When Jiang Tian returned to the city of Toulouse again, he also held a grand entry/military parade ceremony; the captured flags of the Knights of the Holy Kingdom, the family crests and coats of arms of the rebel nobles, and the severed heads of giant beasts were Displayed together with other strange corpses.
A total of 40,000 soldiers lined up under the city, wearing brand new armor and blouses, holding weapons and flags high, and shouting slogans when they passed through the city gate; they also received a response like a tsunami from the citizens in the city. All parties present The envoys/representatives could not help but look at each other on the spot and turned pale with horror.
Therefore, the grand tour celebrations and sermons that followed naturally became a great opportunity for the Free Army to further promote the martial arts and emphasize the legitimacy of the rule and the principles of justice. Celebrations that provided drinks and food on the streets also It lasted three days.
In the midst of this commotion, Father Lacha also presented the newly compiled first edition of the doctrine of Liberation Theology, as well as the corresponding organizational program of the military order. Because members of the order imitated military discipline and formulated strict internal rules, Therefore, it is also called the "Pious Company".
The members are also divided by analogy with military ranks. In addition to strictly abiding by traditional oaths such as "absolute wealth", "absolute beauty", "absolute will" and "three wishes", they should also be unconditionally loyal to the military leaders above the religious order and perform all tasks assigned by them. Searching for and combating alien beings, etc...
Another example is that in order to facilitate penetration into all strata of society, specialized monastic services are cancelled, and people no longer live in monasteries and churches; instead, they preach in public places, open schools, hospitals, hold public offices, and are employed as private teachers/confessors. , etc. to carry out various activities
On the other side, the old hunter Ajax, who had previously arrived in Toulouse with the special service company, investigated and hunted down the possible aliens in the territory. Through the information provided one after another by the local Purity believers, several people were actually found in the local area. Clues to the existence of alien species.
The most harmful one among them is a giant man-eating tree hidden in a natural rock cave and relying on blood and flesh offerings from believers in nearby villages. After destroying the surrounding rhizomes and pouring a large amount of kerosene on it, it burned. A condensed crystal-like residue was harvested.
In addition, there are skeleton aggregation monsters that look scary but can be knocked apart with sticks; monster grass that shoots sap fragments to hurt people; spindle-shaped giant spiders that hide in the forest to hunt small livestock and wild beasts; disguised as dead trees , and the tree spirits that entangle and strangle the creatures that are close to them...
It can be said that the wilderness and remote areas outside most areas of human activity are not very peaceful either. In addition to the usual beasts, these aliens have quietly existed for a long or short time; they have even interacted with nearby animals. The village forms a deformed state of coexistence.
Moreover, the active scope of these aliens mainly exists in the aristocratic territories; there are even people who specialize in performing sacrifices regularly. This shows how neglected they are about the territories under their rule, besides entrusting tax collectors to collect taxes. Frustrated with management and Fela.
On the other hand, Ajax also found two clues. The first one is: in the city of Toulouse, there is the largest underground black market in the south, which is famous for obtaining objects from various strange sources; however, the man behind the black market The host happened to be a certain rebellious city noble.
Therefore, after interrogating his family and cronies, he followed the clues and found an underground channel and multiple secret hiding places. An underground pharmaceutical workshop was seized, as well as a large amount of illegal drugs and formulas, and a large number of uses.
Unknown material.
The second clue is that as the junction of the two large crown territories, the water and land hub, and a commercial center; Toulouse was also the former Royal Confidential Bureau/Kingdom Investigation Bureau, with branch headquarters in several southern provinces; it is also responsible for surveillance
and suppress possible changes by surrounding nobles.
Guided by this clue, Jiang Tian also came to the vicinity of Toulouse in person; located between the Grand Crown of the Upper and Lower Garonne, at the confluence of the La Terra-Le-Garonne Canal and the South Canal. Here is a place, surrounded by
Tolosa Castle, known locally as the "Palace of the Roses".
Its predecessor was the transshipment hub and large fortress established by the ancient Romans in the province of Gaul in the mountains - Volka Etectosage. Later, during the Albigean Crusade against the south by the Lily Dynasty,
The members of the Languedoc family who held on to the end were destroyed together.
Therefore, in order to erase the traces of the past ruling family as much as possible, the King of Oz of the Lily Dynasty invested huge sums of money and ordered all the nobles of the local kingdom to donate money and building materials according to their titles in the name of holy war tax; on the old sites and ruins
A royal palace was rebuilt.
Because a large amount of ocher red stone mined in the mountainous area of the upper reaches of the Garonne River is used as the exterior decoration of most buildings in the palace. It is also because most buildings have basically not faded or changed color under the baptism of wind and rain over the years; instead, they look more vivid in the rainy season.
, so it is called the Rose Palace.
