Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 939 Perfect Law

Angel read the law book filled with various "taboos" and related punishments under the warm light of the gas lamp. He didn't close the book until the light outside the window came on, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The good news is that in the few hours she has been here, she has not violated any of the taboos and will not be held accountable or punished afterwards.

The bad news is that this law has been revised dozens of times, and the last third is almost entirely supplementary regulations, which have almost plugged all the loopholes she could think of, and even include many loopholes that have not yet been discovered, which she would only think "How can it be like this" when she saw the law.

For example, the loophole that Angel had thought of, which was to refuse to be assigned an identity and not become a "resident", was filled in by a revision many years ago. If a guest entering the "Dream City" does not see the governor and is not assigned an identity within 24 hours, he will be guilty of "illegal entry", which is a felony. Violators will be directly sentenced to death without trial.

The description of this punishment also caught Angel's attention, because most serious crimes have to be tried by an institution called the "Trial Court", and various punishments are imposed according to the degree of violation. Only in a very small number of cases will it be specifically noted that no trial is required and the death penalty is imposed directly.

Angel speculated that this kind of "death penalty" was most likely caused by the "Hand of Order" that maintained the city's operation, which triggered some kind of force and directly killed the target. Otherwise, for an offender who wanted to flee the city, the deterrent effect of the death penalty was insignificant and difficult to enforce.

Of course, there is an obvious loophole here. It is not illegal to leave the "City of Dreams" by various means within 24 hours of entering the city but before becoming a resident.

Unfortunately, no information about this city has been transmitted from the outside world. I'm afraid that behind this loophole, there is some trap that could kill someone... Angel subconsciously feels that it's not that simple.

As for most other crimes, they were actually not much different from the laws of the countries in the Northern Continent that Angel knew, and they were more detailed. For example, if theft was discovered by the owner and not stopped in time, it would be upgraded to robbery, which was a felony and could be sentenced to death. This effectively avoided the means of escaping felony by triggering misdemeanors; on the contrary, the same type of behavior would not be punished repeatedly, so as to prevent some misdemeanors from being quickly punished and causing consequences comparable to felonies...

What surprised Angel even more was that this set of laws was also highly targeted at Extraordinary People, and some of the rules clearly pointed to Extraordinary People of a certain type. For example, it was forbidden to spy on others' privacy or observe private areas through mirrors, it was forbidden to use human tissues such as hair and blood to create dolls and substitutes with mystical connections with others, it was forbidden to curse others through names or blood, and the spiritual world and the world in the mirror where the private area was located also belonged to the private area... Almost all the means by which a witch could harm the physical and mental health of others were banned.

However, "objects" such as substitutes and secret dolls that are not the resident himself but are under his control are regarded as part of his body, and the crimes committed will be borne by the person himself. This is obviously another approach that Angel is very familiar with.

Of course, Angel's previous behavior of viewing the surrounding area of ​​the city through the ice mirror shot high into the sky was not against the law, because that was a public area and the "spying" was not aimed at a specific target.

As for the "evil god sacrifice" that Angel did not perform out of caution, it was also included in the list of serious crimes. As she expected, except for the "Night Emperor" and "Goddess of Beauty" who were allowed to perform sacrifices, all other beliefs belonged to the evil god...

It is normal that the "Night Emperor" Trunsost, as the emperor who built the "City of Dreams", is still believed in thousands of years later. But isn't the "Goddess of Beauty" the queen of the blood race and a subordinate god who surrendered to the Elf King in the Second Age? How could she have lived to the Fourth Age and become one of the beliefs of the Trunsost Empire?

Angel was surprised to find the secret history of the Fourth Epoch in a book of laws. He continued to look through the various details and compared them with the regulations added later. He soon found more interesting facts.

For example, at the beginning, the laws that appeared with the birth of the "Dream City" supported the status of the nobility over the common people, but soon the hereditary nobility was cut off through additional regulations. Since no new nobility was born, the old nobility died of old age, and this privileged class quickly disappeared in the long river of time, allowing the "Dream City" to eliminate the nobility thousands of years earlier than Intis, achieving superficial equality for all.

