A deep mark appeared on the vast desert.
It stretched out in four directions on the ground like a huge scar, appearing in everyone's field of vision without warning.
The halfling jumped up from the deck and stepped onto the side of the ship. He grabbed the cable and looked in that direction. He turned back and said to everyone, "That's it."
There is the phantom sea——
The brown canyon is dotted with dark green, which is the lush forest under the night, like a deep emerald gem embedded in the ravine. And there is a layer of changing colors hanging over it - like a disintegrating mask, giving people the feeling that it is there but not in this world.
When Miss Goblin saw this scene, her eyes flickered and she said softly: "Mr. Knight, the shadow of refraction."
There was a faint smell of sand in the wind blowing on my face.
Facing the wind on the deck, Fang Plover turned his head and asked in a low voice: "What is that?"
"Mr. Knight, you must have heard of mirages, right?"
Fang Plover nodded: "That's a water vapor refraction phenomenon, which is very common in desert areas."
"This is similar to that. The canyon we see in front of us is not in this place. It is just an ether projection, refracted here from another world. The principle of Miss Jita's spell is actually the same, but it is such a vast range. I’m afraid it’s not humanly possible.”
"So this is a phantom?"
Tata nodded slightly. She sat on Fang Plover's shoulder and spoke softly, which was equivalent to a whisper: "But relative to the people who are in it, everything is real, just like the magic of a naturalist." . And this may be at a higher level. Mr. Knight, do you still remember the 'Star Flower' wine that you drank at the eldest princess? That is what was brought out from here."
"And the things that can be taken away from the illusion are actually mimics of ether. It transforms the properties that things should have. This kind of power is actually very close..."
Almost created.
Such an idea suddenly appeared in Fang Plover's mind.
That is the power of the Emerald Star - so this canyon and forest are actually projected from the fragments of the Emerald Star. He looked at the changing colors, turned around and asked, "Is it safe to pass through?"
Alfand thought for a moment: "It should be possible?"
should?
Facing Fang Plover's gaze, the halfling waved his hand quickly: "I mean it's almost the same."
almost?
"You know, Captain Ed," Alfonde laughed, "Under such circumstances, we will always encounter some troubles. After all, we are intruders. This is why Her Royal Highness the Princess asked me to come with you. . You can rest assured, I am very sure about this, I have been here many times."
"Many times?"
"Uh... plus this time, there are two times, right?"
"Anyway, what should we do now?"
"Look at me," the halfling snapped his fingers and shouted behind him: "Miss Jita, Luo Yu, lower the height, let's land in the forest over there."
The boat began to lose altitude amid a disturbing sway, as if drunk.
It swayed left and right through that layer of dreamy and confusing colors, just like passing through a wall of light that did not exist, but it seemed that just as the halfling said, nothing happened.
Fang Plover breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the little boy not far away. Under his gaze, Pasha climbed up the mast with dexterity and began to roll up the silver sail——
However, only a few minutes later, a scream like a slaughtering pig came from the boat: "Damn it, they are coming!"
"they?"
"Harpy, wait, I seem to have mistaken the wrong landing place!"
Fang Plover ran to the side of the ship and looked down. There was a loud commotion in the forest below, and then a small black spot screamed and rose from the canyon. Those human-headed monsters with two wings were gathering into a black cloud and flying in this direction. to.
He quickly turned around: "No, you said it was no problem, Mr. Alfond."
"What? The wind is too strong, I can't hear clearly."
"Come here," Fang Plover gritted his teeth angrily: "Throw this man down with the Papapara people!"
Parker was watching the show and was shocked when he heard this sentence: "Wait, why am I here?"
But Luo Hao had already picked him up.
…
Four warlocks walked out from the crowd.
Almost all of them are followers of Andromeda, mystics of the Revealing Eye. They wear purple-gray robes, showing their status within the sect second only to the temple guards.
Babartan turned around at this time and nodded slightly to these people, while the four mystics also put their right hands on their chests and nodded to the king above the sea of sand. Under the gaze of the Sand King, they each walked to their positions and formed an oval, surrounding the huge emerald star——
This is the first step.
Babartan looked at Albany behind the four warlocks, who also nodded to him to show that he was ready.
The Sand King took a gentle breath.
"...But Afifah, why should we look for the third world? Isn't that the job of explorers, adventurers, desperadoes and madmen?"
"Explors, such as your brother, may act for the ideals in their hearts."
"But to put it bluntly, Afifah, those adventurers and desperadoes are actually the same kind of people. Calling them madmen is not far off. What is the difference between them and those gamblers who are panning for gold in the Argonaut wilderness? The difference is, I don’t care about production, I just dream about getting rich overnight..."
