Agatha knew that Bishop Ivan's life had been nearing its end many years ago - under the tightly wrapped bandages, there was actually almost no flesh and blood left. The only thing that kept him standing here, apart from the miracle performed by Bartok, was a tenacious soul.
Few people knew what had happened to the bishop's body. Even Agatha, the gatekeeper, only knew that it was an "accident" that happened many, many years ago. Bishop Ivan never talked about the true circumstances of the "accident" with anyone, including in front of her.
Naturally, Agatha would not take the initiative to touch this secret.
Bishop Ivan was obviously in a very heavy mood. He remained silent for a long time before he suddenly said, "We are facing a crisis."
"Yes, Bishop Ivan," Agatha nodded, "I will do my best to find out the truth and destroy the conspiracy of the Annihilation Cultists."
"No, you don't understand," Bishop Ivan shook his head. "The truth of this crisis may be beyond our understanding and imagination, Agatha. The activities of those cultists may be part of this crisis, but not all of it. I have a feeling..."
Agatha frowned slightly: "A feeling?"
"A similar atmosphere, just like fifty years ago... before the chaos broke out, the whole city was filled with an atmosphere very similar to today," Bishop Ivan said slowly, "The city-state also looks normal, but it reveals strange details everywhere. It's like suddenly living in a dream where it's hard to distinguish between truth and falsehood. We occasionally glimpse the terrible scenes on the edge of the dream, but the pathetic minds of mortals refuse to understand all of this, resulting in us being unable to see through the reality that is so close... Do you have this feeling? It's like... the distortion is right in front of us, but we have been closing our eyes."
"I don't understand..." Agatha hesitated, "You mean cognitive interference? This interference has affected our judgment?"
Bishop Ivan did not answer her. He was silent for several seconds and then suddenly brought up a seemingly irrelevant topic: "Agatha, have I ever told you about the 'Last Queen's Guard' fifty years ago? Have I ever told you about the 'Second Waterway' deep in the city-state?"
"The second waterway?" Agatha was startled, and some information emerged in her mind. "I know a little about this. It was part of the huge underground facility built by the Frost Queen for the city-state. But with the end of the Queen's era, this unfinished facility was abandoned. Now due to serious collapse and excessive financial pressure, it is still abandoned - most people don't even know it exists."
"Yes, it's abandoned. Only gatekeepers like you or old-fashioned people like me know about it." Bishop Ivan shook his head.
"What about the last Queen's Guard?" Agatha asked. "Why do you suddenly bring this up?"
"The last Queen's Guard was the last troop that refused to surrender after the rebels broke through the Queen's Palace, and relied on the city-state's underground facilities to fight to the end," Bishop Ivan said in a low voice, as if lost in memory. "Their last stronghold was the entrance to the second waterway. After that, they blew up all the connecting wells and were buried underground. The reason why I mentioned this today... is because I suddenly recalled a rumor just now."
Agatha's eyes suddenly became serious: "A rumor?"
"It is said that... when the shaft was blown up, the soldiers attacking underground suddenly heard a strange noise coming from deep underground. In the completely collapsed underground, the last Queen's Guard suddenly shouted, as if they were attacking someone," Bishop Ivan recalled slowly. "For a long time after that, people often reported hearing the sound of shouting and charging from deep underground. Eventually, rumors gradually spread that the 'last Queen's Guard' had become a mutated army deep underground. They fought in the dark every day, boiling with anger, and only waited until the new order established by the betrayer reached its most vulnerable moment, then they would pour out from underground to settle the old accounts..."
Agatha's expression became serious: "At the most vulnerable moment of the new order... You just said that we are facing a crisis beyond our understanding.
The atmosphere is similar to that of fifty years ago. Is this the most vulnerable moment? The legendary "Queen's Guard" will come out from underground? Do you think this legend is true?"
"I don't believe this legend. The Queen's Guards were wiped out long ago. I witnessed it with my own eyes. Even though..." Bishop Ivan said, he paused for a moment, as if he had thought of something, but then shook his head. "Even if there were some survivors who managed to temporarily survive in the Second Waterway, they would not be alive today. The few descendants who survived cannot shake the rule of the city-state, even though we are facing a crisis now."
