Chapter 718 The Dark Lord's Turmoil III
Xia Xiu stood quietly in the center of the church, his slightly lowered golden eyes refracting deep light like the surface of a cold lake.
After listening to Father Gray's narration, he raised his head slightly and asked in a calm tone:
"Where is the residence of the purple-robed wizard? There are relevant investigation reports and intelligence collection "
Father Gray lowered his head, frowning slightly, recalling the conversation between him and the administrator, trying his best to reproduce every detail.
"Sir, he is in the commercial area in the west of Gray Harbor Town. It is located between the port area and the residential area. It is the most prosperous part of Gray Harbor Town. That area is home to various shops, resource bazaars, and hotels. It is the center of the entire town. "Investigation reports and intelligence collection, the latest investigation content operators have not been uploaded simultaneously. Now only the most basic information is left, I have uploaded it to Eden's database. You can retrieve the information at any time."
Father Gray continued to add: "By the way, regarding the business district, the secret market in that area occasionally provides trading of rare magic materials and ancient relics from the Hundred Layer World. , thus attracting many mid-level wizards and businessmen. The attraction of these secret transactions makes the commercial area often a gathering place for wizards, especially people like the purple-robed wizard."
His voice. There was a hint of helplessness:
“The commercial area is about twenty kilometers away from here, and it will take a lot of time for the operators to go back and forth to investigate.
So at first, I didn't think they were missing, I just thought the investigation would take more time. Moreover, they also gave me timely feedback through Adam at that time, and everything seemed to be going according to plan, without any abnormalities. "
Speaking of this, Father Gray frowned again. Apparently something made him feel uneasy.
"Everything was developing normally until the prophecy about the Dark Lord appeared... "
When he said this, his tone became heavier. He glanced at Xia Xiu cautiously, as if he was afraid of touching the angel's bottom line
"Until then , that is, the night before arrival, the operators did not return as scheduled, and the peripheral lineage could no longer contact them..."
Father Gray's voice became deeper and deeper, and the missing operators filled his heart with guilt.
He is old and not in good health.
There are many things that he can't do now. He can only watch young people do it helplessly.
"I need to take responsibility for this mistake. I will report this failure to Eden and the Ethics Committee. Of course, Your Excellency Abraham can also punish me for my failure here."
Speaking of this, the guilt on Father Gray's face became even stronger, and his head lowered slightly, as if waiting for Xia Xiu's verdict.
Xia Xiu gently reached out and picked up the silver cane, and said to Father Gray:
"I will investigate personally. And... you know. Whether it is the Kingdom of Heaven or the Administration, whether it is an angel or something... Members, everyone has been on the front line of resisting collapse and abnormality."
There was no blame in Xia Xiu's words, but more of a calm and calm face of reality, and a trace of incomprehensibility. murderous intent.
His words reveal a profound understanding: in the battle against Honkai and anomalies, sacrifice is inevitable.
Angels and operators are always on the front line. Being on the front line means that emergencies and accidents are inevitable.
Even if there is Eden in heaven, many angels are killed every year.
Sacrifice is the cornerstone of the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Sacrifice will also become the cornerstone of the Administration.
However, sacrifice does not mean that the Kingdom of Heaven and the Administration will let the enemy go.
There is a well-known program in the Kingdom of Heaven engraved in the program of the Supreme. That program can be summarized in one line:
『Vengeance is mine, and I will repay you! 』
Xia Xiu kept these words in mind and carried them forward at the same time.
Just as the enemy treats others, so also treat it, and repay it double according to what it has done.
Xia Xiu stood there, having just told Father Gray that he would personally handle the matter of missing operators, with sets of data that only he could see flowing in his golden eyes.
This is early intelligence retrieved from Adam's huge database.
Each line of data flows rapidly in his field of vision, showing the clues that the operators investigated at the beginning of the mission-coordinates, time, environmental variables, related characters, and detailed reports of the mission.
The data flashed by quickly, and finally settled on a specific location, a secret coordinate in the western business district of Gray Harbor Town.
After confirming the target, Xia Xiu slightly raised the silver cane, and the [Lever of Heaven] in his hand made a slight metallic trembling sound.
He tapped his cane gently against the floor, making a crisp sound. As the cane struck, faint ripples began to appear in the air, and the edges of the space began to twist gently, like water. The ripples on the sky.
