The Death Knell

Rome is the capital and largest city of Italy. It is also the political, economic, cultural and transportation center of the country. It has a history of more than 2,500 years. It is a world-famous historical and cultural city and the birthplace of the ancient Roman Empire. It is nicknamed "Rome" because of its long history. The Eternal City".

Rome is the center of the Catholic Church in the world, with more than 700 churches and monasteries. Rome and Florence are both the centers of the Italian Renaissance, and they still retain quite a lot of Renaissance and Baroque styles.

Gorgeous domed buildings, various colored doors, windows and glass, as well as very flashy sculptures, very sparsely dressed, and very artistic fountains can be seen at almost every intersection.

Of course, there was nothing to say about Stark's plane. They arrived in Rome in the middle of the night. The three of them got into the prepared vehicles and entered the city.

A few years ago, the streets here were still full of Mussolini's fanatical believers, but now, the entire country seems to have forgotten this.

There are no traces of war here, everything is as calm and beautiful as ever, with street lights dotting the car windows. Various magnificent palaces and buildings flew past the window.

Leo was already a little stunned. He had lived in New York since he was a child, and he had never seen such a classical city.

So everything outside the window dazzled him, and he leaned against the window and watched non-stop.

"The Colosseum, called colosseo in Italian, formerly known as the Flavian Amphitheater (amphitheatrum flavium), was a place dedicated to slave owners, nobles and free people in the ancient Roman Empire to watch beast fights or slave gladiatorial battles."

Howard parked the car in a corner of the square and motioned for Leo to get out of the car. He pointed at the huge building not far away and started to act as a tour guide.

"This is the south side of Piazza Venezia, near the ancient Roman market. The Colosseum covers an area of ​​about 20,000 square meters. It is oval-shaped when viewed from the sky, with a long axis of about 188 meters and a short axis of about 156 meters. With a circumference of about 527 meters and a wall height of about 57 meters, this huge building can accommodate nearly 90,000 spectators."

"Uh... Could it be that my job is at the Colosseum? But I don't speak Italian." Leo laughed dryly. His mind was a little confused. Why did he suddenly go abroad?

Howard turned around suddenly and did not walk towards the Colosseum, but towards the sewer entrance on the other side of the square.

"Almost, you can think of it as being deeper underground in the sewers next to the Colosseum..." Howard shrugged and pushed open the secret door that looked like a stone brick wall.

It is said to be a sewer, but it is very dry, with dust flying all over the sky, and there is no peculiar smell.

After passing through secret doors and mechanisms, Howard led the two of them to a huge pit. It was so dark that they didn't know what was underneath.

"Click, click, click..."

A series of huge churning sounds of gears were recalled in the underground space. From beneath the endless abyss, an elevator driven by gears and unknown crystals rose up.

A man walked out from inside, wearing a red robe, looking like an archbishop.

He wore a long helmet on top of his head, like a metal pea pod, carved with complex patterns and patterns, which still shone brightly even in the dim light of the torches on the surrounding walls.

"Where are you taking me?" Leo felt something was wrong when he saw someone dressed in such weird clothes. Is this some kind of cult?

However, although the man who walked out of the elevator had a serious expression, he was by no means a fanatic. He replied in a very rational tone: "I will take you to the eternal space and your future."

With that said, he opened the elevator door and motioned for several people to enter.

Leo didn't want to move at first, but Howard and Nathaniel both invited him warmly with smiles on their faces, and their attitude didn't change much.

He felt a little more relieved and walked into the elevator. The man in strange clothes also walked in and pulled a few levers on the inner wall of the elevator. The elevator began to move down quickly.

He turned back to look at Leonid, with a faint smile on his slightly older face: "You don't have to pretend, we all know who you are."

Leonid sighed and didn't see any movement from him. His whole body turned into a translucent form. In his body, countless stars could be seen. They either formed nebulae or It rotates according to its own laws, turning him into the appearance of the deep space of the universe.

The stranger nodded slightly and didn't say anything more about Leo's form. He just turned to look out the window and motioned for him to look down.

"Leonid, look below and you will see a miracle."

Hearing this, Leo approached the glass on the elevator, and the abyss that was dark just now suddenly became clear.

A city suddenly appeared in front of him, as if he had passed through some kind of curtain. Not only were there magnificent classical buildings and palaces, but there were also many tall buildings floating in the air, with some red crystals like hills supporting their suspension.

