Chapter 458: The Forsaken Realm of Gods (47) (1st + 2nd update) [VIP]

"I'm just guessing...hiss." Guan Hongyan was halfway through her words when there was a loud noise in the passage. The ground shook slightly, causing her brows to frown. "Is this going to collapse?"

They are still in the mine now.

"It shouldn't collapse," Xu Zichen also grinned and covered his ears, "Is this the noise from the mining on the other side?"

Compared to the quietness when they entered here last time, the Perrin Mine today is not only full of people, but also has some huge machines that are rarely used. Not only inside the mine, but even in the open space outside, the huge startup sound of the machines can be heard from time to time.

It was noisy outside, so naturally it was impossible for the mine to be quiet. They were all on the same mountain range, and a third mine tunnel was being built on the other side. In addition to the sounds coming through the messy media, sometimes there were vibrations coming from the third mine tunnel that made the entire mine tremble. The stones on the rock walls and the dusty gas lamps hanging above the heads made clanking sounds under the vibrations, and the sounds echoed in circles in the deep mine, making this long-abandoned mine tunnel bustling with activity.

"Where were we just now?" After a while of shaking, the mine finally returned to silence temporarily.

"Enoch's amnesia is related to the resurrection of the Breath of Slenkmed," Yun Guang suggested, "Why do you think there is a connection between the two?"

"It's just a guess, a blind guess," Guan Hongyan shrugged. "Anyway, there are no clues right now, so I'm just guessing."

"And we still haven't figured out why Breath of Slenkmed came to life. If it has nothing to do with Enoch, then why did the game die earlier or later, but came to life this year?"

"Elemental spirits appeared?" Xu Zichen asked tentatively, "Didn't Delmis say this is the breakthrough point?"

"The emergence of elemental elves... means that this world can finally give birth to life on its own, instead of needing data to create it?" Guan Hongyan guessed.

Bai Jinshu reminded: "Anton."

"Yes," Guan Hongyan blinked, "this world has long been able to give birth to life on its own. Anton was born a few years ago."

That rules out it as a factor in the birth of life.

Everyone reached the end of the mine. Bai Jinshu reached out and touched the edge. The seal he left to separate the mine and the fairy kingdom was still there. It seemed that no creature had entered the fairy kingdom through this passage during this period of time.

Compared with the gradually declining Thrunkmed, Alterac was still lush and green. As soon as they entered the forest, the exploration team members behind Bai Jinshu subconsciously took a deep breath.

"Dermis, what's going on?" Guan Hongyan took a few deep breaths and quickly looked up. "Why do I feel that the air here is much better than outside?"

As soon as she entered Alterac, she felt as if a stone pressing on her chest suddenly fell away, and she subconsciously began to breathe in deep breaths of air.

If she hadn't entered here, she probably wouldn't have realized the abnormality in her body.

Guan Hongyan turned her head and looked at her teammates around her. They all pressed their chests and lungs like her, with confusion on their faces.

"I thought we had breathing problems because we were lacking oxygen due to flying in the sky all the time," Xu Zichen frowned, "So it's not our problem?"

Why didn’t I have this feeling the last time I entered Alterac?

"It's a sign of trouble in Slenkmade," Bai Jinshu looked at the fairy kingdom in front of him, and everything was normal. "The strange disease in the alien continent looks like buried decay. The method of the Grand Mage and Zhang Nuoke is to transfer the large amount of overflowing wood elements in the fairy kingdom through magic sand to fill the gaps in the earth veins. Now that the magic pattern has stopped working, it is normal for the breathing to be difficult."

Shortness of breath is just a sign.

Next, the plants rooted in the soil will be the first to sense the depletion of the earth veins, and so will be the first to wither and die.

Then there are animals that have no magical talent and have a relatively low elemental sensitivity. They will gradually stop showing vital signs, and no matter how big they were when they were alive, only skin and bones will be left when they die, looking like mummies or skeletons.

When the plants and animals die, humans will be the next to die.

