Chapter 459: The Forsaken Realm (48) (1st + 2nd update) [VIP]
"Enoch."
A group of adventurers surrounded their companions in the sky.
"We have a few small questions for you."
Bai Jinshu stood at the front with his arms folded across his chest. The blue flames in the eye sockets on the other side of the skeleton floated up and down slowly, acting as a deterrent.
Behind him, Guan Hongyan and Zhao Yinglai were acting very arrogant. Guan Hongyan held a black folder in his hand and flipped it open in a serious manner: "You don't have to speak, but you just need to answer yes or no to the questions we ask."
Zhao Yinglai was holding a high-power desk lamp in his hand, which was turned on with a "click" and blinded everyone's eyes.
"Oh my god, it's so bright." She was dazzled by the light and everything in front of her eyes turned down quickly.
"Don't be nervous," seeing Enoch's confused look, White Moth stepped forward to comfort him, "We just want to ask you some questions. Just answer them according to your instinct. We will definitely not make things difficult for you."
"Oh, yes... yes, yes," Xu Zichen, who was dragged here, nodded repeatedly, "After all, we are not devils, right?"
Enoch: ?
Are you really not devils? You don't look like a good person.
He glanced tremblingly at Hector beside him.
"Don't look at me," Hector immediately stood up and drew a line between himself and him to show his loyalty, "Teacher, Master's Wife, is there anything I can do for you?"
Guan Hongyan: "Hold him down."
Hector immediately reversed Enoch.
"No... not like that," Su Hao held his forehead with his hand, "Just hold him down casually so he won't run away."
"What are you going to do?" Enoch was pressed into his seat by Hector, his face full of confusion and bewilderment, "The world is going to end, are you going to throw me off the ship and let Dermis take me away?"
"Is this true?" The captain suddenly popped his head out from the ground and looked at Enoch. "Brother, you want to stay with me? Whichever room do you want to stay in, I'll prepare it for you right now!"
"Get out of here, it's none of your business," Guan Hongyan waved at the captain, "If you continue like this, I'll add another 500 years to your indenture."
captain:?
"Be reasonable..." He tried to reason, "I only have a contractual relationship with Thermis, not with you..."
So it's possible that if she said to add five hundred years, then she would add five hundred years.
"You and Delmis have been friends for such a long time...a master-servant relationship. It's his wedding anniversary. You shouldn't celebrate it for five hundred years?" Guan Hongyan raised an eyebrow.
"If I celebrate his wedding anniversary every year for five hundred years, I will not be alive... no, I will not be dead." The captain cursed and disappeared with a shrinking head.
"What do you want to ask?" Enoch asked weakly.
"Some very simple test questions," Guan Hongyan spread out the folder, "Please answer the following questions in order: your date of birth; place of birth; family relationships and where each of them is now; social relationships before the age of ten and what happened between each of them and you; all the schools you have attended since childhood and all the wizard towers you have studied in; the classmates you met in each wizard tower and their appearance..."
Enoch: “Huh?”
"Isn't that too much to say in one breath?" Guan Hongyan paused, "Then let's start from the very beginning, your date of birth."
"I..." Enoch blinked blankly, "I don't know either."
"Why are you not clear? Do you not remember or do you have no relevant impression in your mind?" Zhao Yinglai shook the light.
"I am an orphan," Enoch replied, confused, "so I don't know when I was born or where I was born."
"Then you don't know your family members?" asked the White Moth. "What about your social relationships before the age of ten? Who are your friends? Who took care of you when you were young? Who taught you magic?"
【Why does it feel like a census? 】
[Fuck, this is called a household survey.]
[This is to verify the authenticity of Enoch's memory. In fact, before, he was the only one who could spell out the magic pattern, which proved that he was Lao Zhang. But after Lao Zhang became Enoch, it is really strange where Enoch's memory came from. ]
"I was picked up by an old wizard." Although Enoch was wondering why they made such a big fuss about asking these questions, he still answered, "I live with him in the valley. I have never seen anyone other than him. I have no friends. It was he who taught me magic."