Similar to this is the legal treatment of "Extraordinary People". In a certain revision, a large number of restrictions on the power of Extraordinary People were added, and there was also a regulation that could be said to have undermined the foundation of Extraordinary People, which prohibited Extraordinary People from having offspring.

In conjunction with the regulations added during the same period to collect and centrally dispose of the bodies of the dead, Angel could get a glimpse of the determination of the "Consul" at that time to sever the inheritance of extraordinary power.

As long as the Extraordinary people cannot give birth to offspring that can inherit their characteristics, and the characteristics released after death will be taken away, it won’t take many years before there will be no living Extraordinary people in the entire city.

Of course, Angel could also guess the reason why the archon who was determined to cut off the inheritance of extraordinary power did so. In a completely closed city, it was impossible to have auxiliary materials for making potions of various sequences. Even if there were illegal properties and a way to act, they could only swallow the properties when promoted and bear the risk of a high probability of losing control. Once failed, it would pose a great threat to the city and its residents.

"Moreover, without the Beyonders, the possibility of residents breaking the law and threatening the rule will be greatly reduced. This is probably what most countries dream of..."

Thinking of the capture and severe punishment of wild Beyonders by major countries and churches, Angel couldn't help but sigh.

As for whether the formulation of these laws would cause resistance from the Extraordinary people in the city, Angel didn't know, but compared to capturing and killing wild Extraordinary people, the relatively mild strategy of "sterilization" should provoke much less backlash.

No wonder "King of the Five Seas" Nast asked me to read this law carefully before going out. Otherwise, with my usual way of doing things, it would be easy to violate taboos and be punished because of relying on divination to seek information or using the mirror world to travel... And in this city that is completely supported by high-level Beyonder characteristics, even if you break the law in an empty place, it is very likely to be recorded and sent to the court for trial... Angel muttered, looking at the sky outside the window that was already a little pale, and was surprised to find that he had been sitting at the desk all night.

Fortunately, after entering Sequence 3, her need for sleep has decreased. In addition, she was in an agitated state at the moment and had no desire to sleep at all. She simply called room service and asked for a breakfast with coffee. After washing up, she enjoyed her first meal in the "City of Dreams" on the sofa by the window.

To her surprise, the breakfast provided by the hotel was not the ancient style of the Fourth Epoch as she had imagined, but a fusion of the characteristics of various countries in the Northern Continent, with smoked bacon, cream soufflé, and even latte art on the coffee, which made Angel dream of returning to the high-end restaurants in Loen.

This kind of breakfast appeared in a city that was isolated from the outside world more than a thousand years ago. There is only one possibility - they truly accepted those "outsiders" who mistakenly entered the city, allowed them to integrate into the group, and applied the new knowledge they brought to society.

Is this really a "city of dreams"?
As he sipped the coffee that contained too much sugar and milk, which suited the Loen people's habits, Angel couldn't shake off the doubts in his mind.

----

Near noon, Angel met Cliff, who had been waiting for her in the hotel lobby.

He was still wearing a black suit, matching trousers and a top hat, like a butler serving a noble. When he saw Angel, he immediately smiled ingratiatingly. Angel, who knew from the city's laws that there were no nobles now, asked curiously:

"Since you said yesterday that there are very few 'guests' coming to this city, what is your job on weekdays?"

She wanted to say, "Do you usually serve others like this?" but it sounded a little impolite, so she had to be more tactful.

"Valentina and I are both hosts of this hotel. When there are no guests, we work in the hotel."

Cliff replied with an even brighter smile.

"But there don't seem to be many other guests here?"

Looking around the hall, Angel didn't see any other guests except Nast who had walked out of the stairs, so he asked curiously.

"Everyone is reluctant to use up their 'quota'. By the end of the year, before the quota is cleared, the number of guests coming to the hotel to spend a few days of luxurious living will increase."

Quota... Angel was a little stunned when she heard this strange word, but she immediately remembered some laws about this word in the laws she had read overnight, and guessed that it was some special currency in the "City of Dreams".

Because it serves as currency in all descriptions of the value of items.

