Chapter 157 Yorktown

Brotherhood of Warlocks.

As the sun rises, the Brotherhood's Spirit Master Training Base still looks dark, as if the sun cannot bring enough light here.

Because after a large number of comparative studies, it was concluded that under the darkest conditions, the power of evil spirits would be better released, and the magic circle here artificially created a darker environment.

In this way, the newly advanced spirit masters will naturally become more powerful, which will have additional benefits for future advancement. Of course, this way of advancement will also have a higher mortality rate.

The Brotherhood wants the best elites, and cost is the factor that does not need to be considered in detail.

They don't care about the life protection of the experimenters at all. In the eyes of these sorcerers, these people's lives are far less precious than the evil spirits provided in the awakening ceremony.

Fekart, wearing a black double-breasted gown on the upper body, black breeches and black boots on the lower body, entered the base casually.

Today, he came to check how many people survived last night and became spirit masters.

"Sir, why are you here?" The head of the base bowed and saluted the third-level warlock.

"Warren, this experiment is very important. All the spirit controls have been carefully selected. I will feel relieved after seeing them."

Fekart returned the greeting perfunctorily and continued, "Open the door of the room."

"Yes, sir," Warren walked in front and ordered his assistants, "Get ready and open all the rooms one by one."

The assistants responded one after another and prepared for battle.

His assistants were a mixed force, including three first-level warlocks, four knights wearing armor engraved with intricate patterns and runes and holding axes, and two ordinary people who specialized in holding torches.

They have already developed a set of standardized procedures for creating spirit masters.

The door here is very big. When it is opened, you can see everything inside.

The door of the first room was opened by the assistant, and out jumped a female creature whose lower limbs had mutated into four octopus tentacles and whose upper body remained in human shape with green scales.

She was moving very fast, and her mouth opened wide, revealing a long, snake-like mouth with sharp teeth.

But the assistants reacted even faster, and a sorcerer uttered a syllable.

At the same time, his hands quickly made several complicated gestures, and he released an invisible force field to block the door of the room.

It is obvious that this is a poor man who was controlled and mutated by evil spirits after his failure.

The monster hit the force field and flew backwards, and the warlock who released the force field undid the spell.

His companions behind him had already released two fireballs the size of footballs and threw them into the room. As soon as the fireballs flew into the room, he released the force field spell again, locking all the power of the fireball explosion in the room.

When the smoke in the room cleared, the group saw that three of the monster's four tentacles had been blown off.

Its upper body was also torn into pieces, and its two strong arms were missing.

At this time, two armored knights at the end of the team walked into the room, raised their axes and chopped the dying monster into smaller pieces of meat.

The team worked in perfect harmony and quickly got rid of the monster. The metal door of the room was closed by the knights with a clanging sound.

"What a bummer," Fekart said unhappily.

"Sir, the mortality rate of ordinary people who advance to become spirit masters has always been very high. If those knights want to become spirit masters, the success rate will be higher." Warren took out the document and put a cross at the end of the first line.

"Of course I know this, but my good mood has been ruined. Let's continue."

Another metal door was opened, and everyone saw a layer of frost in the room and a person lying on the ground, motionless.

A knight walked to the door and sprinkled a handful of Apparition Dust inside.

A white rain of light appeared in the room, and a gray, misty, erratic shadow appeared in the corner.

Immediately afterwards, a fireball rushed towards the shadow.

The evil spirit was unable to dodge and was hit by the fireball, sending out sparks.

A knight stepped forward, drew out his silver-white sword and slashed at the phantom. Black smoke continued to rise, and the size of the mist shadow continued to shrink.

The howls echoed in the room, and soon the fog suddenly dispersed, and pieces of gray spiritual energy fell and flew away.

"It's better than the last one, and I've recovered some of the cost," Fekart said mockingly, "On to the next one."

Once an evil spirit successfully possesses a person, if it chooses to merge into the body of a living being, it will physically mutate into an evil creature similar to a monster.

At this time, killing the evil creature will only yield a pile of minced meat. Since the mutation has just begun, the evil creature's special organs possess very little magic power and cannot even be used as alchemical materials.

After possessing a creature, an evil spirit chooses to devour the life force and soul of the creature and leave. Then, after killing the creature, you can gain some spiritual essence, which can be regarded as reducing the loss.

These evil spirits can also be captured and used again as materials for awakening rituals, but research by the Brotherhood has found that no one who has used such materials again has been successful.

They once used second-level knights as experimental subjects and used the evil spirits that had failed to be awakened to be recaptured, but there had never been a successful case.

