Sir Chen, your wife is missing!

"Grandma Petra is always like this, you don't have to worry. I'm so happy today that I can eat such delicious food."

The young girl Anita used a fork to roll up the instant noodles in the paper cup and blew it to cool it down before putting it in her mouth. The smell of Tom Yum Goong soup base filled the living room, and the smell of self-heating rice was almost covered by it.

There was no need to ask Anita how it tasted; her expression told it all.

Anita, whose taste is as unique as Skadi's, raves about the instant noodles, which sell so well. Guests from out of town bring her food from other countries, and she has never eaten such a steaming bowl of noodles in soup since she can remember.

The happier she was, the sadder Feng Qingyu felt.

Some people are easily satisfied, while some people, even if they have mountains of wealth and power, will not stop using violence as long as their ambitions are not satisfied.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill and Anita had cleared the table, Feng Qingyu asked the question he had asked at the beginning.

These questions should have been answered by Petra, but the poor old woman was awake for too short a time and fell into a half-sleep before a formal conversation could begin, so it was inconvenient to disturb her.

Feng Qingyu placed his hope on Anita, hoping to get some useful clues.

"You know what the best place in Iberia is? A place with a view of the sea. There's a magnificent underground mausoleum nearby, built by a Victorian nobleman."

"I have no idea."

Anita drank the noodle soup in the empty paper cup in one gulp, her clear brown pupils filled with confusion.

"In the entire Saltwind City, only Grandma Petra knows the most. Others don't like to talk. They won't tell me anything I ask them. If Grandma Petra doesn't understand something, then I don't understand it either."

The girl's words blocked the way. Feng Qingyu knew that he couldn't get more from her, so he had to give up.

"What are the red shells?"

Skadi suddenly interrupted.

"What did Lady Petra mean by the red shell?"

"Ah... I almost forgot."

Anita rushed out of the house and ran all the way. Feng Qingyu and Skadi chased her and came to the coast together. There was a group of ragged people on the shore, and in the middle was a black, opaque jar.

In the thick night, it was impossible to see the contents of the jar clearly. The citizens were seen using stiff movements to take out pieces of white stuff from the jar. Anita joined them and squeezed out of the crowd half a minute later with a shell in her palm.

The smooth and small white shell has a warm color and feels very comfortable to the touch.

"What are you doing?"

Feng Qingyu looked at the group of citizens whose expressions were excited to the point of being crazy, and was curious about their abnormal behavior.

What on earth could make a group of zombies look like that?

"This is a ritual to get food. By this time tomorrow night, we will have food."

9. Sacrifice Ceremony

Anita handed the white shell in her hand to Feng Qingyu. The shell was very ordinary and could be seen everywhere on the beach of Xiosta. There was really nothing about it that could attract other people's attention, whether it was the color, pattern or shape.

The other citizens of Saltwind City took exactly the same things. They were disappointed, put the shells in their pockets, left the dim beach without saying a word, and left an empty jar behind.

The chaotic footprints extended to the lifeless city, and the walking dead returned to their "nests" to continue wasting their time.

"Can these shells be taken to the market to exchange for food? This sea has gone quiet. It can't produce any food. The land can't produce any crops. Where does your food come from?"

Feng Qingyu played with the shell in her palm. She had been to Sargon's Akahura, where there was a more traditional market, with mechanical parts and precious metals, as well as shells and other portable items that served as currency in transactions.

Neither the Longmen coin nor the Victorian pound can be used, and the Akahura people do not have the same currency to trade. The city has retained the traditional barter trading method, and it is normal to use shells as currency.

"It's not currency. The bishop said it's something to be used for drawing lots."

"so?"

"Every time the tide rises and falls a hundred times, the adults in the city will gather together like this, and each person will take a shell from the jar. Most of the shells in the jar are white, and there is only one red. The person who takes the red shell will go to the beach after dark, and in the morning, the shore will be covered with food, and everyone can fill their stomachs."

"It sounds like some weird...sacrifice ritual. Will that person come back the next day?"

"He will have a better life in the city on the sea, so says the law."

"You believe this nonsense?"

Skadi finally couldn't bear it anymore.

Ordinary people will die if they enter the ocean. They are neither Agors nor have the organs and ability to breathe in water, so their only fate is drowning.

The only creatures that can live under the sea are...

Skadi didn't want to imagine that scene. Before they came to Saltwind City, there must have been many Iberians who obtained food in this way, and the one who drew the red shell would naturally become the sacrifice.

Sacrificing one's own self and using one's own flesh and blood to nourish the group is indeed the style of the Deep Sea Church.

The Haisi often chant similar words, and are actually able to die for the sake of others, allowing their companions to devour their bodies and wills, completing a "sacred" life cycle.

