Central City, Temple.

Douglas paced back and forth anxiously.

A month had passed, but he still hadn't received any news from Hubert, although he comforted himself that Hubert's team was so strong, and with "that thing" to help, it was impossible for them to stop Gwen.

Perhaps it was just because Gwen and his team resisted, and Hubert and his team died with them in order to complete the mission.

After all, so much time had passed, and there was no news from the military district either.

Despite this, he still couldn't help but feel anxious.

Because more and more people were protesting outside the temple, and the reaction was getting more and more intense.

It was like a powder keg that was about to explode, and no one knew when a spark would completely detonate it.

Thinking of this, he felt a little resentful.

The ancestor of the card maker family, Tule Carolingian, was actually a thief.

He was originally just a servant of the first high priest. When the high priest was talking to the other eight families, he was overheard, so he stole the star pattern while they were not paying attention.

With this, he became the so-called father of auxiliary cards, accepted a bunch of apprentices, and had money and power, and was in great glory.

When the first high priest found him, he was not ashamed, but used this secret to threaten the high priest.

At that time, it was a critical period for the establishment of the temple. The high priest was afraid of leaving a handle, so he could only endure it.

In recent years, the two sides have been able to keep their distance and live in peace.

Although it was a bit offensive, Douglas did the same as many high priests before him, pretending not to see them until they came to him.

To be honest, when they told him their intention, Douglas wanted to kill them.

The Temple had been high and mighty for so many years, and no one had ever dared to threaten it, let alone the card-making family that was like a bereaved dog.

In the end, it was the other party who took out the wealth accumulated over the years that made him give up the idea.

He thought that with the threat of the Temple, those villains would leave after a few days of clamoring, but now he realized that he underestimated the seriousness of the matter. Not only did they not back down, they even set the fire on the Temple.

At this point, Douglas couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

But he was in a dilemma at the moment. It was impossible to hand over the people. They might think that the temple was afraid of them, and wouldn't that encourage the arrogance of those villains?

Thinking of this, he asked the priest beside him: "What is the situation outside now?"

The priest looked a little confused and whispered: "Several bishops tried to appease them, but it didn't work much..."

Douglas's face was gloomy: "Don't they know how to think of other ways? Waste!"

The priest immediately shut up.

Douglas calmed down for a while and asked again: "What is the situation inside the temple and the central city?"

The priest hurriedly said: "Some people were indeed panicked a few days ago, but I followed your instructions and went to warn them, and now it's better."

Douglas felt better.

However, he also knew that this was only a temporary solution. If Hubert and his team completed their mission and returned safely, everything would be solved. But if something unexpected happened, he had to prepare another way out.

The most urgent task was to complete the formation under the divine tower as soon as possible. Even if something really happened, he could let the remaining temple knights take him away.

Although it was a pity that he lost his status as the high priest, he could still live a good life with the wealth accumulated by the temple over the years.

Thinking of this, Douglas's expression gradually eased, and he said to the priest: "You did a good job, but beating them all the time is not a solution. You should comfort them and tell them that the matter will be resolved soon, so that they don't have to panic."

The priest nodded repeatedly: "Yes!"

With this comfort, the Central City quickly returned to its former prosperity and bustle.

In fact, it was the first time for everyone to see such a situation, so they were a little panicked. Most of them grew up in the Central City and had hardly ever been out. They knew nothing about the outside world. Their trust in the temple for many years made them have no doubts.

Only Clement was keenly aware of the aberration.

These days, he has been trying to find a chance to go under the tower again, but the recent events outside the city have made people in the city panic, rumors are flying everywhere, and many taverns and casinos have been closed.

The novice priest who was in charge of guarding him was not in the mood to gamble, and he had been guarding outside during his bloody execution, so Clement could not get away.

Since he couldn't go down, Clement was not idle. While asking for news outside the city, he searched for information about Anthony.

The more he investigated, the more he felt that there was a cat's worm in Anthony's death. He was probably killed because he knew the secret under the tower.

But this did not dispel Clement's belief in wanting to investigate further, but made him more determined.

In addition, he was very confused by the recent behavior of the temple. He always felt that their attitude was perfunctory and they did not seem to want to resolve the matter.

This deepened Clement's sense of urgency.

Fortunately, because of the temple's comfort, the people in Central City instantly forgot their worries of the past few days and resumed their previous lifestyles. The closed casinos were also opened.

The novice priest really couldn't help it.

Clement did not enter the blood pool, but leaned against the door, listening to the footsteps gradually fading away. He waited for a while, making sure that the novice priest did not come back, and then he pushed open the door and walked towards the bottom of the tower.

However, the further down he went, the more frightened he felt.

The layout of each floor below is similar to that of the upper floor, but the layout inside is completely different, making people feel cold and weird.

There was even a moment when Clement was wondering, is the temple believing in gods or evil gods?

This thought that suddenly broke into his mind made his blood seem to freeze.

They all hated the greed and arrogance of the temple, but no one had ever doubted the temple's faith, because they were taught since birth that the temple was the spokesperson of the gods. This seemed to have become a pattern that no one would doubt.

