Stay in this strange projection village?
I had never even thought about this matter. Originally, we only came down to collect some information. Of course, I had thought too simply at the start. Perhaps it was a little too far-fetched to think that we could complete the mission in 5 minutes with just a flash drive, but no matter how the situation developed, I had never thought of sleeping in the core of the earth for a few nights. However, this mysterious Great Tribe Leader had already extended an invitation. Furthermore, to us, without resorting to violent means, it was unlikely that we would be able to find out the truth in a short period of time.
"We won't be staying for too long, but thank you for your hospitality."
Just as I was thinking about how to refuse and go to other parts of the oasis to see what was going on, the big sister suddenly spoke. From her tone, it seemed that she really intended to stay for a few days.
Facing my confused gaze, the big sister simply blinked, indicating that she had other ideas.
The big sister glanced at the big sister and asked calmly, "Do you still want to return to Blazing Sky?"
"We came from there," the big sister replied ambiguously.
"I understand. The people of the oasis won't go to Blazing Sky, but that's still your home. How do you intend to go back? I didn't see your ship. I heard that the people of Blazing Sky need to use a ship to come to the oasis, otherwise they will be stranded on the ground. "
Before the big sister finished speaking, I heard Liliana's voice in our mental connection. "She's lying! Her speed isn't right! "
I couldn't tell that she was lying at all. This friendly old elf lady's tone was calm and her expression was normal, but Liliana insisted that she wasn't telling the truth, so I could only believe her. At the very least, this black loli was much more reliable than an outsider.
Liliana paused for a few seconds before explaining, "She said that the people of Blazing Sky will be stranded on the oasis if they don't have a ship. When she said this, it seemed like she was lying. One reason was because her speed wasn't right, and the other was because of my talent, Pope. Even if she is just a projection, she is still thinking. As long as she is thinking, it can be classified as a pan-soul, and everything is under my control."
In other words, the patriarch knew that we wouldn't be stranded on Oasis Star because we didn't have a means of transportation. What was the point of her saying that? As soon as the question popped up in my mind, my sister sent me a message. "She might be guessing our identity, and she has a vague answer. The way we came to and left the oasis might be related to our identity. She wants to know what we used to come down from the mantle."
Can I tell this old lady that we actually have a seven-handed BYD with dozens of exhaust pipes that can warp and cruise at the speed of light?
The people of Oasis Star were very cautious. Sometimes, they seemed a little crazy, but sometimes, they seemed a little too naive and gullible. That night, our group was welcomed into the village, and we were given a private mushroom treehouse to stay in. It was said that this was specially used to entertain guests. On Oasis Star, every Tree Elf settlement would have a house specifically used to entertain guests. This was because the Tree Elves loved to wander in the forest, and all the Tree Elves were born from the vines of their ancestors. This made them very close to each other, and they were also very willing to entertain guests. Gradually, a custom was formed, and that was to leave enough room for guests no matter where they were.
Soon, night fell. It seemed that the glowing clouds in the upper atmosphere had finished their chemical reaction under the control of a certain system. The entire Oasis Star experienced the same night. This small planet didn't have the concept of day and night, or the concept of the eastern and western hemispheres. We gathered in the mushroom treehouse that the hospitable Tree Elves prepared to entertain guests, and we continued to discuss these strange projected societies and their secrets. Earlier, my sister had rejected the fruit platter and other dishes that smelled sweet (regrettably, they were all fruits) that the Tree Elves had prepared for us. Her reason was that the people from the Inferno Sky couldn't get used to the food of Oasis Star, so we brought our own food. Now, the fruit platter was still on the table, and Shallow Shallow was studying it — and Jingle.
The little Goddess seemed to be very interested in these inedible things. The latter's realistic texture and aroma had completely captured the little one's intelligence. Jingle jumped around a pile of oddly shaped fruits like a small beast waiting for an opportunity to attack. Occasionally, she would squeal in a sharp voice and pounce on the fruits. However, there was only one result. The mass projection couldn't bear this contradiction and turned into light spots in midair. Jingle couldn't understand it no matter how hard I thought about it.
The little one kept muttering like a depressed kitten whose prey had flown away. After a few attempts, she finally lay on my shoulder and stopped moving. She was playing dead.
Tawil and her research team were still at the gravitational equilibrium point. They had completed a comprehensive examination of the inner mantle and found something interesting: the remains of some ancient equipment.
The huge composite skeleton was deeply embedded in the semi-molten mantle. The complex grooves indicated that it was once used to install some huge machinery. These skeletons might have been used by the inhabitants of Green Star when they were remodeling the planet's core.
If that was not important enough, there was something else that was even more exciting: the probes had found many dark pyramidal structures in the shallow mantle. These structures were the mass projection generators that we had been searching for for a long time.
If we were unable to find the answer from the "natives" of the oasis, then our only clue would be to dismantle these mass projection generators. Although forcefully dismantling the projection devices might cause some damage to the creatures behind them, it was still a way to find the answer.
