Chapter 217: Taking Over Unreal City
Bowen is dead!
After Karl agreed to take care of Unreal City for a while, it seemed as if a weight had been lifted from his mind, and his aura faded away.
Perhaps the reason he had held on for so long was to wait for someone to take over the tasks he had been handling.
Soon,
the sound of weeping shook Unreal City.
“The mentor advanced to Divine Envoy at forty years old, and for over a hundred years after that, he was always striving for this Unreal City.”
Malkin collapsed to the ground, his eyes vacant:
“Over a hundred years…”
“Besides the mentor, our Unreal City has also produced several other Divine Envoys, but without exception, they all left.”
“Only the mentor, who could have lived a better life elsewhere, continued to take care of the Unreal City inhabitants.”
Generations of Unreal City inhabitants grew up under Bowen’s care and guidance.
Every child had received his baptism.
Every corner of Unreal City bore his footprints; every building had been touched by his hand.
“Hah…”
The wind and sand swept through Unreal City.
Karl stood with his hands behind his back, letting the gale buffet his face, his wizard robe fluttering in the wind, as he looked at the weeping crowd.
His face showed no emotional fluctuations.
The powerful perception of a Late Stage, First Circle Wizard allowed him to clearly sense the complex emotions of the people in the square.
Bewilderment, numbness, panic…
and a hint of sorrow.
‘Even if Bowen wholeheartedly helped others, what he received in return was not necessarily their recognition.’
‘When the Cloud Divine Envoy left, no one stayed behind except Malkin.’
‘With Bowen’s death, these people are primarily concerned about how they will survive in the days to come, which is understandable.’
Karl gently shook his head.
“Compile a list of how many inhabitants are still in the city, and give the list to me, along with the locations of the nearby Unreal Cities and the specific directions to the God-Given Objects.”
At the heart of Unreal City was a unique building where the ‘remains’ of past Divine Envoys were kept.
It also contained records from ancient times.
“Snap!”
Karl snapped his fingers.
Light Spell!
A soft halo of light illuminated the surroundings, clearly revealing the words and patterns engraved on the walls.
They recorded the guesses of Unreal City’s ancestors about the Collapsed Divine Domain, and the experience they had gained over hundreds of years.
Karl touched his chin, lost in thought.
His understanding of this world far surpassed that of the Divine Envoys of Unreal City, so he saw things more comprehensively.
The timeline of the Other World,
gradually became clearer before his eyes.
“In ancient times, the Other World was ruled by dragons and giants. Then, the gods descended, exterminated the giants, and enslaved the Dragon Descendants. This process lasted for a long time, but ultimately ended with the gods’ victory and the rise of the human race.”
“For countless years after that, the masters of the gods in the Other World changed several times, and the human race also rose and fell…”
“The Era of Wars, the Steam Era, the Savage Era…”
“Under the control of the gods, the human race was always the source of the deities’ faith. Even though there were occasional rebellions, they were never successful.”
“The gods built their own divine domains in the Astral Plane, and when these divine domains became interconnected, their power and authority reached their peak.”
“Until…”
“The Convergence of Celestial Spheres!”
What was called the ‘Convergence of Celestial Spheres’, according to Karl’s understanding, should have been a time when several worlds collided and overlapped.
At this moment.
Outer Evil Gods invaded one after another, wanting to seize this ‘prosperous’ world.
Just at this time.
The gods of this world also had internal strife. The Moon Goddess attacked and killed the master of the gods, taking the position of the main deity.
And before She could secure Her position, She was ambushed by the God of Death. Although She did not fall, She was severely injured.
There must have been conspiracies, schemes, and the seduction of evil gods involved. In short…
The Moon Goddess unfolded Her divine domain, sacrificed the gods, and used the shattered, blood-red moon to block the invasion of the Outer Evil Gods.
The gods fell!
The divine domains collapsed!
The world also gradually headed towards destruction.
“According to my guess, when the gods fell, their bodies disintegrated and scattered across the land, forming mineral veins.”
“Which are now the Unreal Cities!”
“According to the records here, when the divine domains had just collapsed, the Unreal Cities were like stars dotting the world, and they were interconnected and prosperous for a time. However, as evil creatures proliferated, one Unreal City after another was destroyed by them, causing the roads between the Unreal Cities to become impassable. Gradually, even the Divine Envoys did not dare to stay outside the Unreal Cities for long.”
“The Unreal Cities became fewer and fewer, and the lives of mortals became more and more difficult.”
Karl paced back and forth:
“In the wizard books, gods are composed of divinity, divine duties, divine power, divine fire, and divine spark.”
“Among them, divine duties and divinity are two sides of the same coin, and divine power and divine spark are similar, while divine fire is the foundation for becoming a god.”
“When the gods fell, their bodies turned into the mineral veins of the Unreal Cities, their divine power transformed into God-Given Objects, and their divine fire protected a region…”
He touched his chin:
“Because of the Moon Goddess, this world cannot accommodate beings above the second order, and that includes the things left behind by the gods.”
“Hmm…”
“So, from this perspective, this world has no value to me anymore, only danger.”
“Except for the Divine Marrow!”
…………
“Divine Envoy Karl.”
Malkin took out a stone tablet covered in writing and introduced:
“Unreal City currently has 563 residents, including 72 infants under the age of seven, and 103 people over the age of thirty.”
“Among them, there are five who are expected to break through to the Grand Knight level within ten years and become Divine Envoys.”
“There are two reservoirs, one Mother Worm, two ant colonies, seven people who can craft Divine Stone Runes, nineteen weavers, and twenty-five miners…”
Clothing, food, housing, and transportation.
