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(Today's update, two in one. Cough cough, this chapter is only 6,000 words long. It is New Year's Day and I am having dinner with my parents and family. Thus, I did not write much.)
GOR Chapter 600: Moonlight Cache?
After brushing away the dust, he saw that the lustre of the box was faintly glowing. It was neither made of wood nor iron. Even the knowledgeable Du Wei was unable to identify the texture of the box.
The two crossbow bolts that came out from the pull tab were clearly hidden within the box. Du Wei casually put away the two crossbow bolts. He still had some doubts in his mind. This thing was clearly very old. There were no traces of rust on the surface of the crossbow bolts. Additionally, the poison that was smeared on the arrowheads had not dissipated with the passage of time. This was definitely not something that could be done with ordinary craftsmanship. It could only be done with magic.
However … the existence of magic within the Astrology Hall was a paradox in itself. This was because there was a strange situation in the continent. The magicians looked down on the Church and the Church did not like the magicians. At the same time, both the Church and the magicians looked down on the Astrologers. This was because astrologers were the true quacks of the gods. The so-called prophecy magic was viewed by the magicians as something to deceive others.
He pulled on the box and found that it was tightly shut. It appeared that there was a secret lock inside. Du Wei pondered for a moment. Then, he channeled his power into his fingertips and gently squeezed. With a "ka" sound, the secret lock broke. After opening the box, he found that the inside was …
Empty?
Du Wei was stunned.
The inside of the box was actually empty. The inside of the box was wrapped in a layer of brocade. As time passed, the brocade had long since rotted away. A gentle breeze caused it to turn into ashes. However, the inside of the box was indeed empty.
"Could it be … the thing inside has been taken away by someone?" Du Wei muttered to himself.
Du Wei could not help but feel a little disappointed. Just as he was about to throw the box away, he remembered that even he could not recognize the texture of the box. So, he put the box back into his arms. After losing his magic, Du Wei's mental strength was almost the same as an ordinary person's. So, he did not dare to use the magic storage ring that he was used to.
In theory, Du Wei could still use magic. He could chant spells, and so could his spiritual power and senses. But his spiritual power was too low, and he couldn't meditate to improve it. The current Du Wei could not say that he could not use any magic, but he could at least cast one or two of the simplest Fireball Spells. However, his spiritual power was so low that it would dry up after two fireballs.
So, in order to conserve what little spiritual power he had, he had tried his best to change his original habits. He did not dare to use the storage ring that never left his hand. Because every time he used the storage ring, it would consume his magic power. Although Du Wei used the storage ring in the past, the amount of magic power consumed was almost negligible. But now, he could not do it.
Du Wei walked out of the storeroom with his face covered in dirt. Outside, his guard Knight and the people in the Astral Hall had been waiting for a whole night. Seeing Du Wei come out, they hurriedly went up to welcome him. The Astral Hall's owner had already changed into an official Astrologer's black arcane robe. The robe had a black base and was decorated with inlaid patterns of countless stars. Seeing Du Wei come out, the owner wanted to curry favor with him, but he was coldly blocked outside by Du Wei's loyal guard Knight.
"Don't be rude." Du Wei had a smile on his face. He waved his hand to tell the guard to make way. He walked in front of the owner and smiled: "Sir, please forgive my presumptuousness. I was just anxious and came to look up some astrological information … I think you also know that I will be going to war soon. Before I go, according to the tradition of us Astrologers, I have to do some divination."
The owner immediately became happy. The Duke of the Tulip Family said "us Astrologers". Since the other party admitted that he was also an Astrologer, it meant that he was one of them.
"Hehe, Sir Duke, you don't have to be so polite." The owner's face was full of smiles: "I also know that Sir Duke is about to go to war. How about it? If there is a need for divination, I will personally bring people to your residence tonight to observe the stars and divine your fortune. "
He is the chief astrologer of the palace. Normally, only the royal family can order him to make a move. As for the other nobles, they can only order the other senior astrologers in the Astrology Hall to do the job. But this time, he volunteered to do the divination for Du Wei. This can be considered as a blatant attempt to curry favor.
However, Du Wei laughed: "Thank you for your kindness, but there is no need … Yes, please don't mind me. I am also an Astrologer, so I dare not trouble you."
