Chapter 1794: Chapter 1793: Sealing Spirit Coffin, The Remains Enter the City
Dawn City · Inside the City Gates
"What’s going on?" The young man stood in the room and looked back at the convoy hurriedly entering the city outside the window, asking somewhat confused.
"The mercenary corps of the consortium have further surrounded Dawn City," a nearby officer rasped, "now all trade routes have been cut off. According to General Vislo’s orders, we are about to close the gates. The City Government has given one last chance to let these convoys enter the city, which is why they are rushing in."
"Won’t this lead to spies infiltrating the city?" asked a nearby woman with dark skin in a ponytail quickly.
"There’s no other choice," the officer shrugged, "we can’t just leave them outside the city gates. Once the war starts, they will surely die. Dawn City’s approach has always been like this."
He turned around, his gaze passing through the window and into the city’s depths, "I heard the City Government has designated an isolation zone at the city gates. Incoming convoys will temporarily rest and undergo inspection there."
"That works, but it’s still a landmine," the ponytailed woman nodded slightly and sighed, "If we were in Vitland, these convoys would likely be driven away immediately. The important figures within the city would prioritize their own safety."
"Dawn City is really different from other cities—a true first city of the Federation," the initially asking young man also gazed at the densely departing convoys outside and sighed.
"That’s Mr. Christos for you; he’s unlike others," the officer shook his head, "Before Mr. Christos took office, this place was no different from other cities, perhaps even worse."
Beep, beep, beep—
Just at that moment, amid the urgent alarm sounds, a truck container squeezed into the room through the opened door.
"Alright," a voice somewhat calm but firm sounded behind them, "it’s time for us to get down to business."
"Has the stuff arrived, Brother Dest?" the young man turned back, looking at the figure behind him.
At this moment, the robust man stood in front of the container door, opened it, and rows of black metal boxes with simple gilded patterns appeared in the dim light.
Upon closer observation, one could discern that the box’s patterns interwove to evoke a faintly sacred and solemn aura.
"Yes, they’re here." Dest held the opened door, glancing at the young man and then turned his head, looking at the neatly arranged silver-white metal boxes on the other side of the room.
"Time is running out," a young-looking man in black clothes walked in from outside the door, looking at Dest and others in the room, "Originally, our plan was to go to the crematorium first, completely send the remains to the Dark Lizard, and then arrange the entry ceremony tomorrow morning, but now the consortium might attack the city at any moment, and by then there will be no time to arrange an entry ceremony,"
He shifted his gaze, looking at the neat rows of black metal boxes in the container, rasping, "We’ll have to trouble everyone to transfer the remains to these ’coffins’."
"Do we really have to transfer them?" The young man by the window turned his glance at the silent metal boxes beside him, "Can’t we just ship these metal boxes directly as those ’coffins’? Also, what are ’coffins’?"
"These coffins were taken out of the Dawn City Government’s warehouse," the man in black walked to the back of the container, quickly climbed to the top, raised his hand, and pulled out a heavy-looking black metal box.
Then, with a ’boom—’ the box landed heavily on the ground. He stooped slightly, carefully placing the metal box down, gently brushed it, shaking off the fine dust scattered on the box.
As the dust dispersed, the gilded patterns on the metal box gradually emerged.
A heavy and intangible aura instantly emanated from the box, causing the room’s air to weigh down, as if an invisible mountain pressed heavily on everyone’s hearts, making them gasp for breath.
At this moment, Dest stood closest to the container, lowered his head, and stared at the metal box’s surface, observing the gilded patterns exposed.
Beneath those golden lines, faint scattered purple glows were faintly visible, gently outlining the patterns and intermittently flickering.
"These are the Sealing Spirit Coffins used by Dawn City during the Era of the Great Cataclysm and early Federation times. Back then, this was a necessity for major cities," the man in black raised his head and looked at the surrounding people, "Now the Federation has essentially established a complete cremation system using urns, and these coffins have become relics of the past, so it’s normal for everyone not to know them."
