Before dawn, in the midst of the mountain trails that should be beautiful during the day, there is a group of people moving silently.

The black-clad brigade was silent, thirteen brown coffins on their shoulders, steady, gently.

"Smack!"

The remote hill was not high, and the funeral team soon reached the top.

Shovel after spade, sand and gravel were sprinkled into the pit, and coffins without bodies were buried one by one.

Except for a few men in black who wielded shovels, the others just watched silently, with no gunshots and no music.

The Keepers don't need these extras, they understand what it means to die.

What they fear is that death doesn't end it.

The coffins were as empty as ever, and most of the Secret Keepers themselves were high sources of pollution, and their bodies had long since been destroyed.

The clothes in the mound can't be touched too much, and the tomb robbers know that there is nothing in the graveyard of the keeper.

"Perhaps, soon, I will also be buried here......."

Watching the sand sprinkled into the deep pit, Xia Qin in the crowd was a little in a trance.

She saw that on other hills, tombstones were already erected.

It seems that it won't be long before the Authority is looking for a new hill.

"Salute."

The host's voice interrupted Xia Qin's thoughts.

The uniform salute is over, and the ceremony ends.

None of the eulogies? For polluters, words are a curse in themselves.

Past experience proves that the unanimous and emotional eulogy of the "polluters", accumulated too much, is also a kind of pollution, very deadly pollution.

"Go all the way to ....."

"Brother, let's drink together in the next life."

But rules are rules, people are people, and the secret keepers whispered their wishes.

And among all the "wishes", the most is still ......

“....... I will remember you. ”

Information is a kind of pollution, and remembering the lives of comrades-in-arms is probably the only thing that polluters can do.

"I will remember you, Xiaomin, Xie Wancheng, Ah Long, Min Te'an......."

Of the thirteen coffins, four were the third squad of the Zion District.

The establishment of ten people, after this incident, two more "retired", and Xia Qin, the captain, only had two soldiers under him.

The deputy team Xia Qin turned positive, and he just received an urgent notice.

The original captain died in battle, and most of the other squads were vacant, so they couldn't be transferred to the captain level at all.

Most of the other squads were like this, and the seventh squad was directly canceled, and the personnel were supplemented to other squads.

Originally, it was a junior deputy team, and it was directly promoted to captain without assessment, which actually meant that the Authority was extremely short of personnel, and the official combat power of the ancient city was reduced again.

"Eventful......"

Looking at the coffin on the landfill, Xia Qin naturally remembered the ZZZ-level pollution incident half a month ago, the night that almost wiped out the third team........

In the arena shaped by white jade, the rostrum is a pleasant holy beast, the audience is full of all kinds of demons and monsters, but the main actors are pathetic humans.

Two Keepers are fighting brutally, guns and swords wreaking havoc on wounds and plague.

The older one clutched his wounded chest, already cornered by his younger apprentice.

The rules of the secret realm are simple and crude, the first one is to fight in pairs, the winner lives, and the weak die.

"The great mother tree, I, the rusty axe, am willing to sacrifice ten years of life in exchange for strength ......"

But how could the weak be willing to die, he prayed to the mother tree and activated the second rule - exchange life for strength.

The old Keeper of Secrets grew older, but he gained a surge of power.

The situation was reversed, but how could the original winner be willing......

“...... I can sacrifice too, I'm younger....."

The end result was the continuous sacrifice of life on both sides, and the death of the old man became part of the Mother Tree Icon, becoming an "illustration" of the truth of the Lord of the Secret Realm.

The victor loses most of his life and becomes the new old man....... Among the thirteen victims, two of them died of old age shortly after they came out of the secret realm.

In the midst of desperation, everyone is waiting for death and helplessly waiting for the disaster to spread.

The result was actually doomed from the beginning, and the three squads of the highest fourth-order secret keepers could not stop the ninth-order quasi-god's plan to ascend to the heavens at all.

One by one, familiar figures are forced to "link life" with those closest to them, and then usher in the end of life or society.

Until the emaciated teenager came.

He smiled, and he uttered wild words that no one dared to say.

"I'm going to challenge you...... Yes, that big cat with a silly smile is you. Quasi-gods? Hehe, that's great. ”

Outcome? Beyond everyone's expectations, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was .....

"I traded all my life for strength. Since you say that the Mother Goddess is loving and looks after every child equally, then she will not let the weak have no chance of victory, take away all my life, let me see if your love is real......."

The figures that suddenly appeared in front of him interrupted Xia Qin's memories.

They were a group of old people with staggering steps, and they were going up the mountain with their heads down, while the other secret keepers were silently descending the mountain.

The two teams intersected with each other, but there was no communication, and it was clear that not long ago they were colleagues and comrades-in-arms.

"Is there only seven......

These are all former young people, aging "victors" in the secret realm, and they have just completed the procedures for early retirement.

