The Master of the Strange Realm

Therefore, while waiting for the thick fog to undergo further qualitative changes, they classified the creatures named [Crawlers in the Mist], and through some methods that the Orthodox Church could not analyze, they investigated the power properties of those atomized monsters and roughly divided them into three categories.

PS: Such an action will certainly not lose. It is said that the Orthodox Church has mobilized the most elite troops to Nolan to wait for the end of the world. If they cannot even deal with an illegal organization without the support of the evil god before the end of the world, wouldn’t it be too embarrassing?

Section 1701 Chapter 1674 Earthquake Mutation

The simple classification of the Scent Appreciation Committee is just a classification based on appearance, but in fact their power forms are very similar. Born from the fog, after being killed, the power returns to the fog, and as the fog area around Nolan continues to spread, this kind of continuously born monsters will become more and more.

[Scent Appreciation Committee] even directly asserted in the report that they believe that at least before the arrival of [Hermit and Thunder Moon] next month, Nolan’s fog area will accumulate enough power to produce a second qualitative change. After this, the fog will "evolve" faster and faster until it completely engulfs the entire city of Nolan.

But the cigarette dealers believe that before the fog engulfs the city, due to the nature of its birth, it will resonate with the fog in other foggy areas in the material world, thus connecting the foggy areas distributed all over the world.

By then, the fog will cover the sun, and people will no longer be able to see the sun, moon and stars. The gray sky will be the main tone of the material world, and the natural changes caused by it will be enough to end the world.

"This is a terrible speculation, but it seems to be true."

Jenkins put down the report and looked out the window. Although it is a summer afternoon, the sun is not toxic because the fog has blocked the sunlight for the city. It is foggy everywhere outside. Jenkins is very sure that if this continues, the speculation of the cigarette dealers will come true.

"Many people have read this report, and most people know that it is very authentic. To be safe, we have asked the followers of [Hovering Mist] who are active on the east coast of the continent to help interpret the report. In the next few days, we may hold a meeting to discuss this matter. Nolan's fog is now a serious concern~"

"Meeting?"

Jenkins questioned while stroking the cat:

"Is there any need for a meeting? Although I know it is difficult, this matter may be related to the catastrophe at the end of the era. Isn't it the most direct and effective way to directly shut down all the factories and small workshops around Nolan that emit waste gas? Meeting? Does this matter have to be delayed until the Three Kings Talks and resolved at the joint meeting of the Twelve Orthodox Churches?"

Rarely, Jenkins questioned Miss Befanna , but the latter seemed to have guessed his reaction:

"I also know that what you said is the best way, but will it be useful to shut down Nolan's factory? The problem now is not just Nolan. Similar things have appeared around cities with steam industries all over the world, but they are not as serious as Nolan. Even if all of Nolan's factories are shut down, the fog escaping from nearby cities will sooner or later cover Nolan.

To solve this problem, the most thorough means is to let secular mortals sign a treaty and gradually weaken all sources of fog in the world through restrictions and reforms."

"I know that reform cannot be achieved overnight, but I am worried that if it continues like this, Nolan will be in big trouble before next month."

Jenkins said worriedly, and even his hand stroking the cat slowed down. This made Chocolate a little dissatisfied. It patted Jenkins' hand with its little paw. Jenkins thought it was afraid of heat and didn't want to be touched, so he retracted his hand. The self-defeating cat could only lie on Jenkins' legs and sulk.

Although there are still many follow-up problems, at least the successful encirclement of the [Scent Appreciation Committee] has made everyone confident to face the next challenge. This is a good start.

The church intends to follow the existing clues to track the traces of the people in the tree house, find the true purpose of the abnormal tobacco, and pursue the secrets of the underground gear craftsmen. The combat team will re-arrange the patrol plan according to the power characteristics of the "Mist Crawler", and the church delegation will re-draft the terms of the next negotiation, hoping to start the meeting as soon as possible after the three kings' talks.

