Chapter 397 Scarlet Celebration
Night falls.

It was pitch black outside the noble mansion.

On both sides of the dilapidated street, individual street lamps flickered with dim lights. Due to the noise just now, a squadron of incinerators stationed around the Scarlet Theater immediately rushed over and was confronting the noble guards.

The Iron Burning Legion is the empire’s most elite field force, with approximately 30,000 soldiers stationed in each main city. Every soldier is a new human being who has undergone rigorous training. They are divided into squads of 100, squadrons of 1,000, and battalions of 10,000.

According to legend, every legion has a squadron of Howlers directly under the legion commander. These alien creatures, which rarely appear in public, have all been transplanted with the flesh and blood of the Abyss Ghosts. As their strength increases significantly, the Howlers will irreversibly fall into spiritual depravity and become consumables of war.

At the entrance of the mansion, a young man walked out as if no one was around. His long platinum hair was casually tied behind his head. The blood moon mark between his eyebrows looked a little strange, and his appearance was extremely handsome.

“Stop!” The squadron commander’s eyes focused, and he decisively took out the pistol from his waist, and the iron-burning soldiers behind him all raised their guns.

The surface of all guns is engraved with blood-colored patterns. After being blessed with the blood of the Abyss Ghost, standard weapons can have an impact on the Abyss Ghost, but the killing effect is far different from that of the Sin Master.

Seeing that the young man did not stop, the squadron commander frowned and murderous intent grew in his eyes.

Squeak!

The door of the mansion opened, and Count “Felix” walked out with a dignified manner and a powerful aura.

“Sir, please don’t disturb my guests.”

Facing the great noble, the squadron commander could only put away his gun. He said calmly, “My Lord Earl, the Holy City’s Eye of Supervision has sent a notification that there are signs of the birth of the strongest Abyss Ghost in the noble mansion. The commander of the army is rushing back from the wild.”

Felix laughed it off, “Do you think it’s possible?”

The squadron commander did not answer. In fact, if the strongest level Abyss Ghost was really born, all of his people, including the Earl, would have been wiped out. At this moment, it was hard to say whether the legion commander could come over or not.

However, the surveillance eyes deployed in the core city of San Francisco did detect a strong concentration of hatred, and the estimated number of deaths was a shocking tens of millions.

Felix invited, “Come in and sit down. It may be because the End Society just launched an attack. Some nobles died inside. I am in need of manpower to deal with it.”

“Yes.” The squadron commander replied.

……

The distance from the noble mansion to the church is only a few kilometers.

At the doorstep of dilapidated houses, countless skulls swayed in the wind, hitting the door panels from time to time, making crisp sounds.

Jiang He walked on the side of the road and saw ragged civilians lining up to go to the extraction tower.

Every adult citizen needs to contribute 800cc of blood every month. Violators will be killed and punished together. Given the physical fitness of the new humans, this burden will not push people to the brink of despair, provided that they get normal nutrition.

Due to the relatively heavy blood tax and the decline of productivity, the imperial resistance army has continued to spring up like mushrooms after a rain, but compared to the Final Conference, the number of sinners in the resistance army is pitifully small, and it has never been able to become a force to be reckoned with.

Because once you become a sinner, citizens and their direct blood relatives have the right to be exempted from blood tax, and food and water are adequately supplied by the main city. In most cases, there is no reason to participate in resistance.

Continue walking all the way back to the church.

An extremely loud chattering sound came from inside.

The church, which seemed desolate and dilapidated before I left, seemed to have some vitality. The old priest held the Bible and carried a bread basket in his hand, distributing black bread to the orphans in the church one by one.

After the distribution was completed, a slightly taller girl led the orphans to the second floor of the church.

Jiang He walked in and found a place to sit down, then said sarcastically, “In ancient Daxia, there were kings who begged for a bowl of honey water before their death but were not given one. I don’t think you will be able to eat black bread before you die.”

Objectively speaking, as one of the leaders of the secret forces, raising orphans is a pure sin. Once he falls, none of these guys will escape. Of course, the outcome has nothing to do with him.

“Hey.” The old priest smiled mysteriously and said, “You don’t understand this. Children are the easiest works of art to shape. I guide them to grow up, and they will be my loyal subordinates in the future. The only cost for me is time.”

Jiang He asked without hesitation: “Green?”

The old priest nodded as a matter of course. “He’s the only one left of the first generation who died. There’s nothing we can do about it. Everyone has their share of inexperience.”

