Chapter 1 Fire

Fire, everywhere was raging fire, or the appearance of ashes after the flames had burned out. The church was destroyed by fire, the bell tower was destroyed by fire, and the city itself seemed to have been destroyed by fire.

Scorching wind howled through the ruined church square, swirling dust and ashes. Tiny sparks fell from the great bell tower, and charred flags drooped and fell in the wind.

A tall figure in light armor stepped into the square, the heavy, broad greatsword in his hand dragging a trail of sparks across the scorching ground.

Vanna's hair was already singed by the incredible heat of the environment, and her armor was damaged in many places. In some of the damaged areas, bleeding wounds could be seen, the flesh wriggling and slowly healing.

She held the sword in her right hand and carried a huge Gatling gun in her left. The heavy ammunition box was on her back—she had taken this gun from a half-destroyed steam-powered walker when she passed by the armory not long ago, and it was quite handy.

The hot wind blew, and the smell of ashes entered her nostrils. Vanna narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at the distant streets and the thick smoke and red light slowly rising in the background.

In this "history," the entire Pland was burned down.

The fire began to spread in 1889, and no one noticed it for eleven years, until it burned the entire city and solidified the entire city-state in a state of ruin through slow erosion.

Even the power of the Storm Goddess had been severely distorted and interfered with—the longer Vanna stayed here, the more difficult she found it to feel the moistness of the sea breeze.

It is easy to burn down a city-state, but it is difficult to burn it down without the gods noticing. Those heretics took advantage of loopholes in history and may even have used the authority of the Black Sun to interfere with the gods' judgment of the mortal world.

But... where exactly are those heretics?

A low, hoarse murmur suddenly came from the shadows of a nearby building. This murmur carried the power of blasphemous malice, and the shadows condensed out of thin air, transforming into illusions that bewitched the heart. But Vanna didn't even turn her eyes towards the direction of the shadow condensation and murmuring, but casually raised the six-barreled machine gun in her left hand and pulled the trigger towards another seemingly empty direction.

A deafening roar exploded in the square, and golden bullet casings scattered like rain. As the fire swept through, a tall, thin shadow suddenly appeared in the air. The shadow had been hidden in the gaps of light and shadow, but now it was forced to show itself. In a hurry, it could only use a large number of tentacles and the black umbrella in its hand to block the oncoming barrage—and it was during this block that a roaring wave suddenly exploded!

Vanna threw the greatsword in her hand, and the greatsword crashed down with the power of the storm, piercing the monster and carrying it ten meters away, pinning it firmly to the ground. Then, without paying any attention to the pinned attacker, she quickly turned around, stepped aside, grabbed a twisted and deformed lamppost, and slammed the heavy steel towards her side.

The second hidden attacker was knocked to the ground by the lamppost, its ugly, flesh-flower-like head shattered into a pool of爛meat. Its remaining parts twitched violently on the ground until Vanna turned the huge Gatling gun and swept across it with a storm of hot bullets. "A two-person stealth attack... it seems your tactics stop there."

Vanna muttered, casually throwing away the severely twisted lamppost, and beckoned to retrieve the storm greatsword. She held the greatsword upright beside her, and her other hand still raised the machine gun, pointing it at the monster's碎meat on the ground as if executing it.

A few seconds later, she frowned.

"No regeneration?"

The young inquisitor bent down and confirmed that the pile of remnants that once belonged to the Sons of the Sun was just lying quietly on the ground. Not only was there no sign of regeneration, but it was already rapidly losing moisture and activity, turning into a pile of shriveled charcoal at a visible rate.

Why is this? Why have these remnants lost their regenerative abilities? Is it because their main body has suddenly weakened? Or because these remnants have been greatly weakened for some reason?

Vanna looked at this scene with confusion and vigilance, then suddenly raised her head, staring intently at the nearby street as if sensing something.

A ball of green fire appeared in the darkness, then quickly gathered and spread on the edge of the square, and then, as if sensing something, suddenly pounced on the corpse of the 子嗣 remnants!

Burning, devouring, growing stronger.

In front of Vanna, this invading green flame burned away the lifeless flesh, as if a predator was enjoying its spoils.

The young inquisitor's eyes narrowed instantly, and she stared at the spreading green flames with extreme vigilance. A multitude of thoughts and speculations surged in her mind, but the spreading flames seemed to ignore her—they flowed past her, meandering around the square, and finally flowed further away.

Vanna watched the flames flow and spread thoughtfully, then started walking towards the depths of the city-state.

