A trench coat came to Rhine's hand, and there was nothing special about the trench coat itself, but the coat of arms on the back of this black trench coat made Rhine frown: "This is"

"Valhalla," sighed, and Rhine remembered the beautiful female warrior she had been two years earlier.

Valkyrie, the goddess of victory!

"Something like this, we've found on the bodies of other intruders. A hunter with long hands and long legs and a little hunched back said excitedly, "My lord, this is the symbol of Valhalla." Does that mean we're going to war?"

(War is not impossible, those old grandfathers have been on the verge for years, and Valhalla has given them an excuse at this time.) Just, isn't this too much of a coincidence?)

"Don't speculate, just do your job, it's not our turn to think about the rest. Did the cause of the colonel's death come out?" asked Rhine casually.

The mustache that had found him before was walking diagonally across the street: "It's already certain that the colonel killed a group of intruders over there. But then he met the other party's elite, and it was preliminarily judged that the guy who killed the colonel had liliang enhancements above the fifth order and below the eighth order. There are no strong traces of elemental activity in the nearby space, so the opponent should not be an ability of the elemental domain. But there is a residual energy reaction in the space, which is a sign of an instant burst of biological energy. Considering the colonel's profession, this seems to be his masterpiece. However, there were traces of explosion at the scene, and from the nature of the destruction, it was not like the result of explosive abilities such as Raging Slash, but more like the handiwork of bio-powered cannons. ”

"Biokinetic cannon?" Rhein crossed his hands around his chest and wondered, "Is Valhalla's equipment level already surpassing ours?

"It's not yet possible to be sure, and here" The mustache nodded at the ruins of the building next to several people, and then shook the energy analyzer in his hand, "This place Colonel has been attacked twice, and it is obvious that this time he has not the slightest resistance."

"I see. Rhine nodded: "You have someone take the Colonel, and the body of Lieutenant Seurat on the wall." The rest of the bodies were cremated together to avoid the plague. ”

"Yes, sir. The two hunters said at the same time.

Rhine walked towards the makeshift tent erected by the biochemists, near which the specimen collectors and some assistants were coming and going, appearing busy. Rhein got inside, and a makeshift operating table had been erected in the tent, and four isolators were working at the same time, each generating a photon wall to wrap the operating table. Two biochemical experts were dissecting the corpse of a man in black inside, and several assistants were going in and out, constantly sorting some organs or cell specimens into freezers, apparently planning to transport them back to Eternal Night City to continue their research.

Shortly after Rhine entered, a biochemist walked out. This is an old man in his fifties, his hair has turned gray, he is short and thin, but his eyes are very flexible. Rhine remembers his name as Madel, a director of the Biochemistry Department at the Academy of Science and Technology. The Ninth Knight greeted him and asked, "Did you find anything?"

Dr. Mader took a disinfectant towel from his assistant and wiped his hands as he said, "It's almost certain that the intruder is not human. Most of their organs have ceased to move, and they look like living corpses. But the hearts of these things have been replaced with crystal-nucleus-like organs to supply them with the energy to move, except that these things don't look like artificial transplants, but rather like the product of some kind of mutation. Then there were their heads, and pocket-sized microchips were found near their thalamus, which I speculated were used to control the behavior of the living dead. In other words, these things are more like biological weapons. ”

"As for more information, we have to use professional equipment to analyze it after returning to Eternal Night City, and that's probably the only information we can get now. With that, Mader took his leave and left. His face was very bad, and it seemed that he had consumed a lot of energy from the dissection work for several hours in a row, and he should have rested.

(Bio-powered cannons?bioweapons?Biological weapons that can kill a seventh-order colonel?When did Valhalla's technological level lead us so much?)

Rhine walked out of the tent with a faint melancholy on his face. If the other party can produce biological weapons that defeat those with abilities below the eighth order, then even if the council side is exhausted, it will not have any advantage in fighting. Of course, the Scarlet Knights are only the force announced by the Dark Council. And within the council, there are also two knights, Eternal Night and Abyss. Not much is known about these two knights, even under Rhine's authority. The Dark Council is like its name, it is like a dark mass that cannot be dissolved, even if outsiders think they know enough about it, they will only find that what they know is only the tip of the iceberg.

The next day, the mission departed. The soldiers who died in battle, including the citizens, were all cremated after the servants had worked all night, and the corpses were quickly burned to ashes by spewing a stream of nearly 1,000 degrees with a high-temperature flamethrower. After doing this, the servants were able to leave, and the Shadow City was left with a city ruin, a paradise for wilderness wanderers or scavengers.

