Dark carriages came and went in the lower city, leaving ruts on the wet and muddy roads, and gathered next to a twisted building. The distinguished guests wore masks and walked into the dark room accompanied by waiters.
Within the gate.
The building opened its deep mouth, and the breath of passion came from inside. They flocked to it, extremely happy.
Shrike leaned against the seat. From this angle, he could see the entire casino, and the coins collided with each other, making a clattering sound.
He likes this, and he also likes his job. Unless necessary, Shrike rarely appears on the frontline battlefield. His main responsibility is to stabilize the peace in the lower city and secretly control everything.
The room temperature was warm and soft, and people were breathing heavily, holding the chips tightly in their hands.
There is a huge amount of wealth circulating here, and most of it will end up in the purge agency. After all, such a huge organization burns a lot of money.
The waiter came from behind and filled the empty glass.
Shrike picked up the wine glass on the side. Although he has been running the casino for so long, he has not contracted the bad habit of gambling. As the boss behind the scenes, he knows the rules here very well. The casino itself is cheating, and no one can do it all the time.
Win, but the casino can.
He raised the wine glass and drank, but the familiar taste was no longer there, and there was a strange spicy feeling in his mouth. The shrike immediately spit out the wine, and at the same time there was a mocking sound.
"If this was poison, you almost died."
The man mocked and sat next to Shrike. Without looking at him, Shrike took out the silver revolver from his arms. At this distance, the death knell's caliber could penetrate the enemy even through the steel plate.
As the controller of the lower city, Shrike was often assassinated. He had long been accustomed to it and was vigilant. But when the gun was pointed at the man, Shrike saw his appearance clearly.
"Can't you just walk in openly?"
The shrike looked at Lorenzo, who was wearing the clothes of a waiter and was the one who poured the wine for the shrike, but the shrike didn't notice at all.
This lunatic liked to play like this after he became successful in acting. He sneaked in sneakily. He must have done this when he was working for those noble ladies.
"I'm testing your security. This may save your life in the future."
Lorenzo explained, but compared to what he said, Shrike was more inclined to think that he just wanted to see himself embarrassed.
"Tell me, what are you here for?"
"I haven't seen you for a long time. Come to see an old friend. What's up?"
Shrike rolled his eyes at Lorenzo, "Do you think I will believe it?"
A man like Lorenzo would not come without a reason, he would be like a scourge that would explode wherever he went. The Shrike could not avoid him.
"Okay, there is indeed something, something complicated."
Lorenzo said as he looked at the slightly noisy casino, then moved his gaze to Shrike and gestured, "You don't want to talk about this here, do you?"
Hearing what he said, Shrike's relaxed spirit became tense. It seemed that this detective rarely had something serious to do with him.
"follow me."
Shrike stood up and led Lorenzo to the office deep underground.
"I haven't been here for a long time, but I feel so rare... happy!"
Opening the door, Lorenzo sat directly on the sofa beside him as if he were at home, with Shrike and him separated by a large wooden table.
"I think we should establish a stable connection." Lorenzo said first.
"connect?"
"Yes, every time something happens, your purification agency takes the initiative to find me, but it's very difficult for me to find you." Lorenzo said.
Lorenzo still doesn't know where the mysterious Broken Dome is. Every time he contacts him, someone from the purification agency comes to visit him. Although Joey is considered his stable contact, this contact has mysteriously disappeared for a long time.
Everything about the purge mechanism was like a dream, suddenly all traces were lost.
"Actually, you are also very powerful...or the power of the scavengers," Lorenzo admired. "This large and powerful organization has existed in the old Dunling for so long, but no one knows about your existence.
Maybe someone knew about it, but it was handled perfectly by your scavengers."
Shrike returned a slightly indifferent look and replied, "The Scavenger Troop is a very special existence. Of course, its efficiency is also terrifyingly high. Thanks to them, we have always been hiding in the shadows."
"But you don't want to discuss anything with me, the history of the development of the purification agency, do you?"