"What a foolish act! You have no idea what you are eating. If you continue like this, all of you will become sea heirs. No wonder, everyone in this city should have died long ago. You can't live that long."

Skadi muttered to herself at the sea.

A very petite young Liberian woman walked along the coast. From a distance, she looked like an immature girl. She was less than 160cm tall and held a very special lantern in her hand.

The structure of the lantern may not be much different from that of an ordinary lantern, the key is the flame inside the lantern.

The purple-red flame burned in the glass lamp body. The sea breeze outside did not affect the lamp at all. The flame swayed steadily on the wick. Anyone who saw the Inquisitor would first pay attention to the lamp, not the Inquisitor himself.

"We have to get out of here. That's the Inquisitor. We can't confront her head-on. We'll definitely get into big trouble."

Anita held one in each hand, running as fast as she could on her thin legs. They slipped into the shadows of the houses, their heartbeats speeding up as they ran, and it took a while for their hearts to return to their normal rhythm.

Feng Qingyu looked back and saw that the judge had not caught up with him.

"Will the Inquisitors arrest us 'suspicious outsiders' and bring us to the Inquisitorial Prison for brutal torture?"

"Not necessarily, but every time they come they take a few people away. Those who were taken away never came back. Everyone says they are dead, killed by the Inquisition. Some say they were expelled from Iberia. In short, don't mess with the Inquisition and the Inquisitor."

"We will pay attention to it. Thanks for the reminder."

From the quick glance just now, Feng Qingyu had already memorized the characteristics of the judge's attire.

The colors are naturally mainly gray, black and white. The lantern is the most easily recognizable label. There is also a firing hand cannon on the waist that looks light but should be very heavy to hold.

The gun barrel was made of metal, and the muzzle was wide, which was extremely inconsistent with the slender figure of the Inquisitor. It was not easy to talk about such a girl with firepower weapons, but this was Terra, so it seemed reasonable.

It’s not surprising that every female warrior on Terra can use guns and cannons.

After avoiding places where the Inquisitor might patrol, Feng Qingyu remembered that the purpose of her going out was to investigate clues about her great-grandfather's relics, but she ended up playing hide-and-seek with the people from the Inquisition inexplicably.

It all started when Anita suddenly ran out and she followed her out of fear, only to find out something truly incredible.

She has a bold idea.

"Could the Inquisitor have any clues about the best places in Iberia?"

"what do you mean……"

Skadi had a bad feeling in her heart. Her teammates might be thinking of something new and dangerous.

"I think you're crazy. You can't be caught by the Inquisition without knowing what will happen to you. No one gets away alive, and no one knows how those people died."

"That inquisitor doesn't seem like such a cruel person."

Feng Qingyu had a hunch that the petite Liberi could talk normally, and arresting people indiscriminately was someone else's business and had nothing to do with her. Pretty girls naturally make people feel good about them.

"She doesn't have any punitive troops with her, so she's probably not here to arrest anyone."

"..."

The conversation came to a stalemate. Skadi was not a person who knew how to persuade others. Since it was related to the inheritance of Feng Qingyu's family, it was indeed inconvenient for outsiders to interfere, and they should not interfere.

Asking the citizens of Saltwind City has yielded no results, so the Inquisitor could be a good starting point.

Skadi has always known that the people in the Inquisition must know more than ordinary citizens, and many inside stories are concealed by them using various means. Only ordinary people in Iberia are kept in the dark like fools.

"When the Inquisitor is about to attack you, I will find a way to stop her. I hope she is not such an unreasonable person. Besides, judging people by their appearance is not a good thing. The Inquisitor is not as gentle as you think."

The idea of ​​going to the Inquisitor to inquire about the news was tacitly approved. Feng Qingyu asked Anita to go back and accompany the old woman whose mind was in a chaotic state, while she and Skadi continued to act according to circumstances.

The Inquisitor was patrolling the shore, and the citizens of Saltwind City fled away in funny and messy movements as if they had seen a ghost.

Just as she was about to meet the Inquisitor, Skadi dodged into an alley.

Her identity as an Agor is very sensitive. After the Great Silence, the Agors were seen as the scourge of disaster and were hostile to the Iberian government, religious institutions and the public. Today, the Agors living in Iberia are almost all descendants of the immigrants who came ashore. Their number is decreasing year by year, and many people are forced to leave this land and seek a living elsewhere.

Whenever the people of the Inquisition see the Agors, they will find ways to capture them and take them to the dungeon of the Inquisition to play the torture "game" that involves whipping. It is a very dark game.

Each Inquisitor was trained to be a weapon against the Argors, and the Argors became part of the ocean's problem.

"I will just observe from the dark and cannot come into direct contact with the Inquisitor. I don't need to explain the reason. You are such an excellent student in history, so you should know why."

"It depends on me next."

Feng Qingyu gave Skadi a confident look and turned the corner from the dim alley to where the light was.

