Secret: The undead do not die in the fire

Chapter 213 The Emperor's Son
The painting world of the Steam Church.

Just like the other cities that Yu Jin had encountered before, this city in front of him, which contained the core of the entire world, was also made entirely of steel. Yu Jin and Carula walked side by side on the streets of the city, relying on the induction of fire to move forward towards the core area.

Yu Jin's eyes flickered across the surrounding buildings, and he frowned slightly and said:

"This world is well-built and has a population of millions. The Church of Steam obviously intends to run this world for a long time, but why has it become so desolate?"

Although the city's construction was quite complete, and even more advanced than the capitals of the northern continent in some aspects, outside the city, they saw only a devastated land, as if outside the steel city, there was only a wasteland.

This alone is obviously not enough to support the survival needs of millions of people in the painting world, and even the most basic food and water cannot be guaranteed. This is obviously contrary to the Steam Church's long-term business philosophy, but it really exists, which is really hard not to be confused.

You know, even in the painting world owned by the Aurora Club, although most of its surface is covered by blood and flesh fungus carpets, there is still an area suitable for survival above the mountainside, which is enough to feed tens of thousands of people.

In response to Yu Jin's question, Carula explained softly:

"The Church of Steam has the extraordinary path of Sequence 0, 'Perfector', in its hands. Sequence 4 of the 'Perfector' path is 'Alchemist', who possesses the extraordinary ability of life alchemy, and can inject soul into the items he creates, giving them a certain amount of life."

"The only problem is that the ritual required to become an alchemist requires the extraction of all life force from a certain area. The soil will turn into sand and the lakes will dry up... Although the area that has been drained of life force can be restored, it will take a very long time, which will inevitably lead to the desolation of this world."

"Of course, in this case, we can ask the demigods or angels of the Earth Mother Church to help inject life into the land. But the relationship between the Steam Church and the Earth Mother Church is not that harmonious. The Earth Mother Church will not easily lend a hand, and the Steam Church will not easily allow the angels or demigods of the Earth Mother Church to enter the painting world."

"And the people of the Steam Church don't really care whether the world is desolate or not."

Although Yu Jin was a little surprised, this answer seemed reasonable:
The Steam Church believes in steam and machinery. As for "green environmental protection", that is not their concern. What does it matter if the painting world is a little desolate? Anyway, it does not affect their praise of the god of steam and machinery.

However, Carula seems to know a lot about the Church of Steam and the painting world they own...

Yu Jin asked softly:

"Carla, which route did you take?"

Carla's mouth corners slightly raised:
"If we only talk about the extraordinary path, I am just a Saint of Sequence 3 of the 'Audience' path."

But she is also the forbidden Fallen of Darkness. In terms of true strength, even a Sequence 1 angel can do nothing to her. She could have been promoted to a Sequence 2 angel a long time ago. She has the Beyonder trait, but for some reason she has to keep it hidden.

only……

The Fallen of Darkness were born from the fragments of humanity of Manus, the Father of the Abyss, so Manus is equivalent to the 'mother' of the Fallen of Darkness.

Yu Jin's expression suddenly became a little subtle. Although most of his memories were missing, his memories of certain people were quite clear, as if they were deliberately split into two halves.

For example, he clearly remembered that Manus was shattered by him personally. This also meant that he indirectly created the Dark Child. If Manus was the Dark Child's 'mother', then wouldn't he be...

And Carula seemed to see what was in his mind, and said with a smile:

"My mother is the real Fallen of Darkness who was born from the fragments. I am actually only half of the Fallen of Darkness. Manus is my mother's 'mother' and can also be considered my 'grandmother'. So..."

"Here we are."

Without waiting for her to speak, Yu Jin suddenly stopped and looked ahead with a calm expression.

"Tsk~"

Carla snorted in disappointment and followed the direction of Ember's gaze to the front, where there was a church.

The church is not very large, about 20 meters long and wide, and the outer layer is painted in red and gold metal, which looks quite "gorgeous".

The architectural structure of the church is a standard symmetrical structure, with a tower on each side, and a tower in the middle of the church that is more than twice as tall as the towers on the left and right sides.

But the tops of these towers are not "spires", but circular turrets shaped like pot lids with several thick gun barrels that can rotate!

Such a church is armed to the teeth, which looks a bit strange. But considering that this is the turret of the Steam Church, everything seems to be very normal.

The location of the fire sensed by the embers was right below the church.

But before they could take a step forward, the church in front of them suddenly "stood up"!

With the friction and roar of gears and machinery, the church that was originally located on the ground rose higher and higher. The sun's rays were blocked and a large shadow was cast. What appeared before their eyes was no longer just a church, but a huge humanoid Titan that was nearly 60 meters tall!

The "church" that Yu Jin and his friends had seen was actually just the "hat" of this giant Titan, whose "head" was just below the church. What kind of church was that? It was clearly a turret with a solid castle-like structure!

The numerous towers, stained glass and church paint on it all demonstrate the magnificence and majesty of the Titan, making it easy to feel at a glance that this is definitely a terrifying war machine!

Even its 'hands' are two sturdy weapons, and its right arm is a 'Gatling gun' consisting of eleven gun barrels. Although its left arm only has one gun barrel, its large caliber leaves no doubt about its power. On its back, there are two vertical tubes pointing to the sky, spewing white mist, which is where its 'power device' is.

Such a terrifying war machine is almost invincible when dealing with extraordinary people below the level of Saint!
Even Saints above Sequence 4 could be seriously injured if accidentally hit by its artillery filled with spiritual energy.

"Zizzizizi——"

Accompanied by a sharp sound of electricity, the Titan in front of him stared at the two figures below and opened his mouth without any emotion:
"I am Ymir, the Fist of the Empire, and I have been ordered to guard the Imperial Palace of Terra."

