On the outskirts of Rome, a black stretch car was parked next to a vast alfalfa field, and Passy stepped out of the car and opened the door for Frost, who was sitting in the back.

Frost did not get out of the car immediately, he silently stroked the platinum ring on his thumb, which was engraved with Gattuso's family crest.

In front of them was an ancient and elegant monastery, old and not dilapidated, but showing an ancient aristocratic atmosphere, as if it was inhabited by Roman nobles in the feudal period.

Gattuso is a famous Italian descendant, and each generation of the head of the family, or the brother of the head of the family, will participate in a screening in old age, and the selected person has the right to "contribute wisdom to the family forever", in other words, they can lie quietly in a dormant pod made of alchemy and technology, maintain the few poor lives left, and participate in the decisions about Gattuso's future fate like a dry corpse crawling out of the cemetery in times of need.

This is Gattuso's Senate, each of which is absolutely loyal to the family, and their decisions are superimposed to keep the Gattuso family on track.

In the words of a contemporary head of the house, it is: "Like a dried corpse or a vampire, talking to young people about glory and immortality." ”

Probably no Gattuso head of the house would like the Senate, just as the emperor of China did not deal with the prime minister, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty weakened the power of the prime minister again and again, just because no emperor wanted to be divided from power.

Of course, contemporary patriarchs prefer to treat them as eunuchs in the palace, and Pompeii Gattuso's favorite Chinese proverb is "the emperor is not anxious eunuchs".

Frost led Patsy through the door into a sun-drenched hall, where twelve old men in white robes with withered faces sat on the handles of the twelve chairs, opposite the twelve chairs that formed a semicircle, Frost's seat.

Twelve old men who had been washed by the years gathered in front of him and stared at Frost, who was the acting head of the family, and the old man sitting in the middle asked in a deep voice, "Patsy's stealing plan has failed, and we need an explanation." ”

Frost sat solemnly on the marble chair, and with a wave of his hand, Patsy, who was standing behind him, stepped forward and said, "On the night I invaded the ice cellar, there were other intruders in Jotunheim. ”

The twelve identical old men had a unanimous look of surprise on their faces, they looked at each other, made eye contact, without words, like a computer with a neural link, and the old man at the head withdrew his gaze and asked questions again.

"Patsy Gattuso, you need to know that the ice cellar is theoretically impossible to invade, and you can enter the ice cellar because of the white card permission of the Gattuso family, although you can't apply directly to Jotunheim, but we can use other names to help you evade most of the defenses, and for Flammel's alchemy matrix, we have also authorized you to the highest level of alchemy creation. Please confirm your judgment. ”

"I can be sure of my judgment that the intruder was already there when I arrived in Jotunheim."

Even the solemn patriarchs were a little in turmoil, no one knew better than them what was stored there, and even if each family kept secrets from the secret party's database, Jotunheim was the true source of dragon wisdom and knowledge.

"Tell me about your impression of the intruder and what happened before she fell unconscious."

"The intruder seems to have mastered the ability to weaken his own sense of existence, suspected to be the effect of a spiritual 'ghost' or an alchemical artifact, and I discovered the intruder when I noticed the turbulence caused by the intruder's approach while flipping through the materials."

"That information ........."

Frost raised his hand and said, "The Night's Watch is going through the matrix, but it has been tentatively concluded that the intruders have not only been in Jotunheim for some time, but have also taken our access to the information. ”

Paxi's eyes condensed slightly, and he didn't say anything about Chen Mo's speculation about the shadow behind that information.

"The plan needs to be revised, and the Senate will forward the revised plan to you as soon as possible, Frost, and don't live up to the family's expectations."

"In exchange for a safe return, Angers asked for an additional investment of 50 percent."

The old man with a withered face didn't pay much attention, even though it was already an astronomical amount, but it was just a number.

He also asked that this part of the investment not be recorded.

Frost looked at the old man's face like dead wood, and finally twitched, making one wonder if there would be a "click" sound of the bark breaking.

He could probably understand why the two bastards, Ange and Pompey, always liked to stir his nerves.

