Chapter 395 Old Priest, Death Sinner
End of the aisle.

A spiral staircase appeared before our eyes.

Jiang He stepped onto the stairs and heard the crisp sound of a sharp object breaking under his feet, and a large amount of white fragments flew out.

He lowered his eyes and took a glance. All the steps were made of human teeth. Considering that this world has entered the Silver Age, some of the teeth are as sharp as the tips of low-level props.

Going up the stairs, there are trident-like candlesticks embedded on the left and right walls, with white candles using unknown oil burning quietly. Oil paintings with excellent craftsmanship are arranged and hung as personal collections, and there is an excerpt of a sonnet in the corner of each painting.

At the top of the world, the fourth person waits for his answer.

Time whispers, echoing in the void.

The sharpest sword will turn its spearhead,
The blade of destiny severs the old oath.

The endless desire follows me like a shadow.

The Emperor of Ashes will eventually destroy the name of the Empire.

Until the candlelight dimmed, the officer stopped in front of a crystal wall. He knocked rhythmically a few times, and the wall suddenly opened, allowing light from outside to shine in. Unfortunately, the wall was not much different from the prison.

“Sir Amber, the Governor is just ahead.” The officer bowed slightly and made way.

Jiang He looked around and saw a relatively dilapidated church in front of him. Large chunks of plaster had fallen off the walls, exposing the rough bricks and stones underneath. The once magnificent stained glass windows were now only broken fragments, crumbling in the window frames.

The wooden benches were tilted to one side and the air was filled with a smell of decay. The pulpit in the center was covered in dust, and the dome, which was once covered with traces of murals, was now covered with cobwebs.

In front of the pulpit, an old man dressed as a priest seemed to be silently reciting scriptures with his head down. Not far away, there was a sickle leaning on the ground, which looked more like a decoration.

“Don’t come over here. No one is stopping you. Just go.”

Jiang He took a few steps forward and turned his head to see the other person’s face clearly.

“It turns out to be an acquaintance.”

The old priest shook his head, turned to the other side, and said sincerely: “I’m not familiar with you. I’ve never seen you before.”

Jiang He found a chair and sat down. He remembered the other party. He was one of the participants who launched a siege against him in the Ninth Fortress a while ago, an ordinary creature in the Golden Age, a death servant, a sinner who coexisted with the Death Abyss Ghost, and a player of the End Battlefield.

“Don’t waste my time.” Jiang He said impatiently, “If you choose to die here, why did you run away when we were surrounded?”

The old priest choked when he heard this, sat down obediently next to the pulpit, and sighed deeply.

“It’s a long story, let me tell you.”

The old priest explained in a vivid and moving manner the reason why he participated in the siege at that time, which was nothing more than how the twins and the tyrant used cruel means to threaten him.

Later, during the battle, a certain overlord was guarding the fire of the coordinates. Because he was afraid of the Spear of Oath of Victory blessed by the Martial Saint Strike, he stayed in hiding and did not go out to rob.

Nothing worked after trying everything. When he was about to be killed by the End, he had already accepted his fate. But who would have thought that Origin would extend an olive branch to him, asking him to become an undercover agent and use his status and position in the Ashes World to help the Executor complete the mission.

“Sir, as long as you complete the main mission, I may be able to become the Origin Lord and go to the present world.” The old priest said sincerely: “But I think you can easily complete the mission even without my help.”

Jiang He took out the Longhen Dragon Spear, pointed it at the other person’s nose, and said expressionlessly: “Then why are you alive?”

A genuine murderous intent spread.

The old priest raised his hands and said with a wry smile, “Today is Bone Bell Day. It’s just a joke.”

The so-called Bone Bell Festival is a festival for the new humans to commemorate the first year of the Ash Calendar. Every household will hang the skulls of their loved ones at the door, and wait for the wind to blow the bones to knock on the door, which means that the deceased loved one has quietly returned home.

Jiang He put away the Changhen Dragon Spear. He had already learned some basic information when he arrived.

As the Overlord fell silent, the old priest felt a little pressure and said immediately: “Your Excellency, you don’t know that the Eye of Ashes is a secret force directly under the Speaker of the Parliament. It is responsible for fighting in the shadows. Not only do they have to fight with the Knights of Redemption of the Theocracy, but they also have to monitor those Sinners who may fall at any time. The scope covers all fifty states of the empire.”

“The head of each state is called the Governor, who has overall leadership and is in charge of the commanders of each district. However, the draft of the establishment of the Eye of Ashes was not passed by the Obsidian Council, which means that the daily operation of the organization needs to be self-financing.”

“The good news is that we can kill without restraint, as long as we don’t get caught. We have great power and we only need to answer to the Speaker of the Council. We don’t have to care about anyone else.”

Jiang He couldn’t help but ask, “What if we get caught?”

“Die.” The old priest whispered.

The topic ended and Jiang He was speechless.

Seeing the other party’s displeasure, the old priest quickly added: “However, we still have a stable supply of fresh blood. For various reasons, some outstanding students of the Ash Academy often secretly serve as the most basic hunters, and a few can even be promoted to commanders.” The Eye of Ashes is an elite secret force. Ordinary Silvers are not qualified to become formal hunters. At the very least, they have to show the qualifications to become an elite, hence the cage fight.

The commander is usually a peak silver player.

Not far away, the officer at the door of the underground cage in the church bowed his head in silence. He did not expect that even the governor could be so humble in front of the monster.

The old priest tilted his head and said, “Green, go get a set of uniforms, and don’t forget to bring your gun and wrist knife.”

The officer looked up suddenly and replied habitually: “Understood.”

