Bonia was sitting beside him, daydreaming. Hao Ren's sudden words startled her. The little saintess, who was still far from mature, was as easily distracted as any child of her age. After Hao Ren repeated his request, Bonia quickly jumped up and ran into a small room at the back of the temple. After rummaging for a while, she carefully came out with a small ceramic jar.
As mentioned earlier, the daily life of people in this world was closely related to various spices. Spices were not only a kind of daily necessities, but also involved in religion, folklore, etiquette, and other aspects. Different kinds of spices were used on different occasions. Some were used to worship the gods, some were used to cleanse oneself, and some were used in the baptism of newborns. The small jar that Bonia took out contained some grayish-white powder, which she made by hand, baked with various herbs and magic. Hao Ren took some of the powder and smelled a strong, licorice-like smell. He took out the MDT and said, "Analyze it."
"A small amount of it can affect the development of the brain, affect the early brain development of children, reduce the ability of creative thinking, and …" the MDT said as it hovered around Bonia to determine the physiological details of the people in this world. "And the tendency to criticize reality independently. But it does not affect intelligence and genetic factors. In short, this is something that can make people 'obedient'. It's not clever, but if applied in large quantities to everyone, it can almost ensure the stagnation of the entire civilization. Of course, these potions alone are not enough. A complete education system is also needed. I believe that the tribes here have done it. "
"Is this a protection measure?" Hao Ren frowned.
"If it happened to an ordinary civilization, it would be a crime, but here, it is a kind of protection." The MDT floated up and down. "The underground space of this world is not rich, and the entire planet has no energy. Without the sun, the energy stored on the planet itself is extremely limited. You should know how fast a highly developed human society can consume the life of a planet. So the human civilization here has stagnated, and the purpose should be to prolong the life of the entire ecosystem. "
"Did the goddess teach you to make this spice?" Hao Ren pointed to the small jar and asked Bonia. Bonia quickly glanced at Vivian and nodded her head a few times. Vivian, on the other hand, put on a bitter face and said, "Just take it that I taught you."
Hao Ren thought about it, put the spices aside, and continued to read the diary that Beatrice had left behind. The witch was a scholar full of the spirit of exploration. She was very different from her peers who only knew to fight for power and antiquities in her time. She left behind a record that described her research findings in this world in a large space. She even left behind a drawing: the drawing depicted the ancient things recorded on the stone tablets by the Fire tribe and the Mountain tribe. Beatrice thought that these things were still buried deep underground. She mentioned some of her unrealized expeditions.
"… There should be a lot of ruins deep underground. I found some abnormal cracks around the Pillar of Eternity. These cracks seem to be deliberately left behind, leading underground. However, the Pillar of Eternity itself is a 'miracle' of this world. The locals think that these pillars are the arms of the giants, and going deep into the foundation of the pillars will make the giants itch and cause the sky to collapse. So I had to give up …
"In ancient times, the Fire tribe seemed to be a magic people called 'Erbisius'. They were good at making flame-driven machines and magic-guided devices. I've restored some things from their lithograph books. The blueprints of these things are at …"
Many parchments began to record Beatrice's archaeological findings. She also mentioned some of the ancient relics that the tribe members still kept. Hao Ren flipped through these things casually, and Bonia, who was next to him, began to doze off again. The little saintess's nose was foaming, and her upper body was swaying back and forth. The round pancake-shaped pendant hanging around her neck was reflecting the light of the phlogiston lamp with a golden radiance. Hessiana's eyes were suddenly attracted by the round pancake. She woke Bonia up and said, "Little girl, let me see your pendant."
The little saintess quickly took off the pendant on her neck and handed it to Hessiana.
Hessiana initially thought that it was just a decorative metal pancake, but when she held it in her hand, she found that it was something more sophisticated than she had imagined. The round 'pendant' was about the size of a pocket watch. The surface was made of complex and fine patterns like laser etching, and some of the ends of the patterns were inlaid with worn tiny crystals. Hessiana touched a button next to the metal pancake when she was looking at it, and the device suddenly popped open, revealing the delicate mechanical structure and wiring inside. There were some symbols and words engraved on the inside of its lid. Vivian curiously looked at it and interpreted it through the translation plug-in.
"National Grand Library – Ebitheus Archive Keeper's Key – Replaceable Universal ID Card."
"This is an ancient sacred object," Bonia wiped her nose and said seriously. "It was passed down from generation to generation by the saintesses. It houses the incarnation of the Spirit of Knowledge and the will of the Goddess. "
"A delicate alchemy tool, a mixture of mechanical and magical principles." Hessiana gently stroked the lines inside the ancient key with her fingers. Although the outside was worn, the inside was still well preserved. "Maybe there is a relic underground that matches it?"
Meanwhile, Hao Ren was flipping through the last few manuscripts, and Beatrice's record was coming to an end. She left these things in the last years of her life, when her body had been suffering from a variety of strange diseases. She realized that her days were numbered, and the closer to the end of the manuscripts, the more frequent and explicit she mentioned that her death was approaching.
"… I don't have much time. The more frequently I use magic and herbs to suppress the pain, the more it will rebound. My body can't adapt to many substances in this world, and now these accumulated 'toxins' are killing me. I have said goodbye to Mobeka (the tribal saintess), and she still can't accept this fact. But fate is fickle, who can fight against it?
"… It's interesting that when I'm close to death, I begin to miss my hometown. Although that world is in the most difficult period, witches and wizards are suffering from unspeakable terror, dying alone in this distant foreign land does not seem to be a good thing. Recently, I have been recalling things and acquaintances in my hometown so frequently that the deciphering of the ancient documents at hand has stalled. I may have become weak, but in these last days, no one expects a witch in distress to be strong …
"… Baptiste, please forgive me for only mentioning your name when everything is finally coming to an end, but I really think of you often. I miss you so much that I don't even dare to write your name anywhere or tell anyone, because every time I hear your name, it only makes me more aware of how far apart we are. Perhaps you are still looking for me? I wish I could talk to you now. The only thing I want to tell you now is to stay away from this place.
"There is no hope here. There is nothing here. This world is a chaotic space with no return. The knowledge I have taught you is far from enough to deal with the dangers here. So, don't come to me."
That was the end of the manuscript.
In the last few chapters of the parchment, Beatrice's notes were a bit messy, and she could not even tell the difference between reality and delusion. These things were not written in one go. Beatrice spent a year reviewing her experiences here over the past decade, so the last few parchments should reflect Beatrice's terrible state at that time. But no matter how messy these words were, the meaning was still clear.
This was the reason why Baptiste was searching for the second level of Inferno at all costs.
At this time, a series of footsteps came from outside the temple, and then a tribal warrior with red paint on his face suddenly rushed in. "Goddess, Saintess, the sentries have caught an unknown person in the wilderness."
(I'm leaving for my classmate's wedding in the afternoon and will be back in two days. This chapter should be updated early.)
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