Deep Sea Embers

Agatha knew that Bishop Ivan's life had come to an end many years ago—under the tightly wrapped bandage, there was actually not much flesh and blood left, and the only ones supporting him standing here, except Barto Apart from the miracles brought down by Ke, there is only one tenacious soul left.

Few people know what happened to the bishop's body. Even Agatha, who is the gatekeeper, only knows that it was an "accident" that happened many, many years ago. Talk about the real circumstances of that "accident", including in her presence.

Naturally, Agatha would not take the initiative to touch this secret.

Bishop Ivan's mood was obviously very heavy. He was silent for a long time before he suddenly said: "We are facing a crisis."

"Yes, Bishop Ivan," Agatha nodded, "I will do my best 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 have gone 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 everywhere It reveals strange and inexplicable details, as if suddenly living in a dream that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. We occasionally glimpse terrible scenes on the edge of the dream. The reality of... Do you have this feeling? It's as if... 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 suddenly mentioned a seemingly irrelevant topic after being silent for several seconds: "Agatha, did I tell you about the 'Last Queen's Guard' fifty years ago?" ? Have you mentioned the 'Second Waterway' deep in the city-state?"

"The second waterway?" Agatha was startled, and then some information emerged in her mind, "I know something about this, it was part of the huge underground facility built by the Frost Queen for the city-state, but with the end of the Queen's Era , the unfinished facility was abandoned, and today due to severe collapse and financial pressure, it is still abandoned—most people don’t even know it exists.”

"Yeah, it's abandoned, and only gatekeepers like you or old antiques like me know about it." Bishop Ivan shook his head and said.

"And what about the 'Last Queen's Guard'?" Agatha asked, "Why do you bring this up all of a sudden?"

"The last Queen's Guard is the last army that refused to surrender after the rebel army broke through the Queen's Palace, and relied on the city-state's underground facilities to fight to the end," Bishop Ivan said in a low voice, as if lost in memory, "their last stand It is the entrance of 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 beginning."

Agatha's eyes suddenly became serious: "A rumor?"

"It is said that... when the shaft was blown up, the soldiers attacking the underground suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the depths of the underground. In the completely collapsed underground, the last Queen's Guard suddenly shouted, as if they were aiming at something. people launched an attack," Bishop Ivan slowly recalled, "for a long time after that, people often reported that they heard the sound of shouting and charging from the depths of the underground, and finally there were rumors that 'the last The Queen's Guard' has become a mutant army deep underground. They fight in the dark every day, full of anger, and wait until the new order established by the traitors ushers in the most vulnerable moment, and they will come out of the ground. Settle the old accounts of the year..."

Agatha's expression became serious: "The most vulnerable moment of the new order... You said just now that we are facing a crisis beyond understanding, and the atmosphere in the city is similar to that of fifty years ago. Could it be that this is the most fragile moment? The legendary 'Queen's Guard' will emerge from the ground? Do you think this legend is true?"

"I don't believe in this legend—the Queen's Guard has been wiped out long ago. I have witnessed it with my own eyes. Even..." Bishop Ivan said, he paused suddenly, as if thinking of something, but shook his head again, "Even at that time There are some survivors who temporarily survived in the second waterway, and it is impossible for them to survive to this day, and the few surviving descendants cannot shake the rule of the city-state, even if we encounter a crisis now."

Agatha did not speak for a while, and after a silence of 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 the Frost City-State, you What you are worried about is not the Queen's Guard that disappeared fifty years ago, but something else XZ is on the Second Waterway?"

"We have been searching the whole city for a long time. Although we have caught quite a few Annihilation Cultists, they are all insignificant and small characters, and most of them don't have strong concealment skills—it is impossible for them to be in the city-state. With so many 'fakes' and 'element pollution', it is even more impossible to trigger the change of Dagger Island," Bishop Ivan nodded, "It seems that the minions we caught are more like coming from a big lair. The stragglers who 'leaked' out from the inside. Now most of the city-state has been searched more than once, if there is any place that has not been found...then I am afraid that only the deep underground remains."

Agatha pondered for a moment, then spoke uncertainly: "But according to the data, most of the second waterway has collapsed severely, and they are isolated from each other and become a network of death. In addition, there is poisonous substance pollution and a large area of ​​darkness. There is no way to survive below—the Annihilation Cultists are also living people. Except for a few priests who are about to transform themselves into deep demons, most of the Annihilation Cultists still need the living environment of normal humans... How could they have been hiding there? "

"At least we should look for it," Bishop Ivan said slowly, "Start searching from the collapse point around the boiling gold mine."

Agatha thought for a while, then nodded lightly: "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. "You need to list what manpower and equipment you need, and I can find a way for you."

"Okay, I will give you the list before noon," Agatha said unceremoniously, "Besides, before the personnel and supplies are in place, I will have a good 'chat' with those Annihilation Cultists who have been captured, and see them Can you share some useful information..."

...

As the night receded and the sky gradually brightened, vision 001 began to rise from the edge of the city-state. The brilliant sun wheel climbed up to the sky little by little. The double rune circle swept over the towering spiers and roofs. The sun brought heat and dissipated the energy accumulated overnight cold.

At the entrance of the No. 3 cemetery, the heavy carved iron fence door creaked open, and the gate swept the snow on the ground, leaving behind two arcs like wings spread out. The old guard in an old coat stood at the opened cemetery gate Before, he took a deep breath and looked at the clear sky.

The sky was fine, but for some reason, this clear morning could not stop the irritability in his heart. Looking at the direction of the city block, the old guard only felt the vague and noisy sounds of cars and horses coming in, just like last night. The sound of the wind.

In addition, even the clear sky at this moment seems to be fake.

He complained in a low voice, then looked towards the ramp in front of the cemetery.

The wrinkles on the old man's face stretched out, but in the next second, all the wrinkles tightened up again, and his brows were also tightly frowned.

He saw a small figure appearing on the ramp, walking towards this side with difficulty and full of motivation—after noticing the old man's gaze, the figure stopped deliberately, and happily waved his hands this way.

The old guard grimaced.

He waited for the other party to approach, and after Anne started patting the snowflakes on her pants and boots, he said with a bad face: "You are here again——I was quiet for a day yesterday, thinking that you could finally stay at home honestly, Come again today?"

"I also wanted to come yesterday," Annie stuck out her tongue, "but Mom said there was too much snow on the road yesterday, and I can't go out until the snow plow has cleared the road..."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for the old man in front of her to speak, she took out a small bag and handed it over: "Biscuits!"

"...I'm eating biscuits every day now." The old man glanced at the thing handed over by the other party, his eyelids twitched, but he still reached out to take it. "Thank you Ms. Belloni for me."

Annie laughed happily.

"What else is there?" The old guard glanced at the girl in front of him, "Today the cemetery does not offer visits."

"It's okay, I'll just talk to you," Annie said with a smile, "Do you know? Several new guests have moved into our house recently. Who do you think they are?"

Twelve-year-old children are really not good at suppressing the secrets in their hearts.

"I'm not interested," the old guard waved his hand impatiently, feeling puzzled. "The house belongs to your family. You can rent it to anyone you want. What does it have to do with me?"

"It's that big uncle with many bandages on his body and wearing black clothes!" Annie didn't care about the old man's response. The one at the door... Grandpa the guard, are you alright?"

(Thanks to Bai Yinmeng from World Hall~)