"Then where is this old wizard?" Zhao Ying asked.
Enoch: "Dead."
Bai Jin said: "He must have died a long time ago."
The voices of two people rang out together.
"Tsk, this memory is really easy," Guan Hongyan cursed in a low voice, "Both his parents are dead and he has no friends. The person who raised him is dead. The plot later won't be that after he left the valley, he wanted to enter the Mage Tower, but he was excluded from the apprentices in the Mage Tower and became invisible. So no one remembers him and he has no friends, or maybe he didn't even enter the Mage Tower and was just stealing skills from the outside, right?"
"Do you still remember who your classmates and friends were?" Bai Mo asked.
"When I was in the Mage Tower, my mentor didn't take me seriously, and I didn't have any friends..."
"Dermis?" Zhao Yinglai called Bai Jinshu in a low voice.
"The time when he has exact memories should be ten years ago." Bai Jinshu's eyes flashed.
Enoch's memories were all fabricated before Lao Zhang entered.
"Then you can't be without friends, right?" Bai Mo asked at this point, "You have borrowed money from so many friends..."
“That was after I became an adventurer…” Enoch scratched his head.
"Then you are becoming an adventurous..."
"Why did you become an adventurer?" Bai Jinshu suddenly interrupted Bai E's voice. "Is it because you want to travel around the world and open the gate to the kingdom of God like the purple-haired adventurer in the rumors?"
"I want to be an adventurer because..." Enoch stuttered, "I want to be an adventurer because..."
He seemed to be stuck. He repeated this sentence twice and suddenly fell silent. "I think it was because of this rumor? I can't remember clearly."
"Then let me ask you another question," Bai Jinshu leaned against the wall and tossed the things in his hand, "The purple-haired adventurer who travels across the continent can open the gate to the kingdom of God and save the world. Have you known this rumor since you were a child?"
Guan Hongyan was curious about the extra thing in his hand. It looked like a white rectangle, like a piece of eraser. After a closer look, she found that it was a little finger bone of Delmis.
As he threw the phalanx up, he caught it with his palm which was missing the tip of the finger, and continued to throw it up.
Guan Hongyan's mouth twitched.
What a weird hobby this is.
Bai Jinshu casually tossed the finger bone and looked at Enoch who was lost in thought: "Hmm? Is this a difficult question to answer?"
"No, no..." Enoch's face showed genuine confusion. "I just feel like I knew this legend a long time ago, but I haven't heard the wizard who picked me up mention it. Who told me?"
"Yes, who told you..." Bai Jinshu gave him a meaningful look, turned around and nodded to the others, "Okay, don't ask, I already know."
He already had a rough idea of what was going on.
He felt something was strange when he found out that the rumor was spread by Lao Zhang.
Lao Zhang has only been here for ten years, and this legend involves things that happened many years ago when the various races on Slenkmed had not yet communicated with each other. If it was a rumor that only emerged in recent years, it would not be possible for it to be so widely spread that adventurers across the continent would become adventurers only after hearing this rumor. Therefore, this legend definitely could not have appeared recently.
"Most likely, Lao Zhang used some method to make people believe that this legend has existed since ancient times," Yun Guang pinched his brows, "This method is probably also the reason why he doesn't know that he is 'Lao Zhang' now, and insists that he is 'Enoch'."
"Why are you asking me this?" Enoch's voice was full of confusion behind him. "What do you want to do?"
"We are going to investigate your family situation," Guan Hongyan said casually after closing the folder. "Slenkmed is about to be destroyed. Have you heard of Noah's Ark? We are about to conduct a census to find suitable people to take on board."
"Huh?" Enoch didn't react. "You guys said you wanted to save the world!"
No, it was said that the purple-haired adventurer would save the world?
Isn't Hector your favorite apprentice? Don't you want him to save the world?
"Preserving the fire is also a way to save the world," Guan Hongyan said seriously, "otherwise we wouldn't have retreated even if the earth veins were dying."
Enoch: "The magic sand from the Perrin Mine..."
