An hour later, the church was already full of people.
Elderly men and women from various towns called each other "fellow believers" and chatted about their sons and daughters working outside and the eggs they bought yesterday in a cheerful atmosphere.
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Free sunflower seeds and fruits were also distributed on site, and each person had three yellow cakes and a few bottles of mineral water.
Amidst the chaos, the curtain on the podium still hung down.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the gospel choir was feverishly preparing for the literary performance and the youth in the corner was lying on the ground like a dead dog.
Huai Shi's face was pale and he was almost about to vomit, shaking uncontrollably.
The piercing cold and invisible weight kept pressing on his spine.
He felt the terrifying weight of death for the first time... He couldn't imagine how terrible death would be to give such a heavy premonition.
"Ugh!"
He leaned over the bucket and vomited all the steamed buns and braised pork he just ate, tears and snot coming out.
He almost hated his strange ability.
But even though he was about to die, Huai Shi unexpectedly didn't feel scared, just nauseous, as if he had eaten something bad.
His stomach was bloated.
He wiped away his tears and grabbed the old man playing the pipa. "Grandpa, if I die backstage, can it be considered a work-related injury...?"
The old man jumped several steps away, fully alert.
"Young man, don't cheat people, you were fine before eating... If it were a few years ago, we might have met near a train car! If you mess around, don't blame me for hitting you!"
"That's right!" Another old man playing the suona chimed in. "I saw it clearly, this young man resorts to violence at the slightest provocation..."
Huai Shi was about to give up.
Where did this group of old men with all sorts of tricks come from? They're even skilled at scamming people!
"Alright, it's time to get ready!" Another leader walked over and shouted, pointing at Huai Shi. "Can you still play? If you can't play the instrument, we won't pay you! Nowadays, young people have no conscience."
"I can play, I can play."
Huai Shi picked up the erhu with tears in his eyes. "Where's the sheet music? Where is it?"
"What sheet music? We don't have enough time. Our performance has been canceled, so now we need accompaniment for the gospel duet. Just follow the tune and play something festive."
The old man waved his hand and muttered, "We're losing money at forty yuan. We should have given twenty."
Huai Shi was speechless.
Just as he sat down with the group of old men on the front stage, someone announced on stage, "Next, please enjoy the gospel yangko dance brought to you by the cultural association of Laotang Town!"
There was a warm round of applause from the audience.
Only Huai Shi couldn't help but curse in his heart: What the hell is that crazy guy Wang Hai doing? Preaching like a comedian from Deyun Society, and still requiring people to warm up the stage. Why doesn't he go become a fresh meat actor instead of creating such a stinky scene?Without further thought, a group of old ladies wearing festive flowered clothes walked onto the stage, huddling around someone and discussing the postures and techniques of square dancing.
"Sisters, remember, the rhythm here is not 'dong cha cha,' it's 'dong cha-cha.'" The leader smiled and even flirtatiously ran a hand through her hair, then froze in place.
Huai Shi was staring at him.
And he was staring back.
Stupefied.
"Damn it, it's you!" Huai Shi had just been thinking about how to find this guy for a rendezvous, but he hadn't expected that the performance of the two-man band, with prostitution Lao Dongli as the lead dancer and Huai Shi on the violin, had already begun.
A double bill of music and comedy.
As the two men gazed at each other, Huai Shi silently opened and closed his mouth: "Did you buy the oranges?"
"Not yet."
"Have you eaten?"
"No..."
"I have."
Huai Shi patted his stomach. "White steamed buns and braised pork belly, jealous?"
Damn!
Lao Dongli suddenly wanted to curse, but at this moment, the front curtain had already opened, and he could only force out a passionate smile and dance along with the old men's tacky disco moves.
In front of Lao Dongli, the old lady he had first grabbed to chat with was twirling a flowered handkerchief and singing, "In God's house, sitting by the Lord's side, the sweet taste is better than our own mother's, hallelujah to heaven..."
Pfft.
Huai Shi couldn't help but laugh.
Ding, his phone vibrated.
He stole a moment to take out his phone, and Ai Qing's number was on the screen, along with the message:
"Retreat, immediately! [Closed—5]"
In that moment, a deathly aura that was far beyond the norm surged toward him, nearly drowning Huai Shi.
...
Ten minutes ago, in the temporary command center, Ai Qing's expression was grim.
"Soul radiation recording tape complete, normal."
"Depth index 0.17, normal."
"Border erosion rate 0.03%, normal."
"Normal."
"Normal."
"Normal."
All observation data was normal.
But for some reason, her expression became increasingly ugly, until finally, she revealed a hint of grimness.
"What's wrong?" The middle-aged man asked.
"Something's not right." Ai Qing clenched the armrests of her wheelchair with her delicate fingers, her eyes darkening. "There's absolutely something wrong!"
In the stunned silence of everyone present, she reached into the pouch on her wheelchair, took out her phone, and tore off the back cover, pulling out a bright red plug that looked like a SIM card.
In the silence, the middle-aged man stared, standing up subconsciously. "Are you crazy?!"
Every supervising officer's phone was a special model provided by the Astronomical Society, with an incredibly strong signal and electrical power, not to mention internal apps and data. Most importantly, and crucially, was the red highest alert on the back of the phone.Only when a supervisor confirms that something exceeds their abilities and will bring a B-level or higher border hazard, they have the right to activate the function.
