Indulging in a dream of an ocean, there is a song that seems to come from a distant place. The sound makes people get lost in the magnificent illusion, breaking away from the shackles of the body and turning into a ghost ship.
The waves beat against the silver shell. Alexandra did not deliberately maintain the strength of the spherical shell she made, and the silk yarn did not block the sea from her sight. With the tacit understanding between the two, the spherical shell was finally crushed by the sea and turned into colorful fine snow falling to the ground at the harbor.
Lu Ning could feel that the surroundings fell into silence. When the fight was forcibly interrupted, the party that woke up first had an absolute advantage. She found a mobility scooter - after all, she had returned to the state of an ordinary person, and there was nothing she could do about it. Moved at high speed here with the help of knowledge of mantra.
"Where to go?" Zuo Xiaobi asked.
"The meerkat's stronghold."
Zuo Xiaobi did not ask any more questions and followed Lu Ning silently.
The Snake Meerkat organization acted as an intermediary in the entire scene, and when it was almost impossible to do anything personally, Yin Xiu asked Lu Ning to investigate and obviously noticed something unusual about this organization. After all, without a show of strength, among the foreign forces, who would recognize their connections?
And judging from Zuo Xiaobi's previous destruction of a stronghold, the combat effectiveness of the snake meerkat is not generally weak. Lu Ning was very curious about this. What was the background that could support the meerkat operation?
Another thing Lu Ning wanted to know was when she would get her reward.
The four options given by the distribution center are not actually completely consistent. The first three options each choose a kind of power, while the fourth option is to maintain human identity, which will lead to a settlement problem. For example, Lu Ning saw the other selves around Yu Zhan and Zuo Xiaobi who had clearly made their choices. After making the choice, it was obvious that they gained corresponding powers. Compared with this, maintaining human identity How should we judge?
After she took out all the mantras from her body, there was still no special change. Was it necessary for her to surrender to human beings? Lu Ning didn't think the distribution center would be so boring. The fourth option must also have a standard trigger switch. As long as it can be touched, she will obtain the status of "Ocean Watcher".
Lu Ning came to the garden area where she met Zuo Xiaobi. At this moment, there was no one here, and the surrounding buildings were completely plunged into darkness. Sybil used smoke to construct the surrounding shapes, but unfortunately it was difficult to see clearly. She could only know that there were still people here.
"Unfortunately, I don't know what state the people here are in, and probably many of them are still half asleep," Sibyl said.
"Better be careful." Zuo Xiaobi said.
"how?"
"There is the smell of blood in the air, and it smells very fresh." Zuo Xiaobi said, "There is no doubt that a battle has just happened here. I don't know if it was suddenly interrupted or has ended."
Lu Ning raised her arm. The watch she was wearing was flashing a blue indicator light rapidly. Although the light was very dim, Lu Ning had already noticed it. The flashing of this reminder light means that Ciel is nearby.
"...Zuo Xiaobi, you are very good at killing people, right?"
"Huh? Is there anyone you want to kill?"
"Not sure, but I'll probably let you use it soon. After all, I'm not very suitable now." Lu Ning said and walked in.
It was very dark in the garden. This kind of darkness was not normal at first glance. Moreover, it was not quiet here. The surroundings were filled with rustling sounds like insects crawling, which made people feel a little uncomfortable. Lu Ying habitually left her own carving marks around, and Sybil was also daubing her own symbols.
Soon, everyone arrived in front of the public toilet. But after all, the space environment here in the harbor is not the same as in reality. Lu Ning took out the detection instrument and started to investigate the surroundings. As expected, the instrument had no special response to the toilet, and its position had shifted somewhat. However, this also showed that the space created by the snake meerkats was actually connected between the harbor and the inland.
Is it a coincidence? Or is it that the meerkats knew about the harbor in advance? Lu Ning did not forget that before Qu Yi informed the Xunyou Sisters about the situation in the seaport and that the sisterhood launched Shenyuan City, external forces in this world were actually causing trouble in the surface world like headless flies. Except for the Aurora, the Dust of the World, and the Ascetic Monks, there is probably no organization that has glimpsed the nature of the world before.
