I changed the world.

After all, although the cyan light was not very dazzling, it was extremely conspicuous in Zhang Jing's eyes.

In his memory, under the gaze of his pupil technique, the only item that could emit such an aura seemed to be his Heavenly Punishment Sword. Of course, after the series of events that had occurred, the aura emitted by the Heavenly Punishment Sword under the gaze of the True Fire Puppet Technique had now turned purple, making it Zhang Jing's only purple item.

This also made Zhang Jing realize that some high-level items have the potential for improvement.

The item before him was the second cyan item he had encountered so far. This made Zhang Jing walk over with great anticipation.

Akbar had already respectfully stepped aside, and there was no need for him to say anything more about what happened next.

Zhang Jing arrived at the display shelf and looked at the four bronze artifacts with mottled surfaces placed on the third shelf.

Judging from their appearance, these should be some objects from ancient times. Interestingly, in Zhang Jing's observation, these objects were stored separately, which means the museum judged them to be four completely unrelated items.

These four items are a stick nearly one meter long, slightly thicker at one end and thinner at the other. The thicker end has a cone-shaped structure resembling a date pit, and the overall appearance is somewhat similar to a baseball bat. According to the label on the item and the museum's appraisal, it is a war hammer from the Bronze Age.

The second item is a bronze artifact, about 60 centimeters in length, with a double-arc shape. The label describes it as a short crossbow arm made of bronze, and it is believed to be a damaged piece.

The other two items were two round plates, each about the size of a dinner plate, labeled as the breastplates of the armor. These were the so-called breastplates in the armor of the Zhao Kingdom.

According to the above description, these items were donated to the museum by the same person, a nobleman, about 40 years ago. The museum states that their purpose is "unknown," and their age is estimated to be around 4000 years ago.

Zhang Jing quickly deduced that this should be part of the same batch of donated items. For many nobles, donating some of their collections to museums is a common way to enhance their prestige, and a considerable portion of the collections in many museums are donated.

These items, presumably due to their poor condition and unknown origin, haven't received much attention. This is evident from their storage environment; they're simply left out in the open without any other protective measures.

However, after a brief observation, Zhang Jing was able to determine that these were not four items, but rather four different parts of one object!

Meanwhile, inside the right sleeve, the thumb slid back and forth across the middle, ring, and little fingers, calculating, indicating that the Minor Six Palaces Heart-Severing Technique had already been activated.

The divination result is very auspicious.

"Akbar, restrict the surrounding space," Zhang Jing instructed.

"As you wish," Akbar replied respectfully, then reached out and gestured to the side. Zhang Jing quickly sensed that the surrounding space was as if it had been sealed off by a layer of glass. He understood that the sounds coming from inside could no longer escape.

With a thought, he connected with the Heavenly Punishment Sword, drawing upon its power to extend towards the four items before him...

Probing, making contact...

Before long, a light suddenly emanated from the four objects, which rose up and grew brighter and brighter. The weathered material attached to them peeled off, revealing their true forms underneath, which were golden in color and covered with exquisite patterns.

Immediately afterwards, the four items floated up at the same time. The intense light seemed to have some kind of corrosive power, causing the display shelf below and all the other items on it to melt, as if they were being roasted by extremely high temperatures.

The four items floating in the air were attracted to each other and came together. Then, as if drawn by a magnet, they began to automatically combine.

The long stick, resembling a baseball bat, stood upright, with one end pointing downwards and the other upwards. The crossbow-arm-like part was horizontally attached to the upper middle part of the stick. The two parts were ingeniously rotated at the joint, thus combining the two parts into an object somewhat resembling a cross.

Chapter 661 Trial

At the same time, the two circular "heart-protecting mirrors," with their concave sides facing up and their convex sides facing down, rotated to the sides of the cross, located below the horizontal arm.

Immediately afterwards, four chains made of light extended from each end of the horizontal arm, with four chains on each side connecting to the two discs on either side. At this point, Zhang Jing realized that these were not "heart-protecting mirrors" at all, but clearly two trays.

And the entire object has now revealed its true form: a beautifully decorated golden balance scale!

This golden scale has no base, yet it floats in the air with remarkable stability.

The golden scales floated there, radiating dazzling light in all directions. At this moment, anyone who wasn't blind could see its extraordinary nature. Of course, if Zhang Jing hadn't given the order to seal off the space earlier, the alarms would probably have already started going off.

