Agatha walked on the deserted streets. The familiar city scenery in the past now seemed to be filled with a quiet and strange atmosphere. Between the shadows of the surrounding buildings and behind the closed doors and windows, there seemed to be pairs of prying eyes hidden.
Eye.
She is looking for the exit of this "foreign land" or the culprit that caused her to be trapped here.
Every place that seems inconsistent may be a crack intersecting with the real world, but so far she has not found such a crack in this strange "frost city-state".
The only thing she was sure of was that she had touched the shadow that had always shrouded the city--whether it was by accident, or the mastermind behind the scenes had done it deliberately, she had successfully overcome that layer that had always been blocking her.
A "barrier" to sight.
This place that seems to be like frost must be the source of frequent strange situations in the city-state during this period.
The sound of wheels rolling over the stone road came from far away, and the faint sound of car bells and doors opening and closing floated into my ears.
Agatha looked up in the direction of the sound, but could only see empty streets - but farther away, she could indeed see some shadows that looked like carriages and horses passing by at the intersection.
I saw silhouettes of pedestrians hurrying through those intersections.
There are "people" in this city, but often all that can be seen are distant phantoms. The voices of residents can be heard here, but it is often impossible to accurately locate the source of the sound.
It's like a bizarre, confusing and twisted dream.
Agatha's figure passed through another intersection, and then stopped in the shadow of the building.
Blind exploration is just a waste of energy and time, she needs to carefully judge the surrounding situation.
She closed her eyes and allowed her perceptions to spread around, carefully screening various information in the environment - sounds, smells, the direction of the wind, and... the temperature of living people.
After a moment, Agatha looked up in a certain direction and took steps towards that direction - she still had her eyes closed, but she accurately avoided all obstacles on the road as if she could see her surroundings clearly.
Walking through the alleys, passing intersections and alleys, I walked for an unknown amount of time before stopping in front of a building on the corner of the street.
Agatha opened her eyes and saw a small restaurant in front of her. The restaurant was brightly lit and there were lively voices inside.
The sound was very real, with the breath of a living person coming out of it.
Agatha calmed down and stepped forward to open the door of the restaurant.
The ringing bell rang, the door opened, and the scene in the restaurant came to Agatha's eyes. At this moment, she was in a trance, and even suspected that she had escaped from the weird "foreign land" and returned to the normal real world.
middle.
The lights in the restaurant are bright, and guests can be seen everywhere as well as service staff busy shuttling between tables and counters. The clerk in charge of reception is busy behind the counter, and the crisp sound of knives and forks colliding with cups and plates can be heard in his ears.
There are also the sounds of people talking about the weather, work and prices. The dead and cold atmosphere accumulated in the streets outside seems to have been swept away by this lively "earthly scenery".
However, the next second, Agatha discovered an obvious violation here - although the diners were eating at the table, the cups and plates in front of them were empty, even though the clerk was busy behind the counter.
, but he just walked around in the same spot, wiping the same cup in his hand repeatedly.
Everyone is like a programmed demon doll, just repeating the life actions that a normal person should have, but... they imitate it very vividly.
Agatha frowned. After realizing the truth, the atmosphere here seemed even weirder than the empty street outside. However, she did not turn around and leave, but instead took steps towards the store.
The weirder the place, the more it means you are on the right track.
As Agatha took the first step, the lively conversation in the restaurant suddenly stopped.
All the diners who were talking closed their mouths at the same time, but their faces still retained the various expressions they had when chatting just now, and their hands still maintained the gesture of eating - in the huge space, after the human voices disappeared, only a
The monotonous sound of clinking cups, plates and knives and forks.
Everyone stopped moving, as if their energy was suddenly cut off, and stood still beside the square tables.
Agatha took the third step forward, and everyone in the restaurant put down their knives and forks. They stood up like zombies, turned their heads expressionlessly, and dozens of blank eyes fell on her.
