Old Gallon's words were not empty talk — he truly had the ability to restore that teleportation array.
Or rather, he hadn't actually destroyed the array that thoroughly in the first place. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
It was a massive magical array etched beneath the imperial prison, where every inscription line was a narrow groove carved into solid stone slabs. Given the hardness of those slabs, the frail and aging Gallon couldn't have caused much damage to them even with tools.
What Gallon called "destruction" was rely selecting a few grooves out of the countless channels and carving a few subtle scratches at inconspicuous spots along their bases with his engraving knife.
Yet those few subtle scratches were enough to render the entire array permanently inoperative.
"This is an array that the Rainforest Tribe used for ultra-long-range hunting during the Life Era. After the civilizations of the previous epoch were annihilated, very few people knew of its existence.
The reason the Empire collected this array wasn't for strategic purposes — it was used by the royal family to...
punish blasphemous prisoners."
Old Gallon retrieved so yellow earth from the prison above the array. Wheezing heavily, he mixed the dirt into mud and packed it into the cracks he'd carved, explaining as he worked:
"The other end of the array, according to records, should be a gathering area for so kind of primate creatures. The Rainforest Tribe hunted them for food. In today's era where Decay reigns supre, that place is considered an exile ground for blasphers.
His Majesty would banish those who offended him — who desecrated our Lord — to that place, leaving them to live in constant terror of unknown creatures.
That's why His Majesty brought his guards for this retreat. Otherwise, the royal family, with no divine protection whatsoever, would have simply beco food for those primates.
And that's also why I stayed behind. I couldn't provide combat strength for the fleeing royals, yet I'd still have to bring along Ai Lian — a child they considered dead weight. To keep Ai Lian alive, I..."
"..."
All three people present were rendered speechless. It wasn't that they found the Rosna royal family's flight undignified — rather, they found Old Gallon's thinking far too naive.
A child who'd lost her protector — how could she possibly be sheltered by such a treacherous royal family?
The best outco for the child called Ai Lian would be if she truly possessed a divinely-gifted dagger. Only then, under the protection of that supposedly sentient dagger, might she have a chance at survival.
But if sothing went wrong before she could take the dagger with her — if it ended up elsewhere — then there was no question about it. The mont she was teleported, this child with no guardian would be imdiately abandoned as dead weight.
Cheng Shi didn't believe the Historian couldn't see this. He'd probably simply run out of options and was gambling on one last possibility.
Old Gallon wasn't finished. He continued, hunched over:
"And the thod to activate this teleportation array is..."
"Blood?" Da Yi suddenly interjected.
It wasn't really Da Yi's fault for thinking that. The array was covered in dried bloodstains, and there were even several buckets of residual blood at its edges. The scene clearly showed evidence of massive amounts of blood having been splashed around.
Combined with the grooves on the array and the prison above it — a place that rivaled a living hell — anyone's first reaction would be: blood was the activation material for this array.
But that was precisely where Old Gallon's cleverness lay. Although he couldn't guarantee whether the Rosna royal family would protect his Ai Lian, he could guarantee that his own line of defense would never let a single World Destroyer through to pursue the fleeing army.
Because the blood was itself one of his thods of sabotaging the array!
"No, my lord. The blood was a ans of contaminating the array.
The Rainforest Tribe who worshipped Prosperity didn't prohibit killing, but they didn't like using fresh blood to invoke divine power. I splashed all this blood here specifically to mislead the World Destroyers and prevent them from activating the teleportation array."
"..." Da Yi shut his mouth. He glanced sideways at Qu Yan and, for the first ti, felt that following Silence had its perks — at least you wouldn't suddenly embarrass yourself.
Cheng Shi let out a quiet laugh and asked:
"So to activate this array, all this blood needs to be cleaned off first?
I see you've been very ticulous about filling those shallow scratches. If I'm not mistaken, this is related to the precise volu of the activation substance — even the slightest deviation would throw everything off completely. And this activation substance, even if it isn't blood, should be so liquid connected to Prosperity.
That reminds
of an old acquaintance and so matters from long ago.
