Amber leaves, Gawain quietly stares at Veronica/Ophelia, who still looks calm, while Pitman stands quietly, eyes slightly squinted, as if closing his eyes.

"I thought you'd go with you," Veronica said to Gawain, "after all, the 'guard' you seem to care about." ”

"I know her, and she'd prefer to be quiet for a while now," Gawain said, "and I have something to say to you before then." ”

“…… The Rebels are a bunch of bigoted and fanatical deviants, and so are our plans," Veronica said calmly before Gawain could speak, "We try to be as human as possible in our plans, but human nature alone cannot stand against the gods and the end - sometimes some of our methods can seem as cold-blooded and cruel to you as those cultists, I hope you know." ”

"Don't worry, I'm well aware of this, the Divine Iniquity Project that Kamel was involved in is not fundamentally different from the 'Shadow Project', and these projects have some similarities with the methods of the Society of the End of Everything," Gawain shook his head, "The difference is that you are at least trying to maintain your humanity. ”

"It's no different—at least for someone like Miss Amber."

"She'll calm down, it's just that what happened today is too much for her," Gawain said, "I have some questions for you." ”

Veronica nodded, "Please speak." ”

"Surrey Randolph has taken orders from Francis Moen to travel to the Dark Mountains in search of the Shadowkeep—why did Francis II know about the existence of the Shadowkeep?"

This is a very critical question, the disobedience plan is one of the greatest secrets left by the ancient Gondor Empire, but not many people know about this secret, so why did the young Francis II know about the existence of the Shadow Fortress? He even had a pair of Shadow Rings in his hands to open the fortress - Surrey Randolph's mission was so highly classified that even the Duke Regent didn't know about it, does this mean that Francis II had a secret contact with an ancient rebel and thus had a clue to the Shadow Fortress?

Although the reign of Ansu has ended, and what secrets Francis II once had are no longer important today, this matter involves a plan of disobedience, and Gawain really can't help but ask a few more words.

"My 'father'......" Veronica shook her head with a soft sigh as she heard Francis II's name, "I don't know where he learned about the Shadow Fortress, but from what I've seen and judged, he doesn't know about the disobedience plan. ”

"Your observations and judgments?" Gawain keenly grasped another layer of meaning in Veronica's words, "Did you also suspect that he knew about the disobedience plan?" ”

"He has a Shadow Seal Ring in his hand, which is enough to make me interested," Veronica said nonchalantly, "but after investigating, I found out that he only regarded the Shadow Seal Ring as a powerful and extraordinary piece of equipment, so I thought that he had just acquired an ancient legacy by chance - the creations of the Ancient Gondor Empire were taken out of the wasteland with the pioneer troops back then, and there are still many scattered here and there, and the situation is not exceptional." But after hearing all these things you said today, I have a new guess......"

Gawain raised his eyebrows: "New speculation? ”

"He owns the Shadow Ring, and knows that the ring is the key to unlocking the Shadow Fortress, but just as he doesn't know the connection between the ring and the plan of disobedience, he probably doesn't know the secret behind the Shadow Fortress - he probably only knows that the fortress hides a great power or some kind of treasure, both of which were very attractive to the young king, not to mention that he was desperate to change his puppet situation," Veronica said in a coherent manner. And these incomplete clues and those two seals...... Maybe someone with ulterior motives deliberately revealed it to him. ”

Gawain frowned: "People with ulterior motives? ”

“…… There may be rebels other than me and Kamel," Veronica said, "We don't dare to die until the ultimate goal is achieved—even if the tide breaks out and the empire is destroyed, there will be more than one stubborn ghost crawling out of that wasteland to continue the plan of the year, and these 'ghosts' are probably the most dangerous if they exist." ”

There was a moment of silence between the two.

Although what Veronica said was all inference, after all, she had been in contact with Francis II for so many years as a "daughter", and her judgment was extremely credible in Gawain's opinion, and the situation she said was ...... It really seems to be the most likely explanation.

There are other rebels still active in the world, and she or he has secretly approached Francis II, but they are clearly not looking for an ally like Veronica/Ophelia - they are just using the young king as a pawn to open the ancient Shadow Fortress through the hands of Francis II and get what they want - but the omission of information has led to serious consequences, and the mysterious disobedient simply cuts the line as soon as the royal shadow guard with the Shadow Seal Ring is gone.

After that, Francis II did not get any follow-up information about the Shadow Fortress and the disobedience plan, and his private actions could not be known to the Duke Regent at the time, so the matter was finally settled, no one knew that the king had sent the royal shadow guard to find any ancient relics, and the Shadow Seal Ring with special powers was also packaged by the king as a powerful magic item obtained by coincidence - if Francis's ability to make up stories was higher, He may have even packaged the ring as a family heirloom: the Moen family was so extensive before the Second Dynasty that they had a large number of Gondor relics, and Francis II, who was an illegitimate child, had access to a portion of the Moen heritage, so this lie was very difficult to debunk.

If all this is true, then there is a key question: who wants to borrow the "legacy" of Shadowkeep from Francis II, or more directly - who wanted to fight Amber decades ago?