Later, an unwritten rule was formed that if the awakening ceremony failed, the person would be killed directly.

The rooms were opened one by one, and most people failed and were killed efficiently.

Occasionally, some successful ones were pale and weak, and after walking out of the room, they sat weakly in the corridor.

The rooms here are well soundproofed, and Rodney could only vaguely hear the noises coming from outside.

Although he went to bed very late last night and the room conditions were very simple, his sleep quality was very high and he felt much more energetic at the moment.

The door of the room was opened, and Rodney raised his hand to block the light coming in.

The people outside were slightly stunned. It was rare to see someone still standing.

"Name, and which patrol station?"

A warlock shouted, they did not let down their guard. Before they were completely sure that the experiment was successful, they might pay the price in blood.

There was once a real case where a sorcerer in charge of the inspection saw that the experimental subject could stand steadily, and he easily concluded that the experimental subject was successful before completing the entire process, so he carelessly walked forward.

As a result, his liver was taken out by the monster and put into its mouth. Although the monster was quickly killed by his teammates, he also lost his life.

The case of this unfortunate guy was written into the safety manual, and even though he died, he would be laughed at by future generations.

"Rodney Wilkerson, from the 3rd Patrol Station in the Burton District." Rodney's eyes had adjusted to the light and he put his hand down.

Warren took out the document, checked the subject's information, and marked it with a check mark: "You seem to be in good spirits?"

Being able to answer this question fluently and correctly is something that a successfully possessed evil being cannot do.

"Yes, the spirit awakening ceremony last night didn't cause me much trouble," Rodney grinned, "I quickly subdued the spirit."

"Go out of the room and rest in the corridor first. Those who are still alive will go out together later," Warren shook his head with regret.

There are indeed cases where evil spirits can be subdued very quickly. Some people with sorcerer talents have not stimulated their abilities for various reasons and cannot sense the chaotic energy, but they will be awakened during the spirit awakening ceremony and become spirit masters relatively easily.

But these people are also unfortunate. Even though being a sorcerer who studies chaos energy is dangerous, it is much safer than becoming a spirit master.

Warlocks are only in danger when they harness elemental forces beyond their own limits, while spirit masters are corroded by evil thoughts at all times.

Rodney walked out and waited for the warlocks to check all the rooms before being taken to the dining room.

He glanced around the room casually, counting the number of survivors: twenty-one.

During the training yesterday, he recorded the total number of people participating in the training: seventy-two people.

He quickly calculated in his mind and concluded that the success rate of the awakening ceremony was less than 30%.

At this moment, looking at the subjects who had obviously lost weight, Rodney was completely convinced how magical his brother-in-law's potion was.

Johnny, who was in disheveled clothes, was sitting next to him, eating his food gloomily. He didn't say a word and looked as depressed and angry as if his debtor had run away and he couldn't find him.

"Hey, man," Rodney happily forked a piece of beef into his mouth, "You should be very happy. We are all alive and have become extraordinary people."

"Don't mention it," Johnny tore off a chicken leg viciously and said aggrievedly, "I originally wanted to propose to Kailin if I succeeded in becoming a transcendent, but now there is no hope."

Kailin is a civilian employee in their patrol department. She is gentle and beautiful. She has several suitors around her, and Johnny is one of them.

"That's not right. If you become a superhuman, you will definitely get more salary and more power. How can a man who is both rich and secure not be favored by Kailin? Your competitors are far inferior to you now."

"My spirit control is too cheap." Johnny was even more sad. "Stop talking and let me eat well."

What on earth is it that makes the value of a spirit control drop?

Rodney was a little curious, but was too embarrassed to ask more questions, so he just focused on eating.

After these new spirit masters finished their meal, they were taken to a room to test their abilities.

Rodney finally saw Joey's spirit control, or more precisely, saw Joey's spirit control ability - beast transformation.

He finally understood why the other party was in dishevel. After transforming into a beast, he became tall and strong, with dense hair like a brown bear growing all over his body, and obvious inhuman features appeared on his face.

Kailin was bitten by a puppy when she was a child, so she is particularly afraid of dogs and other animals as well.

After testing everyone's abilities, the spirit masters entered the training room to learn the basic knowledge of their profession.

As the training progressed, everyone's face turned grim and heavy breathing was heard.

It turns out that their suffering did not end after becoming spirit controllers, but had just begun.

Every day from now on, they will be corrupted by evil spirits. The stronger they become, the more serious the corruption will be.

