In the south east area of Alder, in a street in the deepest part of the city, the lights are dim.
This is the darkest and occluded area of the entire imperial capital, a place that seems to have been forgotten by the upper class. The huge Aldernan is like a hill piled up on top of each other. like wounds hidden in the depths of darkness. Advanced magic technology, prosperous new-style business, increasingly bright citizen class, all these things have nothing to do with the deepest streets and alleys in the south east of Alder
It was only half a city away from Obsidian Palace, but it seemed farther away from civilized society than the more distant mountain cities.
And in this alley far away from the various official eyeliners of Aldernan, a man with a messy beard, sunken eyes, and a worn-out coat was hurrying past the doors of low, dilapidated houses.
Hasty and undisguised footsteps sounded, and some prying eyes appeared from the doors and windows of those houses. At this hour of night, those who dared to walk alone in the deepest part of the Eastern District could always attract the prying of curious people, but those The eyes that were drawn to the street by the sound of footsteps soon became confused.
Because they see nothing, the streets are empty in their eyes.
But the footsteps did happen.
The eyes of those hiding behind the doors and windows gradually became tense and fearful. The superstitious residents remembered the horror legends about ghosts wandering after nightfall and dark wizards. It's a little stricter.
In this way, the man walked through the whole street in a fair manner, and came to the door of No. 14 Heitie Lane.
He stood still in front of the dark-painted door, pressed his hand on the door panel, sensed the movement inside, and turned the key after confirming that there was nothing abnormal in the house, and pushed the door open silently.
He saw a warm light in the room, a figure in a black robe with a vague face sitting on a chair in the room as if he had already arrived, a raging bonfire was burning in the corner of the room, the clean and bright floor, tables and chairs were well furnished spotless.
The man quickly entered the room, closed the door, and bowed in front of the blurred figure: "I salute you, Bishop Daniel."
"There is no need to be polite, Grando." Daniel, who was wearing a black robe with a blurred face, waved his hands, and the voice rang directly in the ear of the man named Grando, "This place is safe, we can talk with confidence."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Grando bowed his head deeply.
"I asked you to investigate, how is the investigation going?" Daniel asked quietly.
"Yes, my subordinates have completed the preliminary investigation," the Eternal Sleeper believer named Grando immediately replied respectfully, "As of last week, the several lower-level believers you ordered me to contact and ask have sent feedback, and they all said They have never sent any distress signals on the Internet, nor have they lost any memories, at least they don’t remember them themselves.”
Daniel nodded: "That's all?"
"No, there's more," Grando hurriedly replied, "The subordinates also had doubts about the feedback from these lower-level believers, so they secretly contacted and hypnotized the people around them when conditions allowed, and gained a lot from it." Different information... According to the memories of those people, the above-mentioned believers have basically been in a trance, sleeping for a long time, and even have a short-term personality mutation in the past period of time."
"Personality mutation?" Daniel immediately noticed the keyword, "Is there a possibility of mind replacement or mind parasitic?"
"My subordinates have already confirmed that there is no such possibility," Grando shook his head, "I have contacted those believers several times since then, and observed their minds in various states such as waking and hypnosis. It still belongs to itself, the consciousness is complete, and there is no sign of subconsciousness that has been pieced together or cut."
A hoarse and low voice came from under Daniel's hood: "Is everything normal?"
"Yes, everything is normal." Grando said respectfully.
"Everything is normal, but the biggest abnormality..." Daniel said in a low voice, "In a trance, prolonged sleep and sudden changes in personality, this is in itself evidence that the mind has been affected, and it will definitely leave traces in a short period of time. Under the circumstances, their minds appear to be all right, but instead... "
He stopped suddenly, and the Eternal Sleeper named Grando couldn't help asking with curiosity and nervousness: "Master Bishop, you..."
He stopped abruptly before he finished speaking, and his eyes fell into a momentary blankness. At the moment when his eyes lost focus, the warm lights in the room, the burning fireplace in the corner of the room, and the neat furnishings disappeared instantly. not see.
