Following behind Odis and Captain Daly of the "Red Gloves," Audrey suddenly felt a sense of absurdity upon hearing the Night Watch captain's reply.
She looked again at the five gallows, where five corpses hung by their necks, now swaying in the wind.
They can even chat?
What should we talk about?
What position is most comfortable when suspended in the air?
Night Watch Captain Baldwin said, "We've been observing them the whole time, and we had absolutely no idea how the fifth body appeared."
Even a few seconds later, they seemed to come to their senses and realize that there was another corpse.
Odis could basically understand the underlying reasons. This event involved at least some operations at the demigod level, and the overflowing divinity affected the spirits and mental bodies of these Night Watchers.
To put it simply, the spirits and minds of these night watch team members were subjected to tremendous pressure in an instant, making them feel like they couldn't react at all.
By the time I realized what had happened, several seconds had passed.
Therefore, a certain illusion was created, as if the fifth corpse had clearly appeared, but in the first few seconds, nothing seemed unusual.
After listening attentively for a while, Daly said, "They're not chatting; they're casting curses in 'the language of the dead.'"
Beyonders of the "Death" pathway also possess some curses targeting spirits, but they are not as convenient as "Words of the Dead" and are rarely used by them.
Captain Baldwin of the Night Watch paused for a moment before asking, "Who are they cursing?"
Dai Li shook her head: "I don't know."
At this moment, Odis, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "They clearly offered themselves up voluntarily, so why are they hanging on the gallows?"
Hanging was generally used on heinous criminals, such as pirates or traitors.
After hearing this question, Baldwin first looked Odis up and down before explaining, "Many customs in the Southern Continent are different from those in the Northern Continent."
They didn't find anything wrong with it, because they were used to strange details that often appeared when they encountered cases involving the natives of the Southern Continent.
Odis slowly nodded, turning to look at Audrey: "Have you discovered anything?"
"The bishop's robes on these corpses look like they were put on after they died," Audrey said. "Look at the second and fourth corpses from the left. Their arms are clearly not outstretched, but they are not stuck by their clothes."
"And their collars, if they were hanging while wearing bishop's robes, wouldn't be so neat."
Then, with some curiosity, she asked Daly, "Can extraordinary individuals through this pathway really be hanged?"
Daly was stunned for a moment. Even if she didn't use her extraordinary abilities, an ordinary rope wouldn't be able to hang her.
Although these priests who remained were said to be of a relatively low rank, they were at least Sequence 5.
Seeing Daly's reaction, Audrey already knew the answer: "Those gold masks don't seem like ornaments at all, but rather like they're concealing something?"
Birdwin couldn't help but ask, "What are you hiding?"
Audrey said with certainty, "The real cause of death."
This answer surprised everyone slightly.
Odis then asked Daly, "When you were fighting these corpses, didn't you try to remove their masks?"
Daly replied, "Once you get close to the gallows, many evil spirits will emerge from the rocks and block your way forward."
"Our previous attempts were all about using the sealed artifacts to try and kill them."
"If they were normal enemies, they would have been killed, but after these bodies are killed, they immediately turn into black stone, and a new body will appear on the gallows."
"We considered removing their masks, but we were unsuccessful."
Odis slowly nodded, pinched his chin and thought for a while, then suddenly said to Audrey, "I'll give you two magical items... no, three, and one for Susie too. Take care of yourself after the battle starts."
"I will not provide assistance unless your lives are in danger."
Audrey nodded quickly; she really wanted to experience the feeling of an extraordinary battle.
As for giving Susie a magical item, they weren't surprised. After all, at a previous ball, Odis had already noticed Susie's unusual behavior and heard her speak.
After Odis finished speaking, he took out three magical items from the "Wilderness of Knowledge": the "Hand of Judgment," the "Harvest Gauntlets," and the "Travel Ring," which he used frequently before.
