At the beginning of the new calendar year 915, the Western Continent.
The Kingdom of Holy Janus, the small town of Lebici on the southeastern outskirts of San Porto.
Winter twilight covered the city streets with a dark velvet blanket, drizzle mixed with ice shards fell, and the fire in the church fireplace crackled loudly.
"It's almost curfew time again..."
The dark red clouds outside the window slowly turned into dove gray. Priest Hester looked at the barricades on the street made of thick wood and barbed wire, until they gradually connected into a wall that resembled a lake in the thick darkness.
He stood up, took a deep breath of the thin and cold air outside the window, then closed the curtain and raised his hand.
The charcoal fire in the fireplace went out and green smoke drifted out.
After a day of daily work, there was no night service, assembly or choir performance tonight. Several deacons, deacons and church staff in the auditorium saw the figure of Priest Hester coming down the spiral staircase from the second floor.
They all got up, turned off the lights, and packed their belongings.
But half a minute later, Hester's back stood frozen in place as he just stepped out.
"Your Excellency?..."
The carriage's wheels cut through the mud and gradually disappeared at the end of the street, leaving a man holding an umbrella at the church arch.
This is a middle-aged gentleman who looks to be in his forties or fifties. His hair is neatly combed, and his temples are already mottled with gray. He is wearing a very formal and old-fashioned formal suit of the last century, and his boots are stained with mud.
and gray snow.
"A survivor of the 'meat sacrifice' incident in the Southern Continent." After the middle-aged gentleman walked into the area covered by the rain, he put away his black umbrella, took off his hat, and bowed elegantly in greeting, with a somewhat unsmiling expression.
Survivors of the Southern Continent?... Hester looked at the other party a few more times.
It is now the sixth day after the New Year of the New Calendar, 915, and the fourth month after that sensational subversive incident. The peak period has passed, and there are very few new survivors.
Unexpectedly, another person appeared today. If he came directly to me, he might be a colleague of the Holy Sun Church.
However, Hester looked at the other person several times and was sure that he was not the person he knew before.
"What is your name?" he asked tentatively.
"Antoine Lavoisier." The middle-aged gentleman said, "I am a Janus man who was born as a merchant. I have known some music since I was a child, but I was once a lost person until I met my music teacher in the Southern Continent.
Bishop Sessler, who is traveling to preach... Unfortunately, the old gentleman has not returned this time."
The next moment, the gas lamps and some candles that had just been extinguished in the church suddenly ignited.
The light breaks through the darkness formed by the plaster columns and statues, casting their light and shadow generously back onto the red carpet and stained windows.
The Bishop Sessler mentioned by Lavoisier was indeed a person. Before he went to the southern continent to preach, he came to the small town of Beech and was in charge of this bishop's diocese.
The two casually sat down in the first row of the auditorium and started chatting. Of course, Priest Hester was still cautiously confirming some things.
"If Mr. Lavoisier wants to register a religious membership here... I wonder if there is still a contact person in the former southern country? Well, the follow-up will also involve the grading of clergy. If you
If you can already bathe in the light in your dreams."
The other party took out a small disc as black as ink, a piece of dark letterhead and a leather bag with documents.
The golden light of the small disc disappeared in a flash.
"Guide to the Fierce Sun..." As soon as Hester saw this curse seal, he let go of his guard a lot.
Those who can activate "Fierce Sun Guidance" are at least middle-level knowledgeable people, who at least have faith in "Unfallen Fire".
The content and signature of the letter...
Contact person: Bruno Walter
Guarantor: John Christopher
Commander Walter has been working in the Southern Continent for several years. Before the incident in the Southern Continent, he did have an encounter with Bishop Seisler. He had just left for the Northern Continent to take up his new post, and Christopher was from the new city of Uflansel.
Church leader.
A high-ranking "Lion Forged" musician and the endorsement of a senior executive of the Insight.
As for the various documents in the bag, they are Lavoisier’s own household registration certificate and related procedures. Compared with the first two things, their value is lower than the latter.
Hester then chatted with this Lavoisier about some details of the Southern Continent and some occult knowledge related to the "Unfallen Fire". The other party had a pious attitude and a clear understanding of the knowledge, but his response seemed a bit rigid.
He is quite a typical middle-aged organist in the church.
During the conversation, Hester glanced at the organ high up in the church, but looking at Lavoisier, who was covered in dust and snow, he still gave up the idea of suggesting that he audition tonight.
