Chapter 558: Damascus (Part 1)
If there is a paradise on earth, Damascus must be in it.
If heaven is in the sky, Damascus is as famous as it.
It has experienced the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, seen the Arab Empire era of the Omayyad Dynasty, and lingered on the edge of the history of Saladin's defeat of the Western Crusades. There have been many owners here, it experienced the invasion of Babylonians, Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians and Persians, and became the treasure of Alexander the Great. Pompey's Roman legions had been here, and the temple dedicated to Jupiter was built on the site of the Temple of Haddad. This ancient city was built with high walls, and the Thomas Gate on the east side stands today. St. Paul once entered Damascus to preach from Caesar Gate, and the most magnificent St. Paul's Church in the city still stands there.
Lara Croft was here before the war broke out, she visited the National Museum in Damascus, she went to St Paul's Church, she saw the ancient city of Palmyra, and walked in the Umayyad Mosque. Sir Richard Crawford was invited by the National Museum in Damascus to study artifacts from the Seleucid period. Laura Crawford, who was young at the time, also came here to play with her father and had exchanges with the famous Syrian historian Khalid al-Assad. But with the outbreak of war and the rise of terrorist organizations, these places are no longer what they used to be, and they will never be restored. The city called "Silk and Satin" was burned by the war, and the museum was forced to transfer its collections and then closed indefinitely. This made Laura completely shattered the idea of looking for clues in the local museum. She could only find ways to go back to Europe and look for clues from the cultural relics stolen by terrorist organizations.
She had never seen any religious painting depicting angels in golden armor, but she happened to know a European art historian. The art historian is well versed in the art history of ancient Greece and the Middle Ages, as well as Baroque and Gothic architecture. Lara Croft only hopes that Salomon can help her identify the golden angels on those murals from the copied paintings and photos. After all, it is almost impossible for an angel in a gothic patterned armor to appear on a Byzantine mural in the tenth century AD, which does not conform to history at all.
There is also the term "sacred source" that no one knows. Laura thinks that the magician Salomon may have heard of this name.
Fortunately, she was traveling in a private jet, otherwise she would never have been able to leave Syria.
Because of the war, most international airlines have grounded the route. Several airlines, including Emirates and EgyptAir, have canceled flights to Damascus. British Airways also stopped flying to Damascus in May 2012, while Royal Jordanian Airways stopped flying in July 2012. When she sat on the plane taking off, she could see the hardened aircraft shelter and artillery revetment south of the airport. Exhausted, she felt the artillery sound like rumbling thunder from the blurred skyline, but she heard nothing when she listened carefully.
She worries that the Holy Trinity she met in the Prophet's Tomb will come after her. The weapons Salomon prepared for her came in handy, but she didn't carry much at the time, and she couldn't form a powerful counterattack against the Holy Trinity Sect. The captain hired by a lot of money listened to Laura's description indifferently, then drove the plane out of Damascus Airport on his own, and then changed the flight path very skillfully with the help of a certain program, hiding the flight path of the plane in the chaotic short-haul routes in Europe.
Laura, who fell asleep on the plane, endured the pain and asked the captain. "I have participated in SAS before." The captain replied casually, "I guarantee that those people will never be able to track you, because now this plane has changed its serial number, and it is a ghost plane that does not exist at all."
It took three days before she flew to New York.
Salomon had long since left London, and he was not in the United States. It is said that he went to outer space, and he does not know when he will come back. The beautiful witch pointed her to Mount Athena to seek the help of a Greek and Roman historian. Bayonetta said that she was Salomon's adoptive mother who ran an orphanage and published a book. The reason why Salomon has such profound attainments in the art and history of ancient Greece is because his adoptive mother gave him extremely strict family education.
“A man with marble powder in his hand is the sexiest,” Bayonetta laughs. “He picked up a hammer and a chisel before he was a teenager, and now this apartment is filled with his work. Whether it’s plaster or marble, whether it’s painting or drawing. You’ll find what you want there, Lara Croft.”
Laura Crawford, who was full of hope, was poured cold water by Minerva, because the beautiful owner of the orphanage didn't know where the pattern on the armor came from. But even so, Minerva still warmly received her, never leaving Salomon in words, and the topic shifted from art history to modern clothing, and she took Laura to the shopping mall when she disagreed with each other. Laura saw many ancient Greek and Roman artifacts there, but the urgent investigation process prevented her from staying in New York for too long.
Laura, whose clues are interrupted, can only return to Crawford Manor in Surrey, reorganize her father's information, and transfer the investigation center to other places-if Laura finds the Immortal City and Stephanie, she will have an amazing fact. In the heavily guarded basement in the depths of the Immortal City, there are a hundred golden armors. Various types of high-tech devices are installed in these golden armors. The patterns on the surface of the golden armors are exactly the same as the ones she saw on the murals.
She finally found a clue.
In a book called the Codex of the Chronicle of Kitezh, she found a strange cross that was identical to the one she had seen in the tomb of the prophet, and it looked like a combination of a Celtic cross, a Jesus-Salem cross and a Maltese swallowtail cross. Laura knew 450 types of crosses, but had never seen this one.
Neither an Orthodox cross nor a Presbyterian cross.
As for the legend of Kit City, it is even more confusing. It is said that after the Mongols conquered part of Russia, Batu heard the story of the city of Kitezh and ordered his army to advance there. The Mongols quickly captured the small city of Kitezh, and Grand Duke Yuri was forced to retreat to a forest extending towards the city of Great Kitezh. One of the captured prisoners told Batu the secret passage leading to Svetloyal Lake, and the Kipchak Khanate army followed the prisoner's instructions and chased to the city wall of Kitezh. To their surprise, the city was completely devoid of fortifications, and the inhabitants of the city did not even have the will to resist.
They prayed fervently and asked God for salvation. After seeing this scene, the Mongols immediately launched an attack, but then saw a large number of springs emerging from the ground around their army, and the Mongols had to retreat and watched the city sink into the water. The last thing they saw was the gleaming dome of the city's cathedral, with its cross. Soon the city was completely submerged in the water, leaving only the endless waves of the lake.
Laura Crawford, who has been quite obsessed with finding the ruins, decided to look for the legendary Kit City, where she thought there would be clues she wanted. Of course, this idea was strongly opposed by her companion Jonah, because the legend was too absurd. In Jonah's view, Lara Croft fell into the same situation as her father.
Jonah leaves angrily, but soon Laura doesn't have to feel bad about her friend leaving.
Because the Holy Trinity has come.
Ask for a ticket!
