Winter is over.

Deep in the spike base, in a room with closed doors and windows, a magic web terminal is running.

The room was empty, the thick curtains blocked the already not very bright skylight, making the whole room dim and inexplicable, and the white noise projection of the magic net terminal when it was running was a lamp with insufficient brightness, casting shadows and shadows on the furniture and utensils.

On the only wooden table in the room, the printing machine connected to the Magic Net terminal is creaking, and the blank paper is pushed into the machine by the paper feeding mechanism, and then the information from the distance is printed on the paper and sent to the printout.

At the front end of the machine, a small stack of printed materials has been accumulated.

Suddenly, the materials on the table floated, as if held up by an invisible hand, and the paper began to churn.

After a few moments, the materials were put back on the table, and the self-running magic web terminal gradually quieted down, a faint wind drifted through the empty room, and the curtains not far away shook a little, and everything was silent with a little brightness in the room.

In the center of the base, Gawain was looking at the technical information from the elven magister Banner - due to the shortened construction period, the auxiliary tower and related facilities in charge of the Principality of Cecil are about to be completed ahead of schedule, and the auxiliary tower is currently undergoing the installation and commissioning of magic devices in the later stage, and several purification nodes have also been mostly completed, in order to ensure that this vital project can be successfully completed, Gawain does not dare to relax at this moment.

An invisible wind suddenly blew into the room, and Gawain sensed a familiar aura appear in the window, and he threw a ball of paper at it, with an "oops" sound, and the next second he saw amber emerge from the air and fall off the windowsill in embarrassment.

- The windows at the base of the pinnacle are custom-made, and the windowsills are narrow and have a concave and convex sealing structure, which makes it impossible to fit a mouse trap, which is a matter of great regret to Gawain.

"What's going on?" Gawain raised his eyelids and glanced at the half-elf who was getting up from the ground, "It's not often that you've come here at this time. ”

Amber got up and patted her clothes, and walked to Gawain's desk with a big grin as if nothing had happened just now: "I just received a batch of information from the north - there are a few things that I don't feel right. ”

"Intelligence ...... in the North," Gawain put down the information in his hand, "Tell me." ”

"Since the end of the foggy month, a large-scale clean-up of cultists has begun in the eastern control area, and we initially speculated whether it would be Prince Edmund's 'acting', guessing that he was trying to hide people's eyes, but according to the latest information, so far the easterners have captured hundreds of believers who have died in everything, and destroyed dozens of secret altars that have secretly held dark rituals, and the intelligence officers have preliminarily judged that those secret altars and heretical evidence are true."

“…… It seems that the relationship between Edmund and the Society of the End of All Things is not that close......" Gawain frowned slightly, "but just because of one of my warning letters, isn't the East's reaction too great?" Considering that Edmund had at least some degree of cooperation with the Society of the End of All Things, it was suspicious that he made such a big move immediately after receiving a warning letter from me......"

"The more suspicious ones are yet to come," Amber said with a strange expression on her face, "Can you believe it - from last month to now, in the royal control area of the Plain of the Holy Spirit, the number of Cultists of the Dead and the number of hidden altars destroyed by the aristocratic army is even more than in the East!! ”

Gawain blinked, he didn't react for a while, and after he reacted, his first feeling was how could this be-

Those old nobles in the north are suddenly not rice buckets, is there anything more suspicious in the world?!

Is it really that useful to have a warning letter from my previous one? The nobles of Ansu suddenly realized the danger of the end of all things, so they decided to unite to punish the traitors and eliminate the evil? Victoria Wilde completed the ideological transformation project of the old aristocracy in an instant?

Gawain would rather believe that the believers who were pulled out of everything were dead and committed suicide!