Even Jenkins has his own things to do. In the evening of that day, after he told his father about what he saw today in his father's antique shop, his father thought that Jenkins needed to learn targeted abilities based on the characteristics of the thick fog.

"Although there are still believers of lies blocking your way to becoming a savior, I think you need to think about it now. If you really defeat the believers of lies, what will you do next?"

Dad has great confidence in Jenkins and has a long-term vision. It's just that Jenkins is now nominally level six, and the remaining bubbles in the church's cognition are reserved for [Blessing of Books], so there is no time to learn new abilities.

Good news always appears at the same time, just like bad luck often appears in overlapping ways. On the day when the Scent Appreciation Committee was surrounded, the Three Kings' Talks finally achieved significant phased results.

In terms of the war on the front line, Queen Isabella made a major concession. She promised that if Chesilan agreed to surrender, then Fidictli would not ask for the other party to cede territory or even a copper penny in war compensation in return, but Tarquin the Proud must personally submit the letter of credence and declare surrender in Fidictli's territory.

Although the purpose of Tarquin the Proud's trip was for peace, it was more for the political capital to win the battle with the domestic war faction. His surrender on behalf of the entire kingdom was of course extremely shameful, even a scandal that was recorded in history books, but if surrender did not require any price, then this scandal was not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, since the full participation of the Fidicterius Navy, the balance of victory in the war has been skewed. Although a ceasefire now may not be the best option, it is at least better than surrendering after fighting to the end.

The Proud of the South did not have no confidence in his country's army, but for some reason, Salci II, who had originally maintained a neutral attitude, recently showed signs of supporting Fidicterius and even proposed a marriage between the royal families of the two countries, which forced His Majesty Tarquin to make up his mind to sign.

Jenkins was busy in the church all day, so the news that the war might be declared over in a few days was heard from Brienne in the evening. The current situation is sensitive, and Jenkins is not suitable to meet with Marquis Michael and Count Hesha who have the command of the army in public, so some intelligence will be told to Jenkins through the girls.

"This is really a good thing."

The good news one after another made Jenkins' mood better. He has been busy with various things recently and has almost no chance to stop during the day. Now that the war is over, one of Nolan's illegal organizations has been eliminated, and he believes that everything will be fine.

The next morning, Jenkins received a letter sent by Queen Isabella, in which Jenkins was ordered to attend the meeting that afternoon as a member of the royal family to witness an important historical event. Jenkins then understood that the news that the arrogant planned to stop being arrogant and surrender was true, and it was very likely that the final negotiations would be passed that afternoon.

Jenkins was of course happy to be a witness to history. It happened that after erasing the [Scent Appreciation Committee], the church did not arrange another task for him for the time being, so Jenkins returned to the boring meeting after many days, looking forward to witnessing the end of the war with his own eyes.

The afternoon meeting started at 1:30. Because it was a closed-door meeting, there were less than 30 people in the small meeting room No. 3, including the audience who had no right to speak.

But among these 30 people, there were three kings, seven powerful dukes and five princes. Everyone present knew that something would happen this afternoon, but because the proud man repeatedly struggled with the way and place of surrender, the meeting was delayed until about three o'clock, and the last meeting memorandum was finally signed.

When the papers were sealed by the three parties and the desk was restored to tidy, it meant that the negotiations on whether the war would continue had finally come to an end. Although there would be more and more complicated details to be discussed one by one in the future three kingdoms, this first step of success still made people particularly excited.

Everyone stood up and applauded, even Tarquin, who looked gloomy, clapped his hands symbolically. Isabella, who had white hair and needed someone to help her stand up, seemed to be ten years younger. She had completely recovered from the poisoning incident last week. She squinted her eyes and smiled while clapping her hands, her eyes swept from the left side of the small meeting room to the right side.

Here were her friends, her enemies, her relatives, and her successors. Nothing could make her happier than this scene. To be able to do this before leaving this world made the face of this old man who had been in office for more than fifty years flush.

