Chapter 55 Temple! Ten Gospels and Twenty-Four Elders!
Holmes set out, at the invitation of the Doomsday Party, on a ship bound for the Aztec Empire.
The contents of the secret treaty signed between the Church of Truth and the Apocalypse Theology attracted the attention of the top leaders of the Doomsday Party. This is huge bad news for them. After all, all countries in the world are currently under the control of the Apocalypse Theology and the Church of Truth. Once
The Apocalypse Theology and the Church of Truth joined forces to deal with them...
They definitely can't stand it!
For this reason, the senior leaders of the Doomsday Party decided to summon Holmes, firstly to reward his loyalty, and secondly to find a way out.
Ma Wei believed that Holmes could bring him good news this time.
In order to deceive others, and in line with Holmes' reason for asking for leave from the church, the fleet first sailed towards the southern continent, met up with another ship midway, and took Holmes to the Aztec Empire.
In mid-September, Holmes arrived in Mexico City, the capital of the Aztec Empire.
Today's Mexico City has undergone great changes compared to half a year ago. Goncharov led everyone to develop a lot of believers. Now there is one main church and four small churches in the city, and they are still radiating to the surrounding areas.
Local wizards had a great influence.
"It seems that the influence of local wizards is not high." Holmes said suddenly.
The envoy who received Holmes laughed and said: "Local wizards often organize believers to attack the Church of Truth, but they don't know how to use magic and cannot compete with Bishop Goncharov and others. In addition, the king does not support their use of force.
Therefore, the living space of wizards has been squeezed... Please go this way and don't let them see you."
Although the Aztecs could not provide Yunia with the power of faith, Goncharov still treated them equally, which is also the consistent purpose of the Church of Truth.
Following the messenger, Holmes came to a construction site in the city. On the surface, he was building a foundation, but in fact, it was the place where the Doomsday Party excavated ruins.
Along the reserved stairs, Holmes came to the underground. At first, the passage was very narrow and could only accommodate one person. However, it was connected in all directions, like an ant nest. There were countless passages. He could clearly hear the conversation coming from the next passage.
The messenger walked ahead with a kerosene lamp, leading Holmes to twist and turn through the complex underground maze. As he walked, he explained: "These are the earliest relics discovered. We have been operating here for many years, even if
If you are attacked, you have a proper escape route."
The passage became wider and wider, and workers carrying hoes gradually appeared around them. They stared at Holmes with their eyes like bells, and did not start working again until Holmes passed by.
Continuing downward, the number of workers began to decrease, and finally no one could be seen. In the huge passage, it seemed that only the messenger and Holmes were left. The soil under their feet turned into stone bricks at some point, and when the heels were stepped on, a series of sounds would be emitted.
echo.
When the soil under his feet turned into stone bricks, the messenger began to recite some ancient spell. The dim flame of the kerosene lamp began to sway and turn black, and the surrounding walls became blurred. In the darkness, a messy scene seemed to appear in front of Holmes' eyes.
The lines were distorted and unclear, and the only lighting tool was the kerosene lamp in the messenger's hand, but it had obviously lost its lighting effect at this moment.
Holmes took out a match and tried to light it. The moment he tried hard, the messenger suddenly stopped reciting and said in a deep voice: "Don't light a fire, just follow me."
After thinking for a while, Holmes put away the matches and continued walking forward.
It was impossible to tell the direction and time in the darkness. The black flames gave off a charming and strange halo of light. As I walked, the sound of footsteps disappeared. There were no longer stone bricks under my feet. They were covered by some kind of invisible darkness. It was silent when I stepped on them. Messenger
Still thinking about it non-stop.
Holmes pricked up his ears, trying to identify the spell recited by the messenger. After listening for a while, he found that he did not understand what the other party was saying at all. It was like a brand new language that he had never been exposed to before...
As they walked, a feeling of hardness suddenly came from under their feet. It was the reassurance that the ground could provide. It stopped swaying, turned back to dim flames, and the torches lighting up around them also indicated that they had returned to the real world.
Holmes looked around and found that they had arrived at a magnificent circular stone hall, with white jade stone pillars standing on both sides. The stone pillars were inlaid with human statues, which looked lifelike.
