Sherlock Holmes

For people in this world, this moment is the most critical moment. After being taken away 800 years ago, the machine that records the research data on space-time cracks has finally returned to the place where it belongs. As long as these data are available, , there is hope for repairing the cracks in time and space.

For Sherlock, this moment is also the most critical moment. Well, every second is extremely critical for him, because even he himself doesn't know whether he will be under the opponent's power in the next second. He completely lost the ability to resist and became a dead soul drowned on the eve of the times.

For the empire, it has also reached the most critical moment.

It is even more critical than when the gate of hell opened, and it is more critical than the second demonic invasion.

I don’t know when, where or who said this. The disintegration of an empire often occurs internally. But on the third day after Lord Dante rushed into the rift of time and space, the empire’s army was completely separated.

It is hard to imagine that an imperial soldier who has endured the most difficult war between humans and demons, the mighty Antarctic continent expedition team, the tenacious army that closed the door to hell, the iron-blooded, tough, and unafraid of death, would survive in such a short period of time. disintegrate within a period of time.

Lord Dante has gone to the new Gate of Hell above the Elbes Mountains. As an imperial soldier, he must help Lord Dante and prevent the third invasion of the devil. This is understandable.

However, most soldiers still kept in mind their vocation. They obeyed the orders of the new king of the empire unconditionally, and regarded all troops who left the station without permission as betraying the empire. Therefore, a war within the empire began. From arguing with each other, to yelling and scolding, to fighting, it gradually evolved into the first gunshot, the first pool of blood, and the first life.

People who had given their backs to each other raised guns at each other, and the military split directly led to the split of factions. All in just a few days. If people look back at this period of history a thousand years later, they will definitely find it ridiculous to the extreme.

Of course, this is not the most ridiculous thing.

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

This day happens to be at the junction of late autumn and early winter. The cold wind is gradually rising in the ancient Roman city. Last night it snowed for the first time this year. The morning dew condenses into the night before the sun rises. The low temperature in the air is reflected by the first ray of snow. Against the background of the sun, patches of white frost began to coat the glass windows of the building.

In the emperor's office, the warm fireplace provided a subtle constant temperature. Moriarty slept well these days. After waking up naturally in the morning, he saw this morning's report on the gathering of demonstration forces in various administrative districts. He picked up a glass of Moran brewed coffee and rarely went to work immediately. Instead, he looked at the pine frost outside the window and enjoyed the comfort of the morning.

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

Before the spring comes, there is always a cold winter, so Moriarty doesn't feel the slightest pity for the vegetation in this world.

Today's Holy Journal is printed more than an hour later than usual. In the minds of the people of the Empire, Holy Journal undoubtedly has an absolute status. In recent years, this newspaper has experienced a temporary printing. That era of the Great Crusade began.

A year and a half ago, the Holy Journal closed, and the next day, the largest and longest general strike in the history of the Empire began.

But this time, the distribution was only an hour late. In the eyes of many people in the empire, it didn't seem to be a big deal.

It may be that the editor-in-chief was drunk yesterday and failed to publish the manuscript, or it may be that the recent confrontation between military forces caused the printing to be slower.

That's all

But people don't know that just before today's newspaper was distributed, Ms. Milhouse, the top editor of the Holy Journal and the president of the newspaper, announced her resignation.

Moreover, before she resigned, as president, she issued a written document to all the subordinate Holy Journal newspapers, recommending that from now on, the Holy Journal should cease publication permanently.

At first, most of the staff at the Holy Journal had no idea what was going on and just thought it was a ridiculous prank.

Until they got today's newspaper and saw the star-studded, chilling headline:

"The Fall of an Empire"

Under such a terrifying title, the author is clearly signed by the editor-in-chief, Ms. Milhouse.

No one knows how such a headline appeared on the front page of the Holy Journal. Is Ms. Milhouse crazy? But even if the editor-in-chief is really crazy, it is impossible for such a topic to be published.

However, this newspaper was printed overnight in printing plants around the world as usual, and was still distributed to all people as usual.

In the content of the headline, Ms. Milhouse used her extremely concise, even ruthless writing style to describe the recent conflicts among the military, with the cumulative death toll reaching more than 40,000, and some Lord Dante's supporting factions have already rushed out of their garrison and are marching towards the Elbes Mountains, and some troops have already sent troops to stop them.

If a military encounter really occurs in the wild, then this heralds 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 incident is still the airship crash that occurred in London 5 years ago.

Twenty thousand people died in this incident. Shortly after, Emperor Augustine was assassinated. The murderer was Sherlock Holmes, who had disappeared for almost a year.

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

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

The atmosphere of the entire report suddenly became terrifying.

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

Okay, okay, maybe Emperor Augustine did do something wrong at that time. Even if this old man who dominated the empire for more than 60 years became old and confused before his death, he covered his whole life with a sinful color.

But he is dead after all, and all this is in the past. In the eyes of the people of the empire who have been baptized by the word "New Era" for almost three years, such reports are still not too unacceptable.

Until a photo appears.

This photo was taken in the late autumn of 288 A.D., shortly before the airship crash.

The photo shows a small river. On the bank of the river, two men are sitting looking at each other. The younger one is sitting on a bench, while the older one is sitting in a wheelchair. There are long tubes in his arms connected to the wheelchair. Among the infusion bottles, a woman dressed as a nurse stood behind the wheel, her head slightly lowered, and she was quiet.

The photo seemed to have been taken accidentally in a small building on the other side of the river, but it was not difficult to see that the old man was the emperor of the empire at the time, Augustine - as for the young man, he was the Holy Son of the Holy See at that time.

At the same time, the official radio station of the Holy Journal was playing a recording on a 24-hour loop. This recording was made by the nurse who was responsible for the health management of Augustine the Great, who was also the person pushing the wheelchair in the photo.

"I have been in office for 60 years, and I have never dared to have such thoughts." This recording disc has been preserved for five years. It sounds a little blurry, but it can still be recognized that it is the voice of the old man: "You know Would the murder of Nightingale cause much of a stir?"

"You are over 90 years old. This is not something you need to consider. I will provide you with the landing and landing locations of the airship. They are all within the jurisdiction of the Holy See. After the incident, everyone who knows about it will You can rest assured of death."

The young voice was very calm.

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

"I will go to see her as the Holy Son, and she will never close the door and refuse guests."

Moriarty said, it was as cold as the night wind in the early morning hours of winter, blowing through the backs of everyone who heard this recording.