hunting light

The departing guests took the joy in the Parthenon with them.The wind blows late at night, and the stars in the sky close their eyes.The lights in the mansion went out one by one.

In the sky above the sea far away, rain clouds are rolling, like a herd of migrating beasts, approaching the mainland.

The Duke of Oran walked quickly through the woodland of the manor with the butler and several servants.Several suspended wind lanterns illuminate the way for them.

"Here, my lord." A servant shouted in front, "Master Leon has passed out."

The blond boy lay curled up under a poinciana tree like a wounded young animal.The wind blows the forest, and the crimson flowers fall all over the child, like blood gushing from his body.

Leon fell into a semi-consciousness, his face was pale, but his cheeks were flushed abnormally, and he was soaked in sweat as if he had just been fished out of the water.

"He has a fever." The housekeeper whispered, "Father Ian told me before he left that he was worried that Master Leon would enter the awakening period..."

The Duke lowered his head and stared at the eldest son for a long while before picking him up and placing him on the suspended wheelchair.

Leon raised his head, his eyes half-opened, but he still didn't wake up.

The Duke ruffled his son's hair carelessly.The boy showed a smooth and full forehead, and his brows and eyes, which looked extraordinarily soft under the dim light, overlapped wonderfully with another face.

"Let Dr. Marvin take a look. If the physical signs and data are normal, don't worry about him." The Duke whispered a few words, and his tone quickly became tough again, "Don't spoil him, Rhodes. Everyone Alphas go through this once. He's growing. It's not painful not to grow."

The butler responded, directed the male servant, and led the sleeping Leon towards the mansion.

There was a faint thunder in the sky, and the rain clouds on the sea were about to land.It seems that even if Leon hadn't sounded the fire alarm today, the dance would have died prematurely.

When Ian came out of the bathroom wiping his wet hair, the rain clouds had already reached the bay.Sparse raindrops beat on the windowpanes, and the light of lightning jumped on the top of the waves.

Ian pulled the curtains and froze suddenly.

He turned his head inch by inch, looking towards the dark corner of the bedroom.

"I'm sorry for coming uninvited, Father." The Duke of Oran sat in a chair and turned on the floor lamp, revealing his burly body and handsome rough face.

"I think we're still talking."

Ian breathed a sigh of relief, and said tiredly, "It's almost midnight now, my lord."

"I know." The Duke disagreed, "But you are the one who threw the suspicion of my parents' death on me. Then you can't blame me for not being able to sleep at night, and personally coming to harass you."

Ian's face changed, and he immediately made a silent gesture.

The Duke dropped a bauble on the corner table.That's a little acoustic blocker.

"Even in the Parthenon, I don't believe there are walls without ears," said the Duke.

Ian blinked sour eyes, and sat down on the stool at the end of the bed helplessly, facing the Duke a few steps away.

Fortunately, this time, the pheromones of both of them are very normal, and the injuries on their bodies have also been treated, at least they can't be seen from the outside.

"The nurse's son took me to meet someone." Ian still clearly remembered where he disconnected before, and connected smoothly.

"That is the only customer in this nursing center, and the only object they have served for so many years: an old man who is about 70 years old - I later learned that the disease made him look old, but his real age Only in his 140s, he is an Alpha, but he has already entered the desensitization period ahead of schedule."

Alpha's unique five keen senses will gradually decline after entering old age.

"This old man suffers from dementia, and he can hardly communicate with others normally, and he hardly responds to external stimuli. At first, I thought he was a relative of Archbishop Xiali. However, the son of the nurse immediately reassured me, saying that he would do it. Like his father, he will not let any outsider get close to this old man."

Ian raised his eyes and looked at the Duke: "Obviously, this old man is a secret hidden by the archbishop."

"And you could have stopped at this point, but you obviously continued to investigate." The corner of the Duke's lips tugged. "Your simplicity and simplicity can be faked, Father. It really impresses me."

"I don't need to deliberately investigate the identity of this old man, Duke." Ian said calmly, "Because he looks very much like the same person. Or, in other words, he looks like him when he gets old."

The Duke raised an eyebrow.

Ian said: "Your father, His Majesty the late Emperor Adam II."

The Duke sat up straight suddenly, like a lion puffing his hair, and his strong breath rushed towards the priest opposite him like a huge wave.

"He is not your father, I can assure you!" Ian hurriedly made a comforting gesture to the Duke, "No matter how courageous Archbishop Xiali is, he would not dare to give your father, the emperor of an empire, to such a Hastily hidden. Please calm down, duke."

"Then why do you look like my father?" the Duke asked in a low voice, "Is it just a coincidence?"

"No." Ian said, "There is another person, he will be similar to His Majesty Adam II in appearance, figure, and even behavior, but it is not him."

He stared at the Duke: "His substitute, my lord. This old man was a member of your father's royal guard back then, and he is his substitute."