The room was pitch black, with not a single candle, no burning fireplace, and in fact no furniture of any kind except a chair by the window.
The man named Grando stood quietly in this empty, dark room, at the door, with blank eyes for a full two minutes.
Two minutes later, his eyes blinked, and the room instantly returned to its previous warm and bright appearance, and Bishop Daniel in black robe reappeared on the armchair in front of him.
A chill ran down his spine, and Grando shivered instantly. He realized that he had just received a detailed "examination" by the powerful Bishop of the Eternal Sleeper in front of him, and couldn't help but speak nervously and fearfully: "My lord ,I… "
"Your memory has been modified," Daniel said bluntly, "This is the end of the investigation of this matter, don't go any further."
"...Yes," Grando said with a drop of cold sweat dripping from his ear, with full fear, "Thank you for reminding me."
"Well," Daniel nodded, "In addition, try not to connect to the spiritual network for a long time in the near future, and if you must connect, keep the shallow connection and do not go deep.
"Finally, the archbishop of the Supreme Bishops Conference may contact you in the near future to inquire about your recent investigations. You don't have to hide it for me when the time comes, just tell us frankly."
Grando couldn't help showing a surprised expression, and instantly realized the truth of his memory being modified, and blurted out: "My lord, could it be that the archbishops are the ones who modified my memory and covered up the truth..."
As soon as he spoke halfway, he closed his mouth vigilantly, and continued to ask in a low voice: "My lord, what happened to the spiritual network recently?"
"Don't ask too much," Daniel interrupted him indifferently, "Knowing too much is not a good thing."
Another chill hit, Grando couldn't help swallowing, and cautiously stopped talking.
Then, all kinds of things in his field of vision shook suddenly.
The lights disappeared, the fireplace disappeared, and all the furnishings disappeared. No. 14 Black Iron Lane became a dark and empty room again. The man named Grando blinked and woke up fully. He found himself standing at the door of the room, One hand stretched behind him, still maintaining the posture of closing the door casually.
The powerful and mysterious Bishop of the Eternal Sleeper has left, gone from Grando's mind.
…
In the Master District of Aldernan, in a well-lit and well-decorated villa, Daniel was sitting in an easy chair in the study, holding a book in his hand, flipping a page casually.
The artificial nerve cord behind him sat quietly and submissively, with only the ends protruding from the hem of his clothes and wiggling slightly near the back of the chair.
"... It's time to think about how to respond to a certain archbishop's inquiry," the old mage sighed silently, and said to himself, "I just don't know which one I will face..."
The Supreme Council of Bishops is indeed trying to hide some huge secret, and this secret definitely involves a lot and has a huge impact. They are closely watching all the information flow related to this secret.
Daniel felt a burst of relief.
Fortunately, he has been strictly following the instructions of his master, controlling the scope of his investigation, and carefully handling the details of his actions. Although he is investigating things related to the fluctuation of the mind network, what he shows is not so abnormal, but more like He is a loyal believer who cares about the operation of the psychic network and actively troubleshoots faults after discovering abnormalities.
An excellent, dedicated and motivated security executive.
In addition to some ultra vires, it is simply loyal.
…
In the Obsidian Palace, Rosetta Augustus was sitting behind his large desk, and Duke Ferdinand Wendel was sitting diagonally across from him.
Looking at His Majesty the Emperor who was bowing his head to the letter, Pei Dinan suddenly felt emotional.
It seems that since the rise of Cecil, since the situation suddenly turned in a direction that no one expected, the ruler of Typhon, who was plagued by spiritual curses, suddenly got rid of the curse of his family, became energetic and high-spirited, And he himself was summoned by His Majesty the Emperor more frequently than usual, and came to the Obsidian Palace more frequently.
