Over the course of more than 2,000 years of continuous growth and development, the Twilight City has become a strange and deformed behemoth.

Its predecessor was originally a few city-states in the heart of the continent of Midgard - in those days, a city-state was quite limited in size, and even if several city-states and their respective territories were connected together, they were only the size of a giant city on Earth today, and a twilight barrier was enough to envelop it all. After the barrier was raised, the survivors of the land could only build their homes under this canopy, and the land area was limited, so they could only make their cities develop towards the sky.

They first connected several city-states, exploited every inch of wasteland between them as much as possible, and after filling the earth, they built the cities up layer by layer, with the help of some kind of technology that had long been lost on the earth, probably a legacy of Warner.

Resources gleaned from the dark wilderness have been transformed into steel and adhesive that have filled every inch of space beneath the twilight barrier over the course of two thousand years, culminating in the city's peculiar cone-shaped structure. By today, the city's upper part of the city has almost access to the yellowish glow of the energy shield, and standing on the highest platform in the upper city, you will feel like the twilight barrier is within reach—in fact, if you have enough strength to throw a pebble into the sky, you can see ripples on the barrier.

The city has no room for further development.

And deep in this misshapen stacked lair, an ancient system of steam turbines and pressure piping still runs slowly, like the aging internal organs of an ultimate behemoth. Every turn of something that is hundreds or even nearly a thousand years old makes this twilight city groan in pain. Recite. Sometimes even the entire Uptown trembles, but the residents of the city are accustomed to this ominous sign.

The steam locomotive comes to a slow stop at the station in Uptown. After leaving the carriage, Hao Ren immediately felt much better: the steam locomotive used to transport workers and ore was definitely not comfortable, in fact, in order to operate in the dark wilderness, the steel monster was more concerned about sturdiness and safety than humanization, and the completely sealed carriage was not only stuffy, but also filled with the pungent smell of engine oil, and it was a kind of torment to stay for a long time.

Although the air quality outside the carriage is just like that.

They were located near the highest point of the city, but Hao Ren didn't feel the slightest bit of relief when he stood here, and the low twilight barrier above only made people feel more oppressive. He looked at Wendell beside him, "Where are we going next?" ”

"The Lightseeker's headquarters are in Downtown. Near the Iron Throne's Temple, we're going down the Great Shaft, but the Great Shaft is controlled by the Steam Council," Wendell patiently explained, "The Shaft Lift runs every hour and can be used by ordinary citizens, but you're a nuisance: you're not legally identified. So the most likely scenario is that we first have to accept the ...... of the Steam Council"

Lily interrupted the old man by suddenly speaking, "Are you talking about the Steam Council?" ”

A group of uniformed personnel boarded the platform, looking radiant, proud, and confident. The black-and-blue tight-fitting uniforms were trimmed with silver trim, and the chest was marked with a combination of gears and valves, all of whom carried a metal club in their hands except for the leader. The stick was supposed to be used for law enforcement, but it looked like some kind of elongated and deformed machine control lever.

The group climbed onto the platform and walked straight to this side, and Wendell's face suddenly darkened when he saw them.

"It's them. The sheriffs of the Steam Council," the old man's voice was somewhat muffled. "And it's the last thing I want to see......"

Hao Ren gave the old man a strange look, thinking that the antagonism between the Steam Council and the Light Seekers was more serious than he thought.

By this time the "sheriffs" had come to the public. Standing at the front of the line was a middle-aged man with short black hair and a serious face, who ignored Hao Ren and his party, and just nodded to Wendell, with a certain deliberate indifference and detachment in his voice: "Mr. Wendell, I'm 'glad' to see you return safely from the darkness." ”

Wendell grimaced bitterly: "yes, whether you're happy or not, I'm back." ”

"I haven't seen any other lightseekers, so can I assume that the outcome of this light-seeking trip is still the same," the serious middle-aged man's eyes pierced, "You're the only one who came back alive - the last light-seeking operation was a complete failure without accident." ”

Wendell's attitude changed suddenly when he heard this, he straightened his neck, and the words were sonorous: "No! This time it's different! I found them! ”

The middle-aged man seemed to be a little surprised by Wendell's sudden tough attitude, and he glanced at Hao Ren curiously: "These people? ”

He receives news that Wendell has returned to Twilight and taken a locomotive to Uptown, but the news is from the Mine Dispatch Bureau in the Outer Rim, and the brief report does not mention the "outsiders".

