Few people know what happened to the bishop's body. Even Agatha, the gatekeeper, only knows that it was an "accident" that happened many, many years ago. Bishop Ivan has never been friendly with others.
Talk about the true circumstances of the "accident", including in front of her.
Naturally, Agatha would not take the initiative to touch this secret.
Bishop Ivan's mood was obviously very heavy. He was silent, and after a long time he suddenly said: "We are facing a crisis."
"Yes, Bishop Ivan," Agatha nodded, "I will go all out to find out the truth and destroy those plots to annihilate the believers."
"No, you don't understand," Bishop Ivan shook his head. "The truth of this crisis may be beyond our understanding and imagination. Agatha, the activities of those cultists may be part of this crisis.
, but by no means all, I have a feeling..."
Agatha frowned slightly: "A feeling?"
"A similar atmosphere, just like fifty years ago... before the chaos broke out, the whole city was filled with an atmosphere very similar to today," Bishop Ivan said slowly, "the same seemingly normal city-state, but there are leaks everywhere.
With weird and inexplicable details, it is like suddenly living in a dream that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. We occasionally glimpse the terrible scenes on the edge of the dream, but the pitiful minds of mortals refuse to understand it all, resulting in us being unable to see through the things that are so close at hand.
Really, do you feel this way? It’s like... the distortion is right in front of us, but we keep our eyes closed.”
"I don't understand." Agatha hesitated, "You mean, cognitive interference? This interference has affected our judgment?"
Bishop Ivan did not answer her, but after being silent for several seconds, he suddenly mentioned a seemingly unrelated topic: "Agatha, have I ever told you about the 'Last Queen's Guard' fifty years ago?"
?Did I ever tell you about the "Second Waterway" deep in the city-state?
"The second waterway?" Agatha was startled, and some information emerged in her mind. "I know a little about this. It was part of the huge underground facilities built by the Frost Queen for the city-state. But with the end of the Queen's era,
, this unfinished facility was abandoned, and now due to severe collapse and excessive financial pressure, it is still abandoned there—most people don’t even know it exists.”
"Yes, it's abandoned. Only gatekeepers like you or old antiques like me still know about it." Bishop Ivan shook his head and said.
"What happened to the last Queen's Guard?" Agatha asked, "Why did you suddenly mention this?"
"The last Queen's Guard was a force that refused to surrender even after the rebels broke through the Queen's Palace, and relied on the city-state's underground facilities to fight until the very end." Bishop Ivan's voice was low, as if lost in memories, "Their last stronghold was
It was the entrance to the Second Waterway - after that, they blew up all the connecting wells and buried them underground. The reason why I mentioned this matter today is because I suddenly recalled a rumor from the past."
Agatha's eyes suddenly became serious: "A rumor?"
"It is said that when the shaft was blown up, the soldiers attacking underground suddenly heard strange noises coming from deep underground. In the completely collapsed underground, the last Queen's Guards suddenly shouted, as if they were attacking someone.
"Attack," Bishop Ivan slowly recalled, "for a long time after that, people often reported hearing the sound of shouting and charging coming from deep underground. Eventually, there were rumors that the 'Last Queen's Guard'
"It has become a mutated army deep underground. They fight in the darkness every day, filled with rage. When the new order established by the betrayers reaches its most fragile moment, they will come out from the underground to liquidate the past.
"old accounts"
Agatha's expression became solemn: "At the most fragile moment of the new order, you just said that we are facing a crisis beyond understanding. The city is filled with
The atmosphere is similar to that of fifty years ago. Is this the most vulnerable moment? That legendary "Queen's Guard" "will emerge from the ground? Do you think this legend is true?"
"I don't believe this legend - the Queen's Guards have been wiped out long ago. I witnessed it with my own eyes. Even though" Bishop Ivan said, he paused suddenly, seeming to think of something, but then shook his head, "Even though there were some
The survivors temporarily survived in the second waterway, but they cannot survive to this day. The few surviving descendants cannot shake the rule of the city-state, even if we encounter a crisis now."
Agatha didn't speak for a while. After being silent for more than ten seconds, she suddenly spoke: "The legend of the last Queen's Guard may be false, but it is true that there is a large-scale uncontrolled area underground in Frost City State. Are you worried?"