…

Torrential rain poured down, the curtain of water connecting the sky and the earth. The sudden rain falling from the thick clouds was like a conspiracy that had been brewing for many years and finally revealed itself, washing over everything in the city-state of Pland.

And when even the power of the torrential rain could not stop Morris's footsteps, his destined misfortune took effect again—his car finally broke down.

The old scholar decisively gave up the idea of restarting the car. He knew that the power of obstruction would only intensify, because the Endtimes preacher had already made a declaration against him at some unknown moment, and this curse would not allow him to fix the car.

But the Endtimes preacher's "declaration" was not an unsolvable spiritual incantation. Generally speaking, that thing can only produce varying degrees of guidance or interference on "events," and the longer the duration and the wider the scope, the greater the power required and the greater the loss.

He couldn't stop in this rainstorm.

Morris opened the car door, and the biting cold wind and rain hit him at the same time, instantly drenching him and even staggering him.

But the old man just reached out and held his hat, grasped his cane in the other hand, and stepped into the chaotic, hazy rain curtain ahead.

He didn't carry an umbrella. In this kind of weather, there was no point in carrying an umbrella.

It was already very close to that antique shop, half a block away. If the weather were slightly better, he could even see the shop's sign. But under the current harsh conditions, all he could see was a vast expanse of rain, and the few shops with their doors and windows tightly closed on both sides of the street, closest to him.

Morris trudged through the rain with difficulty. After walking for an unknown amount of time, he finally saw the familiar shop appear in his sight.

The old man quickened his pace subconsciously.

The curse that the Endtimes preacher had placed on him seemed to have finally reached its limit. The opposing wind that had been blowing in his face gradually weakened, and the chill in the wind was no longer as cold and biting as it had been at the beginning. Although the rain curtain was still dense, it no longer fell on him like stones.

When he was only a few steps away from the antique shop, Morris suddenly heard a voice in his ear—

"Stop, you will regret it!

"There is no redemption ahead... Pland will only be swallowed by another disaster!

"History is about to be replaced... what you are saving is no longer the real reality, but a lingering echo on a wrong path..."

Morris's footsteps did not stop at all. He ran forward two steps, and finally almost crashed open the door.

In that instant, the voice in his ear suddenly disappeared, as if it had never appeared.

The cold wind and rain from the street were also blocked outside the door.

Morris staggered forward a few steps, the water on his body spilling on the floor. The warm, bright interior made it difficult for him to adapt for a moment.

He vaguely heard voices upstairs, two young girls, one of whom was Nina: "It's raining so hard!"

"Yeah, it suddenly started raining... Luckily, I listened to your uncle and came back early."

"Then my hair is wet too... Sherry, can you help me wipe the back of my hair!"

Morris shook his head, allowing the thoughts that had become numb due to the cold wind and rain to gradually recover. He raised his head and looked towards the counter.

In the warm light, a blonde woman in a deep purple, elaborate dress was sitting quietly behind the counter, looking at him with curiosity.

A very beautiful woman, but Morris did not pay too much attention to the woman's appearance.

What he noticed was the other person's transcendent and elegant temperament, and the mysterious and tranquil atmosphere that seemed to surround her.

She seemed not to be sitting in an antique shop in the lower city, but sitting quietly in a tranquil palace garden, looking at him, this rash outsider, with a transcendent and calm gaze, with a dignified demeanor.

Morris felt that he had noticed some... inhuman characteristics in this woman, but he immediately restrained all his senses.

There was a "newcomer" in Mr. Duncan's antique shop who had never been seen before, but no matter what the newcomer's identity was, he must not be spied on casually.

Then, he heard a greeting from across the way: "It's raining heavily outside, sir, do you need any help?"

"Mr. Duncan... I'm looking for Mr. Duncan," Morris was stunned for a moment, and quickly said, "It's very important! Is he not in the shop?"

"He is," the mysterious and elegant woman smiled, "He said his blood pressure was a little high, so he's resting upstairs."

Morris looked surprised: "Blood pressure... a little high?"

The blonde woman behind the counter shook her head: "I don't know what happened—after we discussed the issue of history and赝品, he wasn't in a good mood."

History and 赝品?!

Morris's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he wanted to ask something else, but at this moment, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs, followed by Mr. Duncan's voice: "Alice, is there a customer?"

"Yes, Mr. Duncan! An old man I don't recognize!"

Morris raised his head and saw Duncan standing on the stairs, half of his body illuminated by the light and half of his body hidden in the shadows.

He saw himself, with some surprise and curiosity on his face.

Yuan Tong reminds you: Remember to collect it after reading