[Thanks to Marmot 237 for the monthly pass support!!]

The convoy stopped in front of a metal gate that closed the belly of the mountain, and the city of New Rome was located between the mountains, just like the city of St. Louis. But compared to St. Louis, the new city of Rome is more focused on efficiency, and it can be seen that it has been many years since the metal gate in front of us. Its exterior paint had peeled off, and even the symbol of Rome on the door, the Colosseum, had been rusted by years of moisture in the belly of the mountain.

But in addition to these, this metal gate with a height of nearly 20 meters still gives people a heavy feeling that cannot be shaken. On the other hand, the city of St. Louis, even a gate creates that kind of aristocratic low-key luxury, but in terms of defense, it is not even half of the gate of Rome.

In the middle of the mountain is a smooth tunnel, large enough for several chariots to travel side by side, and the space is unusually large, with a row of red warning lights flickering on both sides of the road. There is no other lighting in the tunnel, but red warning lights have indicated where the road leads.

There was a row of cameras above the gate, now all pointed in the direction of the convoy, and it was clear that the soldiers defending the city were checking the identity of the arrivals. Soon, Paul's identity should have been confirmed, and the rumble of hydraulic action was heard in the belly of the mountain. You can feel the belly of the mountain vibrating slightly, and then the heavy metal gate retracts and opens on both sides, but behind the door is not the city of Rome as Zero imagined.

Behind the door, there was an empty space, and you could see that there was another similar gate not far away. The new city of Rome was designed with two gates. This partition in the middle is like the function of an ancient city, when a foreign enemy invades, it can be trapped, and then it can be killed by fire!

Sure enough, as the car drove through this not-so-long passage, Zero noticed that there were a lot of fire points between the two gates, and that some of the things on the top that resembled pipes obviously had a high-energy reaction. It can be seen that the city's designers paid great attention to the defense of the city of Rome, and it is not surprising that there was such a design in light of the current situation at the time of the city's founding.

It can be said that the defense capability of the new Roman city is very good, and even Asgard is inferior in this regard. It's just that Asgard doesn't rely on cities and weapons to defend, and the group of people with far more abilities than New Rome is where the real power of that city lies.

After passing through the first gate, the second gate no longer needs to be identified. Before the car could reach the gate, the gate was separated on both sides. Behind the door was a world of light, and the convoy drove into it. After a brief period of discomfort, the eyes adjusted to the light and were able to see the city clearly.

Zero had conceived of a variety of scenarios, such as Paul's followers marching to welcome them, or the remnants of Sauron's party facing each other, or even Gaia coming alone. But none of these imaginary scenes appeared, and what appeared was a scene that he had not imagined.

Or rather, even Paul never imagined what it would be like when he entered the city.

As many as 100 metal pillars were erected in a vertical column on the ground not far from the city gates. Each metal pillar had an arm-thick iron cable, the upper end of which was welded to the metal pillar, and the lower end was tightly encircled around the neck of a corpse. There are as many corpses as there are pillars! At this entrance, as many as 100 hanged corpses form a very impactful picture, and the expressions of these people before their deaths are fixed on these faces.

Paul rushed out of the car and came to a metal pillar in the front row of the city gate. There hung an old man in a decent aristocratic dress. But now, no matter how influential the old man was in his life, he is just a corpse at the moment.

Joseph ...... "I don't know if it's anger, or fear, or both." Paul trembled slightly, and finally roared like a lion cub: "Who did this! Who had the audacity to execute the whole family of Joseph Sr.

The soldiers on both sides of the gate bowed their heads and were silent, when someone approached. He wore a cloak with a hood, hiding his head and face, but from the hood came Paul's familiar voice: "Your Highness, it's not convenient to talk here, come with me first." ”

"Mendrissa ......" from Paul's mouth, he said another noble name that was enough to change the color of the city of Rome.

Eventually, instead of entering Paul's papal palace, the convoy came to a warehouse near the city gate, and never came out. If someone had entered the warehouse now, they would have found a few cars still parked there, but the occupants were gone.

Half an hour later, Paul and Zero had arrived at a secret stronghold in the city of Rome in Mendrissa. Above it is a famous bar in the city of Rome, the Black Blood Bar is not the largest, but the most unscrupulous. Because the master behind it is Sauron, and here, no matter what happens, no one will be held accountable. But even Paul couldn't have imagined that the Mendrissa family had built a stronghold under the Black Blood Bar, which made the young Pope sigh secretly that the people who could mix well in the city of Rome were indeed foxes who had become spirits.

However, now outside the city gates, there is a litter of foxes of all ages, young and old, large and small, who have been killed.

In a simple, yet very clean room. Mendrissa took off her hat and cloak, revealing her original appearance. The cardinal looked haggard, his eyes were dark, and he didn't know how many days he hadn't slept soundly. Aside from him, there were only Paul and Zero in the room. An old man with white flowers and a housekeeper-like appearance personally brought three glasses of water to the people in the room, and then retreated.