The owner immediately came back to his senses. He knew that he had been reckless. In a moment of excitement, he only wanted to curry favor with Du Wei. However, he forgot that Du Wei was also an Astrologer. Under normal circumstances, an Astrologer would never ask another Astrologer to divine their fortune. That was tantamount to admitting that the other party's level of astrology was much higher than his. Since he was an Arcane Master, he had dignity.
"Heh heh, I was reckless." The Hall Master hurriedly smiled, "I forgot that you are also a palace astrologer. Hmm, but I don't think your residence has all the tools needed for divination. I will prepare a set today and have someone send it to you."
Du Wei did not decline the owner's good intentions. Before leaving, he deliberately sighed: "I am an Astrologer, but I have never come here to visit you. Today, I came and saw that our Astrologer Hall … Sigh, it seems that many places have fallen into disrepair. The warehouse seems to have not been repaired for many years. Presumably, the funds in the Astrologer Hall must be tight. Although I am an Imperial Duke, I am still an Astrologer. I can be considered a part of this place … I was rude to disturb you last night, but I will find an opportunity to report to His Highness Prince Regent and ask him to pay more attention to our Astrologer Hall. It would be best if he could allocate a sum of money. "
These words made everyone in the Astrologer Hall happy. They suddenly felt that this young Duke was a very good person. They even forgot the hardships of being woken up in the middle of the night and waiting outside for an entire night.
Du Wei casually wrote a few empty checks. They only thought that he was a great noble and would never tell such lies. Under the respectful escort of a group of Astrologers, Du Wei left the Astrologer Hall. Before leaving, he even said that he might come here often to look for information. It was just that he was busy with state affairs and might not be able to come here personally.
"It's okay." The owner immediately patted his chest: "Although there is a rule that outsiders are not allowed to enter the Astrologer Hall, you are not an outsider. I know that you are busy with state affairs and can't come here personally all the time. When you need, you can send someone with your warrant. The Astrologer Hall's warehouse can be accessed by you. Or, if you need to check something, you can send someone to pass a message. I will send someone to look for it and send it to you when it's ready. "
This owner of the Astrologer Hall was indeed an experienced person who could survive in the palace. Du Wei was beaming with joy. Before bidding farewell to everyone, he instructed his personal attendant: "You don't have to go back with me. Go to Mr. Zuckerberg immediately and pass on my words. Send 50 million gold coins as my personal donation to the Astrologer Hall to repair the warehouse."
5,000 gold coins was enough to build a new building, let alone a warehouse. Everyone in the Tavern Master's office was very happy, and only after a long time did Du Wei finally get on the horse.
Speaking of which, although the status of the astrologers in the Astrologer Hall wasn't low, they weren't rich either. Since they were all gods, there were naturally countless believers in the Shrines. On the other hand, these astrologers could only rely on the financial funds allocated by the Empire every year to survive. Occasionally, nobles would come to ask the astrologers to perform a divination, but they would only be rewarded with a few hundred gold coins at most.
Moreover, the only time they needed to perform a divination each year was when there was a wedding or a funeral. There weren't many of these things in a year. In this Astrologer Hall, there were over a hundred astrologers and dozens of servants. They barely maintained their dignity by eating, drinking, and going to the toilet. In addition, after Prince Son came to power, this Prince Regent had been practicing magic since childhood. According to the tradition of the Magicians, he didn't think much of astrology, let alone the Astrologer Hall. Although the budget wasn't cut, the daily rewards were still far from what the old Emperor Augustine VI received during his reign.
Gradually, even this chief astrologer of the palace was rarely summoned for divination.
Du Wei's donation of 5000 gold coins was more or less a windfall, so how could everyone not be happy?
Du-Wei casually bestowed a few thousand gold coins. To him, this was nothing but a small matter, but he didn't know that everyone in the Astral Hall would owe him a big favor. In the future, Du-Wei would be overjoyed by the consequences. Of course, this is a story for another time.
Returning to the Duke's mansion, Du Wei didn't sleep all night and was a little sleepy. He was no longer the same as before where he could go without sleep for a few days. After his spiritual power shrank, his need for sleep was more than ordinary people.