About half an hour later, Hester stood up and led the way:
"I have arranged a place for you. However, the follow-up formal review process will take some time. The Special Patrol Office has formulated a strict survivor review system..."
"It's often the culprit who demands the most." The organist laughed unabashedly and opened his umbrella again in the rainy night.
"Only high-level officials can complain about this kind of thing. It's best for you and me to keep it in mind for the time being." Hester quickly reminded.
Now, with the help of secret organizations, the public's sentiment against the Special Patrol Office and official organizations is very serious.
The main thing is that no matter how the reason is attributed to the "red pool", these people still have to bear the "leadership responsibility", especially the Special Inspection Department, which bears the brunt.
In this regard, some people in the school and the church secretly gloated, and some had a bad premonition. However, as an official organization with relatively disciplinary requirements, the senior officials still advised the knowledgeable people below them not to get into trouble with the Special Patrol Office.
"By the way, weren't you blocked when you entered the city?" Heisler tried to change the subject with small talk.
The war in the Western Continent has been going on for two months. Although this is the rear area of the battlefield, as a small town below San Perto, entry and curfews are still strictly controlled. The kingdom's army may not know this organist.
"I used the curse seal to cook a pot of potatoes for them." The other party said calmly.
"It's also true that... officers with a little knowledge of the royal city will know about the 'Fire Sun Guide'." Hester smiled, "But your entry and exit information must be recorded and reported. There will be a process in the future.
Walk."
The group of people led Lavoisier to a row of small single-family apartments on the street not far from the church.
"It just so happens that our Bishop Tucqueville has been very busy in recent days. There are distinguished guests from the Bologna School of the Northern Continent to be received in San Porto. Mr. Lavoisier can stay in the small town for a few days to rest..."
"You have just survived an accident, and I'm afraid you have limited resources. The "Emergency Price Control Law" is currently being revised once a week and once a month. The prices of commodities are still soaring day by day. The church will first ensure your food and accommodation...
..."
"Thank you, Mr. Priest."
"See you tomorrow."
After a few last words of casual farewell, the door of the apartment was closed by Lavoisier.
"Contact Bishop Tucville in San Porto." The polite smile on the face of Priest Heisler faded at the corner of the street.
"Now?" asked a deacon next to him.
"Immediately, summon his courier to send the urgent message." Heisler sighed.
"Survivor review is a high-risk job, and you should have felt it over the past few months, especially for officials like this who are 'returning to the team'. It is good to have more capable people, but they also focus on the group of people.
Even if there is no manipulation or replacement by a secret organization, the subsequent 'distortion' or 'lost' rate of these survivors exceeds one quarter..."
"Not only do we have to go through the process carefully ourselves, but there is also a strict review and final review by the Special Inspection Office. Bishop Tukweil must take the time to come back in advance to check it."
"Understood, Mr. Heisler."
...
In the apartment room, the middle-aged gentleman turned on the gas lamp and lit the fireplace, and then stood calmly in the room for a few minutes.
His expression gradually turned into a frown of pain.
If someone's spiritual sense is strong enough to spy on him, he can see that his astral body actually has two layers of double images, similar in color to tan gold, and with clearly torn boundaries!
He set up a dense atmosphere on the upright piano in the room, lit candles, and sat down to play a piece of polyphonic music by the late medieval master Kashunich. Only then did the abnormal double image of the astral body disappear, and his brows relaxed.
Come.
"There were no such obvious indications before. What Qiong said is right. If the original hidden knowledge pollution is not sorted out, the inspiration and understanding after being promoted to the Insightful One will cause big problems...
"Fortunately, Vienne mentioned that there is a temporary solution to the pollution of the 'old days', which can be alleviated with the help of simple secret rituals by playing music works of the 'late medieval period' or the 'baroque style' of the previous life...
.”
The wrinkles on the organist's face faded little by little, the facial features shifted relative to each other, the mottled temples changed from complex to pure, from dark gray to brownish red, and the entire body became much thinner.
The middle-aged staid gentleman turned into a young and handsome face with a hint of worry.
It was Fan Ning who had been away from the "painful land" of the southern continent for four months.
At present, this method of suppressing his "old" pollution indicators is still very effective. After his promotion, he dismantled them for nearly four months. After his spiritual state was temporarily stabilized, he chose to work in the official organization with a new identity.
Show your face and gradually carry out your plan.
After waking up from the dream, the world situation was turned upside down.