"It may not work. We now think that the real solution lies with Lao Zhang." Guan Hongyan turned around and patted him on the shoulder, saying earnestly, "Do you also feel that there is something wrong with your memory now? Come on, the survival of the world may depend on you."
Enoch's memory was not monolithic.
His inexplicable recollection of the details of the magic pattern before was a flaw, and this time when Delmis said that he had not heard this legend since childhood was also a flaw.
The best way to lift a steel plate is to first pry open a small corner. Following this corner, the entire iron plate can be easily lifted up from here.
Although they had pried open a point in Enoch's memory, the current problem still existed.
"How long will it take to get to Nanda City?" After getting the expected answer, Yun Guang sat at the table and looked at the captain.
"About a day," the captain calculated. "Normally it would take half a day, but the ship can't go too fast right now."
"Why can't we fly too fast now?" Xu Zichen was puzzled.
"The earth veins are dying," Bai Jinshu said, sitting next to him with his legs crossed. "Don't you think it's getting harder and harder to breathe?"
As soon as he said this, everyone in the audience started breathing in manual mode.
After feeling it for several seconds, Xu Zichen frowned and said cautiously, "Yes, a little bit."
They didn't feel anything at first, but after following Delmis into the fairy kingdom of Alterac, where the wood element was abundant, they found it difficult to breathe in the outside world. Now they are back on the ghost ship, after more than half a day of flying, they have already adapted to the outside environment, but when he mentioned this, everyone felt a heaviness in their chest again.
"Then Delmis, are you okay now?" Yun Guang asked worriedly, "If the earth veins are exhausted, the elements will become less and less. Will it be a great burden for you?"
"Fortunately," Bai Jinshu glanced at him, "The ghost ship does not use natural elements in the standard sense."
[Necromancer is the magic of death, and it is not the traditional way of mobilizing natural elements. However, most necromancers still cannot do without natural elemental magic, but they use necromancy more than normal mages.]
[Speaking of which, if the earth veins are exhausted, theoretically speaking, isn't it the spring of the necromancer? ]
【Why? 】
[The earth vein exhaustion is also the earth vein slowly preparing to "die". For the necromancer, the place to add buffs is either a mass grave or a cemetery. If the earth vein gradually dies, then the whole continent will have special buff bonuses for the necromancer. ]
[But it doesn't seem like that. If there is a special bonus, shouldn't the ship be sailing faster? Why did the captain say it was slower? ]
[Maybe there is some natural magic in the undead spell used by God of De? 】
[Impossible, the God of De personally stamped that magic cannot be mixed. Have you forgotten what happened more than ten days ago? ]
【Why? 】
[No, you are asking me, a person who can only summon a skull, why would a big man who can summon a whole cemetery of skeletons find it difficult to play the underground decay? ]
…
The leylines are dying faster than anyone imagined.
Nanda City is a city in the mountains. To get here from any direction, you need to cross many high mountains. Flying over from the sky does not require you to walk on those mountain roads, but at the same time, you can also see the situation on the mountain road at a glance.
"Since we entered this mountain range, the further we go, the balder it becomes," Guan Hongyan said as she lay on the edge of the boat and looked down. "Before, we could still see a little green, then yellow from falling leaves. Now, the closer we get to Nanda City, the darker the mountain becomes."
Once you get here, it's hard to see any traces of plants on the mountain.
"I remember that Cyril City was just a fallen leaf at that time," Yun Guang sighed slightly, "There must be an important magic sand storage location in Nanda City. The further you go into the city, the more desolate it becomes. I guess the magic pattern at that storage point is no longer useful."
Before, Slenkmed was a land without four seasons, and everywhere you went there was green land. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, it has become like this.
"How far is it?" Guan Hongyan turned her head.
"We're almost there," White Moth came over. "We don't know where Enoch, the creditor with the elemental spirits, is now, but logically speaking, we should arrive here at about the same time as he does. If we're a little faster than him, we can just wait at the door until he comes."
"What happened to that goblin?" Yun Guang asked worriedly.