"Behind the snake meerkat...is that an ascetic?" Lu Ning thought as she walked toward that space. The Dervish is the only organization she has not had much contact with. Although it seems to have a good reputation from side information feedback, Lu Ning doesn't really believe it. Just like the playful attitude of Earthly Ai traveling through various worlds and the indifferent state of Qisha, does the ascetic really have compassion for this world?
Lu Ning found the entrance, which was outside the door of a small courtyard room, low and dark. She raised her phone, used a little light to illuminate the location of the entrance, activated the device to reveal the door handle, and then reached out to hold the door handle.
"Please aim." Lu Ning said. After hearing this, Zuo Xiaobi put the ax in the air and nodded slightly.
Lu Ning used a little force to push the doorknob inward, and then quickly dodged away. At this moment, bright blue thunder was launched from inside. Zuo Xiaobi struck down with an axe, and the strong smell of blood and thunder lingered around him. Together, a large amount of sparks immediately exploded. Lu Ning had already heard the rapid rustling sound in her ears, and immediately signaled to Lu Ying and Sybil. When the two saw Lu Ning, they flashed their phones, and each activated their own abilities. Soon, there was a sound coming from a place not far away. There were several screams of pain.
"Char, let us in!" Lu Ning shouted into the door.
"Huh? Come in..."
The door was opened from the inside. Lu Ning lowered his head and got in. The three people also filed in. Zuo Xiaobi, who entered last, conveniently covered the door, and the last trace of murderous intention outside the door was also locked away. Outside.
This space is completely different from the meerkat's nest that I saw before. White marble forms a smooth road, and there are even some reliefs on the walls. The space is spacious. The only shortcoming is that the smell of blood is too strong.
Charles was sitting next to the door at the end of the passage. His left arm was gone, and he was holding his Thunder Ax in his right hand. He looked much haggard, but he was still very happy to see Lu Ning, and even stepped forward to hug her. .
"Char, you're actually hiding here. If it wasn't for the reminder from my watch, I wouldn't have known you were hiding in this space."
"The changes were so fast that I didn't have time to inform you." Charles nodded slightly, glanced at Zuo Xiaobi, Lu Ying and Sybil, but said nothing.
"What is this place? Why did you hide here?"
"Asylum for heretics," Ciel said.
"Really? It sounds like a safe house or something." Lu Ning looked inside, and the scattered corpses showed that it was obviously no longer safe here. Charles put away his battle ax and waved for everyone to follow him in. After passing through a passage about thirty meters long, everyone came to the hall that was already filled with corpses.
Lu Ning looked around and soon knew what was going on here.
There are three types of corpses here. One type is ordinary people's clothes, with some mantra ritual materials on their bodies, or simply ordinary people. Most of them died near the wall or at the entrance to the passage in other directions, and most of them were killed with one blow. The second category is people who wear gray and black coats with armor on the inside. They look like specialized combatants. They have more scars on their bodies. Some of them were even cut into pieces with extremely cruel methods, or their fatal parts were burned. Almost none of them were intact corpses. The corpses of these people were concentrated in the middle of the hall. Judging from their shape, they became a barrier for ordinary people. Lu Ning could even imagine the scene where the murderers stepped over the corpses to kill ordinary people after these people resisted desperately.
As for the third category of corpses... they are probably the murderers. They wore pure white armor, used two-handed swords and maces as weapons, and wore iron masks on their faces. There was an eye-like pattern in the center of the mask. The murderers were undoubtedly more powerful. There were only a dozen corpses left here. Or maybe only so many people came.
Lu Ning took a closer look and finally understood - many of these white-armored people had scars that penetrated deep into the bone marrow, with obvious burn marks. This wound was very much made by Charles.
"Tell me about the situation, Ciel. I remember you went to investigate the Destiny Covenant?"