The funeral procession became more and more silent, and there was a faint cry behind them, a very painful and hoarse cry.

No one looked back, no blame or reprimand, but the two teams went their own way to each other.

Some people can continue to move forward, while others stop after weeping bitterly.

Xia Qin took a deep breath and continued to walk.

"Captain, we need to talk about the guy you're watching."

As soon as I got back to the office, someone approached me.

It is Thunder Fire Blade, one of the only three remaining members of his team.

At the same time, he has always opposed his own "regulation" proposals.

"He's very dangerous, very dangerous, I'm not saying that his ability, to be able to survive in that secret realm, his ability will definitely be quite over-spec, but the most dangerous thing is himself."

Xia Qin still remembers that when he was dealing with his memories and offered to vouch for the "life-saving benefactor".

The man in front of him, who was always very fast, expressed strong opposition at the first time.

This time, I found it again, and it didn't seem to make a difference.

"Captain, you know my ability, I move quickly because of my ability, which allows me to instantly see through a person's hidden emotional colors, make decisions and react instantly, and ......... in that desperate situation"

Can't understand, can't read, can't identify.

The thought of that young man filled Thunder Fire Blade's heart with worry and uneasiness.

"I have seen many dead people, whether he is a saint or a villain, whether he has spoken generously or repented and begged for mercy before, at the moment of death, he will be filled with negative emotions, anger, uneasiness, hatred, at least reluctance and fear, reluctance to leave this world, fear of the unknown of death, and that young man ...... There is only joy, complete joy. ”

"Haven't you read his profile? He was a terminally ill patient, so he should have thought of having a pension, and death was a relief for him at that time. ”

This topic has been repeated many times, and Xia Qin doesn't want to say it anymore.

"No, in order to exercise my ability, I have observed the dying of countless terminally ill patients, as long as they are still human, they have negative emotions before leaving, no matter how nice they sounded before. Death is an unknown, fear of death is the instinct of life, but he is different, he only has joy and joy, he seems to already know what is behind death, I have never seen such a dying person......"

The Thunder Fire Blade could not understand, so it was worried and even fearful.

"Pollution will only be covered by stronger pollution", the victor of the Crazy Secret Realm, the ability in his hand is definitely not as simple and harmless as he appears, and he is ....... After every contact, he was still only full of joy, abnormal, too abnormal, he was so well-behaved now, just because he was still weak, just a seed. ”

"In our world, the crazier people are, the stronger they are, and when normal people are hitting the brakes, they are stepping on the gas. Lu Ping'an is dangerous, he simply removed the brakes, he will be involved in everything around him. He reminds me of the 'sophist', there is always someone who just wants to watch everything burn. But even he is not as ....... as Lu Ping'an."

This was a topic that was not mentioned as agreed, and the more Thunder Fire Blade spoke, the quieter it became, and both of them fell silent.

The memories brought by that title, that former companion, are so painful that they can't be recalled.

That A-class wanted criminal has brought no less disaster to the city than this ZZZ-level pollution.

Is it the painful past that has caused the Thunder Fire Blade in front of him to be overly worried? Not really.

In the eyes of Lei Huozhi, just the extremism and madness of his personality may not be able to cause serious harm, and he may be able to deal with it by the police.

If it's just a Z-level or higher contaminant, it can also be regulated, and there are a lot of numbered prohibited items in the Authority's archives.

But when a dangerous ability meets a bearer with no limit, as if a nuclear bomb had fallen into the hands of a terrorist, it reminds us of the man who caused so many wreckage.

Xia Qin knew that the explanation floating on the surface was meaningless.

Perhaps, he needs to give him an explanation, after all, there are fewer people in the team who can be used.

"Thunder Fire Blade, do you know how much pollution incidents above level 3 have increased this year?"

“...... It seems like a lot, and we go out a lot more often. ”

"That's 35 percent more than a year ago, 300 percent more than 20 years ago, and in the past few years, the annual growth rate has exceeded 30 percent. If memory serves, this is the fourth mass funeral I attended this year. Now there are two teams in the Bureau, and there is not even a deputy captain to lead the team, so they can only stay in the bureau to do logistics. ”

The facts are already in front of us, the current environment is getting worse and worse, and the manpower is becoming more and more inadequate.

Three years ago, the captain level of the Ancient City Administration Secret Service Team was an average of 3.2 ranks, but now it is only 2.5 ranks.

While rank cannot be equated with combat power, it is a fact that several squads have lost their pillars, and the decline of the deputy team and team members is even more serious, and many low-threat jobs can only be lost to the police, resulting in a large number of police officers being polluted or permanently retired.

"If nothing else, in addition to the normal expansion of enrollment and the introduction of social forces, the Ancient City Administration will apply to several first-class colleges such as Guda to allow more students to go to the front line for internships. In Zion alone, we will expand from seven special service teams to ten. ”

This is actually the notice above rather than possibly, Xia Qin, who only got the captain's permission, only learned about the news.

