Dirty clouds covered the scorched and rotting earth. The valleys, plains, hills, and basins that had been soaked in high-intensity magical radiation for seven centuries were haunted by the shadows of the defeated and terrible monsters that had mutated and twisted. The wild and disorderly wind blew through the gaps between the jagged and ferocious rock pillars and the loose rock walls, stirring up a whimpering sound on the earth. The whimpering sound was mixed with some kind of pungent smell. It was the smell of magic decomposing the air.
In the hinterland of the Ancient Kingdom of Gondor, in a valley hundreds of kilometers away from the explosion crater of Deep Blue Well, a 'base' made of boulders and twisted giant trees was quietly hibernating between the rocks.
Tangled dark brown vines snaked through the mountain walls on both sides, weaving into a huge structure that looked like a spider web above the valley. Thorny branches extended from between the vines, cutting the already dark sky into even more fragmented and messy pieces. The valley covered by the thorny web was covered with boulders, and between the stone pillars were vines and thorns, forming countless structures that looked like giant walls. Many wooden 'pipes' extended from the nearby rocks, through which precious water from underground flowed into the seemingly rough and messy, but in fact, the well-designed water network in the valley.
This was a gloomy and terrifying territory for the creatures outside the wasteland, but for the twisted creatures living in the depths of the wasteland, this was the most comfortable shelter and the most suitable habitat.
Countless grotesque human-faced trees and controlled aberrations were active in this' habitat '. They used this place as a foundation to build their own' territory 'and slowly expand their forces outside the valley.
In the center of the valley, there was an extremely open area. The thorny dome above the area had a large opening, allowing some dim sunlight to shine into this gloomy place. On a circle of high platforms around the open area, several withered and twisted human-faced trees were standing on the top of the boulders. They quietly looked down at the spiral crater below the platform. Faint blue arcane light burst out from the crater and shone on their withered and mutated faces.
After an unknown amount of time, the leader of the treants finally spoke. His voice was like the friction between dry wood planks in the air. "So this is the veins that run through our planet … It is as beautiful as blood vessels, and the powerful magic flowing in it is like blood … If we could drink this blood, true eternity would not be too far away …"
"Ah, our honorable Grand Hierarch has such a poetic side …" A young female voice came from behind the treant leader, followed by another almost identical voice. "Unfortunately, there is no poet in this desolate valley. There is no poem worth singing."
The leader of the treants, who was known as the Grand Hierarch, turned around. His wooden body made a cracking sound as his tawny eyes stared at the elven twins who were walking up the platform from behind. "Are you two so leisurely every day?"
"We're doing a lot of things, but you just can't see it," Firna said with a smile. Then Layna, who was beside her, said, "Most of our hard work revolves around mental work. We don't look as busy as those aberrations who are moving rocks and digging ditches in and out of the valley."
The treant leader seemed to have gotten used to the elven twins' provocative and irritating way of speaking. He snorted and retracted his gaze, turning his gaze back to the deep pit beneath the platform once more.
It was a deep crater with obvious signs of artificial excavation. It was more than a hundred meters in diameter. The edge of the crater was neatly stacked with black stones. The surface of the stones was glowing with runes. Countless complex and arcane magic lines outlined a powerful magic array that had long been lost in this era. At the bottom of the 'stone ring' was the wall of the crater that was twisted and sunken like a vortex. Dozens of meters down the wall of the crater was the chilling 'bottom of the crater.'
There were no rocks, no soil, and no ground that could be stepped on. The only thing that could be seen were streams of flowing blue flames, flowing freely in this vast and empty space.
The soil and rocks stopped there. The bottom of the crater seemed to lead to an endless and vast place. It even gave the illusion that the planet beneath their feet only had a thin layer of shell, and the crater had pierced through the shell, allowing them to see the hollow structure of the planet. Countless blue flames formed a crisscrossing network in the space, and just as the treant leader had said, they looked like intertwined blood vessels.
