The parallel world where Xiao Ai is located.

......

The star of Hyperion, the ruins of the royal court.

The sky was dark, the water was filled, the wind carried the rain to wreak havoc on the land, and the disheveled coniferous trees shivered in the torrential rain.

On the rain-washed road, survivors who survived the cataclysm are running wildly in the pouring rain - a group of plasma-like shadow centipedes are chasing after them, getting closer and closer...... Getting closer......

"Whew...... Whew......"

The middle-aged man led by him was panting violently, running as hard as he could, his whole body became hot and unbearable because of the strenuous exercise, but his heart was cold.

Before the Cataclysm, he was a senior mechanical engineer in the Empire, not only did he have no worries about food and clothing, but also had a large number of loyal cyborg servants, enjoying abundant material resources, and living happily like a god......

However, on that day two years ago, everything changed, and the endless light destroyed everything.

The Menes Empire, which once ruled the entire galaxy, has lost the territory, civilization, and technology that they are proud of...... Productivity has regressed directly to the level of the Middle Ages, and even the living space of the home planet is being eroded by ghosts.

Those who survived the catastrophe hid in the shelters established by the empire every day, living like rats without seeing the light of day. Not only do you have to go hungry, but you also have to worry about being discovered by ghosts from time to time, and try to avoid being reduced to food as much as possible.

Only when supplies are scarce to the limit do they dare to organize and leave the shelter to look for supplies in the outside world.

This time, due to the lack of supplies, they risked their lives to explore the ruins of the royal court, trying to scavenge for something useful.

Although the royal court has been searched by the survivors over and over again, after all, this is the most prosperous area in the past, and there is still soup and water left in Baobu. It would be nice to find something like a generator or a battery, and a little bit would be enough to get a lot of food.

However, no one expected that as soon as they entered the former site of the royal court, they encountered an unexpected rainstorm. In the raging storm, the ghosts that had been dormant for a long time also poured out of the nest, killing dozens of people on the spot. And, judging by their hot pursuit, it doesn't seem to be about letting go of the remnants either.

"Hey, come here!" suddenly came a faint shout from inside the ruined palace of the royal court.

When the survivors heard this voice, they all became excited as if they had been beaten with chicken blood, and their speed was much faster.

"It's the hunters! we're saved!" the middle-aged man wiped the rain from his face, looked at the cannon barrel set up in front of the palace door, and shouted in surprise and joy.

"Come on, run to the palace in front and you can survive!"

"Run, run, run!"

The survivors roared, their faces flushed, and ran wildly in the direction of the palace by kicking the rain.

At this moment, inside the broken palace gate, a burly bald man wearing white mechanical armor walked out.

He walked straight to the barrel of the cannon, looked at the survivors who were still hundreds of meters away, estimated their distance from the ghosts, and felt that these people would be killed by the ghosts before they could run here. So he immediately raised his fists and shouted at the survivors in the rainstorm:

"Get down! Get down!"

The loud voice reached everyone's ears through the thunderstorm, and without saying a word, they immediately rushed forward and threw themselves to the ground, and then lay directly on the muddy ground.

"Die, you filthy flying worms!"

The strong man sank his waist and lowered his hips, and the silver flame of light instantly circled the peak of his fist, his eyes locked on the ghost in front of him that was crushed like a dark cloud, and his arms suddenly swung out a flickering afterimage.

Boom Boom Boom!

Hundreds of streamlined rays of light burst out from in front of him like a curtain of rain, shooting towards the swarming ghosts in front of him.

"Roaring ——!"

The flames of light that lit up half of the sky all blasted towards the ghosts, blasting out large shards and scattering the shadow-like giant centipedes.

Immediately afterwards, the barrel next to the strong man also began to adjust the angle, and automatically fired continuously.

Bang bang——!

Centered on the scattered group of ghosts, the ground was instantly engulfed by white light, and pillars of silver-white fire continued to rise on the surface of the earth, and the intense flames of light exploded continuously, spreading layer by layer like ripples, and the monsters evaporated as quickly as thin ice on fire.

Seconds later, a charred crater engulfed all the ghosts.

......

"Thank you!"

"Without you, we would have become food for ghosts, and we are very grateful. ”

"Thanks to meeting two hunters, thank you for your help. ”

In the ruins of the palace, the survivors came to the two hunters and thanked them from the bottom of their hearts.

"It's nothing, it's rare to see a living person, and if you can help, you can help. ”

The strong man smiled heartily, and then introduced himself: "My name is Simon, as you can see, I am a ghost hunter, I kill ghosts without charge, I am a hunter who is interested." If there's a ghost haunting your settlement, I can clear it for you for free. “

At this, he paused, pointed to the red-haired woman beside him, and said, "She's Helena, my wife, and a ghost hunter, and we usually act together. ”

Seeing that they were so enthusiastic, the middle-aged man at the head hurriedly introduced himself: "My name is Lerick, I used to be a mechanical engineer, and I am good at repairing cutting-edge weapons. If you have any weapons and equipment that need to be maintained, I might be able to help...... Don't look at me like this, in fact, I used to develop fourth-generation infantry mechs! ”

When he heard that he called himself a mechanical engineer, the strong man's face was expressionless, and his heart was unmoved, after all, he had seen too many parallel goods over the years, and now as long as he could repair a wheel, he dared to call himself a mechanical engineer. It wasn't until Lerick said that he used to develop mechas, that he showed an impressive expression and said excitedly:

"You really know how to fix mechs!?"

