Half a world away, the Yongguang Empire, the imperial capital Shenjing.
While the kingdom's top brass were having headaches, the empire's top brass were also anxious. Because two big shots came to the imperial capital in the past two days. One big shot cursed loudly in the court, making all the civil servants look as dark as the bottom of a pot. Another big shot returned to his old place and wandered around in the streets, leaving all the military attachés in the city silent.
Right now, the big shots are sitting in a wine shop, drinking wine and cursing their mothers, and there are three missing tables around the square wine table. The painter in black had just snatched the wine gourd from the person opposite him, poured a full bowl for himself, and drank it all in one gulp. The third, not-so-big man sat aside, wearing a high-quality official uniform, holding a cigarette butt between his fingers, with a sad face, as sad as a small boss who had just gone bankrupt.
"Two gentlemen, no matter what, this is all at the feet of the Emperor. Please give His Majesty some face." Liu Zhongwu said sadly, "It's up to the people of Morton how much they want to do. Why are you angry? ?”
"What a bunch of retarded things!" Yan Qi slammed the table angrily, "Since when are we talking about fucking politics! What can I do to me if I just go over there?!"
"Then it's time for the Dawn Knight to have a fight with you. Are you two fighting at the top of the world because you think the king is not messy enough?" Old Liu threw the butt of the cigarette away and stamped it out under his feet, "Besides, I didn't even know you were worried. What. Situ Yi is powerful, but McCullough the Brilliant is also a long-established expert. He was the only boundary-breaking magician in the world before you became a master. In terms of attack power, no one dares to say that he is the second in terms of attack. He is the first. The defensive aspect of the Holy Fire Armor is also impeccable, not to mention the Queen's help. After all, Situ Yi is not you and Qin Ming, how many swords can he take with that broken stage? "
"I fucking know better than you!" Yan Qi scolded.
Lao Liu put down the wine bowl: "Then what are you worried about?"
He looked across the table at the drinker. The man wore green clothes with long hair and carried two swords, one long and one short. It was Qin Ming.
"Well……"
Qin Ming took back his wine gourd and was pouring the last few drops of remaining wine into the bowl. After hearing this, he thought for a while and said, "Zhongwu, have you ever thought about what happens after death?"
"ah?"
Qin Ming explained patiently: "That is to say, sometimes when you can't sleep late at night, you will think about what it will be like after death, whether you will still have feelings, and if so, where will you go? If we will die sooner or later, and the universe will be destroyed one day, what is the meaning of life now..."
"The last time I was so free was when we were in school. Who would think about such useless things at such an old age?" Liu Zhongwu recalled the memories of his student days and frowned: "Do you think Situ Yi is still like this now?"
"Yes, Situ Yi can think about it." Yan Qi said coldly, "He used to think about it, and he still thinks about it now. He just keeps doing those useless thoughts endlessly, meaning, finality, death... you think of the last What will you figure out?"
"Nothing." Liu Zhongwu said, "It's just fear."
"So he was afraid of death! I don't believe that a person who is so afraid of death could die so easily!"
Yan Qi's words made Liu Zhongwu's expression serious. He took out another cigarette and was about to light it when Qin Ming, who hated the smell of cigarettes, took it away.
"Not necessarily. You have to define what death is first." Qin Ming said slowly, "The death that Situ wants and the death that you think are not necessarily the same results."
Liu Zhongwu reached out to grab the cigarette, but failed to grab it, and said angrily: "Then what kind of advice does Young Master Qin have?"
Qin Ming said sincerely: "I don't know either."
The two old friends hissed and looked at him with contempt. Qin Ming was neither anxious nor annoyed. When he finished drinking, he said, "It's rare for me to go back to Shenjing. Why don't you let me..."
"Go away. You're scaring me out of my mind, little girl. Why don't you go home?" Yan Qi scolded.
Qin Ming said expectantly: "Then I'll go..."
"You are not even allowed to go to the kingdom! I am sitting here watching you just to prevent you from causing trouble!"
Qin Ming held it in for a long time and said, "Do you want to fight?"
So the two extremely powerful men went out to fight in the wine shop, but Liu Zhongwu lost interest in smoking. He drank for a while, left the money and left. There are three wine bowls on the square table, with only one empty, like a mahjong table with three missing.
The owner of the wine shop took the money and looked at the men's leaving figures, feeling a little strange. He remembered these people. When he was young, he would occasionally come to the store to drink. It was always this table and this seat. It's just that there was a tall man in white with them back then. Now it seems that there is a class reunion, but that man has not come.
