A slender woman wearing a black hooded robe was lying in the bushes not far away. She seemed to be severely injured and the intermittent cries for help came from that direction.
I didn't expect there to be someone who hadn't returned from the forest. Looking at her condition … Could she have been there when the ruins were in trouble?
Celine immediately led everyone over and I heard her exclaim, "An apprentice priestess? What happened to you? "
I hurriedly hugged Sandora's ball and squeezed into the crowd. In the end, I found that the person lying on the ground was someone I had met once before: Greenleaf! She was the elf I met in the tavern on the first day I arrived in town. I remembered that she was teammates with a muscular demon … Uh, a muscular adventurer named Leon. I didn't expect to meet her again under such circumstances.
The elf priestess named Greenleaf was currently curled up in Celine's arms. Although there were no visible wounds on her body, her pale face and twitching lips showed that she was in great pain. Her pair of sharp elven ears were abnormally pale. This strange color spread from her ears to her neck and the lower half of her face. It looked like she was poisoned. Celine shook Greenleaf's shoulders with all her might. She didn't seem to know this foreign priestess but she recognized her attire at first glance. "Wake up! Wake up! What happened? "
After Celine's continuous calls, Greenleaf finally regained consciousness. She squinted her eyes at the surroundings and suddenly grabbed Celine's arm. "Leon … Leon is trapped in the ancient tower! Hurry up and save him. He's trapped under the ancient tower! "
"We're about to go but we have to ensure your safety first," Celine said quickly as she forcefully tore Greenleaf's sleeves. Only then did we see the elf's injuries. Her arms were red and swollen as though they were scalded by boiling water. A part of her skin had even festered and oozed pus. "Oh no … It's the third type of curse … There's no way to treat it like this. Your body is starting to collapse."
"Don't worry about me!" Greenleaf didn't know where she got the strength from but she almost pushed Celine away. "Go save Leon, he's still alive! I know my own situation … I have been illuminated by the Forbidden Crystal. Leave me here. This is a forest … The Mother Tree will take me away. "
Qing Ye's voice became louder and louder, but her breathing became faster and faster. An abnormal flush of red began to appear on her face. This was the sign of a dying person. Sandora and I were already prepared to help, but the word that she suddenly mentioned stunned me. I couldn't help but shout, "What did you just say? Mother Tree!? "
Despite the urgency of the situation, Celine still had the time to look at me curiously. "The Tree Spirit that the elves worship. Mr. Scholar, you don't know?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just didn't hear it clearly just now." I hurriedly wave my hands. In my heart, I thought that it might just be a coincidence. After all, it wasn't only the Tree Elves who had a Mother Tree. Almost every world's Elves would have a symbiotic relationship with a gigantic plant or even worship it. There were also quite a few Elves from other worlds who called their Elven Tree the Mother Tree. After which, I glanced at Qing Ye whose breathing was gradually getting weaker. "Hand her over to me."
"You?" Celine was a little puzzled. "She is already … incurable. Furthermore, she might have been contaminated by the cursed powder. It can't be cured."
"I'm staying behind to accompany her on her last journey." I gestured to Sandora to release some mental interference. At the same time, I said in a low voice, "You can't possibly stay behind to take care of a … right? Hurry up and bring everyone to the ruins. I'll follow you later."
Under Sandora's mental interference, Celine didn't have too many suspicions towards my vague words. Instead, she nodded straightforwardly. After which, she waved her hand and called out to all the adventurers, "Everyone, follow me! Don't fall behind! "
The large group quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest. I bent down and patted Qing Ye's face. The latter was already close to losing consciousness. When she felt someone touching her, she began to talk nonsense in a daze. "According to the rules, we stayed behind in the ruins … to guard it, to prevent anyone from accidentally entering the ruins after the gate opens … There was a sound coming from underground. Leon went in to check the situation. Then, two buildings beside the tower exploded …"
She might have mistaken me for Celine. From the looks of it, all she could think about right now was her lover and the situation of the ruins.
"It's malignant radiation. She came into direct contact with highly radioactive substances. Fortunately, her body wasn't contaminated by the radioactive dust. Otherwise, Celine would have had an attack by now," Sandora said as she floated to Qing Ye's chest. She released a faint golden light to protect Qing Ye's soul first. This way, even if her body died immediately, we could easily revive this elf. "Send her for treatment first. Then, hurry up and follow Celine … Let's hope that those stupid fellows know the dangers of radiation."
A distorted light shrouded us. In the next moment, we were transported from the lush forest to a silver-white alloy cabin. In the cabin, we could see a large number of neatly arranged coffin-like equipment. This was one of the comprehensive medical cabins of the Empire Admiral.
"Mainframe, are the medical facilities ready?" I placed Qing Ye in midair and used the anti-gravity field to keep her suspended in the air to prevent her body from being injured a second time. At the same time, I asked the air loudly.
The voice of the mainframe echoed from all directions, "Medical cabin ready. Auxiliary medical facilities have arrived."