"What's going on?" Gawain looked Amber in the eye, "I don't believe it was the old aristocrats who suddenly became more efficient. ”

Amber also has the following text: "The reason why the Eastside and the royal nobles are so efficient is because someone reported it. ”

"Report?" Gawain frowned, "Didn't the MIA agent you sent out report it?" ”

"Only the first few times were reported by our operators, but since the end of the Frost Moon, there has been a sudden increase in reports, and almost every day clues from cultists have been sent to the local lords. It took a long time for the operators to find out the identities of those who reported them - guess who? ”

A strange thought suddenly appeared in Gawain's heart: "...... It can't be that everything will die on its own, right? ”

"Yes, it's really themselves - and it's weird!! The reports were all at the scene after the dark ritual had been held, and all the believers who participated in the ritual had committed suicide during the ceremony, so strictly speaking, whether it was the royal family or the eastern realm, after receiving the clues, all that was 'caught' was the corpse of the cultist who had already held the ritual......"

Before Amber could finish speaking, the corners of Gao Wen's eyebrows suddenly trembled.

How is this really suicidal......

Then he realized that there was something extremely disturbing about the absurdity behind the absurdity of the situation—

It's like some kind of secret, continuous, large-scale sacrificial ritual! Those cultists are sacrificing themselves on a massive scale!

Undoubtedly, Amber, who often handles all kinds of information, can also think of this layer, and this half-elf also has a serious expression on his face: "It's like a large-scale sacrifice, isn't it- the cultists of the Plains of the Holy Spirit have held at least hundreds of dark rituals that require participants to commit suicide in the past two months, and there may be as many as a thousand devotion believers who have completed the sacrifice!" ”

"That's right, sacrifice, this is undoubtedly a sacrifice," Gawain's brow was already furrowed unconsciously, and he couldn't help but press his hand against the table, his voice low and serious, "But why should they report it...... After the sacrifice is over, it is necessary to take the initiative to expose the altars and strongholds that have been built in secret...... Unless it's a ritual...... Wait, it doesn't have to be a ceremony! ”

A bright light seemed to suddenly pass through Gawain's mind, and he suddenly raised his head and stared at Amber's eyes: "Have all those found corpses burned?" ”

"Only some of them were burned - two-thirds of them were burned by the people of the East, less than a third were probably burned by the royal nobles, and most of the rest were thrown directly into mass graves or even thrown into the wild. Even though their respective high-ranking lords had ordered that all the corpses must be burned and all the altars purified with holy water, you should know how inefficient the execution of the lower knights and noble soldiers was," Amber said as she guessed Gawain's thoughts, "Do you think the cultists are using the corpses of the sacrifices as a source of contamination?" ”

"Dark druids are very good at spreading plagues with flesh and blood...... Gawain said quickly, "but no, there are problems...... This still doesn't explain why they had to 'report' after the sacrifice...... This will instead cause some corpses that could have been used as a source of pollution to be incinerated and purified! ”

Gawain had already stood up from behind his desk, and he frowned and thought as he walked slowly behind his desk, guessing the intention of the cultists to make the remains of the sacrifice, the altar, and the stronghold public, and in the midst of his thoughts, he suddenly thought of one thing: he thought of Victoria Wild and Edmund Moen as "wise men" among the traditional nobles, and thought of the orders they might give after receiving information from the cultists—

"After discovering the cultist information, do the local lords and their escort knights have to be on the scene in person?!"

"Yes, this is an order from the Duchess of Victoria, and Edmund Moen has a similar order, this is to prevent the lower nobles and knights from being perfunctory, and to ensure that they can at least be ......there in person," Amber said, her voice suddenly slowing down, and the following words finally converged into a single exclamation, "...... Damn......"

Gawain took a slow breath: "Something big is going to happen - when the cultists take the initiative to expose the altars and strongholds they have operated for many years, it means that their ritual has reached the final step." ”

In his heart, he scolded secretly: Damn, everyone just fell into the pit!!

Who would have thought that the last step of the sacrificial ritual of those madmen who are talking about the end of all things all day is to report themselves?!

"Now it's too late to remind the Duchess and the prince, at least half of the noble lords and knights in the eastern conflict zone of the Whitsunday may have been infected by something," Amber also realized the horror of the situation, and her tone became quicker, "but do you think that the Duchess Victoria and Prince Edmund have realized that the situation is not right?" They're not stupid......"