Zhang Jing stretched out his hand, and he could feel a powerful repulsive force emanating from it. An invisible pressure was building up, and the other two rows of display cases around him had already begun to crumble, followed by the display shelves further away. At the same time, the floor tiles beneath his feet began to crack and break...

Are you resisting?

As Zhang Jing's thoughts raced, the Heavenly Punishment Sword appeared in the void behind him. Finally, the golden scales began to move, inch by inch, slowly but firmly and irresistibly moving towards Zhang Jing. After an unknown amount of time, it finally landed in his hands.

All the pressure vanished instantly!

The light faded, and a magnificent, dark golden scale floated quietly in Zhang Jing's hand.

Zhang Jing also gained a preliminary understanding of the function of this scale. Currently, this scale only has one usable function, named:

Trial

As for the method used, Zhang Jing has not yet fully figured it out and needs to go back and test it before he can confirm it.

"Congratulations, great and noble master! Your loyal servant Akbar witnesses that you have acquired another such powerful treasure!" Seeing Zhang Jing put away the scales, Akbar couldn't wait to jump out and loudly praise him.

"Alright, no need for further words, take me to see the other good things you mentioned."

................................................

承和三十七年2016年4月2日01:38格兰德首府西黛市巴拉迪尔国立博物馆

Outside the museum, the cordon had been extended to 300 meters away, with three layers of cordon in front and behind. At the outermost cordon, a checkpoint had been set up.

The police officers in the first two police cars that arrived at the scene were at the outermost checkpoint, responsible for dispersing the crowd. Fortunately, it was already late at night, and the heavy rain had not stopped, so apart from the occasional passerby who approached the place out of curiosity, not many people gathered here.

In addition to the police, several armored vehicles were parked in the cordon, and some soldiers in full uniform and armed uniforms were scanning the surroundings warily. These were soldiers from the Grand Capital Military Region. After confirming that the incident here had exceeded the normal scope, these military personnel were ordered to come here to help with the cordon.

Some heavy weapons were deployed around the Baladil National Museum, but these were only as a contingency plan. This area, being the core of the Grand Republic's capital, was too sensitive; any incident here would be a major event.

However, the National Museum of Baladur contains a large number of national treasures and works of art, which are so valuable that people are hesitant to damage them unless absolutely necessary.

In front of the Baladil National Museum, two fully armed teams of twelve men each had assembled and were conducting a final check of their weapons. These men were wearing the latest model of exoskeleton armor, and each had the insignia of the Grand External Security Bureau on their chest.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Hack Ralph, the head of the Operations Division of the Grand External Security Bureau who was originally overseeing the cleanup at the airport, had to hand over the task to his subordinates and urgently transfer to this location.

At this moment, he was discussing the operation plan with several subordinates. The situation here was extremely tricky; the key problem was that, to this day, they still couldn't figure out what had happened. The eight missing guards hadn't even managed to send back a single useful piece of information. They had simply vanished silently into the museum, as if swallowed by the darkness.

Furthermore, the unique environment of a museum severely restricts the use of heavy weapons. After all, every piece there is a work of art with historical or even priceless value, which greatly limits their use. Originally, given the current situation, the best solution would have been to clear the area of ​​personnel and then advance using more forceful methods.

"Have you received a reply to the inquiry sent to the church?" Ralph urged his assistant, Maurice, again.

"Sir, Archbishop Isaac just replied to us that he did not send a priest to the Baladil National Museum. However, he did quote some hadiths..."

"Which ones?" Ralph asked, frowning.

Morris took out a small notebook, looked it up, and then replied, “The archbishop’s exact words were: ‘The Lord’s angels encamp around those who fear Him and deliver them. This is what Eros himself testified to. Child, if you are in distress, do not be afraid, for the Lord’s angels will also protect you all around. Ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes so that we may see salvation.’”

After a pause, Morris added, "Sir, I checked, and it comes from page 47 of the Hadith."

"Archbishop Isaac also said that if that is the will of the Lord, then all we need to do is be devout..."

Ralph paused for a moment. He wanted to swear, but felt it wouldn't be appropriate in front of his subordinates. The Archbishop Isaac he was asking was the Archbishop of Sidde, a city of the Church of Saint Revelation. Since Sidde was the capital of the Grand Republic, the Archbishop of Sidde was not only the bishop of the Sidde Archdiocese, but also the archbishop of the Sidde Province, which comprised eight dioceses. He was a high-ranking member of the Grand Church of Saint Revelation Episcopal Conference.

The church's ambiguous attitude left Ralph feeling extremely helpless. However, this time, according to the guards, a man dressed as a priest did enter the museum and displayed unusual abilities.