"To put it bluntly, let the cadets replenish the troops. Don't be nervous, they won't give them too dangerous work, they just need to help us with a little bit. ”

"Is it getting this bad?"

"It's worse than you think."

There is even more fierce material, and Captain Xia Qin has just been qualified to contact him, so he can't reveal it at will.

For example, "several exotic secret realms are about to move, and the military is also facing a serious shortage of manpower"

For example, "in order to increase the number of people, the difficulty of the qualification examination for the keeper of secrets has been greatly reduced, and the number of new keepers of secrets in the coming year will increase by at least 30%. ”。

For example, "lower the threshold for private enterprises to enter the industry, let more private forces participate in it, and at the same time, improve bonuses and benefits." ”。

For example, "publish more taboo knowledge to the people, and actively create polluters in several controlled secret realms".

Isn't there an old saying? "As long as the situation is bad enough, the so-called lower limit and rules are no lower limit and rules."

"There is a high probability that Lu Ping'an will be admitted to the academy, and after getting a temporary license, he will become our temporary colleague. If you are still worried, you can keep an eye on him. Just like you this time, take the initiative to apply to test his abilities. ”

"Did you see through it?"

Thunder Fire Blade smiled bitterly.

"Hehe, I'm your captain, you see, how can I not care. At least, what he gets on the bright side is a win-win situation and harmless. Actually......."

Saying that, Xia Qin laughed, I really don't know that firewood and rice are expensive.

The captain-level intelligence authority let her know why the past captain Crane was always bitter and full of face.

The situation is ten times worse than it appears, and since fifty years, the whole world has long been mired in a quagmire and has uncontrollably slipped into the abyss.

The instability of not hitting the brakes? Mother god ability with at least Z-level potential? Twenty years ago, it might have really been obliterated rather than spied, but now .......

"The world is bad enough, I'm not worried about him being crazy, I'm just worried that he's not strong enough....... To tell you the truth, I hope that he will grow up as soon as possible, and we can live longer, and you have relatives. ”

Pollution incidents in the ancient city are becoming more and more frequent, and Xia Qin's third team has only three "veterans" who have been in the industry for less than three years, and the burden is getting heavier and heavier.

Counting on new reinforcements? There is a shortage of people everywhere, and they all want instant combat power.

As long as the subordinate team of the district-level alien management bureau is still "law and order", the order is not high enough, even if there are high-quality soldiers, can they grab it themselves?

Not to mention those that are imaginary and far, the combat power that can be dug up is the last word.

"I heard that your sister has also applied for the Gu University, I will apply to transfer her with Ping'an, and everyone will take care of her. At most, half a year, for your sister, fight again. You also want your sister to join the team, you are a second-order deputy team, not an ordinary team member. ”

Thinking of his simple sister who suddenly broke through the "lower limit of human beings", as well as the more frequent high-level pollution incidents, Lei Huoblade nodded silently, and said nothing more.

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At the time of the funeral, an old acquaintance of their mouth had just come out of a pet store.

He turned his head around and was a little speechless.

Since he was once born in this city, his guys inexplicably assigned themselves a task to contact the local official keeper information.

"So, say hello to the old captains and colleagues in the past? Tsk, they're going to kill me. ”

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“....... Don't worry, I have enough money. Those who owe? It's okay, I've left everything I said, I'm a quasi-secret, and there is a scholarship after admission, which will be paid off soon. It's okay, it's really okay. By the way, there is no need to send souvenirs, enough to eat......"

I just got home and saw that the "suspected Z to ZZZ level pollutant" was talking on the phone in the living room.

Pulling the phone line, the happiness in his words and the smile in the corners of his eyes could not be concealed.

Owe? All to him? Xia Qin has seen the bill, but it is not a small amount, even for a well-paid keeper.

But looking at Lu Ping'an, who was full of confidence, Xia Qin just smiled.

"Work hard, grow hard and make money....."

In Xia Qin's view, not stepping on the brakes is actually nothing, and hiding something is also the daily life of the secret keeper.

In order to survive in this twilight world, there are indeed more and more crossers and madmen.

"Thunder Fire Blade, you're right, there are always people who have nothing for a long time, just want to listen to the sound of broken porcelain, and only want the world to burn, but he is different, Lu Ping'an is different from a bastard like 'Sophist'."

She vouched for it only because of what she saw when she visited Lu Ping'an after the incident.

She saw the young man in the hospital room when he got along with his parents, and the expression of his eyebrows dancing when he said that he was "cured" and "our life will be better".

The parents who cried with joy were filled with joy and nostalgia from the bottom of their hearts.

"No matter how hard you press the accelerator or how far you run, as long as he has a place to go, he will come back sooner or later."

"And isn't it the job of our secret keepers to keep that place for everyone? If you can't, there's nothing to complain about. ”

"Well, I'm just worried that he's not crazy enough, not strong enough!"