Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 141: Night of Conspiracy (5k3)

Sina City, Triumph Square.

In a hidden factory ruin, Anthony, Rossouw, Connor and Pamier were sneaking along the shadows of the eaves.

This was the first point where Anthony decided to conduct reconnaissance.

Luo Xiu followed behind Anthony. He was calm inside, and his soul was connected to the "Fog Night". The foggy shadow of a raven was watching ahead to guard against any accidents and dangers that might come.

Anthony and his team were not aware of the existence of the "Mist Shadow". They only felt that this reconnaissance went very smoothly and encountered almost no unnecessary obstacles.

Before arriving at this stronghold, Anthony had completed the detection of three other strongholds.

In Anthony's original plan, there were only two final strongholds left.

……

At the same time, Luo Xiu was also observing his teammates.

Ever since Luo Xiu was promoted to the "Grand Judge of Sins" with the triple destiny, his teammates' attitude towards him has also undergone some subtle changes.

For example, when Anthony wanted Luo Xiu to do something, the original "command" tone of the captain has now changed to "discussion"; and although Pamier is still as cold as ever, his attitude towards Luo Xiu has also changed from indifferent to respectful; as for Connor... he is the one who has changed the least, and his attitude towards Luo Xiu has always been more like a close "friend".

At this time, Connor was still immersed in the sadness brought by the breakup. Although this sadness did not affect his mission, anyone could feel the strong and sad atmosphere emanating from Connor.

In the past, Connor was always the most active and talkative person when he was on a mission. But now, Connor is quite taciturn. When he saw Luo Xiu coming, Connor just greeted him lightly and then said nothing.

Luo Xiu saw all of this, but didn't say anything.

……

The group then quickly sneaked to the high platform next to the stronghold.

This is a blind spot that overlooks the suspected "stronghold". By sneaking in from the side path, you can take a peek at the situation inside.

So, led by Anthony, he opened his perception, avoided all abnormal spiritual surges, and bypassed all patrolling blood followers and blood slaves, and climbed onto the platform.

The other Holy Judges followed closely behind Anthony. When everyone climbed to the top of the platform silently, everyone looked down.

Just below the field of vision, there is a place similar to a concave altar.

In the center of this altar, there was a huge, fortress-like flesh mountain. It was the "Destroyer" of Red Lotus, the leader of this medium-sized stronghold of "Blood of Thorns".

The scene before him reminded Luo Xiu of a "Blood of Thorns" stronghold that he had cleared out when he first came to Sina City.

The first [Red Lotus] triple destiny transcendent he killed was the "Body Destroyer" Samuel of "Blood of Thorns". The flesh mountain in front of him was very similar to the monster features of "Body Destroyer" Samuel.

Around the leader of the "Destroyer", there were many blood slaves and blood followers wearing gray, black or red cloaks. In front of them were piles of scarlet flowing meat, which exuded a smell of corruption.

"...It seems that this is indeed a medium-sized stronghold of Blood of Thorns."

Anthony whispered, "Including this stronghold, we have already identified the locations of four other Blood of Thorns strongholds."

"Then, there is only one missing." Luo Xiu added at the right time, "The locations of the four strongholds are confirmed, which should be enough to prove the authenticity of the map information..."

"Ah."

Anthony nodded and said, "This is a randomly selected location. Even if the enemy wants to set a trap on the map, it is impossible to devote so much manpower..."

This caution is correct, Luo Xiu nodded. Although the captain didn't know that the map was actually drawn by him, it is always better to be cautious and avoid mistakes in some life-and-death decisions.

"Regarding the information about this base, we have been able to confirm its authenticity."

Anthony ordered: "Then, everyone retreat. We are now heading to the next and final Blood of Thorns stronghold."

Following the shadows and darkness, the Inquisitors walked down the platform and slowly left the edge of the stronghold.

The pagans in this "Blood of Thorns" stronghold have not yet realized that the sword of Damocles is already hanging over their heads. The death knell is about to ring for them.

……

Sina City, slums.

Deep in the dilapidated abandoned alley, the air was filled with a foul odor. The Holy Inquisitors walked in the middle of the gravel road, and from time to time they could see a starving corpse.

These corpses were already rotting, with countless mosquitoes and flies hovering around them, which was the source of the foul smell. The surface of the corpses was also incomplete, and they had long been eaten away by maggots and scavengers, leaving them with holes everywhere.

However, the bodies were left lying on the roadside without anyone coming to deal with them. The residents of the slums could tolerate and were even used to such an environment. It was meaningless for them to carry, bury or burn the bodies of other poor people.

"This is 'The Shadow of Sina City'..."

Anthony endured the foul smell, his brows deeply frowned, and the expression on his face revealed his extreme disgust for such a place.

"This is the prosperity that those Supreme Beings preached... All the things that hindered the appearance of 'prosperity' were hidden by them, but it is ultimately just a false illusion."

Anthony sighed and said:

"But isn't this the outcome of the elimination of the inferior? The poor, most of them are born poor. The Law Office can give them a small piece of land, which is the greatest mercy. The Empire can hardly give them more, and they shouldn't ask for more."

