In the darkness, first there was a light. Then the light gradually split into a long silver hair, and the middle of the long hair hung down on the shoulders, and from time to time a little light crumb fell from between the hair, making the surrounding space more flickering points of light. Beneath the long hair is a handsome man's face with Oriental silhouettes. The man's eyes were closed, as if he were asleep.

He wears a black leather trench coat typical of military style, with a gold badge pinned to the tip of the large lapel collar on the left. The badge has the head of a beast that looks like a lion and a tiger, which represents some kind of accident. The shoulders of the trench coat have armor stomachs of the same color as hair, and the material is supposed to be finely processed ceramic armor. The shoulder armor on both sides has symmetrical black curves that depict ornate patterns, and they resemble a pair of abstract wings, as if to symbolize something.

Beneath the black trench coat is a gray tight turtleneck, with a gold zipper on the neckline that extends under the collar of the trench coat, like a straight central axis. The zipper puller is a golden cross with an English word divinity, which means divinity.

The man seemed to be sitting on a seat of nothingness, his left elbow resting on the dark void, clenched into a fist and supporting his cheek. His left hand rested flat on his legs, and under his palm he pressed a narrow war knife about three meters long. The sword lay flat on his knees, and the blade was sheathed. The scabbard was pitch black, without any decoration, but it exuded an aura of murder.

Every time I see this person, this knife. Even if it's just a remote hologram, Sauron is scared from the bottom of his heart. At this moment, he was no longer the head of the knightly order in the papal chamber, but the poor worm who could not control himself and trembled in the face of natural enemies. After a few breaths, Sauron stopped the instinctive tremor in his body, and then called softly, "Lord Gaia?"

As if waking up from the deepest of dreams, the man slowly opened his eyes. His eyes are very narrow and long, and the color of the pupils on both sides of the eyes is different. The right side is black, but the left side is brilliant gold! In that golden pupil, there are constantly silver symbols rising and disappearing, each symbol contains a huge amount of information, and if you stay on this special pupil for too long, it seems that even the soul will be sucked into this golden void.

He opened his mouth to speak, and said in a low, pleasant, magnetic voice, "Oh, isn't this Lord Zoro?

Sauron sweated on his forehead and said with a smile: "In front of Lord Gaia, everyone claims to be an adult, including me. So I'm begging Lord Gaia not to tease me, and as for Franklin, yes, I've got a handle on his whereabouts. One thing is certain, soon, I will bring this beast back and dedicate it to you, my lord. ”

"Beast?" Gaia sneered, "watch your words, Zoro! Although he is destined to be my 'food', you must understand that a bug like you is not even food for me! You have to learn to respect him, so I want you to bring him back unharmed!"

"Yes, yes, sir. I listen to you, so after the matter is completed, what did the adults promise me?"

Gaia closed her eyes again: "Don't worry, according to the agreement, I will let you transform once and become the most powerful human in this Western Continent." ”

With that, the man's figure gradually disappeared before Sauron's eyes. When the telecommunication was over, Zoro put away the holographic projector on the ground and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. Every time he met this man, the pressure on Sauron's heart was beyond words. The Silver Demon, that's what Zoro called the man in private, he suddenly appeared two months ago.

This man seemed to appear on the West Continent out of thin air, and there was no information at all before, as if such a person suddenly appeared on the West Continent overnight. At that time, Sauron was receiving reports from Sine and had a preliminary grasp of Franklin's whereabouts. Zoro also used this layout to let Franklin himself jump in the haode trap he had carefully prepared.

Sauron's ambition is to capture Franklin, a valuable piece of experimental material, and to provide an opportunity to destroy the rebel headquarters of Istta. It was at this time that Gaia appeared. When Sauron returned to his lavish palace that day, and was playing a game of [obscene] with a few beautiful young wives and concubines, Gaia appeared in his palace and looked at him and his wives and concubines with a very contemptuous look. With the strength of Sauron's ninth order, he didn't even discover Gaia's existence for the first time, and it wasn't until thirty seconds or more after Gaia appeared that Zoro saw such a person in the palace.

At that time, Sauron was annoyed and angry, and naturally drew his sword to face him. The result was an easy lesson for Gaia, and the battle between the two nearly destroyed the palace, without any soldiers coming to see what was happening. It wasn't until later that Sauron found out that nearly a hundred guards inside and outside his palace had all died.

After Gaia showed his hand, he repaired some flaws in Zoro's genetic structure with a single move, and increased his combat power by half on the original basis. You must know that for a high-level ability like Zoro, even a small improvement can only be achieved through continuous hard work. What's more, Gaia made him increase his combat power by two percent in a few minutes, which is why Zoro is not ecstatic.