He said with false emotion: “I am actually a native of the Ashes world. The player selection criteria of End is far less stringent than that of Origins. I have to say that a large part of my ability to become a gold player is due to their sacrifice.”

Jiang He pondered. Since the old priest was not a very human being, some things could be discussed with him. In terms of the mission, this traitor and he had the same interests.

The plan to bear all the evils of the world on his own was laid out in full, with the hatred of the entire world. The “mass” would undoubtedly be unimaginably heavy, but the thing that the Lord of Gluttony had the best of was his appetite.

The old priest was stunned for a moment, then raised his hands, looked up and praised loudly, saying: “Such a magnificent ideal, as bright as gold!”

“The Savior took upon Himself all the sins!”

“He is the Saint who walks the earth.”

“That hundred years are over. The high and mighty Sin Masters are no longer in existence. The struggling new humans have raised their heads. The Messiah who redeems the sufferings of the world will eventually end the era of the Abyss Demons and make the earth flow with milk and honey again.”

After the old priest finished speaking, he returned to normal, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked, “What do you think of propaganda like this?”

“No need.” Jiang He replied.

In war, there is a special situation, that is, “fighting will win”. As long as you keep fighting, fresh blood will continue to join. In politics, a clear policy philosophy is conducive to the establishment of camps and factions.

For the Age of Ashes, a feasible Abyss Ghost solution, even if it cannot occupy the mainstream, can still attract countless people, either actively or passively, and serve as the foundation for the existence and development of a large organization.

Just as the Church pursues the policy of atonement, every sin magician needs to have the atonement ritual engraved upon his birth, so that all the hatred in his body will be sealed in his body, and he will self-destruct when he falls or his life ends, and perish together with the Abyss Demon.

The Empire adheres to the blood tax system, starting with the new humans to alleviate hatred, and using the privileges and power of the sinners to maintain stability, similar to trying to stop a boiling pot by adding more water, fighting evil with evil.

As for the Society of the End, it is a representative of radicalism, advocating destruction before construction, parasitic on the darkness of the Empire and the Theocracy, constantly absorbing alien elements rejected by the two orders, and is also an excellent place for rebels, murderers, ambitious people and others.

The old priest felt deeply sorry and said unwillingly, “Sir, I think the future of this path is not inferior to that of the Church of the Atonement. By then, human rights will belong to me and divine authority will belong to you. We may even have the hope of unifying the world.”

Jiang He shook his head and replied, “Too slow, and the results may not be what you want. I want to know how many strongest people there are in the world.”

The old priest introduced helplessly: “On the Empire side, the Speaker of the Council and the Commander of the Grand Army are both truly the strongest. In addition, there is a Sleeper in the Ashes Academy who may fall at any time. It is rumored that he is the father of Lady Ashes and the former noble leader.” “On the Redemption Kingdom side, the Pope, the Head of the Knights of Redemption, and the recently emerged Sisters of Temperance are all the strongest. As for the End Society, it seems that there is only one president.”

“The Ashes World is a special training base. Gold-level battlefield players cannot enter. Once they are promoted, they will be kicked out immediately to avoid affecting the stability of the base.”

Jiang He couldn’t help but frown. There were seven of the strongest people, which was far beyond what he could handle at the moment.

Before the plan was launched, not only did they have to upgrade the Changhen Dragon Spear and strengthen its strength as much as possible, they also had to reduce the number of the strongest ones.

“From now on, the task of monitoring and investigating the commander of the army will be handed over to you.” Jiang He said.

The old priest paused when he heard this and pointed at himself.

“I?”

“I’m not asking you to fight him to death.”

Jiang He did not give the other party any room to refuse and simply closed his eyes to rest. As the other party was a traitor to the end, how could he possibly win without doing anything?

The old priest had a painful look on his face. If he hadn’t been afraid of death, he wouldn’t have assisted from a distance when the enemies were besieged.

……

Both parties stayed in the church until daybreak.

As agreed, the Obsidian agent who was supposed to arrive at six in the morning was still nowhere to be seen.

The old priest’s expression gradually became solemn. This was not good news. The Scarlet Celebration was held on the second day of the Bone Bell Festival. At this moment, the Society of the End and the Cardinal of the Theocracy might have already begun to act.

Jiang He opened his eyes and stood up from his seat.

At the same time, there was a knock on the church door.

He opened the door and saw a young noble servant outside, looking haggard.

“Excuse me, sir. Are you here in person from Amber?” the young attendant continued, “Here is an invitation from the Earl.”