He paused before continuing, "During the early Era of the Great Cataclysm and the early Federation, the mutation of corpses wasn’t as prevalent as now. At that time, certain burial customs were still prevalent, and some important or heroic figures even had ancient tombs requiring these ’Sealing Spirit Coffins’ for their burials."
"I do know about that," the ponytailed woman with darker skin nodded,
"My grandfather used to say that many years ago, in the wilderness, there existed numerous unknown ’tombs’ where one could likely find treasures from the Era of the Great Cataclysm and even extraordinary items with condensed Talent Sequences. But after years of development and excavation, most easy-to-dig tombs have been unearthed, and even if found, they’re mostly empty tombs,"
She looked at her companions, "The remaining ones are tombs terrifyingly akin to alien realms, encountering them may not be a blessing. I’ve also come across some empty tombs, with almost nothing left inside,"
Her gaze floated over the man in black and the black coffin in front of him, "Though I’ve never seen this kind of ’Sealing Spirit Coffin’."
"That’s because Sealing Spirit Coffins are inherently high-grade extraordinary items," the man in black nodded slightly and continued,
"Their function is to seal the deceased’s spirit within the remains, preventing the corpse from being contaminated or undergoing mutation.
"In the early times of the Era of the Great Cataclysm, this technology was immature, coupled with the passage of time, so during that era, any level of Sealing Spirit Coffin would decay over time.
"Later, during the late Era of the Great Cataclysm to the early Federation period, although the technology of Sealing Spirit Coffins advanced, it was only accessible to the noble and powerful or heroic figures, many of whom were powerful Transcendents.
"As time passed, some of them had their Talent Sequences merge with the Sealing Spirit Coffins, forming special extraordinary items, taking up most of the Sealing Spirit Coffins.
"Even if there are strong Sealing Spirit Coffins that remain untainted and preserved in tombs till now, those capable of long-term preservation can essentially be categorized as powerful extraordinary items, practically priceless. Those tomb robbers would surely take the Sealing Spirit Coffins with them,"
He looked at the ponytailed woman and commented casually, "So not seeing Sealing Spirit Coffins in empty tombs is perfectly normal."
"Wait a moment," the young man by the window raised his hand in confusion, "You mentioned these high-grade Sealing Spirit Coffins that can be preserved for years are only accessible to nobles and heroes."
He pointed at the densely packed black Sealing Spirit Coffins in the container, "Then these Sealing Spirit Coffins, you said just now, were retained from the early Federation? So they are all···"
"Yes," the man in black nodded slightly, glanced at the dusty, densely packed coffins in the container, "they are all high-grade Sealing Spirit Coffins."
The room fell silent instantly, as Dest beside the man in black also raised his head, looking toward him.
"Didn’t you say that only nobles could afford such Sealing Spirit Coffins?" the ponytailed woman couldn’t help but asked.
"Yes," the man in black nodded slightly, "that’s for the entire Federation, but this is Dawn City,"
He paused slightly and said calmly, "This is the foundation of Dawn City."
The young man by the window lifted his head, looking at the dense line of Sealing Spirit Coffins, momentarily speechless.
"This young man," Dest finally opened his mouth slowly, looking at the man in black with some confusion, "You seem to know a lot about these hidden pieces of knowledge. You’ve mentioned many things we have never heard of. May I ask who you are?"
"I’m just an ordinary warehouse manager at the Dawn City Museum," the man in black nodded slightly, "These Sealing Spirit Coffins happen to be in the warehouse area I’m responsible for, and they need someone who understands them for transportation, so they found me to handle this task."
The entire room fell silent again. The young man by the window lifted his head, his eyes carrying a hint of bewilderment, "You really are just an ordinary warehouse manager."
"Yes." The man in black nodded slightly. He took out an ID from his chest, which had his name and the title of warehouse manager in Dawn City.
The room fell silent again for a moment. Finally, Dest sighed softly, "Dawn City really hides many talents."
"Friends," the man in black simply looked at them, "we don’t have enough time, we must act quickly; the entry ritual is about to begin, and the people outside are still waiting for us."
