After a brief caterpillar fluorescence, Julia realized that the forest did not seem as dangerous as she had imagined. It also couldn’t be ruled out that because it was deep into the night, the dangerous creatures inhabiting this forest were sleeping. Additionally, she discovered that the number of viewers in her live stream had already surpassed 1.3 million and was continuing to grow. Various donations and gifts were pouring in as relentlessly as a torrential downpour.
It was this interaction that made Julia feel that staying in this forest wasn’t so bad. If it weren’t for this forest, soone like her, even if she worked hard her entire life, would never have been able to achieve such a live streaming scene. This was Julia’s mont of glory!
If she could make it back alive, she definitely wanted to slam a stack of US dollars on the dean’s desk and boldly tell him that money was not an issue, as long as her grandmother could be cured. Rather than begrudgingly standing in front of the dean, her face humble, hoping to bargain for more ti. After her grandmother was cured, she estimated there would still be a lot of money left. By then, she could order pizza, fried chicken, burgers—eat whatever she wanted, and experience the life of the wealthy.
Thinking of the beautiful future, a glint of light shone in Julia’s eyes.
"Everyone," Julia began, but just as she was about to say more, she noticed the comnt section suddenly explode with ssages.
"Hey, what’s that behind you?" "It seems to be glowing." "Blogger, be careful!"
Thanks to the kind warnings from netizens, Julia noticed sothing amiss in the grass to her right. There was a light as soft as water there, very faint. Without the netizens’ reminder, Julia would have overlooked such an anomaly.
"What is that?"
She blinked, a flicker of confusion crossing her face, but it quickly vanished amidst a hefty donation from a major patron. Julia decided to go and take a closer look.
There was no choice; only by doing this could she get more donations.
Julia squatted down and reached out to part the grass. She found a soft, fluffy creature lying on the ground. It was adorable, like a dumpling, with no visible eyes or feet. When the flashlight beam hit it, the creature, like a startled rabbit, quickly hopped away.
"Wow, what’s this?" Julia’s face filled with surprise.
Those knowledgeable in ani quickly responded, "By its appearance, that should be a sli."
"So ani is not fantasy but a live-action drama?"
"Blogger, hurry and follow it! Slis are universally recognized as incredibly weak; there’s nothing to fear."
"Rimuru would agree with that."
The netizens’ suggestions alone weren’t enough to make Julia take the risk. However, she couldn’t refuse the generous donations from her major patrons, so she quickly chased after the tiny creature. Luckily, its speed wasn’t very fast, not enough to lose her.
After a short run, the small creature suddenly disappeared.
"What’s going on?" Julia cried out in confusion, "Everyone, did you see that? That creature just vanished!"
Before she could even ask for donations to brave the danger, a flood of them was already pouring in. To this day, Julia had no idea that the people donating to her stream included intelligence agencies from various countries, national leaders, and even major capitalists. As the first pioneer in this situation, the audience in her live stream was a motley crew.
"Thank you all for the donations. I’ll be careful," Julia said.
A smile touched Julia’s lips. She carefully moved forward, scanning the area with her flashlight. Then she realized the little creature hadn’t just vanished; there were steps leading downward.
"Huh? There are steps here."
Julia looked down at the stone steps, which were cracked and overgrown with creeping vines. She shone her flashlight down the passage; it extended at least twenty or thirty ters. Shining her flashlight further, she saw steps descending level by level into depths her flashlight beam couldn’t penetrate. The extre dimness seed to warn any potential intruders. This place was clearly out of the ordinary.
GULP. Julia swallowed. As a beneficiary of a "happy education," she wasn’t very familiar with the ruins around Jerusalem, though she knew there were many ancient ones.
"Is this one of the ancient ruins near Jerusalem? Can any experts in the chat shed so light on this?" Julia asked.
The comnt section quickly had soone respond, "How could ancient ruins still be preserved?"
"Exactly! According to official reports, even the Pri Minister’s Office was uprooted. Anyone in those ruins must have been eradicated."
"So, this is a miracle! Only a god could do such a thing—destroying buildings made by common mortals while preserving only divine structures."
"That’s right, the Holy City should not have any human structures, this is divine punishnt!"
The bustling comnt section made Julia’s head spin. However, the generous donations and urging from her major patrons convinced her to go down.
...
Julia cautiously proceeded down the steps, the light from her flashlight gradually revealing the dimness ahead, and a majestic gate appeared in front of her. Normally, such a huge gate would be impossible for her to open. But perhaps due to the passage of eons, the gate had been breached by thick vines. The gaps between them were just large enough for a person to squeeze through.
