After being assigned the flashlights brought by the correctional officers, Winston held a lantern and several people walked into the cellar.
Apart from the smell of the air, the environment in the cellar was better than expected. Winston seemed to come and go here often, so he didn't appear too intimidated when he walked in front.
After walking for a while, he used the fire source of the horse lantern in his hand to light an oil lamp hanging from the top: "I proposed to install electric lights in the cellar before, but the structure inside the wall is too old and is not suitable for wiring, and The cellar wasn’t used much, so we gave it up.”
With the light of the oil lamp on the wall, Sean turned off his flashlight in order to save battery.
After entering the cellar, he realized that danger might be close at hand, so he extended his ectoplasmic tentacles and conducted an early warning exploration around the area.
The cellar was deep and dark, and everyone could only use limited light sources to observe their surroundings. This depressing environment, coupled with the already dangerous atmosphere, made everyone feel nervous to varying degrees.
Sean "accidentally" used his ectoplasmic tentacles to hear the heartbeats of other people. Both Will and Moonlight were relatively calm, and their heartbeats did not change much.
Jasmine, on the other hand, was far from calm on the surface, and her heartbeat was very fast.
Looking at her eyes again, those blue eyes seemed fearless, but in fact they were blinking constantly.
Sean patted the moonlight, then tilted his head, indicating that he would observe Jasmine. Moonlight also noticed that something was wrong with Jasmine, but without saying anything, she raised her left hand, bent her ring finger, and pressed an invisible key in the air.
A clear note sounded in the cellar, and the priest and the correctional officer looked back in surprise. The moonlight repeatedly pressed several keys slowly and forcefully, playing a monotonous and clear melody. It distracted Jasmine's attention. Her heartbeat slowed down, and her pupils, which were contracted due to nervousness, gradually dilated...
Jasmine turned back and nodded towards the moonlight.
While Winston lit the third oil lamp, Williams pointed to a room not far away: "The blood-oozing wall is in that room."
Williams and Winston stopped at the same time.
Will has been walking at the front of the team. Without any hesitation, he walked into the room with a flashlight.
In dangerous environments, Will has always taken the lead, which made Sean's evaluation of him improve a lot: "Although they are both explorers of the Redemptorist priesthood, and the masks are of the same type, Will is better than the former bodyguard of the Kingdom of God. Much better, I feel like a good teammate." Thinking this, Sean followed everyone into the room.
The bloody wall was easy to identify. After entering the room, four flashlights were projected on the opposite wall. Black blood stains were clearly visible between the blackened bricks. There was a distinct smell of rust in the room.
The blood seeping out of the wall had covered half of the room's floor.
Sean's ectoplasmic tentacles did not dare to directly extend into the wall to explore - after systematic study, Sean knew that some taken-for-granted behaviors were tantamount to seeking death.
Jasmine, who had regained her composure, was about to step forward to check, but Will stopped her.
As if sensing the arrival of everyone, the flow of blood between the bricks suddenly increased, gurgling out like black-red spring water, pouring foam into the blood puddle on the ground.
Then, the bricks that had been soaked in blood suddenly fell and collapsed, revealing the scene behind the brick wall - a deep cave with a fishy smell...
Perhaps it was due to the wind pressure. After the brick wall collapsed, a gust of wind blew out of the cave, causing a sound like a belch from the throat of a giant beast...
Strong malice spread out from the hole. Winston and Williams, who were standing behind the team, were frightened by the sight in front of them and turned pale.
Will showed no fear. Under the blood-stained iron mask, his angular lips let out a soft cry: "Stop!"
A transparent sound wave expanded outward like a barrier, resisting the smelly wind.
The four explorers frowned: it was obvious that this was a provocation from the evil force.
Will turned to face Sean and others: "Everyone should have felt that the threat in the cave is greater than previously expected.
"This may be the most dangerous level of Jack-level missions, and may even reach Queen-level."
As Will spoke, the shadows of the dead witch, Tom in the Rain, and the twin evil spirits flashed before Sean's eyes.
Due to good luck, Sean escaped several previous disasters, but this did not reduce his fear of the Queen - every time he faced it, it was a severe life and death test.
"According to the provisions of the "Manual", we have the right to cancel this operation to the association, and then wait for the association to reassign a Queen-level team."
