The content on the paper has no beginning and no end, as if there are some specious metaphors hidden in it. Reading it carefully makes people feel strange. Even a well-read scholar like Morris read those words over and over again. Several times, I couldn't find any clues.
What are the Forsaken Kings? What are the abandoned clans? What is the "shelter" mentioned repeatedly in the man in the ashes and in those passages?
Duncan frowned tightly and glanced at the ink stains that were soaked in water and slightly smudged. Some of the words recorded on them made him vaguely associate, but it was difficult to form a coherent train of thought. He only had a vague feeling. ...This does not seem to be simply crazy talk. The passage that looks like a religious record seems to be telling something related to the current "Deep Sea Age".
Or maybe it was something before the Deep Sea Age.
"Is this the writing of a crow?" Vanna suddenly raised her head and looked at Nemo standing aside.
"It's his handwriting," Nemo knelt down to identify it and nodded with certainty. "He always lengthens the last stroke at the end of a sentence. No one else has this problem."
"What does he believe in?" Vanna asked again, "Beyond the orthodox beliefs, has he come into contact with any other spiritual guides? It doesn't have to be heretical beliefs - gray societies such as secret societies and academic monasteries can also be counted. .”
"He is a devout believer in the God of Death. He has never been to any other church except Bartok's church since he was a child," Crow said while thinking, "As for associations and academic retreats, It's even more impossible to know how to do something like that... How can his brain be involved in such a thing? A guy who has to take tutoring for three years to graduate from a public high school in Xiacheng District just wants to join those monasteries. I have to want it too!”
"...devout Orthodox believers have never been exposed to other spiritual guidance other than orthodox belief...This is interesting," Vanna looked at the paper in Morris's hand and put her fingers on her chin Thoughtfully, "The narrative method here obviously has the shadow of the classical city-state era or the earlier dark age, and it is a typical 'history'. This kind of thing is not something that a person who can barely graduate from a public high school can pull out of thin air. It was imaginary - and the crow kept it close to his body, which shows that he cares very much about what is on this piece of paper."
Duncan didn't speak, he had been thinking silently, and then he suddenly realized: "So, he might have copied this thing from somewhere.
"Copied?" Nemo was stunned for a moment, and then responded, "You mean, the crow may have strayed into a certain place, and the things on this paper... were copied there. 'clue?
"Maybe he himself doesn't know the meaning of the things he copied, but this is the most suspicious and concerning information he saw there." Duncan nodded slowly, "And unfortunately, He may have been killed while copying these things."
"I entered a certain place by mistake..." Fanna stood up slowly, folded her hands on her chest, and said in thought, "Then this place must be completely unfamiliar to the Crow, and the environment may be quite strange. So that the person involved was unable to determine where he was in a short period of time, and could only hurriedly record what he saw in front of him as a clue. On the other hand, he may have been discovered and killed shortly after transcribing, so he did not have time. Explore the surroundings - otherwise he will have the opportunity to record more characteristic information to describe the environment he sees. "
As she said that, she looked down at the drowned body again and frowned slightly.
"Where did he go? And how was he brought back? A wet corpse will definitely leave traces when it is transported..."
Nemo raised his head and looked around.
In the dry sewer corridor, no traces of dragging bodies could be seen.
"Perhaps we should search deeper along the crow's usual patrol route. He may have left traces before straying into that place," Morris said, looking up into the depths of the corridor ahead. "He usually walks in this direction. ?"
"Yes," Nemo nodded, "This corridor leads to the uptown area, but there is a section in the middle where the lighting is unstable and is occasionally blocked by
Darkness is shrouded, and although a short period of darkness won't be a big problem, there may still be some... not-so-good things that appear, so you need to patrol frequently to discover the shadows that have just spawned in time. "
"Then go and have a look. If you go as early as possible, you might still be able to find clues," Duncan nodded. "If something really escapes over there, we can just deal with it together."
No one objected.
The group of people bid farewell to the crow's body for the time being and prepared to explore deeper into the sewer corridor. Before passing the young man's body, Nemo and the old ghost lowered their heads in unison.
