Dunling Tower, Broken Dome.

After years of hard work, and the efforts of countless predecessors, the entire old Dunling has been shaped into a huge and invisible fortress, and this fortress is protected by a tree-like system.

Over the years, savage has grown.

The Serpent System of the Atrium, the railroad tracks and the Serpent, and the war airship that roamed the sky, spread to Old Dunling and all of Inlwig, both the earth and the sky had their tentacles, forming lush branches.

The Spooper's system's massive Geiger counts filled the city, wailing and responding like flying crows, and the Pillars of the Forge turned into rhizomes deep into the darkness, entrenched in the darkness, supported by perpetual pumps that kept the trees standing.

The tower is the backbone of the tree, the center of everything, and the core of the purifying mechanism.

Shrike was in the heart of this tightly protected core at the moment, his mood was a little delicate, although he was a high-ranking knight, but due to the various regulations of the Purification Mechanism, the Broken Dome located in the Dunling Pagoda was as mysterious as a legend in his eyes, and he had joined the Purification Mechanism for so long, and the number of times that Shrike had come here was only a handful.

"It's magnificent......"

Shrike sighed.

He stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the Tunling Pagoda was the tallest building in the old Dunling, from here he could overlook the entire old Dunling completely, the tall buildings were like a steel jungle, they spread outward with the Dunling Pagoda as the center, and spread to the gray junction of heaven and earth.

Countless chimneys were spewing smoke outward, gray trails rising upward, touching the sky, lead-gray clouds tumbling violently, and iron whales broke through the cloud barrier and swam slowly over the old Dunling.

This is Old Dunling, the heart of Invig, the city of steam and steel in the West.

The mood of the shrike surged, and it was difficult not to make waves in the mood at the sight of such a scene, until the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps, and the shrike came back to his senses and looked behind him.

"Alright, it's your turn. ”

Gareth, the chief knight, came over, and he did not look very good, his face was full of sorrow, and he had no idea of admiring the scene behind the shrike.

"Hmm. ”

The shrike nodded, and without asking any more questions, walked towards the place where Gareth had left before.

He had been summoned at short notice, an urgent summons, and so he had come to the mysterious broken dome, and now he was walking towards the hallowed conference room, about to sit down at the round table that had been ravaged by time.

This was not the first time that Shrike had attended a round table, and the most memorable one was about eight years ago, when in the conference room, Arthur decided that Shrike would become the controller of the lower city, and it was then that the shrike temporarily broke away from the purification agency and threw himself into the bloody storm of the lower city.

Returning here after such a long time, the shrike couldn't help but feel a little excited, but more of a speculation about the bad things that would happen next.

You must know that the people who can participate in this kind of meeting are basically at the rank of knight chief, although the resume of the shrike is amazing, but there are no special circumstances, he has no right to participate in such a meeting...... And now that he's here, there must be some special circumstances that require him to participate.

"Ah...... It's over. ”

The shrike's face became sad.

The special situation of the purification mechanism is mostly not a good thing, and it is basically the kind that has to give up half a life, and a few days ago Shrike just lost half a life in the workshop.

Although he is loyal to the purification mechanism, under such a continuous and fatal task, even the shrike is a little unbearable.

He was thinking about whether such a thing as the Labor Code would work for his profession.

"The shrike is here, so ask him first. ”

Pushing open the door, Gawain saw the arriving shrike, and said directly, the shrike who didn't know the situation was stunned, he couldn't understand what the situation was now.

"Oh, the shrike has arrived, so sit there first. ”

At the end of the long table, Arthur motioned for the shrike to sit down.

Shrike swallowed, thinking to himself.

This round table was different from the previous ones, there were few participants in the previous meetings, but this time there were so many people that the seats around the round table were almost full.

Some of them were known to the shrike, such as the knights, others were hidden in the shadows, and the shrike could not see them clearly, and some of them knew who they were, but strangely they should not have been here.

"Why are they here?"

