The Master of the Strange Realm

Jenkins pointed his sword at the miner again, and the miner immediately turned his head and let his normal face speak:

"I am a miner in Linden Town, Zhuoer City, Fidictli Kingdom. The mining accident took the lives of my father, my eldest brother and my younger brother. I have to take care of my family. But do you think I can really feed so many people by mining alone? The big guys in the city rely on the coal we dig out with our lives to enjoy the life we ​​can't enjoy, but I can only continue their lives along the mine where my father and brothers died. If I don't sacrifice my only soul that still has some value, will I watch the rest of my family starve to death or do flesh trade?"

What he said was also true. In other words, this can probably be regarded as a pitiful person.

Intelligent life is complicated, and it is difficult to explain good and evil things with labels. It is rare to find a person who only does good things or only does bad things in his life. Moreover, "good things" and "bad things" have completely different views for different people.

So, although what happened in front of me sounds tragic, it is just an ordinary microcosm of this era. In the corners that Jenkins cannot see, countless similar things are still happening.

When he feeds cats with delicious food in high-end restaurants, innocent girls will die of hunger and cold on the corners of the street; when he uses those burning wood to light his own fireplace, he can't imagine how much hard work the lumberjack has put in for a piece of wood; when he sits in a carriage with his eyes closed waiting to reach his destination, the coachman driving the carriage may be worried about the family's food for the winter.

The reason why Jenkins can act as a "good man" most of the time is that he is lucky to have the current living environment. If he came to this world and became an orphan in the slums, he might also take the path of the two people in front of him.

Goodness and evil are the two sides of human beings, interdependent and twin. Even if it is a demon, there is goodness, and even if it is an angel like Louise, there must be evil. The so-called "twin demons" themselves may refer to the contradictory but coexisting good and evil sides of human beings.

"Let me guess. No matter which metal cocoon I choose, the third person must be a poor man who is forced to take the wrong path because of the tragedy of the times."

"I know nothing."

The human-faced snake replied, and his tail suddenly shook:

"I need to remind you that the strange realm is usually limited in time. Don't you feel that it is getting hotter and hotter around here? It won't be long before the magma sea below will riot, and the magma will surge up until it floods the entire cave, so you need to make a decision as soon as possible. Do you want to choose the third cocoon? Or do you want to rely on these two souls to help you find the door to leave?"

"Where is the earth fire worm?"

"Sorry, what did you say?"

A different expression finally appeared on the face of the human-faced snake:

"I know nothing."

This sentence was finally a lie, and Jenkins was sure that the power of the disaster beast hidden in this strange realm was really the power of the seventeenth-era disaster beast [earth fire worm]. He just asked casually, after all, among the 14 disaster beasts whose names he already knew, only this one was most closely related to magma.

"So, what exactly do you want to do? From my point of view, sacrificing the souls of these evil people who are not good people in themselves to find a door for me to leave seems to be something I can accept. But is it really that simple?"

The human-faced snake smiled and said nothing to this question. It coiled its body and stood there, spitting its letter to Jenkins:

"You are the participant, and I am just the host."

It's not just the conspiracy of the difference machine, even this strange place itself is very strange.

Even if ordinary people break into the strange place, there is no situation of death, but there will be no situation without any danger. In the current situation, Jenkins just picked two cocoons at random, and almost gathered the conditions for leaving. He didn't make any sacrifices, not only physical strength, but also intelligence. Not to mention that compared with the previous strange places with strange rules and requiring extremely careful and cautious, even the strange places where the two masters of death and flowers appeared, which cannot be regarded as ordinary strange places, are more difficult than this time.

He didn't choose the third metal cocoon immediately, but stood there and thought about it. He looked at the human-faced snake suspiciously, and the latter smiled at him, then looked at the miner and the conductor:

"If I let you enter the magma, your souls will burn... What is the principle behind this? Could it be that you sacrifice your souls to gain the ability to move in the magma?"

"We are bait, bait to suppress the mad demons under the magma. When we enter the magma, our souls will be extracted by the demons in the magma, and as bait, we certainly cannot be swallowed by the magma immediately."

The conductor explained, and his soul was obviously stronger than the weak miner.

"Is this not a prison like the [Magma Hell]?"

He thought suspiciously, and then asked:

"What will happen if those mad demons get your souls?"

"They will be active for a while, and fall silent again after our souls disappear. They are completely crazy and are only interested in souls."

The conductor explained again, and the normal face begged:

"Please, kind person, don't let us..."

"So, the trap of the deception is that once I let the chosen person enter the magma, even if I find the door, I will have to be hindered by the awakened crazy demon before I can enter the door."

