"I have already emphasized at the meeting that the nobles should target this evil cult... Most of them are very cooperative. I believe that as long as we use the 'New World' sect as a starting point, we will be able to quickly pry information about their accomplices from these lunatics... Hmm?"
Halfway through his words, he suddenly noticed a tall and burly figure walking towards him not far away.
The Emperor and the Iron Knight immediately recognized the owner of the figure, and the latter whispered with an unchanged expression:
"It's Lord Nuss."
The governor of the Royal Fleet, known as the "Shield of the Empire" - the "Giant" Metallurgist Nuss Guardian, stopped about ten meters in front of the emperor, knelt on one knee and performed a simplified version of the worship ceremony:
"I have something to report to Your Majesty."
"what happened?"
After the emperor asked him to lie down, he asked with some confusion.
Nus was also one of the participants in the cabinet meeting just now. At the meeting, he explained to the ministers and nobles what happened during the confrontation with the "Secret Saint" Fasti in the independent secret realm.
Since you are a participant, why don’t you talk about it at the meeting?
Obviously Nuss could sense the emperor's doubts. He stood up and lowered his voice and said:
"Your Majesty, I have some personal speculations... Before they are confirmed, it is not convenient to let others know."
The emperor also understood what he meant. He winked at his left and right guards, and the other guards, except the "Iron-Blooded Knights", retreated silently several dozen meters and silently protected the emperor's safety in the dark where they could not hear the conversation between the three.
The emperor took the initiative to walk to Nuss and said, "Go ahead."
"About two weeks ago, the third formation led by 'Canglan Trajectory' encountered an unidentified flying object in the West Sixth District while performing an air patrol mission in the western airspace."
Nus's unique military temperament made him dislike beating around the bush and he said directly:
"According to the description of the witnesses, the object did not have any spiritual fluctuations, but it was able to move at high speeds in the air like a rune flying ship, and it did not seem to have any power equipment."
As he spoke, he waved his hand and summoned a faint flame, which outlined a lifelike image in front of the emperor and the "Iron Knight".
A huge red and black object that is difficult to describe as a "living thing" but does have obvious biological activity is squirming restlessly in the center of the picture.
The emperor's pupils shrank slightly:
"Does the target show hostility?"
Nous shook his head:
"The target showed no subjective will other than following its original trajectory. Captain Taylor tried to order Captain Greve to launch a tentative attack on it, but before Captain Greve could execute the order, the target disappeared."
"disappear?"
"Yes, disappear."
Nous's expression was solemn:
"It didn't move out of the observation range at high speed. It just disappeared right where it was. It was like an illusion that didn't exist in the first place."
The scene fell into a strange silence. The emperor looked at the floor and thought for a long time before slowly asking:
"So, what's your guess?"
“At first, I thought there was something wrong with the observation equipment. This monster… a biological entity, does not really exist. Otherwise, it would not have disappeared under the noses of more than a dozen airships, and it would not have shown any spiritual fluctuations.
"As for divine drive... it's even more impossible. You know, the power core of 'Canglan Trail' is forged from fragments of the ancient god's remains. It is extremely sensitive to divine power, but there was no reaction at that time."
Nuss pondered for a while, carefully choosing his words and said:
"However, considering the recent frequent divine events, the unrest of various cults that worship evil gods, the appearance of many unrecorded demigods, and the turbulent situation caused by the deployment of the Eldar's 'Sacred Relic Shelter', the human world... no, the entire northern continent is very likely to face a major change that has not been seen in a hundred years."
Perhaps anticipating what he was about to say, the emperor raised his eyebrows slightly uncomfortably:
"what do you mean……"
"Your Majesty, this is just my personal guess, but..."
Nuss's face was extremely serious. He lowered his voice a lot and said word by word:
"This generation's 'air disaster' may have already been born."
Chapter 396 The Girl in the Box
At midnight, the huge, bright silver moon passed its highest point and sank towards the dark and hazy horizon in the west.
Friang and his three companions dragged their slightly tired steps along a not very wide and desolate road and arrived at a checkpoint.
It is called a "checkpoint", but in fact it is just a bunch of interception facilities built with simple wooden structures.