This action left Daly and Baldwin stunned. First, "spatial bag" was rare, and second, their spiritual senses detected that the three magical items Odis had taken out seemed to be very powerful!
Furthermore, the fact that two items can be worn indicates that the negative effects are not very strong.
Baldwin looked at Daly and asked, "Who is this person?"
Daisy drew a full moon and stars on her chest, making a gesture of praise to the goddess.
Baldwin was taken aback. What did this mean?
When Audrey received these three magical items, they felt heavy and seemed very powerful.
Odis whispered the main abilities and negative effects, and Audrey took a deep breath: I want all three of these magical items!
After advancing to Sequence 6, she gained the ability of "Dragon Scales," which greatly enhanced her defense, but she still lacked the ability to kill with a single blow, such as "Death" or "Harvest."
The ability to "travel" goes without saying; it's the ability to escape, and it's essential for any means of transportation.
Daly and Baldwin, who had been eavesdropping, also took a deep breath, because magical items with such strong abilities and such minor negative effects were rare.
In particular, the "travel ring" has a market price of at least £16,000.
The other two magical items are also priced at over £10,000.
Audrey thought for a moment, made a simple allocation, put on the "Travel Ring" and the "Harvest Gauntlets", and gave the "Hand of Judgment" to Susie.
The "Hand of Judgment" doesn't necessarily have to be worn on the hand; it can be used simply by touching the user. That's why Audrey put it on Susie's collar.
After making preparations, Odis pulled out ten extraordinary puppets, each armed with a weapon, from the "Wilderness of Knowledge." He told Audrey to wait where she was, and then led the puppets forward quickly.
The ten extraordinary puppets that Odis "carries with her" are the latest version. Unlike the previous versions, they are not made to look like normal people with realistic skin. Instead, they look like a sturdy humanoid mechanical frame full of industrial aesthetics.
Another difference from other versions is that one of these ten extraordinary puppets is a captain. This is a technology that the "Hidden Sage" just "provided" to Odis. With just a simple command from Odis, they can distinguish friend from foe and quickly formulate corresponding tactics based on the situation at hand.
Furthermore, each extraordinary puppet carries a backpack-like backpack containing a large "spirit storage crystal," allowing it to fight continuously for several hours without worrying about insufficient weapon firepower.
This backpack also features "Defense Magic Circle," "Dawn Light Magic Circle," and other spells that can effectively defend against physical attacks as well as some extraordinary attacks.
When these ten extraordinary puppets appeared, the members of the Night Watch squad around them all assumed that they were reinforcements invited from the Steam Church.
Extraordinary puppets have no souls and are almost unaffected by "the language of the dead," making them the best choice to deal with the current situation.
Audrey found it strange. She had inquired at the Extraordinary Gathering but had never heard of Extraordinary individuals using the "Secret Seeker" pathway being skilled in using Extraordinary puppets.
Could this be a new ability gained after advancing to demigod status?
After receiving Odis's orders, the extraordinary puppets activated their weapons and marched in a three-by-three formation, with their captain bringing up the rear, silently directing the overall operation.
After surveying the battlefield, the puppet captain issued the corresponding orders, and they successively equipped their weapons with "purification loaders".
Odis followed closely behind, and just as Daly had said, after a distance from the gallows, many evil spirits emerged from the black rocks and pounced on Odis.
They ignored the extraordinary puppets, because to the evil spirits, they were not living beings with flesh and blood and had no appeal whatsoever.
But the extraordinary puppets' guns instantly spewed out golden fire serpents; the "purification loader" was designed to make their "extraordinary bullets" have a purifying or exorcising effect.
After being shot, the evil spirits quickly evaporated amidst screams, while Odis continued to advance as if strolling in a garden. Not a single evil spirit could last a second within ten meters of him.
This situation stunned Daly and the Night Watchers watching from the sidelines, because the attack power of these ten extraordinary puppets was stronger than that of a Night Watcher squad.