Three days later, a meeting of the highest level was held in the council hall of the Eternal Night City. Not only the four giants and three large corporations with a total of 24 parliamentarians attended the meeting, but even the speaker of the Dark Council, Oglok himself. The main focus of the council is the destruction of the Shadow Capital, and Rhine's investigation team has brought back shocking news, both the appearance of Valhalla and the technology they display, which has shocked the upper echelons of the Dark Council.

Early in the morning, the council hall square on the west side of the eternal night city was successively arrived by vehicles from wealthy families. Each of these vehicles was painted with a number of special coats of arms, each representing a prominent family, but several branches of the family would add other small motifs to their coats of arms to distinguish them, causing the coats of arms to multiply and make the guards of the square miserable. They had to carefully distinguish the belonging of these coats of arms and guide the vehicles to the plaza where they had already distinguished the different locations of the haode to be parked.

In general, only the 24 councillors had the right to vote in today's meeting, but it did not prevent others from participating in the listening, so the number one family in Eternal Night City, regardless of its size, more or less sent some important family members to participate, so as to grasp the actions of the Dark Council as soon as possible. The news that Rhine brought back has already been heard by anyone who is not deaf. The appearance of Valhalla, the great enemy, has made many people already smell the smell of war. Ogellock is not a generous and benevolent speaker, and war may be inevitable, but there are many differences in how it is fought. And as long as there is a slight difference, it will determine the future decisions of many families, so today's meeting, as long as you are qualified to listen, will not intend to give up this rare opportunity.

Rhine also attended today's meeting, but the difference was that he was neither participating as a member of parliament nor listening from the sidelines with a concern for the future of his family. It is only as the head of the investigation team that he is obliged to explain to all the members of the council what he has found in the City of Shadows, and to answer the relevant questions raised by the councillors, as an important reference for these councillors when voting.

In a black elongated motorhome marking the coat of arms of the Augustus family, Rhine was sitting quietly. His face was as calm as water, and he didn't make waves. Look out the window at the cityscape with a casual, even outsider's gaze.

"Rhine. A majestic voice rang out, it was a middle-aged man sitting opposite the Ninth Horseman. His appearance is somewhat similar to Rhine, but he is more stable than Rhine, and his silver-white mantle adds a bit of the vicissitudes of time to him. He turned a wrench on his hand, which had the image of a winged angel. This is the coat of arms of the Augustus family, and this middle-aged man is Rhine's father, Leo Augustus, the patriarch of the responsible family.

"You are in a special position today, and I want you to objectively account for what you have seen in the City of Shadows from an impartial standpoint. Don't add your own feelings to it, so as not to mislead the judgment of the councillors, can it be done?"

"Oh. Rhine replied casually, still looking out the window, and said, "I thought my father wanted me to fight for something for the family." ”

"If it were the old days, I would definitely do it. But today is different, after all, the opponent is Valhalla. Whatever the outcome is today, it will have an incalculable impact on our family, on the entire council, and on this continent. So today, only today, I ask you to forget who you are, Rhine. Leo looked at his son and said with a serious face.

Rhine nodded and said, "I see." ”

Looking at him, Leo shook his head and said, "It should be a bit superfluous for me to say this, many times Rhine you don't think of yourself as a member of the Augustus family, do you?"

Rhine laughed, and he shook his head, "Don't say that, Father, I haven't forgotten my last name. ”

"Then Weishenme won't come back to help me, don't tell me that there are so many missions assigned to you at the Blood Rider Headquarters, as far as I know, many of your so-called missions are just an excuse to leave Eternal Night City!"

Rhine heard a slight anger in his father's tone, but he was still unmoved, and said lightly: "Family affairs, isn't there big brother Hart." He is far superior to me in terms of personal force and political power, and that family doesn't need me at all. ”

"Fart!" Leo snorted, his hair standing on end, like an angry lion, "Listen to Rhine, I have two sons. One is Hart and one is you!"

Rhine's smile froze slightly, and then he lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "I am sorry for the faux pas just now, father." ”

Leo then "hummed" and said softly: "No matter how dazzling Hart is, in my heart, I will always remember that gentle and sensible child, Rhine." ”

(Even if my mother came from humble beginnings??) ）

In the car, the father and son did not say anything more. At this time, the RV turned into the parliament square, and the driver reminded the two adults behind him: "Sir, we have arrived." ”

As the doors opened, Rhine got out of the car, and in front of him was the council hall of the Eternal Night City, a futuristic and streamlined building with a silver façade that is also home to the city's highest power!