Immediately afterwards, a Möbius strip with the pattern of [∞] appeared at his feet. The Möbius strip emerged next to him. The silver ring shone with mysterious light and twisted geometry. The form is filled with incomprehensible spatial fluctuations.
Xia Xiu raised his hand slightly, lightly pressed the black top hat on his head, nodded towards Father Gray, and said goodbye to him.
Following Xia Xiu's actions, the Möbius belt began to twist violently, and the surface of the belt seemed to be constantly deforming, pulling in the surrounding space together.
The ripples of space fluctuations became stronger and stronger, gradually spreading out, wrapping Xia Xiu's figure, and layers of transparent films peeled him off from the world.
Father Gray bowed deeply, with reverence and awe in his eyes, and his voice was low and pious:
"May the glory of heaven always be with you, Lord Abraham.
May your path be illuminated by glory, and all your enemies bow their heads before you."
In Father Gray's piety During the blessing, Xia Xiu's figure gradually blurred in the ripples.
His body was swallowed by the twisted space and gradually became illusory.
The ripples wrapped around him, taking him away from the reality of the church and disappearing into the air little by little.
*
*
9:30AM.
Grey Harbor Town-Port Area (North)
The early morning sea breeze howls in the port area of Gray Harbor Town , carrying a clammy, salty smell rolling in from the distant sea.
Fog enveloped the sea, and the hazy shadows of ships could be seen floating in the distance.
Camille, Ushas, Muji, and the members of the Emerald Watch stood quietly by the port. Everything around them seemed quiet and normal. However, there was a sense of helplessness in the air. The chill of explanation.
Ten minutes ago, Deer Academy students were arguing with the Emerald Watchers over a third-party extradition treaty, striving to peacefully resolve matters related to Professor Wilson’s Wildlife Response Team and the Deer Academy’s containment of magical animals here.
While chatting, they collectively felt a sudden chill, as if... there was some invisible gaze scanning them from the void.
The feeling has no sound, no entity, and at the same time, there is no cover up.
He, so naked, glanced at them as if they were ants.
The feeling was like a cold hand passing over their backs. Everyone's hairs stood up involuntarily, and their skin felt an indescribable sting and pressure.
Ushas was the first to react. His three eyes trembled slightly, and a hint of uneasiness flashed in his purple pupils.
“Damn~ You can’t be so unlucky and run into big trouble~~”
She gently rubbed Muji on her shoulders, as if she wanted to relieve the weird tension. feel.
The leader of the Emerald Watchers, the usually calm and collected wizard, suddenly behaved completely differently from usual at this moment.
Aldris, the Druid leader, suddenly seemed to be angered or frightened by some kind of power. She suddenly took out a purple crystal ball and grasped it with her fingers so hard that she could even see it. Her knuckles turned white from the exertion. The crystal ball exuded a strange light, which resonated with some ancient power.
Her expression became frantic and her eyes were red, as if she was in a state of madness.
The crystal ball in her hand began to tremble, responding to her mental fluctuations.
Just before the students of Deer Park and the professors of the Wilson Wildlife Response Team had fully reacted, Aldress suddenly muttered words in a hoarse voice and began to perform some kind of crazy divination ritual.
"The five major roots of the hundred-layered world...the five major magics...the gods in nothingness in nothingness...eyes, angels with countless eyes...He is..."
Her voice seemed to come from another world, with an eerie echo, and her words were not her own but some force speaking through her.
Her eyes were empty, as if she had fallen into an endless void, her body began to twitch slightly, and she spoke some illogical nonsense.
“He is looking at us... His eyes are all over the starry sky... nothingness... endless nothingness...”
"Crack!"
A crisp sound broke the silence of the air.
The purple crystal ball suddenly exploded, and the purple light spread out like sharp blades.
Aldris's body trembled suddenly, and then she fell down. She fainted and blood flowed from her seven orifices.
The bright red blood slid down her pale cheeks and dyed her purple robe red, but her fingers were still holding the fragments of the broken crystal ball tightly, unwilling to let go.
The other members of the Emerald Watch immediately crowded around in panic, trying to wake up their leader.
The air was filled with tension and panic. Eldris fell to the ground, unconscious. Only the blood on her face proved the violent impact that had just occurred.
"Chief! Chief! Wake up!"
"What's going on!?"
In the chaos, the shouts and movements of the Emerald Watchers seemed rapid and chaotic. .
