Chapter 1502 Morning Star
Maggie's sudden reaction made the whole team stop abruptly, and the old mage Mordir had the fastest reaction among all of them—this was specifically reflected in the fact that before Miss Dragonborn could finish her last words, he had already given himself He put on three layers of shields, and in the next few seconds, he brushed several layers of protection for everyone in the team, and in the following period of time, he kept brushing the shields for the whole team.
Of course, while brushing the shield, he did not waste his observation of the surroundings and communication with Maggie. He first diffused his perception, confirmed that only his own team was in the entire forest area, and then released After two rounds of mental pulses, he frowned and looked at Miss Dragonborn next to him: "There is no one... What did you see just now?"
"No, there is someone, I'm sure," Maggie frowned, still staring at the shadow area among the trees—similar shadows can be seen everywhere in the entire forest, it is an abnormal dark gathering point, even in Under the sun, it also maintains a nearly solid outline, and the exploration team will pay attention to avoiding this kind of area along the way, "In the depths of that shadow, I am sure that I saw a... figure."
"A figure?" Mordir frowned and glanced over there, "The surrounding vegetation has no traces of being touched, no magic power or biological breath remains... What kind of figure do you see?"
Although he didn't see anything, Modil didn't take Maggie's words as lies because of this. His rich adventure experience told himself that when your teammates around you suddenly said with certainty that they saw something, you would Let’s assume it’s true—it’s one thing for teammates to misunderstand, but it’s another thing to ignore the danger due to paralysis, not to mention that they are walking in the most evil forest in the world at the moment... After the lady fell asleep, she left something in this forest.
"A figure in a cloak, whose whole body was covered by a black cloak and a hood," Maggie recalled briefly, "I couldn't see the outline of that person's body clearly, I just felt that the whole body of the person was as black as a shadow, even the hood There seems to be only a dark and shapeless shadow below. In addition, he is motionless there, every part of his body is still... This is very strange, because there was wind in the woods just now, no matter how stable a person stands , His clothes should also be blown by the wind, but that figure didn't even move the corners of his clothes..."
"It feels like a phantom projected in the air, but its body is not here," Modil made a guess without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, and then he frowned and analyzed, "Under the clothes are completely dark The 'Shadow', which sounds a bit like the shadow dwellers I know, but the shadow dwellers' bodies are bound by a shroud-like substance, which is a very obvious and standard feature... except for the cloak Do you see any other features?"
Maggie thought about it carefully, then slowly shook her head: "The cloak is all the characteristics of the other party, and there are no accessories or weapons other than that... Wait, there is something, I remembered, there is a silver-white emblem, look It looks like a brooch on the front of a cloak..."
Miss Dragonborn frowned when she said this, and continued: "But I didn't have time to see the shape of the emblem——the figure of the other party only appeared for a moment,
In fact, the opponent had already started to dissipate before I yelled..."
"For a moment...but you did see it, right?" Modil thought for a while, then suddenly reconfirmed. He looked into Maggie's eyes with a very serious tone, "Do you mind if I use some... Do you use small tricks to help you recall details in your short-term memory? Don't worry, I won't pry into your privacy, and in fact I can't pry into your privacy."
Maggie was stunned for a moment, and seemed to come to her senses: "You mean 'memory extraction'? But isn't this spell only for the caster to use on himself? It's used to assist in learning spells...can you use it on others?"
"The original version can only be used by yourself, but I have improved it," Modil said cheerfully, "Sometimes I will take risks with temporary teammates, after all, an extra pair of eyes is more comprehensive, but temporary teammates Not necessarily experienced adventurers, so I will use magic to enhance the abilities of temporary teammates in case of emergency..."
Maggie's expression suddenly became a little weird. She was very curious about how many weird adventures this great adventurer had in the past, so that he could accumulate so many unimaginable experiences and unconstrained solutions. She was even more curious about this great adventurer. The "temporary teammates" in the mouth must be a group of outlaws with thick nerves, so that they can have the courage to embark on those adventures with him that can be thrown at the end of any hero legend, but these problems are at this time. It doesn't matter anymore.