Shrike asked suspiciously, with the rules of the Purifier, there was no chance that these guys would appear in the Broken Dome at all.

"Merlin is injured and is still lying in the Black Mountain Hospital for treatment, and I am attending this meeting on behalf of the Perpetual Pump. ”

In the seat beside Arthur, Nikolai raised his hand and spoke calmly. This is a representative from the perpetual motion pump.

"As part of the purification agency, I participated as a representative of the Montenegrin Hospital. ”

On Arthur's other side, Dean Abigail slowly lowered his raised hand.

It wasn't a bad question anymore, and Berau felt that he might be entrusted with the task of being sent to Gaulinaro to assassinate the new king as part of the assassination squad.

"I'm here on behalf of the Victorian royal family, but I'm not involved in the discussion, so you don't have to worry about me. ”

Anakin smiled, then disappeared into the darkness.

These faces showed their intentions, but another face remained silent, he had been hiding in the shadows, and the shrike could barely see the gray robe, although he could not see his face clearly, but the shrike had an inexplicable familiarity with him, as if he knew the person.

Such thoughts quickly dissipated, and the shrike realized something.

It can be said that these few people represent all the power structures of the entire Old Dunling, and even the power agencies that control the entire Invig.

So who does the guy hiding in the shadows represent?

Shrike remembered the name that was ubiquitous, but not remembered.

Whitewing.

"So, is there any important task for me? ”

There was no excitement left, and there were only two voices left in his head, one screaming, "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!

Another voice responded excitedly, "Yes, yes!"

Berau felt that he might need legal aid, but it was not clear whether the Invig Act could handle that.

"It's about a mission, but before I do that, I'd like to ask a question. ”

Arthur said slowly, dim sunlight falling from the glass dome above, and the vertical sunlight stretched the shadows on his face like a terrifying dead man.

"Shrike, you've been to the Silent Sea, haven't you? According to your mission log, nine years ago, shortly after you joined the Purification Agency, you were assigned to a maritime operation in which you were chasing your target, and you were almost wiped out in the Silent Sea in a storm, and after that, you were assigned to a long-term mission in the lower city because of your outstanding performance. ”

Shrike nodded, his face expressionless.

When Arthur uttered the word "Silent Sea", the shrike lost his expression, like a drowning man in the depths, and in his mind, the almost forgotten past roared back.

"Silent Sea...... It's not a good place.

At that time, you were entrusted with a heavy task because you could survive it alive, after all, people with weak willpower can't get out at all, and even if they do, they will become crazy people in the Black Mountain Hospital. ”

Shrike remained silent, but his hand could not help reaching to his waist, where hung the pouch of the gun, which was supposed to have the silver-white revolver called Deathknell.

Unfortunately it wasn't here now, and before entering the Shattered Dome, Shrike handed over his weapon.

He felt a little irritable now, as if only the cold of the death knell could calm him down for a moment.

"So what do you need me to do? Go back to that hell place, but is there anything worth it there?"

Beroe asked, puzzled.

"Of course there is, there have always been, it's just that you don't know about it. ”

Arthur didn't explain what the thing was, but continued.

"We will then assemble a fleet, you will be one of the members, and we need your experience of facing the Silent Sea. ”

"Silent Sea ......"

Shrike whispered, voice almost squeezing out between his teeth.

Probably knowing the current mood of the shrike, Arthur said.

"I know it's a bit hard and a lot of resistance for you, but we have something we desperately need after the Silent Sea. ”

"Yes...... That's the Silent Sea, isn't that the internal information of the purification agency to say? That hellish place is the only runaway zone that we can't control. ”

Memories of the Silent Sea whizzed by, almost engulfing the Shrike.

"We know that, so this time we're with you the new technology of the Original Sin Armor and Perpetual Motion Pump. ”

The representative of the scavenger, who had been hidden in the shadows, preached.

His voice was hoarse, but the shrike still made out a hint of familiarity.

