owlsbooks Chapter 1366: Mirage and Thinking
Chapter 1366: Mirage and Thinking
“Is this what this place really looked like back then?”
Lei Xiao and the other strong men stood at the edge of the vast main mining area, and they all opened their eyes wide involuntarily.
After being completely covered by the sudden mirage, the place has completely changed its appearance. It is no longer lifeless and mottled, but a scene of busyness and order everywhere.
Thousands of mine carts loaded with resources were moving automatically on shining tracks, just like intricate roots, covering every corner of the stacked mining areas.
In each mining area where mining is ongoing, there are clearly groups of busy people wielding tools to mine.
These figures are all wearing the same style of black and brown exotic equipment, some of which are similar to the combination of leather armor and cloth armor. They look extremely fit, and judging from the magic patterns covering the surface of the equipment, it is obvious that they provide a bonus to the wearer's abilities.
As for the levels, they are all above level five, and this is just the basic standard here. There are many figures who look extremely skilled and are obviously equipped with higher-level equipment and mining tools.
"Even some of the mining tools are forged according to the standards of high-end weapons. They are worthy of being the ancient dark elves who once stood at the top of all races."
Broy's eyes moved back and forth. The scene in front of him was so dazzling and shocking that he didn't know where to look first.
"Not only that, the strength of these miners is probably above level 5, and only a small number are level 4. Otherwise, they would never be able to use these high-level tools so skillfully."
Chris was also overwhelmed as she looked at the burly figures swinging the colorful pickaxes and hammers wildly.
As for the rest of our group, their expressions were exactly the same as Broy and Chris, and they were obviously also immersed in the rare ancient scene brought about by the mirage.
Among them, Erza and Theresa were particularly excited and almost shed tears.
You know, this was the scene when the Dark Elves were at their most prosperous. Even most of the ordinary miners were at the fifth level. How powerful and prosperous were they?
However, after three thousand years of ups and downs, the Dark Elves today are declining due to wars and various unfavorable factors, and have even gradually lost their status as a top force. How can they not feel mixed emotions when faced with such an obvious gap?
In the core position of the crowd, Lei Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly, still looking at this rare sight.
Another striking point is that these busy figures are not only dark elves whose bodies are almost the same as humans, with grayish-white skin and long ears, but also many figures who are obviously from other ethnic groups.
Such as stone men who are obviously taller and more muscular, and even giants who are quite similar to the Titans.
"My Lord, these are all affiliated forces of the Dark Elves. I have only seen them in ancient documents, because many of them no longer exist after the Blank Age."
Erza moved a little closer to Lei Xiao and explained in a whisper.
"So that's it."
Lei Xiao nodded slightly and continued to observe.
In addition, from time to time, one can see teams of fully armed dark elf soldiers patrolling, among whom there are also many soldiers from affiliated forces.
Judging from the brilliance of their equipment, even the most ordinary soldiers have a full set of sixth-tier equipment, and some even have a deeper brilliance that Lei Xiao has never seen before. According to Old Bing, there are quite a few demigod-level warriors among them.
Despite their impressive strength, the patrolling soldiers were clearly very familiar with the miners, chatting and laughing with each other.
All in all, the whole scene looked peaceful and there was nothing unusual.
However, because the illusion was too old, no specific conversation could be heard. Only the crackling sound of mining and the friction between the mine carts and the tracks were heard, echoing back and forth in the huge space.
At the same time, Lei Xiao further noticed that the footprints here were also very dense. Many miners and patrol teams left obvious footprints on the sandy and gravel ground of the mine, and they did not disappear.
"Your Majesty, judging from the location of the miners and the scale of the mining, the current scene is almost the same as the scene of the ancient mine. This undoubtedly means that this mirage records the last moments of this ancient dark elf mine."
Ruth's fair face was full of solemnity, and she nodded heavily at Lei Xiao.
"So, we might actually be able to see what happened to the people here in the end?"
Broy's eyes lit up, and a hint of anticipation involuntarily emerged on his face.
Just as he said just now, this is undoubtedly the best opportunity to understand the truth about the blank era. Even if we cannot figure out everything, it will be an extremely important reference.
In the team of strong men led by Chris and Fanny, there were already several gray-haired old wood fairies and flower fairies who had taken out various tools and started recording everything here.
"It does seem so, but we must not be careless. Don't forget that the owner of that unknown energy fluctuation is still in this ancient mine."
Lei Xiao walked slowly surrounded by the crowd and reminded, "It is very likely that the other party is observing us in the dark right now."
"Your Majesty is right. With the sudden arrival of the mirage, the energy fluctuations here have become extremely chaotic, making it even more difficult for us to find the enemy's traces."
Ruth gathered her thoughts and said solemnly with a look on her fair face: "We should have some strong men on guard at all times, try to avoid the impact of the mirage, and protect others who are immersed in the mirage."
"Just to my liking."
Lei Xiao nodded slightly and immediately began to make arrangements.
Since Xiaohuan and Erza in our team are both powerful illusionists, and our warriors have all been blessed with various resistance potions and magic scrolls in advance, we quickly arranged several sixth-level warriors to guard them.
Ruth also arranged several strong men, led by Myron, to go all out to resist the impact of the mirage to the greatest extent.
With the escort of a group of powerful men, Lei Xiao and others can naturally relax further and feel everything brought by the mirage to the maximum extent, including vision, hearing, smell, and even the impact on other senses.
"Your Majesty, this place looks too normal. There is no sign of anything happening before the anomaly."
Not far from the illusion of a group of dark elf miners taking a break, Fanny, with her colorful wings flapping, looked left and right in mid-air and blurted out, "These miners are even leisurely taking out their lunch boxes to prepare for dinner."
