Chapter 22: The Priest
Eastern Continent, Ganglu Central Prefecture, Baida City.
Baida City was located in the central-eastern region of the Eastern Continent. It had once been the capital of several kingdoms, boasting countless historical sites.
Years ago, the Magic Association and the Steam Alliance fought over this location, their conflict lasting several years. It was only settled when the Magic Association ceded maritime trade rights. It was then that Baida City was renamed Baida City by the Magic Association.
In the Eastern Continent, all cities or large towns were governed by three parties: the Magic Association, the Healing Church, and the Steam Alliance. These three major regions had different laws, cultures, and even the living habits of their citizens differed.
At present, there were no conflicts among the three factions. Trade, transportation, and even the tourism industry had all been opened up.
Inside the Space Tower, Su Xiao looked through the window at the bustling scene on the street. It was completely different from the Western Continent. There were no prison inns, no corpse-collecting carriages, no wild ducks waiting for anglers by the roadside, and no vendors carrying suppression crossbows to shoot non-paying customers, only to curse and spit on the corpse afterward.
"What are you looking at? Did you bring the goods?"
A Mystic Arts Practitioner walking down from the spiral staircase spoke. From his occasional glances at his pocket watch, it seemed he was in a hurry to do something.
Baha tossed out an iron box wrapped in black cloth. Inside were Black Crystals. The approaching Mystic Arts Practitioner gave it a cursory inspection before leaving with his men, without bothering to check Su Xiao's identity. The reason was that this Mystic Arts Practitioner had a private cooperation with Masked Man·Bas.
Whether Masked Man·Bas was loyal to the Magic Association was a complete mystery. That guy's mental energy was too powerful and twisted, forcing him to keep his nerves constantly taut. If one of the strings in his mind snapped, Bas would go mad. Or rather, Bas was already mad, just hiding it very well.
Descending the spiral staircase and exiting the Space Tower, Su Xiao found that the security here wasn't strict. Most Space Towers were one-way, and this one seemed to be the same, only usable as a destination, not a starting point for teleportation.
Walking along the streets of Baida City, Su Xiao began to contemplate his subsequent course of action. He wasn't in a hurry to head to the World Coordinate deployment point, which was called the 'Sun Temple,' located within the ancient capital of the Ganglu Dynasty.
The Ganglu Dynasty had a profound influence on the Eastern Continent. Influenced by the Dark Age, both the rulers and commoners of the Ganglu Dynasty held a near-fanatical worship of the sun. Everything related to the sun represented sanctity in that era.
The Blazing Sun Disc, the Penitent, the Scepter of Judgment, the Dark Mask—that era left behind many incredible things, until the Ganglu Dynasty began to crave the sun itself, building the Sun Ladder in an attempt to claim it for themselves.
In that era when darkness had just receded and the sun was first appearing, this was almost an inevitable outcome.
What the Sun Temple in the ancient capital looked like, Su Xiao didn't know yet, but he could be sure of one thing: it would be easy to defend and hard to attack. Otherwise, the previous struggle for the node in Smoke City would have been meaningless.
He found a small restaurant and, by chatting with a traveling merchant at the next table, learned quite a bit of information.
For example, the crime rate in Baida City had recently skyrocketed, and last night, a massive explosion occurred at the 'Inferno Racecourse.' After the security team cleared the scene, they found several unidentified bodies.
Hearing 'Inferno Racecourse,' Su Xiao thought of the location of the previous night's chaotic battle between his side and the Death Paradise faction—it was at the 'Inferno Racecourse.'
Using his authority, Su Xiao checked the remaining numbers of the four factions.
Reincarnation Paradise: 185 people (originally 219).
Death Paradise: 207 people (originally 256).
Sanctuary Paradise: 25 people (originally 270).
Apocalypse Paradise: 405 people (originally 462).
...
Seeing this data, Su Xiao was somewhat surprised. In the past few days, his side and the Death Paradise faction had been fiercely fighting each other, and then, in the process, they had somehow wiped out the Sanctuary Paradise faction?
This operation was truly bewildering. Currently, Sanctuary Paradise only had 25 people left, almost on the verge of a dismal exit, unless they could produce a trump card capable of changing the war's outcome.
Su Xiao opened the World Contact Platform and scrolled up through the records. From these posts, he found that his side and the Death Paradise faction didn't seem to be cooperating; the momentum of their mutual attacks was still strong.
The critical point was around 4:20 AM last night. After that, no one from the Sanctuary Paradise faction's contractors posted anything. The 25 survivors remained completely silent.
Various speculations emerged. For instance, internal strife within the Sanctuary Paradise faction, or a joint effort by the Reincarnation Paradise and Death Paradise factions to besiege the Sanctuary Paradise faction, etc. Strangely, no one suspected the Apocalypse Paradise faction.
Some also guessed that the Sanctuary Paradise faction had clashed with forces within this world, and the survivors chose silence to create an eerie atmosphere, deterring contractors from other factions from easily seeking them out, thus protecting themselves.
When Su Xiao scrolled to a message from around 5 AM, a very long post caught his attention.
Philosopher (Apocalypse Paradise): "At 5:42 AM today, I discovered a gathering point of the Sanctuary Paradise faction in 'Baida City.' That's right, they gathered together, preparing to launch a surprise attack on the Reincarnation Paradise faction..."
Tip: The following message requires payment of 1 Soul Coin to view.
After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao chose to pay. Information certified by the Void Tree was absolutely authentic. The second half of Philosopher's post read as follows:
"The reason the Sanctuary Paradise faction wants to surprise attack the Reincarnation Paradise faction is that they learned through special channels that their 'Contender' squad in the Western Continent had been completely wiped out, all killed by the Reincarnation Paradise faction's 'Contender.'
That's not the main point. The main point is that the 'Contender' from the Reincarnation Paradise faction hasn't left this world! He's still in the Western Continent's ultra-high-risk area, Smoke City, and hasn't left this world due to mission completion. He could arrive in the Eastern Continent at any time. Folks, do you know what this means? That 'Contender' who killed several same-rank (Eighth Rank) contractors is coming to compete on the same stage as us.
Back to the main topic. Last night, after the Sanctuary Paradise faction gathered, before they could launch their surprise attack, they were hit by an unknown assault. Take a look at these photos; they might help you (attached 3 photos)."
...
Su Xiao examined the photos Philosopher had posted. The image showed a large hall, otherwise normal, but on the inner side of the hall, there was a row of stone statues in various poses.
These five stone statues were partly humanoid, some had horns, and others had their hands raised as if to embrace the sun.
All five statues were half-sunk into the wall. At the center of their chests were circular marks, shaped very much like the sun.
Above the five statues were five engravings: a disc, a scepter, a barbed whip, an Ouroboros, and finally, a flame.
Above these five representative symbols was an engraving of a mask. The image of the mask was very blurry, only a black hole at the center of its forehead was visible, with black blood flowing out.
That was the content of the first photo. The second photo showed the ground, which had been carved into the shape of a mask, like a small pool filled with blood.
The third photo showed text written in blood, the content being: 'The Priest.'