A rough count shows that there are at least several hundred statues... No! Thousands of them!
The white jade stone pillars lead directly to the dome, and craftsmen have carved countless niches on them. Each niche is two meters high and two meters wide. There is a human statue of the same size, and there are many empty spaces in it.
The stone pillars separate the niches and also divide the floors. Every ten niches are one floor. The first floor is the hall, which is empty except for the statues. Starting from the second floor, stands extend from the stone pillars. Each floor
The stands are equipped with wide-backed copper chairs, with the number decreasing in order.
There are three floors in the stands. The lowest stand, which is the stand closest to Holmes, has twenty-four bronze chairs. The middle stand has ten silver chairs. The highest stand closest to the dome has only one stone chair, although it is not as good as
Copper and silver are precious, but they have an ancient charm.
"Mr. Holmes, please come here."
The messenger placed the kerosene lamp in the center of the hall and signaled Holmes to stand behind the kerosene lamp.
Holmes stepped forward, and as he kept getting closer to the kerosene lamp, hooded figures gradually appeared in the chairs on the third floor of the stands. They were sitting in the chairs, some playing with the rings in their hands, and some stealing from the people around them.
They whispered, and even chewed an apple fiercely, but no matter what they were doing, their eyes were fixed on Holmes.
Bowing to everyone around him, the messenger walked backwards and left the hall.
"Are you the legendary detective recommended by Holmes Russell?"
A figure sitting on ten silver chairs spoke first.
"It's me right."
Holmes cast his gaze towards the center stand and roughly guessed the identities of these people.
There is a clear hierarchy within the Doomsday Party. There is only one leader, the leader, and under him are ten evangelists and twenty-four elders, which exactly correspond to the number of chairs.
The figure who asked the question did not use honorifics when addressing Russell, which means that he and Russell have equal status, and they are also one of the ten gospels.
However, judging from the seating position, the opponent's status is obviously lower than Russell, who is sitting in the middle left position.
Holmes has long since become a member of the Doomsday Party at the invitation of Russell. His current level is that of a wise man, which is only one level higher than the lowest-level employee. Above him there are mentors, and then there are elders.
Only by becoming a mentor can you enter the Doomsday Party and learn some unknown secrets. Holmes, who can come to the headquarters as a wise man and meet the party leader, the Ten Gospels and the twenty-four elders at the same time, obviously attracted their attention.
.
"Holmes, we have reviewed the information you submitted, and its authenticity is beyond doubt. Now, I will promote you to mentor."
The party leader's voice rang directly in everyone's minds, exploding like thunder.
As soon as he finished speaking, a messenger came quietly from behind, holding a tray in his hand. In the tray was a golden badge, symbolizing the status of the mentor.
Holmes took off his wise man's badge and put it on the tray, picked up his mentor's badge and put it on, and asked: "Is the Doomsday Party really related to the outer gods?"
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became stagnant, all small movements stopped, and one elder even pulled off a few strands of his beard and looked at Holmes in disbelief.
Even the messenger delivering the badge could not help but glance up at Holmes, then lowered his head and quickly left the hall.
He knew that the following conversation was not what he should listen to.
"Outer God...this is not something you should inquire about." The party leader said calmly.
"When Russell asked me to join the Doomsday Party, he said that the Doomsday Party would fight for humanity! I believed it!"
Holmes said loudly: "I know something about the origin of gods. Aztec mythology also indicates that the alien gods covet the world left by the Creator! They are more terrifying enemies than the ancient gods! How can the Doomsday Party collude with them?
?!"
An elder snorted coldly after hearing this: "Don't we know who the Outer Gods are? We study alchemy technology just to get rid of them! Don't listen to the rumors! The original intention of the Doomsday Party has never changed!
"
"That's right! Look around you! The owners of these statues are all saints who dedicated their lives to mankind! This is also a temple! What you say is blaspheming them!"
Russell, who was fiddling with his hair, kept winking at Holmes, as if to signal him not to talk more, but Holmes didn't look at him at all.
"Russell, this is the person you recommended."
Gospel, who first spoke, sneered: "Just a mentor who doesn't even know the whole world and starts judging the party wantonly. This is not a good sign."