"Indeed, it is hard to imagine what happened afterwards to lead to the chaotic scene we saw at the beginning."
Broy thought of the messy scene with broken tools scattered all over the floor and swallowed subconsciously.
“Unexpected crises often occur when people are least prepared.”
Upon hearing this, Lei Xiao remained calm and nodded slightly.
As soon as Lei Xiao finished his words, the dark elf phantoms who were originally sitting in groups of three or five to rest suddenly sensed something and looked towards the huge hollow area that ran through all the strata in the main mining area.
The next second, the expressions on the phantoms' faces instantly changed from confusion to surprise, and then to fear, obviously they saw something that they had not expected.
All of a sudden, the lunch boxes and tableware that had just been taken out fell to the ground, and the owners were trembling all over, with their faces becoming paler.
This sudden scene not only happened to the phantoms around us, but appeared in all the phantoms in the entire mirage. The densely packed pale and frightened faces were endless, and there were hundreds of thousands of them.
"What did they see?"
Broy was surprised and immediately looked in the direction of the illusion.
In the hollow area of the main mining area, an extremely large black outline had appeared. It was hundreds of meters high and looked extremely tall.
The space where the black outline was located was completely distorted, and it looked hazy like a reflection in water. It was even difficult to tell whether it was a solid entity like mud, or a shadow projected by some transcendental being. It was not real at all.
But what is certain is that the twisted giant black shadow is clearly reflected in the eyes of every phantom around, and uncontrollable fear appears on every pale face.
Among the panicked and dazed crowd, not only the huge number of miners, but even the patrolling soldiers all looked the same. Some soldiers' weapons and staffs even fell to the ground. They looked so panicked, as if they didn't even have the courage to fight back, including the demigod-level strongmen who were commanders.
However, in the eyes of all of us, the blurry giant shadow like chaos was at most weird and shocking, but it did not give people a feeling of being too frightened.
"What on earth is that giant black shadow?"
Although he knew it was just an illusion, Kenar still subconsciously drew the sword from his waist, with a solemn look on his face.
"It is still unknown at the moment, but what is certain is that the existence of this thing itself is like a huge source of interference, and even affects the mirage itself."
Ruth's delicate face was filled with solemnity, and she tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths.
"Mr. Ruth, are you saying that the giant black shadow interfered with the mirage, so that the mirage we see now is not its true appearance at that time?"
Lei Xiao reacted quickly and asked with a frown.
"That's right, Your Majesty. Although this sounds incredible, the ancestors of the light half-elves have done extensive research on mirages. All the conditions here are consistent with the manifestation of a mirage being disturbed."
Ruth nodded heavily, and the other powerful light half-elves around her all echoed her, obviously agreeing with the former's opinion.
"It is incredible that there is some kind of existence that can interfere with the naturally formed mirage."
Broy heard this and said in disbelief, "Even the most powerful illusion master can't do this, right?"
After hearing Broy's words, Xiao Huan and Erza couldn't help but look at each other, and then nodded affirmatively to Lei Xiao.
The dwarf king was right. After all, mirage was a naturally occurring magical phenomenon. Its formation was extremely random, and there were no signs before it appeared. Naturally, there was no possibility of interference in advance.
"No, according to the records in the ancient books of the light half-elves, there is a transcendent and powerful existence that can interfere with the mirage."
The solemnity on Ruth's fair face intensified as she continued, "That is the omnipotent god, or even the projection and incarnation of the god."
"So, what we saw was actually a certain god or a god's clone or projection?"
Fanny looked up at the still twisted giant black shadow and frowned, "But according to ancient documents, on the eve of the blank era, during the Silver Moon Era when all races were at their peak, the relationship between the gods and all races was extremely close, and statues and paintings of the gods were extremely common. Even if ordinary people have never seen the original body, they would not show such panic and fear, right?"
"That makes sense. An expression of worship and awe should appear, which is consistent with the description of the gods' arrival in some ancient murals."
Chris rested her chin on one hand and said thoughtfully, "What on earth is going on?"
“Perhaps they saw not a friendly god, but an evil god.”
Broy stroked his chin gently and said thoughtfully: "This seems to be the only reasonable explanation."
"Evil God?"
After hearing what everyone said, Lei Xiao also frowned and looked thoughtful.
Based on his conversation with the Queen of the Phantom Clan, he could not completely rule out the truth about the blank era. In fact, a war took place in which the evil god made a comeback.
If this is the truth, then it is not surprising that the evil god or his incarnation appears here and causes fear.
But this will lead to a series of unanswered questions, such as the answers to various mysterious effects, the gods' no longer favoring us, the reasons for the arrival of one billion lords, etc.
After all, if the evil god had won, this world would probably have ceased to exist long ago. How could it allow the orphans of all races to develop peacefully?
Moreover, the Queen of the Phantom Spirits has also confirmed that the power that activates the talents of the lords from other worlds is the truly sacred power of the gods. This is definitely not the power possessed by the evil gods. The "divine revelation" that was still echoing in her ears not long ago can also prove that the gods have obviously not completely given up on this world.
"But if the evil god is not the final answer, then who is the true identity of this giant shadow? Could it be my other guess, that it is a god who is hostile to the dark elves?"
"But whether it's a war between gods and evil gods, or a war between gods themselves, if the arrival of the lords from other worlds was actively summoned by one side in order to win, then why didn't the other side stop them? What's the secret behind this? Or have I not touched upon the real answer at all?"
Just as Lei Xiao frowned and thought about this, the illusion around him changed again in an unexpected way. (End of this chapter)