about getting a pension. Death was a kind of relief for him at that time."
This topic has been repeated many times, and Xia Qin doesn't want to talk about it anymore.
"No, in order to exercise my ability, I have observed the dying of countless terminally ill patients. As long as they are still human, they will have negative emotions before leaving, no matter how nice what they said before. Death is an unknown, fear of death is the instinct of life, but they
The difference is that he only has joy and happiness. He seems to already know what is behind death. I have never seen such a dying person..."
Thunder Fire Blade couldn't understand it, so he was worried and even afraid.
"Pollution will only be covered by stronger pollution." The winner of the crazy secret realm, the super power in his hand is definitely not as simple and harmless as he showed, and he...
After every contact, he was still full of joy, which was abnormal, so abnormal. He behaves so well now just because he is still weak, just a seed."
"In our world, the crazier people are, the more powerful they are. When normal people are stepping on the brakes, they are stepping on the accelerator. Lu Pingping is very dangerous. He simply removed the brakes, and he will destroy everything around him.
Get involved. He reminds me of the Sophist. There are always people who just want to watch everything burn. But even he is not as safe as Lu Ping..."
This was a topic that was agreed upon not to be brought up. Thunder Fire Blade spoke softer and quieter, and both of them fell silent.
That title, that former companion, brought about memories that were too painful to recall.
That A-level wanted criminal brought disaster to this city no less than this ZZZ-level pollution.
Is it the painful past that makes the Thunder Fire Blade in front of him excessively worried? It's really not the case.
In the eyes of Lei Huo Ren, just extreme and crazy personality may not cause serious harm, and a single police officer may be able to handle it.
Only pollutants of level Z and above can also be regulated. There are a lot of numbered banned items in the archives of the administration.
But the two are combined into one. When a dangerous power encounters a holder with no limit, it is like a nuclear bomb falling into the hands of a terrorist. It reminds people of the person who caused countless tragedies.
Xia Qin knew that superficial explanations made little sense.
Perhaps, he needs to be given a clear answer, after all, there are fewer people available in the team.
"Thunder Fire Blade, do you know how much pollution incidents above level three have increased since this year?"
"...There seem to be quite a few, and the frequency of our dispatches has become much higher."
"It's 35% more than a year ago, and 300% more than twenty years ago. In the past few years, the annual growth rate has exceeded 30%. If I remember correctly, this is the fourth mass funeral I have attended this year.
.Now there are two teams in the bureau, and there is not even a deputy captain to lead the team. They can only stay in the bureau to do logistics."
The facts are before us. The current environment is getting worse and worse, but the manpower is becoming increasingly scarce.
Three years ago, the average captain level of the Ancient City Administration Special Service Team was 3.2 levels, but now it is only 2.5 levels.
Although rank cannot be equated with combat power, it is true that several teams have lost their backbone. The decline of deputy teams and team members is even more serious. Many low-threat tasks can only be left to the police. The result is that a large number of police officers are polluted or permanently polluted.
sexual retirement.
"If nothing else goes wrong, in addition to the normal recruitment expansion and the introduction of social forces, the Ancient City Management Bureau will apply to several first-class colleges such as Ancient City University to allow more students to go to the front line for internship. In our Zion District alone, we will start from seven special services
The team will be expanded to ten."
This was actually a notification from above rather than a possibility. Xia Qin, who had just obtained the captain's authority, also learned about this news.
"To put it bluntly, let the students replenish the troops. Don't be nervous, we won't give them too dangerous work, they just need to help us share some of the work."
"Has the situation gotten that bad?"
"Worse than you think."
There is even more powerful information. Captain Xia Qin has just been qualified to contact it and cannot disclose it at will.
For example, "Several foreign-level secret realms are about to be opened, and the military is also facing serious manpower shortages."
For example, "In order to increase manpower, the difficulty of the secret keeper qualification examination has been greatly reduced, and the number of new secret keepers in the coming year will increase by at least 30%."
For example, "lower the threshold for private enterprises to enter the industry, allow more private forces to participate, and at the same time, increase bonuses and welfare benefits."
For example, "releasing more taboo knowledge to the public and actively creating polluters in several controlled secret realms."