"The Silent Sea, the Silent Land, the Sea of Death, the Storm and the Silent Land, the Land of the Dead...... The Vikings had so many terrible words to describe the sea, that all the ships that sailed into it would not return, that they would be torn to powder in lightning and thunder, and that even if a survivor came back alive, he would be attached to a permanent curse and die in madness. ”

In the shadows, it was as if he were reciting some old hideous story.

"In fact, such a legend is based on evidence, according to the research and investigation of the purification agency, the sea area is shrouded in incredible erosion, although the erosion intensity is not high, but the scope is terrible, the most important thing is that the purification agency simply can't find a way to control it, after all, we don't have the ability to directly evaporate the entire sea area, or to block it, and the time of its existence is not clear, under this long erosion, there are also some strange creatures born in the dark seabed, Viking legends often appear such monsters. ”

"So do we have the ability to control it now?"

The shrike felt himself getting more and more irritable, but as a qualified knight, he couldn't do it yet.

"No...... But perhaps, it depends on how well your crew is doing. ”

Arthur said slowly, his cold expression suddenly carrying a hint of a smile, a bad smile to be exact.

It's over, it's all over.

Arthur didn't care about the shrike at all, he had already been appointed from the beginning, and the operation had already been planned, and now he had only come to inform him.

"My crew?"

Probably realizing that he couldn't escape, Beroe was in a bit of a self-defeating mood at the moment, and only hoped that he wouldn't be too painful when he died, and it was better to give him a good time.

"We've all said it, haven't we? We're going to put together a fleet. You've been at sea too, and you can't drive a boat by yourself. ”

"And who are my crew?" asked the shrike.

"The list is still being drawn up, we are seriously understaffed, and this operation requires some camouflage, which is still under negotiation and is in charge of North Dero, who are mediating the interests of the Vikings and the Stuart family. ”

North Delo, Viking Kingdoms, Stuart......

Hearing these words, Beroe felt even more restless, the last time so many forces were implicated, the result was the bombing attack on the port of Maruri, so what are you going to do this time?

"Of course, we also know that this mission will be difficult, and even if we support so many new weapons and original sin armor, there is still a lot of risk, so we are talking to another person to join your fleet. ”

"A person? Lorenzo Holmes. ”

The strength of the individual can approach that of the standard army, and the only thing that can be thought of is Lorenzo at the first time.

"At the moment, his purpose is not clear, and he is still trying to fight for it, but judging by the response of the Platinum Palace, Mr. Holmes will agree to the deal. Arthur said.

"You've already deceived Lorenzo once, and this time you can still make him die, presumably for a lot of money. ”

Feeling unreliable, Lorenzo had trouble purging the mechanism after returning from Gaulinalo.

"Yes, it's expensive, it's expensive, and if that psycho wants to make it bad, he might be able to usurp the world's most precious treasure. ”

Thinking of this, Arthur was also a little sad, realizing that Lorenzo might arrive at that sacred place, and thinking about Lorenzo's unsettling uncertainty, he always felt very bad, and felt that it was a bad decision, but even more regrettable, Arthur could not find someone who could replace Lorenzo.

"So what is going to be done this time at such a great cost and so many people to be implicated? ”

Putting aside the mess of emotions, Shrike asked Arthur earnestly.

Arthur was silent at first, and after thinking for a long time, he said in a deep voice.

"There is a holy place in this world, and it is located in the far north after the Silent Sea, that place...... It's mysterious, and I don't know how to describe it, but it's surrounded by a sea of silence, and the ubiquitous erosion affects communication and ranging, and there are no exact coordinates to determine its location.

The only thing he could follow was the ancient passage left behind by his predecessors, but as time went on, these things gradually became less reliable, Merlin tried to go there three years ago, he followed the ancient passage, but still failed to find it, and finally almost ran out of supplies, and stayed there forever. ”

Arthur took a deep breath and pronounced the name that had been deliberately obscured by history.

"Your destination is the Holy Land, which we call the End of the World. ”