Julia swallowed. Bolstered by the encouragent from the comnt section and the support of donations from her major patrons, she braced herself and squeezed inside.
A cool breeze on her face made her unconsciously shiver, and she shone her flashlight inside.
It was very spacious. The ground was covered with a thick layer of dust, where the tracks of the little creature’s jumps were visible. Following them, Julia spotted the little creature on a nearby wall. Caught in the light, it hopped away again.
Julia did not continue to watch it but turned her flashlight towards the wall, which was adorned with a mural.
"Wow, is this a historical mural? It’s my first ti seeing one."
Julia exclaid in wonder, shining her flashlight on the wall. So vines covered the rock surface, obscuring parts of the mural, so only a portion of it was visible. Julia was not interested in it and gave it a cursory glance, intending to turn away.
A major patron in the chat imdiately sent a large donation, emphasizing in the comnts, "Slow down, don’t scan it so quickly!"
Following the patron’s request, Julia imdiately shone her flashlight back onto the wall, moving the cara slowly so the patrons in the live stream could get a clear view of the mural.
"Seems like so sort of ritual?" Julia muttered, moving along the mural bit by bit.
Judging from the images on the mural, it seed to depict so kind of sacrificial ritual. If it were text, Julia wouldn’t be sure, but with images, she could still make out the intended aning, because the people in the mural were undoubtedly preparing for sothing.
Julia scanned the wall, and at a certain point, the image ended, replaced by a long section of strange text.
"Does anyone knowledgeable in the chat recognize this script?" Julia’s face was full of curiosity.
Soone in the live chat quickly responded.
"This is not any ancient script, at least not one known to us."
Oh, so no one understands it.
Julia felt a little smug; so it wasn’t just her who couldn’t understand it. Reassured, she wasn’t very interested in deciphering this passage. However, since a patron had donated for her to show the entire thing, she naturally obliged, scanning the wall to give everyone a clear view.
After finishing with the text, Julia moved her flashlight toward the center.
...
There was a thick rock pillar. Most of it was entwined with vines and appeared cracked. Beyond the vines, one could faintly see so carvings and several kneeling statues.
"What’s this?" Julia stepped forward, posing the question to her resourceful viewers.
"Looks like a bas-relief." "Be more confident! Drop the ’looks like.’ It *is* a bas-relief."
"Are the people in the bas-relief the ones performing the ritual?" "Quite likely." "Who are they worshipping?"
"They say it’s a miracle, so it must be the worship of a deity."
The comnt section was a cacophony of debate. The patrons sent more donations, urging her to get closer and take a look.
Julia strode forward.
Upon getting closer, she realized how tall the rock pillar really was, at least a dozen ters high. She appeared very small standing there. The kneeling statues were not as small as they seed from afar; each reached up to her waist. Moreover, on closer inspection, what was on it were not paintings but individual faces. So of the faces were damaged by vines, while others remained intact, so lifelike they seed to be watching her, the intruder.
A chill ran down Julia’s spine, as if she were standing naked in a draft. She quickly scanned the rock pillar and circled to the front, spotting a huge bas-relief above.
"Is this the deity?" Julia looked up, shining her flashlight on the face of the bas-relief.
Unlike the others, the bas-relief’s posture was not kneeling, but standing with arms wide open, seemingly welcoming the worship of all. But entangled in thick vines, the bas-relief bore a resemblance to Jesus in his suffering. The vines were like the ropes binding Jesus’ hands and feet. However, the expression on this figure’s face was entirely different from Jesus’s—it was one of extre pride, an arrogant disdain for all else. The sculpted figure had deep facial contours, and its body appeared particularly strong.
"Is this a statue of the War God?" Julia voiced her doubt in the live stream.
...
「Japan, Intelligence Section Headquarters」
Inside an office here, Morimoto Chiyoda watched the live stream, her expression exceptionally grave. She naturally recognized the bas-relief; she had even seen him in person before.
"Dio!"
Morimoto Chiyoda uttered the na, now almost certain that this forest was no re so-called miracle. It was related to the Different World and could possibly be connected to Dio’s past. In that ruin, the inhabitants worshipped Dio as their god.
What was their relationship with Dio?
The question flickered through Morimoto Chiyoda’s mind, and she was well aware of the imnse value this forest now held.
Fortunately, the person exploring this forest was just a young girl with no significant background.
She continued to watch.
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