Mendrissa said: "The place here is relatively simple, and there are no good things to greet the two of you, so please don't be surprised." ”

He looked at Zero again, stared at it seriously for a while, and then said, "I've heard about Mr. Zero's prestige for a long time, and this is the first time we've met. Speaking of which, earlier, I hated you to the core. ”

Mendrissa handed a cup of water to Zero: "Did you kill Habeth?"

Paul suddenly became a little nervous, Mendrissa's beloved son Habeth, that is, the commander of the Seventh Army. He was killed in the battle when Sauron ordered the attack on Roaring Bay. At that time, it was the first battle of Zero against the Pope's Hall. After that, Zero's name gradually came into the field of vision of the upper echelons of the Papal Chamber.

"This, Bishop Mendrissa. At the time......"

Zero reached out and patted the back of Paul's hand, signaling him not to speak. Zero himself nodded and said, "Although I didn't kill it myself, you might as well count it on my head." ”

Mendrissa's chest rose and fell violently, eventually turning into a long sigh. He pulled out a delicate golden pistol from the wide bishop's sleeve robe, placed it on the table, and said, "Until now, I was still undecided whether to kill you or not. Although I know that my ability and the special bullets in this pistol alone may not kill you, Habbes is my favorite child. As a father, the killer is right in front of me, and I wish I wasn't the patriarch of the Kalki family, so at least I could give it a go. ”

"What is the bishop's choice now?" asked Paul for Zero.

"What other choice. Mendrissa smiled bitterly: "I have seven sons and three daughters who have died of a Habes. Although their talent is not as good as that of Habeth, as long as they are there, the bloodline of the Kalki family can continue. But if I do it, I can kill it or not. But because of this displeasure, His Highness Paul lost a strong ally. Then if you don't have to do it with Mr. Zero, soon my family will end up like Joseph Sr. ”

Hearing this, Paul finally let go of his thoughts, knowing that Mendrissa finally put the overall situation first, and put aside his personal enmity. But another thing came to mind: "Who killed old Joseph?"

"Zoro!"

This time, with Zero's composure, he couldn't help but show a shocked gaze. He and Paul cried out almost at the same time, "This is impossible!"

Zero ended Zoro's life with his own hands, and Zoro's body was also cremated with his own eyes. But now, there is another Sauron in the city of Rome, and with the identity and power of Mendrissa, he naturally will not lie or admit his mistakes. As a result, an inextricable contradiction has been formed.

"It's Zoro indeed......" someone pushed the door in, but it was Kaede, who had not been seen for a long time. He nodded to Zero and said, "Not long after His Highness Paul left, I saw Sauron appear in public and announce the ten crimes of Joseph Sr. and his family, and then dispatched the Silver Hand Guard, and directly arrested and hanged them. ”

"But I've already killed him on Victoria Island!" Zero said as he gently rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers, "What the hell is going on?"

"Bishop, please tell me the details. Paul said.

Mendrissa said in a deep voice: "Sauron's accusations against the old Joseph family are completely false, and I have signed a joint agreement with the Odson family to ask Sauron to retract this order. But Sauron ignored our opposition and took out the Silver Hand. We can't interfere in this matter on the surface, but secretly we can still intervene. In view of the absurdity of Zoro's accusations this time, and will shake the very foundation of the city of Rome, I have reached an agreement with the Odson family to send a total of twenty capable people to Joseph's house to work with his own masters to stop the silver hand from enforcing the law. ”

"But the surprise is very much beyond our expectations, those guards of the Silver Hand have a few pounds and twos, and His Highness Paul should also know about it. And there are more than thirty people with the combined abilities of my three parties, including three eighth-order masters. But even so, it was still possible to defeat all the Silver Hand in the whole process, and the whole process took no more than half an hour, and Old Joseph's manor was almost razed to the ground for battle......" Mendrissa let out a breath of turbidity and said word by word: "According to our subsequent deliberations, the level of these Silver Hand Guards is at least above the eighth order, and it is more likely that they are close to or even the ninth order!"

"Impossible!" Paul stood up in shock: "The average strength of the Silver Hand Guardian is only about the sixth order, even if Zoro comes back from the dead, where will he find a group of ninth-order masters." ”

"No, there's more bizarre to come...... Mendrissa said with a solemn expression, "We think the abilities used by these Silver Hands are very similar to those of Sauron, or even exactly the same......"

"How...... How could such a thing happen. Paul's mouth filled with bitterness.

Just think about it, if a team of masters of Sauron's level suddenly appeared, wouldn't it be that all their previous efforts were in vain?