The professor stood aside, his brows furrowed, his face full of confusion and helplessness.
"I have a bad feeling..."
He obviously had no clue about these crazy actions of the wizard. He looked at the inexplicable scene in front of him with a painful look on his face, completely at a loss. .
The students in Luyuan looked at each other, obviously overwhelmed by the scene in front of them.
Just when everyone was busy surrounding the leader, Muji, the little frog standing on Ushas's shoulder, suddenly raised his monocular telescope, widened his eyes, and could not suppress the sound in his voice. Exclamation:
"On the sea! Look at the sea!"
Everyone was suddenly attracted by the exclamation, and turned their heads towards the sea outside the port area. This exclamation instantly broke everyone's confusion.
Everyone's attention was suddenly attracted. They turned their heads suddenly and looked towards the sea outside the port.
The gray sea fog is still thick, covering the sea like a heavy curtain.
However, in the mist, a huge black shadow vaguely emerged.
The outlines of these shadows are blurry, but everyone can clearly feel their size.
The huge sense of existence, like something ancient and mysterious is slowly emerging from the depths of the ocean, making people feel an invisible sense of oppression.
"What is that...?" Ghost Lifenr murmured in a low voice, his voice full of uneasiness.
After a while, these black shadows became clearer and their outlines gradually emerged - they were covered with thick white fur, and the fur shone slightly under the reflection of sea fog and sea water. These giant beasts Slowly rising from the deep sea with some mysterious power.
Their huge bodies float slowly on the water. Each one has a huge trunk, and the elephant-like long trunk sways gently on the sea.
The proboscis of these white whales are swaying gently on the sea surface, like white pillars, as if they are exploring something.
As they approached, the seawater rippled slightly, as if the sea was responding to their presence.
"That's...a whale!" Ushas quickly saw the thing clearly.
Professor Jason Hendricks stood on the edge of the port, staring wide-eyed at the huge white figure gradually appearing on the sea. For a moment, he couldn't believe what he saw.
His expression gradually changed from shock to disbelief, and he murmured in a low voice:
"Trenco... Oh my God, there are more than one! How could they come here!?"
The group of creatures in front of him made Jason feel tense all over for a moment, and thoughts quickly emerged in his mind. As a result of his knowledge in the field of parasitology - Trenco, an extremely strange creature in the world of parasitology.
These huge sea creatures are covered in thick white fur and have long trunks, like a cross between an elephant and a whale, but they are not just strange in appearance.
Tron is a kind of mysterious creature in the ocean. However, what really makes them famous is their unique death mechanism.
Of course, the death mechanism mentioned here is not "whale fall", but another mechanism opposite to "whale fall":
Once a Trenco dies, their bodies will rapidly decompose within seconds, completely collapsing into an unrecognizable substance.
The remnants of the corpses are almost unrecognizable, as if they are trying hard to conceal their true nature, refusing to allow humans or any other living creatures to gain any resources from their deaths.
This property makes Tron an enigma that defies conventional study—all clues to their biology disappear within seconds of their death.
However, the mystery of these creatures has not stopped humans from greedily obtaining resources from them.
On the contrary, humans have found another chilling method - to obtain resources from Trenco's bodies while they are still alive.
Trenko must be stripped of fur, flesh, fat, etc. while he is still alive. Only in this way will these materials not decompose immediately and be retained for use.
To ensure access to these precious materials, whalers would keep these behemoths alive on board ships, enduring long periods of pain in order to steadily strip them of their most valuable parts within three months.
Jason frowned when he thought of this.
He knew very well that these removed parts had different stability periods:
The skin and hair failed almost immediately after being removed, while the flesh and blood in the stomach could be preserved for about two days. , the flesh and blood on the trunk can be stored for up to a week, and as for oil and fat, these most valuable components, can even be stable for three months.
This means that in order to keep these materials available, the death of these giant creatures is delayed for a long time, just to ensure that resources are not wasted.
If the whalers hunting Trenco catch them, they will be skinned alive for three months.
Their oils, fats, and even flesh are considered precious ingredients in many traditional medicines and have various magical effects - treating infertility, improving blood circulation, and even, in some areas, their fur It is also considered to have the mystical power of prolonging life.
"What exactly happened here...?" the professor whispered again.
How could Gray Harbor Town, this declining port city, attract such a large group of Trenco?
……
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