Officer Green turned and headed for the secret room in the church. All members of the Eye of Ashes had disguised identities in the local area. He was not only the commanding adjutant at the silver elite level, but also held a superficial position in the Burning Iron Legion stationed there.

There was no one around, and the old priest whispered, “On the second day after the Bone Bell Festival, the Scarlet Theaters in each main city will hold a large celebration. In short, civilians are forced to fight in duels.”

“The End is an organization that advocates the extinction of mankind. It believes that mankind will evolve again and again in the process of continuous extinction until the problems of the Abyss and Abomination are completely solved.”

“As for the conspiracy to exterminate humanity, the Empire and the Theocracy, which represent order itself, are the biggest obstacles, so the three parties are enemies of each other. It is foreseeable that tomorrow these lunatics will definitely launch an attack on the Scarlet Theater, which is the most important facility in each major city.”

Jiang He touched his chin and said, “So our mission is to stop the End Meeting and protect the theater?”

The old priest shook his head. “No, that is the responsibility of the Burning Iron Legion and the nobles of Carmel City. Our mission is to try our best to find and kill the infiltrating cardinals of the Church. This time, the Speaker of the Parliament even sent out an Obsidian envoy, who is expected to arrive tomorrow morning.”

Subtitles appeared in front of Jiang He’s eyes.

[Main Mission ②: Already Released]
[Mission name: Hunting]
[Mission content: Hunt down Cardinal Deborah of the Church (an ordinary creature in the Golden Age)]
[Task time limit: 3 natural days]
[Quest Reward: Ultimate Skill Improvement Scroll]
[Task Penalty: None]
[Note: Carmel City was once the hometown of Adam Mist. The local Ash nobleman accidentally got half of a treasure map. It is rumored that the truth of the world is contained in it. Because it is too hot, the nobleman chose to use it as a prize for the Scarlet Winner, and Carmel City was in turmoil because of this.]
The same subtitles appeared in front of the old priest’s eyes, the difference was that there was no reward. Only when someone’s main mission was completely completed could he officially defect successfully.

Jiang He pondered for a moment and asked, “The End Society, the Burning Iron Legion, the Cardinal, the Obsidian Commissioner, all of these people came to intervene, but the Imperial Family remained indifferent?”

The old priest had a strange expression on his face and replied, “The imperial family has long been in name only. Three consecutive emperors were assassinated on the throne. When you came up, you should have seen the prophetic poems on the paintings. They were all written by the most famous prophets since the beginning of the Ashes Calendar.”

“He contracted the future abyss ghost, and his accuracy is there, but he often acts as a riddler. The prophecy that the royal family will destroy the empire was made by this prophet at the cost of his own life.”

Jiang He thought to himself that if there was a transfer of power between the parliament and the royal power, then the existence of the prophet was very intriguing. By self-destructing and transforming himself into a political assassin, he could directly knock the royal power to the ground and make it unable to get up. This was definitely not something that could be planned overnight.

“Reporting to the two commanders, the supplies have arrived.”

Not long after, the officer came over with a set of standard equipment, including a black uniform, a silver-plated carved revolver, twelve alchemical bullets, and a tactical short straight knife with blood grooves engraved on the blade, all of which were of excellent grade.

Jiang He saw the shadow of the alchemy master in it. Compared with himself who came from a self-taught background, the technology mastered by the other party was obviously more comprehensive and complete. He manufactured samples, trained a large number of apprentice assistants to be responsible for various scattered links, and finally assembled the finished products in an assembly line method to mass-produce standardized equipment.

The uniform is mainly black with bullet-like yellow-brown patterns. It has a stand-up collar, two rows of copper buttons on the chest, and a white belt and gloves, which are similar to the Prussian officer uniforms during World War I.

The old priest gestured for the other party to change into clothes. This was actually the general uniform of the Burning Iron Legion. The Eye of Ashes even had problems with funding for its activities, so naturally there was no question of professional distribution.

“Amber Ashes,” the old priest said solemnly, “I formally appoint you as an independent commander. You will be assigned five hunters, including Adjutant Green, to secretly track down the whereabouts of the Cardinal from now on.”

“Where are the other four people?” Jiang He buckled his belt and stuffed his documents and other things into his pockets.

The old priest scratched his head and said, “Your Excellency may have to figure out a solution yourself. None of my thirty or so commanders have been killed yet. If you are anxious, I can try my best.”

Jiang He’s face turned dark. The Eye of Ashes was simply a makeshift team. He might as well wait for his two animal companions.

……

On the endless black sea.

The dilapidated wooden sailing ship was slowly moving on the sea, and the ship was full of almost rotten bones.

Dangdang Dangdang!
The wolf-headed giant swung a hammer to repair the leaking cabin, turned and walked onto the deck. Looking around, the sky was dark and the clouds were extremely thick, just like the scene before doomsday.

“Wuhe, when are we going to reach the shore?” Lao Hei said dejectedly. The two of them had just landed on this broken ship.

Wuhe stood on the top of the mast, holding half of the treasure map in one claw, and answered loudly: “Second brother, the material of this paper is unusual. The truth about the world described on it may be true. This ship should be an exploration ship. I am ready to seize this opportunity.”

Lao Hei was a little distressed. He had planned to reunite with Xiao He as soon as possible, but Wu He was obviously a man eager to make a contribution. Through the teleportation of animal companions, the two of them could actually leave at any time.

“Okay, I can’t leave you alone.”

“Ga ga ga.” The crows looked excited and chirped loudly.

On the black sea, the three sailing ships rose and fell.

(End of this chapter)