The main buildings of the town of Tarta are built around the long and wide street in front of the town center square. Behind the long street, there are a few narrow streets and alleys. You can see both ends of the town almost at a glance.

Outside the existing area of the town, there are traces of houses being demolished. After the depletion of the veins and the displacement of a large number of people from the town, the territory of the town of Tarta is shrinking day by day.

Over the past 50 years, the main task of the town government of Tarta has been to demolish a large number of buildings on the outskirts of the town that have fallen into disrepair due to uninhabitation.

In the past 50 years, the population of Tarta has plummeted from a few million to less than 10,000 now.

The vast majority of those who have not left are those who are unable to leave.

Fortunately, at the end of the Second Republican Calendar, under the promotion of President Zhang Xinxin, who was deeply loved by the people at the bottom, the social security bill passed, as well as the special bankruptcy subsidy given by the federal government to the descendants of mining workers in Xixing State, still ensured that the families of unemployed miners here and the descendants of miners who could not find jobs could live above the subsistence line.

But the town of Tarta without the Elemental Mine is like a person who has lost his soul, not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go.

The old miners sat in the earthy yellow wind and sand, sitting on the side of the only remaining wide and lonely street, with smoke burning between their fingers, they recalled and told their younger generations about the glory of Tarta in the past, and slowly, nostalgia turned into sadness, sadness turned into helplessness, and finally, helplessness became numbness and lifelessness.

The elemental crystals extracted from the elemental ore are the hardest things on this plane. The Tartars, who have been with the Elemental Mine all their lives, are undoubtedly the toughest industrial workers in this plane. But now, the elemental mines are gone, and their tenacity can only turn into hard and sloppy stones on this lonely long street.

Luo Songxi walked along the long street towards the town center square, stepping on countless awkward stones along the way, passing by patches of old workers who were numb and smoking. The town center square at the end of the long street is being renovated, and this is probably the only thing the town government has done in years other than demolishing houses.

The town centre square is a remnant of the glory of the town of Tarta, and it is huge and imposing. But after all, it has been eroded and worn out by the long and bleak years, and it is indeed time to repair it.

Luo Songxi flowed through the countless ditches dug in the square and walked into the town government building.

All the caretakers of the town government have only one porter old man, and the biggest characteristic of the porter old man is that he can never wake up, as long as it is work time, he will always sleep.

The federal requirement for "wall-free office" at all levels of government, and it may only be the town of Tarta that has implemented this "wallless office" most thoroughly.

No one cared at all, so Luo Songxi knocked on the door of the mayor's office, and an angry shout immediately came from inside:

"How many times have I told you, don't come to the door to sell during work hours!"

Luo Songxi pushed open the door, revealing half of his head in the door.

"Mayor Mare, it's me, I have something important to report to you. ”

The mayor of Tarta Town, Jean Gilnis, was slightly bald on the top of his head, slightly chubby, with some raw edges in his formal suit, and a pair of round glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his expression was always a little stiff because of the cold air in the room.

Because of the special status of Tarta Town in the past, it has always been a direct town in the West Star State, and even after the decline of Tarta Town, this setting has not changed, so in terms of administrative level, Tarta Town is half a level higher than other cities. The mayor of the town of Tarta is the highest level of mayor at the federal level, equivalent to the executive level of the lieutenant governor.

But this "no change" has undoubtedly put the town of Tarta in an embarrassment - who would give up the position of deputy governor of a state to serve in such a shabby place?

It is so tattered that "there are no walls", and it is so tattered that the mayor's office does not even have a set of elemental radiators in the winter.

Only nine years ago, when he was appointed to the Dongyue State Business Commission, he uncovered the corruption case headed by the governor, sent all his top bosses to prison, and at the same time got the nickname of "officialdom broom star", and completely cut off his political future in Dongyue State, will be forced to accept the transfer of the mayor of Tarta Town, and stay in this lifeless place for nine years.

"You're that young man at Old John's Alchemy, aren't you...... Luo Songxi?" Mayor Jean had a good memory, but he spoke a little absent-mindedly, "What's the big deal?"

The biggest thing in the town of Tarta is to receive comprehensive social assistance. Mayor Jean, who has been in office for nine years, is an approachable person who knows many people in the town, but many people in the town still don't know him – the most important thing for the people of Tarta was the Minerals Bureau, and now the most important is the Social Security Commission.

"That's the ......" Luo Songxi organized his language, thinking about how to explain the matter of the blood sacrifice ceremony to Mayor Jean's acceptance. But at this moment, he heard another "ding" sound.

