High Above

The exit that Qingchao and the others took, on the map recorded on the silver chip, was actually not for people, but for freight.

If the transportation tower hadn't been raised, it would take a long time to swim from that place, and no one knew exactly where it would arrive.

But think about it carefully, the people on his side are either crew members or pirates, and there are several sublimators. As long as there is no storm outside, with their water quality, they will not be drowned.

And to be honest, it is safe because it is a cargo entrance and exit.

On the other hand, Ian and the others walked through, although it was said to be a serious front door, the road was much more dangerous.

After all, this is a 'main entrance' where there are basically monster lairs and ancient traps along the way.

"Is there something wrong with the natives, putting so many traps here at the exit of their holy land?!"

When dismantling the eleventh inductive gas trap he was in charge of, the pirate captain Andor couldn't help complaining loudly: "Do they want to go out or don't want to go out!?"

In fact, eleven is already considered a small number. Most of the demonic beasts wandering here over the years have been destroyed, leaving only some reusable caves and toxin traps with a relatively high shelf life that still exist.

"It's not surprising. The Sequoia natives probably lost control of the core of the ruins after the battle with the brain-eating worms. After losing their living environment, they had to fight the monsters released from all walks of life. The so-called holy land, but It's a place where they lived after they lost their settlement."

Compared with Andor, who still needs to use tools and hands to disarm the trap, Ian's method of solving the trap is much simpler-he only needs to raise the water gun from time to time, aim at several places, and the mechanism inside the trap may also If it is an inscription, it will be destroyed and corroded.

"These traps are probably used by the natives to deal with the monsters in the ruins."

Looking around, Ian felt that it was almost cleaned up, and then led the way for everyone to move forward.

As he walked, he sighed with emotion: "After all, these traps are very primitive. It can be seen that the Sequoia natives at that time had lost quite a lot of technology..."

Others don't have Ian's psychic powers, so naturally they can't be like him. They just look back and piece together the entire history of the Sequoia people gradually becoming the Sequoia natives.

For them, the Sequoia people fought against the brain-eating worms, and finally had to leave the base, lost their technology, and became the ancestors of the Sequoia natives today. This reason is completely sufficient.

The Sequoia people locked the entire ruins before leaving, so that the brain-eating worms could not get high-quality brain parasites, so they were weakened. Until the recent years, the blockade of the ruins was missing, and more and more monsters made the brain-eating worms recovery.

At this moment, everyone was walking in a karst cave area with no traps, all the way up, spiraling forward.

The water vapor is getting thicker and thicker, making the mist hazy. With the faint light around, everyone can see a vast hall and the ruins of the gathering place looming at the end of the corridor ahead. It occupies an extremely large area and is quite intact. It's like a small village.

Taking a closer look, it is indeed a small village, made of rocks and a strange aquatic plant, surrounded by more than a dozen large camps, and in the middle is a statue of a "radiation protection suit" like the one in the main control room. , and some traces of sacrifices can still be vaguely seen.

The mist filled the ancient underground villages and towns, making the ruins of the ancient underground villages and towns look a little gloomy, especially in some camps, there are still many deformed human skeletons. Some hearts are hairy.

But the words now are just lamenting the history of the Sequoia people.

"Wait, why are these deformed human bones so familiar?"

After watching for a while, Ian felt that something was wrong. He took a closer look, and was surprised to find that in some camps, there were still some training chambers like the one he saw at the entrance of the cave where he first entered the ruins.

Unlike the areas where there are still people living with parasitic abnormalities, these training warehouses have been unmaintained and have long ceased to function.

These human bones surrounded the cultivation chamber, and even piled up into hills, but what was shocking was that there were even traces of shaved flesh on these human bones.

"Cannibalism? They are short of food, have they started cannibalism?"

"When resources are scarce, simply eating human flesh is not considered a crime, only treating people as livestock and slaughtering them is."

Both Master Goser and Bishop Baiwu have come to this conclusion

However, when Ian saw these training warehouses and piles of human bones, Ian vaguely saw bursts of phantoms.

Time seems to be crossed.

Two tall figures stood in front of the training cabin and initiated a heated discussion.

[Biomass is not enough. The xenobiotics hunted are either parasitized or cannot be fully utilized. It is difficult to use their flesh and blood to cultivate clones... After all, is it really meaningful for us to persist like this? 】

[It is difficult to use, if we do not replenish the population, we will not only be wandering Sequoia remnants in the outside world, but humanoid beasts that will be swallowed by nature... Not only can technology not be passed on, we can't even deal with those outsiders Mutant creatures! 】

[Remnants... Haha, can we still call ourselves Remnants now? Look at those clones, because they grow up too fast and their intelligence is underdeveloped, it will take at least one or two generations before they can recover their stable thinking ability. Just leading such a group of monkeys, we can also call ourselves Sequoia remnants! ? 】

【Why are you angry at me? As survivors, we must not give up hope no matter what - not to mention, what about low intelligence? When our ancestors were still ape-men, they were able to work together and pass on various primitive skills. At most, these clones were unable to understand some more complicated concepts. Their bodies were transformed new humans just like us... …They have enough potential to become healthy and intelligent beings like us, and it’s us who overwhelmed them that made them look like this…]

