I upgraded and added points in the Holy Inquisition

After arriving at the outskirts of the abandoned city, Lloyd led everyone to rush all the way, passing through almost all the houses and breaking down several walls, just to take the shortest straight line and run to find his "acquaintances" here.

That is, 'Lame Daddy'. I had a brief contact with him before when I completed the third and fourth [Transcendence].

Thanks to the strange mask on his face, the solemn uniform, and the way he walks, no blind child dares to flatter him, and no fearless strong man dares to borrow money from him.

Even when taking a shortcut through other people's homes, they would just huddle in the corner, trembling, looking at the group of people with horror on their faces, not daring to say a word.

It was like a bully patrolling the streets with his thugs, and they were powerful thugs of level eight and quasi-level seven...

Lloyd was a little complacent about this. After all, every time he came in before, he thought that this maze-like terrain made it impossible to find the way, and he could only pay someone to lead the way. But now it was different. With the help of spatial abilities, he could easily locate the bar of Lame Dad, and then just walk in a straight line.

There's no other way. It's getting late and it's almost dark. I have to speed up, otherwise it will inevitably cause chaos along the way.

But the others in the temporary team were a little embarrassed. Old York asked in a low voice through the skull mask on his face:

"Wouldn't that be a bit too ostentatious?"

“That’s how we are in Mizkatok.”

Lloyd casually put the blame on the college.

"Well... well, this straightforward style is indeed more conducive to solving problems."

Old York said this, secretly pouting behind his mask.

With this forcibly opened shortcut, Lloyd and his group soon arrived at Lame Dad's bar.

The people in the bar were startled when they saw a group of masked weirdos suddenly rushing in. They reached for the weapons at their waists and under the table and looked at the uninvited guests vigilantly. The originally noisy atmosphere suddenly became solemn, with only the honest gramophone in the corner still playing the melodious melody.

After the two sides looked at each other, Lloyd looked at the lame old man dressed as a bartender behind the bar and asked with a slight smile:

"Don't remember me?"

"You are……"

The lame old man hesitated for a moment, then suddenly realized something and slapped his forehead, and asked in surprise and excitement:

"Wait! I remember your voice! You...oh no, you are the baby-faced inquisitor from last time?"

What the hell is a baby-faced judge? I'm already a handsome, tall, mature young man, okay?

Lloyd complained in his heart, and recalled that the last time he came here, he seemed to be wearing a cartoon face mask, with a slightly cute two-dimensional style...

Forget it, it’s just a baby face, a baby face makes you look young.

Lloyd didn't think any more and started to greet him again:

"Are you okay here now?"

"Haha, thanks to you, I feel a lot more comfortable than before."

The lame old man smiled heartily, waved at the people around him who were looking at him as if they were facing a great enemy, signaling them to relax a little, and then said in a tone full of pride:

"This is the baby-faced judge you've often heard of. Although he chose a different mask today, I still remember his figure and voice clearly. It was because of his heroic performance at that time that our neighborhood was saved!"

As he spoke, he picked up a glass of wine and raised it to Lloyd. The other drinkers present also raised their glasses to show their respect.

This made Lloyd feel a little embarrassed. He just killed a rare monster that could cause people to commit suicide for no reason. It was not that serious...

So he quickly waved his hands around as a greeting, then moved closer to the bar and got straight to the point.

"You should have a map of the area below, right?"

"Of course. I'll have someone bring it over right away."

The lame old man nodded, then motioned for his subordinates to bring several rolls of maps, spread them out on the table, and then said:

"Do you want to go down? But even with a map, the situation down there is very complicated. I can arrange for the smartest guide to go with you."

"Don't worry, let me see."

Lloyd did not rush to agree, but picked up the flat maps and looked at them for a while, and couldn't help feeling overwhelmed.

These maps are too simple. They are basically hand-drawn sketches that look like mysterious treasure maps. Moreover, they are single-layer floor plans. They are basically of little use for the three-dimensional underground city areas.

It was only thanks to Lloyd's spatial ability that he was able to restore a rough three-dimensional map in his mind, which allowed him to barely understand it.

After looking at it for a long time, he finally found the place he wanted to go on the crude map, pointed it, and asked:

“Have you ever been to this place?”

The lame old man opposite took the map, looked at it for a long time, and asked several subordinates around him before he figured out where it was. Then he answered:

"You're going here? I've never been to this place, but I know it's a little special..."

"Oh? Tell me specifically?"

"Well... to put it simply, you should know that the scale of the entire underground city is actually very large. The area where people are active now only occupies a small part. In the deeper places, it is said that there is a large area of ​​ruins left by ancient civilization..."

Lloyd nodded, indicating that he was not surprised by this detail.

Those people in the Twilight Age were more or less desperate, digging underground cities and building shelters everywhere, so the existence of an ancient shelter somewhere was nothing new, and Lloyd would not be surprised even if there was one downstairs from his house.

What's more, the Radiant City also has an advanced subway that gives you a '+50' no matter how you ride it. That itself is a 'legacy' of the time, so it would be strange if there were no shelters or dungeons underneath.

However, the Brilliant City eventually gave up on this abandoned city area and did not make much use of it. I don’t know what considerations made Hiltina make this choice.

Lloyd asked, but she didn't explain, she just blocked his mouth with hers...