Only between the abdication of the royal family in the May Storm and the tragic collapse of the royal family in the Blood Moon, this old palace had been ransacked several times. Later, it became a conflict between the local liberals and the royalists.
It was a battlefield of fighting and fighting; therefore, it was particularly damaged and basically abandoned.
According to local rumors, this is a forbidden place where haunted incidents occur from time to time. For example, when someone was fishing on the Garonne River at night, they saw will-o’-the-wisps wandering in the ruins and ghosts of knights walking among the walls;
A gang of foreign robbers entered and never came out again.
Of course, for the Free Army, which has basically taken control of the Toulouse area, these haunted rumors are not enough. No matter how awesome the dead souls and ghosts are, how can they still stop the evil spirits so close to the city of Toulouse?
Tens of thousands of troops, digging three feet into the ground to sweep holes?
In fact, the special service company that specializes in handling and investigating abnormal things is becoming more and more powerful and has sufficient resources. Because the population and resource output of the territory controlled by the Free Army continue to grow, the old hunter Ajax has also been found, and more activities are happening in
Fellow Southerners.
Although the hunter organization passed down from ancient times has disappeared in name only and withered away; there are only two or three kittens under the names of several factions who are doing their own thing. But compared to the entire more than ten provinces in the south, he is still allowed to pass various
In this way, I contacted some other hunters.
After some friendly exchanges (coercion and inducement)/arguments (verification of strength), he voluntarily joined the Free Army and became a specially appointed member of the special service company. Among them were the Bears, who are famous for their strength and physical training; they are good at drugs and props
The scorpion sect, the cat sect who is proficient in human body structure...
Although they, together with three generations of teachers, students and trainees, only have a dozen people together; with the support of sufficient financial and resource resources of the Free Army, the basic situation has been greatly improved; they have even opened several sealed secret strongholds and planned to
Restore more lost heritage.
Therefore, when we went to the ruins of the Rose Palace this time, in addition to a guard company armed to the teeth with the best equipment, six combat teams were also dispatched from the special service company that was taking turns performing tasks.
Ajax personally led the team to conduct an in-depth search.
Therefore, when Jiang Tian arrived at the ruins of the palace, which occupies a vast area and still retains a large area of city walls, the site had already been initially cleaned up. All he saw was a huge wild boar with strong tusks, plus a dozen more of various sizes.
, riddled with holes of the same kind, piled together in sparkling blood.
In addition, there are several huge night crows and vultures, seven or eight wild dogs with colorful fur, a hedgehog the size of a basin, two pig badgers and a fox; a brown-striped red deer, half-cart of rabbits...
...Well, Jiang Tian felt like his mouth was watering just by looking at it.
Among the overgrown ruins, several passages and large open spaces for temporary camping have been cleared; only the patterns on the broken walls, broken walls, and broken bricks and tiles, entangled with withered vines and vines, still stand out under the melting morning dew and frost.
You can see the splendor and splendor of the past.
The bones found one after another in the ruins are also being carefully spread on the tarpaulin, and a pair of bones are carried out as much as possible keeping their original shape. However, although there are many signs of gnawing on these human skeletons, after careful inspection, they are
You will find that the fatal part has been punctured or cut by a sharp knife.
There are even crushing blows caused by powerful forces. This is interesting. Who will specifically attack in this ruins? Judging from the remaining clothes, they look like the belongings of foreign intruders.
existence; is it guarding and guarding something secretly?
However, after preliminary searches by the teams that entered first, nothing special or abnormal was found. Therefore, Jiang Tian subsequently ordered that in addition to continuing to block and surround the vast ruins, more troops would be mobilized.
Multiple auxiliary companies come to clean up the scene.
So when it was past three o'clock in the afternoon, Jiang Tian also finished enjoying butter-fried meatballs, honey cheese crisp, raspberry and green plum jam nut tart, and afternoon tea with bitter coffee; part of the room had been cleared away
Finally, something new was discovered at the ruins of the palace.
As Jiang Tian walked through a large area of broken-down buildings that had been cleared of weeds and vines, cut down redundant branches, and dug out the remaining bricks and tiles that had accumulated over the years, he suddenly saw a withered building.
A large cracked reservoir and a group of large sculptures in the pond.
These statues, with most of their hands, feet and heads incomplete, are not made of ordinary white and plastic marble, but a solid piece of pale red bedrock, carved layer by layer from top to bottom; it seems to be describing
It tells an unknown ancient epic story:
Standing on the prow of a large pointed ship, men and women wearing classical robes and muscle breastplates are wielding tridents, wing-shaped spears, shooting laurel bows and other weapons, fighting against the surging sea beasts on all sides.
It looks like the lines are delicate and the pleat texture is lifelike.
However, compared to the dust and flakes accumulated over the years in various parts of the pool, the sculptures originally hidden under the overgrown branches around the pool appeared to be too clean in some places.