This city is more prosperous than Rome on the ground. Even at this point in time, the city is still brightly lit. Viewed from a distance above, there is a steady flow of traffic and a surging crowd of people.

"God..." Leonid opened his mouth in surprise, and except for constantly chanting the name of Heavenly Father, he almost froze there.

The man in strange clothes showed a proud expression, and he walked to Leo's side: "This is an eternal miracle, this is the immortal city!"

The elevator has reached the bottom, and the other three people have walked to the front, while Leo is still looking at the surroundings with surprise on his face.

Whether it was soldiers wearing armor holding laser guns or giant buildings floating in the air like mountains, these were far beyond his imagination.

He felt that his tongue was numb, and there was electricity under his hair. His hands were shaking so much that he could only put them in his jacket pockets.

After walking step by step for a while, he gradually calmed down and asked the old man who came to pick them up.

“I know that Rome was built on the ruins of ancient Rome, and there is an even older Roman ruin under it, but there is such a city 200 meters underground here... How is this possible? !”

The old man shook his cloak, his long helmet shook, and replied in a calm tone: "Science, magic, I can't give you any other explanation other than these. This is the hidden history of our world, and this is immortality." their home.”

All of this is like a dream, as if Rome on the ground is reflected underground. This huge city really exists. Whether it is the streets paved with red bricks or the exquisite angel statues beside the road, he can touch them all. .

And soon, after he walked down a long staircase, the four of them entered a theater-like building.

A beautiful and majestic building, the interior is equally magnificent. The technology that transcends the times is perfectly combined with classical art, and all kinds of incredible scenes emerge within it.

The most eye-catching thing is an emblem located on the dome of the magnificent theater, with an eagle spreading its wings on it.

The golden emblem cast a beam of light, shrouding Leonid in the beam, and he felt warm all over his body.

At this time, he found that someone was already waiting for him in this amphitheater-like place.

Wearing the same clothes as the people who received them before, there were four slightly older people sitting on a high platform. The bottom of the high platform was carved with complex patterns.

Howard and Nathaniel nodded towards Leo and motioned for him to stay where he was, and then they walked to the empty auditorium on the other side, leaving only a faint outline in the darkness.

The person who greeted them walked up to the podium and sat on a chair in the middle.

Then he spoke.

"Listen carefully, and something will resonate with you that will resonate through time. It all started with an idea, a flash of fire in the sky."

Leonid swallowed and looked at the people whose outlines were hidden in the darkness. He swallowed and quietly waited for the explanation.

The old man did not keep him waiting and told an old story. That was in BC, that was at the dawn of civilization on Earth.

A flash of fire fell in Egypt, and wonderful buildings were seen burning, falling from the sky into the desert.

But when they went to check, they were parasitized by a terrifying space insect race. They spread and multiplied at an extremely high speed, and saw that the fate of all living things was in danger.

That was the end of life, and the world.

At the critical moment, a man stepped forward. He gathered the surviving creatures and formed the final army to fight the alien Zerg to the death.

He said: "Our world shouldn't end like this!"

He received weapons from the gods, a spear and a shield.

With the help of heroes from all walks of life, he killed the Zerg Queen, eliminated the parasitized people, and saved all the remaining people. He made different choices for the earth between extinction and survival.

People are united in the name of the shield in his hand.

"There is that shield above your head. Since then, passed down from generation to generation to this day, we are a shield that protects mankind in the known and unknown."

The leader of the old man was sitting upright. When he said these words, he couldn't help but puff up his chest, and the scenes he described and the more detailed battles also made Leo's blood boil.

And just when he raised his head to look at the shield, the five people on the rostrum began to say in unison: "We are a protective measure, a protective measure specifically against those who hinder our world from moving forward as envisioned and against those who stand in the way. .”

Seeing that Leo was immersed in excitement and yearning, the person on the high platform added: "This is a summons from the world, a summons from an organization that provides protection to the world as gods."

"God?" Leo frowned.

The other elder nodded and was not affected by the doubt: "If we can't reverse some of the future, how can we be so proud of ourselves?"

The person in the center looked at Leo: "Can you understand?"

Leo's body like a starry sky did not hide his expression. He raised his translucent eyebrows: "I can do it to protect the world."

The leader of the old man nodded affirmatively: "That's right."