Universe Infinite Canteen

After an hour and a half of flight, Holy Temple City finally came into everyone's view. Stay connected via empire

It was nestled in a valley and surrounded by mountains.

The mountain range here was different from those Ma Lu had seen on the road; they were bare, without a single plant, the red rocks starkly exposed, desolate yet filled with dignity.

In the center of the valley lay a clean and orderly city. Ma Lu didn't know whether the original designer of Holy Temple City was obsessive, but he had never seen such a symmetrical city.

In the very heart of the area stood a white tower hundreds of meters tall. From the base of the tower, 12 main roads extended straight outwards, like the face of a clock.

Apart from these 12 roads, there were also 9 ring roads, equally spaced and encircling the tower, dividing the entire city into 108 blocks, with overhead tracks set up above the ring roads where suspended trains would occasionally pass by.

The buildings in the city were mostly white and ash-colored, and circular elements could be seen everywhere in their design, even the rooftops were mostly round.

Looking down from above, Ma Lu's first impression of the entire city was its solemnity and reverence; everything appeared to be in perfect order, exuding a sense of orderliness.

No sooner had the White Dove-shaped flying craft entered the city's airspace than it received new orders from the Church, requesting them to land at the 8th district's number 12 parking spot.

Hellhound steered the steed towards the White Tower and landed on a landing pad below it.

When the hatch opened, two monks clad in white, a man, and a woman, were already waiting at the side.

The older woman, about 60, with a face full of wrinkles, walked straight towards Hellhound and Yun Que, flicking their shoulders symbolically with the silver whip in her hand and said with a stern face,

"May the Master of Order forgive your sins. Follow me."

Yun Que kept his head down, not daring to look at the old woman, while Hellhound, carrying the Bliss Bird, seemed indifferent and even purposefully yawned prolongedly.

After the four of them left, the tall, slender male monk spoke, his tone much gentler than that of the old woman,

"May the light of the Master of Order shine upon you forever. You've worked hard, Knight. Vice-Captain Li Wei is already waiting for you in the office."

"May the light of the Master of Order also shine upon you forever, Father."

Ma Lu replied with the phrase Yun Que had taught him on the airplane.

He then followed the male monk, carrying the silver briefcase, into the White Tower before them.

When they arrived at the first-floor hall, Ma Lu deliberately looked up at the dome overhead, where hung a huge, pitted stone.

That was the Holy Stone, as Hellhound had mentioned.

It was said that the stone was first discovered by Prophet Yong Yi, who also foretold the apocalypse that would befall three hundred years later. Thus, he led his disciples and followers to build Holy Temple City here, according to the divine messages of the Master of Order.

Initially, even the residents of the city were skeptical about the legendary disaster.

However, three hundred years later, Green Hell arrived just as foretold, and with a terrifying speed, it almost destroyed all animals and humans on the planet.

It was only upon reaching the outskirts of this valley that they halted.

No plant dared to encroach upon this sacred land protected by the Master of Order.

Since then, there had not been a single heretic in the city, and the control of the Order Church over this place had reached its apex.

And besides being able to prevent energized plants from approaching, the Holy Stone also possessed the ability to detect magic power.

Whenever a baby girl was born in the city, she would be brought to this hall. If the Holy Stone reacted, that baby girl would immediately be adopted by the Church and raised to become a witch.

Ma Lu passed by beneath it without any surprise, the Holy Stone showed no reaction.

"I heard you've just recently graduated from Squire School, so this must be your first time going to Vice-Captain Li Wei's office, right?"

While waiting for the elevator, the male monk initiated conversation again.

"Mm," Ma Lu replied vaguely.

"Don't be nervous. Just answer whatever Vice-Captain Li Wei asks you, and usually, it's over quickly. After all, Vice-Captain Li Wei is pretty busy, dealing with the day-to-day affairs of the Order of Knights."

"Alright."

The two took the elevator to the 32nd floor and walked along the circular corridor for about seventy meters before finally stopping outside a room.

The male monk knocked on the door and spoke, "Vice-Captain Li Wei, I have brought the person here."

A man's voice came from inside, "Let him in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the electronic lock on the door lit up with a green light. Ma Lu pushed the door and went inside, while the male monk who had brought him stayed outside.

Ma Lu knew that the real test was about to begin.

Although Hellhound spoke lightly of it, impersonating someone halfway was no easy task, even with armor for disguise, and Yun Que had given him quite an information crash course on knights on the road.

Yet Yun Que was just a witch herself, and most of what she knew about knights was through hearsay. First off, there was reason to question the credibility, not to mention the possibility of encountering acquaintances after returning to the city.

A simple conversation with Ma Lu might be enough for them to realize something was off immediately.

Then there was this job description session; the more one speaks, the greater the chance of making a slip. And the more he had to speak, the more likely he would expose flaws, especially since he was facing a vice-captain of the Order of Knights.

Ma Lu wasn't sure he could deceive Li Wei; of course, he wasn't too nervous either. After all, even if he slipped up, the worst outcome was merely being done away with and losing some ingredients.

However, things were probably not going to be easy for Hellhound and her team.

But there was not much Ma Lu could do; after all, he was new here and there wasn't much he could do.

After entering, he took a glance around the office, which was not large, around 20 square meters or so in size, and the furnishings inside were quite simple, with only a desk and a bookcase.

There wasn't even a chair for visitors; the only chair in the room was occupied by a burly middle-aged man with a full beard seated at the desk.

He was busy correcting something at the moment, not even lifting his head when Ma Lu entered.

Ma Lu cleared his throat gently, "Vice-Captain Sir, the Church has tasked me with finding a briefcase, which I have retrieved..."

"Open it," Li Wei cut Ma Lu off directly, pausing before adding, "The code is 336429."

Ma Lu entered the code as told. He'd always been curious about what was inside the suitcase, what the Church had sent a witch squad into the nest of energized plants to obtain, risking loss of their members to acquire it.

Ma Lu had thought he might never know the answer, seeing as his current identity was just a newly promoted junior knight; unexpectedly, Li Wei didn't seem to conceal anything from him.