The "Meat Sacrifice" incident caused the fertile southern country to disappear overnight. Many shipping arteries disappeared out of thin air. Marine species communities suffered a devastating blow. Many supply markets for medicines, food, and industrial raw materials that relied on the raw materials provided by the southern continent were in ruins.
As a result, the world stock market collapsed, companies went bankrupt, people were unemployed, the market was turbulent, and tens of millions of people engaged in panic buying, dumping, robbery and riots...
Afterwards, the Special Inspection Office made an extremely detailed report on the incident within the discussion group, and the conclusion on the cause of "Dream Collapse" has been "accepted" by major official organizations - although there are still doubts about many of the details.
As for the various versions circulating among the people... Although public opinion is controlled on the surface, various conspiracy theories and doomsday theories are now rampant, and various serious anti-special patrol agencies and even anti-official organizations are spreading.
There is a turbulent undercurrent.
All in all, this huge accident was not only the most terrifying and largest mysterious incident in the new era, but also involved a series of chain reactions, which had a subversive and negative impact on the already turbulent situations in several continents.
The two countries in the Western Continent have entered a state of war due to some historical geopolitical conflicts that have been detonated.
Those with official knowledge are still required not to directly participate in the war, which has been the practice since the establishment of the discussion group.
The things they have to deal with are more complicated and difficult to deal with.
For example, the problem of survivors in the "meat sacrifice" incident.
Yes, there are still many survivors of this incident.
——No southerners in the southern country were spared, but among the southerners who stayed in foreign countries for a long time, and the foreigners who did not stay in the southern country for a long time, there were a few who relied on pure luck or higher inspiration, or did not dissipate with the dream.
And dissipated, or found an exit to the waking world in the astral turbulence after the nightmare collapsed, returning to a completely inexplicable place compared to before.
Taking the statistics of the above three categories of people as the denominator, the official overall survival rate so far is 0.08%.
The population involved was more than 400 million, and there were about 300,000 survivors, scattered across the three continents of north and southwest.
The survival rate is very low, but the numbers are still huge.
Under the unified dispatch of the discussion group, search, statistics, classification, aftermath and other work have been carried out one after another. Compared with the pitiful number of official knowledgeable people, and the many secret organizations with ulterior motives that are disrupting the situation, the intensity of the early work is simply
The sky is dark and the earth is dark.
Fortunately, the intensity quickly eased down, and after three months, there were very few new survivors.
Fan Ning's current identity as a survivor is not completely fabricated. Before the dream collapsed and dissipated, Lavoisier and his teacher Bishop Sessler both existed, and they did have an intersection with Walter in the Southern Continent. Fan Ning chose it.
These identities that have vanished into thin air have been "replaced" into one's body.
After some processing of his character and character, Lavoisier became a late-blooming middle-aged organist after converting to the Holy Sun Church. He was proficient in doctrine and devout in faith. His personality was a mixture of old-fashioned and fanatical, and he was determined to find the legend of the church.
The secret of "Theme of God".
The latter is an important stated motivation for Fanning's current plan of action.
——Fan Ning understands that his plan to investigate the Abnormal Zone as soon as possible is inevitable. This is not only related to the secrets related to Vincent and his time-travel incident, but also he needs to rely on the "God's Theme" to solve the "old theme" before returning to the Northern Continent.
"Japan" pollution trouble, use its remains without worries.
For a believer of the Holy Sun Church, pursuing the "theme of God" is also a reasonable and lifelong pursuit.
This motive can be used universally, and it is easy to use openly, and is suitable for the official team to fish in troubled waters later.
"And Joan's current situation..." Fan Ning frowned and thought, sitting at the table with swaying candlelight, and took out the shining silver flute that she threw to him at the end.
As early as after first escaping from the broken nightmare, Fan Ning noticed a special migration sign left in its tube.
Maybe it's her private way back to dreamland.
The subsequent series of changes in the southern continent have long made Fan Ning suspect that the "child mother", "cracking field" and the former "honey garden" and "fox lily field" may have some connections with the abnormal area.
contact.
"It's been four months. Due to my current pollution situation, I still dare not enter the Qiming Church where the 'old days' are stored, but I should be able to try other ways to enter dreams."
To be on the safe side, Fan Ning once again arranged the secret ritual to stabilize his mind.
After the secret sleep-aiding atmosphere evaporated from the candlelight, he held the flute, smashed the small glass tube containing several milliliters of the "key" essence essence liquid, and poured it in.
As he closed his eyes and fell asleep, the arcs inside the flute overflowed from the body and began to rotate violently outside.