"..."

Luo Xiu listened to Anthony's words. He seemed to be just expressing something that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time according to the current environment, so he didn't say much.

Luo Xiu knew that Anthony's thinking was quite limited. What Anthony obviously didn't know was that in the upcoming "War of Judgment", these poor people would take over the weapons from the enemy and stand on the side of hostility to the empire, becoming a huge hidden danger within the empire.

After Anthony finished speaking, he said nothing more, but walked silently in the shadows, heading towards the target location silently.

……

When the Inquisitors arrived near the "Blood of Thorns" stronghold that they were about to scout, Anthony was about to head to the designated observation point.

Luo Xiu's pupils suddenly shrank!
Through the perspective of "Mist Shadow", he actually saw a very terrifying person in the enemy's stronghold at the same time!

Within the vision of Wuying, Luo Xiu glimpsed in advance that there was not only the "Shadow of Killing" Setis, but also two extraordinary beings with the "Fivefold Destiny"!
The fear from the spiritual level made Luo Xiu tremble all over, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

This was an unexpected development for Luo Xiu!

Luo Xiu knew one of the two extraordinary people with the "Fifth Destiny".

——That is the strongest person of the "Original Sect" in Sina City, the "Ancestor Bishop"!
As for the other person, although Luo Xiu had never seen him before, he could recognize his identity from his clothes.

——That was one of the reasons why the "Dark Principality" was so terrifying! Luo Xiu saw a genuine "executioner"!
Only those who have reached the "fifth level of destiny" and entered the realm of "saints" can become one of the "executioners" of the Dark Principality. Each executioner is in charge of a special secret force or army, and their activities can often be seen in the many terrorist incidents in the light and dark.

There were many people who witnessed the "executioners" with their own eyes, but very few people were able to survive after witnessing them.

Therefore, the "Executioner" has a fierce reputation among all the forces in Fanol Continent. Especially in the Nolan Empire, which is completely hostile to the Dark Principality, rumors and stories about the cruelty and tyranny of the "Executioner" are circulated almost everywhere.

It is for this reason that the existence of the "executioners" is ominous, weird and mysterious.

The Nolan Empire has very little information about the "Executioners". In the eyes of the Empire, these "Executioners" are like deadly hidden blades hidden in the thick black fog.

At this time, the distance between the "Mist Shadow" connected to Luo Xiu's field of vision and the "Shadow of Slaughter", "Ancestor Bishop" and "Executioners" in the center of this stronghold was not very close. Under Luo Xiu's instructions, the "Mist Shadow" maintained a distance as far as possible to avoid being discovered.

Therefore, through the vision of "Mist Shadow", Luo Xiu could only see the outlines of their bodies and general movements, but could not know the real reason why they gathered here.

However, according to Luo Xiu's intuitive guess, they seemed to be talking and plotting something.

"Shadow of Slaughter" Setis did not speak. In front of him was a small table half the height of a person, on the table was a scarlet magic crystal ball.

In that magic crystal ball, a strange light was constantly flickering, and a human figure was faintly flowing out of it. That was the projection of the "Lord of Blood Sacrifice".

In other words, this was actually a conspiracy between three secret forces led by the Dark Principality - the Executioner!

Luo Xiu had already keenly realized that their plan should be related to the "War of Judgment".

The "Original Sect" represents the power of the Holy Tower Kingdom, while the "Blood of Thorns" represents the Dark Principality. The "Executioner" conveys the will of the Dark Principality to them at the same time.

The same conspiracy should have been carried out on different occasions by the "Oracle" sent by the "Holy Tower Kingdom".

What they were plotting might be of great importance. Luo Xiu was eager to know what they were plotting. If he missed this opportunity, he was worried that the situation might get out of his control. For him, the more intelligence he could get about the enemy, the better.

For Luo Xiu, he only knew that major events such as the "September Plague" and the "October Famine" were the fuse of the "Judgment War". But he didn't know what happened in this period of his previous life.

At that time, the players, who were the "Adventers", had not yet truly descended on this land. For Luo Xiu at that time, these events that really happened were just background boards for the players.

……

Luo Xiu then looked at Captain Anthony in front of him.

Among the "holy judges" on the scene, Anthony, the "cleanser", had the highest "perception" attribute. According to Luo Xiu's estimation, it should be feasible to let Anthony be his "megaphone" and pass on the content of the enemy's conspiracy to him at a specific eavesdropping position.

However, this requires Anthony to go to another relatively close, hidden and safe location. The number of people involved in this operation should be as small as possible to minimize the risk of exposure.

Luo Xiu quickly thought of several action plans and risk plans in his mind. After making sure that he had a safe escape route in case of being exposed and the enemy attacked him, Luo Xiu finally made a decision.

At this time, Anthony was still unaware of these possible dangers.

Luo Xiu then quickly stepped forward, caught up with the captain's pace, and grabbed Anthony's arm.

Anthony turned around in some surprise and saw a hint of nervousness on Luo Xiu's face.

"……team leader."

Luo Xiu whispered: "I feel...something is not right."