"Hmm? What's going on out there? "
Shallow Shallow wasn't interested in our serious discussion. She had been lying in front of the window and looking at the night view outside. Suddenly, she shouted.
The night in this projected world wasn't pure darkness. Even though the tree elves didn't seem to have advanced electric lighting or other artificial lighting technology, and there weren't many lights in this small village, the huge mushroom umbrella handles were able to emit a faint white light under the night sky. The effect was similar to street lamps. Under such dim light, I saw many tree elves gathered at the empty space in the middle of the village. There were quite a lot of them. They probably accounted for half of the population of this small village that only had a few dozen households.
The tree elves were all neatly dressed as though they were about to go on a long journey. They stood silently on the empty space. The scene was quiet and strange. None of them moved an inch. After observing for a while, I noticed something else: all of the tree elves had a blank expression on their faces.
I couldn't see any leader. I couldn't even see any expression on the face of any of the tree elves. Under our puzzled gaze, they suddenly disappeared into thin air one after another! In a short ten seconds, there wasn't a single person left on the square. Half of the villagers had disappeared into thin air just like that.
Before we could go out to check on the situation, another puzzling scene occurred. At the place where the villagers had disappeared, numerous drifting light spots appeared on the empty space. These light spots danced and combined together. After a short moment, they formed human figures. They turned into a group of unfamiliar tree elves. They were wearing the clothes that the villagers had disappeared with. I secretly counted and realized that even the number of them was the same as the villagers that had disappeared. The newly appeared villagers looked around blankly for a moment. Then, their expressions gradually became lively. Soon after, they revealed a smile. This smile disappeared in a flash. After which, they returned to their expressionless faces. Then, they walked towards the nearby treehouses as though they were in their own homes. However, those were definitely not their houses! Those were the houses of the villagers that had just disappeared!
The strange phenomenon only lasted for a few minutes. Just like that, half of the tree elves in the village disappeared from the face of the earth and were replaced by another group of strangers. When the outside became quiet again, Shallow Shallow nudged my arm. "Ah Jun, this feels like a horror movie."
"The original people have been replaced." Sandora returned to the table. "It seems that this projected world has a way of operating that we don't know of. Let's rest first. We'll see what happens tomorrow. "
That night, we slept really well. Although the situation was a little strange and we were deep in the earth's core, the simple-mindedness of the First Family was effective in any situation. When I woke up from the soft plant fiber hammock, the sky outside was already bright. (A day in the oasis seems to be about an hour shorter than on Earth. This is what I discovered when I looked at my watch.) I didn't know when Jingle had crawled over and was currently lying on my face. She slept like a log. Luckily, I didn't cough at night …
The village was already bustling with activity. The tree elves were preparing for the day. The men and women brought along tools for harvesting wild fruits. They planned to go to a nearby shrub that had just ripened to harvest the village's food for the next few days. This was what I heard from their conversation. Everything was normal. Every elf had a natural smile on their faces. They didn't seem to feel that there was anything wrong with their lives.
However, the person standing in front of them was clearly a stranger. The tree elf that had been replaced didn't even disguise his appearance!
It seemed like we were walking in a bizarre and dazzling fantasy land. Alright, this was indeed a fantasy land. However, I never thought that this place would be this bizarre and dazzling. After walking around the village for half a day, I finally found someone I recognized. It was the young tree elf girl that left a deep impression on me, Green Calyx. She was currently helping her father, the village elder, clean up some dried grass. The fibers left behind after the grass was completely dried were the most commonly used building materials by the tree elves. Seeing the arrival of the guests, Green Calyx immediately straightened her body and happily greeted us.
"Hello everyone. Did you sleep well last night? The oasis is definitely much colder than the Blazing Sky. "The young tree elf girl said cheerfully. She used the back of her hand to wipe her sweat." Today is going to be a busy day. We have to gather food and prepare the straw rope for next year. "
"Oh." I looked around. "It seems like there are a lot of unfamiliar faces."
Green Calyx was completely unaware of my intentional or unintentional hints. She only glanced at the busy women and children on the ground and smiled. "Nope. It's probably because a lot of people didn't come out yesterday. You guys didn't meet them, so you quickly got to know each other. There aren't many people in the village and everyone is very friendly."
She was completely unaware that half of the people around her had already been replaced!
"Let's go find the chief." Lin Xue suddenly said in a low voice. She pulled my arm and walked out of the village. No one knew what had happened and could only hurriedly follow.
The chief's wooden hut was still standing quietly outside the village walls. I was a little worried that this small hut would disappear like the other villagers, or that it might have been changed into something else. Fortunately, everything here was normal, including the amiable old Tree Fairy. The old Tree Fairy invited us into the hut, her face full of joy. "Guests from afar, did you have a good rest yesterday?"