Audrey, who had little practical combat experience, wasn't particularly surprised, because she had already witnessed the power of a demigod that morning, and felt that it wouldn't be surprising if Odis used any powerful abilities.
Odis quickly arrived in front of the gallows, pulled out the "Staff of Gus," and appeared at the same height as the golden mask, as if he had suddenly defied gravity.
Meanwhile, the ten extraordinary puppets formed an arc formation around them, firing continuously to purify the evil spirits one by one.
The evil spirits that Daly and the others had previously fought with great effort were nothing more than targets for these extraordinary puppets to practice shooting at.
Odis waved his hand, and the golden mask on the corpse moved slightly, but it seemed to be stuck to something. It moved left and right, but it couldn't be removed.
At this moment, the five corpses simultaneously attacked Odis with the "Words of the Dead," but a phantom barrier appeared around Odis, and she was completely unaffected by the "Words of the Dead."
When Odis realized he couldn't remove the mask, he infused his spiritual power into the "Gus Staff." A gust of wind blew, striking the golden mask and sending it flying into the air.
Beneath the mask was a face with a terrified expression, like an ordinary person seeing a ghost!
Looking inside the mask, there were characters with special symbols. Odis realized that the mask seemed to be used to trap the souls of corpses.
He pondered for a moment and wondered if the voluntary sacrifice back then might have been forced.
He then removed the other four masks, and without exception, each one revealed an expression of terror or pain.
Two of the corpses had the faces of people from the Northern Continent.
Odis felt something was wrong, because all the extraordinary beings in the Church of Death back then were from the Southern Continent, so how come among these five priests, two were from the Northern Continent?
At that moment, Daly shouted from a distance, "Mr. Garr, that's not the Death Priest who committed suicide earlier!"
Odis paused for a moment, then quickly flew to Daly's side: "You also find this strange?"
Meanwhile, the ten extraordinary puppets maintained their defensive formation and quickly retreated.
"It's really strange," Daly said. "Those five bodies should all be people who went missing in the vicinity. For example, the person behind the first mask that was removed was named Heiko Gale."
"He and his brother were thugs in the nearby port. The two brothers once came to steal the Golden Mask, but only the brother, Mima Gale, went back."
"Moreover, his brother's condition became very strange; he actually turned into a living corpse that retained his original memories."
Baldwin, who was standing nearby, said, "We started investigating this matter precisely because we noticed Mima Gale's situation."
"Of the other four people, two others also recently went missing."
While the group was discussing, the ten extraordinary puppets had already been withdrawn, and since no one was approaching the gallows anymore, the evil spirits no longer appeared.
"That's strange," Odis said. "Why would the mastermind behind this want to hang these corpses around?"
"Or rather, wouldn't it be better if they planned it in secret? Why do they have to let us know that their plan has begun?"
Audrey tried to analyze, "Perhaps, this is a necessary procedure."
Odis hummed in agreement: "A very reasonable guess."
He thought for a moment before saying, "We still need to find the mastermind behind this incident, otherwise it will be difficult to understand what happened."
But how to investigate was another problem. The clues obtained from Bolton's ship were very limited, and it was impossible to locate the planners.
They might even be hiding in the underworld, manipulating everything, and Bolton's sacrifice or these five corpses are just appearances.
Two or three seconds later, Odis smiled and said, "Perhaps we should change our approach. Since we know that the power of all these extraordinary events before us comes from the underworld, we can look around and find out where the connection with the underworld is strongest."
"We've already tried that," Daly said with a hint of helplessness. "These black stones are special. They have a close connection to the underworld, and it's impossible to determine which connection is stronger."
Odis glanced at the stone at his feet but didn't see anything special about it.
Then he opened his "Eye of Secrets" and immediately saw that the stones were covered with a thin layer of white mist, and in the distance of the mist was a bronze gate with mysterious patterns, symbolizing the entrance to the underworld.
However, those two bronze gates were quite illusory and only had a certain symbolic meaning.