Mendrissa also smiled bitterly: "This battle can be regarded as a miserable defeat for me and Odson." Originally, I wanted to join forces with the three of us, and no matter how bad it was, I could get old Joseph away. I didn't expect that the only bit of capital in our hands would be eaten by Sauron, and now we don't dare to show our faces openly, for fear that Sauron will also put a crime on us, and then eliminate us with lightning speed. ”

"Finally, when His Highness and Mr. Zero arrive, then this matter may not have taken a turn for the better. ”

"Speaking of the Silver Hand Guards, when he was on Victoria Island, Sauron also brought three mysterious high-ranking ......" Zero Shen said in a deep voice, "Their abilities are the same as Sauron!"

"And what's it called? Zoro created a cyborg from his genes?" Paul frowned.

Zero looked at Mendrissa, "Do you have a chance to meet these guards of the Silver Hand?"

"Of course, now the Papal Chamber has issued a new decree that no bishops or ministers, including me, will be allowed to enter, except for Sauron and the Knights. There are always one or two silver hands guarding the outside of the Pope's Chamber, but I am afraid that it is inconvenient for Mr. Zero to appear in such a grand manner. Mendrissa thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow Sauron will gather in the square, and he will always gather the citizens for the last two days to give speeches. When the time comes, there will be a team of Silver Hands, and if Mr. Zero wants to observe them, he can do it again tomorrow. ”

Zero nodded, and said, "I have an idea about that Sauron in the Pope's Hall. Zoro wouldn't have secretly cultivated one or two stand-ins in normal times, because I'm sure that this Sauron must not be real now. ”

"It's not impossible, but if that's the case, then the stand-in is too similar. I've worked with Sauron for so many years, and I know his words and deeds very well. If this is a stand-in now, then his acting skills are simply superb. Mendrissa said.

Paul stood up and said, "It's not impossible, so I'll have someone try to get this man's hair or something." Just check his DNA, and everything will be clear. ”

"But how do you get into the Papal Chamber? "Zero questions.

"I don't have to go in, and there isn't necessarily just the Silver Hand in the Papal Chamber. Paul said confidently.

By the next day, as soon as the clock pointed to seven o'clock, the city began to broadcast the radio. Zero changed into a set of clothes that Mendrissa had prepared for him, which was the usual attire of the inhabitants of the city of Rome. In addition to that, Mendrissa also prepared something special for Zero, which included a wig and beard, as well as some silicone parts. By the time Zero came out of a house near the Black Blood Bar, he had already transformed into a sturdy middle-aged man.

The tawny wig believed his own hair color, and the mushy made him vicissitudes. Mendrissa also carefully painted his eyebrows thicker to match his look at the moment. The most surprising thing was the silicone parts, which were tightly attached to Zero's chest and shoulders, and when put on clothes, Zero looked more muscular, rather than his previous even, slender figure.

This kind of camouflage can only be seen through by someone who is extremely familiar with Zero and then stands close and observes. And today, Zero will be mixed with the citizens, and the chance of being detected is very low. With his head down, he followed the crowd to the square. A moment later, the music of the honor guard sounded, and Sauron, dressed in military uniform and with a badge on his chest, appeared in the square.

Zero glanced at this Zoro without a trace, and sure enough, there was almost no difference in size, eyes, and feelings. Zero still felt a little strange, but the feeling was very vague, and he didn't know what the problem was for the time being.

Looking at those silver hands again, with just one glance, Zero knew that he had really been right. These people have exactly the same feeling as the three genetic warriors on Victoria Island, and their biggest special thing is that they give people a mechanical feeling. Although the guards were now dressed in the tactical suits of the Silver Hand and wore tactical helmets on their faces, their intricately synchronized movements could not be concealed.

Now that it had been decided, it was useless for Zero to remain in the square any longer, so he quietly retreated. When he returned to his stronghold in Mendrissa, the cardinal was already waiting for him. As soon as he saw Zero coming in, he asked, "How's the situation?"

Zero nodded: "Those silver hands should be some kind of cyborgs created from Sauron's genes, and they all have Sauron's strength." Sauron, of course. When he fought me on Victoria Island, the real Sauron had already reached the level of the tenth order. ”

"Tenth Order!" Mendrissa suddenly smiled bitterly and said, "So, you are at least at the level of the Tenth Order?"

"That's true. Zero didn't intend to hide it from him, and said directly.

A moment later, Paul also came. He smiled and pulled out a small box with a few hairs inside: "This is the few hairs that fell all over the pillow when Lord Sauron woke up in the morning. If there are two missing, he won't find out, right?"

Mendrissa took it in one hand and said, "I'll have someone tested right away, and the results will be available by the afternoon at the latest." ”

Saying that, he hurried away.

By the afternoon, Mendrissa had amazing news. The results of the test have come out, and the DNA of those hairs is exactly the same as Zoro's!

Suddenly, things seemed to fall into a strange circle.

Looking at the test report in their hands, everyone fell silent. Zero suddenly raised his head and said, "Maybe we were mistaken from the beginning, but in terms of the nature of genes, this Sauron in front of us is indeed him. And at the same time, there are many more Saurons like this. For example...... The Silver Hands?"