The boss looked at the empty stool with no one sitting on it and thought that this was normal. After finishing school, the former classmates are far apart. Even if they are reunited by chance, it will be difficult to go back to the past.
·
"Holy shit, why have the prices of potatoes increased?"
"Not only potatoes, but all meat and vegetables have also gone up." The aunt who sells vegetables said listlessly, "Transportation costs have skyrocketed after the new public security regulations. If you want to eat cheaper, go out of the city to buy it."
"His grandma's..."
Tyros complained, touched his empty wallet, and sighed: "How can I sell fish heads?"
He bought a few fish heads and potatoes that no one wanted, thinking about how to deal with the past few days. He squeezed through the crowd, his worn boots stepping on the dirty ground, splashing a few specks of mud, and there was no sunlight under the dusty sky.
"Why are the prices going up again?" "Stupid x public security regulations." "It's such a shame that people can't live anymore..." Similar complaints continued to sound, and the vegetable market on Honeysuckle Street was full of anxious and depressed people. Everyone is anxious.
In fact, the price increase is not that high. Originally, everyone would not worry too much about this, but the impact of the duel day has only just begun now. That day was supposed to be a carnival for freelancers and small businessmen. Every year, everyone can take this opportunity to make a steady profit... But this year, let alone making money, almost everyone lost money. Now everyone has to tighten their belts to get by, and the rising prices are irritating fragile nerves, making the air feel indescribably solemn.
The greater the pressure, the easier it is to become restless, and the more uneasy you are, the more vulnerable you are. Tyros saw someone quarreling in front of him, and the argument turned into pushing and shoving. He quickly avoided it, and people's curses reached his ears. Cursing the damn new security regulations, cursing the Kingdom officials for not doing anything, cursing everything as damned as always.
"Fuck." He cursed and walked out of the market. Capullo came over with two bags of fruit and said with a sad face: "Brother, I didn't get a ticket to Kulin City..."
"Damn it!" Tyros yelled, "I don't even have a ticket to go to the south?!"
"The latest one is August..."
Should have thought of it earlier. Even small characters like them can hear the news, and there will only be more people who know earlier. Nowadays, train ticket prices have skyrocketed, genuine tickets are hard to find, and the few trains that ordinary people can afford are already full. They made their decision too late and it's hard to go out now.
"Then leave in August." Tyros said gloomily, "I won't be so unlucky..."
Capullo said gloomily: "Brother, let's all be careful these days. I just came here and heard someone say that someone died on the street in the past few nights... They said it was a perverted murderer..."
Tyros waved his hands fiercely, trying to drive away all the bad news. He walked a few steps and stepped on a piece of unmelted ice. He fell to the ground and was covered in mud. The fish heads he just bought were scattered on the floor.
He looked at the dead fish's white eyes and suddenly started yelling like crazy. It was as if the pressure and emotions accumulated in the body were punctured by a needle and burst out like gas meeting a spark.
“Fucking inner city trash! A bunch of fucking trash!
"
·
Halfway outside the East District, at the entrance of Horwood Orphanage.
“Three flavors of sandwiches~just two pounds with coffee~”
It's almost lunch time, and Phyllis is holding a big box on the street, selling hot coffee, newspapers and handmade sandwiches.
The public security in the East District has been poor these days, and even the most courageous person does not dare to go to other places to do odd jobs. There was no report in the newspapers or TV, but everyone was talking about the foggy murderer in private. Appearing only at night, he picks his targets at random, killing, dismembering, and disemboweling humans, letting their blood spill on the streets of Superbia.
Phyllis knew that this was not a rumor. The latest murder was near the orphanage. The scene was a horrific scene like a slaughterhouse. The dead were nailed to a wall, and the wall and ground were covered in blood...
"vomit……"
Phyllis retched twice and saw a black police car stopped on the side of the road. The officer in the black hat rolled down the window. "Give me two portions of corned beef," said the sergeant. "No problem, sir!" Phyllis walked in quickly, grabbed two cold sandwiches and handed them through the car window. When collecting the money, he made eye contact with the police officer and asked tentatively: "...Officer McDonald?"
"Oh?" The police officer rubbed his eyes, "Ah...it's you."