"Alright," Dest nodded slightly, scanning the room beyond the officers, "everyone, start working."
With that, he paused slightly, looking back at the man in black behind him, "However, you may need to prepare yourself mentally."
"Hmm?" The man in black was slightly stunned.
But Dest didn’t give him time to react; instead, he walked to the nearest metal box, reached out, and opened the lid.
A strong stench of blood immediately filled the entire room, rushing into everyone’s nostrils.
Upon smelling the blood, the man in black visibly trembled, his entire body showing a clear adverse reaction.
But he quickly suppressed this reaction, lifted his head, and looked at that metal box, a blood-soaked body appeared in his field of view.
"This metal box seems to be able to keep the body from decaying," Dest stood next to the metal box, speaking calmly, "but those gang members who killed these young people were rather ruthless."
"Indeed, it’s excessive," The man in black tried to take a deep breath, but halfway through, his nostrils seemed to fill with the stench of blood. The action paused, and then he exhaled a long breath, gazing at the mangled remains, "These people are really heroes, so let’s begin."
He turned around and started unloading the black Sealing Spirit Coffins from the carriage quickly.
Meanwhile, the others immediately stepped forward to open the silver coffins and transferred the bodies inside into the Sealing Spirit Coffins.
Compared to the man in black’s reaction, these figures, dressed in varied clothing, could handle the obscure flesh without a change of expression, as if they had seen far more twisted remains than these.
The young man who had been standing by the window came over to help the man in black carry the Sealing Spirit Coffins, cleaning the dust off them.
He looked at the large areas of gilding on the coffin and remarked with some sentiment, "This gold is beautiful; it looks just like real gold."
"That’s real gold," the man in black said softly, "Back then, Mithril wasn’t as stable as it is now, and gold was the best medium for the extraordinary. There even was a ’secret gold’ formula. The special gold produced had a high compatibility with mysticism, serving as a support for various mysticism rituals."
"Brother, you know so much," the young man commented, gazing at the gold on the coffin, taking a slight breath, then shifting his gaze and continuing to wipe quickly.
"It’s all book knowledge. I just read more than you guys," the man in black nodded and said outright.
"If I knew as much as you do, I probably wouldn’t encounter so much danger in the wild," the young man sighed slightly. At this point, he also focused his gaze on the dense patterns, "Brother, can this really seal all the bodies’ mutations? What about external forces? I heard that some Talent Sequences can control the bodies and undead of the deceased."
"It can," the man in black held another coffin and nodded slightly, "The Sealing Spirit Coffins not only suppress the spiritual body mutations inside but also isolate internal and external spiritual body sensations, making it impossible to control the bodies from outside."
"Is it that powerful?" the young man couldn’t help but marvel.
"Not that powerful," the man in black thought for a moment, "These coffins cannot seal everything. If there’s a hidden Divine Power in the body, driven by Divine Power, it might break the suppression,"
He shook his head slightly and said, "But that’s almost impossible; it’s nearly impossible for someone to pray for Divine Grace for a corpse, and convincing a Divine Being to cooperate is even less likely. Even if it breaks through, the Divine Power within may not break through the locked Sealing Spirit Coffin."
"Oh," the young man nodded, not completely understanding, "what is Divine Power?"
The man in black paused slightly, then shook his head, "Knowing this knowledge can bring danger."
"Then forget it." The young man immediately shook his head like a rattle, then carried a black coffin towards his companions.
The man in black watched his back, withdrew his gaze, and continued preparing the coffins quickly.
At this time, the girl with a ponytail beside him placed a relatively intact body into the coffin.
Then she turned around, ready to clean up the metal box where the body had been.
The bloodstains in that metal box were intense, smeared everywhere, showing that the body had been severely injured before death, greatly damaged.
Seeing this, she paused slightly, turned back to look at the well-preserved body in the Sealing Spirit Coffin.
That body remained there, long since passed away.
Then she shook her head and closed the Sealing Spirit Coffin.
Outside the window of that room, dense caravans continued moving swiftly, like a rapid and frantic river rushing into a lake.