Whether it's the gallows or anywhere else, there's really nothing unusual about it.
Moreover, these black stones cover a vast area, stretching as far as the eye can see.
The investigation reached a stalemate.
After a long pause, Odis asked, "Were these black stones already there in the Quaternary period?"
After a moment's thought, Daly understood what Odis meant, and she immediately looked at Baldwin, who was more familiar with the local situation.
These stones are indeed quite strange, because these black stones are only found in the nearby waters off the coast of East Bairan.
Perhaps these stones were not formed naturally.
Baldwin thought for a moment and said, "We don't have the corresponding historical records from the Fourth Epoch, but according to some legends, this was a large city during the Byron Empire."
"But this is just a legend, because no one in the vicinity has said that their ancestors came from that big city. Everyone believes that the city does not exist."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "There are many such legends in the Southern Continent, and it seems that many cities have disappeared in the past one or two thousand years."
"However, according to the experience summarized by some scholars who study the Southern Continent, such legends are divided into two types. One type has the ruins of cities, and some tribes or city residents say that their ancestors moved out of the lost cities."
"The other type is one where there are only legends about the city, but no city ruins, and no residents claiming to have come from that city."
"Most scholars believe that the latter may have been fabricated from some myths and stories, and is not a city that actually existed."
Odis pondered for a moment before saying, "Is it possible? In the second scenario, when the city was destroyed, it also 'swallowed' all its inhabitants."
"The reason no one claims to be from that city is because no one has escaped from it?"
Baldwin paused for a moment, but Daly had already said, "It's not impossible. According to some historical records, the Byron Empire was a country where the dead and the living lived together."
"The larger the city, the more zombies the extraordinary beings control."
"Moreover, it is said that the rulers of this empire are extremely indifferent and cruel, and do not value life at all."
"Perhaps for some sacrifices they deem important, the inhabitants of a city can really be sacrificed."
Odis took a deep breath and said, "This question is not difficult to verify. You all wait here for a moment."
As he spoke, Odis flew toward the edge of the black rocks.
The latest novel is first published here!
Audrey, Daly, and the others watched as Odis's shadow flew away, then suddenly fell, as if it had jumped into the ground and disappeared without a trace.
After waiting for a while, everyone turned around and looked at the ten extraordinary puppets.
They stood there quietly, a glimmer of light emanating from what appeared to be their eyes, proving that they were functioning normally.
Leonard stepped forward, wanting to get a closer look, when one of the extraordinary puppets suddenly turned its head, as if glancing at him sideways.
Leonard quickly stepped back, exclaiming, "That's really weird."
He always felt that these extraordinary puppets were different from the puppets he remembered, as if... as if they had their own intelligence, and more importantly, they cooperated with each other.
After a brief discussion about the extraordinary puppets, Odis flew back: "The legendary city lies beneath these black stones."
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he continued, "I just went underground, and these black stones went down to a depth of several tens of meters."
"After a few dozen meters, a fault suddenly appeared, turning into normal rocks and soil."
"Perhaps, as we suspect, the entire city was sacrificed and covered by these black stones."
Leonard whistled: "Those planners are most likely hiding under these black stones."
"Then the next question is simple: how do we get into that city?"
In fact, the "old man" inside him had already told him that this place was indeed a large port city during the Quaternary period, but later, for some unknown reason, the city disappeared.
Odis asked Daly, "Can the spirits you control pass through the stone and go down to take a look?"
Daly shook her head: "I've tried it before, normal spirits can't penetrate these black stones."
Odis grunted in agreement and said to the extraordinary puppet beside him, "Prepare the machine gun."
Under the captain's command, the ten team members each took a part from their backpacks and quickly assembled them together to form a "portable machine gun".
Odis then pointed to a spot in the distance where two extraordinary puppets operated machine guns. After a brief aiming, they pulled the triggers.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM~
The continuous cannon fire blasted the black stone, sending it flying into the air.