For the magical world, the depletion of magic in the earth veins is like the gradual disappearance of oxygen in the air. If nothing is done, sooner or later, everyone living on this continent will die.

[? Is this so serious? ]

[I was talking about some strange disease before, and I thought it was really some kind of plant or animal infectious disease, but it turned out to be the decline of the earth veins? ]

[The decline of the earth veins is a sign of the end of the world. If I were a person from that alien continent, I would definitely go to another continent to settle down at all costs.]

[Why is it that the earth is doomed when its veins die? Is there no way to solve this problem? 】

[There is no way, this is the law of nature, the world has reached this point and it is irreversible, just like an old man in his seventies or eighties cannot go back to his twenties.]

[You can think of the earth veins as veins that transport magic power. The decline of this thing means the exhaustion of magic power. In a pure magic world without the development of technology, the exhaustion of the earth veins will lead to the destruction of the world, because everything here relies on magic power to survive, and they will die when the magic power disappears.]

【What about a world with advanced technology? 】

[It depends on the degree of dependence of creatures on magic power. If the dependence is low, it will transform from a magic civilization to an industrial civilization, then gradually enter the Dharma Ending Age, achieve modernization, and finally become a technological civilization. ]

[Anyway, the decay of the earth veins is a big deal. This space currently seems to be highly dependent on magic. If you want to solve the decay of the earth veins, you really have to update the expansion pack. ]

The barrage was discussing the future of Slenkmed, and on the screen, the exploration team members who had finally adapted to the environment of high magic concentration set foot on the land of Alterac again.

It was as quiet and peaceful here as usual, with swaying trees and shimmering water on the lake. The goblins once again saw the necromancer who had burned their wings last time, and they all hid themselves.

Unfortunately, hiding is of no use.

“Hey, hey, hey——” A fairy with big wings was dragged out from behind the tree shadow, “Who is pulling my wings! Who is it…”

Its voice stopped in disappointment when it found out that the person pulling its wings was Bai Jinshu.

"I... We didn't play any pranks this time!" The fairy spoke more and more confidently, "You can't bully us for no reason!"

"Don't shout... it's too noisy," Bai Jinshu casually shook the goblin off, "I need you to be my translator."

"Translation?" The elves from behind the shade of the trees poked their heads out. "What is translation?"

"The elemental elves that appeared here a few days ago can only speak fairy language," Guan Hongyan looked at the fairies who were hiding from Delmis but now all appeared, "You don't know?"

"I don't know."

"Elemental spirits, what are those?"

"Is it fun?"

"It sounds like it fell out of the fruit!"

"That's an elf! So stupid."

"You are stupid. The two characters after Elemental Elf are also Elf!"

"That elemental spirit looked like a goblin when we found it," the goblins started to chatter. Yun Guang recalled and explained Guan Hongyan's question, "It is probably because it imitated the goblins and turned into a creature like them, so the goblins have never seen it before."

Guan Hongyan blinked: "Oh, yes."

At that time, Delmis said that it was because the elemental elves were all new elves, so they took on whatever they saw. The elemental elves in the small mountain village turned themselves into beasts when they saw wild beasts, and the ones in the Perrin Mine had only seen goblins, so they turned themselves into goblins.

The fairies are indeed a race that is naturally different from humans. A few minutes ago they were hiding because they were afraid of Bai Jinshu, but now they have popped up again because of an "elemental elf" they have never heard of.

"So what is the translation?"

"What are elemental spirits?"

"Is it fun? Is it fun?"

"I want to go with you!"

"Why did you catch it and not me... I want to play too! I haven't played with humans for a long time since the passage to the human world was locked..."

"Those are elemental spirits, not humans!"

"So can we go?"

A group of goblins looked in Bai Jinshu's direction with burning eyes.

Bai Jinshu: "...whatever."

He just came to find an interpreter. As for whether other goblins would follow him out to do mischief and make the already miserable continent even worse, that was not his concern.