Emperor Adam II of the Byron Empire is a very well-known emperor.Not only because of his untimely death, but also because of his handsome appearance, well-known love history with Queen Eugenie, and his own controversy because of his enthusiasm for reform.

Therefore, Ian, who is familiar with history, is very familiar with this emperor, and even wrote a paper discussing one of his reform measures.During the investigation, I also saw the appearance of the simulated old Adam.

The Duke sat back in the chair slowly, holding the armrests with both hands: "How are you sure?"

Ian said: "After I had this bold guess, I kept trying to communicate with the old man, but he didn't respond at all. I spent more than an hour, and finally asked him a word with the idea of ​​trying. But this time , he actually responded to me."

"What?" asked the Duke.

Ian took a deep breath and said, "What is the mission of Coleman Warrior?"

"Welcome back to the lost light..." the Duke murmured subconsciously.

"...Defend freedom with iron and blood." The old man responded with a hoarse and vague voice.The eyes are still dull, and it seems that a little spark has been polished.

The entire face of the Duke of Oran trembled slightly.

This is a slogan exclusive to the Royal Guards in the Coleman royal family.

From the time when they were selected by the emperor to swear allegiance, until they retired or sacrificed, accompanied by their daily life, training, and attendance...

The memory of this response is deeply rooted in their souls, an indelible imprint of disease and old age.

"When I was young," the Duke said softly after a long silence, "for a while, I liked to watch the changing of the guard. In that little ceremony, they would correspond to the slogans of the handover party. It was very energetic and full of excitement for a child. The power to feel safe..."

He briefly rolled over in the memory, then stood up quickly, shaking the water from his mane.

"Even if it is my father's substitute, there are many substitutes for my father, how do you connect him with my parents?"

Ian said: "Because after responding to me, the old man became visibly agitated. He began to read a series of numbers aloud. It was a pity that the nurse's son and someone quickly injected him with a tranquilizer and took him away. .”

"What did he read?" demanded the Duke.

Ian looked at the Duke: "003, 018, 037, and 099."

The Duke of Oran looked puzzled.

"I didn't understand at first." Ian said, "but God gave me some pointers. On the way back to Xilin, the civil aviation I took encountered a small space storm in the middle, and I made an emergency landing at a midway port. This process In the middle, I heard that the maintenance staff kept communicating with each other through codes. What the old man said was most likely the work code of the Royal Guards. So I searched the Internet, and there really was a detailed description of the codes of the Royal Guards on the Internet. "

"003" means that the target person is in high danger. "018" means that the protective measures against the target have failed. "037" is that the target cannot be transferred out of the danger zone.And "099"...

"Suicide terrorist attack..." the Duke said it for Ian.

"Yes." Ian nodded lightly, "And the old man's symptoms are very consistent with the sequelae of 'Pandora': brain damage. So I speculate that he should have been on that warship with the late emperor and his wife A bodyguard stand-in. Maybe the insider was either killed or completely demented, and Archbishop Xiali found out that he still remembered the inside of the tragedy, so he hid him."

The Duke let out a long sigh of relief, leaned back in the chair, and stretched his whole body: "Xiali is so much more courageous than I expected, it really makes me re-evaluate my ability to know people. But, priest. Your mentor holds such a trump card in his hand, why does he still want to use me?"

"Is it an old and demented former royal guard?" Ian snorted, "No matter what he says, he will be easily refuted. The news will not last for a week, and he will be abandoned by the media and the public. And the archbishop himself will His reputation was discredited, and he was even abandoned by the Holy See. And when the turmoil passed, it was time for Felix IV to fight back. The Archbishop Church disappeared without a sound. This old man is a dragon egg covered with poisonous thorns. It may be able to An invincible and powerful monster was hatched, but whoever touches it will face the danger of being poisoned to death."

"That's when you started to have a heart for Xiali?" the Duke asked.

"I have always respected the archbishop, my lord." The priest raised his face, his handsome face was determined, "but this dragon egg may sink the archbishop's ship before it can play a role. I didn't expect At that time, I sank with him without any preparation. And something happened later, so I no longer dare to take this dragon egg lightly."

The Duke raised his bushy eyebrows exaggeratedly: "You are really a good storyteller, Father. It is really fascinating and ups and downs. No wonder my son likes you so much. Sorry, please continue."

Ian was unmoved, and continued: "It didn't take long for the archbishop to know the news of the old nurse's death. I was out on errands at that time, so he called the secretary for questioning. The next day I came back from a business trip, and another The assistant deacon wiped away tears and told me that the secretary was involved in a car accident on his way home last night and passed away..."

The corner of the Duke's lips couldn't help twitching again: "Xiali?"

"I don't know." Ian's expression was very complicated, "Later the Archbishop recruited me and asked me if I knew about the secretary's going to the funeral of the old nurse. Said to have done it himself. He relayed to the Archbishop all the details of the funeral and the other's home that he had heard from me - including the old patient whom I briefly mentioned. He died hours later of a simple traffic accident."