"You didn't oversleep!"
Fabiola sneezed with trembling little shoulders, then looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the clock, then came to her mother's portrait and did it A simple prayer, her mother was a nun but died of illness when she was ten years old.
This city that exists for warehousing does not have particularly good conditions, and many diseases cannot be solved. She once asked her father why he didn't send her mother to a place where she could be treated, but his father's answer was only silence.
But when she grew up, she understood her father.
No one can leave their post without orders. This is the requirement of the God Emperor for everyone.
After a simple wash, she arranged her hair in front of the mirror and tied it into two braids. With her healthy light brown skin, she looked very youthful and energetic.
After tidying up her appearance, Fabiola got herself some synthetic food mixed with warm water. She would be on patrol in two hours and couldn't get anything more delicious, although she ’s family is not wealthy, but it is much better off than the vast majority of residents.
As a hive city, although it is small in scale, it should have all the "imperial characteristics" -
Class, poverty, violence and faith
Facts Shangkara Seven has never been peaceful. The managers at the top enjoy the best things, and a large number of residents at the bottom can only throw bottles and curse in the dark. As a warehouse city, there are not so many jobs here, and there are not so many There are many resources. Everything in the warehouse belongs to the God-Emperor. Any theft is a capital crime and will involve family members. Technicians who maintain equipment are relatively common positions. There are also some civilian positions such as statisticians that are relatively high-end positions. Most people can only engage in the most basic manual labor, namely mining.
They dig out useful minerals in the mines deeper in the city and extract fuel from them to supply warehouses that need to maintain power for a long time. They also grow some fungi there to fill the hungry holes of the city's growing population. Mouth.
But even so, there is never enough food.
In this extremely repressive environment, a series of crimes such as theft, robbery, murder, and rape have almost become the norm in the dark areas of the hive city.
Fabiola killed someone when she was fifteen. It was a man who tried to rape her when she took a shortcut home from school. Her habit of carrying a knife saved her. , and also made her less unfamiliar with death.
However, this did not affect her character too much. In the eyes of outsiders, she was still a very lively and cheerful girl who was incompatible with the gloomy hive city.
Of course, this is also due to her mother's influence on her.
When she was ready, she left the house, pulling her cloak tight against the cold.
But before going to work, she usually goes to church first.
It was a low, domed hut decorated with sacred statues and pious graffiti, crammed with rows of slightly grubby plastic benches and complete with a quivering Maintenance servitor, nearby people listen to the broadcast here every day. This place is never empty, and it is rarely quiet. Different positions are staggered in shifts, and there are always people coming.
In Fabiola’s familiar memory, when her mother brought her here, she always whispered sacred hymns, and people around her were also whispering praises or confessions.
But now, it seems to be screaming.
“What happened!”
Fabiola hurriedly ran in and drew out the electric baton to prepare for a fight, but she suddenly stopped after a few steps.
It wasn't the audience that caught her attention, they were swaying back in their seats, some covering their eyes, some clutching each other like babies seeking comfort, while the focus of their horrified gaze was something like a giant Image switch screens hang like glowing spiders from fiber optic cables and data lines, surrounded by incense from devout prayers.
Under the flickering light is a bishop, one of the most illustrious men in the city, but he has been crucified.
Against a dark background, the broadcast camera zoomed in on his obese body. Not only was his clothes stripped off, but his face and chest were also beaten black and blue, with multiple small and sharp cuts. His body was hung on a strange device. - Like the trunk of a plastic tree.
The bishop leaned on the tall machine, with his arms spread out and his legs tied together. He was nailed. A dozen or more rusty nails were inserted up and down on each arm, and some were even penetrated. It penetrated his crotch, between his fibula and tibia, through his shoulders and neck, through his thighs and heels.
In the light, his blood became bright, somehow the Bishop was still alive, his face was deathly pale, and even if it hadn't been for the fact that his mouth was tightly gagged with rags, she would have doubted if he was still alive could scream - but he still stared at the camera, his throat shaking no matter what sound he wanted to make. What's worse is that on the bishop's chest, scrawled in the wounds and blood, there is a line of words that she does not recognize. From a distance, those words twist like living poisonous snakes.
"God Emperor"
Seeing such a violent scene for the first time in her life, Fabiola, who has always been known for her boldness, felt her knees weaken.
Suddenly, the screen moved, gradually approaching that hateful word, and the pinpricks of blood and sweat were clearly visible on the visual screen. Just when the audience was convinced that the horrific incident was over, a voice began to speak.
It tears at the soul of the listener like a ghost.
"Look! This is the price of betrayal!"
It is not so much the person speaking, but the air acting as the narration, as low as the midnight wind.
The audience gasped, murmured, and prayed to each other.
“A depraved little bishop, made fat by defrauding his flock of their wealth, tainted by gluttony and pleasure, letting him bleed is a mercy, letting him die is a reward, but this is Impossible.”
Someone vomited, but no one looked around, everyone’s eyes were wide open, filled with tears of fear.
"It was wonderful to hear his confession."
The screen suddenly jumped up and the camera panned to the side, one after another, past a bunch of meaningless blurry shapes. .
Formless darkness and flickering light gave way to a panorama of blue and bronze, which after a few seconds found its target in a sickening burst of focus, and then, in a moment's pause, for wandering minds to decipher what they saw Something——
The demonic red crack is burning, scanning back and forth in the shape of a slanted arrow, which makes people feel heartbroken when looking at it under a circle of mist.
Those are "its" eyes -
A pair of scarlet eyepieces.
“All who fall from the light will perish in this way!”
The owner of the eye hissed:
"The Emperor's gaze fell on this world and He found it flawed, He saw only corruption, a city of sin and injustice, broken by weakness and selfishness Ruled by men, filled with betrayal and sin."
The image began to weaken, pulling away from those malicious eyes.
"You have seen that death has come among you! The sinner is executed, he is one of many, but he will not be the last. Repent, sinner! Fear the Emperor's wrath, fear His Avenging Angel!"
It hissed at the camera, its claws suddenly appeared in view like lightning, and screams rang out in the narrow auditorium.
"The trial is coming! Scream, we are for——"
Suddenly, the camera shook, as if it was thrown aside by some external force. Before the signal disappeared, Fabiola vaguely heard an impatient voice sound.
"Li Lin, how free are you? If you really have nothing to do, come here and do this"