Because of excessive excitement, she couldn't even stand still and felt that she was shaking constantly. But soon she found that it was not because of her physical exhaustion, because everything in front of her, whether it was the table, bench, chandelier or people, was shaking violently.

A rumbling sound came from a distance, like a giant beast rolling on the ground. This was another earthquake, and it was stronger than the earthquake on the opening day of the Three Kings' Talks.

The violent shaking even made people unable to stand, but after all, it was not the first time to experience such a thing. After the panic, people also trusted the quality of this building very much, so they left in an orderly manner according to the last experience.

The talks were not held in just one conference room. The kings discussed important matters, and other nobles and officials negotiated other matters elsewhere.

In the end, nearly 200 people were evacuated from the city hall, and this was only counting the people who participated in the meeting, not counting servants and guards. When people walked outside and looked at the source of the loud noise, they found that the Nolan Clock Tower, which should have stood a block away, had changed its appearance.

"Was the Nolan Clock Tower black before?"

Queen Isabella, who was supporting Jenkins, asked him. The old woman's hand was like a clamp, tightly grasping Jenkins, and the weight of her whole body was pressed on his arm. Although Jenkins would not be unable to bear it, in such hot weather, he particularly did not like to be so close to people other than cats or girls.

Section 1702 Chapter 1675 Black Tower

"The Nolan Clock Tower is definitely not black, and the outer paint does not have such a metallic texture."

In the bustling crowd outside the Nolan City Hall, before the local Jenkins spoke, Miss Windsor spoke first.

The people who escaped from the surrounding buildings all looked up at this moment. At the location of the originally white Nolan clock tower, there was actually a pure black tower that looked like it was made of metal. It stood in the lingering gray fog. Its blurry and weird appearance made everyone who saw it feel a chill in their hearts.

It is thinner than the original white clock tower, but also taller, almost twice the size of the clock tower. No windows or openings can be seen from the outer surface, and each floor is a perfect regular hexagon.

There is no pattern on the outside of the metal tower, and the surface is completely smooth, but the traces of ancient times can be seen from the texture of the metal alone. This is a special feeling that only time can leave. It stands in front of people, as if it has come from the past of ancient time and space, and is incompatible with this steam-industrialized city.

"Eye of Truth!"

Jenkins muttered in his heart, and then in a blink of an eye, the black aura almost burst out from the metal tower. At the same time as the sight came into contact with those black auras, the unique click sound produced by the turning of a gear came from the heart. The soul immediately felt something strange, and at the same time, an inexplicable cold feeling spread from the heart to the whole body.

Jenkins suddenly groaned and felt that part of his heart had turned into a gear structure. But under the guidance of the powerful soul and the drive of the spirit of life, this change was reversed abruptly.

He quickly turned off the Eye of Truth, but when he observed the tower with his naked eyes, he saw no strange vision. The black metal tower standing in the gray fog was quiet and strange. It stood there, in everyone's eyes, and reflected in everyone's heart.

"Oh, this is really bad..."

This was Jenkins' only thought at the moment.

It was difficult to judge whether there was any connection between the earthquake just now and the appearance of the metal tower that destroyed the clock tower. But today's meeting must not be held. Fortunately, the most important topic has been concluded, so everyone can accept the end of today's affairs.

In order to comfort the people who were frightened by the earthquake, Queen Isabella decided to hold a cocktail party. The purpose of this cocktail party is to use gentle and reasonable means to reveal the news of the end of the war reached at the meeting in advance. This is probably one of the few good news during this period.

Although today's earthquake was very strange and had a small impact range, the tremor near the epicenter was very strong. Disaster relief is also in full swing. Fortunately, Nolan has had frequent earthquakes recently, so there have not been too many casualties.

After accepting Queen Isabella's invitation to the evening cocktail party, Jenkins hurried to the church under the pretext of going home to change clothes, and then reunited with Miss Bevana under the black tower.