Three or five clergymen wearing the robes of the lower-level priests of the Grace Holy Church and wearing scimitars at their waists stood on both sides of the road. They stopped people passing by one by one, glanced at their identity documents, and then let them go.
Far behind them, bright lights dyed the dark night sky above with a red and yellow halo, making the stars disappear.
All I can say is that it is a big city. Even though it was late at night and the flow of people had greatly decreased, there were still many people stopping in front of the checkpoint, either on foot, on horseback, or driving, either alone or in groups, forming long queues on the road.
Even though the clergy at the checkpoint were quite perfunctory in their inspection attitude, they basically just glanced at the newcomers and shook their heads impatiently to let them pass.
But the queue was too long, and the three people at the end of the team hesitated for a long time before they got their turn.
"It's so slow..."
Lina simply sat cross-legged on the ground, with her long staff resting horizontally on her thighs, her face in her hands, and she muttered in annoyance and boredom despite having expected this:
"I have to wait so long every time I come here... It's so late this time, and it's still about the same... Can't these people set up a few more check-in gates? The church can't be that poor, and the church is so beautiful..."
"Okay, okay, there are so many people..."
Friang hurriedly stopped her complaints and nervously glanced at the people around him. After confirming that everyone was doing their own things and no one was paying attention to him, he breathed a sigh of relief:
"Before you speak, please check the surroundings. We are not the only ones here..."
"Hehe, sorry..." Lina smiled innocently and stopped talking.
This scene looks a bit weird:
Frion, whose hometown is the glorious Plantagenet Empire and who believes in Amon, the "God of Dusk and Decay" and "God of Ferry", reminds Lina, a local who keeps saying "Grace is above", to pay attention to religious issues within the borders of the Templar Church, whose state religion is the "Holy Church of Grace".
All three of them were carrying large backpacks, which were obviously used to carry the necessary money and supplies for the journey.
Logically speaking, since they were sent here directly by Qi Ji, they should not have any other gifts except the necessary clothes and money. But now, for some reason, their boxes are full and no one knows what is stuffed inside.
While they were talking, the team moved forward about ten meters. Urged by the people behind her, Lina quickly stood up and hurriedly caught up, dragging a backpack that was almost as big as her torso.
The boring queue lasted for nearly half an hour, and the three finally came to the priest in charge of registration.
After a long period of mechanical work, these unfortunate guys have become almost completely numb. They repeat the two words "certificate" and "pass" with straight eyes and dull expressions.
Friant, the leader, took out his ID, spread it out and waved it in front of the priest. The latter said "pass" expressionlessly, and was about to look away with an unfocused gaze, but was suddenly stunned.
“…Wait, stop!”
With an outstretched arm, three members of the team were stopped.
Frion was not surprised and stopped very familiarly, looking relaxed and natural. However, the slightly younger Lina and Io behind him looked a little nervous for some reason.
"Are you together?"
The repetitive mechanical work that lasted for a whole day was interrupted like this. The gatekeeper priest seemed to come alive, and turned from a mechanical puppet into a living person. He frowned and looked up and down at the three people in front of him who were obviously his partners.
His eyes paused for a moment on the two wizards' staffs:
"Are they all extraordinary people?"
"Yes, from East Washoe County."
As Friang spoke, he turned around and took the identification documents from the two team members and spread them out in front of the priest.
Ordinary people's identity certificates use ordinary yellowed paper, while those of extraordinary people use blue paper with white fonts, which are very conspicuous. That's why the priest realized that these people are different just now.
"Mage..."
Seeing the relevant information on Lina and Io's identity certificates, the priest's face revealed disgust and aversion. He turned around, took out a crumpled registration book from the booth behind him, threw it into Frion's arms, and said unhappily:
"Fill it in yourself."
Friant quickly took out a pen, filled in the basic information of the three people, and returned it to the priest.
The priest compared the contents of the registration book with the three people's ID cards. After confirming that there was no discrepancy, he put away the registration book, returned the ID cards, and pointed to a long wooden table beside him:
"Put all the luggage up there and check it."