It’s not the Queen’s Guard that disappeared fifty years ago, but something else in the Second Waterway?”
"We have been searching the whole city for a long time. Although we have captured a lot of Annihilation cultists, they are all insignificant little characters, and most of them do not have strong concealment skills - it is impossible for them to be in the city-state.
Creating so many counterfeits and elemental pollution is even less likely to cause changes in Dagger Island." Bishop Ivan nodded, "Now it seems that the minions we caught came from a big nest.
There are leaks and stragglers who came out. Now most areas in the city-state have been searched more than once. If there is any place that has not been searched... I am afraid that only the depths of the ground are left."
Agatha pondered for a moment and spoke uncertainly: "But according to the data, most areas of the Second Waterway have severely collapsed and are isolated from each other to form a network of death. Coupled with toxic pollution and large-scale dark areas, then
There is no way to survive down there - Annihilation cultists are also living people. Except for a small number of priests who are about to transform themselves into ghost demons, most of the Annihilation cultists still need a normal human living environment... How could they have been hiding in that place?"
"At least we should search," Bishop Ivan said slowly, "Start searching from the collapse points around the boiling gold mine."
Agatha thought for a while and nodded slightly: "This requires the cooperation of the city hall - protective equipment, underground working machinery, and professional engineering personnel. The cathedral does not have such reserves."
"I will negotiate," Bishop Ivan nodded. "Just list down what manpower and equipment you need, and I will find a way to get them for you."
"Okay, I will give you the list before noon," Agatha was not polite. "Besides, before the personnel and materials are in place, I will have a good chat with the Annihilation cultists who have been captured and watch them.
Can you tell me some useful information..."
The night faded and the sky gradually became brighter. Vision 001 began to rise from the edge of the city-state. The brilliant sun disc climbed into the sky little by little. The double rune rings swept across the towering spiers and roofs. The sun brought heat and dissipated the energy accumulated overnight.
cold.
At the entrance of Cemetery No. 3, the heavy carved iron gate creaked open. The gate swept away the snow on the ground, leaving two arc fans like wings spread out. An old guard wearing an old coat stood at the open cemetery gate.
I took a deep breath and looked at the clearing sky.
The sky was clear, but for some reason, this clear morning could not stop the irritability in my heart. The old guard looked in the direction of the city block and felt that the faint sounds of cars and horses coming in were vague and noisy, just like last night's restlessness.
The sound of division.
Furthermore, even the clear sky at this moment seemed fake.
He complained a few words in a low voice, and then looked towards the ramp in front of the cemetery.
The wrinkles on the old man's face relaxed for a moment, but in the next second, all the wrinkles wrinkled up again, and his brows also frowned tightly.
He saw a small figure appear on the ramp, walking towards this direction with difficulty but full of energy - after noticing the old man's gaze, the figure deliberately stopped and waved its hands happily towards this side.
The old guard grimaced.
He waited for the other party to approach, and after Annie started to pat the snowflakes on her pants and boots, he said with an unkind expression: "You're here again - I had a quiet day yesterday, and I thought you could finally stay at home honestly.
Are you coming again today?"
"I wanted to come yesterday too," An
Ni stuck out her tongue, "But mom said there was too much snow on the road yesterday, and she had to wait until the snow plow cleared the road before she could go out. She didn't even wait for the old man in front of her to speak, and she already took out the bag with ease.
A small package was handed over: "Cookies!"
"I'm eating biscuits every day now," the old man glanced at what the other person handed over, his eyelids twitched, but he still reached out and took it, "Thank you, Ms. Belloni, for me."
Anne laughed happily.
"Is there anything else?" The old guard glanced at the girl in front of him, "There are no visits to the cemetery today."
"It's okay, I just want to talk to you," Anne said with a smile, "Did you know? There have been several new guests living in our house recently. Who do you think they are?"
Twelve-year-old children are really not good at keeping secrets in their hearts.
"I'm not interested." The old guard felt confused and waved his hand impatiently. "The house belongs to your family. You can rent it to whomever you want. What does it have to do with me?"
"It's the big uncle with many bandages on his body and wearing black clothes!" Annie didn't care about the old man's response. Her smile became brighter and there was inexplicable pride in her tone, "It was the last time I was in the cemetery.
Grandpa, the guard at the door, are you okay?"
/
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