"What is he going to do with this money? With so much money to reimburse him for ten lifetimes of travel bills, the Pope was not as greedy as he was. ”

Gattuso can increase the funding of the Academy, because the breakthrough in dragon research will also feed back to the family, but Ange's request will swallow this money into the shadows, and no one knows how this huge fund will work, secretly excavating dragon ruins? Recruiting wild hybrids? Forming a Kassel division that no one knows?

Frost then struck the senator on the head with a hammer on behalf of Anges.

"I also promised Ange a relic of the level of a next-generation mausoleum."

If Pompey had known the expression of the patriarch in the monastery at this moment, he would have regretted that he had not been able to arrive to admire it. The expressions on their faces were probably as hideous as those of the Qing Dynasty more than a hundred years ago, when the ministers of the main battle faction heard the peace conditions, the mausoleum of the secondary generation was no longer a fat-level thing, and the resources in it could even support a large mixed-race family.

"This level of approval is not within your rank, Frost."

"Of course I know, but I must accede to Ange's request, and Parcy or the family's plan must not be lost than the loss of resources."

"It's just an artificial creation, and with enough resources, we can recreate more." The Senate didn't care that what was in their words would stab the Patsy present, and they were outspoken, boasting enough freedom to speak up.

It has always been believed that Frost is the tentacle of the Gattuso Senate, the substitute of Pompeii, even if the entire power of Gattuso is in his hands, they will only remember the word "agent" in front of the head of the family, and everyone is in awe of the surname Gattuso, not the name Frost.

Apparently the senators were pleased with this, and at some point twenty years ago, Gattuso's power was at its peak, but it was Pompeii, the ruler of ancient Rome who was once known as the "Great One", that the half-blood world resounded, and none of the senators wanted to admit the dark thoughts in their hearts at that time. But the truth is that Frost is more in tune with the senators of these self-proclaimed powers.

Frost was well aware of this, so he did not mind being the so-called "industrious and incompetent" man, knowing that "pride comes first in corruption, and madness before falling", preferring to hide himself from Pompeii's flamboyance in order to add chips to himself at the right time.

"I need Patsy, he's part of the family and he's perfect for the job now and in the future," he said. “

"Like you need me."

The old man's expression was somewhere between surprise and anger at the rebuttal, but they restrained it well, after all, this disobedience was nothing compared to Pompeii.

"Then what are you going to do with the ruins, the family doesn't have undeveloped ruins of this level in their hands."

"Even if there were, I'm afraid I wouldn't hand it over, right? I'll settle the matter this time, but I'll be left to the next few school board decisions, and I'll need some bargaining chips. “

"We've all thought about it, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Ipsilon...... We unanimously made a resolution, and you are solely responsible for the next six months of meetings. “

The names of the old people were all simple Roman letters: α Alpha, β Beta, γ Gamma, δ Delta, ε Ipsilon.....

The old men have given up their names, their identities, almost everything, and they sit here, they don't care about the details that have been left behind, on the contrary, they will cling to the power in their hands.

"That's all for the terms of the exchange, Frost, we need to think about the invaders, we know it was an accident, but we hope you remember Gattuso's precepts."

Frost spoke, his tone cold, as if his dignity had been offended. "Accidents are an insult to their dignity that never suffers from them."

"Yes, this is his affront to Gattuso's dignity, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and the intruder must pay for his actions."

The patriarch sitting on the marble chair raised his dry eyelids slightly: "Patsy, this matter is up to you. ”

Frost's crossed hands moved slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"Caesar should be in the academy next year, let him join the operation too, the young eagle will never fly high if he stays in the nest."

………

Frost got into the car, and in front of the window, the doors of the convent were slowly closing, a place that looked elegant, but always a little eerie, and he remembered that a few years ago, there was a young man who pretended to be serious, and every time he stayed outside the convent and waited for the playboy to return, he always imagined what it was like inside, but when his brother came out, he only had a cold and resolute face, like a marble sculpture.

He didn't understand what could turn a man from Faustian flamboyance to a rock-solid one like Philip Marlowe.

He understands now.