East of Alder South, the darkest street in the city, the lights are dim.

This is the darkest and most closed area of ​​the entire emperor. It is a place that seems to be forgotten by the upper society. The huge Aldernan is like a layered hill. The upper layer is a magnificent building, but the bottom is like a rot. The wound was hidden in the dark. Advanced magic technology, prosperous new business, more and more radiant civic class, all these things have nothing to do with the deepest streets in the south east side of Olde

It is only half a city away from the Obsidian Palace, but it seems to be farther away from civilized society than those more distant mountain cities.

And in this alley far from all the official eyeliners of Aldernan, a man with cluttered beards, sunken eyes, and a worn coat was hurriedly walking past the doors of low, shabby houses.

The rushing and undisguised footsteps sounded, and some spying sights emerged from the windows and doors of those houses. At this hour of the night, people who dare to walk alone in the deepest part of the Eastern District can always cause the curious, but those who The sight of the streets, attracted by the sound of footsteps, soon fell into doubt.

Because they saw nothing, in their eyes, the street was empty.

But footsteps did happen.

Those sights hiding behind the doors and windows gradually brought tension and fear. Superstitious residents remembered the horror legends about ghost wandering and black wizards after night, and quickly drew their eyes one by one, closing the closed doors and windows even more. Strict.

The man just walked the whole street in a bright and honest way to the door of No. 14 Heitie Lane.

He stood in front of the dark door, pressed his hand on the door panel, and sensed the movement in the room a little. After confirming that there was nothing abnormal in the room, he turned the key and pushed the door open silently.

He saw warm lights in the room, a figure in a black robe and a hazy face sitting on a chair in the room as if he had already arrived, a bonfire burning in the corner of the room, bright and bright floors, and table and chair furnishings Spotless.

The man quickly entered the house, closed the door, and bowed in front of the blurred figure: "Salute to you, Bishop Daniel."

"No need to be polite, Grandu," Daniel, wearing a black robe, waved his hand, and his voice rang directly in the ear of a man named Grandu. "It's safe here, we can talk with ease."

"Yes, Lord Bishop." Grandu bowed his head deeply.

"I asked you to investigate, how was the investigation?" Daniel asked quietly.

"Yes, the subordinates have completed their preliminary investigation," the Perpetual Apostle named Granto immediately respectfully responded. "As of last week, several subordinates you contacted and asked about have received feedback. They all said They have never sent any distress signals on the Internet, nor have they lost any memory, at least they do not remember it themselves. "

Daniel nodded. "Is that all?"

"No, there is more," Grandu replied hurriedly. "The subordinates also have doubts about the feedback of these subordinates, so if possible, they secretly contacted and hypnotized the people around them and got from it. Different information ... According to those people's memories, the above-mentioned believers have basically experienced mental depression, prolonged sleep, and even sudden changes in personality in the past period of time. "

"A mutation in personality?" Daniel noticed the keyword immediately. "Is there a possibility of mental replacement or mental parasitism?"

"Subordinates have confirmed that this is not possible," Granto shook his head. "I have contacted those believers several times since then, and have observed their minds and their minds in various states such as awake and hypnotic. He still belongs to himself, his consciousness is complete, and his subconsciousness shows no signs of merging or cutting. "

A hoarse, low voice came from Daniel's hood: "Everything is OK?"

"Yes, everything is OK," Grandu said respectfully.

"Everything is normal, it is the biggest abnormality ..." Daniel's voice was low. "Heavy spirit, long sleep and sudden change of personality are the proof that the mind is affected, and there will be traces in a short time. Here, In this case, their minds seem to be normal, but instead ... "

He paused suddenly, and the Perpetual Fellow named Grando couldn't help but ask with a little curiosity and nervousness: "Master Bishop, you ..."

His words stopped abruptly, and his eyes fell into a brief loss, and the moment his vision lost focus, the warm light in the room, the burning fireplace in the corner of the room, the neat furniture furnishings, etc. disappeared instantly. not see.

The room was dark, not even a candle, or a burning fireplace. In fact, there was no furniture except a chair by the window.

The man named Grandu stood quietly in this empty, dark room, standing at the door, staring blankly for a full two minutes.

Two minutes later, his eyes blinked, and then the room returned to its warm and bright appearance instantly, and Bishop Daniel in a black robe reappeared on the chair in front of him.

A chill ran down his back, and Grando shivered for a moment. He realized that he had just received a detailed "check" from the powerful bishop in front of him. ,I……"

"Your memory has been modified," Daniel said bluntly. "The investigation of this matter ends at this point, and you should not go any further."

"... Yes," Grandu dropped a drop of cold sweat in his ears, full of fear, "Thank you for your reminder."

"Well," Daniel nodded. "In addition, try not to connect to the Mind Network for a long time in the near future. If you have to connect, keep shallow access and do not go deep.

"Finally, you may be contacted by the Archbishop of the Supreme Bishops Council in the near future to inquire about your recent investigations. You do n’t need to hide it for me at that time.

Grandu couldn't help showing a terrified expression, and immediately realized the truth of his memory being modified, blurted out: "Master, do you modify my memory, the people who cover up the truth are archbishops ..."

He just closed his mouth vigilantly just after half of what he said, and whispered, "Master, what happened to the mind network recently?"

"Don't ask too much," Daniel interrupted him lightly. "It's not good to know too much."

Another chill struck, Grandu couldn't help swallowing, and cautiously stopped speaking.

Then everything in his vision suddenly shook.

The lights disappeared, the fireplace disappeared, all the furnishings disappeared, and No. 14 Black Iron Lane reverted to a dark, empty room. The man named Grandu blinked and fully awakened. He found himself standing at the door of the room. One hand leaned back, still keeping the door closed.