"Fairy..." White Moth twitched his lips, "Don't worry about this species."
Originally they were still worried that the goblin might encounter an accident due to its inability to adapt to the decaying environment of the earth veins. As a result, the goblin was only depressed at the beginning, but then it immediately recovered and became full of energy, jumping around everywhere. It was very proud of being the chosen one, and it arrogantly ordered Hector and Enoch to put it on their shoulders and take it on a tour around the area.
He was immediately sanctioned by Demis.
Now the goblin was placed in a huge birdcage that anyone could carry. Instead of feeling sad, it studied the cage with great interest.
As expected, what Delmis said was right. Fairies are different from humans. Fairies cannot understand humans, and similarly, humans cannot understand fairies.
Anyway, the translator they brought on board is doing fine now except that he can't fly.
"Huh... I feel like it's getting harder and harder to breathe," Zhao Yinglai let out a long breath, "I'm going to go into power saving mode, don't look for me anymore, come find my shadow puppet if you need anything in the next few days."
Next to her, a very familiar curly-haired girl waved to everyone.
Guan Hongyan: "...How do you use this?"
Isn’t this Xiao Tang?
However, this face is somewhat different from the one in "Non-Humans". Only those who have been together for a long time can see the difference.
"This works great," Xiao Tang clenched his fist, "It's made of good materials and has great power!"
Guan Hongyan: ...That’s true.
Xiao Tang's extraordinary strength is experienced by everyone.
She took several deep breaths. "If I really came into this world through the normal exploration process, I probably wouldn't be able to fill in the complete rules, and I would suffocate to death here in the end."
The air is getting thinner and thinner, which is a manifestation of the magic power becoming thinner and thinner. Not only them humans, but also the elf boy who joined them inexplicably has not appeared for two consecutive days. It is estimated that for a magical race like them, the scarcity of magic power is even more unbearable.
The fairy's condition seems to be fine at the moment, and it lies in the cage all day.
"It's not suffocation," Bai Jinshu came over. Hector behind him was holding a birdcage containing a fairy. "You feel difficulty breathing, but it's just that the elements that make up this place are gradually decreasing. Even if you die, it's not suffocation, it's organ failure."
Just like the earth veins, it gradually moves towards death.
"So staying here is equivalent to chronic suicide?" Zhao Ying came to grasp the point.
"Almost." In front of her shocked gaze, Dermis said lightly in a nonchalant tone, "That's why I said before that I would leave first."
Zhao Yinglai cherished his life the most, and suddenly he was numb: "No, then you should explain it to us clearly at that time. If you stay any longer, you will shorten your life, brother!"
You really won’t say a word?
"Why are you saying that?" The man on the other side glanced at her with a nonchalant look, "Don't worry, if you die here, I can take you out."
Zhaoyinglai: ...
She actually felt powerless for a moment.
Delmis, as a necromancer you don't understand humans. Although they won't really "die" if they die here, with Delmis they can be taken back as "necromancer's creations" even if they die, but no human would want to die for nothing, right?
Who would want to go from being a living person to being a dead person?
"I'm going to go back and sue Skao..." Guan Hongyan said in a faint voice, "I'm going to tell him that you brought the only nanny in the organization into the base and killed him..."
The rice noodle roll was fished out by Skao himself. If he died, Skao would definitely strangle everyone to death with a smile!
"Isn't he still alive?" Delmis glanced at Lu Changfeng casually, "Get ready to leave, we'll be there soon."
Not far away, the edge of Nanda City was already vaguely visible.
Leaving behind his shocked teammates, Bai Jinshu walked towards the exit of the ghost ship with his apprentice Hector and the fairy in Hector's hand.
“Well… let’s finish exploring quickly,” Yun Guang pinched the bridge of his nose, “try to get out as soon as possible.”
"I was wrong, I was really wrong. I should have let the puppet come in. Why did I have to come by myself..." Zhao Yinglai fell on Xiao Tang unscrupulously and let the puppet drag him back to the room, muttering with both mouths, "If I become an undead creature, then I will never die..."