"They are dreaming of life and death, but even if they are really favored by the goddess of luck, the wealth that comes too easily will be lost on the gambling table after changing hands. I have seen too many of those gamblers, who suddenly gain power and then lose everything in the blink of an eye. If you are penniless, you will probably still be wandering around many years later..."
The girl smiled: "Yes, there are such people, but they are them and we are us."
She looked far away at the silvery gravel, the white palace, the green palm grove and the rippling blue lake, and only looked at it all tenderly.
"Babaltan, you see, this is your country, and I want it to continue to exist. Even after we are dead, for many generations, people can still remember you as a wise man. monarch."
"Or, as... a pioneer of a new era..."
"Afifah?"
The girl turned back: "Do you still remember what I told you a long time ago, Babartan? I said, I want to tell you a secret——"
At that time, he only looked at the other party with a little doubt - at his beloved lover.
The girl spoke softly:
"Babartan, our world may not be able to sustain it for much longer."
That is an ancient story from long, long ago.
A thousand years ago - what the Numerin elves left to the mortals may not just be a gift, but another precious hope.
"...The arrival of the third misfortune will bring complete destruction to this world. Perhaps it is for this reason that the elves left this world..."
"So what the elves are looking for will be a place where they can escape the flames of war, and that place may be the third world, but it may also be another world that we don't know about at all... or even the legendary one, Xu Yingzhi Land, maybe..."
"Babartan, you know that place, right?"
That legendary name.
Ita.
"Babartan..."
"There are things recorded in those notes that we can't even imagine..."
"The elves cannot take away everyone in this world, nor can they take away the descendants of mortals who once fought alongside them..."
"But they left a key."
"The key is hope."
"It's the secret contained in the sacred object——"
But there is no inheritance of sacred objects in Istania.
But we have this, Afifah. The King of Sand gently brushed the emerald green crystal in front of him with his hand, as affectionately as if he were brushing his lover's skin. He silently stared at the old reflection on the crystal, including himself and the woman beside him, that familiar face. , even his own children.
Everyone he knew well in his memory seemed to be written on this green wall. History seemed to extend backwards in this reflection. He gradually saw the past and future of this ancient kingdom, the ancestors of the desert people. They rose up on this land and single-handedly shaped all the glory of the past.
He also saw the future. Majestic buildings, tall palaces, and white vaults would rise one by one on the unknown land. His descendants, the descendants of the Istanians, would live there. Continuing on the land, continuing forever, to the end of the world and time.
And that was all she longed to see.
It is another kind of eternity that they are pursuing together.
The blazing fire of life is burning in the chest of this old king, as if it will rush out at any time. It's just that his hands that were a little overused seemed a bit pale, as if they had lost their blood, and the back of his hands had a grayish color.
He finally made up his mind, turned around again, and slowly said:
"Albany, you can preside over this ceremony."
This is what was recorded in the note, the second step——
But Seineman, who was in front of everyone, was slightly startled, his expression changed and he said, "Wait, Your Majesty, I should be the one to preside over the ceremony here."
But as soon as he finished speaking, there was a sharp sound, and a slender sword blade was placed on his neck. The coldness coming from the sharp blade immediately caused goosebumps to appear on Seniman's wrinkled skin. The old man was slightly startled, but his expression quickly calmed down.
He looked along the blade of the sword eerily. The hand holding the sword behind the cage handle was young and strong. It was a sword fighter in his early twenties. The other party didn't even look at him, and only stared in front of him. Next to that young man was another young man whose identity Seineman happened to recognize.
Kaolin - the former president of the Ithulian Southern Alliance, one of the ten kings mentioned by the Holy Chosen Ones, that man is called Ye Hua, a very strange name. But there are almost no names among the chosen ones that are not weird to them.
Of course, except for some people——
For example, 'Ed' is ordinary and unremarkable.
Somehow, such a name suddenly popped into Seineman's mind. However, he lowered his gaze and looked at the sword on his neck. Although his expression was gloomy, he said nothing.
His calmness made Ye Hua glance in this direction with some surprise, but it was just a glance. The mission had been accomplished. This was their last obligation to the King of Sand. The mission of the Chosen Ones when they come to this world is to take away the information of Starlight. The "Stargate Declaration" restricts their words and deeds and cannot interfere too deeply in this world.
In this regard, the Super Competitive League has gone a bit too far.
The actions of the Holy Chosen People obviously caused a commotion among the ministers.
It's just that the guards guarding the hall seemed to have ignored this scene and remained motionless, like stone sculptures.
