"Have you thought about your escape plan?"
"What escape plan."
"The anomalies are attacking the Weird Lair and attacking you. Do you have a way to escape from the swarm?"
"I will lead them into the Swamp."
"And what about you?"
"I’ll find a way to survive and co back."
"You know... Over the past few hundred years, a long ti has made realize that all emotions change. So beco stronger, so fade, but like reading a story that touches your emotions deeply, you may laugh, cry, or beco angry at the plot. Yet, it transforms into another story that no longer resonates with you..."
"I still rember the king and the country, the poets and the guards, the wars and the killing, but when recalling the past, I only think ’they are my mories,’ and I don’t beco trapped in past nostalgia or despair."
Before entering the rchant World, the Mother of the Marsh spoke with Lu Li. Knowing what the Mother of the Marsh wanted to convey, Lu Li did not respond.
Returning to the dim view at hand.
Voluntarily entering the Swamp was like stepping into the mouth of a monster.
Midnight City was swallowed by the Swamp for this reason.
Lu Li entered the Inner World, but the Swamp existed in the deep world as well. He could only flash along the edges to bypass the Swamp and reach the other side.
Lu Li hoped the Gray Mist Mother could pass directly through the Swamp to find him.
The Gray Mist Mother indeed did so: like a syringe piercing an eggshell, injecting ink, the drifting haze spread in the dim world.
But employing the sa strategy as in the Weird Lair didn’t work in the Swamp. The spread of gray mist slowed, diluted by the dim world.
The Gray Mist Mother was suppressed by the Swamp.
Before the Swamp retaliated, Lu Li ascended to the surface to keep his distance.
Because the Swamp lood, Lu Li confronted the anomalies, now surging from the old sewer to the surface as a converging tide.
The Earth Dwellers were destroyed, unable to resist the Swamp, and having perfectly dealt with the enemy, Lu Li should leave.
Only, he couldn’t return directly. Even the Dreamwalker would leave traces, like skipping stones, potentially bringing disaster to the Land of Light.
But bringing disaster to other enemies seed a good idea.
Besides the Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company and the Swamp, Lu Li had no specific enemies — because they’re everywhere.
The forr was already destroyed, and the latter was difficult for anomalies to oppose. Continuing to lure anomalies would be like a shepherd dog leading a flock to the wolf pack.
And aimlessly clearing serves no purpose; land where the weeds are uprooted will soon be overgrown again.
Clearing Midnight City seems viable but only seemingly so. Luring anomalies would only replace the bunch in Midnight City, and activating the Alchemical Tower requires risk — there’s no more physical matter for Lu Li to consu, nor contracts to drag the soul to hell.
Moreover, neither the threat of the Swamp nor the empty Midnight City gives aning to activating the Alchemical Tower.
What if the Alchemical Tower is brought back to the Land of Light?
Lu Li thought, and before that, leveraging the temporary isolation from approaching anomalies by the rock layer, he summoned the rchants to quickly compile a "death list" for the Land of Light.
He planned to spread anomalies like a plague to enemy territories.
During the wait, Lu Li approached a dead tree root embedded in the rock layer and imparted humanity.
Joy and happiness quickly erged, but these were only the emotions of the tree itself, without awakening or birthing the consciousness called "World Tree."
Revived was only a tree nad "World Tree."
Realizing this, Lu Li stopped transmitting and looked at the rchant who brought back the ssage.
The response from the Land of Light was "none," with the newly born Land of Light only connecting with the Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company.
And the rchant conveyed the Mother of the Marsh’s response: "Survive and return."
Although it wasn’t hard for Lu Li to escape the entanglent with anomalies, as scattering all humanity would leave anomalies wandering where the scent last dispersed.
But Lu Li was still preparing to do one thing.
Hidden in the subterranean rock layer, Lu Li appeared above Midnight City, his halo lighting up the land, ignoring the already activated Alchemical Tower, appearing before the dormant Alchemical Tower.
The Dreamwalker couldn’t affect the Alchemical Tower, but the ground could. The earth bulged, cracked, surrounding buildings collapsed, and amidst falling rubble, a scar-like deep pit appeared on the surface, revealing a floating island slowly rising with the Alchemical Tower.
As the shrieks of anomalies grew clear, Lu Li and the hovering Alchemical Tower suddenly vanished, with a distant glimr erging then disappearing into the dark depths.
Two minutes later, Lu Li approached the black coast of the Main Affinity Continent.
The Dreamwalker no longer held up the floating island, and the broken giant object fell toward the sea surface.
The soil cushioned the impact of the Alchemical Tower, with the massive waves gradually engulfing the tower’s spire.
Leaving the Alchemical Tower on the seabed won’t bring disaster to the Land of Light and makes it convenient to retrieve it later.
Before the anomaly clans and terrifying entities from the deep sea arrived, Lu Li landed on the shallows and summoned the rchants, revealing his next plan: "I’m preparing for a trip to the north, beyond the Spine of the World Mountains."
Primal darkness cos from the north, the Unknown Lands yet unexplored by humanity.
As long as darkness blankets the earth, humanity can never leave the Land of Light.
The black seawater lashed peculiar giant waves, layer after layer nibbling at the beach, with sothing approaching from the sea bottom.
But before it erged, Lu Li had already vanished from the coast.
In the darkness. Humanity flickered and dispersed with Lu Li, as they landed upon the earth, life germinated from the soil, forming a patchy path of blossoms and grasses.
Lu Li didn’t hide in the Inner World, hoping to carry so "assistance" for climbing the Spine of the World Mountains, even occasionally stopping to wait for them to catch up.
The green blooming on the earth brought Lu Li to ponder, do demons’ souls return to hell upon death, and does humanity disperse into the world?
Does the world need them?
Sadly, these beautiful places would soon wither again, conquered by anomalies.
Passing through several towns at the anomaly lairs, anomalies sward out and gradually fell behind. When they returned, they might find their lairs occupied.
A few minutes later, Lu Li looked toward the distance.
He should have approached the Gauss Plains at the foot of the Spine of the World Mountains, but the dark depths showed no sign of the steep mountain range nor the floating Eye Demon Worm.
Recognizing the anomaly, Lu Li paused, and at that mont, an undispersable mist briefly enveloped him.
As the mist receded, Lu Li saw a painting, or rather the fra of a painting moving away.
The painting of lost evil spirits.
Those who enter will lose direction, unknowingly moving in the opposite direction, until the realization of being lost sets in —
At the sa ti, Lu Li heard the chaotic sound of waves crashing on rocks.
The halo penetrated the darkness like a spotlight, illuminating all surroundings within miles: shattered reef islands spread around.
This is not the Spine of the World Mountains; this is the Lennon Islands.
Reviews
All reviews (0)