However, if you think in this way, the temple's actions seem to be explainable.

Clement's mind suddenly became a mess. The education and concepts he had received in the past seemed to collapse in an instant. He even began to doubt whether the world he lived in was fake.

At this moment, his hand touched his pocket, and a hard touch called back his mind.

He reached into his pocket and took the thing out.

It was a ring, a simple ring with his and Alicia's names engraved on it.

It was as if a warm current surged into his body. He held the ring tightly, as if he had courage again.

He continued to walk down carefully.

Until the bottom floor.

There was no weird and bloody scene as he imagined. There was only a statue in the empty hall.

Clement walked out slowly and recognized that it was the statue of the first high priest. At this time, he also found that there were some strange lines carved around the high priest, which looked a bit like a formation.

Just when Clement was about to study it carefully, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the door.

He took a deep breath, but the hall was extremely empty and there was no place to hide. He had no choice but to hide behind the statue of the first high priest.

Not long after, someone walked in.

Douglas walked in alone, he raised his head and looked at the statue of the first high priest enthusiastically.

After a long while, he looked at the formation on the ground.

He discovered this formation through the guidance of the statue of the first high priest, in the notes of the first high priest. The notes detailed the origin and function of this formation, but unfortunately the first high priest died without completing it.

Douglas was ecstatic, but the requirements of this formation were too harsh, so he worked hard for so many years before finally completing it.

It's a pity that he originally planned to solve all these troublemakers and things before completing the formation.

Thinking of this, he became a little irritable and cursed Gwen and the others.

If it weren't for Gwen, if it weren't for the UR card, why did they have to go outside the defense line? Wouldn't it be better to maintain the status quo?

In order to destroy the three military bases outside the defense line, he had used a lot of "that stuff". Who knew that the military bases were destroyed as he wished, but Gwen and his men did not stop and became even more radical.

Once they really found the border, they would completely expose the temple's lies, and he, the high priest, would bear the wrath of everyone.

Therefore, he had no choice but to send Hubert and Isaiah and others out, resulting in the temple's lack of military force and unable to even deal with the villains outside.

He couldn't tell these words to the priests, so he vented them all here.

Clement covered his mouth tightly to prevent himself from making any sound, but he saw Douglas actually walking towards the back of the statue, as if he wanted to check the entire formation again.

Clement was hiding behind the statue, and as long as Douglas walked a little bit over here, he would be able to see him at a glance.

Clement's heart suddenly beat violently, and his hands clenched into fists.

However, just as Douglas was about to go around the statue, his communicator rang.

Douglas stopped unhappily, and after answering the call, he left in a hurry without saying a few words.

Only when the footsteps completely disappeared did Clement let out a breath and fell to the ground paralyzed.

But soon, he forced himself to get up again. He had to find a way to spread such important news.

He stood up with great difficulty and was about to walk out when he suddenly stopped.

A trance appeared on his face, as if he saw the statue, which had its back to him, turned around with a kind smile on its face, and gently tempted him.

Money, power, status, women... whatever he wanted could be satisfied.

This statue seemed to be able to see through his heart, and every word it said could hit the point in his heart, making him unable to refuse.

Clement's eyes were hazy, and suddenly, he felt a pain in his palm.

He came to his senses abruptly, and then he found that he was getting closer and closer to the statue, almost sticking to it. He was so scared that he quickly took several steps back.

Only after he retreated to a safe position did he look down at his palm. It was the ring that had stung him just now. He had been holding it in his hand.

At this time, he looked at the statue again, and felt that its expression was cold and twisted.

Thinking that he was almost bewitched by this thing just now, he was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. He kissed the ring gently.

His originally pounding heart gradually calmed down.

He remembered that Douglas had said to himself before that this formation was found by the guidance of the statue, and he always felt that it was not a good thing.

So he found a stone in the corner, aimed at the formation and smashed it down, trying to destroy it.

Who knew that as soon as he started, a sharp scream came from his head.

He immediately started bleeding from all seven of his orifices, his eyes went dark, and he almost fainted.

However, he had been enduring blood punishment recently, so his pain tolerance had increased a lot, and he managed to stay awake a little.

He didn't dare to attack the formation again, and could only leave the hall with difficulty. Only when he was far away did he feel a little better.

He was gasping for breath, and the whole person seemed to be pulled out of the water. At this moment, he just wanted to spread the news quickly, and he didn't care whether he would be exposed if he didn't go back to receive the blood punishment, so he left the divine tower directly.

Douglas received the news that a member of the card maker family was arrested, so he hurried over.

However, after he went there, he realized that the man wanted to slip away, but was discovered and arrested.

Now the crowd outside the city was excited, and they were even more clamoring for him to hand over the others, while inside the city, the people of the Card Maker family were noisily begging him to save people.

After Douglas knew the whole story, he was so angry that he almost cursed.

These idiots are really asking for death!

Probably because they saw that his expression was different and were worried that he would not save people, the people of the Card Maker family began to use both soft and hard tactics.

Hearing the threats behind their words, Douglas once again had the intention to kill.