Although the tower could not be seen with the naked eye, everyone knew that it was definitely not normal. Before Jenkins arrived, the church had blocked the nearby civic square and dispersed the citizens who were watching the excitement. Fortunately, the whole city was foggy recently. As long as people stayed away from the square, they could not see the situation under the tower even if they stood on the roof.

At this time, the Twelve Orthodox Churches sent a team to check the situation, and the leaders were all demigods. Jenkins stepped on the bricks and beams of the bell tower, greeted acquaintances, and walked quickly to Miss Bevana under the tower. The team of the Sage Church was scattered around the tower at this time, cooperating with the teams of other churches to collect the nearby air, bell tower wreckage and soil, and used rituals such as [Evil Force Dispersion] and [Malicious Detection] to prevent anything from rushing out of the tower.

"What's going on now?"

Finally, we came to the tower. The black metal tower gave people a stronger sense of oppression at this location. Observing from the bottom of the tower, it is easy to find that the tower is protruding from the ground, like a spear that directly smashed the original bell tower.

Looking from the bottom of the tower, there are still no windows, but you can see an ordinary black iron door, which is almost integrated with the tower because of the similar color.

The door is now closed. Mr. Smith, the keeper of the Sage Church, is talking to two other old men who Jenkins does not know in front of the door. The two are not Sage believers, but pagan mystics.

"It's hard to say what the situation is now."

Miss Bevanna replied. She stood at the end of a high-raised wooden beam holding her big book as usual, but for some reason, she wore a very short purple gauze cloak on her shoulders today. I don't know if it is for decoration or to prevent catching a cold at night.

"The Earth Church told us that the epicenter of the earthquake is under this tower. More precisely, it is because this tower sticks out from under the tower like a javelin that the earthquake was triggered."

"How much of this tower is still underground?"

Jenkins asked with a frown. He didn't dare to use the Eye of Truth to confirm it easily.

"How do you know there is still underground?"

"In fact, if you look closely, you can see that the layer now on the surface is not complete."

Jenkins explained, but in fact it was based on the routine of most of the stories he had read.

"There is a lot of area underground. In fact, the Earth Church told us that the part currently exposed above the ground is like the tip of a lightning rod of a tower of Babel."

Miss Bevanna's answer was very accurate, and Jenkins had a sense of picture. He touched the cat on his shoulder, whose fur was a little frizzy for some reason, and asked hesitantly:

"For this tower... is it related to the Gear Craftsman Association?"

"It's not known yet. The Mechanical Church is trying to detect the structure and composition of this tower, but the current progress is not optimistic."

It is difficult for the church not to connect this tower with the Gearsmiths hidden deep underground in Nolan. In fact, almost everyone is sure that the recent frequent earthquakes, A-12-2-0322 [Stone of the Eyeless] dug out of the mine a few days ago, and this tower are all caused by the actions of the cultists deep underground.

Because they vaguely know that the terrifying things sealed deep underground in Nolan may be related to the catastrophe at the end of the era, the church has attached great importance to this metal black tower that appeared after the earthquake.

Just looking at the number and quality of the first batch of personnel sent to seal off the scene and investigate, it is not difficult to see the attitude of the church.

Chapter 1703 Chapter 1676 Cocktail Party

Jenkins was going to attend an important cocktail party in the evening, so he could not study the black tower under the Civic Square all night. The illusion seen with the true eye made Jenkins very alert to this thing. He didn't know what this black tower was, but he was very sure that it must be related to the differential engine.

Because the specific size and image of the ancient intelligent machine were unknown, Jenkins could not guess what the connection between the tower and the differential machine was, and what specific functions it had.

But no matter what, it should not be left on the ground, so after understanding the general situation with Miss Befanna, Jenkins proposed to directly destroy the black tower on the ground and the shallow surface.

This was a rather reckless decision. For such a huge object whose specific size and function were unknown, destroying a part of it might not only have no effect, but also trigger an unexpected chain reaction.