"Wait for us here and we'll pick you up when we come back," Nemo said.
The old ghost bent down, took out a triangular amulet from nowhere, and stuffed it into the crow's chest: "Don't run around, kid."
Duncan watched this scene silently, waiting for Nemo and the old ghost to finish saying goodbye before turning around and leading the team forward.
"We will tell Captain Tirian what happened here when we go back," Vanna said suddenly on the way, "that young man will not die inexplicably.
"Thank you," Nemo said in a low voice. He was obviously in a bad mood, and his depression and loss lingered. "That kid... he hasn't actually done anything great in his life, but this time he was captured by Captain Tyrian and It’s probably an honor for Captain Duncan to remember it.”
"Does he have a family?" Morris also broke the silence and asked softly.
"Family? Long gone. He grew up in an orphanage. He came out of the orphanage when he was a teenager and became an apprentice with me." Nemo shook his head. "I heard from the director of the orphanage, That boy was picked up from the road, in a trash can on the corner of the street. When he first picked it up, it was really only as long as a crow from head to toe..."
"Abandoned baby," the old ghost muttered, with anger in his voice, "When the queen was still alive, she would not allow this to happen - abandoning a baby would lead to imprisonment! As a result, people nowadays He was so depraved that he could throw the child into the trash can... That kid was also very lucky. When he first came to us from the orphanage, he was very thin and thin. When he was a teenager, he was like a monkey. I was worried about him all the time at that time. He would catch the cold and die in the next winter, but he still survived... survived..."
The old man stopped suddenly, as if he was a little stuck, and then shook his head in a depressed mood: "I still didn't survive after all."
The atmosphere in the team was extremely gloomy. Even Alice, who had always been slow, felt the depressing atmosphere. She looked up and looked around in confusion, and finally came to the old ghost hesitantly, as if she wanted to comfort the old man: "You... ..Don’t be sad.”
The old ghost raised his head, looked at Alice wearing a wig and veil, and was stunned for a moment, then sniffed hard: "Queen, you have to take care of this..."
Alice looked at the old man in front of her at a loss.
But soon, her embarrassment was broken - the team suddenly stopped.
The corridor ahead was shrouded in dim light. Two gas lamps that seemed to be malfunctioning were embedded in the wall. The barely emitted light could hardly completely dispel the darkness in the depths. Vanna raised her head and stared at the ground at the junction of light and darkness. His expression became more and more serious.
"Over there...there's a person lying upside down.
She said in a low voice.
A slightly thin figure fell beside the aqueduct at the edge of the corridor, motionless. The gas lamp, which was dim due to poor airflow, gave off a little glow, shining on the familiar blue thick coat.
The group of people came to the body that fell to the ground, and after seeing the other person's face, Duncan was not surprised at all - it was a crow.
However, unlike Duncan and the others, who had already expected it, Nemo and the old ghost were only shocked and even a little bit frightened when they saw that face.
"Crow?!" Nemo's voice was trembling a little. He stared at the man lying on the ground dumbfounded, and subconsciously took a half step back, "What...how is this?
"It's a fake." Duncan calmly interrupted Nemo's exclamation. From the first glance, he confirmed that the body in front of him was a fake made of "elements" - because around this "corpse", Already started to have
A small amount of black, viscous material appeared, apparently its disintegration process had begun.
There seems to be a difference between fakes. Although they are all made of "elements", some fakes can survive in the city-state for ten days and a half, while others collapse when they are transported to the cemetery. solution, and the "fake" in front of me... seems to disintegrate faster.
From the time the crow disappeared until now, it had only been a few hours.
Duncan was thinking rapidly in his mind--
If Crow really strayed into a dangerous and strange place - such as the lair of the Annihilation Cult - and copied down the suspicious "history" there, then the copy against him... It should have started there too.
And now, his clone is lying in this area, where he often patrols.
The direction is right.
Perhaps, the source of the clones is nearby!
