Even if he was a god, Xi Wei was not omniscient and omnipotent. He did not stick an eye at the edge, and naturally did not know that a giant was heading towards the Elven SIN twelve thousand kilometers away.
That was why he was simply happy that the Players had obtained the Authentication Key to the Fourth Stratum … and did not hesitate to take it away, using his divine power to duplicate a fake key for Edward and the others.
What are you looking at? Have you never seen a god exploiting his believers?
That being said, from a certain perspective, Xi Wei's actions were a form of protection for Edward and the others.
After all, the Authentication Key was custom-made for the high elves. As the best of supernatural races, even first-rate Players like Edward were far inferior to the high elves in basic stats, and there might be repercussions if they simply used the Authentication Key.
Being a race that possessed the special technology of Mystery that was related to the transformation of divine power, it was difficult to guarantee that the Authentication Key would not affect the user's soul.
For Xi Wei, it was fine if his believers' bodies were directly destroyed, but not even he could save them if their souls were warped, corrupted or directly perished.
"That said, the high elves' technology is really unbelievable …"
After obtaining the Authentication Key and taking control of the Third Stratum of Dark Sky, Xi Wei had a better understanding of the stratum that he had trouble understanding before.
At first, Xi Wei had assumed that Dark Sky was a sealed space that separated the Deep Wall Stratum from Steel Earth, but after gaining control of the Third Stratum, he realized that Dark Sky itself was a spatial fragment independent of the world. That was why if he couldn't find the Authentication Key, he would never reach its edge no matter how long he wandered inside!
The spatial fragment, which was most likely from the Shadow Plane, had become a reflection of the Elven Synchronized Intellect Nation (SIN) after the high elves had processed it. It was precisely that reflection from beyond the world which served as a cover that all observation methods within the world could not see inside the Elven Synchronized Intellect Nation (SIN).
"Under normal circumstances, almost all observation methods would never be able to see through the Elven SIN. Even the Divine Eye of the gods would need their believers as beacons to observe the mortal realm, and unless they were willing to spend substantial divine power to observe from beyond the world, they would still be blinded by Dark Sky … "Xi Wei couldn't help gasping in admiration." Such talent that surpasses human intelligence, as well as the technology to process planes … before the fall of the high elves, their magitek technology would not lose out to the gnomes who built the God-Slaying Warships … "
Since the God of Games of that era had just fallen, Xi Wei (and his predecessor) had yet to be born, he was completely unaware of what actually happened between the high elves and the gods.
Anyway, after that, the High Elves became like the goblins that had been punished. They began to become discouraged and lost the motivation to forge ahead.
☆
Unlike their god who was still marveling at the ingenuity of Dark Sky's design, Edward's party did not rest much after conquering Dark Sky. After replenishing their various consumables, they surrounded Leah the Warrior Princess and watched as she activated the Earth Key in her hand.
In that split second, pale-blue radiance erupted from the tip of the key. Everyone in the party felt as if invisible threads were tugging at their bodies, pulling them into the pale-blue radiance without any resistance and into the body of the tortoise colossus.
Be that as it may, what appeared before them was not the Faint Crystal Stratum filled with giant crystal clusters, but a huge metal city that was still in operation!
If Xi Wei was the judge, he would probably think that the city was filled with the smell of steampunk.
While steam wasn't everywhere, there were metal pipes of varying thickness, towering chimneys, gears and bearings that looked especially old but were still working, as well as spherical buildings that were probably boilers. There was also a mechanical assembly line that kept running on its own and producing who-knows-what, along with the metallic hue as far as the eye could see.
The only thing that seemed out of place was that there was not a single person on the streets. There were only some small automatons that resembled Akita Inu that resembled long-legged silver teapots, pacing back and forth as if in charge of cleaning. Not only was there no steam, there was also a subtle smell of cyberpunk.
The party was left completely confused by the current situation as they walked along the streets.
There were no monsters leaping out of nowhere, no enemies stopping their advance, not even any traps …
Even if it felt safe, how were they supposed to conquer such a place?
"If you're talking about steel, it's indeed steel … There aren't even any normal stones on this floor. There are man-made metal buildings everywhere. It looks very lively, and there are all sorts of clanking sounds coming from the houses, but there's not a single person here."
Gou Dan scratched his head. Even if he was brave, he was a little flustered by the unusual atmosphere.
"There are too many forks in the road, and it looks like it extends in all directions. It's basically impossible to find each other." Princess Leah decided then. "We might as well disband here and search for clues to conquer this stratum on our own. Let's regroup here in two hours. Remember to mention it in the walkthrough thread on the forums if there's no way. "
"Oh!"
The truth was that both Earthlings and otherworlders were rather fond of the word 'free movement'.
After Princess Leah announced that they were disbanding, even Edward who was usually rather steady began to look around excitedly. There were many buildings on the streets, most of which had their main doors open, giving the impression of shops.
Everyone had been doing a cursory investigation just now, and even if he was interested in such things, he did not openly mention it.
Still, the Players' basic sense of safety remained, and they did not stray too far from their teammates. They were probably all on the same street, a distance where everyone could hear if someone shouted, making it easy to rescue each other in times of danger.
And after spreading out and investigating for half a day, the Players led by Edward made some new discoveries …
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