Rodney was not too worried. He had learned that after the evil spirit was imprisoned in the consciousness space, its appearance was mostly black or gray, which was the manifestation of the evil thoughts that came with the evil spirit itself.

But his spirit was a crystal clear blue, and he had reason to believe that it was the effect of the special potion he had taken.

As the spirit controller becomes more powerful, its evil thoughts will continue to accumulate.

In a few days, he will be able to verify his guess by taking the special medicine again.

Since that magical potion was able to protect him from the corrosion during the awakening of his spirit, there is no reason why it could not clean up the corrosion that occurred later.

"You are cheating," Johnny suddenly transformed into a beast and rushed towards the training instructor - Fecarter.

He was extremely fast, and the distance between them was very close, less than ten meters. In the blink of an eye, he rushed in front of the other person.

Fekart calmly raised his right hand and stood between him and the beastman. His hand suddenly became as crystal clear as white jade.

Johnny could no longer move forward, and his body floated up involuntarily.

"Logically, I don't need to teach you rookies, but your spiritual awakening is related to the Brotherhood's major plan, so I decided to do something."

Fecate's tone was calm, without any emotion: "You are just rookies who have just stepped into the extraordinary path. You are not yet capable of questioning the decisions of the strong. Today, I will give you a piece of advice: You must remain in awe of the strong, even if he still laughs at your scars."

He pushed lightly, seemingly without any effort, but Johnny slammed into the back wall of the room like a football that was kicked hard.

Dust and debris fell from the walls and ceiling.

The room suddenly became quiet, and you could hear a pin drop, but the coughing and groaning of a beastman made the silence seem less than perfect.

"You still need a few more days of training. I don't want anyone to be late tomorrow," Fekart clapped his hands and left calmly.

These spirit masters looked at each other, then looked back with pity at the figure crawling on the ground, and left one after another.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

At this time, Johnny had already finished his beastly state and was curled up in tattered clothes.

Rodney walked forward, patted his colleague, and tried to help him.

Johnny pushed his companion's hand away: "You should leave first. I am much more sober now."

He sat up and said, "Let's not act too intimate. Who knows if that warlock is petty? He might take his anger out on you."

. . . .

After Crown drove the steam locomotive out of the city center, he maintained the vehicle at maximum speed and rushed all the way to Yorktown.

The motorcycle has a rugged shape and a very heavy engine, but it is very durable. Even though the road is rugged and bumpy, the vehicle has no problems.

The group arrived in Yorktown at noon, and Crown parked the steam locomotive in front of the patrol station.

York used to be an old country town with row houses on both sides of the road, gardens in front of the houses and orchards behind them.

But the construction of circles of buildings outside the town completely destroyed this beauty, and the original town seemed like an isolated island surrounded by a jungle of buildings.

"I want to ride a horse from now on. I never want to take a car again." After getting off the motorcycle, Torres leaned against the door and stroked his chest hard.

"My friend, you should learn to adapt. It's hard for a horse to keep running at this speed for so long." Crown patted him on the back. "You will have many opportunities to ride in a car in the future. Next time, you can try to put a thick leather cushion on the seat to reduce the bumps."

After the roar of the motorcycle stopped, a police officer wearing a black helmet walked out of the patrol team.

He had a gray and white "W"-shaped beard, pursed his lips, and had a serious face, looking resolute and upright.

He held a wooden baton in his hand, and Crown noticed that it was covered in black and red bloodstains.

"Who are you?"

Nick stepped forward and took out his ID: "We are investigators from the Security Bureau. We are taking over the supernatural cases you submitted. Who is in charge here?"

"Captain Nick Misong," the police officer read out the name on his ID and immediately stood up and saluted. "It's an honor to meet you. I'm Patrol Sergeant Elijah Pierce. Please come in. I'll arrange food for you right away."

"Guys," the priest turned around and nodded quickly to everyone, and several team members picked up their equipment and entered the patrol team.

Everyone quickly finished their lunch and sat in Elia's office.

The sheriff took off his helmet, revealing his graying hair, and his originally resolute expression immediately turned into fatigue and relief.

"Everyone, you are finally here. There are some things that are not stated in the file, but I feel that these things are inextricably linked to this case. Let me report to you all."

"No matter how reluctant the townspeople were, the authorities expropriated nearby land and established many settlements outside the town. With so many people pouring into Yorktown all of a sudden, the tavern business in the town immediately became hot."

"When we first started, there would be occasional drunks sleeping on the streets who would disappear. These bastards would ignore the curfew and hang out in the middle of the night. Everyone knew something would happen at some point, and it didn't attract much attention."