A small door at the corner of the cabin silently slid open, and an octopus-like autonomous robot floated in. This small robot that belonged to the comprehensive medical system circled around Qing Ye's' corpse '(the latter had already entered into a state of suspended animation) twice. Then, following the protocol, it first pierced a needle into the target's body. A dull and monotonous voice echoed from the autonomous robot, "Examining the target's life form. Resetting the medical system parameters … Prioritizing the ship's matching database … Discovered a matching list. Patient's race: Tree Elf. Symptoms: Severe radiation damage. Organ necrosis. Body on the verge of death. Adjust the medical cabin to G-R35 mode … Emergency patient! Send her for treatment immediately! "
The autonomous robot suddenly let out a sharp whistle. Then, it rushed to the nearest medical cabin with Qing Ye. Sandora and I were both stunned on the spot. What did that 'octopus' just say?
The medical cabin had already started operating normally. I extended my hand and called over the autonomous robot that was preparing to return to the garage, "You just said that the patient is a Tree Elf?"
"Repeat report: Patient's race: Tree Elf. Slight genetic mutation. Suspected to be a result of mixed blood or a natural mutation caused by geographical isolation. This robot is equipped with a logic database and identification module personally designed by Lord Bubble. I can guarantee that the above conclusion is correct."
Even an autonomous robot had the ability to read people's expressions. This octopus-like robot noticed my strange expression and took the initiative to announce its system. Of course, I didn't doubt its judgment.
I waved my hand to signal the autonomous robot to return to standby. I turned my head to look at the golden ball of light beside me, "The situation is starting to get interesting … Tree Elves."
Tree Elves, the last race of the old Empire. They were a race that Halland saved in passing. They were also the ambassadors of the new Empire. They had a gentle personality, were good at communicating, loved to travel, had a tenacious character and outstanding talent in technology. In theory, the Tree Elves in the Empire were the only survivors of this race after the 'Day of Calamity'. However, it seemed that we needed to update our information.
"From the looks of it, the surviving Tree Elves weren't the only ones that escaped with Green Star." Sandora was currently a ball without any expression. However, I could imagine that she must have revealed her usual signature expression of interest. "According to what I know, the Tree Elves were a single race during the era of the old Empire. However, the Tree Elves on this planet live together with other races … They might even be outsiders."
"Did they end up in this world after escaping from the Empire?" I was thinking about something else. "If that's the case … the universe we are in shouldn't be too far away from the territory of the old Empire. So far, among the 'refugees' that we have discovered, the one that ran the farthest was the Fifth Fleet of the exiled fleet. They have almost reached the limit of communication with the Garden of the World. The Tree Elves shouldn't have run any further than the Fifth Fleet. Then, this world … "
Sandora didn't wait for me to finish and immediately gave an order, "Mainframe, try to contact the Garden of the World and report the result."
A moment later, the mainframe sent a report. The result was the same as two days ago. "Communication failed. The signal is severely distorted. The signal is not strong enough and cannot be analyzed."
"Communication failed. However, it doesn't seem to be because of the distance. At the very least, it isn't just because of the distance." Sandora looked at me with a grave expression. I guessed that her current expression meant that she was grave.
Qingye's condition was rather bad … Alright, she was actually dead. She officially died a second before she was sent into the medical pod. Thus, we needed some time to wait for her to revive. During this period of time, we couldn't just foolishly wait by the side. It was time to take action.
The three words "Tree Elves" caused Sandora and me to abruptly return from our initial state of mind of sightseeing. We realized that this world wasn't just a remote desolate universe that had nothing to do with the Empire. Oh, maybe it was indeed a desolate universe, but from now on, it could no longer be said to have nothing to do with the Empire. At the very least, we could confirm that a group of the old Empire's minions had escaped to this world. Based on our experience, anything that had anything to do with the old Empire wasn't a good thing.
Back then, when the Tree Elves developed to their peak, they had already explored almost the entire universe. Although they hadn't touched upon Void technology, under the guidance of the Empire, they had made a huge leap in technology. Even if they escaped to other universes, they would still possess the capital to explore new worlds. However, in this world … At the very least, the Tree Elves on this planet obviously didn't remember that they had such advanced technology. Perhaps, they remembered that they had such technology, but they took the initiative to give it up. In short, they were living together with a group of ancient people. They basically relied on walking when they went out and roaring when they communicated. Where did their technology go?
Tree Elves had a long lifespan. As long as they had sufficient nutrition and didn't commit suicide, it wouldn't be a problem for them to live for tens of thousands of years. Back then, the Tree Elves on Green Star had slept together until today. However, even if they didn't sleep, they wouldn't have aged more than two generations within 70,000 to 80,000 years. What did this mean? This meant that at most two generations of the Tree Elves on this planet had lived through the old Empire! This meant that Qingye's grandfather might have been acquainted with Halland! This meant that if Qingye's grandfather was a little more unrestrained, her father might have also experienced the Interstellar Voyage Era in his childhood! He had experienced the glorious era of technology in the outskirts of the Solar System where every family had a spaceship!
The older generation of Tree Elves on this planet definitely knew the reason for the decline of technology. They should have personally witnessed the rise of the Lost God Religion … Wait a minute, it was highly possible that the Lost God Religion was founded by them!