But the 'hollow planet' was just a visual illusion. The inside of the planet was of course not hollow. The crater, which was just a hundred meters in diameter, could not have pierced through the planet's crust. The surging scene at the bottom of the crater was just a 'crack' projected by magic. The environment at the bottom of the crater was more like a teleportation portal. What appeared inside was a magic network that mortals could not directly touch.
That was the real body of the Deep Blue Well, the 'pulse flow' buried deep in the lower layer of the real world, running through the entire planet.
"Such a huge amount of magic flowing in the Deep Blue Network, connecting all the worlds of the planet, exchanging huge amounts of energy …" The treant leader stared at the bottom of the crater for a long time before it spoke in a deep voice. "It's like the 'source' of magic …"
"It's easy for people who don't know the inside story to have such an illusion when they see the real body of the Deep Blue Network, thinking that the magic cycle inside a planet is the source of all the magic in the world. It's like a short-sighted ant climbing on a blade of grass and thinking that it has reached the end of the earth." Firna shook her head, followed by Rayna. "But it's still a shallow understanding. Magic comes from stars and 'sub-stars' like our sun. It's the soft singing of those huge and ancient celestial bodies in the vast universe. Compared to the ripples from the stars, the Deep Blue Well on our planet …"
The elven twins smiled gently, but there was a hint of mockery in their sweet smiles. "It's just a pool of water shining under the sun. It reflects the sun and shines brightly, but in the face of the eternal sun, it will evaporate and disappear in a moment."
The treant leader's eyes fell on the pair of sweet-smiling elven twins. Its tawny eyes were frozen. After a long time, it broke the silence. "Sometimes I'm really curious, where did your mysterious knowledge come from … Don't tell me it's the ancient inheritance of the elves or the secret information of the Kingdom of Gondor. I've lived through the Gondor era, and I've also traveled to many places in the Silver Empire. While I can't say that I know all the knowledge in the world, at least I can be sure that … a lot of the things you know are not in the realm that mortals have ever touched."
"Is this question very important?" Firna gently tilted her head. "Facts have finally proven the authenticity of the knowledge we brought, and you have benefited greatly from this knowledge …"
"We have accurately determined the location of another 'vein flow' in the ancient Kingdom of Gondor." Rayna also gently tilted her head. "And guided you on how to steal energy from the Deep Blue Well to open this vein." The twin elven twins smiled at the same time and said in unison, "We have always done our best to help. Unfortunately, you always seem to have countless doubts and cautiousness."
The treant leader stared at the smiling elven twins, and a cold snort of dissatisfaction emanated from his wooden body. "Hmph, your mysterious way of speaking and annoying fake smiles only make me more suspicious … Has no one ever taught you how to speak properly?"
"Well, if that's your request," the twin elven twins said in unison, "then we can talk to you in a more serious way in the future."
"… No, forget it." The treant leader seemed to have thought of something, and with a disgusted tone, he shook his withered canopy. "Imagine what it will be like when you talk seriously … That's too disgusting."
The elven twins did not seem to care about such a harsh comment at all. They simply turned their heads with a smile, their eyes falling on the bottom of the pit below the high platform as they stared at the 'Deep Blue Network' that was surging incessantly in another dimension. It was not until a few seconds later that they suddenly opened their mouth. "We have to remind you, Mr. Borken, that your last operation was too risky. Although you will not encounter the 'gaze' of the real world and the gods in the elemental realm, and will not alarm the ancient ghost parasitic in the server matrix deep in the wasteland, but the elemental realm has its own rules … The trouble inside is not as easy to deal with as those guys outside the wall. "
"… You don't have to remind me, I know what I'm doing," the treant leader replied coldly. "We need more parameters of the Deep Blue Network, so that we can determine the best control node. We have wasted too much time on this step, and to break through this layer of obstacles, a little risk is completely worth it. "
"Well, since you are so confident, we will not say more." The twin elven twins shook their heads, and Rayna added, "But we still have to remind you that the network node here is not safe, and under no circumstances should you try to intercept anything directly from these veins … Almost eighty percent of them flow to the Deep Blue Well in the heart of the old empire, the ghost parasitic in the server matrix … Perhaps she has declined a little, but she still controls these most powerful 'tributaries'."