[...Sorry...but what should I do? There are no more than 20 survivors with Sequoia technology, and all others are clones. Even if our generation survived from the outside world with them, what about our descendants? How can we pass on this knowledge, this history? 】

【…with a ceremony】

【ceremony? 】

【Um. In the current situation, there is no way to use the method of teachers to impart knowledge to students. Because of the rapid development of these clones, they cannot understand the complex concepts of civilization, inheritance and glory, but they can use the roots of fear, sacrifice and ritual. Induced by things in instinct]

【Wait, you mean...】

[We want to be priests, priests, shamans and prophets—don’t look at me like this, with our current productivity, do you still want to pay attention to quality education? Use rituals to teach them how to manipulate these complex instruments, use dogmas to teach them which things can be eaten and which things cannot be touched, use oaths and taboos to restrict their actions, and use the concept of family and tribe to make them feel a sense of belonging]

[However, we are Sequoia people, we have inherited the knowledge of Terra civilization, we cannot...cannot call out these primitive echoes that have been wiped out by our ancestors long ago...]

【idiot! No more Sequoias! The Sequoia people, like the Terra civilization, have long since perished! We are the last remnants of Sequoia, the lost dogs who can only escape from our hometown! 】

【I, I know, but... I'm in so much pain... Weimar, I, I, I'm really... I'm really not reconciled... Why did it become like this... Why did we come to this...】

【...Don't cry... Well, who knows. Human beings can’t keep rational all the time. The ancestors have been locked in this cage for hundreds of years, enough time for a dynasty to collapse. It’s not surprising that they are crazy]

[Okay... well. But then again, even if the flesh and blood of these alien species are adjusted, it is difficult to produce normal clones. Most of them are deformed, and some even died just after they escaped from the training chamber... There is not enough food, We can't really let them eat people, even if it's just cloned corpses, right? 】

【…I have an idea about cloning materials. Didn’t my father’s generation ask old people and dead fighters to donate their bodies? But now it seems not enough. I think it is necessary to add a ceremony]

[What exactly is the ceremony? 】

[Sacrifice ceremony. Everyone cuts off a part of their own flesh and blood, and uses it as biomass to piece together the raw materials for a human clone... Our companions should not have any objections, but for those human clones, this process is more painful, and we must give them a reason, even if it is false]

【...There is no other way, let’s say that this kind of sacrifice can please the spirits of the ancestors and get protection... After the sacrifice, adjust the temperature, and then send out more monster meat. With our physical fitness, regeneration and healing are useless a few days】

[Well, let’s do it. As for the name of the ceremony...you have to think of something nice and easy to understand】

[How about calling it a pure sacrifice? 】

【Well, a good name—the pure one gave his flesh and blood to create a brand new companion... Sure enough, the name should be nicer】

The illusion dissipated.

Ian shook his head slightly. He didn't show anything on the surface, but he felt a sense of absurdity in his heart.

"It turns out that this is the origin of the indigenous sacrificial tradition and sacrificial shaman culture...Because of the insufficient population, a large number of clones with underdeveloped brains had to be copied as the basic population, and then over time, these clones were slowly naturalized. back to being a normal human being."

In this way, the process of how the Sequoia people became the Sequoia natives entrenched in Nanling is completely understandable.

The so-called homicide and sacrifice, going back to the original source, are nothing more than taking off a part of their own body as the biological basis for cultivation, so the probability of distortion is relatively small, so it is called 'pure'.

"The best and highest quality biomass is needed to cultivate the most complete clones, so it is called pure sacrifice."

Staring at the cultivation warehouse in front of him, Ian didn't need to use the vision to know that the ancestors of the aborigines used the corpses of various monsters and their own flesh and blood to replenish a large population, and then left the Sequoia base.

As for how this ceremony evolved into the ritual of killing people and offering sacrifices...

Time flies, in the face of time, nothing is immortal... Needless to say, people's hearts.

The portrait in the anti-radiation suit was already covered with mottled mottled marks. Ian looked over it and saw the 'gate' behind the village.

This gate is made of a strange crystal, and its shape is very artistic. There are seven crystal lamps in the shape of stars inlaid on its top, flowing with swirling light, and there are inscriptions in operation.

“[Purify Air] [Adjust Temperature] [Sterilize] [Remove Odor] [Invigorate] [Video Record] and [Glow].”

Ian whispered to himself, he saw that these seven crystal lamps were inscription utensils made into decorations by the civilization of the previous era, and they were used to provide services to all those who walked through this door.

I have to say that this is really perfect. If it is running at full capacity, the gate with a faint crystal halo is like the gate of heaven. As long as you step through it, you will be refreshed, get rid of the smell, and enter the world. An underground base with an extremely suitable temperature.

This is the last hurdle the Sequoia people retreated to after losing all their technology and being forced to leave the settlement, and there are still such services.

The Great Elder may be wrong about everything, but there is only one thing that is right, that is, living in the Sequoia base is definitely infinitely more comfortable than living on the ground...