"Yes. Destiny Covenant. After I found out about this organization, I felt a little strange." Charles said, "I followed many members of various organizations here, eavesdropped, stole, and used various methods to obtain information. Among them, ' The existence of an asylum for heretics strikes me as strange."
"Well, do you feel the problem with this name?" Lu Ning said.
Heretic... is a term with strong religious characteristics. Although it is often used in various fields, Lu Ning will not ignore this little quirk, especially when the name is given by the distribution center.
She initially thought that believers of the mantra would call believers of other mantras heretics, just like religious wars, and believers of the mantra were hostile to each other. But soon, Lu Ning discovered that although Zhenyan believers had many contradictions, and some were even hostile to those who did not believe in themselves, they did not have such a strong sense of exclusiveness, and they were just firm in what they believed in. She rarely heard believers of the truth refer to other people as heretics, or even cooperate with other organizations.
If it is not a true believer, then who should be the "true believer" corresponding to this "heresy"?
From what force does the Heretic Sanctuary protect people?
Judging from the situation on site, there is no problem with the "good omen" meaning of the distribution center. You can indeed get protection from the people here when you come to the shelter. They will even protect you with their lives. However, another piece of information has been concealed, which is the asylum of heretics. So the "opponent" is actually stronger.
"I found several shelters. Their composition is very complex. People from the outside world are originally people from this world. To my surprise, heretic shelters came earlier than us people. They have developed here. For about three years, during the construction of this base, I settled here.”
"It started since then? Then..."
They had permission, or to put it more bluntly, Yu Zhan and Yin He's permission.
"Are these people from the Destiny Covenant?" Lu Ning pointed at the body of the white-armored man.
"That's right, a covenant of destiny." Charles squatted down and tapped the iron masks on those people's faces with his fingers. "This mask cannot be taken off. I tried to take the mask off a corpse, and finally found that It has to be ripped off the entire face. I would assume that the person who put the mask on them has a higher level of skill than I have."
As a member of the Dead Kingdom, Ciel is still a solo mission master. If the technical level in his hand is higher than that, it must be at least the secret technical level within the nobles.
"The Heretic Sanctuary wants to protect some people who are designated by fate from the hands of the Destiny Covenant." Ciel continued, "Or, people designated by the fate of the Destiny Covenant. You have probably heard of some fanatic types of religions that force Others believe in their own doctrines and even force others to believe in their own ideas. Destiny Covenant is basically such a group of people. They follow a destiny guide and firmly believe in its correctness. The most terrifying thing is that this really brings them great power. The strength. I follow these people... They actually know it, but they still follow the will of fate to destroy this sanctuary. For them, those who resist fate will only end up dead. "
"Such lunatics are not uncommon." Zuo Xiaobi said.
"I only came in five minutes late, and they had already destroyed this shelter." Ciel said, "Even... this is within the scope of their destiny."
"Um?"
"This person." Charles pointed to one of them. If he didn't point it out, everyone wouldn't even be able to see its specialness.
"This man is the leader of this team. He told me that you will definitely be late, and our mission will definitely be completed. Fate has already predetermined the outcome of all this." Charles smiled softly, "I I have never believed in fate. After all, it is not an intractable technology to detect probability through time and observe and lock in events with higher probability. Dacapo probably already has a patent. It’s just... these people People don’t seem to use this type of technology.”
The leader's mentality has always been very stable, so stable that even an old warrior like Ciel cannot compare.
"Then, you will attack us for some reason - anger, sense of justice, or other reasons. There is no doubt that you are stronger than us, so we will be killed by you." The leader said calmly before the war started, " And it will cost you an arm. You will not leave because of what I say, you will follow your destiny, kill us, get wounded, and then find that there are other enemies outside. You are trapped here, Until someone comes to visit.”
Everything is as it says.
"What happened after that? What else did he say?" Lu Ning asked, staring at Charles.
"He said...the Most High will arrive here to seal our fate."