Agatha didn't speak for a while. After a silence of more than ten seconds, she suddenly spoke: "The legend of the last Queen's Guard may be false, but the existence of a large-scale uncontrolled area under the Frost City-State is true. What you are worried about is not the Queen's Guard that disappeared fifty years ago, but something else in the Second Waterway?"
"We have been searching the entire city for a long time. Although we have captured quite a few Annihilation Cultists, they are all insignificant minor characters, and most of them do not have strong hiding skills. It is impossible for them to create so many counterfeits and elemental pollution in the city-state, let alone cause the abnormal movement of Dagger Island," Bishop Ivan nodded. "Now it seems that the minions we captured are more like stragglers who have escaped from a big nest. Now most areas in the city-state have been searched more than once. If there is any place that has not been searched... I am afraid the only one left is deep underground."
Agatha pondered for a moment and spoke uncertainly, "But according to the data, most areas of the Second Waterway have collapsed severely, and they have become a death web isolated from each other. Coupled with the toxic pollution and the large-scale dark area, it is impossible to survive there. The Annihilation Cultists are also living people. Except for a small number of priests who are about to transform themselves into deep demons, most of the Annihilation Cultists still need a normal human living environment... How could they have been hiding there all this time?"
"We should at least look for it," Bishop Ivan said slowly, "starting from the collapse point around the Boiling Gold Mine."
Agatha thought about it and nodded gently: "This requires the cooperation of the City Hall - protective equipment, underground operation machinery, professional engineering personnel. The Cathedral does not have reserves in this regard."
"I will go and negotiate," Bishop Ivan nodded. "List the manpower and equipment you need and I will find a way to get them for you."
"Okay, I'll give you the list before noon," Agatha said without hesitation, "Besides, before the personnel and supplies arrive, I need to have a good chat with the captured Annihilation Cultists to see if they can reveal any useful information..."
The night faded, the sky gradually brightened, and Vision 001 began to rise from the edge of the city-state. The glorious sun climbed up the sky little by little, and the double rune rings swept across the towering spires and roofs. The sunlight brought heat, dispelling the cold that had accumulated overnight.
At the entrance to Cemetery No. 3, the heavy carved iron gate creaked open, and the gate swept the snow on the ground, leaving behind two arc-shaped fans like spreading wings. An old guard wearing an old coat stood in front of the open cemetery gate, took a deep breath, and looked at the clear sky.
The sky was clear, but for some reason, this sunny morning could not stop the irritability in his heart. The old guard looked in the direction of the city blocks and felt that the faint sound of carriages and horses coming in was vague and noisy, just like the restless wind last night.
As a result, even the clear sky at the moment seems fake.
He grumbled a few words under his breath, then looked toward the ramp in front of the cemetery.
The wrinkles on the old man's face relaxed for a moment, but the next second, all the wrinkles were twisted again, including his brows.
He saw a small figure appear on the ramp, walking towards him with difficulty but full of energy. After noticing the old man's gaze, the figure deliberately stopped and waved happily at him.
The old guard frowned.
He waited for her to come closer, and after Annie began to brush off the snow on her pants and boots, he spoke with a stern face: "You're here again - I had a quiet day yesterday, and I thought you could finally stay at home, and you're here again today?"
"I wanted to come yesterday, too,"
Ni stuck out her tongue. "But mom said there was too much snow on the road yesterday. We can't go out until the snowplow clears the road." She didn't wait for the old man to speak, and she took out a small bag and handed it to him: "Biscuits!"
"... I eat cookies every day now." The old man took a look at the thing the other party handed over, his eyelids twitched, but he still reached out to take it, "Thank Ms. Beroni for me."
Anne laughed happily.
"Anything else?" The old guard glanced at the girl in front of him, "The cemetery is closed for visits today."
"Nothing, just want to talk to you," Annie said with a smile, "Do you know? There are a few new guests living in our house recently. Guess who they are?"
Twelve-year-old children are really not good at keeping secrets in their hearts.
"I'm not interested," the old guard felt puzzled and waved his hand impatiently, "The house is yours, you can rent it to anyone you want, what does it have to do with me?"
"It's the big uncle with many bandages and black clothes on his body!" Anne didn't care about the old man's response. Her smile became brighter and brighter, and her tone was full of inexplicable pride. "It's the one who was at the entrance of the cemetery last time... Grandpa, the caretaker, are you okay?"