There were eighteen people in the worship, five women and thirteen men, in the prime of life, including Arabs, Chinese, Europeans and Americans. They were all scarred, their clothes were tattered and dirty, and they were so thin that they seemed to be blown down by a gust of wind. Their expressions were solemn, their emotions were fanatical, their spirits were high, they were trembling with excitement, and their tearful eyes were shining.

Later, the coalition forces found out that the Salvation Army imprisoned captured prisoners, heretics, hostages, etc. on the roof of the building to resist missile strikes, which they called "meat shields" when they were trapped in Ita City. This group of people had a complex group of more than 1,000 members, and they rose up to resist when the city was broken, most of them died tragically under the gun, but a small number of people fled and hid, and were rescued by the coalition forces after the city was broken.

According to survivors' recollections, the scene was very chaotic and a small group of people fled into the depths of the underground tunnel. After the coalition forces broke through the city, they searched for a day, and it is estimated that these eighteen people did not know that the war was over, so they did not run out of the ground.

Eighteen is a special number in Chinese culture, Buddhism has eighteen Arhats, Sui and Tang Dynasties have eighteen heroes, folk have eighteen layers of hell, mountain roads have eighteen bends, and even Yanqu has "eighteen touches". Eighteen plus one becomes nineteen, a prime number that cannot be split and divisible, and becomes an unbreakable whole.

The group carried a swaddling cloth made of rags, and inside it was a newborn baby.

Eighteen plus one equals nineteen!

A few months ago, an American couple was kidnapped by the Salvation Army and later incorporated into the "Meat Shield" ranks. Before the city was broken, the "meat shields" faced execution, and the husband fought to the death to protect his wife, who was supported by the remnants and fled into the corridor, never to be seen again. But there is no doubt that that baby is their child.

The Coalition has always wanted to figure out whether the baby was born before or after the "miracle", and the question is important!

But the answer to this extremely simple question is harder than going to the moon. Because those eighteen people never returned to human society, because the city of Ita could never be approached again.

After the majestic void was gone, a group of people still fell to their knees in the ruins of the square in the center of Ita City. At a height of about ten meters in the center of the square, a "white tower" with a length of not more than a foot hovers in the air, quietly rotating and dazzling.

It is said to be a tower, but it has no pedestals, cornices, bucket arches, shrines, railings, etc., and is more like a huge bamboo tube that shrinks layer by layer, smooth and without any decoration.

As the light emitted by the White Tower gradually softened, a curling mist rose from the ruins and covered the city.

After the sun rose the next day, the coalition forces sent an expedition, and when they were a kilometer away from Ita City, they felt a strong mental pressure, as if a group of guinea pigs were approaching a tiger's den.

In the words of Huaxia Daomen, it is called "coercion"!

Fearing nuclear radiation and air pollution, the expedition team prepared chemical protective suits, which did not play any role at all. The mental pressure was so terrifying that even the blood was almost frozen, and it was difficult to advance an inch after struggling to survive only a hundred meters from the city.

There was a strong soldier who did not believe in evil, thinking that as long as he passed the last limit of the human body, everything would be better, so he used the inertia of running to sprint. But he only advanced ten steps before he fell to the ground, and after being dragged back by his companions with ropes, he became a vegetative person.

The coalition forces also wanted to send drones to enter the fog barrier to reconnoitre, but they were urgently stopped by the above.

The hollow that leads directly to the starry sky, the white tower that hovers in the air without power, the terrifying spiritual coercion, and the fog barrier that envelops everything...... Everything deeply shocked the high-level of human beings and subverted the three views.

In this situation, it is like a toy tank breaking into the kingdom of ants. Incredible, powerless to fight. Since the other party did not show hostility, how dare they provoke it?

As a result, everything related to the city of Ita was classified as top secret, and a cordon was set up ten miles away from the city, and 3,000 heavy troops were stationed there. Externally, it is advertised that the air, soil and water here are all polluted by biological and chemical weapons released by the Salvation Army, and it is a forbidden area for life.