Hearing what Will said, Winston became anxious and opened his mouth to speak, but Will raised a hand to stop him and continued: "But if this is the case, there will be several problems.
"First, now that the entrance to the source of evil has been opened, a Queen-level threat may appear during this period. If we wait in the town for the next team to arrive, we may still have to face it, and by then we will The loss of initiative gave it the advantage of a covert threat.
"Second, it is not very difficult for the Jack-level team to challenge the Queen-level mission. I am very confident in myself and Jasmine. And Moonlight, I have seen your ability, and there is no problem in skipping the challenge.
Will's eyes turned to Sean: "As for Xiao, although he is still a trainee, he has made sufficient preparations.
“So I think we have a pretty good chance.
“Not only that, the rewards for Queen-level tasks are also a higher level.
"So my proposal is to keep going."
As if knowing that Jasmine would support him, Will now waited for Moonlight and Sean's reply.
Moonlight shrugged: "I don't care. This is Xiao's trainee mission. For such risky decisions, I think we should mainly listen to his opinion."
Sean's ectoplasm flashed across the M1920 revolver in the holster, and he just weighed it for a moment: "I agree to move on."
Will nodded. Before going any further, he turned to the priest and correctional officer and asked, "Do you know anything about the space behind this wall?"
Both Winston and Williams shook their heads, and the pastor added: "I grew up here, for more than fifty years, and I have never discovered that there is any other space behind the wall of this cellar.
"The old priests never mentioned it."
Before entering the cave, Will hesitated for a moment: "Should I leave a person outside the cave?"
After thinking for a while, he decided to act together: if it was a Jack-level mission, then spreading the combat power would have no impact. But what we have to face ahead may be a stronger threat, and if we hold back at this time, we may have to pay a very high price.
And...he looked at Winston and Williams next to him - he could tell them to guard the entrance of the cave.
With this in mind, Will made a request to add two more training officers to guard the entrance of the cave.
After arranging everything, Will held a metal scepter with a round striking head in his hand and led several people into the cave.
——
At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere in the Nordic continent, in an isolated manor.
The largest building in the manor is like a stone palace. This "palace" looks to be quite old, but is well cared for and maintained.
At the palace gate, a bronze plaque is embedded in the wall, and next to the circular labyrinth sign, "Daedalus Foundation" is written in Leon script.
A man with black hair, a mustache, and a black tuxedo was smoking at the gate.
In the palace, a loud noise suddenly came, as if someone had struck a gong with all their strength, and the sound lasted for a long time.
The man hurriedly put out the cigarette he had just taken two puffs into in the ashtray next to him, and started running towards the palace.
His leather shoes made a crisp echo on the marble floor indoors.
He ran up the central staircase, bypassed several large rooms, and came to the door of a room with a giant glass window facing the corridor.
The words "Protocol Failure Warning Hall (Relics of Dal Vinci·Updated in 1911)" are written on the bronze plaque outside the room.
Through the giant glass windows, you can see the scene in the agreement warning hall——
This is a rotunda hall of more than 500 square meters. The starry sky is depicted on the top.
Some stars hang down thin silver wires, and many "angel bronze statues" of different shapes are hung on the silver wires at different heights.
The floor of the room was not paved with wooden boards or marble, but rather a roughened copper surface.
In this room full of religious art, a bronze statue of an angel has fallen to the ground. The loud noise just now was caused by the bronze statue hitting the ground.
"Oh my God, my God!" It seemed as if a baby rolled out of the crib and fell to the ground. The gentleman with a mustache ran into the room nervously and picked up the bronze angel statue from the ground. " Oh my god, how long has it been since there was no early warning of a containment breach!"
He carefully looked at the bronze statue of an angel in his hand: it was a single-winged angel, holding his chin, as if he was meditating or sulking.
He turned the angel over and examined the ornate words inscribed on its back.
"New Landal, the small town of Lewin, in the church cellar." Behind the text, there is a series of detailed longitude and latitude coordinates.
The man with the mustache looked pale, took the copper angel, and ran out of the room while shouting: "Call the overseas hotline quickly! I want to contact the New Zealand branch!"
His shouts echoed through the stone palace. The angels in the warning hall slowly rotated under the silver line, paying no attention to the hysterical shouting.
