The world-devouring dragon

December 7, 2044, in a small town somewhere in the United States.

It is the middle of winter, and under the unusually heavy snow caused by climate warming, most of the vegetation has withered. Only cold-resistant plants such as firs are still standing in the snow.

In this snowy sky, the earth is covered in white, and the abnormal weather makes local residents reluctant to travel. Because of this, this emerging town with a small population looks even more desolate, but in this white land, there are two small black dots moving forward.

"Hey, Mike, do we have to walk there step by step? Can't we just drive a car?"

The head tightly wrapped in a scarf exhaled white breath from the gaps. Louis looked at the small town curiously and complained at the same time. Beside him, a middle-aged man wearing a hat and a black coat put his hands in his pockets, and his head wrapped in a scarf only exposed a pair of eyes to the outside world.

"The target doesn't like to be disturbed. According to regulations, the use of vehicles, flying skateboards and other noisy vehicles must be prohibited. You will gradually take over my tasks in the future. This is your first time going to the target's residence. You must remember these points. live."

The man said in a commanding tone.

Faced with his superior's words, Louis could only respond, and then the two walked in silence for a while. Louis, who felt it was too silent, tried to speak again.

"Mike, have you seen such heavy snow before? Anyway, I haven't seen snow since I was born, and I've only seen it in VR."

“There was a lot of snow like this when I was a kid.”

the man said.

"I think those scientists said that this unexpected heavy snowfall was related to 124. I feel that those scholars are now more and more willing to push things to 124. They like to say that climate abnormalities and trivial matters are because of 124."

"Speaking of 124, scientists have always said it is an internal mutation of the sun since I was a child, but many people insist that it is related to us. Do you think it is true?"

Young Lewis complained and couldn't help but ask.

124 is the contemporary name for the astronomical change that occurred on December 4, 2004.

40 years ago, the sun mutated and also disturbed the earth. Under this situation, the earth suffered a large number of natural disasters at that time and even in the following decades, and it was not until these years that it gradually stopped.

Although the official statement claims that the 124th incident was caused by abnormal activities inside the sun, conspiracy theories about the 124th incident have never stopped. There are theories about supernatural powers, alien civilizations, supernovas, and people from the future. Some conspiracy theory groups even insist that this is related to Freemasonry.

Those who believe in conspiracy theories related to Freemasonry believe that it was Freemasonry that triggered the machinery of the ancient Atlantis civilization at that time, which led to the subsequent solar anomalies.

"Those are conspiracy theories."

Facing Lewis' curiosity, the man in the coat beside him just walked forward and replied indifferently.

"But how do you explain the Atlantic incident that Sailor Charlie mentioned?"

In 2028, according to a veteran US sailor who was serving on a battleship at the time, he saw with his own eyes that the ocean was cut apart by a beam of light.

"More dazzling than a thousand suns, it easily opened up the entire ocean, just like Moses parted the Red Sea in the myth, revealing the deep seabed..."

According to the old sailor, after the incident, everyone on the ship was required by the military to keep it secret. After that, the sailors were dispersed and reorganized. Although there is no evidence, he insists that military personnel are still secretly monitoring him to this day, and he has kept the secret in his heart for many years before secretly finding an opportunity to announce it.

However, during the subsequent medical evaluation, the veteran US Navy sailor was found to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease and depression, so it is not certain whether what he said was his delusion or because he was too lonely and wanted to use shocking words to gain the world's attention. But among those conspiracy theorists, the words of the old sailor are extremely popular.

Many people claim that this incident is related to the legendary civilization of Atlantis.

"It's just the gibberish of a veteran."

The man in the coat still walked forward without looking back.

"What about the strange phenomena in Manhattan? This is officially recognized and many people can testify."

Louis asked again.

Another piece of evidence is the strange incident in Manhattan, New York, when the 124 incident occurred.

At the same time as the 124 incident, a strange phenomenon occurred in Manhattan, New York at the time. A bizarre explosion destroyed the entire city of Manhattan, causing widespread casualties.

And some people said that before this weird explosion occurred, a large number of soldiers and even fighter planes came to block people's access. One police officer, who did not want to reveal his true identity, insisted that "everyone turned to salt long before the explosion."

"That afternoon, the police department received a temporary mission and asked its elite police officers to go to Manhattan. I was one of them... When I went there, I found a steady stream of soldiers coming there. Those soldiers asked us to open the isolation zone. , driving away the crowd. Although I still don’t understand what happened there, but one thing I am sure is that those who disappeared have turned into salt, because I saw them on some streets and in the driver’s seat of the car. Some white substance, that is salt... I was ordered to return after that, but not long after, the explosion occurred, and the entire Manhattan area was glassed. Almost none of the soldiers survived, and I was one of the few survivors at that time. one."

