The defeated saint is also on the way to tame the evil god today

She deliberately put on a slightly fanatical look to make the waiter believe that she was just an avid steam engine enthusiast.

The waiter was obviously convinced. He nodded and made a "please" gesture:

"This way, both of you. The Earl's Suite will be waiting for you after your tour."

The two followed the waiter through the marble hall, entered the staff passage on the side, and headed underground.

As you go down the stairs, the surrounding decoration loses its surface exquisiteness, replaced by gray-black bricks and tiles and kerosene lamps fixed to the wall. From time to time, the sound of steam can be heard.

About five minutes later, the two arrived at the steam boiler room located directly below the hot spring.

Bronze-colored pipes were spread throughout the entire space. The entire boiler room was about the same size as a hot spring bath. On the right side were rows of cylindrical steam alchemy machines, and on the left side were rows of whale oil tanks emitting a faint blue light, connected to the steam alchemy machines through complex pipes and devices.

In fact, the principle of the "Steam Alchemy Machine" is very simple: after processing the "String Affinity Whale Oil", it is mixed with a certain proportion of water, and then heated to turn it into light blue steam.

These steams will flood the string array on top of the "Steam Alchemy Machine", causing resonance on the designated strings, thereby prying out the power of the strings out of thin air.

In other words, it is whale oil mixed with water, creating production capacity out of thin air.

As for the source of "String-Friendly Whale Oil", it is the "Storm Narwhal" that lives in the Interstellar Sea. It is a mythical creature that can use its own whale song to pry the power of the string, thereby generating storms and ocean currents in the ocean.

The storms that occasionally approached the Academy City were usually caused by those whales. Their fate was usually to be locked up in the whale oil factory in the North City Port District and turned into machines for extracting whale oil.

"Please don't touch any machines to avoid causing unnecessary trouble." The waiter said to Xingmo and Aurora who were looking around.

"Okay." Xing Mo nodded.

So she started walking around the boiler room, looking around.

Apparently, these alchemical steam engines are triggered by the power of the "fire strings", which then channel pure heat into the hot springs through pipes to maintain the temperature.

Walking among the bronze pipes, Xingmo opened his spiritual vision, trying to find clues about the "Tree of Life".

But she looked for a long time and there was no clue about these steam engines.

"Strange..." Xingmo murmured.

They absorbed all the negative emotions of the people into the "Tree of Life" magic circle, and then disappeared?

Impossible... Those powers must be going somewhere... and it's nearby.

As Xing Mo was thinking this, he found himself at the end of the boiler room - in front of him was another locked iron door.

"That's the maintenance passage, it's rather dirty, please stop," said the waiter.

"Can I go in and take a look?" Xing Mo tilted her head.

"In order to make your experience as comfortable as possible, please stop."

The waiter had a smile on his face, but his tone was extremely serious.

They're allowed into the boiler room, but not the maintenance passage. There's something wrong no matter how you think about it...

I have to find a way to fool him.

When Xing Mo was thinking about what words to use, the waiter suddenly said:

"Dear lady, please follow me and let me show you around."

His attitude suddenly changed and the smile on his face became more kind.

Xing Mo was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Aurora who was humming a song:

"What did you do?"

"Don't waste time," Aurora clapped her hands. "Servant brother, open the door."

At Aurora's command, the waiter opened the door obediently and made a "please" gesture.

Only then did Xing Mo discover that there was a faint green light flashing in his eyes.

It's the ability to pull people into dreams... It's the same ability he used to deal with me at the beginning...

Xing Mo sighed helplessly, and then followed the waiter into the so-called maintenance passage.

After the three of them walked down a few stairs in the dark, a huge space suddenly opened up.

What appeared before my eyes was a huge cave with dense stalactites hanging from the top, like the mouth of a giant dragon.

Black drops of water gathered at the tips of the stalactites, and fell one by one onto the floor of the cave.

Then, Xing Mo saw the huge magic circle in the center of the cave——

—The black "Tree of Life".

The string array is carved on the floor of the grotto. When black water droplets fall into it, they flow along its contours. Millions of water droplets do not stick to each other, but flow independently, outlining a scene that looks like the flowing starry sky.

At this moment, a man in a loose black robe was standing in the center of the magic circle.

He waved his wand, causing the black water droplets to gather in the center of the magic circle and then form a turbid gas.

Those gases are the "curse".

So that's how it is... They absorbed the negative energy generated by the hard work of the people in the South City District, and used the string magic array to transform it into a "curse".

Then, they spread these "curses" to the people in the southern part of the city.

Why on earth are they doing this...?

Seeing that the man in the center of the magic circle didn't notice him, Xingmo raised his wand and approached cautiously.

When the man entered the range, Xingmo shouted:

"Sir, hold still and put your hands up!"

The man was stunned. He raised his head, and his face under the hood was covered in darkness, with only two green lights flashing in his eyes.

Next, before Xingmo could do anything, his body turned into broken shadows and dissipated.