Many people saw the "miracle" that day, and despite the harsh gag orders issued by the coalition forces, there was still gossip circulating in society. In this regard, the later Earth Federal Government blocked all of them, and they really couldn't refute the rumors. Anyway, no one will be able to enter Ita City, and the hollow wind will not last long.

Watch cautiously and keep your distance!

This is the Federation's strategy against Ita, which has become a "holy city".

The white fog changes with the waxing and waning of the moon each month, reaching its thickest on the night of the full moon and then thinning in turn. On the night of the full moon, the spiritual pressure coming out of the city is also the strongest, and the white tower is full of light, reaching a height of more than 100 zhang, and the shadow appears in the fog.

After a long period of research, federal experts came to a conclusion. The White Tower resembles an intelligent life that absorbs energy as the Earth's magnetic field changes. It can't move, it's healing. When it is in a good state, it will radiate an electromagnetic wave that is almost undetectable by the instrument far and wide, similar to human wireless search.

Why can't you get out of here, why do you get hurt, what are you looking for?

Nobody knows!

At first, experts thought that the White Pagoda was just a phantom. Because it has no power to levitate, it is hidden and appearing, sometimes large and sometimes small.

Thirteen years later, however, this judgment has become uncertain.

There was enough grain in the city of Ita, and the eighteen men cultivated the land and provided food. As the years go by, everyone seems to have superpowers, infinite strength, walking like the wind, and they don't need to rest and sleep anymore. For most of the day, they spend most of their day praying around the White Pagoda or entering into a meditative state.

The baby who was in the swaddling clothes grew into a fair girl with bright eyes and bright teeth, and became the leader of that group of people.

Thirteen years later, on a summer night, before the full moon, the White Pagoda seemed to be awakened from a deep sleep, and it swelled unusually rapidly, reaching a height of more than 300 zhang.

The wind howled, the ruins of the square flew sand and rocks, and the thick fog that covered the city of Ita was swept away.

The tower rotated faster and faster, the white light flickered, and it seemed to be entering a state of madness, and the chaotic emotions of surprise, anger, and sadness spread to all around.

In geosynchronous orbit directly above Ita City, a Federation surveillance satellite hovered silently, which the White Tower had previously ignored. But tonight, with a violent spiritual force rising into the sky, the satellite fell like a meteor.

The city of Ita and the surrounding area are enveloped in increasingly chaotic and violent emotions, and gradually tend to get out of control......

Even in the barracks, which was 10 kilometers away, the soldiers were all awakened, nervous, and standing with their guns in their hands.

Eighteen people were prostrate on the ground, praying anxiously, not daring to look up.

The girl braved the howling wind and walked to the center of the square.

A pillar of light shot out from the base of the White Tower, and then ...... She soared into the air and flew into the tower.

The White Tower gradually quieted down, and by dawn it had returned to normal, retracting to a height of about ten meters, and the wind had stopped and the fog had risen.

The girl reappeared in the middle of the ruins, pale and haggard, but her eyes were as bright as stars.

Later, she entered the White Tower more and more often, stayed longer and longer, and sometimes even did not go out for more than ten days.

Experts feel that this situation is like communicating with the gods in religious ceremonies, and the girl is the medium.

Since then, the federal government has designated 50 kilometers around the city of Ita as a no-fly zone, and even satellites are not allowed to fly by.

The 3,000 soldiers stationed in Ita were officially out of the control of the federal government from that time.

In fact, they have been quietly changing, but not as obvious as the eighteen people in Ita City.

They are becoming more and more silent, physically stronger, and no one has ever been sick. More than ten years have passed, but they don't even have a trace of aging on their faces.

They increasingly resemble ascetic monks, legendary guardians of the Sanctuary.

This is an army of three thousand supermen!

They abandoned the name of the peacekeeping force, did not listen to the tune, did not listen to the announcement, did not accept the inspection, became a self-contained, and named themselves - the Holy Knights!

They expanded the defense area to 50 kilometers away, and family and friends came to settle here one after another, becoming a country within a state.

The federal government's access to information about Ita City was broken, but it did not take it seriously, and even acquiesced in conniving at this kind of rebellion, still providing huge supplies, sophisticated weapons supplies, and a perimeter guard and information blockade.

This is obviously a loss-making deal, who knows!