In fact, he didn't need to say anything. The three members of the team who had been to Lookout City many times took off their backpacks and placed them on the table before he opened his mouth.
But when Lina was doing this, her movements were inexplicably stiff: she was obviously too cautious, as if there was some fragile and valuable item hidden inside.
The priest saw this abnormal behavior and opened the cloth covers of the three backpacks, which contained regular spare clothes, books, emergency medicines, dry food, bamboo sticks for maintaining weapons, grinding stones, and fine silk.
Very typical equipment for travelers and adventurers.
But he didn't just take a look.
This priest, who had previously been very perfunctory and lazy, now became quite conscientious.
He took out a thin wooden stick from his waist, poked it into the backpack full of miscellaneous items and stirred them around. He looked at them carefully for more than ten seconds before pulling out the stick and going to the next backpack.
He had just checked Frion's backpack, and next was Io's.
Facing the wizard, his attitude was more thorough and rougher. He directly took off the upper layer of clothes and buried his head in the moonlight to search for a long time among a pile of spell books and scrolls at the bottom.
Don't withdraw until you are sure there are no dangerous items.
Finally it was Lina's turn. He didn't shy away from the ladies' clothes, and threw them on the table just as roughly as he had done with Io. Just as he was about to use a thin wooden stick to stir them, Lina suddenly stepped forward:
"Be gentle! There's a test tube in there for my recovery potion!"
The priest stopped what he was doing and glanced at her coldly with his head tilted to the side, his eyes full of disdain and disgust. However, he did not continue his previous rudeness. Instead, he bent down and observed carefully for a long time without touching the objects on the bottom.
Under the clothes, there were indeed dozens of slender glass test tubes, fixed with special wooden frames and neatly placed at the bottom of the backpack. Half of them were filled with brightly colored translucent liquids, and the rest were empty.
Because both the test tubes and the medicines were transparent, he could tell at a glance that there was nothing else in the backpack.
"Pick it up yourself, hurry up."
With a cold snort, the priest returned to his original post and said to the three members of the team who were gathered at the table and hurriedly stuffed the messed-up luggage back:
"Leave everything with spiritual power behind, take the rest away... No tricks!"
As he spoke, he patted a crystal embedded in a metal frame on the outer wall of the pavilion. A golden glow flowed slowly inside, exuding a sacred aura.
This is a prop that contains divine magic. It can detect whether all objects passing through the checkpoint have spiritual power. It was personally created by the Archbishop of Lookout City, "Saint Sidney". There is no possibility of it getting away with it!
"Yes……"
Lina looked at the staff in her hand reluctantly, sighed, and handed it to the priest with a gloomy face. Io also gave him his staff.
The priest took one in each hand and threw them casually into the shadows in the deep corner of the pavilion, where they fell on a pile of sticks, swords, and jewelry that were emitting spiritual fluctuations.
The harsh collision sound made the two mages' eyelids twitch and their hearts ached.
"Pass."
This was a soothing episode for the priest guarding the gate. After the three members of the team carried their luggage and left, his expression returned to being dull and rigid, and he continued his original rhythm in a gloomy manner.
……
…………
……
"I'm so mad! I'm so mad! Not only did he have a stinky face, but he also threw his staff at me! Damn it, I really want to beat him up!"
Lina was walking on the street at the edge of Lookout City, waving her fist angrily, with a gnashing expression on her face:
"It's always like this! One day I'm going to teach these bastards a lesson!"
Friant smiled awkwardly, speaking as if he were caring for a tantrum child:
"Don't worry, once we buy the boat tickets to Yuren Island, we can go back and get it. It won't take long..."
Aio opened his mouth and wanted to say something to comfort her, but found that he was also very angry, so he remained silent again.
"…Forget it, I have to find a place where no one is."
Lina's expression suddenly changed, her anger completely subsided, she looked around with some worry, and muttered:
"It's not good to be depressed for too long..."
They were now at the edge of Lookout City, where there were relatively few buildings and people. It was late at night, and the three of them quickly turned into a deserted alley.
"This is fine..."
Lina took off her backpack, carefully placed it on the ground, opened the lid, and while removing the top layer of clothes, she whispered with a little concern:
