Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1065: Personal reception?

Sensing that she was still being watched, Elaine lowered her head in peace and looked at the old man dressed as a bishop. She found that although his skin, eyes, expression and even movement details were exactly the same as a real person, she could still detect something unusual with her keen sense as a "reaper".

In particular, his "weak point" is different from that of ordinary people. It is not on the head or chest, but in an inconspicuous position on the side of the abdomen.

Some kind of mystical creation? Or maybe just a puppet made by those craftsmen out of their imagination?

She thought about it and looked around. She saw that none of the other prisoners, including William, responded to the old man's welcome. Only Tia looked at him with a dull expression, as if she had known her before.

The bishop of the Church of Knowledge... couldn't he be the bishop who saved Tia from the witch sect's pursuit and let her "join" Miss Angelica at sea? Of course, the one who saved her should be a real person outside Morola...

All kinds of thoughts popped up in Elaine's mind, and then she pretended to be indifferent, even a little provocative, and responded to the old man:

“Is this our place of exile?”

Her attempt to ask knowingly and irritate the other party did not succeed. The old man just smiled, walked a few steps closer, looked up in the direction where Elaine had just been looking, and then said in a gentle voice:

"That's right. Each of you will get a second life here... As for how long you can live, it depends on you."

As he spoke, he pointed his finger, and the handcuffs and leg irons of the prisoners, as well as some of the extra torture instruments of dangerous villains, softened like mud and fell to the ground with a dull thumping sound. He then opened the heavy book in his hand and handed it to Elaine, who was in the lead.

"You can call me Heraberg. I am in charge of the theological affairs of Morola, managing this church and all the books. If you have any questions about this city, you can come to me."

Elaine took the book and found that there were more than a dozen names written on the open page, including men and women from different countries, and it was obvious that many of them were randomly made up pseudonyms.

She picked up the pen between the books and asked Herraberg tentatively:
"Let us register ourselves?"

"Yes, you are the most qualified among the people who came this time."

The old man smiled and praised.

I didn't know I was so powerful. I just wanted to provoke you and see if you were a real person... Elaine muttered to herself, picked up the pen and signed the more neutral pseudonym "Luo" on the book.

She guessed that the Church of Knowledge must know her real name and identity, but the book had to be given to other people to sign one by one. In order to avoid other prisoners knowing her real name and being targeted, she made up one.

When handing the autograph book to William behind her, Elaine noticed that the clever boatswain raised his eyebrows slightly and signed the name "William" under "Luo".

No, I thought you understood my hint... By the way, William was originally a pseudonym, so Tia is also her new name after becoming a "witch"... Looking at her two subordinates signing their "real" names one by one, Elaine was speechless for a moment.

After all the prisoners had completed their registration, either with cooperation or resistance, Herraberg took back the signature book and said in a warm tone that seemed to never change:

"In this way, you will become official residents of Morola. Even if you are an exile, you must abide by the laws of Lenburg. There will be law enforcers patrolling everywhere and sentencing people on the spot. Minor crimes will result in fines and detention, while serious crimes will result in being used as experimental personnel."

"Experimenter? What experiment?"

A middle-aged male criminal who was so thin that he seemed to be stunted interrupted and asked.

"Some of them will become the city's law enforcers, and some will conduct certain important experiments. There will be a certain amount of 'loss' every day."

Heraberg explained patiently.

Loss... Elaine felt that it was strange to use this word on a person, and she felt a little cold in her heart, so she asked:

"After being exiled here, is there anything we must do? For example, the experiments you mentioned, or labor?"

"This city has its own ecological system and cycle. Unless it violates the law, no one will interfere with you or ask you to do anything. Of course, unlike the outside world, the residents of Morola allow spontaneous 'duels', and they will not be held accountable for any harm done to each other during the duel."

Isn't this encouraging private fighting? To allow the exiles to vent their excess energy and prevent them from gathering to cause trouble? What does the ecosystem mean?
Elaine had more and more questions in her mind, but she knew that if she continued asking, she would become the target of criticism from these prisoners, which would be detrimental to the next task, so she nodded as if she understood and stepped aside. Immediately, another prisoner came forward and asked about accommodation, food and other things that must be considered for long-term residence in Morola, and Heraberg answered them one by one.

They actually started to think about such a long-term thing, as if they had given up on leaving here... Elaine watched for a moment, winked at William and Tia, and the three of them left the crowd, walked through the stained glass depicting mythological stories and rows of brass bookshelves, left this library-like church, and stepped onto the streets of Morola.

This place is very different from the Lunburg capital of Azshara in the outside world. The buildings on both sides of the street are mainly in the style of the late Fourth Age and early Fifth Age. They are built largely of stone and have stone pillars and stone arches, which are magnificent.

The streets formed by these buildings extend in all directions and seem to have no end. Pedestrians in different clothes shuttle through them with lively expressions, not like criminals exiled to a death place.

Behind the street, at the end of the horizon as far as the outskirts of the city, there are continuous mountains, surrounding the entire city like a crater. Is there such a city near Azshara, or even in the entire territory of Renburg? The tunnel we just passed through seems to not even leave the city of Azshara... Elaine looked at the mountains that guarded and blocked Morola like giant beasts, and all kinds of questions popped up in her mind.

Before she had time to think about it, her spirit suddenly became alert and she looked towards the edge of the city, which was several streets away from the church gate.

A violent earthquake suddenly broke out in a square there, causing the surrounding stone buildings to shake. A large number of stone pillars and arches collapsed and were soon swallowed up by the arched ground, forming a mountain more than ten meters high that affected many buildings.

There was a loud bang at the top of the peak, and thick smoke gushed out. Red-hot magma followed and flowed out, quickly engulfing the entire square and pouring into the surrounding streets. Pedestrians shouted to avoid it, but they could not outrun the fast-flowing magma and turned into charcoal in the high temperature.

A volcanic eruption? Inside a city?

Elaine looked back at the magnificent church in amazement. The other prisoners were filing out of the gate and were also shocked by this "welcome ceremony". They stood on the stone steps in a daze.

The bishop who called himself Heraberg poked his head out of the church door, glanced at the erupting volcano, and turned away, seemingly not caring about the disaster.

Not only him, Elaine found that except for the people fleeing near the erupting small volcano, even the pedestrians on the streets a little further away ignored the gradually spreading volcanic ash, the fog that blocked the sunlight above their heads, and the screams that echoed in half of the city. They just covered their mouths and noses and bent over slightly, as if they were avoiding a sudden rainstorm.

They have become accustomed to this kind of disaster. Elaine quickly came to the conclusion, shook her head and sighed, and said to the two people beside her:

"Let's find a place to stay first, away from the eruption site. I don't want to be set on fire by lava when I'm eating or sleeping without being sneaked into my room by other murderers."

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——Unlike other prisoners, the three people’s belongings were not confiscated before entering Morola, so they left behind a lot of cash. Looking at the various shops on the street and the vendors hawking goods along the street, Elaine gained a new understanding of the "ecological cycle" that Heraberg had just mentioned.

Here, there is no need for law enforcement to force everyone. Everyone will work hard on their own initiative to survive and become a part of the entire city.

----

In "City of Disaster", Angel is observing the scene inside "City of Exile" with the help of prayer light points through a weak connection with Elaine Soren.

The person in the mirror was beside her, doing the same thing with their shared senses, occasionally analyzing the information:

"This city has a certain suppressive effect on our vision, so we can't see the scenes in the distance, but those mountains are obviously just 'decorations'... The entire 'Exile City' is probably limited to the urban area and a small part of the surrounding suburbs. It's like some kind of... special mirror world, but it's not a completely illusory scene, but a closed area formed by combining some kind of reality.

"Perhaps because of this, we can observe Morola's situation in the 'City of Disaster', because this is also a special mirror world, and there is a weak connection between the two... In addition to this place, there is also Trier in the Fourth Epoch that is similar to it... Could this be the influence of the 'Salinger Blood Flag' contaminated by the source on Morola?

"Based on this connection, perhaps we can provide some help to Elaine here, such as granting her certain spells or magical items, 'granting' the power of hunters or witches, and using her body to display the personality of 'source'..."

Angel frowned slightly as she spoke continuously, but he was thinking of another thing:

"Did you notice that the bishop Heraberg who received the exiles was not a real person?"

"Isn't this obvious? With the help of a higher-level perspective, we can see that he is just a lifelike puppet that is being manipulated. Not only him, but I guess all the clergy of the Church of Knowledge stationed in Morola are like this. This can prevent them from being affected by '0-01' and better manage the prisoners... and the city's law enforcement team is composed of so-called 'experimental personnel' and can be completely self-sufficient."

The person in the mirror yawned, watched Elaine and the others find a normal-looking hotel and check in, quickly began to collect clues separately, and nodded with satisfaction.

A remote-controlled puppet, which seems to be more advanced than the body modification of the Archbishop of the Steam Church... He is worthy of being a believer of the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom"... Um, wait?
A flash of lightning flashed through Angel's mind, and he said hesitantly:
"The name Heraberg... is almost identical to Herabergen, the name of the 'Dragon of Wisdom' in the Second Era, the 'Angel of Wisdom' under the ancient sun god, and the current 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom'... Could that bishop with a warm smile who answers every question be the god that the Church of Knowledge believes in?

"He personally came forward to receive Elaine who was looking for clues about '0-01' in Morola?"

The person in the mirror looked at Angel with some surprise, his expression changed slightly, and after a moment he shook his head and said:
"It is impossible that the gods came in person, otherwise His status and the little power that leaked out would be enough to destroy the entire city... But Heraberg is very likely His incarnation, a temporary vessel for God's descent... He must have known that we would pay attention to Elaine's situation, and expressed His attitude with a similar alias and special treatment, supporting our uniqueness in contacting the 'Red Priest'!"

----

In the "Exiled City" Morola, Elaine Soren wore a cloak brought from the outside world, using its ability to hide herself in the shadows, following a young woman in front of her who walked briskly and kept looking around.

That was Iris, the "arsonist" who had committed multiple arsons and entered the city with her.

With the instinct from the "conspirator", Elaine believed that her entry into Morola was not accidental, but she had an important mission just like herself.

Sure enough, Iris moved quickly through the streets and alleys, not like a "newcomer" who had come to the city for the first time. Just when Elaine felt that tracking was becoming difficult, she finally stopped and came to a building with four stone pillars and a huge arch.

(End of this chapter)