The world-devouring dragon

"..."

The scenery on both sides is passing by like light, but in this car it is extremely smooth, without any bumps. It is so quiet that one wonders whether the car is running. The young woman holding the steering wheel in front is even more tall and beautiful. , but the unshaven middle-aged man sitting in the back seat of the car was bored and ignored it at all.

"What is the mission this time? It won't be easy. Is it a vampire? A werewolf? A wizard? Or some kind of ghost?"

In this specially modified car, the middle-aged man did not shy away from anything and said directly.

Witchers, or vampire hunters, are often mistaken for the natural enemies of vampires because they are often enemies of vampires. In fact, they are a profession similar to mercenaries. As long as someone is willing to pay, he is willing to help no matter what the opponent is. It solves the problem.

"It's news from the European headquarters. Maybe you will meet with the elders later?"

Elder?

When he heard the word, Roberts almost thought he had heard it wrong.

"Elder? How could they, such conservative and mysterious big men, meet a secular person like me?"

Roberts almost laughed. He belongs to an organization called "Brother John". It is said that it was first established as a knighthood during the Crusades, but it has become a loose mercenary organization in the other world. Even the name has been changed, but no matter what the change, there is always a mysterious organization called "The Hermitage" above it.

Not many people know the specific name of the "Hermitage". They just use "The Hermitage" as a code name. Brother John's actions are often helped by the Hermitage. The reason why this loose organization continues to this day is that There was no dissolution, it was entirely because the Priory did not allow it to be disbanded.

On extremely rare occasions, Roberts also met the "elders" of the monastery.

It was a figure wearing a black monk's robe. No one could see his face, but he had a special ancient aura. Although he had not fought, he could feel the powerful power on his body, which was stronger than anything Roberts had ever seen. Any vampire is more powerful. With just a glance, Roberts, who has withstood cruel challenges since childhood, felt a strong sense of crisis.

Mysterious, rigid and conservative, and unwilling to contact the laity, this is Roberts' impression of the "elders" in the monastery.

"Don't think that you are the only one who has received the order. Some people with outstanding achievements in the past have received the order. It is said that it is not just 'Brother John', 'Silver Hand', 'Peter's Hand', 'Gravekeeper'... all I’ve received the news and you’ll find out later when you get on the plane with me and go to the European headquarters.”

Seeing the middle-aged man's appearance in the rearview mirror, the young woman couldn't help but speak.

"Whatever, I just want to finish the task quickly and go drink."

As he spoke, the man subconsciously touched his pocket, but didn't find what he wanted...

Before getting on the bus, the young woman had thrown away all the cigarettes on his body. However, the middle-aged man who was addicted to cigarettes couldn't bear it. Even though he knew that Wendy would not miss this, he still searched on his seat. stand up.

"Stop looking for it, Roberts, there are no cigarettes in the car...let alone water pipes...no cigarettes at all..."

The young woman sitting in front seemed to be familiar with Roberts. She started talking to Roberts without looking back. After confirming that he was not there, the man reluctantly gave up the search, looked at her and said.

"No wonder I can't get married..."

"Thank you. I'm so young and I don't plan to get married. On the contrary, there is a certain 43-year-old bachelor who seems to be unmarried."

But in the face of Roberts' dissatisfied and malicious slander, the woman sitting in the driver's seat retorted indifferently. Then, the voice in the back seat stopped. The young woman suddenly realized her mistake. She opened her mouth, and then felt a little uneasy. tried to explain.

"Sorry, I……"

"It's okay, Wendy."

A calm voice sounded from the back seat, and then the car fell into a kind of deathly silence. From the rearview mirror, Wendy could see the middle-aged man leaning silently on his seat, looking out the window, as if staring at an extremely distant place.

After hesitating for a moment, Wendy gently flipped her hair, looked at the person in the rearview mirror, and said tentatively.

"But, after all these years, haven't you thought about... trying to find someone else?"

"Wendy, you are still young, you don't understand. As long as you have one person, you won't think about others."