Interesting. Using a Prosperity array as a place of punishnt in an era of Decay — I must say, you Rosna people's devotion is quite... distinctive."
The two subordinates behind Cheng Shi were quite perceptive. The mont they heard the blood needed to be cleaned, they'd already sprung into action. As they scrubbed, they couldn't help wondering what kind of figure that old acquaintance their lord ntioned might be.
What they didn't know was that Cheng Shi had no such old acquaintance at all. It was nothing more than a casual lie he'd fabricated to maintain his mystique.
He blended false personal history with real historical knowledge, feeding it to the two in a mix of truth and fiction that left them thoroughly confused — and thereby preserving his air of mystery.
But his deduction was genuine. After extensive observation, he'd arrived at the most accurate conclusion about the teleportation array. And hearing Cheng Shi see through the array's secrets, Old Gallon grew even more respectful.
Not just respectful — a faint terror crept into his heart as well. His desire to save his child was sincere, but he simply didn't have the ability to do so.
These three, who did have the ability, seed to harbor no compassion whatsoever for Rosna — or rather, for mortal lives in general.
So he couldn't even judge whether what he was doing would save Ai Lian or doom her. After everything he'd been through, Old Gallon had only one thought: if he and his daughter were fated to die, they might as well die together.
The array was nearly repaired. Old Gallon's breathing grew heavier and heavier. He patched the last scratch, then straightened up and addressed Cheng Shi respectfully: "My lord, the array restoration is complete. It can now be activated."
Cheng Shi smiled and nodded, but didn't move. Sohow, Da Yi experienced a flash of inspiration and imdiately spoke up on Lord Ultraman's behalf: "Where's the activation material?"
Old Gallon's deference deepened:
"My lord, it's the sap of the round-leaf cold pine. We need twelve and a half buckets of round-leaf cold pine sap. This is the greatest secret held by the Historians of Rosna.
There are many broad-leaf cold pines in Kannar City, but very few round-leaf cold pines. That's because when the royal family learned of the World Destroyers' existence, every round-leaf cold pine in the city was chopped down and burned as firewood. The few that were spared were planted outside the city walls, hidden among other cold pines.
At the ti, I didn't realize what that ant. Only now do I understand — perhaps His Majesty was already taking precautions back then.
The World Destroyers destroy everything in sight, so by the ti they breached the city, the activation material would have likely already been destroyed by their own hands.
I... was rely the second line of insurance."
"..." Cheng Shi twitched the corner of his mouth at this revelation. 'Well, well. So the Rosna royal family isn't stupid after all. Could it be they channeled all their intelligence into running away?'
But for now, the World Destroyers hadn't arrived yet, so the activation material should still be available. Cheng Shi shot a glance at Bianse Long behind him. The chaleon understood imdiately and left the underground chamber with an excited look on his face, heading off to carry out his "mission."
After a good while, the agile hunter returned with more than enough round-leaf cold pine sap. Old Gallon and the two players quickly spread the sap across the entire array — the amount perfectly precise, not a drop more, not a drop less.
Cheng Shi led the three of them onto the central platform of the array and waited for the teleportation to activate. But after waiting for quite so ti, nothing happened.
Old Gallon froze. He looked around frantically, shaking his head in disbelief:
"Impossible — why isn't it working? This can't be!
Every step was correct. I did this exact sa procedure when His Majesty escaped. Why won't it teleport? Why won't it teleport?!"
At this, Cheng Shi's expression gradually darkened. He realized he might have miscalculated one thing — since this array was designed for the Rainforest Tribe's hunting expeditions, there was very likely so kind of teleportation anchor at the destination.
The cowardly Rosna royal family, playing it safe, had probably destroyed that anchor as well. All their one-sided efforts here might have been for nothing.
But the situation was still uncertain, and he couldn't jump to conclusions. Yet facing the puzzled looks of his two subordinates, Cheng Shi had to offer so explanation.
This was no challenge for a liar — the words ca to him effortlessly:
"Interesting. They've started ddling again.
It seems no one can always enjoy Fate's favor.
But...
Change never stops. We still have a chance."
...
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