"Then please," she took a light breath, and quickly made a decision. She is willing to trust someone who Victoria deeply trusts. "Short-term memory is easy to dissipate. Let's hurry up."
Mordir nodded, and he was not polite. He directly raised his hand and outlined a piece of shining runes in the air, and then guided these runes to form a mysterious and complicated magic circle beside Maggie. , Then he said while guiding the magic circle to close: "Relax, you may feel slight dizziness and blurred vision, this is normal..."
Maggie nodded wordlessly, and the nearby Iron Ranger soldiers spontaneously set up sentries and guards around them. As Mordir's improved memory extraction technique was successfully activated, Maggie felt a moment of trance in her mind. ——At this moment, she felt that a small piece of memory in her mind seemed to have become an "image" stored in the magic network terminal, a fragment that could be edited and manipulated, and an external force precisely Control those flashing pictures.
The scene she saw a few minutes ago suddenly appeared in her mind, the scene that flashed like a phantom - the mysterious man in the black cloak, the thick shadows in the forest, the escaping darkness under the cloak , and that little silvery-white emblem or brooch on a black background like a silver star.
At the moment when the picture was clear and frozen, she suddenly felt that the surrounding environment was a little darker than before. In the next second, she was keenly aware of the changes in the atmosphere of the surrounding environment, as well as a sense of "blocking" that her perception was obscured. .
Maggie raised her head, and saw that she was standing alone in a forest glade that had been burned by the dragon's breath, and there was no one around—whether it was the great adventurer Mordir, or the Iron Ranger warriors who followed her , are now gone.
some kind of hallucination? False memories injected into the mind? Was teleported to the abnormal space?
Several possibilities flashed through Maggie's mind in an instant, and at the same time, she was fully vigilant at the first moment, but in the next second, she noticed that there was an extra figure in her line of sight——the one in the black cloak The mysterious person, the other party is standing quietly among the bushes not far away at this moment, and Maggie is 100% sure that the other party was not there a second ago.
"Who are you?" After concentrating for a moment, Maggie took the initiative to break the silence while clenching the long sword in her hand as a guard, "Is this your fault?"
After saying this, she thought that the other party would dissipate like a phantom just like before, but to her surprise, the mysterious figure who could not help but think of shadow power actually responded, ta Taking a step forward, she reached out and took off the hood that concealed her face at the same time—Maggie set her eyes on the other's chest while she made this move.
When she saw the silver-white brooch clearly, her eyes changed instantly.
It was a watchful eye, and a pair of crossed daggers, an emblem she knew well—the emblem of Imperial MI.
The hood of the mysterious man came down, and at the same time, a head of silver-white long hair and a disturbingly pale female face appeared in front of Maggie's eyes—this scene was very weird, just like the long hair As if the face didn't exist originally, but was condensed from the shapeless shadow at the moment when the hood fell, Maggie even suspected that this face was temporarily constructed for the purpose of communicating with others. Under the cloak, there may still be nothing but darkness.
This weird scene and the somewhat weird appearance of the other party made the dragon-born lady even more cautious. She stared at the silver-haired girl in front of her—all the other party's facial features were blurred by the pale face, and even her other features were blurred. The eyeballs were pale with the same color as the skin, which made Maggie feel like she was dealing with an unpainted "statue": "Repeat, who are you—the emblem on your body..."
The mysterious silver-haired pale girl of the "Senior Operator of the Shadow Affairs Section of the Military Intelligence Bureau" spoke. Her inhuman specialties were so obvious that the moment she spoke, Maggie felt a strange exclamation in her heart, "The other party is actually speaking human language". But compared to speaking, the content of the girl's words was obviously more shocking, "You can just call me Morning Star, Miss Maggie."
"Shadow... Affairs Department?" Maggie looked at the silver-haired girl full of inhuman traits in astonishment, "I've never heard of such a department in the Military Intelligence Bureau..."
Maggie is not an "insider" of the Military Intelligence Bureau, but she at least knows the general structure of the Military Intelligence Bureau. She knows that this vital intelligence unit has an "Internal Affairs Section" that deals with general domestic affairs and a department that deals with overseas issues. "External Affairs Section", there is also a "Suppression Special Section" that deals with disloyal elements within the imperial government system, but she has never heard of such a "Shadow Affairs Section" - the name is quite a bit strange important sector.