"It's a projection. It's the user of Shadow String." Xing Mo sighed.

"Careful little ant," Aurora said.

Xing Mo didn't waste any time. She immediately took out the paper and pen she had prepared and quickly copied the shape of the string formation.

This done, she searched the room, trying to find more clues.

Soon she found a table in the corner of the grotto, on which lay a quill and ink, and a few scattered pieces of parchment.

Xingmo spread out the parchment and lit the candle beside it with her wand.

However, when her eyes fell on the parchment, a chill ran down her spine:

"The Steam Man's prey."

"Fry Sunlight..."

"Estin Alone..."

"Arcadia Sebarn..."

"..."

The list is a long one, starting with Bishop Fry Sunlight.

All of these names belong to high-ranking figures in the Citadel, from members of the White Tower Council to bishops of various cathedrals.

Looking down the list, when Xingmo's eyes fell on the last name, her heartbeat slowed down:

"Lucius Phillips..."

......

5) Gold (Part 12)

Baita District.

Councillor Aistin Alone was sitting on the terrace of his home, leisurely sipping tea.

Golden stars dotted the sky, dimming the pale blue moon's brilliance. Tonight's color was more of a pale gold.

After taking a sip of tea, he stretched his shoulders and exhaled slowly.

There have been too many things to do recently, from the evil general of "Motiheim" to the increasing number of cases involving "Steam Man", and this congressman who is over fifty years old is a little tired of dealing with them.

The funeral of "Bell Keeper" Xing Mo will be held at the "Holy Spirit Church" this weekend. Alas, there are so many troubles.

"I still prefer gold and tea." Councillor Ai Siding said leisurely.

At this time, the night became a little hazy, and there seemed to be a faint mist floating.

Ai Siding didn't notice anything unusual at first. He stood up after dozens of seconds.

But it was too late. A tall shadow emerged from the darkness, and the sound of steam was accompanied by sparks.

Ai Siding had no time to think about how this monster entered his mansion. He didn't even have time to reach for the wand at his waist before the roar tore through the tranquility of the night -

"boom--"

The shotgun pellets tore through his flesh and blood, and Ai Siding's lower body fell to the ground, while his upper body flew out of the terrace like a flower and dissipated in the mist.

......

"?Go on, ancient queen..."

"?Following those souls that have paled in your shadow..."

"The desire to dominate creates an unfit lover..."

"?You'd better sell the kingdom you rule..."

Melodious music echoed in the ballroom, and golden lights shone on the red carpet and tables of guests.

In the center of the dance floor, Bishop Arcadia Sebarn was hugging a slender lady and dancing to the rhythm.

"Oh, your Excellency, you are so graceful after leaving the church..." The lady giggled in the arms of the Archadian Bishop.

"Serving the gods is a career, but we are all mortals gazing at the stars," Bishop Arcadia blinked. "Only ordinariness can foster elegance. Elegance belongs to gentlemen, isn't it?"

"You are really good at talking, haha..."

As the rhythm reached its climax, people on the dance floor danced more and more passionately, and everyone was immersed in the atmosphere of the party.

Accompanied by dense drumbeats, violent explosions suddenly sounded—

"boom--"

A huge hole was torn in the wall of the banquet hall, and fragments flew everywhere accompanied by billowing smoke and dust. For a moment, the crowd was filled with screams and roars.

The Archbishop of Arcadia reacted immediately. He pushed the Queen in his arms aside, drew out his wand, and played the strings.

"Gululu..."

The blue tide wrapped around his body and surged out like a dragon.

At this time, a tall figure walked out of the smoke and dust, and the bronze tubes wrapped around his body were spewing out streams of steam, and sparks were splashing in the surrounding space.

"'Steam Man'..." the Archadian Bishop muttered, "the ghost of the 'Steam Revolution'..."

He swung his wand without hesitation, and the water droplets condensed into spikes and whizzed towards the "Steam Man", leaving marks on its armor.

But the "Steam Man" was not afraid at all. It just slowly approached the Bishop of Arcadia, and high-temperature steam continued to spew out from the pipes on its body.

The air around them grew hotter and hotter, the comfortable night suddenly turned into a scorching summer, and the guests fell to the ground in pain, with black gas coming out of their throats.

Seeing the situation was not good, Bishop Arcadia was about to retreat, but before he could do so, a raging fire suddenly erupted from his body:

"Ahem...what..."

Arcadia looked down and saw that black air was emanating from her body—it was the "curse" that had entangled her at some unknown time.

Footsteps were heard, and Arcadia looked up, then a hand covered in bronze armor grabbed her throat and lifted her up.

"Ah...ah..."

Arcadia struggled to break free, but the bronze arm was so strong that it pinched his pupils upwards.

"Who...are you...?" the Bishop of Arcadia roared.

The next second, brilliant golden light suddenly emerged from his seven orifices.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

Golden light gushed out, and the bishop's figure exploded—

"boom!"