Dai Li and the others looked grave, because they realized that most Sequence 5s would not be able to withstand the machine gun attack if they were caught off guard.
Of course, at this level, there are many abilities that can save your life, allow you to escape, and enable you to use strange abilities to fight back.
However, the Night Watchers and the "Red Gloves" had to admit that these extraordinary puppets posed a threat to the "Middle Sequence" extraordinary individuals.
Leonard, having witnessed the power of the "Extraordinary Machine Gun" and the "Spirit Wave Cannon" before, was not surprised at this moment.
In fact, if Daly had been in charge of that previous operation, she would have given a thorough explanation of the weapons on the Argo and suggested to her superiors that some suitable weapons be introduced.
However, Leonard was leading the team that time, and he found the introduction of weapons and such troublesome, so he only described the weapons in the report and they did not receive enough attention.
At this moment, Odis raised his hand and said, "Stop."
Go look at the place that was shelled. Although there was a lot of flying debris, it only created a small crater about ten centimeters in diameter.
If they search for that city in this way, who knows how long they'll keep bombing it.
Odis frowned; under these circumstances, the "Spirit Wave Cannon" wouldn't be very effective.
As he was pondering how to utilize the "Reproduction" ability, he suddenly realized that while the "Spirit Wave Cannon" might not be very effective, the "Spirit Annihilation Cannon," specifically designed to attack undead and spirit creatures, might be useful.
So he retrieved a "portable spirit wave cannon" from the "wilderness of knowledge," had the extraordinary puppet assemble it, and replaced the barrel with that of the "spirit-destroying cannon," pointing the barrel towards the ground.
Everyone watched Odis and the extraordinary puppets' actions from the sidelines. Today's events gave them a strange feeling, as if they suddenly no longer understood the extraordinary world.
How come every single weapon this demigod is handling is beyond their expectations?
After the energy storage was completed, Odis gave the order to launch.
The "Lingbo Cannon" immediately carved a small cylindrical pit into the black stone.
Odis smiled and said, "We still have to use skill."
At this moment, the "Spirit Extinction Cannon" seemed to pierce through the black stone beneath everyone's feet, emitting a "whooshing" sound.
Odis said to the wary Night Watch members, "That's the sound of air being pumped in."
He then ordered the extraordinary puppet to draw a circle on the black stone, larger than a manhole cover, forming an opening.
Looking down, you can vaguely see some buildings in the style of the Southern Continent.
Odis took out a crystal ball and performed an astrological reading in front of everyone. After receiving the results, he said, "There is some risk, but it is within an acceptable range."
As he put away the crystal ball, he said, "Captain Baldwin will stay upstairs, while Daly and the other 'Red Gloves' members will make final preparations."
"Only members of Sequence 7 and above will participate in this operation."
So Susie also began to make preparations.
Three minutes later, Odis used her fairy tale magic again: the Rose Fairy.
Beautiful, illusory wings reappeared behind everyone. Odis was the first to jump down, and the others followed suit one after another.
When the golden retriever jumped in as well, everyone was stunned, as if they understood something.
Finally, the ten extraordinary puppets also jumped down.
The black opening wasn't deep, and soon everyone arrived at the huge underground cavity.
Before they even landed, they saw a pale white beam of light in the distance, connecting to the black "stone top" above.
Dai Li said, "The location of the pillar of light is roughly where the gallows are."
Then everyone looked around and realized that their location seemed to be just an ordinary city passageway.
Both sides are buildings in the style of the Southern Continent, standing there quietly, as if a resident could open the door at any moment and walk out.
Odis stared at the top for a while, then took out a large "Spirit Storage Crystal" from the "Wilderness of Knowledge" and used "Levitation" to send it into the air.
The moment the "Spirit Storage Crystal" appeared, the entire street lit up, and when it rose into the air, everyone was stunned.
