Tang Qi Tan

When Jiang Tian returned to the city of Toulouse again, he also held a grand city entry/military parade; the captured flags of the Knights of the Holy Kingdom, the family emblems and coats of arms of the rebel nobles, and the heads of behemoths that had been chopped off Show it together with other corpses of different kinds.

A full [-] soldiers lined up under the city, wearing brand-new armor and overalls, holding high weapons and flags, and shouting slogans when passing through the city gate;The envoys/representatives of all parties present couldn't help but turn pale with awe.

Therefore, the next grand pilgrimage celebration and preaching sacrament will naturally become a great opportunity for the Free Army to further promote the illustrious martial arts and emphasize the legitimacy and righteousness of the ruling power.The celebration also lasted three days with drinks and food on the streets.

In the midst of all this hustle and bustle.Father Racha also presented the newly compiled first version of the doctrine of liberation theology, as well as the corresponding organizational program of the military order.Because the members of the religious order imitate the military discipline and formulate strict internal rules, it is also called "pious company".

The members are also divided by analogy with military ranks. In addition to strictly adhering to the traditional oaths such as "absolute wealth", "excellent beauty", "absolute will" and "three wishes"; Find and fight against the existence of aliens, etc...

For another example, in order to penetrate into all levels of society, cancel the special congregation uniform, do not live in monasteries and churches, etc.; but in public places, through preaching, open schools, hospitals, hold public office and be hired as private teachers/confessional priests , and other ways to carry out various activities

On the other side, the old hunter Ajax, who had previously arrived in Toulouse with the special service company, reported on the investigation and hunt for the possible aliens in the territory.Through the information provided by the local clean believers one after another, several clues to the existence of aliens have been found in the local area.

One of the most harmful ones is a giant man-eating tree hidden in a natural rock cave and supported by the flesh and blood of believers in nearby villages; A congealed crystalline residue was harvested.

In addition, there are bone aggregate monsters that look scary, but can be knocked apart with a stick; demon grass that shoots juice fragments to hurt people; giant spiders that hide in the forest to hunt small livestock and wild animals; disguised as dead trees , and the tree spirit that entangles and strangles close creatures...

It can be said that the wilderness and remote areas outside most human activity areas are also not so peaceful.In addition to the usual beasts, these aliens have quietly existed for a long or short time; they even formed a deformed coexistence state with the nearby villages respectively.

Moreover, the scope of activity of these heterogeneous species mainly exists in those noble territories; there are even some people who specially conduct sacrifices on a regular basis.It can be seen from this that, in addition to entrusting the taxpayers to collect taxes, they have neglected the management of the territories under their own rule and how unbearable they are.

On the other hand, Ajax also found two clues. The first one is: In the city of Toulouse, there is the largest underground black market in the south, which is famous for obtaining objects from various sources; however, the behind-the-scenes host of the black market Man, who happened to be a certain rebellious urban nobleman.

Therefore, after the interrogation of his family and cronies, he found an underground channel and many secret hiding places.An underground pharmacy workshop was seized, as well as a large number of prohibited drugs and formulas, as well as a large number of materials of unknown use.

The second clue is that it is the junction of the upper and lower crown territories, a water and land hub, and a commercial center; the city of Toulouse was also the former Royal Confidential Bureau/Kingdom Investigation Bureau, which was stationed in several southern provinces as the headquarters of the agency; And suppress the possible changes of the surrounding nobles.

Under the guidance of this clue, Jiang Tian also came to the vicinity of Toulouse in person; it is located between the big crown collars of the upper and lower Jialong, at the confluence of the Lateral Le Jialong Canal and the South Canal.There is a Tolosa Castle, which is called "Rose Palace" by the locals.

Its predecessor was the transshipment hub and large fortress established by the ancient Romans in the province of Gaul in the mountains - Volcaetectosages.Later, in the Albigay Crusade of the Lily Dynasty to the south, it was destroyed along with the members of the Languedoc family who stood firm to the end.

Therefore, in order to erase the traces of the past ruling family as much as possible.King Oz of the Lily Dynasty invested huge sums of money and ordered all the nobles of the local kingdom who were enfeoffed to donate money and building materials according to their titles in the name of jihad tax; a royal palace was rebuilt on the old site and ruins.

Because a large number of ochre-red stones mined from the mountains in the upper reaches of the Garonne River are used as the exterior decoration of most buildings in the palace.Also because under the baptism of years of wind and rain, most buildings basically do not fade or change color; on the contrary, they appear more colorful in the rainy season, so it is called the Rose Palace.

It was only between the abdication of the royal family in the May storm and the destruction of the royal family in the blood moon; this old palace has been ransacked several times.Later, it was reduced to a battlefield between the local liberals and royalists, so the damage was particularly serious and it was basically abandoned.