Then the dull female voice came again: "The bloodline test is complete, the result: pass." The aptitude test has been completed, and the result: passed. Legacy mode is on. It is very important to ask the inheritor to listen carefully to the rules of the lineage, and to repeat, it is very important to ask the inheritor to listen carefully to the rules of the lineage. ”

Luo Songxi paused for a moment and blurted out to the mayor, "Did you hear anything just now?"

Mayor Jean raised an eyebrow and asked, "Wasn't you the only one talking?"

Luo Songxi calmed down and continued, "There is a group of people of unknown origin, they want to carry out an evil blood sacrifice ritual under the ground of Tarta Town......

But the dull female voice sounded out of place again:

"The rules of the lineage are as follows: first, if the inheritor fails to complete the progress of the lineage within the specified time, the inheritor will be erased, second, the inheritor will be obliterated if he divulges any secrets related to the lineage, and third, on the premise that the inheritor has not violated the above two articles, give the inheritor as much help as possible so that he can cultivate correctly and efficiently until he reaches the main god. ”

The narrative is very concise, but just by erasing this word, Luo Songxi's heart is shocked. He felt that the voices that had come from nowhere since this morning had changed from a suspense film to a horror movie.

At this time, the female voice took the initiative to explain her existence: "In addition, according to your neck activity and brain wave waveforms, you can judge that you are looking for the source of the sound. As a friendly reminder, I have entered your brain through the blood vessels behind your left ear and moved to your central nervous system, and by stimulating your central nervous system, you can directly feel the sound, and no one can hear it except you, so it is impossible to find me if you turn your head and look everywhere. ”

"As an additional addition, don't try to take me out by self-harming, this will be considered an act that undermines the progress of the lineage, and will directly erase the inheritor. ”

But this is not enough to make Luo Songxi doubt, what is the central nervous system, what is the brain waveform? These are all things that challenge Luo Songxi's cognition.

The only thing he understood was the blood vessels behind his left ear entering his brain. While in the cave, he was stabbed by the music box in the back of his left ear, causing him to fall asleep for nearly a day and a night. Could it be the music box trickster?

But he didn't have to think about it, Mayor Jean's words had already arrived, "What evil blood sacrifice? What is that? Can you please stop talking and always say half a word?"

"Blood Sacrifice...... It's a ritual," Luo Songxi had to forcibly ignore the female voice, explaining, "Old John said that it can quietly devour thousands of lives at a time, and then achieve some purpose of the organizer of the ceremony......"

However, the dull female voice still said to herself, "Please note that the first mission will be released below, and the task is to complete the basic training of the inheritance and initially form the power of punishment in the body. ”

"Duration of the mandate: one year. The elimination rate of this task has reached 90%, so please cherish your life and work hard to cultivate. The cultivation method will also stimulate your central nervous system to form images and explanations directly in your brain, please pay attention to perception. ”

Luo Songxi was anxious, and argued loudly with Mayor Jean, "Old John said that this is the black magic that has been lost for thousands of years!"

"Hahaha," Gene laughed, his chin twitching, "You've read too many fantasy novels." Silently devouring thousands of people through a ritual that only the black magic of a novel can have such dramatic effect. We're in a world of science, a world of science based on elements and machinery, OK?"

Countless complicated images and explanatory information appeared in his mind as suddenly as flowing water, which was said to be the key information that the elimination rate reached 90%, and if he didn't work hard to cultivate, he would be wiped out. But Luo Songxi heard a word called "power of punishment" and felt more familiar, but the others were all distracted and didn't remember it at all.

He said anxiously to Mayor Jean, "The ceremony is taking place beneath the town of Tarta, and the target is obviously the inhabitants of Tarta Town. The lives of thousands of people in the town are at stake, and the time is only one week, please immediately mobilize all security forces to find the location of the blood sacrifice and terminate their rituals!"

Luo Songxi overlooked the fact that he had lived with Old John since he was seven years old, and had very little contact with other people except for dealing with the Favonius Bandits with knives and elemental muskets in the wasteland. He didn't know that the world he was in with Old John and the world of the others were almost two completely different worlds.

In their world, it was full of highly classified machinery and alchemy technology that even the Federation military had made, and it was full of all kinds of magical items, and Luo Songxi took it for granted that these were commonplace. So when Old John mentioned to him about "blood sacrifices" and "black magic" and other mysterious things, he had no doubt about their authenticity.

But to outsiders, it sounds like a book from heaven.