"They're from outside the Twilight City!" Wendell exclaimed, his eyes finally shining again, the same brilliance that would come when the work he had pursued all his life had finally come to fruition, "They are from Asgard - look at them, healthy and strong, the whole of Asgard is unpolluted, there is no need for a twilight barrier there, the whole kingdom is healthy!" ”

The sheriffs of the Steam Council looked at each other suddenly, and some slight commotion spread among these people, and the middle-aged man led by him was also stunned for a moment, but his eyes quickly cooled.

"Nonsense!"

He glared at Wendell and said.

"You ......" Wendell suddenly froze, but before he could say anything, the middle-aged man in front of him waved his hand vigorously: "I don't know where you found these people, but creating this kind of scam is shaking the foundation of the entire Twilight Capital!" You're finally completely insane - take them away! ”

The sheriffs hesitated slightly, and the middle-aged man immediately glared: "What are you still doing in a daze?" ”

At this time, a hand suddenly put on his shoulder, and Hao Ren looked at the superior magistrate with a smile: "I said this brother, but any normal person should know that there is no right to speak without investigation, is it your mood that you judge the truth of other people's words?" ”

The middle-aged man had no idea why Hao Ren suddenly leaned over silently from a few meters away and put his hand on his shoulder, he was startled, and when he raised his eyes, he found that the strangers who claimed to be from Asgard were already standing beside him at this moment, forming a siege, while his sheriff's subordinates were still standing in place in a daze, their expressions stiffened as if they were frozen.

The shadows under each of them were stretched very long, and the elongated and distorted shadows all pointed in the direction of the little demon Elizabeth, and in Elizabeth's innocent eyes, two thin green flames flashed away.

"What are you going to do......

"We've heard that the Steam Council is the administrator of the Twilight Capital," Hao Ren crossed his arms, "you manage the city, maintain the city, and keep the city growing smoothly for two thousand years under such difficult circumstances—to be honest, I admired you a little at first, but you...... It's a bit of a smashing signboard. ”

"Spellcaster?" The middle-aged man had a gloomy face, but he still didn't panic much in this situation of being controlled by others, he just glared at Wendell, "This is the helper you found to help with acting?" You're not afraid to recruit the Wizard Guard? ”

"I have no intention of reversing your misunderstandings and prejudices about me," Wendell smiled helplessly, "but you shouldn't let this prejudice completely blind your mind, don't you want to believe in the ...... outside the barrier at all?"

"There's only darkness outside the barrier! It's as black as your heart! The middle-aged man craned his neck and glared at the old man, "I knew this when you abandoned your wife and children for the first time!" ”

Hao Ren was still thinking about how to give some humanistic care to this seemingly in-depth parliamentary official, but he was stunned at this time: This sounds...... It turns out that there is still an inside story?

Not only Hao Ren, but also Vivian Lily next to her, and a large group of people in Yizax were also in an instant, and a large group of idle and gossip guys instantly turned their heads in unison, and their eyes were shining with golden light......

If Vivian Lily and May were easy to understand, after all, they were watching family dramas on TV when they were idle, and they would naturally become enthusiastic when they heard about it, but Izax was not easy to explain: What about the demon king who dares to love and this hobby of asking the inside story of other people's divorces?

The expression on Wendell's face changed dramatically, and finally turned into a sigh: "This is my son, Hope." (To be continued.) )