"About half a month ago, someone told me that a group of strangers broke into an abandoned house west of the town."

"The person who told me about this later disappeared, and some strangers reported to the police that their companions were missing and that they could not afford the rent of the house and wanted to live in the abandoned house."

"Since then, people have continued to disappear in this town, both locals and outsiders. What happened afterwards is all recorded in the files."

"At present, rumors of ghosts have spread in the town. There were originally four extraordinary people in the town patrol team, but now there is only me left."

Elijah took a deep breath and drew the holy emblem of the Lord of Fire on his chest: "If you don't come, I may not be able to hold on."

Nick frowned slightly: "Have you explored that abandoned house? What's going on inside?"

"I briefly explored it, but didn't find anything suspicious. People kept disappearing in the town, so I never went there again."

Clown asked, "I saw the dome and spire of the church in the town. With so many missing cases, it's impossible for the priest inside to just ignore it, right?!"

"Father Peter has worked in the church for decades. He has been working in the chapel since I was a child. Although he is a transcendent, he is too old and has no ability to take care of these things."

Elijah paused and asked, "Everyone, where are you going to start your investigation, and how can I cooperate with you?"

Nick thought for a moment and said, "I plan to visit the priest here first, and then go to the house where the crime occurred recently. You just need to arrange a guide for us who is familiar with the town."

"No problem, just ask for anything you want, and I'll do my best to satisfy you."

The old sheriff agreed readily. He opened the door and shouted outside, "James, come to my office."

A brown-haired man with a mustache trotted over in response.

Elijah pointed at the mustache and said, "This is James Anderson, my nephew. He grew up in this town. He is very smart and must be an excellent guide."

"It's an honor to serve you," James took off his police helmet and bowed.

"Lead the way, let's go to the church here first," Nick said, standing up.

"Please follow me. The church is only ten minutes' walk from here. Why don't we walk there?"

. . . .

The exterior walls of the church are covered with ivy and creepers.

The red paint on the gate was peeling off in pieces, revealing the mottled wood grain.

Father Peter stood at the door of the chapel wearing a black robe with the church's holy emblem embroidered with red silk thread on the chest of the robe.

His white eyebrows drooped over the corners of his eyes, and his body was so thin that one could not help but worry that a gust of wind would blow him down.

His forehead and face were covered with wrinkles, and his eyes were cloudy and lifeless.

As soon as they met, Nick showed disappointment on his face.

The priest was indeed too old, and he had difficulty even standing up straight.

"Father Peter, are you aware of what has happened in this town recently?"

"ah?"

"My Lords, the priest is hard of hearing and needs to speak louder," James explained and shouted back the question he had just asked.

“I know a little.”

After an unpleasant communication, no one got any useful information, so Nick took his team away.

Led by James, several people arrived at the next destination.

"Everyone, this is it," the mustached patrolman said as he stood at the gate of the courtyard, "Four police officers went in last night and never came out again."

Crown took a quick look and saw a black lattice gate with a red cordon. Outside the gate, there was lush green grass and leafy trees.

There are piles of yellow leaves inside the gate, creating a scene of late autumn. The eaves inside are covered with spider webs, giving people a feeling of desolation.

He looked up and noticed that the curtains on the second floor were swaying slightly, as if blown by the wind, but the windows were clearly closed.

"Did anyone go in after the police officer disappeared this afternoon?" Nick asked.

"No, Uncle Sheriff Elijah ordered this place to be blocked."

"Then let's go in and take a look," said the priest.

To these extraordinary people, what's in there are nothing but monsters or evil spirits. After seeing them so many times, they are not so scary anymore.

The only problem now is that we cannot be sure what level of evil creature the perpetrator is.

He estimated that the possibility of a second-level evil creature was greater. If there was a third-level evil creature, the town would probably have become a deserted area.

"Come closer," Clown took out talisman paper and cast Moon Spirit Shield and Golden Armor on his teammates and himself.

"Captain, I want to apply for reimbursement for these talismans. I worked so hard to make them."

Nick bared his teeth: "You can take more spoils next time."

"Okay, let's go back tonight and figure out what 'more' means."

Several people pushed open the door and stepped into the courtyard.

Crown turned around and said, "Why don't you come in?"

James said dryly: "Officers, I am just an ordinary person. Such a terrible thing happened in this house."

"It may not be safe outside. Are you sure you don't want to come in?"

The man with a mustache shook his head hurriedly.

I'm almost recovered from my cold, I think I can update twice a day tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)