"Don't worry, I will be careful, we are not so desperate that we can't be choosy."
Borken's tone was a little stiff, and then wriggled his roots, turned and slowly walked down the platform, and the treants who stood with him also moved and left the place one by one.
Only the twin elven twins and the perpetually turbulent wind in the wasteland were left on the platform made of ring-shaped boulders.
"Impatient, really impatient …" Rayna shook her head and sighed. "Humans are really impatient creatures, even if their life form has become like this, it has not changed much."
"But it is this' impatient 'character that allows these short-lived creatures to create countless surprises." Firna laughed. "Don't you look forward to such a surprise?"
"Well, that's true …"
…
At the northern foot of the Gloom Mountain Range, southwest of Cecil City, in the large secret facility 'Project 115' hidden deep in the mountains and forests, the cave where the main test site was located was brightly lit.
The high-powered magic crystal lamps installed on the ceiling shone bright light, illuminating the countless large and small platforms and the complex frame structures fixed and connected between the platforms. A large number of equipment, still in the prototype stage, were being tested and adjusted in their respective platform areas. Hundreds of technicians were busy all over the test site, and engineering vehicles and small patrol cars were going back and forth on the roads between the platforms.
In the center of the test site, a special large platform had just finished its adjustment. Rebecca walked up the stairs to the testing area in the center of the platform, and behind her was Gwen who had specially come from Cecil City.
"Lord Ancestor, we've finally settled this guy down!" Standing in the center of the platform, Rebecca happily turned to look at her ancestor, and pointed at the large container and the ancillary devices around the container not far away. "The technicians have just given it a physical examination, and now it is in good condition."
Gwen looked at Rebecca, who was obviously a little too excited, and then looked up at the 'experimental unit' not far away. In his sight, a large hemispherical container was quietly placed on the pedestal in the center of the test platform, and around the container were crystal containers, connecting pipes, and nerve connectors of different sizes. At this moment, the cover of the hemispherical container was not closed, and he could clearly see that the container was filled with thin translucent nutrient solution, and a huge, brain-like biological tissue was soaked in the solution.
The brain floated leisurely in the solution, and it even looked a little … enjoyable.
After looking at it for a few seconds, Gwen could not help but mutter, "No matter how many times I see it … this thing that Bertilla came up with is still so weird …"
"Actually, it's okay. I was shocked when I first saw it, but after seeing it for a while, I got used to it." Rebecca scratched her head, and a bright smile appeared on her face. "And these servos are actually quite interesting. You may even find them a little cute after spending some time with them. They are all hardworking and sensible guys. Whether it is computing tasks or fitness requirements, they will be very obedient …"
"I think a group of computers suddenly running out of their slots to do fitness is already very weird …" Gwen could not help but facepalm. "But since you can all accept this style, it's okay."
Rebecca giggled and then changed the topic to something she was familiar with. "After this set of wetware is debugged, we can start the next step of the test. Let it coordinate the operation of the new anti-gravity system. According to the data obtained from Gelan Heavy Industries, the efficiency of the servos in this area is dozens or even hundreds of times that of humans. The problem that we have been troubled by will definitely be solved. "
"Don't be so eager to relax." Although Gwen knew that Rebecca was relatively reliable in the field of technology, he could not help but remind her. "Do a few more simulation tests. Let's start the equipment on a small scale first. The bigger the scale, the more cautious it needs to be. Your aunt can't stand any more stimulation."
"Don't worry, don't worry." Rebecca suddenly shrank when she heard the word 'aunt'. She then nodded repeatedly. "I know. Just like your famous saying, 'Blind confidence is the first step to destruction.' I have seriously memorized it …"
Gwen was surprised when he heard this. He did not even bother to pursue the girl's use of the phrase 'when she was alive'. "Famous saying? When have I ever said that? "
Rebecca was taken aback. "… Huh? Isn't that what you said? This sentence is included in the textbook as a must to memorize famous people's quote … "
Gwen said, "I didn't say that. I suspect that a scholar who didn't have enough space to write the book said it for me."
Rebecca, "…?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