"Heretic, why are you here?"

Ember's expression became more subtle:

"Emperor? Terra?"

Carla explained softly:

"That's what Roselle called him. He called himself the emperor and renamed the painting world Holy Terra. Every city in Holy Terra was built by saints and angels of the Steam Church, and Roselle called the city he built the Terra Palace. As for it, it should be the product of Roselle's life forging during his saint period."

Yu Jin nodded slightly, but inexplicably thought of Roselle's death—

In his later years, Roselle was deserted by his friends and relatives, even his family left him. In the end, Roselle was betrayed and assassinated in his own palace.

It must be said that Roselle's self-proclaimed emperor was what he wanted, and at least this ending was very true to history.

Yu Jin collected his thoughts, took out a badge from his pocket, and said calmly:
"I'm going to the core of this world, get out of the way."

From the moment the Titan appeared, Ember understood -

The core is not in the church on the Titan, but in the "deep pit" where the Titan crawled out of the ground. The giant Titan who called himself the Fist of the Empire stared down at the triangular holy emblem in the hands of the embers, and was silent for a long time before slowly speaking:
"As you wish."

boom!boom!
With heavy steps, Titan slowly walked to the side and made way.

It also made the huge pit appear in Yujin's field of vision.

With the help of the sunlight from the sky, Yu Jin saw the entire picture of the huge pit -

This is just an ordinary pit. There is nothing special about it except that it is surrounded by steel on all four sides.

It seemed like it was really just a place prepared for the Titans.

The core that Yu Jin is looking for is even deeper.

boom!boom!
At this moment, a huge heavy knocking sound suddenly came from my ear.

Yu Jin looked up in confusion and saw the Titan who had just left, extending his thick gun barrel and frantically hitting a tall spire.

"What is it doing?" asked Yu Jin in surprise.

Carla hesitated for a moment, looking uncertain, and said half-doubtfully:

"Calm the machine spirit?"

click!
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a sound beside his ear. It was the sound of rusty gears that had not been running for many years grinding against each other. Then, the sound of gears became more and more frequent, and chimneys in the city spewed out white steam. The sound of turbines running and the roar of steam engines were endless, and even the ground began to tremble.

At the same time, shrill alarms sounded in the city!
Amidst the violent shaking and tremors of the earth, the 'city' slowly stood up.

Carla looked a little surprised when she saw this scene, but she quickly understood what it meant.

She still maintained her human form, but a pair of pure black leather-covered wings grew on her back, and some black scales appeared on her body.

She gently embraced Ember from the back and flew into the sky with him.

From top to bottom, they saw the original appearance of the city in mid-air——

The entire city seemed to come alive, transforming into a giant steel turtle, spewing steam and slowly moving towards the distance.

And on the turtle's back, the giant Titan was standing at the highest point directing the advance of the 'giant turtle'.

The giant Titan, which is sixty meters high, is not conspicuous at all on the back of this "giant turtle". Instead, it looks as small as an ant.

Without Carula's explanation, Yu Jin could understand the current situation.

Just like the giant Titan, this city was also refined into life by Emperor Roselle, and it itself is a unique life!

Yu Jin asked thoughtfully:

“Is this true in all cities?”

Carla shook her head slightly:
"This is not something that ordinary saints can accomplish. Only angels can perform life refining on this scale. The vast majority of cities in the painting world are ordinary cities that cannot move. Only a very few have 'life' like this 'Terra Palace'."

Yu Jin silently looked at the slowly moving city below, and suddenly felt funny.

The Steam Church clearly believed in the God of Steam and Machinery, but under Roselle's "transformation", it was completely transformed into his shape. The shadow of Roselle could be seen almost everywhere in the Steam Church.

And Roselle had already transformed the Steam Church into his own shape, and he might have thought that he could replace him. But unfortunately, with a Sequence 0 True God in this sequence, Roselle could only reach Sequence 2 at most.

Sequence 2 might be able to struggle against Sequence 1, but facing Sequence 0, it has no power to fight back at all.

Finally, the city slowly left the area where it was originally located, revealing the barren land below in the flying dust.

And on that desolate land, there stands a magnificent church consisting of a spire and a bell tower.

Carla returned to the ground with the ashes, and the wings behind her disappeared, and the scales that originally covered her body also disappeared without a trace.

Carla blinked.
"I don't think you need me to lead the way from now on, right? You should be more familiar with this place than I am."

Ember nodded silently and slowly walked towards the church.

click!
With the sound of friction between the doors and the ground, the two heavy doors were slowly pushed open to leave a gap that was only big enough for one person to pass through.

Carla rolled her eyes. Why is it always like this? Will I die if I open the door wider?

Yu Jin had no idea what Kalula was thinking, and slowly walked into the church.

The interior of the church is not very large, it can even be said to be small, and you can see the end at a glance.

There are several two-meter-high candlesticks inside the church, and in the very center of the church, there is a statue of a headless woman and a little girl hugging each other, which makes people curious about their identities.

On the left side of the statue, behind the wall, there is a straight ladder going up vertically from the wall.

When Yu Jin saw this scene, he already knew what he should do:
He needs to take a detour to the basement to open the mechanism, and then take a shortcut back to the church to enter the hidden passage under the statue.

A trace of nostalgia flashed across Yu Jin's eyes, and he slowly walked to the statue, causing ripples like a whirlpool on its surface, and he immersed himself in it directly -

If you can even pass through walls, only a fool would take the long way around to open the mechanism.

Following the stairs downward, Yu Jian came to an empty hidden room, which seemed to be a chapel.

But there were neither nuns nor priests inside.

There was only a stove with flickering flames, quietly placed at the end of the chapel.

There is the core of the entire world and also the key to destroying the entire world!

(End of this chapter)