For the Unreal City inhabitants, only ‘food’ was the most important, the other things were optional.
The Collapsed Divine Domain was extremely short of food, and under the pressure of this environment, most humans were very resistant to hunger.
They could endure for three days and three nights without eating or drinking.
But,
food was always indispensable.
And water.
***
Karl asked curiously:
“Where did the reservoirs come from?”
He had seen the reservoirs in Unreal City, which were devices similar to wells that automatically filled with water.
It was as if magic had been used.
“Oh!”
Malkin explained:
“One Unreal City comprehended the ability to manipulate water from a God-Given Object. They can use Divine Stones to build reservoirs, but they have a limited lifespan. Once the lifespan is over, we have to pay them a fee to continue using them.”
“That Unreal City relies on this skill to maintain its operations.”
“We originally had three reservoirs, but one of them expired and we haven’t paid the renewal fee, so it stopped working. However, the two remaining ones can still support us. We are just afraid that if another one breaks down, we’ll be in trouble.”
?
Karl’s lips twitched slightly. There was even a renewal fee here? He wondered if they had a membership discount or a down payment option?
“Where does the clothing come from?”
The Collapsed Divine Domain had no cotton, hemp, or other plants. There wasn’t even a trace of green for thousands of miles.
“When mining Divine Stones, there are stone threads that can be used to make clothing, and they also have some defensive capabilities.”
Malkin looked at Karl strangely, his gaze lingering on his wizard robe:
“Isn’t this how the Unreal City you were in before made clothing, Divine Envoy Karl? The clothes you’re wearing are very beautiful.”
“My place is different from here.” Karl shook his head, not explaining:
“What is the current food situation in the city?”
“Sigh!”
Malkin sighed:
“The Mother Worm is fine, but the ant colonies you gave us are producing fewer and fewer ants, and the ant queen is showing signs of mutation. I’m afraid it won’t be long before they can’t be eaten anymore.”
Karl raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s go!”
“Let’s go take a look.”
He had specifically chosen fast-breeding ant colonies with high protein content. How could they be dying out so quickly?
One had to know.
These were a species that had been improved through bloodline magic. In the mortal world, they would have become a plague in no time.
“Divine Envoy Karl.”
John stood next to the ant nest and bowed respectfully. He was currently studying the breeding techniques recorded on the stone tablet.
The few people who originally knew the breeding techniques, including the apprentice Lulu, had all gone to Mujou Unreal City with the Cloud Divine Envoy.
“Mm.”
Karl nodded casually and squatted down to inspect the ant nest, his brows furrowing immediately.
“Mutation?”
“In Unreal City, even with the influence of the mineral veins and the divine fire, mutations can still occur?”
“Rarely.” Malkin interjected:
“Only newborn infants and people who have suffered severe mental shocks are likely to mutate.”
Hmm?
Karl raised an eyebrow.
He suddenly realized that the Collapsed Divine Domain was different from the Magic Forest. It was filled with an aura that depleted one’s sanity.
Once one’s sanity dropped to a certain level, mutation would occur.
The locals had resistance to this, and coupled with being inside Unreal City under the protection of the divine fire, they usually had no problems.
But the ant nest from the Magic Forest was different.
The ant queen was not adapted to the illusions here, so it was normal for her to mutate.
“Leave it to me.”
Shaking his head, Karl reached out and collected the ant nest:
“I’ll give you something else for now. After I… fix it, we can use it to cultivate food again.”
“Yes.” Malkin hesitated for a moment:
“The city has been short of food recently, and with that Fallen Angel outside, we can’t go out to hunt…”
“Don’t worry.” Karl took out some dried meat from his storage magic item:
“Use these for now.”
He could afford to feed a few hundred people. Moreover, the people here had very low requirements for food quality. As long as it wasn’t human flesh, they would eat it.
However…
To provide food for the long term, they would still need breeding techniques.
‘Since it’s difficult to resist the mutations here, then reducing the lifespan and accelerating the reproduction rate should work.’
The mineral vein.
The entrance to the mine was three people high, leading straight into the dark depths of the earth.
A cold, chilling air came from inside the cave. Even with Karl’s physique, he felt uncomfortable.
“The aura inside the mine is very harmful to the human body. Even Divine Envoys cannot stay inside for long,”
Malkin explained:
“But some people are immune to the aura inside the mine. They are natural miners, and Unreal City relies entirely on them for mining.”
“We grind the Divine Stones into powder and small pieces, which we use to draw runes or make various items, which we carry when we go out.”
Karl did not continue to walk down. The aura deep within the mineral vein had already caused his body to send out warning signs.
In any case, the mineral vein wasn’t going anywhere, so there was no need to rush exploration.
“What are the chances of mining Divine Marrow?”
“Very low.”
Malkin shook his head:
“When the mineral vein first started, we could often mine Divine Marrow to provide energy to the divine fire. Now, it’s been almost a year, and we’ve only obtained two pieces of Divine Marrow.”
Two pieces?
They were all in his hands now.
“Hah…”
Karl straightened his back and spoke slowly:
“In other words, the city’s water source could become insufficient at any time, the food supply is already running short, and the mining of the mineral vein has also encountered problems.”
“And there is also a Despair-Level Fallen Angel outside. If it doesn’t leave, you won’t even dare to leave the city.”
“…” Malkin’s face was dry:
“Yes.”
“But Despair-Level evil creatures don’t stay in the same place for long. It should leave after a while.”
“Should?” Karl shook his head:
“What if it doesn’t?”
“Forget it!”
“Things need to be solved one by one. First, take me to the well to take a look.”
“Yes.”
Malkin nodded in agreement.
