For the people of this world, this is the most critical moment, the machine that recorded the data of the space-time rift research has finally returned to its place after being taken away for 800 years, as long as there is this data, there is hope for repairing the space-time rift.

For Sherlock, this moment is also the most critical moment, well, he actually every second is extremely critical, because even he doesn't know if the next second he will completely lose the ability to resist under the power of the other party, and become a wisp of dead soul drowning on the eve of the era.

And for the Empire, it has also reached the most critical moment.

Even more critical than the opening of the gates of hell back then, and even more critical than the second demonic invasion.

I don't know when, where, or who said this, the collapse of empires often happens internally, and on the third day after Lord Dante rushed into the rift in time and space, the empire's army was completely torn apart.

It is hard to imagine that a stubborn person who has survived the most difficult war between men and demons, the mighty Antarctic Continent expeditionary team, the tenacious army that closed the gates of hell, the iron-blooded, tenacious, and death-defying emperors, will collapse in such a short time.

Lord Dante has gone to the new gates of hell over the Elbes Mountains, and as the emperor, he must help Dante and stop the third invasion of demons, which is understandable.

But most of the soldiers still remember their duty, they unconditionally obey the orders of the new king of the empire, and regard all the troops who leave the station without permission as a betrayal of the empire, so a war that appeared within the empire began, from mutual peace and theory, to scolding, to fighting, and gradually evolved into the first gunshot, the first pool of blood, and the first human life.

The people who once gave their backs to each other raised their guns against each other, and the split in the military led directly to the split of the factions, all in just a few days, and if people looked at this history again after a thousand years, they would definitely feel ridiculous to the extreme.

A year and a half ago, the newspaper was closed, and the next day one of the grandest and most protracted general strikes in the history of the empire began.

The most ridiculous thing happened in the early morning of another day.

In the emperor's office, the warm fireplace provides a subtle constant temperature, Moriarty has slept well these days, and after waking up naturally in the morning, he saw this morning's report on the assembly of the *** forces in various administrative districts, picked up a cup of coffee brewed by Moran, and rarely did not go to work immediately, but looked at the pine frost outside the window, enjoying the comfort of the early morning.

Before spring, there is always a cold winter, so Moriarty does not feel the slightest pity for the plants and trees of this world.

Today's printing plate of the Sacred Journal, more than an hour later than usual, undoubtedly has an absolute status in the minds of the people of the Empire, and in recent years, this newspaper has undergone a temporary printing, and the era of the Great Expedition has begun.

Of course, this is not the most ridiculous.

It may be that yesterday's editor-in-chief was drunk and did not rush out the manuscript, or it may be because of the recent confrontation between military forces, which has caused the printing to be slower.

That's all

But the public did not know that on the eve of today's newspaper, the top editor of the newspaper and the president of the newspaper, Ms. Milhouse, announced her resignation.

Moreover, before she left the company, she issued a written document to all the subordinate Shengkan newspapers in her capacity as president, suggesting that the Shengkan newspapers should be permanently closed from now on.

The grass has turned yellow after being baptized by the low temperature, and the dead leaves are mixed with the cold wind, creating a sense of contrast between the tenacity and decay of life.

At first, most of the staff of the newspaper didn't know what was going on, but thought it was a ridiculous prank.

And this time, it was just an hour late, and in the eyes of many people in the empire, it didn't seem to be a big deal.

On this day, at the junction of late autumn and early winter, the cold wind of the ancient Roman city gradually rose, the first snow of the year fell last night, the morning dew condensed in the night before the sun rose, and the low temperature in the air began to coat the glass windows of the building with patches of hoarfrost against the first rays of sunlight.

That is, until they got their hands on today's newspaper and saw the star-studded, creepy headline:

The Destruction of the Empire

And under such a terrible headline, the writer is the signature of the editor-in-chief, Ms. Milhouse.

No one knew how such a headline was on the front page of the Holy Journal, could it be that Ms. Millhouse was insane? But even if the editor-in-chief is really crazy, then such a topic cannot be published.

However, the newspaper was printed overnight in printing houses all over the world, as usual, and was still distributed to all the people as usual.

In the headline, Ms. Milhouse used her succinct and even ruthless pen to describe the recent clashes among the army, with a cumulative death toll of more than 40,000, and that some of Lord Dante's pro-factions had rushed out of their garrisons and marched towards the Elbes Mountains, while some troops had already sent troops to stop them.

If there is a real confrontation in the field, then it will be a sign of the beginning of civil strife.

Of course, although these things can cause panic among the people of the Empire, they are still not as chilling as the description of an old incident below.

This is still the case five years ago, when an airship fell in London.

Twenty thousand people died in this incident, and shortly afterwards, Augustine the Great was assassinated by Shylock, who had disappeared for almost a year. Sherlock holmes.

These events have been known to everyone in the past few months, and it seems that it is a bit boring to mention them again.

But no one thought that after just a few lines of description, it would help people recall it all.

The atmosphere of the whole report suddenly became creepy.

Some unknown details appeared in the newspapers, such as the attempt by Augustine the Great to murder the Holy Son of the Holy See, and even the desire to kill Lord Nightingale, who was treating his wounds in London.

Well, okay, maybe the Augustine Great did something wrong at that time, even if this old man who had dominated the empire for more than 60 years was old and confused on his deathbed, and he put a layer of guilt on his entire fame.

But he is dead after all, and all this is in the past tense, and in the eyes of the people of the empire who have been baptized by the word "new era" for almost three years, such a report is still not too unacceptable.

Until the appearance of a photo.

This photograph was taken in the late autumn of the year 288 of the Holy Calendar, shortly before the fall of the airship.

The photo shows a small river, and on the bank of the river, two men sit looking at each other, the younger one sitting on a bench, while the older one is in a wheelchair

, with a long tube in her arm, connected to the infusion bottle in the wheelchair, a woman dressed as a nurse stood behind the wheel, hanging her head slightly, quietly.

The photograph seems to have been taken by chance in a small building on the other side of the river, but it is not difficult to see that the old man was the emperor of the empire at that time, Augustine———— as for the young man, he was the son of the Holy See at that time.

At the same time, the official radio station of the newspaper is playing a 24-hour loop recording of the nurse in charge of Augustine the Great's health management, which is also the person in the photo pushing a wheelchair.

"I've been in power for 60 years, and I don't dare to think like this." The tape, which had been preserved for five years, sounded a little blurry, but still recognizable as the old man's voice: "Do you know how sensational the murder of Nightingale would be?"

"You're over 90 years old, it's not something you need to think about, I'll provide you with the landing and landing of the airship, all of which are under the jurisdiction of the Holy See, and you can rest assured that anyone who knows about it will die after the incident."

The young voice was calm.

"But how can you be sure that Nightingale will be in the preset position when the airship falls?"

"I will go to her as the Holy Son, and she will not close her doors."

Moriarty said, cold

It's like the night breeze in the early winter morning, blowing through the back of all those who hear this recording.

Free to read.