Agatha took out the report letter - it looked like it was written on the most common letter paper, with an envelope produced by a small local factory in Hanshuang, and even the ink was obviously ordinary. It was given to her from Cemetery No. 3. To be honest, if she hadn't known that the old guard would not make such a joke with her, Agatha would never have believed that this thing actually came from an indescribable superior supernatural being. .
She couldn't even sense any supernatural power from this letter - but after doing a few simple tests, she had confirmed that this thing was indeed made by the superior supernatural hand.
There was a sound of clothes rubbing together in the dark coffin, and the thick coffin lid finally opened slowly. Accompanied by a strange smell of incense, a mummy-like body wrapped in bandages slowly stood up from inside.
This is Ivan, the bishop of the Frost City State - he lost his complete body due to an accident many years ago, but Bartok's power has allowed his life to continue to this day. Most of the time, he has to stay in The "casket" in the Meditation Church will only appear in the public eye when major sacraments are held, but even so, he is still the most popular and trusted bishop in the history of Frost.
The bishop's achievements and profound knowledge in the supernatural realm are beyond doubt.
He sat up in the coffin and took the "report letter" handed over by Agatha. His only left eye exposed outside the bandage stared at the letter for a long time, and he was silent for a long time.
Agatha couldn't help but break the silence: "You..."
The well-informed and knowledgeable archbishop said in a sullen voice: "I'll take my time."
Agatha waited for a while and then asked, "Have you recovered?"
"...Are you sure this is it?" Bishop Ivan raised his head, with confusion in his slightly yellow eyes, "Have you ever..."
"It does look ordinary - but when I tried to observe the words on the letter through the perspective of the spiritual world, I lost my memory for fifteen minutes on the spot," Agatha knew what the bishop wanted to say, her expression was serious He nodded, "It is entangled with power that is unimaginable to mortals. This simple appearance...maybe just the unique taste of the visitor."
Bishop Ivan was silent for a moment, seemingly still calming down, and then slowly spoke: "The content mentioned in this letter... is disturbing. You have already seen the "Petrel", and if what is mentioned in the letter... The truth is, the Haiyan is just the beginning, and even the loss of control on Dagger Island is just the beginning... Whether it's the pollution caused by the cultists in the city or the elements, whether it's the return of the Haiyan or the pollution on Dagger Island Abnormal, everything points to the deep sea, to the abyss plan half a century ago."
"I have issued a warning to the city hall and applied for access to the secret files that have been sealed for half a century. I will also go to the church library later. In addition, I have arranged personnel to step up the search throughout the city to arrest those who have been hiding. "There are hidden cultists," Agatha said, "But that's not enough. We at least need to confirm what's going on on Dagger Island - the bigger source of pollution seems to be on that island."
Bishop Ivan thought for a moment and sighed softly: "If everything points to the Qianyuan Plan... the sea fog fleet appearing near Hanshuang at this moment seems to be explainable."
"...Do you think that all of this was part of the Frost Queen's plan back then?" Agatha frowned, "It's because she left some orders to Vice Admiral Steel, so the Sea Mist Fleet Did he appear today?"
"I'm not sure," Bishop Ivan shook his head, and then suddenly looked up into Agatha's eyes, "Agatha, in your opinion, what is the image of the Frost Queen?":
Agatha hesitated for a moment and said while thinking: "A once great ruler was infected and bewitched by the power of the deep sea after a short glorious reign, and fell into a dangerous mad king, because she Acting on her own will, Hanshuang has established a connection with the horrors in the deep sea. Even after half a century, her terrible plan still needs to be completely sealed and prohibited from being known by any ordinary person - her life is both tragic and dangerous."
"A very standard answer - as a young generation, and with enough access to some information from half a century ago, your overall conclusion is very accurate," Bishop Ivan clicked
He nodded, but then changed the subject, "But you haven't really experienced any of that."
Agatha didn't speak, just looked at the archbishop in front of her quietly.
"I have experienced it - that year, I was twenty-six years old, and I was still an ordinary bishop in a small church in the dock area. Do you know? That small church is next to the test site of the Qianyuan Project. I even gave Some soldiers and officers held a blessing ceremony, and later I found out that those soldiers and officers came to the church to receive blessings because they wanted to come into contact with the submersible."