“Thank you.” Jiang He took the invitation. With this thing given by A Da, he didn’t need to donate blood to enter the Scarlet Theater, and could go directly to the VIP seats, saving a lot of trouble.

The young man said goodbye and left. He couldn’t help rubbing his shoulders as he left. The long-lost soreness and fatigue surged from his body. As most of the nobles died in the sudden attack of the Doom, all the powerful positions in Carmel City were vacant. This was a great opportunity, and many people were running around overnight.

In the church, the old priest set off. He was going to gather his commanders. Today, there was no need for secret searches anymore. The arrow was on the string, and even if it would alert the enemy, the cardinal would probably not be willing to run away.

Dawn rose, and the faint light struggled to penetrate the thick clouds. The buildings on the street were as dilapidated as ever. The air was filled with a pungent smell of gunpowder mixed with a disgusting stench of decay. Occasionally, a few pieces of waste paper were blown up by the breeze.

Jiang He left the church and walked to the Scarlet Theater.

From all over Carmel City, huge crowds of people were also converging towards the theater. On each of their skinny faces, big and small, their haggard expressions contained fanaticism.

The decaying city seemed to become prosperous all of a sudden.

Entertainment, a luxury, does not belong to the people. Imperial law clearly states that no ordinary citizen is allowed to leave written records in any form, and all history must be based on the unified revised version promulgated by the Obsidian Council.

In the boring and painful life, the annual Scarlet Festival is grand, with more than 100,000 people attending.

The price of the ticket was clearly written on the stone tablet at the entrance of the theater: one abomination crystal, which was equivalent to the breakfast of a sinner, or 500cc of fresh blood. The organizer accepted both payment methods.

From time to time, some people fell to the ground due to anemia and were dragged away by the soldiers of the Burning Iron Legion, but more people were still fanatical and rushed to donate blood. The Scarlet Celebration held simultaneously in fifty main cities was a large-scale event that the people of the empire had been looking forward to for a whole year.

Holding the invitation, Jiang He went straight to the VIP seat.

The VIP seats are located at the top of the viewing area, and are filled with officers, nobles, members of the branch council, etc. From here, one can overlook the entire theater, with a very broad field of vision.

In the center of the theater, a huge fountain was gushing black liquid like the devil’s saliva. Around the fountain, several tall sculptures stood. The faces of the characters were very distorted, and their limbs were stretched in strange postures, as if they were enduring unspeakable pain.

At the edge of the venue, several huge braziers emitted strong light and black smoke billowed up.

Count “Felix” and the commander of the Iron-burning Legion sat down in the center of the VIP seats. Although many people were still entering, the host standing on the fountain had already picked up the microphone.

“Dear guests, I declare the 130th year of the Ash Calendar and the start of the Scarlet Celebration. Now, please welcome the opening ceremony gift!”

As the words fell, the audience fell into a strange excitement. In the seats closest to the platform, people’s eyes were bloodshot, veins on their necks were exposed, and they looked like wild beasts. Countless emotional fragments that were invisible to the naked eye emanated from the water vapor splashing from the fountain.

“Hurry up, I can’t wait!”

“Miss Sissi from Baron Mandela’s family, no one can snatch her from me!”

“They are guilty, and the guilty should be punished!”

Not long after, hundreds of iron-burning soldiers escorted “gifts” onto the stage. These people were all brightly dressed, smooth-skinned ladies and young ladies. As the losers of various struggles over the past year, they would be used as gifts and the audience would be allowed to vent freely.

“Everyone, enjoy your meal!” the host shouted and waved.

The walls of the theater fell down, and a large number of spectators rushed out using their hands and feet. Such a brutal scene made several newly arrived Iron-burning soldiers pale and they couldn’t help but clench their weapons.

Along with wailing, crying and screaming, fighting broke out based on scramble for food. People began to die one after another among the countless pieces of clothes that fell down. People hated and cursed each other until they died.

In the Scarlet Theater, overwhelming cheers and roars swept across the entire city of Carmel.

In the VIP seat, Jiang He had a calm expression. He reached out and covered the eyes of the little guy in his arms.

“Big Snake, what’s wrong?” Zhuang Ya was a little curious.

“Not suitable for children.” Jiang He replied with his head down.

The blond young man at the seat beside him heard the exchange, turned his head with a curious look, and took the initiative to say, “Brother, if you train your juniors like this, you will hurt her sooner or later.”

(End of this chapter)