The group of people walked towards the depths of the Ice Fortress under the leadership of Claude, and along the way, Claude was talking about the changes in the demon hunter side since Hao Ren and the others left last time.
"...The demons opened the portal last month, and they evacuated Corpus collectively as agreed. They left very simply. To be honest, I was a little surprised. These demons feel more honest and reliable than other races.
And the demons helped us clean up a lot of battlefields before they left, which made our subsequent reconstruction work a lot easier," Claude said as he walked, "The temples in Corpus are very strong, and the war did not destroy them.
Buildings, so the main facilities of the Holy Land are still intact. However, due to the shutdown of energy nodes and the bombing of large-scale magic, Corpus is full of residual energy fields and arcane pollution. It is now uninhabitable and needs to be cleaned up.
Those things take time.
"The Spirit World Clock Tower is still closed. After you terminated that evil ritual, the distortion of time and space in the tower has been restored. However, the tower itself has been in a state of time and space turmoil for a long time. The previous events completely reset the entire tower.
In the order of time and space, many mysterious new areas have appeared in the tower. For safety reasons, the Council of Elders has announced that ordinary demon hunters are temporarily prohibited from approaching the tower. We have organized some investigation teams to go there. In the new'
The Spirit World Clock Tower will not be opened until the map is drawn.
"In general, the situation is improving. The biggest disaster has passed. The biggest problem we face now is the shortage of manpower. The Council of Elders has ordered the shrinking of all witcher organizations in the southern hemisphere and concentrated manpower in the north.
: This is our foundation. Some other field battle groups have also been reorganized. After the personnel reduction, 80% of the safari groups have ceased activities. The focus now is to maintain the status. We are considering canceling the safari group.
Establishing and integrating them all into the Night Watch sequence may be the only option."
Vivian interjected: "The hunting war is supposed to be over, so we still arrange for the 'safari' guys to go out to hunt rabbits."
"Um... that's not what Safari means... well, it's almost the same," Claude smiled awkwardly, "Times have changed. Times are really going to change."
"Times have changed," Vivian tilted her head slightly, "Have the aliens ever contacted you?"
The expression on Claude's face changed. It was obvious that even though the hunting war was over, the habits developed over thousands of years still made an orthodox demon hunter feel at a loss for the current situation: "Six days ago we received
A secret letter from the Athenian asylum, bearing the seal of the elder Mimir..."
"What did the secret letter say?" Hao Ren asked casually.
Claude hesitated for a moment: "This..."
"You just say it," Vivian glanced at him, "I have people on both sides. Even if you don't tell me, I can go directly to Athens to find someone to ask questions. You are so pretentious in front of me. You are talking to me.
Keep it a secret."
Claude coughed twice: "Ahem, actually there is nothing to keep secret. The secret letter mentioned a new organization called the Shadow Council. The Council of Elders is considering a direct contact with the aliens in the near future... But in the specific
There was some controversy over the meeting place and the person chosen."
"It's normal. I guess the same thing is being argued over at the Athens Asylum," Vivian said calmly with her arms crossed, "After all, we have been fighting for so many years, and now we suddenly want to have peace talks, who wouldn't worry?
While we were talking, someone sneezed and three hundred swordsmen jumped out from the side."
Chatting all the way, by the time they arrived at the Tower Square, Hao Ren had basically figured out a series of changes in the demon hunters after he left, as well as the current situation of this far north. Finally, they arrived at Claude's
We were led to a tall building next to the Tower Square.
This building, like the surrounding facilities, is completely made of huge opaque ice blocks. There is a subtle magical light flowing between the solid ice. The ice walls are towering and majestic. The style of the whole building is irresistible.
It reminds me of an ancient Gothic church, but with a heavy texture like a military fortress.
"Frost Temple, the seat of the Council of Elders," Claude stood in front of the gate, "Please follow me, Elder Gregorian is waiting inside."
Different from the cold appearance, the house made of solid ice is actually not cold inside. After entering the Frost Temple, Hao Ren even felt a warm breeze blowing on his face: this may be the power of magic. They were in this seemingly huge house.
