Struggle in the Steam Age

In the darkness, Lawrence was lying on the bed tightly holding his pistol. At this moment, only this cold weapon could bring him a little comfort. Just when he was thinking about whether he should stay here all night and pretend he didn't know anything, or go out of the room to check what happened around him, there was a sudden movement from the direction of the door

"Knowledge." The person at the door quickly pried open the door, and then Lawrence heard a familiar voice appearing in his ear, as if someone was standing next to his ear and whispered.

"Hard work." Lawrence muttered in a low voice before getting up from the bed. The door opened, and High Priest Arthur of the Faith and Catechism Department of the Church of Knowledge walked in wearing a tight leather armor. On his left hand was a hammer hanging on his belt, and on the other side was a book tied with a long iron chain. A book made purely of steel.

"Little guy, I'm glad to see you again." High Priest Arthur looked at Lawrence who stood up and said, "I didn't expect that you didn't get the trick at this time."

"My nerves have been tense, and I just ate two bites of the biscuits I brought with me and some fruit tonight." Lawrence said in a slightly hoarse voice, "By the way, do you have any water?"

"Of course there is." High Priest Arthur took out a water jug ​​from nowhere and handed it to Lawrence. Seeing him take the water jug ​​and drink it vigorously, the High Priest consoled him. "Don't worry, I brought a lot of water. I have to say that you are right to be vigilant. All the food and drinks at your bonfire party today put some sleeping pills with very ordinary effects."

"The effect is very general?" Lawrence put down the kettle and asked a little puzzled, "Then what is the use of this medicine?"

"Of course it works." High Priest Arthur pointed to the grapefruit tea on the coffee table outside the door. "There is another sleeping pill in the tea, and the third one was just blown in through a tube. If these three sleeping pills are mixed together, the effect will be no different from a strong anesthetic. But if they are opened separately, it will gradually make people lose their health. People become sleepy, so that even if you wake up tomorrow, you will not doubt what happened today."

"No wonder." Lawrence finally figured out why craft beer with higher alcohol content was chosen at the bonfire party today, and why the barbecue smelled slightly salty at the time. Because after eating these things, people will be very thirsty, so they will naturally drink the tea in the room.

"Okay." After seeing that Lawrence was almost drinking water, High Priest Arthur began to ask about the business tonight. "Can you tell me what happened in the ruins today? We just lurked around during the day and didn't know what happened underground."

"Actually, I didn't go deep into the ruins, but just set up a temporary camp with the doctor next door." Lawrence said honestly, the brilliance in Arthur's eyes was a little dim after hearing these words, but Quick, Lawrence's next words cheered him up. "But I treated a wounded man and he told me what happened down there."

Next, Lawrence introduced all the information he had learned, from the first time he discovered the uniform tattoos on the shoulders of the workers, to the news about the great lake that he heard from the wounded in detail. In the middle, High Priest Arthur interrupted him several times and asked some details in detail.

"I think I may know something." After hearing what Lauren said, High Priest Arthur's face suddenly became serious. "It may be worse now than we thought."

"What?" Lawrence asked suspiciously. "I don't see anything strange."

"That's because you are not an extraordinary person, so your understanding of the extraordinary world is only superficial." High Priest Arthur said seriously. "The fish-like things you mentioned that lie in ambush under the sand are not normal extraordinary creatures at all, but demonized sharks. The places where such demonized creatures live often contain great danger."

While Arthur was explaining, there was a sudden sound of horseshoes outside. Soon four men in blue inlaid armor with swords and large-caliber revolvers walked in. Lawrence recognized them as members of the order of warriors belonging to the Church of Knowledge.

After they entered, the six people in the room looked at the people who rushed to the construction site at this time through the gaps in the curtains. Soon, a carriage stopped in their field of vision, and when the car stopped, four people wearing uniform leather jackets and cowboy hats, but carrying a variety of different weapons got out of the car .

"A demon hunter." Arthur recognized who it was immediately, "It seems that the two demon hunters you said to leave at noon today also reported today's events to the demon hunter guild."

After speaking, he released a blue light from his fingertips, and this light formed a ball of light in the shape of a blue quill and parchment holy emblem in the room. And the group of witchers suddenly sensed something and looked towards the house where Lawrence and the others lived.

At this time, Arthur walked to the window and opened the curtains, and waved to the group of witchers looking at him. Soon, the group of witchers also squeezed into the room.

The first thing everyone did after getting together was to exchange information with each other. From these demon hunters, Lawrence learned that the members of the Church of the Lord of Dawn had already entered the ground before.

"They're too impatient." High Priest Arthur had an angry expression on his face. "We informed them before that we let everyone enter the ruins together, instead of letting them go down alone without knowing what the situation is."

"Ah, you don't have to worry about this, because we also gave them the information we got before, and it's not like they are ignorant of the situation below." The leading middle-aged demon hunter with two swords stuck in his back said. "However, the Church of the Lord of Dawn has always been like this. When facing evil, they are always so impatient to attack. To be honest, it is already a very patient performance for them to persist until night before rushing in."

"But whether it is to prevent them from falling into a lonely struggle, or to prevent them from completely eradicating those demonized creatures alone, let us make a waste of time. I think we should act now."

"You're right." High Priest Arthur nodded. "Lawrence, then you—"

"Let me go down with you, I am not a person who has no resistance at all." Lawrence said and patted his pistol, "I will wait for you outside the ruins, in case there is really any problem inside I can also run out and report a letter for you."

"Well—your proposal is valuable." High Priest Arthur nodded after thinking for a while, then took out a palm-sized strange alchemy instrument from the back of his waist and handed it over together with his pocket watch, then pointed to the alchemist A blue button above the instrument says. "Did you see this button? After we enter the ruins, you will count the time. If we don't come out in 15 minutes and the red crystal on it is not lit, you can press the blue button."

"Understood." Lawrence nodded, and then walked towards the entrance of the sewer together with the Church of Knowledge and the demon hunters.