According to the local people's rumors, this is a forbidden place where haunted incidents appear from time to time.For example, when someone was fishing on the Garonne River at night, he saw ghosts wandering in the ruins and ghosts of knights walking between the walls;

Of course, for the Freedom Army who had already basically controlled the Toulouse area, this haunted rumor was not enough.No matter how awesome the dead souls and ghosts are, can they still stop the tens of thousands of troops in the city of Toulouse, digging three feet of the ground and sweeping holes.

In fact, today's special service companies that specialize in handling and investigating abnormal things are getting stronger and more resourceful.Because the population and resource output of the territory controlled by the Free Army continued to grow, the old hunter Ajax was also able to find more people of the same kind who were active in the south.

Although, the hunter's organization passed down from ancient times has existed in name only and disappeared; there are only two or three kittens left under the names of several factions, doing their own thing.But compared to the more than ten provinces in the south, he still contacted some other hunters through various methods.

After some friendly exchanges (threats and lures)/acquaintances (verification of strength), he voluntarily joined the Freedom Army and became a special member of the special service company.Among them are the bear faction known for strength and body training; the scorpion faction who is good at medicine and props, and the cat faction who is proficient in human body structure...

More importantly, the vast majority of people cannot refuse the conditions offered by the Freedom Army: such as the public identity of legal activities, the priority of entering most places for investigation and search; the public selection of more apprentices and auxiliary personnel, can Write-off of event expenses and waiver of incidental damages.

And there are still a very small number of people who do not stick to their ideals so much, but they are completely moved by the price offered by the Free Army.Compared with the stable salary from the sergeant major to the lieutenant rank, the service allowance and specific task rewards paid on a case-by-case basis; more importantly, compensation is provided for injuries due to duty, and you can continue to serve as an instructor.

Although, with three generations of teachers and students plus trainee apprentices, there are only a dozen or so people; but with the support of the free army's sufficient financial resources and resources, the basic situation has been greatly improved; even several sealed secret strongholds have been opened, and they plan to Recover more lost heritage.

Therefore, when we went to the ruins of the Rose Palace this time, in addition to a guard company armed to the teeth with the best equipment and equipment, we also sent six combat teams from the special service company that were taking turns performing tasks. Ajax personally led the team to conduct an in-depth search.

Therefore, when Jiang Tian arrived at the ruins of the palace, which occupies a vast area and still has a large city wall; the scene has already been preliminarily cleaned up.I saw a huge wild boar with strong fangs, and a dozen other similar ones of different sizes and riddled with holes, piled together with blood glistening.

In addition, there are several huge night crows and vultures, seven or eight wild dogs with colorful fur, a hedgehog the size of a basin, two pig badgers and a fox; a brown striped red deer, a half-car rabbit... ...Well, Jiang Tian felt that his saliva was about to flow out after watching it.

Among the overgrown ruins, several passages and a large open space for temporary camping have been cleared; only the patterns on the ruined walls, broken bricks and tiles, surrounded by withered vines, are as beautiful as ever under the melting morning dew and frost. It can be seen that the splendor and splendor of the past can be seen.

And the bones found one after another in the ruins are being carefully spread on the tarpaulin, and they are carried out as much as possible to maintain their original state.It's just that although there are many bite marks on these human bones; but after careful inspection, it will be found that the fatal part has been pierced or cut by a sharp blade.

There are even crushing blows caused by powerful forces.This is interesting, who will be in this ruins, specifically targeted attacks, these from the remaining clothes, these seem to be the existence of foreign intruders; is it secretly guarding and guarding something?
However, after the initial search by the several teams that entered first, nothing special or abnormal was found.Therefore, Jiang Tian then ordered that, in addition to continuing to block and surround the vast ruins, he would mobilize more auxiliary companies to clean up the site.

So when it was past three o'clock in the afternoon, Jiang Tian also enjoyed butter fried minced meatballs, honey cheese crisp, nut pie with raspberry and green plum sauce, and afternoon tea with bitter coffee; part of it has been cleaned up At the site of the palace ruins, something new was finally discovered.

As Jiang Tian walked through a large area of ​​weeds and vines that had been removed, redundant tree branches were cut off, and after years of accumulation of bricks and tiles were dug away, it appeared to be an empty and broken building complex; The cracked large cistern and the large sculpture group in the pool.

Most of these incomplete sculptures of hands, feet and heads are not made of ordinary white and plastic marble, but a solid piece of light red bedrock, carved layer by layer from top to bottom; it seems to be describing a certain An unknown ancient epic story:

Standing on the bow of a large pointed ship, men and women wearing classical robes and muscular breastplates are wielding tridents, winged spears, and shooting various weapons such as laurel bows, fighting and fighting with raging sea beasts.It looks so precise and the drapes are lifelike.

However, compared to the dust and mottled peeling that have accumulated in the pool for many years, the sculpture that was originally covered under the overgrown branches by the pool seems to be too clean in some parts.