And the current situation outside... even Guan Hongyan, Xu Zichen and other humans who don't rely on magic feel shortness of breath. For the indigenous people, especially the magical creatures and goblins, the environment in Slenkmed should be very harsh.

As expected, the concentration of magic power in the mine connected to Alterac was quite good. As soon as they came out of the mine, the goblins flying in the air fell down one after another.

Bai Jinshu had anticipated this and took a step to the left, then calmly watched the fairy fall from the sky to the ground.

“This is…” Yun Guang was stunned.

"The magic concentration is too low, they can't fly," Bai Jinshu said casually, "Just take one out and sweep the others back into the mine."

The outside environment is so harsh that these goblins can't even fly, let alone play pranks. There is no need to seal the passage between Alterac and Slenkmed. Now the only place these goblins can stay in the outside world is the mine.

"These goblins can't fly anymore... The situation around the Perrin Mine isn't optimistic either," Yun Guang sighed, "I don't know if it's still possible to transport the magic sand now."

"It's not possible to go back to the beginning," Bai Jinshu said, leaning against the rock wall and looking at the surrounding environment, "but it's still possible to barely survive."

It's just that there is less magic power flowing in the earth veins, so except for those necessary for survival, all the plants and animals here will probably be killed. The decline of the earth veins is an irreversible process, and the status of mages in Slenkmed may plummet, and be replaced by other professions that are less dependent on magic power.

However, this would lead to more problems. For example, if all the trees and animals were cut down and hunted, the pathways connecting each node in the magic pattern might not be able to continue their previous functions. When survival became difficult, the number of adventurers on this continent would also decrease dramatically.

No matter how you look at it, Schlenkmade is facing a dead end in the future. There seems to be no possibility except that the studio can update the plot in time before they reach the dead end.

Not many goblins flew out of the mine and fell to the ground. The remaining goblins in the mine saw their fellow goblins in front of them fall to the ground, and they thought someone was attacking them, so they scattered.

Guan Hongyan and the others put the fairies that fell to the ground and couldn't fly back into the mine, and said with regret: "It's a pity for this world. This is originally a magical world, and the props produced here are priced very high in the mall."

Various magic props from this world have always been hot-selling in the Foundation's mall. Now that this place is in decline, it is estimated that it will be impossible to produce high-quality magic props in the future.

"Don't think too much about it," Xu Zichen replied casually, "The specific rules haven't come out yet, so it's too early to start."

"Oh, by the way, the specific rules, ask them if they have found the elemental spirit."

Just as Bai E was about to open his watch, he saw Lu Changfeng running over from a distance. Seeing them standing at the entrance of the mine, he quickly shouted, "It's not here, the elemental spirit has been sent away!"

"Gone?" Everyone looked up.

"After they found the person in charge, he said they were worried about leaving the item in the mine, so they asked Enoch's creditor to take the item to Nanda City," Lu Changfeng said as he did some calculations. "Just after we left, the elemental spirit is probably here now."

"Nanda... is it one of the main cities?" Guan Hongyan thought for a moment, "I remember that the main city was located in a remote area, and it seemed to be at the bottom of some valley?"

"Yes," White Eth nodded, "I remember that the geographical location of South City is set between mountains. To get to South City from anywhere, you need to cross a lot of mountains. It takes at least seven or eight days to get there by land from Perrin. We still have time. If we hurry up now, we may be able to catch up with Enoch, the creditor."

Now that the goblins have been found, mining has resumed at the Perrin Mine and they are ready to continue transportation. Now all we have to do is follow the line of the elemental elves.

As long as we ask clearly why it suddenly came into being, the real reason why the balance of this space was suddenly interrupted will be revealed.

"We take this fairy with us...hiss, that's not right." The fairy they brought out from the fairy kingdom was in White Moth's hand. She wanted to say that if they took the fairy all the way there, the magic power there was thin, and whether this magical creature would die. Halfway through her words, she suddenly realized, "The fairy is also a late-stage NPC who joins the protagonist group in the plot."

Are they still in the plot?

"Are we still trapped in the inevitability of the plot?" She frowned.