No wonder no one wanted to accompany him to the surface.

Among other things, the tropical climate of Nanling and all kinds of poisonous insects, compared with the days of enjoying the air-conditioning inside the Sequoia Base, there is almost no need to describe it. Everyone knows how to choose.

Of course, the fact that the bugs inside the base are much more dangerous than mosquitoes needs another discussion.

"The door appears to be completely sealed and requires a key to open it."

While Ian was observing the crystal lamp on the gate, Master Gosse was also studying the five-meter-high crystal door. He knocked on the door and said in surprise: "This is not an ordinary door—this is a four-meter-high The defense door has a four-layer structure, which can isolate radiation, biochemical, spiritual energy and temperature changes..."

"Its outermost layer is a kind of man-made perfect crystal, which is extremely strong, and it is fused with Morion steel, so it can be repaired by itself, and the inner layer...is actually made of fine gold alloy?!"

Master Gesai was still speechless, even he had never thought of using fine gold to make a door—even if it was an alloy with a low content.

This kind of thing is not to say that it is the best use of everything, but at least it is a reckless waste.

"Could it be that the pre-epoch civilization has mastered the technology of man-made fine gold?" He doubted so much.

And Ian stepped forward, observed for a while and said: "Now I am the master of the maze, and I can open this door."

Of course, this is not the credit of the master of the maze, but the highest authority held by Ian-if the Sequoia people did not have four key cards, they would not be able to open the door blocked by the highest order, but after all, no one knows this. At this point, he can push everything to the Lord of the Labyrinth.

Undecided, Lord of the Labyrinth.jpg

hum...

Dust fell from the top of the gate, like flower petals blooming, and like closed sawtooth retreating one by one, the four-layer interlaced gate slowly opened, like a giant beast opening its huge mouth that has been closed for thousands of years .

Suddenly, a fresh sea breeze came.

"Wow, this taste..."

At this moment, Isengard couldn't help expressing a sigh of emotion—although the interior of Sequoia Base is well ventilated, it is far from the real air in nature.

Even Ian took a deep breath. Although this place is still a certain distance from the sea level, and the wind is quite cold and humid, it brings a freshness full of vitality, which makes people feel refreshed.

——They have indeed left the ruins...and came to the real outside world.

"Let's go, there's no danger."

Scanning it with psionic energy, Ian felt that it was unnecessary, after all, Bishop Baiwu was right next to him.

Although the old man didn't speak, as long as he was in danger or encountered a trap, he would definitely help.

He was the first to walk out of the gate of Sequoia Base.

Then, he came to another indigenous 'sacred land'.

At the exit of the Sequoia Base Gate is a rather bright cavity, inlaid with numerous fluorites, which can emit bright light without lighting the lights.

Under the light yellow fluorescent light, it can be seen that there are a large number of altars and totem murals on both sides of the cavity outside the door, and in the center of these altars is a portrait wearing a radiation protection suit—just now, Ian I still haven't figured out why the aborigines use such portraits as objects of worship.

But after recalling the communication between the two figures, Ian realized something: "If we say that the first portrait is just a 'reminder' that they are the 'maintainers of the ruins'."

"Then the follow-up portraits are really commemorative—these portraits in protective clothing actually represent the ancestors of the Sequoia natives."

"The symbol of those who once lived, multiplied, and maintained the entire base in Sequoia Base!"

"Represents...real Sequoia people, not 'Sequoia Natives.'"

This holy place is obviously a later generation. When the Sequoia natives reached their peak, they returned to the "hometown" to pay homage to their ancestors. They did not collect all four key cards and could not open the gate, but they did not want to go back because their ancestors would definitely They also left them with legends of parasites and demons.

The posture of the portrait in the center of the holy place is different from that of other places. In the past, there should be something in his right hand to accept sacrifices from all people, but it was taken away in later generations.

"Ian, look, there seem to be some strange corpses here?"

Isengard took a few steps forward. He just wanted to see where the wind was blowing from, but he saw a simple bonfire camp in front of the native altar.

And there are many corpses in armor and familiar uniforms around the camp, which confuses him: "These clothes...I seem to have seen them at Uncle Ayers..."

"Huh?"

Hearing these words, for some reason, Ian suddenly had a strange emotion in his heart.

He turned and walked slowly towards where Isengard was standing.

The boy Bai Zhimin passed the blond boy, staring at the rows of bones in front of him, and saw those human figures wearing familiar armor and fabrics.

"This is the armor and uniform of the Port Harrison Guard...the guard that went missing in the first major storm fourteen years ago."

Ian muttered to himself, he lowered his eyes, scanned all the bones in front of him, his eyes couldn't help flickering: "Could it be that..."

Isengard noticed that something was wrong with Ian's state, but before he could express his concern, the boy heard Ian's footsteps stop in front of a corpse.

Then he leaned down and uttered a word that stunned Isengard to the point where he froze.

"Father……"

Ian stared at the corpse in front of him, then gently stretched out his hand, stroking the armor and the bones behind it: "Sure enough."

"You are right here."