Lorenzo shook his head, "Of course not, I just experienced something and became more curious about this city."
Old Dunling is not just what you see on the surface, it is also a vertical city, extending from the ground to the depths underground, and the dark corners are filled with things that Lorenzo never knew.
Lorenzo then fell silent. He seemed to be thinking about which angle to start with. After a short pause, he asked.
"Have you found out the whereabouts of "Apocalypse"?"
Shrike's expression became serious. "The Book of Revelation" was extremely important. Those who possessed it could create the weird and terrifying secret blood. They had been searching for its whereabouts after Lawrence's death.
"No, it's strange. Actually, Lorenzo, didn't you notice something?" Shrike said, "Since Lawrence first appeared in our sight, he has been acting alone."
"At present, the purge agency has invested a lot of effort in searching for possibilities related to it, but found nothing. Some people have suggested that maybe Lawrence is really a loner? He hid the "Apocalypse" before the battle, so after his death
After that, no one will be able to find the forbidden treasure."
"This is a possibility..." Lorenzo thought for a while and whispered.
"Then do you know about Feileng Cui? Those people want to make deals with the purification agency." Lorenzo said.
"You should ask Arthur, this is a diplomatic matter, I don't know." Shrike replied.
This is a deal between two behemoths, they are just cogs in the machine.
"But this time, for this mission's visit, the cleanup agency will also join the security force."
"Why?"
"Because the Apocalypse is most likely in Yin Erweg's land." Shrike said solemnly.
Lorenzo looked a little surprised, "You are also aware of this?"
"Don't think that everyone is a fool, Lorenzo, what you can think of, is it possible that we can't think of it?" Shrike continued, "After several internal discussions in the purification agency, combined with the information you gave us before, the Demon Hunting Cult
There is a mysterious thing called the Temple of Stasis, right?"
"To be precise, that is the residence of the Demon Hunter Order, located deep underground in the Cathedral of Saint-Naro." Lorenzo recalled the strange and quiet hall, where the demon hunters were trained and planted.
Enter the secret blood.
"You said that the level of awakening of the demon hunter's secret blood is too high, and the Stasis Temple will be aware of your location. There is suspicion within the purge agency that this mechanism was triggered during the fight between you and Lawrence. Maybe they didn't just want to come.
Trading alliance...
Their purpose may also be the Book of Revelation.”
Lorenzo didn't expect the purification agency to see it so clearly. Maybe it was because they had been cooperating for a long time. Shrike knew exactly what Lorenzo wanted to say, so he spoke first.
"The purification agency was established in the shadow of the Demon Hunting Order. At that time, your Demon Hunting Order was much scarier than the demons. We were perhaps the most vigilant against the Evangelical Church."
The Evangelical Church monopolized the power against demons. In order to escape from this control, the purification agency was secretly established and developed. If the existence of the purification agency was discovered by the Evangelical Church at that time, according to the process that Lorenzo is familiar with, the demon hunter would sneak into England.
Ervig, uprooted it with extraordinary strength.
"So, do you know about the stowaways from Feilengcui? I have recently been tracking a group of stowaways from Feilengcui. I suspect that there is something wrong with them."
"Lorenzo, there are too many stowaways, too many. Even if we increase our strength and investigation, some fish will still slip through the net."
Shrike said, "And if Fei Lengcui's side really wants to have the power to sneak in secretly, we must not be able to search at all with their strength."
Those who can be caught are all stowaways who are not good enough.
"Are you admitting your flaws?"
"It's just that we really can't stop these willing people. After all, if you crawl along the sewer, you can crawl into the old Dunling. Think about yourself, Lorenzo, you were injured like that, and you crawled into
Old Dunling, let alone those who are well prepared."
Shrike said helplessly, this is one of the shortcomings of the old Dun Ling that cannot be concealed. They can stop most people, but a small group of elite forces are ultimately difficult to stop, and this is when the Atrium Snake System comes into play. The complex
Railways are densely distributed throughout the city, and they have the power to quickly launch their elite troops into the battlefield.