The sound from the back seat reached her ears, but the rare gentle sound made her feel dissatisfied. She bit her lower lip and subconsciously used some strength on her slender fingers that clenched the steering wheel. See a slight whitening.

What does it mean that she is still young? It seems that she is still the little girl she was back then... But when she secretly looked at the silent man in the rearview mirror, she couldn't get angry at all.

"How's Joan?"

In the end, it was the man who broke the silence. When the name was mentioned, the man's voice was a little more concerned.

"Joan? She's still in school now... It's true for you too. She's in high school in Boston, but you came to Texas. It's like you're avoiding her. It's rare for her to see you. She even complained to me sometimes..."

Speaking of Joan, Wendy became more interested and chattered.

"How can a person like me dare to have more contact with my daughter?"

The man's self-deprecating voice sounded. How could a man like him, who walks on the line between life and death every day, take care of his daughter openly? Only in this specially modified car could he dare to talk about Joan without fear.

Then he said again.

"It's been difficult for me to show up these years. Thanks to you for helping me take care of Qiong,"

There was no reply from the front, but he could see the corners of the woman's mouth raised in the rearview mirror. He understood that his partner had received his thanks, and he was not a person who liked to talk very much, so he stopped saying anything. .

Only occasionally when he looked out the window at the couples and couples together, his pupils would feel a little disappointed.

"Betty..."

It seems that I can still see that young figure full of curiosity, vitality, and eccentricity in front of me.

…

After getting off the plane, the two people went straight to the headquarters and finally followed the code and met the person they wanted to see in a remote chapel.

"A brat? What value does he have in being hunted?"

Looking at the young man in the photo, Roberts frowned. It was a frontal photo of a young man, with a thin face and thick dark circles under his eyes that could not be removed. He looked extremely unhealthy, but Roberts could still tell that he was just an ordinary person, probably less than twenty years old.

Roberts raised his head and asked the monk in front of him.

Opposite him was an old monk whose body was shrouded in black monastic robes. His face was old and his pupils were deep. Facing Roberts' questioning, his eyes showed no change and were cold and dead.

"My child, this is not something you should ask... Just find him, and the Hermitage will take care of the rest."

Lowering his eyes, the old and slow voice said.

There was something inexplicably weird about his tone, slow as a chant, which made Roberts feel vaguely uncomfortable.

But he didn't care about this. In the final analysis, he was more like a mercenary. He shouldn't ask more questions than he should. Since he was asked to find this person, he didn't bother to pay attention to the story behind it.

Then he flipped through the information in his hand, which listed his information in detail, including height, weight, blood type, school, hobby for coffee, etc., but Roberts was keenly aware that some of it seemed to have been deliberately erased. The information was not mentioned.

For example, it is written above that he escaped from Amsterdam, where he lived and studied, a few months ago, but he did not write at all why he fled, as if someone deliberately erased the information and did not want others to know.

However, such things are not unheard of. In some places involving high confidentiality, employers will obviously not disclose them to mercenaries.

"Extremely good at mathematics and programming, and a genius hacker..."

In the end, Roberts really couldn't see anything from this extremely ordinary resume. He was born, grew up, and studied like ordinary people. Whether on campus or in other people's evaluations, he was "solitary, dull, and nothing." "Impression"...

Except for the "hacker" that seems to be deliberately emphasized.

"Umberto Bruni..."

Looking at the name, Roberts read it unconsciously.

…

At the same time, in a manor somewhere in Europe, many men and women bowed to the person in front of them. The person shrouded in darkness was sitting on the throne, and he could vaguely see the ancient king's clothes he was wearing. His face looked at the many men and women in front of him.

One of them was speaking to him respectfully, and words such as "hacker" and "Bruni" could be vaguely heard.

After a long time, he issued many commands in a low voice. The numerous men and women turned into bats and dispersed. Then the ancient king sitting on the throne put his head in his hands and murmured.

"The code left by Leonardo da Vinci...did he really open the key to the world?"