The lingering dark clouds were finally blown away by the wind, and moonlight sprinkled over the sky of Yanfeng City. The cold white color could not wash away the stains of despair, and the momentary light could not dispel the deep-rooted darkness.

The Inquisitor of Liberi walked on the moonlit beach, almost blending in with the mottled, gray and white city behind her. She didn't have the scent of the sea on her, and like Skadi and the others, she looked different.

Just as Feng Qingyu was thinking about how to start a conversation with the other party, the judge holding the lantern had already walked up to him.

She is very short and has to lower her head to have a conversation.

"You are not Iberian, why are you in Saltwind City?"

A pleasant but cold voice came with the sea breeze, and Feng Qingyu met the judge's gray eyes. The sharp gaze began to scan the whole body the moment the eyes met, just like the scene of a police officer on the streets of Longmen asking a suspicious person for his ID card.

"I'm here to investigate something, you can treat me as a tourist."

"There should be nothing in Iberia for you to investigate, and no one would travel here. Please show me your documents to verify their authenticity."

"Hold on."

Longmen's ID card happened to be stuffed in her wallet. Feng Qingyu habitually carried several commonly used bank cards and ID cards with her. The judge's request was reasonable, and she would not refuse rashly.

Under the judge's unfriendly gaze, Feng Qingyu pulled out the official Longmen ID card from his wallet. The hard card surface was made of designated materials, with special patterns and designs that many people who forged ID cards could not imitate.

After staring at the ID card for two minutes, the judge finally confirmed Feng Qingyu's identity as a genuine Longmen man, and his serious expression became slightly calmer.

"What are you investigating in Iberia? A humanities study? You're dressed like an archaeologist's assistant."

"I'm not here for archaeology, although I am very interested in the history of Iberia. Miss Inquisitor, do you know where is the best place in Iberia? A place where you can see the sea?"

Feng Qingyu remembered Cyril's description of the mysterious place by heart and repeated it word for word.

The judge thought silently, trying to find relevant content from her rich knowledge base. However, due to the vague description, she couldn't pick out the content that met the requirements at once.

"There are many places where you can see the sea. Iberia is said to be the best. Everyone has different opinions. The question is too subjective. I'm sorry I can't answer you. What else do you want?"

Seeing that the judge was a little impatient and looked like he wanted to leave, Feng Qingyu tried to seize the last chance.

"Um... Miss Inquisitor, I want to hear your understanding of 'the best place'. Where do you think is the best place in Iberia?"

"Me? I don't know."

In this devastated country, where else can be called a good place?

"You've stumped me, Vaifan. I can't think of an answer to your question for now. If I can see you again in two days, I'll give you an answer then. The seaside is very dangerous at night. This area is the habitat of terrifying fish. It's best not to walk around alone. I still have a mission to complete. Goodbye."

The Inquisitor had no desire to talk, but he spoke fluently and clearly, and was the third normal person in the city who could talk. Even such a sober person didn't know the place Cyril was talking about, so he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

In such a huge city like Yanfeng, there were few people to ask for directions, and even the judge could not give a definite answer.

"We need to find more people to find out."

Feng Qingyu stood in a daze in the sea breeze, and after a while he decided to light a cigarette and continue wandering around the city. The clues were not thought out, but found with his legs and eyes.

If you can't find out from people in this area, then go to somewhere further away.

She was about to walk back when her shoulders suddenly sank.

"Miss, there is a good place nearby. Do you want to go there? Don't worry, I'm not trying to chat you up, because everyone in Saltwind City goes there. There is food and drink there, and there are also good things that can make you forget all the pain..."

The person who put his arm around her shoulder was a skinny Liberian woman, dressed similarly to the other citizens of Saltwind City. Her behavior was also dull and crazy, and her speech was incoherent, as if she had taken some powerful Originium potion.

This kind of item can help people escape reality, fall into a false dream, and search for the paradise they desire in their hearts. When the effect of the Originium potion ends, they fall rapidly again and return to the painful reality.

Ghost Shark also mentioned the Iberian Originium potion. The raw material required was a halophyte that was shaped like a lantern with pure white petals and was called "Heaven" by the Iberians.

It is reasonable to use "Heaven" to get yourself into Heaven.

The "good place" that the woman from Libori mentioned must be a mixed bag, so it's a good place to ask all kinds of people for information. It's also a good idea to pretend to be someone who wants to have fun and get into heaven, and then find a chance to ask other people for information.

"Where is that good place you mentioned? I'm very interested."

"A good place... Are you interested in it too? It is indeed a beautiful place like a dream... Haha... It is just outside the Saltwind City, that magnificent castle. You know, that is Alfonso's castle... Alfonso, the captain of the Golden Fleet, he sold it to someone else... I should go to the good place now... Do you want to come with me?"