Faced with numerous accusations, Holmes did not panic. He slowly took out a match, lit the pipe and held it in his mouth. After taking a puff, he said: "A rush to defend is often a sign of a guilty conscience."
"..."
"You keep talking about the sages and the saints who made great contributions, but what?"
Holmes narrowed his eyes and mocked without any politeness at all: "Holding the banner of the sages and making decisions that go against your ancestors, are you really the Doomsday Party? Are you still the Doomsday Party? Under the bright and bright banner, are you?
It’s rotten!”
"Yes, sages, sages always move out..."
Holmes smiled: "Using the example of the sages, doesn't it mean that your generation has no representative? Look at these statues and tell me who is insulting the sages!"
There was a dead silence in the hall, and the breathing became heavier. The party leader sitting in the top stand stared at Holmes indifferently, and when everyone's anger was about to reach its peak, he suddenly said: "We have indeed made contact with the alien gods, and we have reached a goal."
We made a transaction, and although it went against the rules set by our forefathers, we all agreed that it would not have an impact on the overall situation."
"What is the content of the transaction?" Holmes glanced at the badge on his chest: "Is it a secret that my level cannot listen to? That is such a pity, after all, you don't need to listen to more voices."
"The transaction content is very simple. We protect the heritage of the Aztecs, and the outer gods tell us the location of the ruins of the Golden Age."
"that's it?"
"Well." the party leader asked: "The Aztecs are human beings created by alien gods. Their physical structure and appearance are the same as ours, but they are not our kind. You must know these secrets, but do you think that compared to the golden age?
Do the Aztecs need to eradicate all the useless ruins?"
Holmes immediately gave the answer: "It's not necessary... The premise is that they are really useless. From the fact that the Outer God requires you to protect the inheritance, the Aztecs must be useful, but you don't know it."
The party leader said noncommittally: "For so many years, the Doomsday Party has been passed down from generation to generation and has never changed. Our ancestors did not have extraordinary power, but they continued to work hard. When it comes to our generation, I don't want to sit still and wait for death. We should seek changes.
There should be change.”
"Alchemy technology is the direction of change you have chosen?"
"Yes, I heard that the Romanov Kingdom has developed alchemy warriors. Combined with the glory of the Golden Age, the ancient god Ashis also wants to use alchemy... These are enough to prove the potential of alchemy technology."
"But the Golden Gods failed." Holmes said: "Even they who created alchemical technology failed to break the shackles of fate. Are the Doomsday Party so confident?"
The party leader pondered and said: "According to the ancient historical books circulated within the Doomsday Party, the demise of the Golden Gods is related to alchemy technology. They developed alchemy technology to its peak, but encountered a bottleneck that was difficult to break through. Because the upper limit could not be broken through, social development was stagnant.
Before, chaos began to arise..."
Holmes nodded slowly. He had heard these secrets from Ma Wei. Now he wanted to know what the party leader thought. He knew that alchemy technology had an upper limit and still wanted to conduct research. Isn't this not asking for death?
"In the records of that era, the sages also mentioned that it is not impossible for alchemy technology to break through the upper limit. It requires two crucial things."
"what?"
"The Alchemy Tree, and...the Siren's Tears."
The party leader spoke smoothly: "These are the treasures left by the ancient god Asis. The golden gods only got the alchemy tree and no tears of the siren, so they are trapped in the prison and unable to break through."
Frowning, Holmes asked: "These two things are currently in the hands of the Church of Truth, and they are also researching alchemy technology, which means..."
"They have the possibility to break through the upper limit of alchemy technology." The party leader smiled slightly: "Yes, that's right."
"Why?"
"Are you curious?"
"I'm curious."
Without sarcasm or ridicule, the party leader lowered his eyes and said softly: "Because the biggest reason for the failure of the Golden Gods is that they lost their function. It was human nature that overthrew them, not a simple technological limit."
"The most terrifying thing about alchemical technology is not what it can create, but its ability to strengthen human greed."
"The end of the Golden Age was the era when the Doomsday Party was most prevalent. At that time, everyone was a Doomsday Party, and people lost their fear of God. And this... is what we want to see."