Sauron is also a decisive and ruthless man. After improving his strength, the first thing he did was to kill all the wives and concubines who saw this, and even Gaia was slightly surprised by the speed of his reaction and the ruthlessness of his attack. But because of this, Sauron can continue to survive beautifully. At that time, he humbly pleaded with Gaia to become his master, and if Gaia wanted to, he could kill Paul immediately and make Gaia pope, if Gaia could give him a chance to transform.

Unfortunately, Gaia doesn't seem to have any interest in power, and he promises to let Sauron transform once, but only on the condition that he bring Franklin back. Zoro was curious about Gaia's knowledge of Franklin. But he knew that the more he knew about some things, the more his life would be in danger. He was clever enough not to ask anything about Franklin, and only did his best to fulfill Gaia's orders.

There is no one who does not aspire to become stronger, and the higher the rank, the more so. That pursuit of Liliang even overstepped power, so Zoro knew that it was not uncommon for Weishenme Gaia to be pope, because he stood on the pinnacle of a certain Liliang that Sauron could not understand. Despite living on the same planet, Gaia is to Sauron like a life in a different dimension. Just as humans would not be interested in being the king of the Ant Kingdom, the powerhouses who have reached the level of Gaia, power is only a matter of thought for them. As long as he wants, he can occupy the land and become king at any time.

So after that day, behind the dark curtain hidden in the Pope's Hall, there was a huge shadow in addition to Sauron!

In order to fulfill Gaia's orders, Sauron spared no effort. He cast a wide net, and after more than two months of operation, it was finally time to close the net. Intentionally or unconsciously, he looked behind him, and behind him lay a huge black shadow, which was King Arthur, Sauron's car. Zoro intends to completely destroy Ishtar with this weapon of war, and the dawn of victory has never been closer than this moment, and Zoro is in a good mood.

Also in a good mood was Franklin, who, after nearly two weeks at sea, had finally arrived.

It has to be said that the rebels hid this lair very deeply. From Roaring Bay, through the complex and varied seas, and around a dozen or so isolated islands, Franklin not only saw the grandeur and majesty of the sea, but also remembered the feeling of being down-to-earth. Finally, before sunset, they came to a half-moon island, which the rebels called the String Moon Island. There is a secret entrance to the island of Moon, which is a natural tunnel. This tunnel allows you to cross the entire island and thus come to the other side of the island. Not far from the island is Ishtar, the headquarters of the rebels.

Estar is located in the inner bay of the island of Moon, and is guarded by the two cusps of the island's crescent moon. It seems that due to the geography of these two islands, the current flows through both ends of the island, but forms two natural whirlpools around Ishtar. These two whirlpools are a natural barrier between Ishtar and the outside world, except for the hidden passage of String Moon Island that leads directly to the calm bay on the inner side of the island, and if you go to Ishtar from both sides of the island, you will eventually stop the two whirlpools.

Franklin was amazed by this natural wonder, and he was amazed when he saw Ishtar.

Ishtar is more appropriate than a base and a factory. Of course, this plant is huge, because it occupies the entire island! There is a nuclear power plant on the left and right sides of the island, and in the distance you can see the road connecting the nuclear power plant to the main body of the base in the center of the island. It's dusk, but trucks are still carrying raw materials into the plant, plying both ends of the road.

The huge chimneys in the nuclear power plant have not stopped emitting for a moment, expelling a large amount of white steam and transporting an endless stream of energy to the main base through pipelines to supply the production of various factories and factories in the base. At the edge of the island, a thick drain protrudes from the cliff face, and water is constantly draining from it. The water rushes and splashes on the sea, and from a distance, it looks like a row of waterfalls.

The main body of Ishtar's base looks like a city of steel, exuding a thick and condensed aura. It was like a steel beast entrenched in the sea, and the steam emitted from those chimneys was its breath. To the right of the main base, a forest had been leveled, and it seemed to be a site for the construction of a new factory, with all sorts of large construction equipment in operation, and the roar of machinery from the island could be heard from the sea, and even the air smelled of burning gasoline.

During Franklin's life, he witnessed the magnificence and majesty of Atlantis, the city of the sky. Compared to its glorious times, Ishtar can be described as ugly and crude. But there's no denying that it's full of surging vitality. On this island of steel, the buildings of the base are its skeleton, and the flowing energy is its blood, which constitutes its other form of beauty.