After walking in the huge church-like building for a long time, I saw many hurried demon hunters walking through the corridors, many of whom I had met several times before. They stopped to say hello to Hao Ren and his party. Then
Then he continued on his way in a hurry. Just as Claude said: The Council of Elders is really short of manpower now.
Finally, they arrived at Elder Gregorian's office.
This is an ordinary room in the Frost Temple. Apart from being quite spacious, it does not have more decorations than other places. There is a huge bookshelf on one wall of the rectangular room, and a huge bookshelf on the other wall.
There are various weapons, armors and ritual items hanging on them, and looking at their weathered appearance. These things hanging on the wall are obviously not decorations. A warm fireplace is crackling and burning in the corner of the room.
There are two figures standing in front of the fireplace, one of them is the old Gregorian, and the other is Hasselblad.
The two of them are now considered the top leaders of the Council of Elders.
Claude bowed and exited the room, and Gregorian came to greet him: "Nice to see you again, Your Majesty the Countess."
"You have become so polite all of a sudden," Vivian looked at the old hunter with a smile, "I am quite uncomfortable with it."
Gregorian smiled: "After all, the truth of what happened back then has been revealed."
A few people sat down next to the warm fireplace. "Gun" immediately took Doudou out of his arms and let the little guy warm himself by the fire. He also took out a few small wood chips from his pocket and presented them to him with a groveling look on his face.
Hasselblad, who was almost facially paralyzed, was dumbfounded on the spot: He simply couldn't imagine what this cat had gone through, so that his views were distorted like this...
Gregor was also surprised for a while, but he quickly turned his attention back and looked at Hao Ren: "I have read the message you sent. A demon hunter named 'Zhao Xi' was willed by the gods."
Possessed'?"
"It's said to be possessed... Well, although it's not accurate, it's not bad," Hao Ren nodded, "The demon hunter has recovered now, but we are worried that Corpus still has the power of the gods, so this time
Come, we just want to conduct an investigation."
"This is not a big problem," Gregor said on the spot. "The Holy Land was saved because of you. Your army once pacified the entire Corpus, and later retreated without committing any crime as promised. Therefore, I think the Witcher can give
You trust me enough. And your investigation is also for our safety."
But at this time Hasselblad intervened: "I also think you can go in to investigate, but we must consider that some people will be worried about this. After all, Corpus is the home of demon hunters, and our ancestors have lived here for generations.
, After the war, what many people want is to live a peaceful life. If an investigation team comes in at this time... I am afraid some people will be uneasy."
Vivian waved her hand: "Let them be pretentious. You demon hunters have been famous for thousands of years. When did you start to become timid? We are investigating this matter to eliminate hidden dangers for you. You will regret it when you are really dead."
No one cares."
Gregorian glanced at Hasselblad, winked and murmured in a low voice: "I just told you to say less..."
Vivian glared: "Can you stop pretending that I can't hear you in front of me?"
Hasselblad coughed twice without embarrassment and immediately changed the subject: "Ahem, let's just settle this matter. Do you need any help from us during your investigation?"
"There's nothing you can do to help. We have our own technical means," Hao Ren waved his hand, "Just arrange a guide for us. He is a native of Corpus and is familiar with the environment."
Hasselblad nodded: "The white fire is just right. The child grew up in Corpus, and she happens to be here at the Ice Fortress today."
When Lily heard Bai Huo's name, she immediately looked around: "Oh, yes, I just wanted to ask, why is Bai Huo not here? Isn't she your follower?"
"...Bai Huo is just my apprentice, she also has her own things to do," Hasselblad choked for half a second on "The First Emperor"'s words, with an embarrassed look on his face, "She just came out of Corpus and has a day off today.
I'll send someone to call her right now."
"Forget it, after what you say... let's go there in person," Vivian interrupted Hasselblad, "After all, we are asking for help."
When Hasselblad heard this, his expression suddenly became a little subtle, as if he was worried about something, but in the end he said nothing, just nodded slightly: "That's fine, that's fine." (To be continued.)