In addition, the team at the airport also encountered a bizarre incident. They met a priest, and according to his briefing, the scene was nothing short of magical. He even suspected that they had copied down the legend of the Son of God’s preaching from the Hadith for him to see...

Chapter 662 The Maze

Of course, he knew that was impossible, but it at least proved one fact: the church truly possessed certain powers. It was just that for some reason, they were extremely low-key about the existence of these powers, and could even be said to be very secretive about them.

He wasn't sure if the "priest" he encountered on both sides was the same person. Strangely, when the witnesses recalled the events, neither could accurately describe the priest's appearance, except that the person seemed to be elderly. Of course, this wasn't entirely incomprehensible. According to the internal records of the External Security Bureau, similar situations had occurred more than once in numerous sightings around the world. It could be concluded that there was a secret technique that could interfere with ordinary people's perception and even some visible light.

"Any results from the Congregational Council?" Ralph asked, frowning in thought. The Congregational Council, or Church Council for Public Affairs, is essentially Bergoglippe's foreign ministry, responsible for establishing relations with governments and managing matters such as the Vatican's ambassadors abroad.

"Not yet, perhaps because it's too late. We haven't been able to contact Cardinal Valentin yet."

"Alright, let the lads get ready one last time. We'll start in three minutes."

......................................................

承和三十七年2016年4月2日02:11格兰德首府西黛市巴拉迪尔国立博物馆

In the dimly lit corridor, the faint sound of something rolling on the ground could be heard. Then, with a "whoosh," a round object overturned on the ground, secured itself by its four legs, and then burst into a bright light.

The air carried a faint, strange smell; clearly, it was a chemical flame, its spectrum remarkably similar to sunlight.

Like their counterparts in Zhao State, the Grand External Security Bureau's operations forces have also developed some targeted small-scale equipment for special missions. One example is the "Torch" self-propelled lighting robot, which is safer than electronic devices in certain complex conditions involving chemical flames. This is experience gained at the cost of lives.

A series of footsteps sounded as a small squad of fully armed soldiers cautiously advanced. Upon reaching the area illuminated by the "torch," the captain, Clement, suddenly raised his fist, and the entire squad stopped abruptly. Over the communications channel, Charles, responsible for electronic communications and reconnaissance, reported: "Captain, we've lost contact with Floating Stone 6." The Floating Stone Charles mentioned was a type of unmanned aerial vehicle used to scan the surrounding environment.

"How many pumice stones do we have left?" Clément asked.

"There are only two pieces left."

Clement sighed upon hearing this: "Keep them for now, and use the torches for the time being. We brought more of those."

The team had been inside the museum for about half an hour, and one person had already gone missing. This made them realize that if they stayed in the dark for a long time in the museum, they might encounter unknown dangers.

To date, they have not yet discovered the cause of the disappearance, which has made everyone more vigilant and slowed down the team's movement.

Furthermore, they lost contact with the outside world. While this loss of contact was somewhat expected, given previous cases where communications had been disrupted to varying degrees, this was not the case for them.

What troubled them even more was that the space here seemed to have some kind of problem, to the point that they couldn't find the right path.

They all had electronic maps of the museum on their laptops, but after entering for about fifteen minutes, they abandoned those maps because the corridors and rooms seemed to have been rearranged by an unseen hand, making it impossible for them to follow the maps.

Even now, they've lost their way back. Their biggest hope is to encounter another team that came in to search as well, since more people would greatly increase their safety.

After lingering briefly in the torchlight, the small team of eleven continued onward.

After passing through a long corridor, the team came to a three-way intersection. The road ahead could either turn left or continue straight.

The long corridors here are lined with paintings, which is one of the museum's most distinctive features. The corridors are filled with world-famous paintings. It is said that when the National Museum of Balladur was still the François Palace, it was originally used by the royal family to collect famous paintings from all over the world, and later it gradually expanded into a comprehensive collection.

"Captain, we've been here before!" A team member pointed to a portrait of a noblewoman hanging at a corner not far away. The noblewoman in the painting was serene and elegant, smiling at the crowd outside the frame.

“I remember the painting ‘Madame Veronica’,” the team member emphasized.

"Damn it..." another team member cursed. Judging from his expression, he wished he could grab his gun and fire a burst of bullets, but he didn't dare, after all, these famous paintings were priceless.

In the light from the "torch" not far away, the noblewoman in the painting smiled gently, but in Captain Clément's eyes, her serene smile seemed to be mocking them.