The lame old man continued:

"And the place you want to go is said to be the only way to the ancient ruins. It has attracted many desperate people, but none of them came back, so no one dared to go in anymore, and even the passage leading there was blocked..."

"But two years ago? Or three years ago? Anyway, it was around that time period. A group of foreign gangs suddenly occupied the area nearby, and the passage was dug up again... But no one knew what they were doing there. They didn't allow us to get close. Anyone who got close would be killed by them. We had almost no interactions with them."

"I met one of their people once, and I had a bad impression of them. I have reason to suspect that they are some dangerous cult members. Are you here to wipe them out?"

After hearing this, Lloyd asked:

"Cult members? How did you come to this conclusion? Are they dressed in a special way? Or do they have any obvious marks on their bodies?"

"Haha, that's not the case. The cult members hiding here wouldn't dress themselves up so conspicuously, otherwise we would drive them out...

Actually... I don't have any clear evidence for my accusation. On the surface, these people don't look much different from us. At most, their clothes are a little cleaner, right? But they are different. I feel something is wrong..."

The lame old man smiled awkwardly, spread his hands, and immediately added:

"You should know that people like me often deal with what you consider to be criminals and gangs, and can recognize such people at a glance. But those outsiders are obviously different from gang members. There is a very strange... how should I put it?"

"A sense of ritual?"

Lloyd reminded.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's this damn sense of ritual!"

The lame old man knocked his palm hard and asked a little excitedly:

"So you are here to destroy them?"

This was the second time he asked this, as if he had some deep hatred with this group of people?

But before Lloyd could ask further questions, he took the initiative to explain:

"Although our place is a chaotic lawless place in your eyes, we actually have our own set of rules. We have our own way of determining who can be used, who can be cooperated with, and who must be driven away..."

"But what everyone hates the most is the cult members. They often cause us a lot of trouble and kill a lot of people, so the gangs below will not tolerate such people staying here."

"But this group of newcomers is really too difficult to deal with. I heard that the gangs below were severely punished and many good players were killed. In the end, they had no choice but to write anonymous letters of complaint to Sheng'en Court, but they have not received a response yet..."

These words made Lloyd want to laugh.

How come criminals have fallen to the point of writing anonymous letters?

However, it can also be seen from this that the group of people below is probably not simple and must be difficult to deal with. They also cunningly took advantage of Hiltina's blind spot, as if they knew that she didn't pay much attention to this area.

And the weird feeling I sensed through the portal before should also be related to this?

If we continue to contact the cigar club that the congressman mentioned above belongs to, the cause and effect seem to be connected?

It seems that I made the right decision to come here today. How dare they stir up trouble in my backyard? I have to see how many lives these cult members have.

So Lloyd immediately said:

"We are here for this very purpose, so let's not waste time. Where is the guide you mentioned earlier?"

"He should have just returned from the mines and is resting at home, right? I'll go call him over right now!"

........................

"Be careful, there's some water leakage here. There's nothing we can do. We can't find any professionals down there to lay the circuits, so we can only make do with what we have."

A miner in his forties pointed to a pool of water under his feet, reminding Lloyd and others behind him.

The man had a plain face and still showed signs of lingering fatigue, but he was in high spirits. As he walked along, he kept introducing the situation of the dungeon to Lloyd and others, playing the role of a diligent and responsible guide.

In fact, he didn't want to make this trip at first, but when he heard that the legendary "baby-faced judge" was coming, he jumped out of bed regardless of his tiredness and came to the bar excitedly to lead Lloyd.

According to him, if Lloyd had not killed the strange monster at that time, he would probably still be in the miserable situation of being unable to return home, so he was completely willing to be Lloyd's guide on this trip, and did not charge any money.

At this time, an investigator wearing a zombie mask, who always saw his own white moonlight and was the third strongest person present, spoke through a special channel:

"Although I have heard of this underground city before, this is my first time entering it. It is truly breathtaking..."

"Same here. I originally thought that this was just a dark and damp sewer, but I didn't expect it to be so grand... Fortunately, Teacher Lloyd is here, otherwise if we came here by ourselves, we really don't know how to deal with the 'locals' here."

Another investigator wearing a ghost mask followed suit.

The communication method they were using was also provided by Lloyd, a magical creation from the Mitzkatok Engineering Department. Everyone only needed to pin a cartoon-style toy badge on their chest to establish a private and convenient communication channel, a bit like the "team channel" in various games on Earth.

So even though they just followed Lloyd without saying a word, they were actually chatting about a lot of things in the "private chat channel".

For example, at this moment, the guy who had been the most aggressive against Lloyd before, put on a ghost mask on his face and asked the same question as Lloyd:

"But why would you abandon these areas? Such a large area and complex structure can be used for many things, right? It's a waste to leave it abandoned like this, right?"

All I can say is that this guy really has a questioning spirit and courage, even asking questions before vetoing the decision of a saint.

Old York replied in a more subtle and obscure way:

"If the situation described by the bartender before is true, and there really is an ancient ruin below, then it is not difficult to understand why we should give up this place, right?"

These words made Lloyd suddenly realize something.

So that's how it is. If there is something dangerous that wants to escape from the ruins, at least it won't rush directly into the city...

No wonder Xildina chose to avoid talking about this issue...