Phyllis looked at the person in the car window in surprise. He almost didn't recognize the police officer. Macdonald, who came to the troupe in early June, was majestic, with a resolute face and sharp eyes, as intimidating as his stiff uniform and helmet. But now the police officer in the car had wrinkled clothes, bloodshot eyes, bloated eye bags, and gray face. Phyllis almost didn't recognize him. It had only been two months, but the man seemed to have aged ten years.
"..."
MacDonald was silent for a moment in embarrassment, then took out a fifty-pound note from his pocket. "Sorry," the man whispered. "No, it doesn't matter." Phyllis didn't take his money. The little boy couldn't bear to say any more heartbreaking words. He asked in a low voice: "Sir, have you caught the murderer?"
"No," said Macdonald. "Couldn't catch him. Even the higher police inspectors came and couldn't do anything about it. The hunters couldn't find any trace of him. It was like a puff of fog, and he disappeared without a trace."
The powerlessness in his words was so heavy that the boys realized the shame in their hearts.
"Can't we invite a detective?" Phyllis asked in a low voice, "Invite the Dawn Knight..."
"Holy King, kid! Do you know how many things happen every day now? Do you know how busy we are?" McDonald's tone became rough, "You don't understand... you don't know the current situation. Dawn The knight is a big shot, and she is busy with work that is a hundred times more important than these things! We can't bother her with these damn things anymore... We can't!"
Phyllis nodded repeatedly and said nothing. Macdonald stopped talking and said helplessly and sadly: "...I'm sorry, kid."
He forcefully put the banknotes into the boy's hands, rolled up the window, and drove away. Through the car window, Phyllis saw another police officer sitting and sleeping in the back seat of the car. He seemed to be injured, with a bandage on his arm. He was sleeping soundly, and the previous conversation between the two did not disturb him. Awake.
Phyllis felt an indescribable sadness. This cannot be said to be the official's fault. Everyone is obviously doing their duty, but why do things keep getting worse?
·
[In the context of the impending dragon disaster, all aspects of control are being tightened in all directions.
In order to stabilize the overall situation, major media outlets that strictly implement intelligence control did not report on the serial murders in the East District.
The police officers who knew the details of the incident also decided not to disturb the Dawn Knight or other high-level officials at this critical juncture because of the casualties of a few people.
As a result, tension and anxiety secretly fermented in the city, panic spread in everyone's heart, the power of the spiritual prison world grew, and the limit of violence was about to be reached...]
On the outskirts of the East End, Starr Whitefield Cemetery. Lord Yinlu was standing in front of a tombstone, reading the script written by Situ Yi. Criqui Hyde was happily digging a grave with a shovel.
"?~!" Krikki whistled, "You have to admit that the leader is quite talented and can make every character make the most of it. I never thought that I would be of such great use one day!"
The Lord of Yinlu didn't say anything. He clenched his fists and then released them, repeating himself.
"Why do you like killing people?" he asked suddenly.
"Why~~" Krikki threw a shovelful of dirt, "Ah, ah, that's it. When I was a child, my father sold me to the red light district. In order to take revenge, I went home and killed them all."
"lie."
"Can't I fool you? Then let's try another one, that one... When I was at home when I was a child, I happened to encounter robbers who were breaking into the house. Then I accidentally killed them all, and then..."
"lie."
"Well...then...actually the people living in my building are anti-social elements. They have trained me to kill people since I was a child."
Lord Yinlu sighed: "You can shut up if you don't want to say anything."
Crikey stuck the shovel aside and said with a smile: "What does it matter? Just like human comedies are all the same, human tragedies are nothing more than a combination of those elements. Violence, poverty, sex, drugs, disease... ...you can make up any story you want, you already know the conclusion anyway.
I killed my parents and buried them under the house I used to own. This is the only reality! "
The Lord of the Hidden Law looked at her quietly and said, "It's a miracle that a person like you can tolerate yourself until today."
"I want to see a big fireworks before I die."
Criqui dropped the shovel, rolled up her sleeves, and pushed away Jane Diella's coffin. Perhaps it was because of the malignant condition that her body had not yet decomposed. Criqui opened the eyelids of the corpse, and the eyes were still as green as jade. She smiled with satisfaction, and with two gentle turns of the folding knife, she dug out a pair of green boys.
Krikki put away her eyes, closed the coffin again, turned around and asked, "Speaking of which, boss, what's wrong with you? It's not like you to suddenly tell me so much nonsense, are you feeling uneasy about your conscience?"
