When he looked around, he noticed that Ms. Alice didn't seem to be there.

Richard was stunned. I'm afraid that with the status of that witch, it is not enough to accompany him.

The beautiful scenery around him gradually dissipated - it was as if the player would appear after logging into the game for the first time to attract people, but how the game itself was was another matter - the "true face" of this virtual world finally appeared in front of him.

……

What catches your eye is the rows of seats. And Richard is now sitting in one of the seats.

At a cursory glance, there are at least a thousand seats here, like an auditorium that can accommodate thousands of people.

The seats all floated in the dark space of the void, circling in descending order, spiraling downward. He couldn't help but look down at his feet, and what he saw was, as expected, an infinite universe like an abyss. This made Richard instinctively nervous.

"It's pretty realistic......"

He subconsciously grabbed the armrest of the seat, and even the cold metal touch seemed so real.

Richard noticed that the further down he went, the denser the chairs in the void became, like scattered stars over the dark night.

And where he is located is in the second series of seats from top to bottom, there are a total of twenty-two seats. He looked up, and there were seven more seats on top, floating silently.

Now, with the exception of Richard, both rows are empty.

The seat below Richard looks like it's all plain bluestone, with an inverted cross symbol inlaid on the back; Richard's sequence, on the other hand, is carved from sterling silver; The top seat material is gold. And in the two supernatal sequences, there are different marks on the back of each chair, in addition to the reverse cross, and they are distinguished by bright colors and properties.

Whether it's the design of the environment or the structure of the location, the mind that this place reveals is clear at a glance.

"Really concise and easy to understand hierarchy ......"

According to Richard's knowledge, the "presiding priest" and "apostle" were the top of the Reverse Cross organization. Lady Alice calls herself the main priest, which already indicates his status. The seats under the second sequence presumably belong to the priests scattered in all corners of the world.

He looked around. Using his visionary abilities, Richard discovered that the data barriers around the virtual space were thicker than he had imagined. But this is a matter of course, and if the meeting place of the world's most powerful criminal association was not secrecy and protective enough, it would have ceased to exist long ago.

In this day and age, being away from the real world doesn't mean being safe. If you don't take good security measures, it is easy to be invaded by others and eventually be disposed of.

Richard's gaze couldn't help but look up again.

Are those seven seats the apostolic position of a higher rank than the main priest?

...... Wait, isn't that an exaggeration? Even the legendary wizard can only be in the second sequence? Could it be that those who sit on it are "anointed" or "saints"? Doesn't that mean that this association can easily subvert several secular states and the Orthodox Church?

He frowned subconsciously. Richard soon discovered that there was an identical data barrier around his chair, which meant that the identities of the members were kept secret during the gathering of this nefarious organization...... At least in theory.

This is in line with the practice of criminal associations. He had heard that the internal structure of the Reverse Cross was relatively loose, after all, it was a group of unruly and inhumane criminals who had gathered, and it was difficult to say what kind of collective consciousness there would be. The members of the bad nature do not stay together all the time to become united, it is good that they do not stumble on each other; Moreover, the members of the Reverse Cross themselves come from all over the world, and are spread across all religions, making it more of a place to trade than a well-organized group.

Therefore, when the Steppenwolf Council learned that the attacker of the fireside meeting was directed by members of the Reverse Cross behind the scenes, and he was also the highest-ranking apostle, no one was nervous, and Longman Hall even bluntly said that the other party was a "lost dog". Because this association has tentacles and a huge number of people that can spread to the whole world, but it has hardly acted collectively.

In fact, no one even knows what the aims and purposes of this organization are, except for the high-ranking members of the Anti-Cross...... It's a miracle that it can be built.

At this time, Miss Real Name opened her mouth to say to him.

"Sir, the pattern on the back of your chair looks like a wheel or a disc."

It seems that the seats belonging to the priest and the apostles have completely different patterns behind them. Richard believed that this was their symbol, a code name, a symbol.

Then, if everyone communicates in the form of code names, Richard's reason for appearing in the second sequence is understandable: after all, with the dark character of Rasputin that he knew, even if he really had the opportunity, he would not be willing to be one of the seven apostles.