Almost every time he encounters something about the Cecil Empire or the domestic magic industry, His Majesty will summon him, which makes Duke Ferdinand even want to apply, and simply reserve a room for himself in the Obsidian Palace, and he will live here .
"Cecil has agreed to our idea of sending students abroad, and expressed his willingness to deepen ties with us and create international relations that are more in line with this new era." Rosetta Augustus' voice suddenly came from the side, It interrupted Grand Duke Ferdinand's thinking.
Ferdinand raised his head, with a somewhat complicated expression on his face: "Did that Gawain Cecil really agree directly..."
"Yeah, he is more courageous than we imagined..." Rosetta Augustus shook her head slightly as she spoke, flicked her wrist, and sent the letter with the royal emblem of the Cecil Empire Throwing it in front of Duke Ferdinand, "You can take a look."
Duke Ferdinand took the letter, read it carefully, and frowned slightly: "... Both countries will send long-term liaison envoys to each other, and build an 'embassy'?"
"Yes, this is also in line with the development of the situation," Rosetta nodded. "We can't always rely on this kind of letters and waves of messengers to maintain communication."
Pei Dinan continued to look down: "... open more business channels, increase the size of existing orders, add new order categories, including more magical parts, synthetic crystals, handicrafts, and open private merchants in the territory of both sides Legal, limited investment behavior…”
"This part of the content has a lot to discuss and analyze. Make a copy and send it to the Parliament and the Royal Advisory Group to complete the risk assessment and discussion as soon as possible."
"I see."
Ferdinand lowered his head and said, after reading the final content of the letter, he looked at Rosetta: "Your Majesty, how will the candidates be finalized regarding the sending of overseas students?"
"There is no rush for this, we should send a special envoy to Cecil first, just like when we decided to introduce the magic train, someone should go to see the situation there with their own eyes. This is also necessary for an empire to communicate with another empire. etiquette and solemnity."
"Special envoy..." Ferdinand looked at Rosetta's face with little change of expression, "You already have someone to choose, don't you?"
"Let Matilda lead the team," Rosetta said lightly, "She always has a good eye."
"His Royal Highness Matilda... is indeed the most suitable candidate."
…
In the extreme north of the mainland, beyond the mountains and wilderness in the northern border of the Cecil Empire, there is another country in the ice and snow, lying quietly on the top of the mountains.
The majestic and towering urban buildings are among the mountains, and the cold wind blows over the mountain walls, city walls and mountain streams day after day. In the monotonous colors based on ice and snow, the gray-white stone buildings seem to blend into the mountains. Facing the north, it exudes a lonely, ancient and desolate heavy atmosphere.
The people who call themselves Dragonborn have lived in this frozen country for an unknown number of years.
This is a closed country, the dragon descendants who are proud but feel guilty have closed their mountains and wilderness, and almost never pay attention to the vicissitudes of this continent, but even a closed country is not eternal Unchanged, never communicated with the outside world.
Private merchants can still visit this mysterious "Sacred Dragon Principality", and the latter does not reject human merchants and adventurers as long as they can endure the harsh climate in the extreme north.
The dragon descendants are happy to deal with those "braves" who can challenge the extreme northern winter.
It's just that in most of the past years, there are only a few people who can challenge the extreme cold in the north. Those who are qualified to visit the Principality of the Holy Dragon are basically only awe-inspiring superhumans, ordinary civilian businessmen... it is impossible for them to have the ability walking in the far north.
But that has changed recently.
A new "Cecil Empire" replaced the old Ansu Kingdom. Many brave and well-equipped Cecil merchants began to appear frequently on the border of the Holy Dragon Principality. The cold climate that the mountain people in the northern part of Jiangsu are afraid of can't stop those Cecil merchants. They wear thick clothes to keep out the cold, drive a magic vehicle that can withstand the wind and snow, and pour frost resistance potion continuously. It has brought countless new things that are said to be from the "Magic Age".
The change, centered on the Cecil Empire, is quietly spreading to those areas that were once closed...