Veronica saw Gawain's thoughts, and said casually: "Just think about what the greatest value of 'Android 36' is in the field of technology, it is not difficult to guess who is fighting her idea." ”

“…… The highest crystallization of biochemical technology," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, "is the end of all things—the clues are finally connected." ”

The clues are finally connected -

Gawain already knew that there was a shadow of the disobedient plan behind the end of all things, and the Crystal Cluster Disaster they set off was proof of this, and those Crystal Cluster Giants were essentially the continuation of the "Divine Sin" project, so there was no doubt that they still had part of the inheritance of the disobedient plan within them!

It is for this reason that it is not surprising that one or two of them have survived to this day, the ghosts of these survivors of the demon tide...... Tried to get in touch with the Ansu royal family decades ago, and they not only co-opted and used Edmund Moen, but also attacked Francis II!

And all of this, by chance, changed the fate of Surrey Randolph, bringing Amber from that subspace fortress to the real world......

A few years later, Amber accidentally loosened Gawain Cecil's coffin board and released Gawain, who was reborn in possession, which eventually led to the destruction of the Society of the Dead.

"Fate is really an inexplicable thing," Gawain's mind flashed through this chain of countless coincidences and inevitabilities, and he couldn't help but sigh, "but anyway...... All things will eventually perish. ”

"It is the end of all things that perish, but the 'ghosts' always return from death," Veronica reminded, "Please don't let your guard down so easily...... A large cult of darkness will have countless severed limbs and severed arms that will continue to operate in the ruins after its destruction, and if a ghost with enough patience survives, these severed limbs are likely to gather and be reborn. ”

"Your metaphor is peculiar, but you do have a point—the Empire will continue to exterminate the cultists, and I will never let my guard down in this regard," Gawain said with a serious expression, then raised his head and glanced at the mechanical watch hanging on the wall, "...... It's almost time, and I should go and see how Amber is doing. ”

Veronica bowed her head deeply: "Please take care of yourself." ”

"Hmm." Gawain hummed and turned to leave, but before he could take a step, he heard Veronica's voice coming from behind him:

"From your point of view, what do you think of our actions in the Shadowkeep?"

Gawain didn't look back, and after a moment of thought, he spoke in a deep voice: "Do you remember what you once said to me?" About sacrifice—"

"The appearance of every victim only proves our incompetence."

"Remember that, even if you're experimenting on yourself."

"This is the principle of the disobedient."

Gawain nodded and walked out of the hall.

Veronica watched in the direction Gawain had left, the platinum scepter in her hand releasing a slight white light under the stirring of the holy light.

She spoke softly, her voice low as if she were whispering, "If it was in the days of Gondor...... You're going to be a good disobedient......"

Pitman raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at Veronica, "You 'rebels' are quite persistent in your career. ”

"We are all ghosts who have long been damned, and we are still stubborn and refuse to leave, precisely because of this persistence."

"And when are you ghosts going to die completely?"

“…… When you die without regrets. ”

Pitman shrugged his shoulders and put his hands behind his back, his rickety body slowly leaving, leaving a mutter, "All in all, don't bother Amber." ”

……

The night breeze blew the flags over the terrace, the cold air from the north swirled between the towers and portals of the castle, and the sounds of music and celebration from the banquet hall and courtyard echoed in the wind, with a sense of distance, and clearly reached Gawain's ears.

He came to the uninhabited terrace, walked straight to the edge, and said casually, "This is what you call blowing the wind?" ”

Amber's figure emerged in the darkness, and she sat on her knees on the ground without raising her head: "Is there something wrong?" ”

Gawain glanced at the "half-elf", then looked around her, and didn't know how hard it took to maintain the calm tone: "If I had known that you had brought three plates of cakes, four plates of peanuts, four plates of melon seeds, two plates of candied fruit, five portions of barbecue and three bottles of wine when you came to blow the wind, I would never have come." ”

Amber glanced up at Gawain and raised her hand: "I also took two chicken legs - you came just after nibbling one......"

“…… So I'm supposed to leave you here to dry for the night," Gawain glared at the guy, "It's going to take a lot of work to go around the inner and outer banquet halls to collect all that stuff and pack it up, right?" ”

"Actually, it's okay, I have a ...... to ask my subordinates to help"

Gao Wen stared at this incredible "half-elf" with an incredible mode of action for a long time, and finally didn't understand whether to throw this guy off the terrace, so he could only sigh with a smile: "This is your attitude of thinking about life?" ”

This time, Amber finally fell silent for a few seconds and let out a rare sigh: "I'm thinking, but I haven't figured it out yet......"

"What do you want to think about?" Gawain walked over to Amber, "Tell me about it." ”

"Cyborg......" Amber muttered, "Am I still a normal person, you say?" ”

"It depends on how you feel - have you encountered any abnormal circumstances in your life so far because of your identity as an 'artificial human'?"

“…… I have to say that I have such a strong talent for shadows, and I ...... stealing things."

Gawain: "......"

"Bookmark for easy reading"