Agatha looked at the counter in front of her. The clerk who had been wiping the same cup finally stopped. But unlike the zombie-like "diners" around him, the clerk slowly raised his head and looked at
Agatha had a faint smile on her face.
That smile was even a bit friendly.
"Hello, Miss Gatekeeper," the clerk said. He was a young man with short blond hair and a pretty good appearance. He was wearing a white shirt and a black jacket. He was polite when he spoke, as if he was really entertaining the customers.
Guest, "I'm glad you are here. What do you think of this delightful city?"
"It seems that you are the culprit of all this," Agatha calmly stared at the blond "clerk" in front of her, "it's easier to find you than I thought.
"It may not be as easy as you think," the blond young man laughed, "Would you like something? Poisoned dirty water? Or bread made of dirt? Or... an empty bowl? We have it here
There are plenty of them.”
Agatha had no intention of answering, she just raised her cane and waved it in the air.
The blond young man behind the counter was instantly wrapped in layers of pale flames that appeared out of thin air. The skin was burned to ashes by the gatekeeper's "cremation" ability within a few breaths, leaving only the gray-white ashes floating in the wind.
dropped on the counter.
However, the expression on Agatha's face did not change at all, because before the flames ignited, she sensed that there was no living breath in the young man's body.
A weird squirming sound of sticky substance came from the side. Agatha turned her head and saw a "diner" standing stiffly at the table not far away and suddenly trembled all over. The next second, the man's body was like wax.
Like melting, the black mud material surged and deformed on its surface. Within a few breaths, the diner transformed into a blond young man wearing a white shirt and a black jacket.
"What an unfriendly way to say hello," the blond young man flicked the dust on his clothes and looked at Agatha helplessly, "Miss Gatekeeper, you don't think this can solve me - do you think I
Would you rashly expose your body to such a dangerous place?"
"I know you're not here," Agatha said expressionlessly, "but this will at least stop your noise for a while."
"Okay, okay, it seems you have no interest in chatting - you are a boring woman, compared to
Next, Professor Myerson's behavior at the last moment was much more interesting." The blond young man shrugged, "But it doesn't matter, as long as you can stay here honestly for a while, I don't mind if you are a
Prisoner of boredom."
The moment she heard the words "Professor Myerson", Agatha's expression changed slightly. She thought of the disappeared Dagger Island and what happened on the island just before it disappeared as mentioned in the report.
There was a series of explosions - and then, she noticed the information revealed in the last few words of the other party.
"What do you mean by your last few words?" She looked at the blond young man in front of her and said in a cold tone.
"Nothing, I'm just asking you to be a guest here for a while," the blond young man laughed happily, "You don't have to worry about the situation above. Soon, another one of you will return there, and she will be with you.
You summon the guards as well, and then compile a report based on the actual situation of the sewage treatment center. "Don't worry, she will report it truthfully, including the pollution suffered by the treatment center and the replacement of personnel. Then, she will talk to you as usual."
Return to the cathedral to report and talk to Bishop Ivan. Then, she will tour the city-state, continue to deal with various problems faced in the city, and continue the investigation work that you failed to complete... Everything will be fine.
There will be no delay.”
Agatha's face finally turned completely cold. She stared at the blond young man in front of her: "You even made a 'fake' of the gatekeeper,?!"
"Is this difficult?" "Fair-haired Year" "Of course, she does not have your power, but other than that, she has no flaws, and is even more perfect than any previous copy - you know how perfect it is.
Is it? She... doesn’t even know that she is fake.”
Agatha's face was frosty, and the knuckles holding her cane were slightly white: "Fake things cannot be hidden from the cathedral - there are countless pairs of alert eyes there."
"With countless pairs of alert eyes - mortal eyes, you overestimate your colleagues," the blond young man said calmly, facing Agatha's cold gaze, "and when it comes to fakes, you really
Do you think there is any difference between you and others, and the 'fake' you say?"
He laughed again and slowly raised his hands, as if a preaching saint was revealing the truth of the world: "Miss Gatekeeper, there were no fakes from the beginning, or... we are all fakes.