old dream

Chapter 163
All the windows were covered, Linus and Elena were patiently waiting for the result in the dark room.

In the ceremony space that shielded most of the noise, a simple sand table was built on the map of Stade.Various elements of real events are replaced by symbols, and after a few days, they are being repeated in this sand table.

But the space is not full of reference symbols, and there are soil on the tires of the wine truck, whiskey liquid, and other samples from the scene, making this ceremony further focused on a single contraband smuggling incident.

The mirror images in the prototype world are nested with each other, and there is a one-to-one correspondence from general concepts to specific events.But in general, the more general the image is, the more stable it is, and the more specific the image is, the more volatile it is.

In the case of consuming the same amount of fuel, the more precise and specific the mirror image of the ritual focus, the more concentrated the power, and the stronger the distortion that the resonance can leverage.

As a wizard who has stepped into Chi Erxing, Linus himself can become a source of fuel to support the ceremony.Although he didn't plan to invest too much energy in the path of witchcraft, but because he was extremely talented, he succeeded in connecting his consciousness with the sun path before he was 20 years old.

The "star pathway" exists at the level of the virtual world, and is considered to be the driving force for the rotation of the stars, and the eight star pathways are interconnected.However, in the early stages of the road of celestial bodies and stars, travelers can often only borrow the power of one of the paths.

Even if the intention is to land on other stars during the ascension, it can only use its etheric level to broaden the path of the original spiritual connection.

And the Sun Pathway is the existence that star magic practitioners dream of: a strong source of power almost all year round.In addition, Linus' intention is strong enough to go to the three ether channels of Ziyue, Chixing, and Chierxing, which is enough to overcome the disadvantages of star magic in terms of time.

This means-he does not have a particularly weak time period.

Linus carefully fueled the ritual, the difficulty lies not in the amount of consumption, but in the control of precision.Care must be taken to suppress one's intentions in order not to interfere with the forecast.

A circle of whiskey poured on the edge of the map is slowly seeping into the paper.In the mirror resonance, the wetness suddenly began to spread unnaturally, and the direction of the event in the ritual space was distorted. In the form of symbols, the process of a batch of bootleg wine entering the Stade was replayed.

"Sixth round, test 37."

"There is no disturbance detection triggered, and the credibility assignment..."

Elena recorded the results of each experiment in detail, the starting and ending coordinates of the unnatural turning point of the wet trace.Eventually, these results will be reorganized together with different weights.

Two hours later, they got the results of the sixth round of predictions.

"It was imported from the sea seven kilometers away again, and the path was different each time."

Elena said confusedly:
"Did you buy it from those cargo ships stranded abroad, and then ship it in, but..."

But how in the world did it bypass the Coast Guard and unload the cargo outside the pier?

Linus repeatedly compared the recorded results of several predictions, flipping through them over and over again.

There are also many whiskeys that have just been opened as samples on the table.He looked at the materials with his eyes, took one of the bottles casually, put it under his nose and sniffed it, and then took a sip.

"……teacher?"

Elena reminded in a low voice.

Linus was stunned for a moment before he realized what he had done.

"Unknowingly it becomes a habit."

He shrugged and put the bottle back on the table:
"It was just a sample, but it turned out that this thing is really suitable for me."

Entering a slightly drunk state can indeed forget all troubles, but the thinking is clearer and it is easier to be inspired.

"Ocean current." Linus took another sip and said:

"These directions are the directions of ocean currents."

"Ocean currents...?" Elena frowned, not wanting to understand the operability of it.

A distance of seven kilometers, did those wines float ashore by themselves?

But Linus looked at the bottle on the table, but turned to another topic:
"20 days ago, when I first arrived in this city."

"I saw in the hospital ... every day hundreds of people were brought in with methanol poisoning, and they either died or were maimed. So I thought at that time, alcohol may not be evil, but bootlegging must be evil."

He shook his head and said:
"But now, this kind of patients is almost extinct."

Because the moonshine on the market is even cleaner than most homemade wines.

"Also, there would be twenty or thirty homicides every day, all related to bootlegging, plus those whose bodies could not be found. Who knows how many people will die in a day?"

"This situation peaked ten days ago, when 47 people were shot in one day, and then leveled off. Now, there have been no bodies of bootleggers for three days."

Linus took another glass and poured another, but didn't drink it right away.

"It's clear that some kind of process is coming to an end ... things seem to be getting better, regardless of the ban."

"...I didn't expect them to go so smoothly."

He picked up the cup, which contained original goods from overseas, and raised his head to take a sip.

Linus' original prediction was that the bootleg war would go on endlessly, with blood flowing like rivers, and in the chaotic underground market, a large amount of poisoned alcohol would continue to circulate, poisoning the people.

Because he believes that with the degree of organization of these gangs, it is impossible to completely control a series of links such as supply, transportation, and distribution.And let them cooperate loosely, sooner or later there will be a big fight over the distribution problem.

At the same time, these people obtained funds for continuous fires through bootlegging, and a bloody riot that lasted for several years was almost inevitable.

That's exactly how the situation developed in the beginning.

Until, the emergence of the Stade Institute.

The man known as the lieutenant seemed to have an insatiable appetite.He swallowed all the elements of the bootleggery trade, but in so doing created a remarkably stable order.

To put it bluntly, except for the soaring price of alcohol, the old city of Stade is almost the same as it was before the Prohibition.

"But what will happen if I defeat this lieutenant now?" Linus asked in a low voice.

Everything will return to the way it was 20 days ago, and order will collapse.A certain process would have to be repeated, and poisoned wine would be popular again, and countless people would die.

Even, no one may be able to establish order again.

"But, you said there might be..." behind him, Elena reminded in a low voice.

The presence of Archduke Edmund.

Aren't we looking for evidence of his crime?

"Between me and the Grand Duke." Linus said:
"It's just a personal enmity."

"The persecution of the prophecy in 601 of the new calendar. Archduke Edmund is the most merciless person to the religious groups. More than [-] people in the holy province of Danalo were permanently expelled. My family was exiled because of this. And My sister was martyred in this martyrdom for resisting."

"In order to destroy the image of her martyr, the Grand Duke spread countless rumors slandering her, and burned her execution platform, the clothes she wore, and anything related to her, so as not to be enshrined as sacred objects in the future .Even her ashes were ground into fine dust and thrown into the dirty Sable."

"Those vicious rumors against the young girl were believed to be true, and they were not clarified until ten years ago. And my current status in the church is in exchange for her sacrifice."

"I came to Stade for Prohibition, I came to Stade for Prohibition? No, I just don't want to admit it's a revenge."

"Because my sister... Leiya, she must not want me to avenge her. She always told me that it is a great sin to harbor hatred."

"So I have to think that what I'm doing is an act of justice. You know, doing the right thing, that's my life's creed."

Now, hatred and principle collide.

"I only understand now. I have been just using words of justice to cover up my desire for revenge."

Linus said bitterly:

"Look what I've done."

(End of this chapter)