Fortunately, this city seems to be quite friendly to outsiders at the moment. I will have plenty of time to learn about this information later, and I can even go to the library to borrow relevant books... Well, if it were Klein, he would probably be very happy to have the opportunity to learn about the secret history of the Fourth Epoch...

Angel muttered to himself and asked no more questions until Nast met up with him. Then he followed Cliff into the carriage outside the hotel and headed toward the city center along the busy streets.

Looking out of the car window, she found that the pedestrians on the street were very different from the hurried residents of Backlund. A leisurely atmosphere enveloped the entire street. Most pedestrians would nod politely when passing each other, and would stop to chat with people they knew. Everyone had a faint smile on their face, and although their clothing style was mixed with the conservative and solemn style of the Fourth Epoch, it did not look old-fashioned.

Compared to a "city", it is more like a small country town, and there is not much pressure on life. The supply of materials should also be sufficient... Angel analyzed silently, but Nast, who was sitting diagonally opposite her, suddenly asked:
"How many people came to the city last night? Will they meet the Archon together?"

He looked at Cliff who was sitting next to him. His tone was low but not arrogant. It was obvious that after reading the law carefully, he had adjusted his position and mentality well.

"Including the two of you here, a total of 45 people came to the Dream City last night, the largest number in the past hundred years..." Cliff took out a palm-sized notebook from his coat pocket and answered while reading, "A girl appeared near the city center, two men and one woman were in a hotel not far from you... In addition, there were two men in a bar outside the city, and 38 people appeared in a factory on the outskirts of the city, but when the receptionist arrived, these two groups of people were already... dead."

At this point, even Cliff, who had been smiling the whole time, looked a little dim, and he was obviously frightened by the message.

The one in the city center is Anne, and the ones a little further away should be Klein and Georgina, and there should also be Qiunas, the secret doll. As for the dead ones, they are probably the other "secret dolls" on the ship. After escaping from Klein's control, they will only stay where they are for a short period of time, but if the time is too long and the spiritual line is not reconnected, these secret dolls will truly and completely die... Angel withdrew his gaze from the window and quickly determined the identities of the people who "landed" in different locations based on the other party's description.

This confirmed her previous guess that the location where outsiders entered the "City of Dreams" was indeed closely related to the sequence they were in. The higher the sequence, the closer to the city center, and ordinary people would even end up in the suburbs.

"By the way, was there a black three-masted sailing ship that came with the others yesterday?"

She suddenly remembered that the Queen Anne's Revenge should have also come to the City of Dreams, and immediately asked.

"Yes, it appeared in the lake in the park in the city center," Cliff looked at Angel curiously and nodded in reply, "Normally, ships would appear in the lake outside the city, not in the city... Fortunately, it was at night, so no one was hurt."

That’s because the Queen Anne’s Revenge is also a true Sequence 2 ship. It’s lucky that it didn’t fall on the heads of your Archons... Angel muttered inwardly, his heart finally at ease.

Nast seemed to have confirmed his thoughts. He stopped asking any questions and closed his eyes and waited quietly until the carriage stopped on a quiet street. Cliff said:

"We've arrived at the City Hall."

The next step is to become a "resident" of this city under the assignment of the Archon. If you want to leave, I'm afraid you can only do it now. Entering the "mirror world" and getting away from this floating city should allow you to escape from the gap between the spiritual world and reality and return to the real mirror world. Of course, you also have to avoid the traps that may be hidden behind this loophole... Angel hesitated and secretly glanced at Nast Solomon.

The "King of the Five Seas" had a calm expression on his face. The dark red in his black eyes had completely disappeared. The majesty emanating from his body was gone, and the crown was nowhere to be found. Apart from his taller stature, he looked almost the same as an ordinary person.

It seems that he is ready to accept his "new identity". Is he fearless because he knows some key information, or is there really something worth taking the risk of being unable to leave, such as seizing the Beyonder characteristics of Sequence 2?
Angel pondered for a moment and gave up the idea of ​​using the glass window on the carriage to enter the "mirror world". He stepped out of the carriage before the other party and stood in front of the three-story city hall with eight black stone pillars standing along the street.

(End of this chapter)