This strange atmosphere made all the ministers unable to move. Of course, they could not come up to express their grievances for the left minister, because the King of Sand had not yet spoken. More importantly, looking at the current scene, the ministers seemed to have noticed something quickly. They all looked at the gloomy-looking Seineman one by one, and suddenly realized something.
The one who was close to Minister Zuo even took a step back without leaving a trace. Although people had not yet figured out how the Minister Zuo offended the King of Sand.
Everyone’s eyes couldn’t help but look to the center of the hall——
But Babartan did not even pay attention in this direction.
All he could see at the moment was the huge crystal, the reflection in the emerald, which seemed to attract all his attention. What little patience he had, he only put it on the mystic and temple guardian on the side:
"Albany?"
"I'm here."
Albany watched this scene silently, then took his staff from the waiter on the side, and then walked up step by step.
This is the second step.
…
Fang Plover emerged from the bushes a little embarrassed.
He turned around and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the harpies had disappeared.
After checking his own condition first, Fang Plover looked at the sleeve that was torn on one side and was a little speechless for a moment - this was given to him by Sylvide and he hadn't worn it for long - but fortunately, other than this Apart from the losses, he didn't suffer any injuries.
There were rustling sounds in the forest, and other people came out of the bushes one by one. It seems that after experiencing a battle royale, everyone's image is a little bad. Fortunately, no one cares about this at the moment. Everyone is checking their status and equipment to see if they lost anything in the battle just now.
"This place is really weird." Luo Hao couldn't help but muttered.
Fang Plover nodded.
Not to mention that harpies rarely gather in such a group in one place. Just after they landed, those things disappeared into thin air and disappeared without a trace, which was confusing.
But that was obviously not a phantom, after all, the previous battle was real.
Fortunately, except for some skin injuries such as scratches and bruises, no one was seriously injured in the previous fierce battle.
They quickly found the 'dying' Papalar man behind a bush——
However, after Fang Yu walked over, he realized that this guy with his belly in the air was actually just lying there pretending to be dead - the other person was even in better condition than the others, and even his hair was not messed up - and he couldn't help but sigh. He kicked him over and said, "Stop pretending to be dead."
Before his feet could reach him, Parker had already hurriedly climbed up.
The Papalar man jumped up and screamed: "... Damn it, you dropped me from such a high place and didn't let me lie here to recover for a while. ...I want to complain to Stargate Port!"
Fang Yu couldn't help but laugh: "What's it called? It's not like I didn't give you a gliding backpack."
The Papalar's eyes widened and he waved his short hands angrily: "But don't you see how scary those harpies are!?"
"They are naturally interested in falling things," Fang Plover said with a smile: "Don't you and Mr. Alfond help distract their attention so that others can land safely? Besides, as long as you do as I say If you do it, there will be no problem.”
"Look, aren't you okay?"
"But an innocent Papalar man has been greatly damaged mentally. You have lost your king of thieves."
So Fang Yu finally calmed down the injured heart of the 'King of Night Thieves' with a big meal, and over there Jita and Luo Yu also found the halfling - Mr. Alfonde. The latter didn't have as many things to do as the Papalar people. They just dusted themselves off, walked over to Fang Plover and said with a wry smile:
"Although it is my responsibility this time, can you not ask me to do such a job next time?"
"To be honest, I'm actually a little afraid of heights -"
"Afraid of heights?"
Fang Plover looked at this guy. He was afraid of heights and had he ever been on a boat?
Alfande spread his hands helplessly: "Master, this is the reason why I retired... If it weren't for the fact that Her Royal Highness is a big patron..."
Fang Yu was also a little speechless, and couldn't help but wonder if this was another sense of asking for money rather than life.
However, Pasha, who had been silent at this time, suddenly asked a crucial question: "...How are we going to return the ship to Her Royal Highness the Princess after we go back?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Fang Plover looked at the tattered boat hanging on the tree over there, thought for a moment, and felt that this should be considered a successful landing... maybe?
He subconsciously looked at Afifa aside, only to find that the little princess was hugging the wooden sculpture, still lowering her head and saying nothing. Seeing the other party like this, Fang Yu's desire to make a joke to lighten the atmosphere became much less intense. He couldn't help but sigh and wink at everyone:
"Let's go to the Sand King first."
"Alfond, sir, do you know the way?"
"certainly."
This time, the halfling was quite sure.
But before everyone left, Luo Yu came over with Jita, and the box followed them.
"Ed," Luo Yu said in a low voice, "Before we came here, we saw some people..."
"some people?"
Fang Yu was slightly startled and couldn't help but look at the other party.
Luo Yu only nodded slightly.
…