"Mecha within four generations, I can repair it casually. Lerick said confidently.

"Can the saber-toothed tiger series be repaired?" the bald hunter hurriedly asked.

"Yes, the Sabertooth Tiger series is a third-generation aircraft, and to me it is like a building block. Lerick nodded. Say you can handle it.

"Great! Why don't you join us? ”

The strong man hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders, put on a good posture of the brothers, and then stretched out his other hand and raised three fingers in front of him: "There are three saber-toothed tigers in our base, if you can fix it, we will allocate you 10 kilograms of wheat, two liters of water, two hundred grams of chicken and five grams of salt every day." ”

"Really!?" Lerick was moved.

Ten kilograms of wheat a day, I can finally eat enough!

And five grams of salt! In the past two years, he has been hungry and full all day long, and he has almost forgotten what salty tastes like; he can fade out of his mouth, and he can eat salt every day in the future, how comfortable it is.

On top of that, they actually gave meat back to eat...... If you really eat meat, you can work 12 hours a day.

"Of course it's true. ”

The strong man patted his chest to ensure that he would never fool, and then his face sank, and his facial muscles squeezed out a gloomy expression: "I warn you, we are serious, if you dare to lie to us...... I'll pull out your bones one by one!"

Lerick was taken aback by him, and hurriedly said, "I'm not lying! But the premise of repair is to have tools!"

"Okay, you can follow us in the future. The red-haired woman bowed her head slightly, revealing a look of satisfaction.

"Before I go with you...... Could you please send my companion back?" asked Lerick tentatively.

"No problem. The strong man readily agreed.

One-one-one-one-one-one

After returning his companions to the sanctuary and saying goodbye to them, Lerick joins Simon and Helena's party and follows them back to the ruins of the royal court.

After a brief exchange, Lerick learns that the two of them have come to the royal court to find the thousand-year-old artifact that opens the Gate of Light.

They believe that if they can find the legendary thousand-year-old artifact, they will be able to connect with the Sun King, who disappeared many years ago...... As long as that majesty can be found, then the holy Menes Empire will definitely be able to restore the glory of its heyday!

This kind of thinking, among the remaining elites of the empire, is basically a consensus.

All of them have witnessed the glory of the Menes Empire, seen the vast territory of the empire with their own eyes, and enjoyed an incomparably abundant material life. Let's ask, from such a prosperous living environment to the end of the current struggle to survive, who does not miss the prosperity of the past?

The combination of the elite's yearning for a better life and their inability to reverse the reality of the end times has led them to hope for a miracle.

Because of this, for those who are struggling in the end times, the thousand-year-old artifact rumored to be able to connect with the Sun King has become a symbol of faith.

Even Lerick believed that the Millennial Hallows would bring back the vanished Sun King—the Lord of Light and Fire, who would reignite the flames of hope.

......

The royal court, the ruins of the mirror corridor.

The ruined corridor is thousands of meters long, and it is extremely huge, even if there are gray-white ruins left, you can see the exquisite beauty of the past.

It's a pity that the gorgeous and mysterious curtain wall and lighting have been destroyed to pieces...... Simon, Helena, and Lerick walked in it as if they were walking on a rocky beach, with their feet clattering.

After walking out of the mirror corridor, there is a holy white staircase that winds upwards in front of you, with thousands of steps.

At the end of the stone steps, there is the former sleeping palace of the royal court.

The dormitory has suffered irreparable damage, and the upper part has been neatly cut in half, and the section is smooth and clear, as if it was cut flat with a sharp blade. On the left side of the palace lies rotten furniture, most of which are broken to a disfigure, and occasionally two pieces of metalwork, which are also difficult to recycle.

Most of the interior of the palace was completely empty - all the useful items had been swept by the survivors, leaving them with nothing.

Lerick carefully climbed to the top and stood there overlooking the royal court, and found that most of the buildings below were in dilapidation, as if they had been run over by something, and some were only a pile of stone ruins...... Further afield, the whole city became a vast no-man's land, doubly desolate by the torrential rain.

The entire royal city of the Menes Empire was dead silent, without a sound, faintly echoing with the sound of rain washing, and occasionally a gust of wind blew the dead branches and leaves that covered the ground several times.

"How's it going, have you found anything?" asked Helena, holding a small detector to the left side of the dormitory.

Simon crawled out of the pile of rotting furniture with his bare hands and sighed regretfully, "Nothing...... The royal court was so clean that not even a single piece of toilet paper was left. If there was a thousand-year-old artifact, it would have been taken away by other people a long time ago. There is no point in tossing like this, and it is easy to attract ghosts, so I suggest retreating. ”

"No!" Helena directly rejected his suggestion: "We have only come to the royal court with great difficulty, we can't just go home empty-handed! Besides, how could such a secret thing as a thousand-year-old holy artifact be found casually." ”

"Okay, okay, you're up to you. Domon replied curtly.

Boom ——!

There was a sudden thunderous roar outside the palace, and the white ash on the heads of the three people in the dormitory was suddenly shaken down, and the walls that experienced the wind were also like molting, and a large number of debris were scattered.

”

。 m.