"Eh?" She suddenly stood up. "If I die here and am turned into an undead creature by Delmis, will I never die again in other books?"
"...Good question." Xu Zichen was silent for a moment, "Why don't you ask him?"
"I'll ask later..." Zhao Yinglai touched his chin, "If you calculate it this way, dying here is a sure win."
How could a dead person who had died once die again? Wouldn't that make them invincible in the unknown space?
Besides, there is no risk that Dermis will not save them. They are all from the same organization. Even for the sake of the organization's captain, Skao, he can't just stand by and watch them die!
No way?!
*
The ghost ship stopped steadily outside the city of Nanda.
Different from everyone's impression of the main city, the area outside Nanda City has become extremely desolate after the decline of the earth veins.
The city gates were closed, and there seemed to be no guards, no adventurers coming and going, and no merchants' carriages. If it weren't for the magnificent city gates and buildings in front of them, no one would believe that this was one of the four main cities just by looking at the situation at the gate.
"This place doesn't look good..." Su Hao looked around, "It feels very...dead."
It doesn't look like a main city at all.
Probably due to the previous news, there were fewer players coming to join in the fun, and the city gate was empty.
"Most of the residents of Nanda City are mixed-blood, and there are very few pure-blooded humans," Guan Hongyan continued, "They are probably like that goblin and the elf, unable to get out of bed."
The goblins were not affected very much due to their small size, but the elf boy was visibly weakened. As a magical race whose life span is even tied to magic power, they could immediately feel discomfort when the earth veins died.
"Let's go in and take a look first." Yun Guang walked in front, and walked with the shadow puppet Xiao Tang, who was very excited as he hadn't used the shadow puppet to get some fresh air for a long time, and pushed open the city gate.
"There are really not many people here," Zhao Yinglai saw through Xiao Tang's eyes that the city was desolate. There were fewer players, and only a few shops were open. The people sitting in these shops were pure humans, the race that was least affected at the moment, "Only humans."
They are also human beings. The only symptom at the moment is difficulty breathing, but it will be fine once you get used to it.
"Let's go in and ask." Xiao Tang ducked and quickly slipped in. Before anyone could stop him, he had already jumped to an unknown stall near the city gate. "Hello, big brother. We are adventurers from Cyril City. Why are there no adventurers or merchants near Nanda City?"
"Are you adventurers from Cyril City?" The middle-aged man behind the counter rejected the suggestion. "Impossible."
"Why not?" Xiao Tang tilted his head.
"The road leading to here has been blocked for a long time, and no one can come from outside." The middle-aged man waved his hand.
"Then what do these people do?" Xiao Tang pointed at the players in the city, "Aren't they adventurers too?"
Could it be that in the eyes of the natives, players and n.pc are different?
"Of course they are adventurers, but they must have come before the road was blocked." The middle-aged man said confidently.
"We also came here before the road was blocked, but we were walking slowly," Xiao Tang followed suit. "Brother, which road is blocked? What about the people who were going to Nanda City?"
"The road is broken. The vine bridge you passed by when you came here is broken." Everyone walked closer and just happened to hear the middle-aged man's last words. "As for the caravan that was originally going to come here, they naturally changed their route."
They flew here from the sky, so naturally they didn't know the road was blocked.
Now that the road is blocked, where will Enoch's creditors with the elemental spirits go?
"Change the route? Where to?" Guan Hongyan asked.
"Then how do I know where they will go?" the middle-aged man said speechlessly. "They will go to whichever is closer, Cyril or Dondelei. Dondelei can be taken by water, and Cyril is closer."
"East City," Xu Zichen whispered to Yun Guang, "Isn't that the only main city we haven't been to yet?"
"Something's wrong," Zhao Yinglai, who was wearing the shell of Xiao Tang, came back, "It's definitely not a coincidence. Why do I feel like the inevitability of this plot is pushing us forward?"
How could it be such a coincidence that when they were about to finish all the puzzles in Nanda City and leave here, the road was broken and they had to go to the last remaining main city, Donderei?
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