Starting from the moment Enoch chased out of Besser City and found a fairy prop in his hand, their exploration along the way was completely different from the original plot, but it was surprisingly consistent at some key points.

For example, he was followed to the outskirts of Besser City, and a fairy alchemy item led to subsequent events, leading to his arrival at Alterac, and then he followed the route to Cyril.

Now that the elemental elves have been transported to Nanda City, they have to go to Nanda City again.

"Why do I feel..." She paused, "I feel like we've been led along the way."

"Don't stand here," Yun Guang interrupted her thoughts, "Let's go to Nanda City to find the elemental elves first. If there are any problems, we can talk on the way."

"It can't be said to be a problem..." White E paused for a few seconds, "My intuition is not right. This world obviously no longer follows the rules of the game world, but it is still invisible and manipulating us towards the direction set by the plot. I feel there is something suspicious here."

"There is indeed a problem," Yun Guang nodded, "According to the plot, what's next?"

"The next plot is that they discovered some strange races that they had never seen before in the city, and then went to the last main city, East City, to investigate. Then they fought with people from the alien continent, and the plot was never updated again."

"Okay," Yun Guang nodded, "Then let's see if there will be anything that leads us to Dongcheng after we reach Nanda. What will happen if we don't go?"

"Then Enoch..." Guan Hongyan had not forgotten her guess, "I didn't finish talking before entering the mine. Could the coming alive in this space be related to his amnesia?"

"Dermis, I remember you said that we can search memories but people will become stupid," Yun Guang looked at Bai Jinshu, "If Enoch really has lost his memory, is it possible to search out his memories when he was Lao Zhang?"

"Not necessarily..." Bai Jinshu groaned for a few seconds, "Enoch may not be the old Zhang who lost his memory, but the fact that Slenkmed became an independent space should be related to old Zhang."

The time in the game is consistent with the external time. In the game, several years ago, the Grand Mage and Producer Lao Zhang began to try to use the magic sand from the Perrin Mine to save Slenkmed. Logically speaking, the reason they did this must be because Slenkmed had already been attacked by this strange disease at that time.

According to their inference, this strange disease from an alien continent is most likely the "decay of the earth veins". The reason why it spread to Slenkmed is because the game is alive.

Normally, the plot stops at the point where the protagonist defeats the enemies from the alien continent and learns that they attacked Slenkmed because a strange disease was spreading there, forcing them to come here. The plot of the game stops here, so the strange disease should have stopped in the alien continent.

Ten years ago, this strange disease spread to Slenkmed, forcing the Grand Mage and Lao Zhang to take action. At the same time, Lao Zhang also died completely ten years ago and entered here.

These two time nodes match, so the decline of the earth veins in the alien continent suddenly spread to Slenkmed, which must be closely related to Lao Zhang's entry.

"Slenkmed became the real world because Lao Zhang died completely and entered the game," Bai Jinshu casually summoned the ghost ship, "so the Breath of Slenkmed came back to life completely, and it should be related to Lao Zhang."

"But it's not necessarily amnesia," he said meaningfully before Guan Hongyan could speak, "Maybe Enoch is just suffering from the sequelae of the incident that caused Slenkmed to survive."

It was something that Lao Zhang "did" not long ago that caused Slenkmed to not only get rid of the code and survive, but also completely become an independent space. At the same time, Enoch appeared in the city of Besse.

"You have been ignoring one problem. Enoch's memory is problematic, but one thing has been confirmed." He pointed his finger at the boat, "He did suddenly borrow money from all his friends many years ago, then hid in Besai City and worked as an alchemy shop owner for a long time."

This was confirmed by the collective memory of the adventurers in Besai City and the statement of Enoch's creditors.

[The God-Forsaken Realm] became an independent sub-world within a year, but Enoch had opened a shop in the city of Besser for many years, so the person who made this move should be Lao Zhang himself.

Why did Lao Zhang suddenly offend all his friends and then hide in the city of Besser?

"Because the city of Besser is very special." Bai Jinshu raised his eyes.