It seems that the purification agency has no time to deal with this.
"But there is another news from Feileng Cui recently, which may interest you." Shrike seemed to have thought of something.
"what news."
"Do you know Cardinal Miguel?"
Some familiar names, countless faces flashed through Lorenzo's mind, and he vaguely recalled the identity and deeds of this person.
"What's wrong with one of the cardinals of the Evangelical Church?"
Bishops in red and powerful cardinals are noble beings second only to the pope, and Lorenzo just killed one of these beings not long ago.
"The news from within Feilengcui is that the new pope took office in a hurry, and the power was controlled by the cardinals. Their original intention was to evade the new pope and make him a puppet of power, but who would have thought that the new pope would
He secretly accumulated strength and used direct force to purge all opponents overnight."
Just from the narration, you can hear the smell of blood.
"Cardinal Miguel was one of the opponents of the new pope. He did not die in the purge, but fled with most of the cardinals who were also opponents. When they fled, they also took many of them with them.
With few assets, this was a serious blow to the Evangelical Church, but at the same time, the new pope also held all the power of the Evangelical Church in his hands, and his status reached the highest level."
Shrike also had to admire the new pope's methods, which were swift and deadly. There was no justifiable reason, but extremely violent suppression. Although bloody, it was effective. Now there was only one voice left in the church, his voice.
"The new pope's methods are too tough and intimidating, but some people believe that his methods may cause the first church civil war in history."
“Church Civil War?”
Lorenzo almost laughed out loud when he heard this.
"What did they fight with? Blessed iron swords?"
The evangelical church has failed to keep up with the times. Compared with Inverg, technology lags far behind.
"So this may also be another purpose of the mission's visit, to purchase arms. After all, we are the largest arms exporter."
"So serious?" Lorenzo didn't expect this.
"This is the difference between you and Arthur, Lorenzo, you are a single-handed lone wolf. There is no difference between one person coming to kill you and a thousand people coming to kill you. Anyway, you can only die once, but Arthur, we are different
, the purification agency is responsible for the entire Yin Erweg, and so is the new pope."
Shrike explained seriously.
"We no longer represent individuals, but groups called organizations and even countries. Although it is cruel, it is just that. Think about what the evangelical church is most afraid of? Compared with falling behind in technology and declining status, they are most afraid of
On the contrary, it is the destruction of faith.”
"Cardinal Miguel fled with most of the cardinals. They represent faith. Once they declare rebellion..."
"This was heresy hundreds of years ago, and of course it is now." Lorenzo, who came from the church, realized the seriousness of the problem.
"Michael the witcher will personally execute them at the stake. Of course, almost all the witchers will be dead."
"Yes, that's it. The situation is getting more and more complicated. If Cardinal Miguel finds a force willing to help, it may be the first church civil war in history... or even a schism in faith."
Shrike frowned, "Of course, all this has not happened yet. It is full of variables. This is one of the reasons why we are under great pressure. No one knows what exactly the mission will do when it comes to visit."
Lorenzo also felt a headache, but then he remembered someone, even though he had been forgotten for a long time.
He didn't have much contact with the Cardinals. After all, the duty of the Demon Hunters of Metanzo was to guard the Cathedral of Saint-Naro. The only time he had contact with them was to serve as their bodyguards. Although it sounds a bit outrageous, it is true.
In this way, of course, guarding the Cathedral of Saint-Naro can also be understood as a security guard.
Regardless of the mysterious religious overtones, the church is essentially just a roaring machine.
Lorenzo once protected Cardinal Lorenzo, which may sound confusing, but that person was Lorenzo Medici, and it seems better to call him Cardinal Medici.
He was an interesting old man. At least among the cardinals Lorenzo had come into contact with, he was the one who made Lorenzo feel the most at peace.
"Other than that, I have one more thing to ask."
His thoughts were occupied by Shrike's words, and Lorenzo suddenly remembered his purpose of coming here.