It turns out that the inside of the stone roof above their heads were human stone statues.
However, judging from their expressions and body language, they don't seem to be sculpted stone statues, but rather like former residents of this city.
They had struggled painfully in their lives, but ultimately could not escape their fate and became part of the stone roof.
This also explains why so many evil spirits appear when you are near the gallows.
Each and every one of these residents could potentially become an evil spirit!
Now everyone can be certain that the residents of this city were indeed sacrificed for some purpose.
Odis had already looked away: "Extraordinary Puppet, bring up the rear, don't fall behind."
As he spoke, he held the "Gus Staff" and walked at the front.
The others quickly followed, but they always felt a chill run down their spines, as if many people were watching them from above.
After walking a few steps, a buzzing sound suddenly came from ahead, and wisps of black smoke flew out of the mouths and noses of the "stone statues". After they gathered together, they came towards this side.
Odis immediately used the magic of "defense barrier," which created a solid barrier around everyone, protecting them all.
The "smoke" approached and touched the barrier. Under the illumination of the "spirit storage crystal," everyone could see clearly that it was a bunch of black flies.
But they all seemed to have lost their lives, their bodies shriveled, some missing half of their heads, and some with only half of their bellies remaining.
Odis said, "They carry an extraordinary virus."
He paused for a moment, then added, "It feels like it has the abilities of a witch."
This immediately reminded him of the collaboration between "Disease General" and himself, and he wondered in his heart: Could this be the plan of the "Witch Cult" and that "Grim Reaper" via Sequence 3?
Then he thought to himself: I haven't even received my payment yet! Does this mean I'm going to ruin their operation?
Despite thinking this, Odis mercilessly unleashed her "fire spell".
The "fire magic" at the demigod level can instantly create a raging fire, and if more spiritual energy is infused into it, it can also burn the extraordinary viruses in flies.
The flies were quickly burned to ashes and no longer posed any threat.
Odis waved his hand and continued forward.
Leonard, who was behind him, couldn't help but think to himself: following the demigod is such a worry-free and effortless thing.
The rest of the journey went smoothly, and they arrived at the place where the pillar of light was emanating, which, unsurprisingly, was a huge church.
This was the first time everyone had seen such a large-scale church of the Church of Death. First of all, the architectural style was completely different from the churches in the Northern Continent. It did not have the oppressive feeling of Gothic style, and the lines were simple and smooth.
On the facade of the church, there are patterns featuring elements such as skulls and thrones, representing the deity inside as the "Emperor of the Underworld."
The beam of light emanated from the top of the church. Odis flew up to take a look and saw a magic circle structure, but the main body of the magic circle was not on the top of the church.
After a short rest, everyone went into the church together.
Audrey was the most excited among them. She had always dreamed of going on such an adventure, and today she had already gone on two adventures in one day.
Susie, however, was starting to regret it, because the dust on the ground was making her sneeze constantly.
Two members of the "Red Gloves" stepped forward and pushed open the two huge wooden doors.
With a creaking sound, a gap appeared, wide enough for one person to pass through.
Odis glanced inside and saw a huge stone statue directly opposite him. The statue's face had obvious features of the southern continent, and it looked indifferent, as if it were looking down on all life that entered this place.
The statue's eyes seemed to be made of gemstones, emitting a faint light, and Odis always felt that they were watching him.
Then he felt a pang of fear, as if he had just narrowly escaped death.
Odis then turned his head away and said to the people behind him, "Lower your head and don't look directly at the statue's face."
For him, the stone statue only made him feel uneasy, but if it were an extraordinary being below the level of demigod, it would likely cause him real harm.
Audrey, who then entered the main hall, asked, "Why is there a statue of Death in the 'Death's' church?"
Leonard thought to himself: Isn't that obvious? There's no statue of Death in the church of "Death," so are there statues of other gods?
At this moment, the old man inside him suddenly said, "This little girl always manages to grasp the crux of the matter."