This is one of the few incidents that has been officially recognized, but the official explanation is that due to the impact of the 124 incident, a weapons depot in an underground military base was accidentally detonated.

Due to the large number of missing persons and the fact that a military base was secretly placed in Manhattan, this incident caused a huge reaction in public opinion at the time, a great political shock, and countless public officials resigned.

Time has passed and many events of that year have been settled, but the impact of the 124 Incident is still widely discussed.

The impact of the 124 Incident was so far-reaching that even today, 40 years later, there are countless books, movies, and games discussing it.

However, because there are so many such rumors about 124, and the logical loopholes in many of them are huge, the supporters of conspiracy theories are only a very small number of people, and the vast majority of people still believe the official statement.

"An explosion, what's there to say?"

The man replied coldly.

"but……"

Before Louis could finish speaking, the man who always cherished his words stopped, and then looked at Louis beside him.

His eyes were hidden behind the scarf, and they were terrifyingly cold. Louis felt creepy in front of these eyes, and he swallowed his words abruptly.

"I know that your marks in firearms shooting, clue tracking, etc. are very good, and those instructors think highly of you, but in my eyes you are just a kid who has just entered the other world. If you don't want to be washed away by the agency If you remember, say less and shut your mouth."

This may be what a man says the most when facing Louis.

Under the intimidation of those cold and terrifying eyes, Louis said nothing more along the way.

When he reached a small bar, the man opened the door and walked in. There was no one inside, only the boss sitting in front of the counter was wiping the wine glass in his hand.

"Hey, Mike, we haven't seen each other for a year, and you came to visit your uncle again?"

"..."

Facing the boss's warm greeting, Mike didn't say much. He just nodded slightly, took off his hat, and revealed his stern face.

The bar owner obviously understood Mike's character. He smiled and said nothing more, and then looked at Louis next to Mike.

"Who is this……"

"my son."

Mike replied indifferently, while Louis scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled at the bar owner.

"Son...that weird old man is really lucky. He has a family that cares about him like you and comes to see him every year."

The bar owner seemed to have thought of something and said with some regret.

"Blame the old man? Does old Roberts have a strange character?"

Louis asked curiously.

The bartender laughed.

"More than just a weirdo, he is simply withdrawn and stubborn. He spends all day guarding his sea of ​​flowers. He lives on the edge of the town and doesn't interact with others. It's been decades and most people here have nothing to do with this weirdo. The old man said something."

"Speaking of which, in the early years, there were some tourists who wanted to visit the sea of ​​​​flowers. It would have been able to earn more travel money for everyone, but that weird old man pointed a gun at those tourists and forced them to leave. If they didn't leave, he would Just shoot and scare those tourists away from coming again..."

Having said this, the bar owner shook his head regretfully.

It seemed that he had a lot of resentment towards this old Roberts, and no one was willing to listen to his talk. When he met Louis, an audience who was willing to listen to him, the bar owner also became interested and started spitting.

And Louis kept nodding, and at the same time, he quickly built a character model of "Old Roberts" in his mind.

He is lonely, weird, and seems to have very good marksmanship. He especially values ​​his own sea of ​​flowers...

Louis asked as they walked out of the bar.

"Why do you need to go to a bar on the way? This bar owner should be just an ordinary person."

"The snow on us is too thick, and the target won't like it. We need to melt it before we go to see him."

Mike held down his hat and said coldly.

The confusion in Lewis's heart became more and more intense. Judging from Mike's performance, he seemed to value the weird old man named "Old Roberts" very much. No, or it could be said that the agency valued this weird old man very much.

"Why is this old Roberts so important?"

He couldn't help but speak.

Mike didn't answer him, and just continued to move forward indifferently.

Within a few minutes, the two of them saw a lonely house, and the sea of ​​flowers not far away had withered. Mike walked to the house and knocked on the door.

"Bang bang bang."

After waiting quietly for a while, there was no response.

"Uncle Roberts, are you there? I'm Mike."

However, there was still no response. Mike's brows furrowed. He realized something was wrong, so the agent took a step back decisively and knocked open the door.

"Bang!"

The door lock was violently knocked open, and the scene that appeared in front of him shocked Louis behind him...

The floor, walls, furniture, and even the ceiling are all covered with strange words. Some of the words are still in English, and some have become words that no one recognizes at all. The English seems to have been written at the beginning, roughly smeared with ink, and then began to turn into bright red blood. Those crazy outlines and traces all reflect the madness of the writer.

Among those in English, Lewis could barely identify a few...

"Joan", "Betty" and "Wendy", these three names were scrawled repeatedly, and occasionally a name called "Umberto" suddenly appeared, but with the end of writing, these recurring names finally appeared. All were replaced by one sentence...

"It will come back!"

"It will come back!"