The ships of the Iron Scale and the Triumvirate are moored at Pier 3 in Ista which is specially prepared for large ships, but on weekdays it is mainly the seat frame of the Triumvirate, but today there is an additional Ironscale. An assault boat came underneath the Ironscale, and Ulson the Fallen stood at the bow and said, "Mr. Franklin, and Captain Deborah." Please disembark, there is no suitable bridge to bridge a ship of the Ironscale's size. ”

Deborah shouted from the deck, "Xiexie, you're kind to you, Lord Ulson. I'm not going, I'm just waiting here for Franklin to come back. ”

Ulson had no problem with the Flaming Shield's decision. He didn't want Ishtar to let the pirate leader visit casually, not to mention that Ulson didn't want outsiders to hear some of the conversations with Franklin that followed, so he said: "Then I won't force the captain, I'll have people bring wine and food later, so please enjoy it with you and your crew." ”

Deborah nodded, turned to Franklin and grinned, "Go ahead, big man." Don't worry, they won't do anything to you. ”

Franklin said to him, "Xiexie, Captain Deborah. While roaring the bay, he was still thinking about how to contact the rebels in Ulson, and he didn't expect Deborah to come back and tell him that Ulson had invited him to Ishta. Even more rarely, Deborah insisted on escorting him there, so that Franklin would not have to worry about going to Ishtar alone. It can be said that Deborah is indeed interesting.

"I'll get you a drink when I get back!" said Franklin, as he disembarked.

Deborah smiled and waved goodbye to him, and the captain's smile faded as he watched Ulson's assault boat sail towards the docks. He lowered his head and let the shadow cover his expression: "The next time we meet, I really can't tell where it is." ”

Turning around, Deborah said to Biggar behind him, "Tell everyone that you are not allowed to drink alcohol at night." Whoever wants me to smell the wine, I promise to throw him into the sea to feed the fish. In the evenings, we have work to do!"

Vice Captain Biga nodded, a meaningful smile.

On the dock, the other two of the Big Three had already arrived. Orlan, the watchman who once attacked the Mota Town base and planned to rob Franklin, is the only woman in the Big Three, but Orlan feels more like a white-collar woman in the old days. Even when sailing or going on expeditions, always wear a well-tailored office suit. Beneath the millet curls was a charming face, and the square-framed eyes on the face were both simple brains and myopic glasses. Although it is rare for those who are able to become short-sighted, even if they do, they can be repaired by modern jishu. However, Oran is a real myopia, and it is said that she has a thousand degrees of myopia, and I don't know if there is some connection with her being a high-level perceptual ability. However, while these glasses provide convenience, they also bring a touch of ice to Oran's charming appearance.

As for the other outside, Jesse was a young warrior, with a handsome face under the burgundy hair, but there was a faint scar across the bridge of his nose at the ends of his cheeks, as if recording a battle of life and death. Jesse's outfit was also burgundy, a large-breasted trench coat with black soft armor sewn to the shoulders and waist. Behind his back was a crimson one-handed sword, and a black belt hung diagonally from his waist, on which were two half-moon-shaped whirling blades pinned side by side. These two whirling blades are said to be used as long-range throwing weapons, and can also be combined with the red sword behind them to form Jesse's real weapon, "Vicious Fang".

Unlike the deep Ulson, the icy Oran. Jesse always has a look of disdain, and he likes to tilt his head to look at people, as if nothing in his eyes is worthy of his respect. A frivolous young man, Franklin said in his heart.

On the dock, two off-road vehicles are already on standby. Jesse and Orlan hop on one of them, and Ulson and Franklin share one. It's just that Franklin is too tall for an off-road vehicle to accommodate him. Later, Ulsen simply removed the rear seat of the vehicle and threw it directly into the sea. The rear of the SUV turned into a relatively wide body, which allowed Franklin to sit cross-legged on it. For this, Ulson was a little embarrassed: "I'm really sorry, I should have prepared a more suitable car for Mr. Franklin." ”

"It doesn't matter. Franklin flicked his hand and jumped into the car with a blank expression. It's just that with his weight, the chassis of the car rattled, and the Zuihou car was barely moving. In this way, the two cars left the dock and drove into Ishtari along a dedicated lane. From the outside of the island, Ishtar looks like a huge factory, but when you actually drive into the interior of the main body of the base, it still looks like a city.

Straight and wide streets, square and cold buildings, and soldiers everywhere make up the special scenery of this steel city. Inside, Ishtar feels rigorous, orderly, and solemn. The loose and almost chaotic atmosphere of freedom on the island of Umiya are two extremes, but both Umiya and Ishtar have their own unique charm.

Watching the buildings on both sides quickly retreat in his eyes, Franklin finally asked in a deep voice, "Mr. Ulson, although it is presumptuous to ask such a question, I still hope to know something. weishenme you're going to invite me to Ista if there are no accidents, I'm just a small person to you, right?"

Even a man who was once the endless brilliance of Atlantis, and even the will of the planet is respected. But in the new era, Franklin is indeed an unknown figure. But Ulson smiled, "No, Mr. Franklin. Please don't underestimate your own value, for us or the Papal Chamber, your share of value is so great that it can even affect the balance between this war!"