Bishop Ivan spoke slowly, his voice was low, as if a tributary was trickling from the river of memories. Things that were long ago and could not be told to ordinary people were narrated bit by bit from under the overlapping bandages. out.
"After the rebels captured the palace, most of the information about the Qianyuan Project was sealed. Coupled with the panic effect caused by the sea cliff collapse incident that occurred at the beheading site, the relevant information about the Qianyuan Project was even destroyed. Seventy-seven, eighty-eight, so even if you are a gatekeeper with authority, the information you can access is actually only the most superficial part of it - if I tell you now, in fact, when the Frost Queen launched an attack on the city-state guard, She came to that chapel one night and asked me to hold a funeral ceremony for her... What do you think?"
Agatha's eyes suddenly widened.
"She was called the 'Mad King' - indeed, her behavior in the last few months was nothing more than 'mad,' really, and she continued to push forward even though the whole project was completely out of control and people were missing, dying, and going crazy every day. Project, and even closed the palace, locked up the minister who was still willing to speak out in the end, ordered the military police to block the port, and arrested those who wanted to escape the frost. With these actions first, the rebel army behind would follow naturally. She was destined to be unable to survive on her own A good death in the position of queen...
"But even so, I don't think she is actually crazy at all, but...she is very sane, even...
Bishop Ivan stopped suddenly, as if recalling those long-ago events overwhelmed his mind. He might also be looking for the right words to describe the weirdness he felt back then. After a few seconds, he finally He continued: "In fact, it's like he is the only sober person in the entire city."
Agatha leaned forward unconsciously: "Why do you say that?"
"She walked into the church without any entourage, her eyes were clear, as if she had already understood her destiny. She came to Bartok's icon, lit incense for herself, and then came over and patted me on the shoulder. like this."
Bishop Ivan raised his arm, as if recreating the scene half a century ago.
"She patted me and said: 'Wake up, you are the only one in the whole city who still has your eyes open - come and do something for me, I am dying.'"
Agatha felt that her breathing was suddenly not smooth, as if her breathing was suspended while she was half asleep and half awake. Then the next moment, she couldn't help but put her hand on her forehead. She felt her heart pounding. She didn't know what to do. What kind of reaction, after a few seconds of silence, I can only ask my most direct confusion: "You are the only one in the whole city who still has your eyes open... What does this sentence mean?"
"I haven't fully figured it out yet," Bishop Ivan sighed, his voice muffled under the bandage. "She asked me to wake up - but I stayed awake, and after that, she also He didn’t explain anything to me, he just told me to follow the order... She lay on the morgue like a dead person, and then... I held a funeral ceremony for her."
"How can a living person perform a spiritual ceremony?" Agatha stared in disbelief, "Is your ceremony... really completed?"
"Of course a living person cannot hold a funeral ceremony - I just followed her instructions and completed the entire process. Of course, nothing happened after the ceremony." Bishop Ivan shook his head, "I think the ceremony is meaningless. But the Frost Queen seemed to have achieved her goal, and she left just like that. Before she left, she told me something..."
"one thing?"
"She asked me not to tell anyone about what happened that night, otherwise the rebels would definitely kill me. When she said this, it was not until the first city-state guard attacked the arsenal.
There are a full twenty-four hours. "
Agatha fell silent, and after an unknown amount of time, she finally spoke in a low voice: "You never told me this..."
"I never told anyone," Bishop Ivan said lightly, "I was just a young bishop at that time."
"But you later became the bishop of the city-state, and no one can judge you for your involvement back then. This secret..."
"I intend to take this secret with me to the grave, why do I want to tell it?" Bishop Ivan raised his head and stared at Agatha's eyes with his cloudy and yellowish left eye. "I know this matter is not trivial - Queen He has long known the actions of the rebels, and even accepted his own death happily. This fact can shock many people... but apart from its own shock, it has no meaning. The Qianyuan Project will still be blocked, and the stable order of the city-state will be maintained. It is the most important thing to the vast majority of citizens. No one cares about what a queen who has been executed thought and did in the end, and there is a more important reason..."
Bishop Ivan paused for a moment and breathed out softly.
"A more important reason - the Qianyuan Project is over, the Queen's Era is over, everything has settled, at least...that's what I have been thinking for the past fifty years."