"It will come back!"

The huge handwriting and crazy scrawling all reveal the hysteria of the person who wrote these words. After that, almost every sentence was repeated like this. Only the names of the previous people occasionally appeared again, and then there were those weird words written with blood.

Mike's face was gloomy and he began to search quickly, but...

"Not here."

Mike said calmly, but his hands clutched the hat tightly at some point.

"Wait...look at this."

But aside, Louis pointed to a place where debris was accumulated. Where Louis pointed, there seemed to be blood stains and a few strange scales, like the scales of a snake.

"She should have left a few hours ago. Maybe we can catch up."

Lewis bit his fingers, and then judged...

Following the vague traces of blood and scales, the two chased desperately, and the clues and traces also showed strange changes. At first it was just bright red blood, but then it gradually turned into a lot of snake scales and flesh and blood scattered.

At the end of the trail, there is a beach...

"Crash..."

The water hits the land, causing the tide to surge.

There was a long bloodstain, and traces of struggling to crawl forward could be seen vaguely. At the end of the bloodstain, at the junction of sea water and land, there was a corpse lying quietly, with scales all over his side.

On that old face, the frozen pupils had no color, and there was only deathly silence.

The body seems to be covered with snake scales. Those snake scales seem to have grown from its body, and fresh traces of being forcibly peeled off can also be seen. Those fragmented skin and scales, and bursting wounds seemed to prove how much pain the deceased had endured during his lifetime.

"He... he seemed to be running all the way, pulling off the snake scales on his body, and finally bled to death before running towards the sea."

Lewis swallowed and looked at the corpse in front of him in shock.

Looking at the corpse, Mike's eyes were complicated.

"Is he a human or a monster?"

Lewis couldn't help but ask.

"It's human."

Mike answered in the affirmative. He stared at the old man in front of him who still wanted to pull off the snake scales that symbolized the monster on his body, and said inexplicably.

"A man who once saved the world."

Forty years ago, during that little-known legendary adventure across continents, the moon, and the deep sea, Roberts, the last survivor, died.

…

Half an hour later, in a certain building, a person had received messages and photos from the detective.

The tall and thin man looked at the VR video sent carefully, tapping his fingers on the table unconsciously. His face was cold, but he could faintly see some uneasiness, and then he spoke.

"Send these to Mr. Roman."

Ten minutes later, an angry roar sounded.

"Impossible! It's dead! Dead! There's no way it can come back!"

"But that's the truth, Mr. Roman."

Facing the image in front of him, the old man who was over eighty years old and still powerful even though he had already retreated to the second line, the tall and thin man said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.

"There is a high degree of 'snake transformation' in Roberts, and the degree of 'snake transformation' is far beyond our knowledge. Even among the information on the undersea snake people that has been excavated, such a high level of 'snake transformation' is very high. It’s unimaginable, and I’m afraid Uberto couldn’t compare to it.”

"You once told me that 'snake transformation' is because the more you know, the easier it is to be infected. Umberto is the chosen one, and that being gave Umberto a lot of knowledge, and finally he Umberto's hand broke away from the seal. But now it seems that Roberts is the real chosen one. After forty years, we thought that Roberts didn't know much and would not be 'snake-shaped', but now it seems that we are wrong."

"If Mr. Roberts really ran towards the sea in the end, we can't know what a snake-man who completely transformed into a snake would do. But fortunately, Mr. Roberts was obviously aware of this and finally escaped. He shed his own snake scales and allowed himself to bleed to death.”

After listening to what the tall and thin man said, the old man opposite him sat on a chair in vain with a cane.

After a while, he inexplicably remembered what Leonardo da Vinci said when he saw him.

"The Priory of Sion has many secret branches. I will tell you these secret instructions to control them. Remember, make good use of them..."

In the end, he still didn't quite understand why Leonardo da Vinci would hand over the control of those secret branches to the Freemasons. You know, it was a huge organization in the other world, an ancient organization comparable to the Freemasons. , but in the end it was given to the Freemasons by Leonardo da Vinci, the master of the Priory of Sion.

Why?

He simply doesn't understand.

But now, he seems to vaguely understand something...

"The gods rejoice, the gods rejoice... You are the one who knows destiny, you are the one who sees the secrets, inherits the ancient bloodline, and keeps the eternal loyalty. You need to remember that you must not say things that cannot be said, and you must not hear or hear sounds. , the invisible appearance..."

Suddenly, Roman inexplicably remembered this sentence that every monk in the Hermitage of Sion needs to recite when joining.

In a daze, he seemed to be able to see a pair of vertical snake eyes, coldly overlooking the sand world shaped by tiny ants.

…

Deep in the earth, the huge will is still sleeping, occasionally uttering its low sleep; but above the earth, ignorant people are still enjoying a peaceful life.