Lin Xue stared intently at her eyes as though she wanted to dig out some secrets from them. The old lady showed a surprised expression. "What's wrong? Is there anything that you're not satisfied with? "
"You should be able to guess where we came from." Lin Xue suddenly said. "I just remembered something. In your legends, it was the ancestors who created this oasis planet and placed it here. After that, the ancestors merged themselves into the oasis. Every chief is an ancestor that periodically awakens. In other words, you are the only so-called 'ancestor' that is awake in this world. You experienced the establishment of the oasis planet. You should know what the so-called Blazing Sky means."
The old lady's expression didn't change. She waited for a few seconds before replying, "So what?"
"So, you know that the Blazing Sky is actually a mantle that hasn't completely cooled down. There are no living things living in the Blazing Sky. Behind it is a dark rock layer that is thousands of kilometers thick. There is only a huge energy furnace and control system in the rock layer. Of course, there is also a projection device." Lin Xue leaned back on the chair and spoke calmly. "Yesterday, we saw something that made us very concerned. Half of the villagers were replaced. You know what I mean. Can you explain to me what is going on? Where did the villagers go? Or to put it more simply, what is wrong with everyone in this world? Why … are they brainwashed?! "
The chief's expression didn't change at all. She sighed. "Actually, I just need some time to confirm your identity. Because we are carrying the most important mission, the oasis has already experienced multiple alarms. All the navigators are very nervous … We, we don't really know what to do. When this responsibility was placed on our heads, we had just learned how to operate these systems …"
Lin Xue revealed a victorious smile and winked at me. "I have long felt that she knows a lot of secrets."
"We come from beyond the surface." I felt that there was nothing to hide. After a day and a night, the chief should have confirmed our identity or at least confirmed that we didn't have any hostility. "This planet is a product of the old Empire era. It has psionic energy facilities and there are signs of the Empire's modification. On top of that, we found hundreds of millions of hibernation pods in the mantle. If you have experienced the modification of the earth's core, you should be able to understand what I am talking about."
The chief took a deep breath. "Indeed, I know that. But what does the old Empire mean?"
"The Xiling Empire, the old one," Shallow Shallow said straightforwardly. "It is now the fourth year of the New Empire Calendar. The old Empire has already disintegrated. "
The chief looked as though she had been hit by a hammer. She was stunned for a long while before she exclaimed in surprise, "Dis-Disintegrated? The Empire? How is that possible?! Who do we pass the inheritance to?! "
"Pass it to us," Sandora said firmly. "This planet hides the secrets of the old Empire before it disintegrated. I am the only known emperor who survived the disintegration of the old Empire. My partner is the ruler of the New Empire. I think that is enough. Oh, you look like you are in a mess. Don't worry, we have time to sort everything out. It is a long story … "
The disaster at the end of the old Empire, the Dormant Period, tens of thousands of years, the establishment of the New Empire, and a small part of the current Empire. All of these things added up to a huge story. Jingle had written at least four million words. It took Sandora and her sister more than an hour to explain everything. They spoke very slowly and only picked out the most direct parts. That was because we noticed one thing: although the chief had lived through the era of the old Empire and was very familiar with the Xiling Empire, she was very different from the normal vassals of the Empire. She seemed confused, like a … newbie. That was the only way to put it. She knew about the Xiling Empire, but she knew nothing about the details of the Empire. When Sandora mentioned the former Heaven and the emperors, the chief even interrupted her several times to ask for details. It was a really puzzling phenomenon. Could it be that the strict generals at the end of the old Empire had been sloppy with their vetting of vassals? At the very least, they should have done a good job in popularizing science.
"It was an unimaginable disaster. Completely unimaginable." The chief was silent for more than a minute after listening to the long story. Lin Xue and Liliana stared into each other's eyes. They were worried that the chief was lying. "When we accepted the mission, the Empire was so powerful. Although we only saw a little of it, we felt that it was unimaginably powerful. But such a powerful Empire actually disappeared. The Abyss … We also encountered the Abyss. It was the Empire that rescued the Tree Elves. After that, a general ordered our entire race to assist the Imperial Army in battle. The Tree Elves were grateful, so we accepted the mission. However, the first mission they gave us was to preserve some things."
Sandora suddenly had a look of understanding. "In other words, you didn't actually come into contact with the Empire for a long time?"
"According to your standards, it should be quite short." The chief frowned. "We had just escaped from the disaster of the Abyss. We hadn't even completed the reconstruction of our society when we received the order. At that time, everything was chaotic. The universe was a mess. The general told us that the end of the world was coming. So, the Tree Elves left their own world. This planet was rebuilt during the Abyss War. Our own technology was not advanced enough. It was the Imperial Army that helped us build this fortress. After that, they taught the navigators how to operate the system. After that, they left in a hurry. We were told that this was a very long mission. It might not even end today. However, the Tree Elves didn't care about that. We were used to traveling and being alone. But now … it seems that this journey was a little too long. "
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