Very few people can remain completely calm when facing the corpses of more than twenty companions who live with them day and night in non-battlefield situations, at least these three Templars cannot.
"Crack!"
Withdrawing the short knife that cut off the last enemy's neck, Lu Xiao let out a long breath and sat down slowly against the edge of the high platform.
Thanks to the thunderous roar of cannons inside and outside the city, no one has noticed that a battle has just occurred in this sealed library.
Although Lu Xiao received strict training from Mario and Giovanni, his physical fitness was still within the standards of ordinary people. This one-on-one battle really consumed him a lot of energy.
At this time, Lu Xiao's original gray assassin suit was already bleeding, and the entire suit was completely dyed red, which in disguise increased the weight on his body.
As a last resort, Lu Xiao had no choice but to throw away this piece of clothing and randomly took a neater guard uniform from a corpse and put it on.
When Lu Xiao sat down to rest, the system's beep suddenly sounded: "Congratulations to the host, completed the random task: Wushuang, reward skill: Underwater Breathing e."
"Um?"
Lu Xiao raised his eyebrows in surprise. This was the first time that the system did not use a lottery, but directly gave actual rewards.
'Breathing underwater?'
Lu Xiao touched his chin in confusion, "It's not useless to say it's useless, at least it prevents me from dissolving in water like the second master, but if it's useful... the versatility of this skill is too low."
Underwater breathing can increase the time Lu Xiao can hold his breath underwater. The E-level skill can only increase the time by two minutes, which does not allow him to immediately become a humanoid submarine without having to surface.
Moreover, there are not many occasions where underwater actions are required, and the two-minute increase in breath-holding time for E-level underwater breathing does not seem to have much effect.
"Forget it, let's put this countermeasure skill aside for now and work harder."
After changing clothes and taking a short rest, Lu Xiao began to climb in the deserted library tower.
Just like the few fragments that survived in his already very vague memory, the assassin's tomb in Grossatta is located on the same high place as the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Taking out the token from the sarcophagus in front of the statue of the ancestor assassin Wei Yu, Lu Xiao climbed up the stairs that fell after triggering the mechanism, and successfully passed the secret exit to the outside of the tower.
Perhaps Francesco finally discovered the body hidden near the west city gate, and the frequency of cannon fire against Mario's mercenaries was significantly reduced.
From a height, we could see a chaotic scene in the city, with a large number of guards patrolling nervously back and forth in the small city of San Gimignano.
"To alert the enemy, it's time to leave."
When Lu Xiao opened his hands and took the leap of faith to escape from the tower, the bell tower of the Assumption Church sounded the alarm in time.
Rodrigo Borgia looked through the window of his room, squinting his eyes and silently watching Lu Xiao's figure "soaring" down from the tower.
The large number of corpses scattered around the library were finally exposed. The strong smell of blood and the red and white scene made many guards who were responsible for cleaning up the mess vomited on the spot.
An assassin's hooded suit stained with blood was delivered to Rodrigo by the trembling Francesco.
This time, the Cardinal did not blame the Patch family for their negligence. Even he did not expect that the assassin could break through the defenses of countless guards with extraordinary powers and reach him without anyone noticing.
If he hadn't carefully deployed a large number of heavily armored guards around him as usual, the assassin who had sneaked in might have killed him as well.
Rodrigo, who felt a chill on his back, gritted his teeth: "We can't wait any longer. Part of our plan may have been exposed. We must readjust the configuration for the day of action and prepare our horses immediately! I have to rush to Florence in person to take charge of the situation."
…
Relying on the guard skin, Lu Xiao, who could talk to everyone and tell ghosts, smoothly slipped out of the city of San Gimignano and met up with Mario who was resting outside the city.
Mario was a little stunned when he saw the guard uniform on Lu Xiao, but he quickly changed the topic to business: "How is it? Have you heard any news?"
"Um."
Lu Xiao took off the guard's helmet and threw it aside: "The Spaniard is indeed in the city. Under extremely tight defense, he temporarily stayed in the Assumption Church."
"While exploring the city, I accidentally discovered an assassin's tomb. The top of the tomb is connected to the Assumption Church. I was lucky enough to learn part of their plan."
Lu Xiao handed Mario the latest assassin's token. This disc token was engraved with a gun head, representing Wei Yu, the Chinese assassin who assassinated Qin Shihuang.
"I didn't hear the specific time when they would start, but Francesco emphasized that the ambushes near Santa Maria del Fiore Church should be patient. They are likely to start there."
"Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore?"
Mario put away the assassin's token, put his chin on his hand and said thoughtfully: "The devout Lorenzo goes to the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore for mass every Sunday, but his playboy brother Giuliano does not have this habit."
"He would only participate with Lorenzo at high masses held on major holidays, and recently there was only one high mass."
"Easter." Mario's face was extremely solemn: "This year's Easter is April 10th, just half a month later."
Easter is an important Catholic holiday, symbolizing rebirth and hope, and commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after he was crucified on the cross.
Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox every year. Due to different solar terms every year, the date of Easter will also vary.
"The only direct descendants of the Medici family in this generation are Lorenzo and Giuliano. If they are assassinated at the same time, the Medici family's rule over Florence will definitely collapse, and the Pazzi family, pushed by the Spanish, will take their place.
."
"We must stop the Templar plot!"
…
The purpose of the feint attack had been achieved, and Mario immediately called on the mercenaries to retreat from the city of San Gimignano in an orderly manner.
Leaving the large army behind to stay vigilant and return at a steady speed, Mario and Lu Xiao rushed back to the city of Monteriggioni as quickly as possible.
Ezio, who was being taught combat skills by the mercenaries left behind at the training ground, watched the two people rush into the manor without knowing why. Lu Xiao only stayed for a few minutes before putting on a change of assassin uniforms and leaving the city of Monteriggioni without stopping.
The mercenaries were affected by the sudden solemn atmosphere and temporarily stopped their training sessions.
Ezio asked Petruchio to go back to the room first and went to the study alone. Mario was looking worriedly at the wooden board where Altaïr's notes were posted and was lost in thought.
"Uncle Mario, what happened? Where did Lu go in such a hurry?"
Mario came to his senses at his nephew's call, rubbed his eyebrows and sighed: "He wants to rush back to Florence by starry night. The violent turmoil in the Florence City is about to officially begin."
Ezio's face tightened, and he took a step forward and said, "Then I should also..."
"no!"
Mario glared at Ezio sternly with one eye: "Your combat training has not been completed, and the teaching of relevant knowledge is still half-baked. What can you do when you go back now? You can only hold back Giovanni!"
Ezio lowered his head unwillingly and clenched his fists hard. When his family and hometown were facing a huge crisis, he felt for the first time how much time and energy he had wasted in the past.
This feeling of powerlessness was eating away at his heart.
Seeing the regretful look on Ezio's face, Mario slowed down and said to him earnestly: "It's not too late to work hard now. Even if we fail to catch up with this crisis, Giovanni and I always believe that in the future
You will definitely become an important member of the Italian Brotherhood."
"Don't forget, you are the son of Giovanni and a descendant of the Auditore family. We all have a unique bloodline that was passed down to the forerunners of the first civilization. Don't waste your innate talents in the erosion of extravagant life.
"
Ezio strengthened his will under his uncle's persuasion and nodded solemnly: "I understand, Uncle Mario, please train me more strictly starting from tomorrow!"
"very good!"
Mario happily patted Ezio heavily on the shoulder: "This is the mental outlook that the descendants of the Auditore family should have. Starting from tomorrow, I will personally take over your training, so be mentally prepared."