"They are indeed not stupid, but if the cultists are operating from grassroots villages and towns, and do not enter the big cities in the middle, bypassing all the direct royal family and second-level fiefdoms, then in just one and a half to two months, the news from all sides will not be collected into the ears of Victoria and Edmund."

Amber's eyes widened, "Why?" ”

Gawain looked at her and paused word by word: "Because 'the vassals of my vassals are not my vassals'." ”

Then he returned to his desk and quickly pulled out a piece of letterhead: "Whether it's too late or not, warn the North - you can pass this letter directly to the Rock Fortress, and let them use the griffon messenger, the fastest griffon messenger to deliver the letter to the Kingdom Army and the Eastern Legion." In addition, all MIA operatives operating in the conflict zone were withdrawn, and they were first evacuated to the Rock Fortress, temporarily quarantined, and subjected to a full set of inspections on magic, curses, and epidemics before entering the city. The same is true for the staff on the Chamber of Commerce. As of today, the Rock Fortress and Glenn Pass are all closed, and all magic towers in the border area are at their highest sensitivity. ”

As he spoke, he quickly wrote down the urgent letter, then continued as he stamped his stamp: "I must return to Cecil City—you go back with me. ”

Amber blinked: "What about the project here?" ”

"The work here is nearing completion, and Bruce Rock and Banner Magister will make sure it's done," Gawain said, "and the most important thing right now is to make sure the south is stable and find a way to understand the situation in the north, where something is wrong...... There's no engineering anymore. ”

After saying that, Gawain thought carefully for a while, looking for if he had missed something, and finally added: "Ask Sonia messengers to go to the western camp, if the situation in the north really deteriorates, and there is a problem on the side of Duke Bodwin Franklin, we will take over the construction of the western camp." ”

He was thinking of the cultists hiding in the wasteland, worried that the situation in the northern region was just a smokescreen for the Society of the End of All Things, and that their real purpose was to destroy the barrier.

……

At the same time, the eastern part of the plains of the Whitsundays, a royally controlled area, a small town.

As the winter snow melts, this year's recovery month seems to be warmer than usual, dripping snow down the roofs and towers, making almost all the roads in the town wet, and residents who have been hiding in their houses for the winter are taking to the streets to plant an ear of wheat that has been preserved from last year in this month of hope, which in Ansu folklore means praying for a full year.

A pair of elven sisters who look almost identical stroll through the streets of the town.

They were beautiful in appearance and gorgeous dresses, and neither their outstanding appearance nor their elf status looked like characters who would appear in such a remote town, but they were like acquaintances in the town, wandering the wet streets.

Pedestrians come and go, some of them seem to ignore the striking elves, while others stop and greet them with a smile.

"It's a good season of recovery," the elven sisters said in unison as they walked and watched, not knowing whether to tell each other or their unique "sloquery": "As soon as the cold days are over, new shoots will soon grow." ”

A man in soldier armor passed by them, stopped slightly, and bowed slightly like a gentleman: "Yes, the sprouts are about to grow." ”

"Your new armor is so beautiful."

The elven sisters laughed and walked briskly through the streets.

On both sides of the street, young women were arranging ears of wheat planted in the doors, men were mending farm implements, craftsmen were drinking and chatting, apprentices yawning out of the house, all with a peaceful smile on their faces, greeting passing elf sisters.

"Good morning, Miss Relna."

"Good morning, Miss Filna."

"Good morning, Uncle Sam - your beard is really spirited."

"Good morning, Aunt Bobby, it's been a great day."

The smile on the elven sisters' faces was bright and bright, and the peasant woman they called Aunt Bobbi stopped her work and straightened up with a little confusion, but the next second she smiled: "Yes, it's a really good day." ”

"Seeing the sun on the first day of the month of recovery means that the next year will fill your belly," the elven sisters said with a big smile, "yes?" ”

The peasant woman's smile became brighter and brighter: "Yes, it will fill ...... stomach"

Everyone laughed brightly.

Men, women, artisans, apprentices, soldiers, civilians, people on the street laughed one after another.

They grinned, and beneath their lips, neat crystals glistened.

（emmmmm…… Ask for a monthly pass!! ）