Whether it's a signal flare or a life-saving talisman, very few supervisors choose to use it.
Once this function is activated, the signal will directly connect to the Special Situation Countermeasures Office of the United Nations Astronomical Society's direct jurisdiction agency - the Authority.
Exaggerating a bit, it's not an exaggeration to say that it reaches the heavens.
If the situation is serious, it may even alarm the Ten-Person Committee.
If Ai Qing was an official prosecutor, she could even use an A-level or higher holy relic in a short period of time, or directly mobilize all the sublimators in the East China Sea region...
Exaggerating to such an extent, there is naturally a price to pay.
If it is discovered that it was just a false alarm, the consequences go without saying - but for those present, the most important thing is that once it is reported to the Astronomical Society, all transactions and promises made to cover up will naturally be in vain.
Flip the table right before victory?
What does this woman want to do?
Is she really crazy!
It was only a small matter involving a border relic, why report it directly to the Authority?
It's like two county leaders calling the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection directly after having a disagreement, it's a bit too much, isn't it?
Moreover, there is no evidence or signs that anything is wrong.
"Ah, maybe I'm overreacting, but compared to unexpected situations, I'd rather take a gamble."
Ai Qing turned her phone in her hand. Once the decision was made, her expression became calm again, without any anxiety.
Even if her ability to handle things was suspected by her superiors, she accepted it.
The intense and maddening feeling of unease just now seemed like an illusion and quickly disappeared. Only the gradually drying cold sweat under her clothes could show how intense the struggle was for her to make this absurd decision.
Staring at the screen of her phone, a sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Mocking herself.
Clearly, she was only two months away from becoming a regular employee, but now, it's probably difficult to say. If it is proven to be a false alarm and overreaction, even being stripped of her supervisor identity would be considered a lenient punishment.
After all, with the increasingly tight manpower in the Special Situation Countermeasures Office, they would never allow such a waste of Astronomical Society resources to happen.
After a few seconds, the screen of her phone lit up.
There was no need to answer, a faint light was projected onto the screen, forming an illusory figure in the air, a stiffly dressed man like a switchboard operator, with an expression of neither doubt nor anxiety, calmly observing the girl in front of him.
"Code T9631, a probationary supervisor stationed in the East China branch of the Authority in Xin Hai."
He spoke, "No deep alarms detected, no border erosion traces detected, no high-level holy mark activity detected... Please submit a report and application.""Following the regulations of the Twelve Bronze Tables Law, as a probationary inspector, I apply for assistance under Article 9 of the Border Countermeasures Regulations and physical blockade of the area within ten kilometers around the Lao Tang Town under the jurisdiction of Xin Hai City, East Xia Republic. Please execute immediately."
"Request confirmed -"
The printer next to the man in a suit quickly spat out a long string of documents. After scanning through them, he picked up the seal next to him and stamped it.
"Request approved."
"Satellite orbit adjustment begins, estimated to be in position in three minutes. Execution of the blockade of Lao Tang Town under the ninth article of the Border Countermeasures Regulations is pending - entry of recorded items of the ninth article."
Like a machine, the man in suit with the code number 0075 completed all the procedures and finally nodded.
"All for the sake of the world."
The communication was cut off.
In the stunned silence of everyone, a deafening roar like an earthquake came from the distance.
And in the dark universe thousands of miles above, the massive satellite matrix floating in space emitted gas and slowly and accurately adjusted its angle, reflecting everything below it - clouds, land, cities, and dust - all insignificant.
In the Old London, the Greenwich Observatory, on the deep sixth floor underground, the massive differential engine roared and slowly spit out a tin foil tape full of holes.
After carefully cutting it down, the secretary rolled it into a bearing, keeping a backup image during the process, and finally put it into an empty tube and sent it into the nearby vacuum delivery pipeline.
Under the vacuum suction, the coded tube went straight down several kilometers and fell into the corner of the busy lobby.
The smoker sat in a chair listening to music, opened the tube with one hand, and shook out the scroll with the other hand. He stamped the cigarette butt and walked to the center of the hall, tapping his foot on the floor.
Although the hall was bustling with people, the floor was uneven, and even many places were full of water, if viewed from above, its true face could be seen - it was a huge three-dimensional map that was large enough to record all the terrains in the world.
The smoker passed by his colleagues who were working, found the specified location with the code, and took out a row of markers from his pocket, choosing the silver-gray one.
He drew a circle.
"Enclosure circle for code number C987778762 completed, filed."
So, on another continent separated by mountains and seas, the land rose with dragons and snakes.
Under the shining sun and moon at dusk, the soil outside Lao Tang Town boiled and rolled like boiling water. In the roar of iron and stone friction, hot flames emerged from it, turning countless soil into lava.
But then, iron light appeared from the lava.
Proliferation.
Like a tree growing, steel grew inch by inch, extending along the invisible pen edge, and the rapidly cooled surface turned over the black iron light. Countless sharp iron pieces like scales burst out from it.In just ten seconds, the entire Laotang Town was completely enclosed within the hundreds of meters high iron fence.
Immediately, the color of the sky turned from gloomy and mottled to pitch black.
The realm detachment began.
At that moment, a sigh was heard.
A slender, white hand stretched out from the church.
It grasped the heavens and the earth.
There was a loud explosion in the distance.
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