"Besse is the only city that requires an adventurer's emblem to enter?!" Zhao Yinglai suddenly reacted.

They had never paid attention to this clue. It was obvious that Cyril did not need an adventurer's emblem, and neither did the city of Nanda where they were about to go. So why did the city of Besse need it?

From another perspective, why is it that only the city of Besse is screening the identities of outsiders?

"Adventurers in Slenkmed are not only adventurers, but also the magic power that flows continuously in the magic pattern covering the entire continent..." She spoke faster and faster, "So anyone entering Besai City must wear an adventurer's emblem, or something with the same function as an adventurer's emblem. This probably has some magic pattern or mystical meaning. Once a place screens the threshold for entrants, it can only mean that this place is special enough."

The city of Bethesda is special enough.

"What is different about this city from other places..." Everyone was silent for a few seconds, and Lu Changfeng suddenly spoke up, "Is there a Mage Tower?"

"Hiss, that's right." These words woke the dreamer up.

There is a wizard tower of the Grand Mage in the city of Besser, and this place has a special meaning.

Lao Zhang severed all his social relationships, put on a white beard and pretended to be the White Bearded Wizard in the city of Besser, selling alchemical weapons, and almost became a different person.

If there was no other purpose, why would Lao Zhang do this?

"Interview, if it were you, under what circumstances would you stay in the same place for several years under an assumed name?" Guan Hongyan looked at Xu Zichen.

"Hiding from debts and enemies, but this is the reason in Enoch's memory, and it is also the excuse he made for his behavior to the outside world." Xu Zichen touched his chin, "If there is any other secret reason, it can only be that I have a secret mission to stay here, such as I need to protect something."

"Why do I have to guard it? It's because only I can do it. But the Grand Mage in Besser City can't guard the Mage Tower because he is gone," he continued, and suddenly his brain waves matched Bai Jin's. "At the same time, the professional mentors are also missing?"

So Enoch severed all ties and entered the city of Besser in order to protect the center of this magic pattern.

The reason why the professional mentors "had to leave" one by one was that their departure was definitely an attempt to save the entire SchlenkMed!

"During that period, the magic pattern had already been produced. From Lao Zhang's perspective, the only way to save the world besides the magic pattern was to contact the studio," Yun Guang suddenly had an idea, "but he never met any players again. He knew that the game was over, and at the same time he couldn't leave here. There was only one solution besides the magic pattern, so the twelve professional mentors..."

"These twelve people may be some very old codes, earlier than Enoch's account," Bai E quickly replied, "For example, these are the codes and NPCs written by Lao Zhang and his team when they first made the game, or these NPCs are the core codes. In short, the reason why Lao Zhang hopes that these people can let Wei Yu or the studio find out that something is wrong with Breath of Slenkmed is that he let these NPCs walk out of the game and try to contact Wei Yu..."

At this moment, everyone suddenly realized something horrifying.

“But at that time, Breath of Slenkmed became the core of all Wei Yu’s holographic games…” Su Hao spoke slowly.

Just like an onion, the outer games wrap Breath of Slenkmed in the center layer by layer. After leaving Slenkmed, there are still countless holographic worlds wrapped outside.

Lao Zhang, or rather Lao Zhang and Slenkmed who were at the end of their rope, were trapped together in the onion center.

This was once the greatest luck that Breath of Slenkmed had been running for nearly twenty years without any downtime, but now, is this the luck or misfortune of Breath of Slenkmed?

Bai Jinshu looked at Enoch in the distance: "Zhang Nuoke doesn't know."

He didn't know that his hard work had become the core of all holographic games under Wei Yu. After being abandoned by everyone, this game welcomed its own creator, and it suddenly came alive with great realism.

Any code in the world that is still within the framework cannot compare to a real living heart, so all the holographic games under Weiyu carry the reality and liveliness that competitors’ products cannot create in their entire lives.

After this heart had been beating for decades, it finally met its end.

But in the face of the final outcome, someone fought desperately and sent it to the foundation's case.

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