The powerful and mysterious Bishop of the Sleeper had left, leaving Grandu's mind.

...

Daniel is sitting on a comfortable chair in the study room, in a masterpiece in Aldernan, in a brightly decorated villa, turning the page with a scroll in his hand.

The artificial nerve cord behind him stood quietly and snugly, with only the end sticking out from the hem of the clothes, swinging slightly around the back of the chair.

"... It's time to think about how to deal with a certain archbishop's inquiry," the old mage sighed silently, and said to herself, "I just don't know which one ..."

Sure enough, the Supreme Bishops ’Council is trying to hide a huge secret, and this secret is definitely very wide-ranging and has a huge impact. They are watching all the information flows related to this secret.

Daniel felt grateful for a while.

Fortunately, he has been strictly following the instructions of the host, controlling the scope of his investigations, and carefully handling the details of his actions. Although he is investigating things about the fluctuations of the spiritual network, he is not so unusual, but more like Is a loyal believer who is concerned about the operation of the mind network and proactively troubleshoots after discovering anomalies.

An excellent, dedicated, and active safety supervisor.

With the exception of some excess power, it is simply unbelievable.

...

In the Obsidian Palace, Rosetta Augustus is sitting behind his large desk, while Duke Petinan Wendell is sitting diagonally opposite him.

Looking at His Majesty the Emperor who was looking down to read the letter, Peininan suddenly felt refreshed.

It seems that since Cecil's rise, and since the situation suddenly turned in a direction that no one had expected, the spiritually cursed Tifeng ruler suddenly got rid of the curse of the family and became spiritually uplifted and aggressive. He himself, more often than not, was summoned by His Majesty the Emperor, and came to the Obsidian Palace more frequently.

Almost every time I encountered something about the Cecil Empire or the domestic magic industry, Her Majesty would call on myself, which made the Duke Pedinan even want to apply for it, and simply reserved a room for himself in the Obsidian Palace, he lived here .

"Cecir has agreed with the idea of ​​sending our students and expressed his willingness to deepen our ties and build international relations more in line with this new era." Rosetta Augustus' voice suddenly came from the side, Interrupted the thinking of Grandpa Peinan.

Peinin raised his head, his expression was somewhat complicated: "Did that Govin Cecil agree directly ..."

"Yeah, he is more daring than we think ..." Rosetta Augustus said, shaking his head slightly, shaking his wrist and placing the copy of the royal emblem of the Cecil Empire The letter was dropped in front of Duke Perdinan, "You can take a look."

Duke Peinan took the letter, looked closely, and frowned slightly: "... Established long-term ambassadors in both countries to build 'embassies'?"

"Yes, this is also in line with the development of the situation," Rosetta nodded. "We cannot always rely on such letters and waves of messengers to maintain communication."

Peinan continued to look down: "... open more business channels, increase the size of existing orders, and add new order categories, including more magic parts, synthetic crystals, crafts, and open folk merchants on both sides Legal and limited investment in China ... "

"There are a lot of places worth discussing and analyzing in this part. Copy a copy and send it to the Parliament and the Royal Advisory Board to complete the risk assessment and discussion as soon as possible."

"I know."

Petinan said, looking down, after looking at the last part of the letter, he looked at Rosetta: "Your Majesty, how to decide on the assignment of international students?"

"This is not urgent. We should send a special envoy to Cecil first, just as when we decided to introduce the magic train. Someone should go and see the situation there. This is also necessary when dealing with another empire as an empire. Etiquette and solemnity. "

"Envoy ..." Pedinin looked at Rosetta's face with few expression changes. "You're already chosen, aren't you?"

"Let Matilda lead," Rosetta said lightly. "Her vision is always good."

"Your Highness Matilda ... is indeed the most suitable person."

...

The northernmost part of the mainland, passing over the mountains and the wild plains north of the Cecil Empire, and another country located in the snow and ice, resting on the top of the mountains.

The magnificent towering city buildings are between the mountains, and the cold winds screaming through the walls, city walls, and mountain ridges day after day. In the monotonous colors based on snow and ice, the gray-white stone buildings seem to blend into the mountains. Facing the north, there was a heavy, lonely, ancient, desolate breath.

The ethnic group claiming to be of Dragon origin has lived in this frozen country for thousands of years and has spent an unknown number of years.

This is a closed country. The proud and self-conscious dragons who bear the sins have closed their mountains and reckless plains. They have almost never paid attention to the changes in this continent, but even the closed country is not eternal. Never change, never communicate with the outside world.

Civilian businessmen can still visit this mysterious "Dragon Principality", and the latter does not reject the merchants and adventurers from human beings as long as they can endure the harsh climate of the extreme north.

Dragonborns are happy to deal with those "brave" who can challenge the extreme northern winter.

But in most of the past years, the people who can challenge the extreme cold in the north are in the end few people who are qualified to visit the Holy Dragon Principality. Basically, there are only awesome extraordinary people, ordinary civilian businessmen ... He walked in the far north.

But that has changed recently.

A new "Cecil Empire" replaced the old Kingdom of Anzu. Many brave and well-equipped Cecil merchants began to appear frequently on the border of the Principality of Saint Dragon. In the past, most ordinary people could be discouraged, and even An The cold climate of the mountainous people in the northern part of Jiangsu can't stop the Cecil merchants. They are wearing thick warm clothing, driving magic vehicles that can withstand the wind and snow, and pouring the frost resistance potion, Brings countless new things that are said to be from the "magic era."

Change, centering on the Cecil Empire, is quietly spreading to those once closed areas ...