But after returning to the study room, he had someone bring him some hot soup and tea. Instead, he forced himself to stay awake and study the box he brought back.
Taking out the box, he looked at it with a magnifying glass for a while and knocked on it to make sure there was nothing hidden inside.
Taking out a sharp broken sword, Du Wei gently cut open the corner of the box and checked the information. Only then did he figure out the material of the box.
"Hmm, 'Ebony', a rare tree. It's as hard as iron, but its weight is lighter than ordinary wood. No wonder I haven't seen it before, it's an extinct species hundreds of years ago. So it seems this thing is at least a few hundred years old. "
Du Wei remembered that he once studied the military history of the Roland Continent's empire. He knew that hundreds of years ago, when the empire was expanding their navy, someone proposed the idea of using this Ebony to build warships. This wood is hard, clear, and extremely resistant to decay. If used to build ships, it would be a top quality material.
But that idea was not realized because at that time, Ebony was very rare and could not be cut down in large quantities. Later on, this plant became extinct and could no longer be found on the continent.
Du Wei had read all kinds of ancient books and literature of the Roland Empire. He had a photographic memory and was knowledgeable. Since he had figured out this matter, he held the box in his hand and played with it for a while. His interest gradually faded. Then he threw it on the table, stretched, and prepared to go to sleep.
Hmph, it can't be that this thing is also like the Moonlight Treasure Box. After opening it, holding it in my hand and shouting "Prajna Prajna Honey" a few times can send me back five hundred years?
Hahahaha …
Du Wei laughed and was ready to give up and leave. But suddenly he saw the cotton cloth on the table that he used to wipe the dust on the box. His eyes suddenly stopped! The cotton cloth was full of black stains. It was the stains that came from the inside and outside of the box.
His eyes flashed, and he suddenly grabbed the cotton cloth, brought it to his nose and sniffed it …
"Hmm!?"
The corner of Du Wei's mouth revealed a trace of a smile.
Although it had already deteriorated, it still had a faint smell of ink! This was definitely not wrong!! In addition to the Ebony's natural resistance to corrosion, the box's craftsmanship was very exquisite. After closing it, the inside was airtight. After so many years, the smell of ink still remained!
Du Wei grabbed the box again and opened it. He reached out and touched the inside of the box. Sure enough, he felt a bumpy feeling. And the ink stains on the cotton cloth were left behind when he wiped the inside of the box!
Taking the torch, Du-Wei carefully examined the interior of the box. What he saw was a protruding carving on the inner wall of the box. The lines were delicate and fine, and every line was clear and distinct … …
But after looking at it for a while, his heart was at a loss. He completely could not understand the meaning of these lines. There were also some places on the carving that seemed to be some words. But these words seemed to be very familiar and he could recognize them all.
Du Wei closed his eyes and pondered for a while. His eyebrows gradually relaxed!
He figured it out!
He smiled and self-deprecatingly said, "No wonder I couldn't understand it. The patterns on the box are all reversed. The ink on the inside of the box was just to print out the patterns on the inside! "
Laughing, Du Wei immediately pulled out a bottle of ink. Using a brush, he smeared the inside of the box. Then, he took out a piece of white paper and carefully printed it on it.
He unfolded the white paper to take a look! The patterns and words on the paper were clear!!
This … this was actually a map!
The lines on the paper were curved and curved like roads. Occasionally, there would be some places marked with words. They were all written in the language of the Roland Empire. However, judging from the grammar, they were all written in the ancient language.
However, although he had identified it, when Du Wei saw the contents of the map, his face became even more shocked!
Because …
This map was shockingly …
The Imperial Palace!
Moreover, this was not an ordinary map of the Imperial Palace. What was revealed was an underground map of secret passages built under the Imperial Palace!
The curved secret passages showed that there were more than a dozen of them. And all of these secret passages were gathered at the central point!
The place where the secret passages were gathered caused Du Wei's expression to change!
The White Tower!
The tallest building in the Imperial City, the one in the Imperial Palace, was built by the founding Emperor Aragon a thousand years ago. Generations of Emperors worked tirelessly to maintain and preserve it, using countless magic materials to build the Magic Tower!