"Yes." Lord Yinluo replied slowly, "But it is better for a country and a city to perish than for the world to perish. We must succeed before the King of Equality plunges the world into eternal catastrophe."
"Boss, I guess you are the only one who really thinks that way." Krikki shoveled the soil back, "The other people don't care at all, Jane is just doing it to benefit herself~"
"It doesn't matter, everyone is just using each other." The Lord of Yinlu closed his eyes and said, "Give me the eye boy."
Criqui stretched out her hand, then pulled it back mischievously, hiding the green boy.
"Boss, you're so conscientious, why don't you do me a favor?" Krikki said with a smile, "I know that the head of the group specially did this to let Jane inherit the 'role' of Jane Diella by borrowing her name, but that The knight is really too strong. I think Jane will die...so just leave this task to me, and don’t let Jane get involved this time."
"Are you confident?"
"You know my boundary creation method." Krikki shrugged, "Although it is quite good, if you can use it, you can basically succeed. After all, the leader just wants to add insurance."
"……good."
Lord Yinlu looked at her deeply, turned and left. Criqui shoveled the last handful of dirt on her old friend's grave, took out the script, and read the unfinished sentence cheerfully.
[Listen attentively, people of Superbia! The bell that echoes in the city is the countdown to the end! 】
·
When~
When~
The sound of the bell echoed on the streets of the inner city. Gongsun Ce took out his pocket watch and looked at the time.
It's 6pm sharp now, July 31st. Gongsun Ce felt a little confused for a moment, and before he knew it, he had been staying in the royal capital for two months. It's a terrible feeling to get used to it. When he first arrived, he thought this was a strange city, but now he felt as if he had lived here for two years.
"Your rolls and cakes, bro."
"Thank you, ma'am."
The old lady in the coffee shop handed over the packaged bread, cakes and coffee, and Gongsun Ce thanked them and took them. "Are you very busy lately?" the old lady asked, "I don't see you here often."
"I work overtime every day and have no time to enjoy life." Gongsun Ce shrugged. This time he went home to get documents, and by the way, he helped Alandia and the others buy some late-night snacks for overtime work at night.
"It'll be fine after you wait for a while."
The old lady nodded clearly and put two more biscuits into his bag. "Good luck to you! Be careful when you go home at night, and remember to go with your colleagues."
"Thank you..." Gongsun Ce said confused, "Why?"
"Didn't you hear?" The old lady was equally confused. "I heard from Mrs. Fanna this morning. It's not very stable at night recently. Although it's still far from the inner city, you still have to be careful."
Gongsun Ce frowned. Subconsciously, he felt a subtle sense of tension.
"Sorry, ma'am. Could you please elaborate?"
"Holy King, that's too scary." The old lady shook her head repeatedly, "It's the...serial murderer over there in the East District."
·
Alandia glanced at the wall clock and felt a little dissatisfied. Gongsun Ce was two minutes late. He had always been punctual after she emphasized the concept of punctuality.
While she was thinking, she saw Gongsun Ce approaching in a hurry. Alandia gave up the thought of preaching, and the follower's livid face revealed the reason for his tardiness.
"what happens?"
Gongsun Ce threw the document on the table and said quickly: "I heard the news when I came back and checked it out. There was a serial murder in the East District. Five people were killed in 10 days. The deaths were tragic and occurred in many densely populated areas. It wasn't reported because of recent intelligence controls, but everyone is talking about it."
"What's the progress of the police investigation?"
"There is no progress. It is obviously the work of an impermanent magician. The police officers of the Supernatural Crime Department have nothing to do with the prisoner. They are all manifested magicians!"
A new plan for the remnants of the troupe? A cover-up to divert attention? Or is it a pure coincidence, just an ordinary vicious accident? Many possibilities flowed through Alandia's mind. After thinking for a moment, the Dawn Knight asked: "Ce, what do you think?"
"I..." Gongsun Ce smacked his lips, "You know I grew up in the Capital of the Sky. I am familiar with the signs of chaos. I can smell the smell of anxiety in the air. If you stay in that kind of place for a long time, you will A kind of intuition, you will subconsciously feel that something is going to happen, otherwise you will not be able to survive for a long time.
I think this is a terrible sign. But there is no evidence. There is no basis for this. Just... my gut feeling. "
"You're sharper than me in this area, and I trust you."
Alandia nodded and put on her deerstalker hat: "Let's go to the eucalyptus discovery site."