Isn't there an old saying? "As long as the situation is bad enough, the so-called lower limits and rules mean that there are no lower limits and rules."
"There is a high chance that Lu Ping'an has been admitted to the academy. After getting the temporary license, he will become our temporary colleague. If you are still worried at that time, you can keep an eye on him nearby. Just like you this time, take the initiative to apply for the test
His ability.”
"Did you see through it?"
Thunder Fire Blade smiled bitterly.
"Haha, I'm your captain. How could I not care about what you saw? At least, he got something on the surface, which is a win-win situation and harmless. In fact..."
As she said this, Xia Qin laughed. She really doesn't know how expensive Chaimi is unless she is a master.
The captain-level intelligence authority allowed her to know why Captain He in the past always had a bitter look on his face.
The situation is ten times worse than it appears. Since the 1950s, the entire world has been plunged into a quagmire and is sliding uncontrollably into the abyss.
Unstable factors that don’t step on the brakes? A Mother Goddess ability user with at least Z-level potential? Twenty years ago, it might have been eradicated rather than monitored, but now...
"The world is bad enough. I'm not worried about him going crazy. I'm just worried that he's not strong enough... To be honest, I hope he will grow up as soon as possible so that we can live longer. You also have relatives."
Pollution incidents in the ancient city are becoming more and more frequent, and Xia Qin's third team only has three "veterans" who have been in the industry for less than three years, and the burden is getting heavier and heavier.
Expecting new reinforcements? There is a shortage of men everywhere and everyone wants immediate combat power.
As long as the tasks of the subordinate teams of the district-level special management bureau are still at the "public security level", their ranking is not high enough. Even if they have high-quality soldiers, can they be snatched by themselves?
Not talking about those that are far away, but the immediate combat power that can be mined is the last word.
"I heard that your sister has also applied for Gu University. I will apply to transfer her here with Ping An. We will be taken care of. It will only be half a year at most. For your sister, work hard again. You also want your sister to enter
When you are in the team, you are a second-level deputy team member, not an ordinary team member."
Thinking of his innocent sister who suddenly broke through the "lower limit of human beings" and the increasingly frequent high-level pollution incidents, Lei Huo Ren nodded silently and said nothing.
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While the funeral was going on, an old acquaintance they said had just walked out of a pet shop.
He sighed helplessly, a little speechless.
Since I was also born in this city, my colleagues inexplicably arranged a task for me to contact the local official secret keeper information.
"Then, would you like to say hello to the old captains and colleagues from the past? Tsk, they will kill me."
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"...Don't worry, I have enough money. Those debts? It's okay. Leave everything to me as I said. I am a quasi-secret keeper. I will have a scholarship after I enter school. I will give it to you soon."
You can pay it off. It's okay, it's really okay. By the way, there's no need to send souvenirs, there's enough to eat..."
I just got home and saw the "suspected Z to ZZZ level pollutant" making a phone call in the living room.
Pulling on the phone cord, the happiness in his words and the smile in his eyes could not be concealed.
Debt? Leave it all to him? Xia Qin has seen the bill, it is not a small amount, even for a well-paid secret keeper.
But looking at Lu Ping'an who was full of confidence, Xia Qin just smiled.
"Work hard, work hard to grow and then work hard to make money..."
In Xia Qin's view, it actually doesn't matter if you don't apply the brakes, and hiding something is also the daily routine of a secret keeper.
In order to survive in this world that is gradually entering the dusk, there are indeed more and more people crossing the line and lunatics.
"Thunder Fire Blade, you are right. There are always people who have nothing. They just want to listen to the sound of breaking porcelain, and only want the world to burn. But he is different. Lu Ping'an is different from bastards like the 'Sophist'."
She vouched for him only because of what she saw when she visited Lu Ping'an after the incident.
She saw the young boy in the ward when he was getting along with his parents. He said that he was "recovered" and "our life will get better."
The joy and nostalgia from the heart for the parents who were crying with joy.
"No matter how hard you step on the accelerator or how far you run, as long as he has a place to go, he will come back sooner or later."
"And isn't it our job as secret keepers to keep everyone safe? If we can't do that, there's nothing to complain about."
"Then, I'm just worried that he's not crazy enough or strong enough!"