He couldn't tell Anthony the truth directly, but it was relatively easy to stop Anthony's next move at this critical moment.

"..."

When Luo Xiu said this, the expression on Anthony's face immediately became serious.

This is the "intuition" from another extraordinary being with a triple destiny.

In Anthony's impression, Luo Xiu's intuition has always been very accurate.

The last time Luo Xiu felt something was "wrong" was in Red Maple City, the hiding place provided by Lord Rodif.

Later, it turned out that Luo Xiu's intuition was quite correct. If Anthony had insisted on going deep into the base of the "Ancient Hermitage" at that time, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Anthony's brows knitted tightly together, his eyes suddenly became deep, and he asked Luo Xiu:
"What did you notice...?"

"In the deeper part, there are very powerful enemies." Luo Xiu whispered, "They are not just enemies of the third or fourth level of destiny, they may have reached the fifth level, they are 'saints'..."

"You sensed it..." Anthony looked puzzled, half asking, half muttering to himself, "Why can't I sense anything..."

"...Captain, you know me."

Luo Xiu said in a low voice, "That was my 'holy beast' warning me. It told me that there are terrifying things deeper down, but they are not targeting us."

"The horrible thing is not aimed at us..."

Anthony was a little confused, but he soon felt relieved and didn't ask any further questions.

"Since this is a warning from the 'holy beast', I should take your opinion seriously... Then, Luo Xiu, what are you going to do?"

Hearing this, Luo Xiu pondered for a while and said:
"This is a very unusual situation. My intuition tells me that if we continue to go deeper, the dangers we may encounter may be beyond our control..."

"However, our mission is still to 'see is believing'."

"If it's just reconnaissance, just detecting the enemy from a distance. Captain, only the two of us can do it."

At the same time, Luo Xiu glanced at Connor and Pamier beside him.

Pamier understood immediately. She nodded and said:

"...Connor and I will evacuate first and bring back all the intelligence we have obtained."

Pamier knew that the enemy that Rossio and Antoine would face next might be much stronger than they had imagined.

Pamier, who has not yet been promoted to the third level of destiny, knows very well that if she insists on staying, she will only become a burden and even increase the risk of being exposed.

Although Pamier felt somewhat unwilling, the gap in strength was there before him, and Pamier would not make a rash mistake.

"...I will follow your instructions as well." Connor said.

"..."

Anthony pondered for a while, and finally nodded heavily.

"Then, Pamier, you and Connor will go back to the church first. The rest of the reconnaissance will be done by Luo Xiu and I..."

……

As he watched Pamier and Connor leave and their figures gradually disappeared into the darkness, Luo Xiu whispered to Anthony:
"Captain, wait a moment. I will cast the sacred spells of 'Consecration Prayer' and 'Consecration Blessing' on you. After that, we will turn through two alleys and head to the other side of the 'Blood of Thorns' stronghold."

"There, we have to conceal our spirituality as much as possible to avoid being discovered by them. Then, you turn on the 'spiritual vision' and try to eavesdrop on what they are doing, and tell me what you see or hear."

"..."

Anthony pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Anthony said. They didn't delay any longer and quickly followed Luo Xiu's plan to head to another reconnaissance point.

During the movement, "Mist Shadow" also maintained a long-distance surveillance on the three figures in the base. Their conspiracy seemed to have reached a stalemate and entered a state of stagnation.

This was the best situation for Luo Xiu. When their conspiracy went smoothly again, the result of the conspiracy would be the most important information.

A few minutes later, Anthony and Luo Xiu arrived at another observation point.

Here is a ruin that was burned down by a fire. In the eyes of the senior officials of Sina City, the buildings in the slums are not worth repairing or rebuilding. Therefore, this ruin has been abandoned here.

This ruin, with half-destroyed houses, broken walls, and a maze of paths at the back that had clear paths, was the best spot for reconnaissance or ambush.

The distance between here and the projections of the "Executioner" from the Dark Principality, the "Ancestral Bishop" from the Original Sect, and the "Lord of Blood Sacrifice" from the Blood of Thorns is already very close.

There were many obstacles between them, and Anthony and Rossio both tried their best to restrain their spirituality. This made the "executioner" and the pagan leaders who were concentrating on plotting something not notice that there were ears on the other side of the wall for the time being.

Anthony then followed Luo Xiu's guidance and tried to gradually release his perception.

In Anthony's perception, he went from only being able to hear the sound of the wind and the rustling of grass to gradually being able to hear the enemy's slight breathing.

Anthony continued to try to expand his perception until he could hear the enemy's voices to the minimum extent possible.

Finally, a voice as faint as the buzz of a mosquito reached Anthony's ears.

It was an old and vague voice, as if it came from an old man.

"...Everyone, I think...we have no..."

"...War...Revenge..."

"This is... the Dark Lord's..."

"...sacrifice...Fabi...vessel..."

"Restart the 'Dusk' ritual..."

The voice was intermittent and Anthony could only make out fragments of words.

But even the contents of the fragments made Anthony's hair stand on end.

Before he knew it, cold sweat had completely soaked Anthony's clothes on the back.

(End of this chapter)