And this name came from a strange girl who mysteriously appeared on Violet Island, who did not look like a Cecilian in any way, so this matter was even more suspicious.
Not to mention that the other party even knew his name.
"I know that you have a lot of doubts, and I also know that you have never heard of the name 'Shadow Affairs Division'—this is normal, because even Director Amber and His Majesty don't know about it," said the silver-haired self-proclaimed "Morning Star" The girl smiled, but because of her pale face that seemed to have lost its color, the smile looked a little creepy, "I'm sorry to talk to you in this way—but we didn't expect Mr. Adventurer to use it directly. 'Memory Retrieval' spell to check your short-term memory, so that he can find the 'imprint' left in your mind, and probably erase it at will, then I'm wasting my time.
"In order to prevent my work from being wasted, I had to activate this imprint in advance while the great adventurer was extracting the memory... Please rest assured, this is just a small corner between your memory and consciousness, the place you left in the real world Your body and your companions are both safe and sound, and our conversations don't take up a hundredth of a second in real life."
"...Is this some kind of mind-manipulating, mind-implanting spell? Just like the divine spell of the Eternal Sleeper?" Maggie frowned, and while carefully paying attention to the girl's actions, she lowered the tip of her sword slightly. Expressing temporary peace, but she did not completely relax her vigilance. At the same time, her eyes fell on the opponent's cloak again, on the emblem representing the Military Intelligence Bureau, "Are you really... an operator of the Military Intelligence Bureau? Then Why don't His Majesty Gawain and Miss Amber know of your existence? And from what you said just now...there are many of you?"
"Please don't misunderstand, this is just a small means of interfering with dreams and cognition, and it is not the same thing as dangerous mind invasion." The silver-haired girl smiled, and seemed not to care about Maggie's vigilance, "As for the details behind my identity... …sorry, some things cannot be revealed until a certain point in time. I can only tell you that 'we' have no hostility, 'we' are your friends, allies, and comrades in arms - from many years ago From the beginning, we have served the Empire, though our allegiance is unknown."
"I don't like this mysterious way of speaking, it only makes me more vigilant," Maggie said lightly, "I don't care how many secrets you have to hide, I just want to know... yours Purpose. Why are you looking for me?"
"A conversation to establish the interactive landmark between the Shadow Affairs Section of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the real world. The connection between 'us' and the real world will be strengthened from this conversation, which will help us accomplish our mission. Another The purpose is to send a message," the silver-haired girl said, bending slightly, "Our 'Big Boss' would like to ask you to help pass a message to your highest superior, just say..."
She paused here, seeming to organize her language, before continuing: "It's great to see that there is finally a season of civilization ready for adulthood, but there are still huge hidden dangers lurking on the way forward, large-scale manipulation Ethos is a very dangerous thing, please be cautious, and—Ms. Ye invited Gawain Cecil and his outstanding guards to visit the City of Thousand Towers."
Maggie slowly widened her eyes.
The words Chen Xing said were as obscure and inexplicable as ever, but behind the seemingly obscure words were enough to reveal infinitely reminiscent content. Maggie felt the thoughts in her mind were chaotic, and couldn't help but say after a while: "Wait a minute , you said 'Ms. Ye' just now? So you are passing the message for Ms. Ye? Didn't you just say that you are officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau? And the 'big boss' you are talking about is not Amber..."
The pale silver-haired girl just smiled. She didn't answer any of Maggie's questions, but slowly put on the hood—at this moment, Maggie was finally sure that she felt right, and the other person's face was on the hood. The moment it was pulled up, it melted into the shapeless darkness, that is definitely not a characteristic that humans can have!
In the next second, Chen Xing retreated into the shadows of the forest. Maggie widened her eyes, but she couldn't realize how the other party disappeared—as if the process of "disappearing" was omitted. The mysterious girl named Chen Xing It directly turned into nothingness in all her perceptions.
(Time to push the book! The title of the book is "Actually I'm Not a God". Although the number of words is not very large, I really recommend it. It has a unique setting and style of writing. If you are interested, you can read it.)