But since it was proposed by Jenkins, Miss Befanna still reported it to the church and discussed the feasibility of this approach with other demigods present.

Not many people supported Jenkins, and according to the Mechanicus, the composition of the black tower was pure metal, and it was pure metal of unknown composition with high strength. At present, normal means could not even leave traces on the surface of those metals.

The proposal to destroy the black tower was temporarily shelved, but the investigation of the tower could not be interrupted. After completing the peripheral exploration and confirming that there was no discovery about the tower itself, Miss Audrey of the Church of Destiny performed a simple divination.

Because she was worried that this was a special strange thing that would not affect the external environment, Miss Audrey did not directly go to the divination result, but used the ancient "water divination" ritual to try to explore its source. But the divination result was also very unsatisfactory. The past of this black tower seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gray mist. Miss Audrey could perform divination, but she could not identify what the result of the divination represented.

At this point, except for cleaning up the wreckage of the original clock tower, the church had almost done everything it could do. The Sage Church looked up the information and could not find any records of similar towers, so the investigation of the tower could be regarded as a complete failure.

"So we plan to go in and check the situation."

Near dusk, Jenkins got the next plan from Miss Befanna.

"This is too risky."

Jenkins naturally opposed it.

"But there is nothing we can do now. We can't just let this tower stand here. And..."

Miss Bevanna lowered her voice:

"You also know that according to the Church of Destiny, the sealed objects that the gear craftsmen will find underground are likely to be related to the disaster at the end of the era. We must find out whether this tower is related to that. This is about the future of the material world. Isn't it for this purpose that the main combat forces of the Twelve Churches gathered in Nolan?"

Miss Bevanna's words made sense, but Jenkins still thought it was too risky. He knew that he would not be allowed to join the expedition team, so he planned to stay here and wait for the expedition team to set off and then return.

But Miss Bevanna and Mr. Gilbert both strongly suggested that Jenkins go to Queen Isabella's cocktail party.

"There is no point in you waiting here, and even if something really happens, what's the use of having one more person?"

At this time, the number of gifted people gathered around the civic square under the tower has exceeded 100. In order to prevent accidents, the church has even decided to permanently block this street and square during the existence of the black tower.

There were more than ten demigods gathered here, and Jenkins was not the only son of God. Therefore, on the surface, it did not make much sense for Jenkins to stay.

"It would take more than a few dozen minutes to explore the tower. It is so high. Even if you walk back and forth on the ground, it will probably take an hour. Go quickly. If we really need you, we will send someone to find you."

Miss Bevanna persuaded again. Seeing the situation, Jenkins could only agree to leave here temporarily.

It was getting late, so he borrowed a carriage from the church and went home to pick up the girls. This was his female companion. But when the carriage drove out of the street, Jenkins looked back from the window and saw the silhouette of the black tower in the thick fog, and he was still a little worried about what would happen next.

Jenkins was worried about the black tower all night. He only stood with Hathaway and Britney with a glass of pear juice at the cocktail party, talking to strangers and acquaintances who kept coming up to chat.

It was not difficult to find that he was absent-minded, so Dolores, who was also invited to the cocktail party, was a little curious about what happened. Miss Windsor guessed that this was related to the black tower that appeared after the earthquake this afternoon, but seeing that Jenkins was unwilling to say more, she did not ask more questions.

"So how will tomorrow's newspaper explain this tower? Today's evening paper didn't mention it at all."

Blaine asked with interest.

"This matter cannot be concealed. As long as the citizens of Nolan do not have eye problems, they can find that the original clock tower has changed shape and color. I think the newspaper will probably find some university geology professors to attribute the change in the shape and color of the tower to the geological changes caused by the earthquake, or directly attribute this change to the bad air in Nolan."

"Isn't this reason hard to believe?"

"What the city hall and the church need is not to make people believe such an argument, but to give a good one. For example, the "underground steam pipe explosions" that occurred consecutively in the first half of this year and the second half of last year, how many people really believed it every time? The argument is not important, but the argument is important."