At this moment, he had guessed that Hubert and the others were most likely in trouble, and he had prepared for the worst. He was not as concerned about their threats as before, but he also needed time.

So he promised to rescue people and stabilize the people of the Card Maker Family, but secretly asked a temple knight to kill the man.

He had guessed that there were people from the military district outside, so he concentrated the conflict completely between the Card Maker Family and the military district. As long as he delayed for a while, he could not only complete the formation, but also transfer all his property.

But he didn't know that at this time outside the city, Qin Ke and Aigla looked solemnly at the blonde girl in front of them: "Are you serious?"

Alicia still had some fatigue on her face.

A day ago, she received a call from Clement.

Clement couldn't escape from Central City. He wanted to spread the news only through the communicator, but he also knew that what he said was really absurd and hard to be believed, so he had to find someone who was trustworthy enough and who also trusted him enough to help him convince others.

And there were only two people in the world who met the requirements, one was Gu Xingmian and the other was Alicia.

He knew very well that when he left without saying a word, it was a great harm to Alicia, and he really didn't have the face to face her.

He thought that maybe Alicia had deleted or blocked his contact number long ago, or maybe she would hang up directly when she saw his contact number.

But he still took out the communicator he used in Denim City and restarted it.

While waiting for the communication to be connected, his heart was beating like a drum and his mind was blank.

Until he heard the familiar voice "Claire?"

Tears fell from his eyes.

His throat was weighed down by heavy emotions and he couldn't utter a word.

After Alicia called his name, she didn't say anything else. The only sound on both sides of the communicator was the breathing of each other.

Fortunately, Claire still remembered the business and quickly calmed down. He told Alicia about the matter and asked her to find Grove or Colonel Baker. It would be best if she could meet the admirals of the five major military regions and tell them about this.

After Claire finished speaking, he fell silent.

The voice recorded by Alicia came from the other end of the communicator.

Until the recording stopped, they both said at the same time: "You..."

Alicia did not ask why he left without saying goodbye, and Clement did not explain. He just whispered: "Goodbye, Alicia, I love you."

After that, Alicia called again, but the call was no longer connected.

She clenched her fists, and had guessed what Clement meant by the last sentence. Tears filled her eyes instantly, but only for a moment, she wiped the tears from her face, took a deep breath, and regained her former rationality and calmness.

Alicia handed over the affairs of Denning City as quickly as possible, and then drove the suspension car to Mosca College, found Principal Buckle, told him about the matter, and took the fastest aircraft to Central City.

She heard from Grove that the Card Maker Alliance was forcing the Temple to hand over the members of the Card Maker Family. The situation has become increasingly tense recently. Admiral Agla of the Third Military District and Admiral Qin Ke of the Fifth Military District have also rushed over.

After making her judgment, Alicia decided to go directly to the Central City to meet them.

With the introduction of Baker and Grove, Qin Ke and Agla did not dare to take it lightly and soon met her.

Alicia had already memorized Clement's words over and over in her mind, and now she repeated his words verbatim.

Qin Ke and Agla were both stunned.

Although Gwen had given them a vaccination during the previous meeting, at this moment, the two of them still couldn't come back to their senses for a long time.

Looking at Alicia's expectant eyes, the two hesitated for a moment, and Aigla said: "Miss Alicia, thank you for your hard work. We will consider your words carefully..."

The light in Alicia's eyes dimmed slightly. She bit her lips hard, but she refused to give up: "Two generals, the Card Maker Family has never had any dealings with the Temple, but at this critical moment they came to the Temple, and the Temple was unwilling to hand them over under such pressure. This shows that the Temple either has a handle in their hands, or they have common interests..."

"I heard that you captured a person from the Card Maker family. If it is the latter, the Temple will definitely find a way to rescue the person. If it is the former, the Temple may want to kill him more than anyone else. Why not try it with him."

Qin Ke and Aigla were stunned. They didn't expect Alicia to propose such a plan.

Alicia found it difficult to convince them at first, so she called Song Nanting. With his help, they finalized the plan.

Sure enough, after discussing for a while, they felt that they could give it a try.

In fact, they are still undecided.

Not only Douglas is waiting for Hubert and the others, but Agla and the others are also waiting for Gwen to bring back the truth.

But Alicia's plan gave them a chance to verify. If the temple really wants to kill this person, it means that there is something wrong with the temple. They can just interrogate him and confirm from him whether what Alicia conveyed is true or false.

Alicia left the room only after they confirmed it.

She looked indifferent, and only allowed herself to show a vulnerable expression when she was alone.

She saw the tall tower of the temple through the window. She knew that Clement was there, but he was so close yet so far away.

At the same time, Clement sat in his own house, throwing the communicator and the data he had recently investigated into the brazier.

As the flames rose, the door of the house was knocked open, and two temple knights, led by the novice priest, broke in.

When the novice priest saw Clement, his eyes were full of resentment and viciousness.

Clement did not resist at all, he stood up calmly and let them grab him calmly.

During the rough shove, a ring fell from Clement's body and hit the ground with a crisp sound.