Simon watched the scenes unfold before him, feeling an inexplicable shock. Such a world, with an all-controlling upper class and a deprived lower class—such a contrast, so evil.
"I think I understand," he said.
The images gradually faded.
Skerry walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. "We still have a chance."
"A chance? You mean we can destroy this so-called paradise?"
"Yes." Skerry put his arm around Simon's shoulder and walked him out. They left the simulation room, entered a living room, sat on the sofa, and chatted while eating snacks.
"The Core of paradise is an Eden Shard, an artifact from an ancient Precursor civilization. The Templars have five, and we have one, though it's damaged."
Simon pressed, "The Eden Shard is the golden apple, right?"
"Yes." Skerry shoved a handful of cheese slices into his mouth, exhaling a foul-smelling breath. "The golden apple. If only we can find it."
"How do we find it?"
"Only those who have touched the golden apple can sense it."
"So it's a dead end."
"Well, we just need to find the descendants of the Assassins who once touched the golden apple. We can use the Animus machine to trace ancestral memories."
"And then what?"
"We found it."
"Then isn't that great?"
"Then we lost it."
"...So it's still a dead end."
Simon sighed, pushed away Skerry's bad-breathed head, and stood up.
"I don't belong here," he said to himself.
Simon turned to Skerry and asked, "Where's my bedroom?"
Skerry pointed to a flimsy sensor door. "Don't sleep. Wouldn't it be better to go chat with our friends?"
"Friends?" Simon repeated. "Friends, do I still have friends?"
"You're really not doing well." Skerry abruptly stood up, walked in front of Simon, and looked at him with worried and caring eyes.
"I feel like all of this is wrong, you know? I shouldn't be here!" His expression was on the verge of breaking down.
"Calm down! Calm down! Do you want some medicine?"
Simon gripped his hair, took a deep breath, and then sighed.
"Where was that lost Assassin descendant lost?"
"In the lower levels of the Second Paradise... Wait, you're not thinking of going there, are you?"
"You're coming with me!"
"Why?"
"I don't know the way."
Skerry's scalp tingled as he watched Simon begin to fiddle with his Fenjiang Sword.
"Alright, alright! I agree."
He picked up a tablet from the table, entered a request, and after seeing "Request accepted," he showed the screen to Simon.
"When will we get a reply?"
"Not long... Hmm, it's already approved."
The doorbell rang, and Simon opened the door to find a package on the ground.
Inside was a new Assassin's insignia. Skerry leaned in and said to Simon, "We usually handle intelligence work for the Third Paradise, but it's fine. The person in charge of the Second Paradise is an old friend. We'll say hello to him when we go."
Simon pressed the insignia against the wall, and a portal appeared.
The two crossed the short distance and arrived in a brand new world.
Dark, noisy, and foul-smelling.
This was an alley somewhere in the lower levels. What should have been housing had been cleared for a passage, surrounded by piles of discarded furniture, broken iron sheets, and other junk. The walls were covered in graffiti, grotesque and ugly with no artistic merit. What made Simon frown the most were the urine stains at the base of the walls.
Several derelicts lay in a puddle of some unknown liquid, their faces dazed. One of them had a bullet hole in his abdomen, but no blood, only some scattered gears exposed.
Skerry walked out, covering his nose. As he walked, he said, "Let's go find the organization's people first. That old friend is incredibly capable. He's said to be a descendant of the legendary Assassin Jacob Frye..." He looked back, but Simon was gone. "Hey! Where is he!"
Simon left the alley in the opposite direction. He didn't plan to act with Skerry because it made him feel constrained. Although Skerry was indeed a friend, he was also a representative of a large organization, and Simon always felt uncomfortable in his presence.
He saw a tall tower made of discarded materials in the middle of the shaft, with many signs hanging on it for various food shops, repair shops, and so on.
Simon climbed to the top of the tower, using both his hands and feet, while the surrounding people stared at him like he was an idiot. From his high vantage point, he could overlook a large area.
Taking a deep breath of the strange air, Simon's eyes sharpened—Eagle Vision!
His vision was veiled by a mist, buildings became transparent, human outlines stood out, and a flood of information poured in.
In a nearby house, a group of thugs was harassing children. In the house next door, someone was rummaging through cabinets. Behind a large silver screen were several corpses. In a garage, there was a heavy machine...
Simon leaped across the protruding signs, railings, clotheslines, and shelves of the buildings, rushing towards the bullied children.
"Hey, buddy! Don't butt in!" A young man with a Mohawk haircut made several mocking gestures at Simon.
Several burly thugs surrounded a short-haired girl, who held a small knife in her hand.
"Hand over the money, Xiao Milian. It's better to give it to us than to your gambling addict father." A scrawny man with an exaggerated smile stood outside the circle of thugs, trying to persuade the girl.
Milian didn't say a word. She was observing the surrounding thugs. These adults were not only strong but also had spare money, meaning they could go to the black market for some mechanical modifications. The power gap was vast, but for her, this was not a reason to give up fighting.
Simon drew his Fenjiang Sword and performed a brilliant sword flourish. The thugs who had been watching him immediately tensed up. "Guys! It looks like we have trouble!"
The thugs turned to glare at Simon. The scrawny man walked over with his hands raised. "Whoa there, friend! Don't misunderstand! We and Xiao Milian are old neighbors, how could we hurt her?" He moved slowly, his face sincere, but his hand gradually slid towards his waist.
Simon frowned, his eyes fixed on his hand.
The other party was a bit awkward and raised his hands again.
"You see, holding your hands up like this is quite tiring..."
"I don't care. I just want to know, where's the biggest black market here?"
"Oh! A rich patron has arrived! Alright, let old Timmy take you! Hey! Timmy, where are you! The patron's here!"
A clanging sound came from a pile of trash by the wall, and then a disheveled old man with paper scraps stuck in his beard crawled out.
"Coming, Funi, you punk. Where's the fat sheep?"
Simon waved his hand in front of him. "The fat sheep is here."
"Ha! Haha! Another kid. Funi, you dog, why don't you skin him alive!" The old man laughed, revealing his black, broken teeth, and exhaling an incredibly foul stench.
Simon looked at his cloudy eyeballs, then said to the scrawny man, "This is a blind man."
"I'm not blind!" The old man was furious.
"I say you are. Not only are you blind, you're also a dead man!"
The next second, sword light exploded!
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