It was also the core of the Imperial City's largest Magic Defense Array!
This Magic Array was extremely powerful. Back then, Aragon even boasted that even the legendary Dragons would find it difficult to break through this Magic Array! The core of this Magic Array was inside the Imperial Palace. It was the White Tower that had existed for a thousand years.
This White Tower was normally a forbidden area in the Imperial Palace. Throughout history, only the Imperial Court Magicians could approach this White Tower. However, in the entire Empire, only two people had the authority to enter the White Tower.
One was the Grand Magician of the Imperial Court.
The other one was the Emperor himself.
Other than that, anyone who dared to approach the White Tower, regardless of the reason, under any circumstances, would be killed without mercy!
It could be said that in the Imperial Palace, if anyone other than the Emperor himself dared to approach the White Tower ….. Even if you were a noble, the Imperial City Manager, the Commander of the Imperial Army, or even a prince or princess ….. the Imperial Court Magicians had the authority to kill you on the spot without the Emperor's permission!
This was an iron law. Since the founding of the Empire, most of the iron laws set by Aragon had been abandoned. However, this iron law was still respected by generations of Emperors!
However, this map was clearly a secret underground map of the Imperial Palace that led directly to the White Tower …..
— — —
Du Wei's eyelids twitched a few times. His heart was also in a daze.
He subconsciously knocked on the table.
Such a secret map, the contents of the map were definitely treasonous and unfilial! Then, who was the person who drew this map?
What was his motive?
Also, why would such a secret map be stored in the Astral Hall?
Du Wei supported himself on the chair and sat down. Then, he picked up the box and had the intention to destroy it. However, his heart skipped a beat and he carefully put it away again.
Touching his eyebrows, Du Wei bitterly smiled and pondered: The origin of this thing was unclear.
Let's first talk about the secret underground passage in the Imperial Palace. To be able to build a secret underground passage in the Imperial Palace, such a big project, no one else could do it. Only the Emperor himself could do it. Could it be Aragon?
According to legends, in order to build that huge magic array, Aragon had extravagantly laid down tons of magic crystals under the White Tower in the center of the Imperial Palace as the base of the White Tower! Not to mention other things, just the large amount of magic crystals buried underground and the White Tower, it was said that there were countless top-grade gems used to maintain the magic array. Also, at the top of the White Tower, there was a huge piece of Mithril and the largest magic gem in the entire continent!
It was said that the map of the magic array was left behind by Aragon, who was the strongest person under the starry sky, the most valiant warrior and magician on the continent!
Even if there were so many treasures, the map of the magic array left behind by Aragon was a supreme treasure to any magician!
For thousands of years, who knew how many evil magicians had tried to steal it!
Fortunately, the Imperial Palace had always kept a team of court magicians loyal to the Imperial Family. For thousands of years, they had guarded the White Tower and killed many people who had tried to break in.
It was said that Aragon had spent almost two years of the Empire's revenue to build this magic array. For a newly established Empire, this was definitely an absurd move!
Moreover, at that time, the Roland Continent had already been unified and there was only one country on the continent, the Roland Empire. To spend so much money to build such a huge magic array, who was it to deal with? To deal with the air?
It was only because of Aragon's ridiculously high prestige that he was able to suppress the countless voices of opposition and persist in his own way.
Perhaps, only Du Wei could understand: Aragon must have done so to use this magic array to deal with the return of the sinners many years in the future.
Using the power of the whole country, plus a strong person who was close to the God level, and twelve Saint level Holy Roland Knight, all the top magicians on the continent, to create such a huge magic array!
A secret passage?
To be able to build such a huge project in the Imperial Palace, it was absolutely impossible except for the Emperor himself.
Well, then let's solve the first problem: For the time being, let's assume that this underground project was made by Aragon himself.
But … why did he make such a thing?
And this map, was it drawn by Aragon? If not, then who? Who stored this thing in the Astral Hall?
Du Wei frowned and thought hard. At this time, a familiar voice that he had not heard for a long time suddenly sounded in his mind.
"It's me, I drew this map."
(First update of the New Year, monthly votes will be doubled. Everyone, please vote for me ~ ~ ~)
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