"In a multi-racial civilization, the longer the lifespan of a race is, the more likely it is for them to occupy the inheritance of knowledge. Furthermore, they can easily establish a 'technological control organization' like the Lost God Religion and achieve spiritual domination over the entire world." Looking at the medical pod that was humming softly, Sandora had the same thought as me. "They have an innate advantage. Once they establish a religion, it doesn't matter how many people don't listen to them. They just have to wait for generations of people who oppose them to die of old age. They have thousands of years to slowly change the minds of other races. If there isn't a race on this planet that has a longer lifespan than the Tree Elves, then it is almost certain that the Lost God Religion was founded by these gentle long ears. However … isn't this a little different from the Tree Elves we know? They don't seem to be a race that would do such a selfish thing. "
Of course, I thought so too. The Tree Elves of the Empire … Not to mention establishing such a baffling technological control organization to rule the world, the freedom in their bones meant that they wouldn't use the strength of their entire race to do such a strenuous and unrewarding thing. They loved change, loved traveling, loved anything that could change their lives with each passing day and wouldn't be boring. For them to establish a global organization to lock down technology, causing the entire planet to be stuck in the middle of a farming society and be unable to advance, even trapping themselves on a stone planet with a diameter of six to seven thousand kilometers? Wouldn't they suffocate themselves to death!
Back then, the group of Tree Elves on Green Star couldn't travel or develop themselves. Their lives were too boring, and almost all of them went crazy. In the end, they had no choice but to collectively sleep and dream to kill time.
"Assuming that the Lost God Religion was founded by the Tree Elves, then they definitely didn't do it to satisfy their own desires and become some kind of tyrant among a bunch of primitive people," I said with certainty. "At the same time, they wouldn't be scared out of their wits just because a high-tech war almost destroyed the world and seal up technology like snakes and scorpions. Those Tree Elves who lived through the glorious era might still be alive today. They have seen a higher level of the world and have a high awareness of 'technology'. They wouldn't take the conservative route of sealing up all technology to prevent a world war."
"So, they sealed up their technology to guard against something more serious …" Sandora gently landed on a MDT in the corner. A large amount of golden light extended from her body and connected to the MDT. "I am releasing more probes and engineering ships to build research stations in the depths of the universe. It seems that the scale of the 'threat' that could cause a race like the Tree Elves to decline to this extent. It is very likely that the threat comes from outside this planet. It is best if we can find something in the deep space … or outside the universe. However, the success rate of this is not high. The entire world is shrouded in a strange disturbance. Ordinary void probes would disappear in the blink of an eye after leaving the world barrier. Ah Jun, do you think that this disturbance has something to do with the Tree Elves sealing up their technology? "
I raised my eyebrows. "You are saying that this disturbance is not a natural phenomenon, but something left behind by an enemy race? Back then, they destroyed the Tree Elves' fleet in exile. Even now, the Tree Elves do not dare to develop their technology because they are afraid that their enemy will find out that they are still alive? "
"It is very possible. However, I cannot explain the meaning of this disturbance. If it is caused by war … A race that has the ability to isolate the entire universe could easily wipe out the Tree Elves." Sandora set up the probes and flew over lightly. "However, no matter what, we should set our sights on a wider area. No matter what, the Tree Elves came from the void. They should have left their traces in more places."
Thirty minutes ago, we did not even consider the trivial matter that happened on this planet to be a matter of the entire universe. However, with the appearance of the "Tree Elves", even a meticulous Queen like Sandora could not help but make a bold guess. There was only one reason for this: The Tree Elves, the last race of the old Empire. They were a race that had almost developed their own Void Engine. They could be considered as a group of people that had reached the upper regions of the mortal civilization. They had seen and tasted them before!
This bunch of "experienced", highly intelligent race chose to seal all of their technology. They were even willing to follow a group of primitive people (these primitive people should be the true natives of this planet) to live a medieval life. Their nature was completely different from a bunch of fellows that had experienced a mere global nuclear war and were scared out of their wits (look at me). For example, if you were to meet a fat man in a beer stall on the street who was drowning his sorrows in alcohol, it would be fine if this fat man was the richest man in the city. No matter how complicated his story was, he would only be the gossip of ordinary citizens. However, if this fat man was dressed like an Arabian and had an expired Saudi visa in his pocket … Would you believe that there wasn't a grudge between the two of them?
To us, the Tree Elves were just a fat man that had once led a powerful life in the Saudi region but was now drowning his sorrows in alcohol on the streets of Tong County. Sandora and I were eager to know what this bunch of long ears had gone through — to actually end up in such a miserable state.
"Before the Deep Space Probe has more information, it is best for us to have a good talk with the remnant of the Tree Elves." Sandora seemed to be looking at the medical pod where Qingye was lying. "This little girl is too young. However, her family elders or clan elders might still be around. With the lifespan of the Tree Elves, even if they did not accept the Empire's transformation, they would still be able to live from the end of the old Empire to this day. Un, that is, if the timeline of this world doesn't have any major problems. "
Thus, leaving behind Qingye who was slowly reviving in the medical pod, Sandora and I teleported back to the surface.
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