"My hometown is a memory for me. Speaking of which, you are the most special person I have met in these years. What is your hometown like?"
Zhou Jinru looked back at the nightmare, and then turned his gaze to the distant horizon. Looking from here, there was only an unchanging gray sky.
"My hometown is in a very far away place. At least so far, I haven't found a way to go back, and I don't know how far I have to go."
Nightmare said leisurely: "I can see that you are not on the same page as those before. Your goals are different."
Zhou Jinru paused and narrowed his eyes slightly: "What exactly is Astar?"
"You really want to know?"
"I didn't know before I came here. After wading through this muddy water, I at least want to understand why I came."
Nightmare was silent, and after a long time, he slowly said: "Astar is a miracle and a kind of misfortune. It is known as the tears of the gods in my hometown, but have you ever seen tears of stone?"
Zhou Jinru thought of everything he encountered in Xinxi Tower, nodded and said: "I know what a miracle is, and I also know that miracles can bring bad luck, but when you talk about the stone tears, I am blinded and have no clue."
"Rumors are just rumors. I have personally experienced the true usefulness of Astar. It can resurrect people who have just died. Just reversing death is enough to illustrate its magic. Living things that have been contaminated and distorted can also be revived in a very short time." It takes time to recover, isn’t that enough?”
"What's the bad luck?"
Nightmare said calmly: "You have already seen bad luck."
Zhou Jinru suddenly realized that the price of resurrection and restoration of distortion was to become what the nightmare is now, between reality and dream, between life and death. What does this mean to Kelsey and the others?
He thought that the current appearance of the Eternal City was caused by the Nightmare's Origin Stone skills, but in fact it was not entirely true. The Nightmare was only part of the reason, and the other part was because of Astar, that magical stone.
"You should have an Astar, or a fragment, on you."
This was just a guess. Zhou Jinru didn't expect Nightmare to readily admit it.
"You are right, I do have a small fragment, which is insignificant compared to the whole thing Candice borrowed. Without it, the Eternal City would not be able to maintain its current state."
Zhou Jinru didn't know what to say for a while. The nightmare was too sincere, which made him very embarrassed.
But Nightmare didn't think so. The Kuranta man stood up and said calmly: "If you can choose to help me defend the city, you won't care about the fragment. If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't say so much.
What's the benefit of taking the fragment? Are you like me, a man and a ghost, immortal? "
Nightmare heard a fortune teller describe a prophecy a long time ago. The only person who can take away Astar is a person who travels between the future and the past. But does such a person really exist?
If Kelsey and others were here, they might have some ideas, but now only Zhou Jinru is left. He has no idea about Astar, and the Eternal City exists to prevent evil spirits from invading the interior. If he really wants to take away Astar, Starr, that is to take personal selfishness to the extreme, which he cannot do.
"Where is Astar from?"
Nightmare didn't hesitate to answer the question, saying, "From beyond the stars."
…
The day passed quickly, and towards evening, Zhou Jinru woke up from his sleep. He slept soundly without dreaming.
When I opened my eyes, the sky was dim and indescribably desolate.
It was obviously summer, but he couldn't feel the slightest bit of heat. The cool wind blew on his body, making him want to get in through the gaps in his clothes and penetrate into his bones.
Zhou Jinru took out his kettle and took a sip. He turned around and saw the city wall full of defenders, looking ready.
There are no new recruits here. The warriors who take up arms are experienced in hundreds of battles and have experienced countless life and death cycles. Even some adventurers in strange costumes are mostly elite warriors.
Nightmare wanted to give Zhou Jinru a centurion and allocate some more men to him, but he declined.
Firstly, he didn't know how the Eternal City fought, and secondly, he didn't want to get involved too much. He left when the nightmare cycle resumed.
As time goes by, all kinds of twisted creatures are spread under the city wall, most of which have no human form. Looking at them more often will make your head feel swollen.
Zhou Jinru took out a telescope from his coat pocket and hid behind the parapet to observe. There were several huge monsters among the tide of monsters, and behind the thin mist, something else seemed to be approaching.
Does the Twisted Monster know that the Eternal City has stopped looping?
He could not imagine what kind of invasion Sargon's land would be without the defense of this fortress.
"It should be able to hold on. A hundred years later, Sargon can at least maintain a superficial harmony and there is no sign of large-scale invasion."
Half an hour later, the first wave of attacks began. From time to time, giant twisted creatures would throw their companions over, causing some trouble.
During this period, Zhou Jinru had been hiding in the dark, closely observing the movements below.
"what is that?"
A coquettish purple flower appeared within the extreme range of the telescope, and it was still approaching the city wall. The arrogance overflowing from the gaps in the petals could be faintly observed.
"New adventurer?"
A veteran came over and whispered.
Zhou Jinru glanced at him and nodded, wondering which country's dialect it was, and he could actually understand it. It seemed that the built-in translation plug-in was really useful.
The veteran asked again: "Are you afraid?"
"Are you afraid of being useful?"
"Don't be afraid," the veteran grinned and laughed. "You haven't died a few times yet. It doesn't matter. You will get used to it after dying a few more times. You will be able to open your eyes again tomorrow."
Zhou Jinru asked curiously: "How many times have you died?"
"Many times, in the beginning, I would die every time I fought, but I would wake up the next day and continue fighting. Then I was no longer afraid. It was just a death, and the worst possible outcome would be to come back tomorrow."
"If you mess with me, I'll make sure you get used to it after dying a few times."
Zhou Jinru was about to refuse when he suddenly saw several Nightmare guards rushing towards the city wall. One of them said respectfully: "Mr. Fourth, Master Nightmare invites you to come over and talk."
The veteran next to him opened his eyes wide and quickly lowered his head. No matter how he was not afraid of death, he still had to respect Lord Nightmare when he saw him.
But why do these personal guards respect the new adventurers so much?
Zhou Jinru didn't care much, stretched out his hand to grab the guard, put the telescope on his eyes, and said hastily: "Did you see it? What is that purple flower?!"
The guard looked at it carefully, clasped his fists and said seriously: "That is the cannon of a twisted creature. Lord Nightmare is worried about this matter. Please don't delay Mr. Fourth any longer."