The leaders of the Cross are, without exception, evil people who have committed heinous crimes and who are on the highest level of alert and wanted in all secular kingdoms and churches. In a position like this, Rasputin definitely didn't want to sit on it. His apparent identity is the leader of the Wizard Tower, which is much better than being the big villain in the limelight. Comparatively speaking, the main priest who is not so conspicuous, does not need to reveal his true body, and is also one of the top echelons of the organization, is obviously more suitable for him. This does not mean that Rasputin is weaker than the apostles.

But then again, if the apostles were weak in name, Rasputin probably wouldn't be willing to be under them. This shows that the seven people sitting in the first sequence do have the power to make legendary wizards feel jealous; Moreover, there is probably more than one person who has the same idea as him in the "reverse cross".

The other side of "Longtan Tiger's Den" means the place of "Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger".

……

Just as Richard was thinking and recalling about the internal power structure of the Reverse Cross, he suddenly heard a voice from above him talking -

"There are really fewer and fewer people willing to come to regular gatherings."

It was a young man's sigh, and it sounded slightly frivolous. But not sure if it's a real human voice.

Richard didn't rush to raise his head, but first glanced around and down. On the scattered seats below, you can still faintly see many figures. Just their voices. It's like being cut off from another world by a thick layer of glass, and you can't hear clearly. It is not known if Ms. Alice is among them.

He looked up at the endless darkness of the sky, suspended above one of the seven seats in the sky, and slowly emerged a figure made of dotted lines, unable to distinguish the exact size, gender, or age. In the eyes of the other party, he is probably the same image.

"When the people's hearts are scattered, the team will be difficult to lead."

He replied lightly.

"But, that's a good thing."

"Haha, that's right. If one day this place is full of people, I am afraid that it will be terrible news for the whole world, and Your Majesty and Your Majesty will have trouble sleeping. ”

The voice replied with a laugh.

…… No, I just want to show that I'm a lone ranger. Richard thought to himself.

At this moment, another seat located on the celebratory sequence lit up, outlining a new outline.

This time, Richard could clearly see that beneath the contoured seat was a figure wearing a black hood hanging upside down from a wooden frame. That's the symbol of the new members.

Hanging man upside down?

Thinking of the symbol behind him and the number of 22 chairs in the priest's seat, Richard thought thoughtfully.

"Oh, it looks like Mr. Hangman has arrived."

The flirtatious male voice said.

After the hanged man nodded to the two of them, he stopped moving.

The three of them waited in silence for several minutes before the man's voice rang out in the void again.

"Forget it, I'm afraid no one will come, so don't wait." Mr. Apostle naturally began to preside over this little meeting, "Although there were only three of us present, it just so happened that what we had been doing lately was the same thing. Let's start the meeting. Is there any information that needs to be exchanged? ”

Richard and the hanging man opposite looked at each other. Then, the hanged man was the first to speak. Judging by the voice, it was probably an old man.

"Lord Preacher, your chosen 'boarder' has taken advantage of the visit of the Rhine nobles' delegation to successfully infiltrate the top floor of the Magic Tower. And as you planned, the curse broke out successfully at the meeting, when no one had time to stop it. ”

As soon as this person came up to speak, he gave Richard a "surprise".

"Unfortunately, the end result is not what you expected. There were more than thirty wizards gathered at the fireside meeting, but none of them were cursed to death. ”

"Oh?"

The apostle, known as the "Preacher," inquired with interest.

"Did Rorel Garcia lift the curse? I didn't expect that after my specially modified 'Latent Spell Mark', she would be able to weave a counter-spell...... It seems that I underestimated her, and she is really old and strong. ”

"No, it wasn't him who removed the curse, it was Novich Raspuchin."

“...... Raspuchin? ”

The smile in the preacher's voice retracted. After a while, he spoke slowly.

"I remember being a legend in the realm of psychics. How did he do it? Do you use your own contract spirits? What kind of spirit can ......?"

"No, it's not. Everyone on the tower saw that Rasputin had not summoned any spirits. ”

There was a chill in the voice of the upside-down hanger.

"He blocked the curse with just one hand, didn't use the magic circle, didn't chant the incantation. I believe that this is just some kind of self-triggered talisman on the other party, right? ”