Jenkins has seen the strength of the crazy demon before. His sudden whereabouts just now only awakened one of them. That guy's power will be enhanced in the current environment. Jenkins could deal with one or a group of them, but he didn't want to waste all his strength on the first deception, dealing with demons that were completely unnecessary to fight.

He knew the rules of the treacherous realm, but the Difference Engine also set up traps. But no matter how he looked, Jenkins couldn't see the black aura that represented the power of the [Earth Fire Worm]. He suspected that the snake in front of him was the worm. After all, they were all long in shape.

But at close range, no matter how strong the black aura of the human-faced snake was, he could not see the slightest trace of the beast of disaster's power.

Looking at the sky again, there might be that worm inside the dense metal cocoon. It's just that under the background of the strange aura, he couldn't find his goal.

Chapter 2109 Chapter 2078 Funeral (Additional update 6/10)

A series of grunting sounds came from below, and the magma sea was indeed rising. The temperature here now has far exceeded the normal temperature in Nolan's summer. Fortunately, Chocolate didn't follow. The cat doesn't hate the cold. After all, it can hide in Jenkins' arms when it gets cold, but Chocolate hates the heat.

Thinking of his cat, Jenkins felt a chill in his heart:

"I must go out."

His eyes became more determined. Instead of choosing the third metal cocoon, he came to the edge of the big rock and looked at the sea of ​​magma below.

The hot air spurted upwards, and the acidic gas mixed in it already made the skin feel uncomfortable. He opened the heavy backpack and took out what he needed for a long time.

Kneel on one knee on the edge of the big stone, use a silver knife to leave a mark on the surface of the hard stone, then crush the petals of the blue flower with your fingers, drip the juice into the mark, and cut a small piece separately Human finger bones, crystal powder and a small piece of sapphire are placed on the ritual matrix.

There are no stars in the realm, so some rituals that rely on the stars cannot be used. But this ritual does not need to correspond to the sky. Jenkins finally cut his finger with a dagger, squeezed out a drop of his own blood and dripped it on the sapphire.

Immediately, the dents carved by the knife lit up together with the juice of the petals. The crystal powder slowly melted into the bright light, and the finger bones and sapphires placed side by side merged with each other.

When the ceremony was over, only the sapphire-colored finger bones remained. It looks like a work of art, and I don’t know why. Most of the ritual items will become this beautiful after a little processing, but Jenkins, who knows its origin, will not put such a thing in his home.

The phalanges that have been ritually treated exude a chill. Jenkins picked it up and looked at it, confirming that this ritual "The Lament of the Frost Fairy", which he had only heard from Dolores, was really useful. It was a ritual left by the Stuart family's benefactor ancestors, Jenkins Never used.

Throw the phalanges in your hands a few times, and then throw them violently forward. It showed a standard parabolic trajectory, and under the influence of gravity, it finally fell into the magma.

Jenkins counted a few numbers silently in his mind and stood on the edge of the big rock with his head stretched out. When the countdown reached zero, he heard a muffled "bang~" and then saw the cold air erupting from the depths of the magma toward the sky like a fountain. The rapidly cooling lava formed a black solid material in the area where the cold air surged.

But these substances did not exist long before they were shattered by a roar that shook the world.

Roar~

The demon's arm stretched out from under the magma slowly, but with an unusually compressive feeling. The miners and train conductors were shaking like sieves at this moment, and even the hundreds of metal cocoons above everyone's heads began to sway irregularly, as if they were worried about being caught by this huge arm.

Because there is no need to dodge this time, the arm can be seen completely. The thickness of the arm can be compared to the last layer of the metal tower, and the surface of the skin is covered with cyan muscles. The muscles bulge like an extra layer of armor on the arms, and the uncomfortable blasphemous runes shine dark green against the fire of the magma. The runes are all over the texture of the muscles, making it difficult to tell whether they are naturally formed. It was still carved the day after tomorrow.

The palm has five fingers like a human being, and some disgusting blood-red things can be seen in the gaps between the bluish nails.

The arm stretched out from the magma, first accurately hit the "cold air fountain" to extinguish the cold air, and then stretched out to the huge rock where everyone was sitting.

Jenkins took out his sword and swung it forward, and the white sword light collided with his arm. While the arm was cut off abruptly, even more frightening roars came from below the magma sea.

"You disturbed a stray mad devil."

The human-faced snake reminded him, his body squirming uneasily, probably not because he was afraid of those demons, but because he was afraid that Jenkins would give him a sword like this:

"Wouldn't it be easier to just leave these two souls to find the door? Why do these meaningless things?"

"Throw it away, wouldn't it be great to fall into your trap?"

Jenkins turned around and said, rummaging through his backpack again and pulling out a black cross with a skull face on the cross. This is an alchemical item provided by the Church of Death to make it easier for people to return their dead souls.

For Jenkins, as the wise son, he does not need such items to help souls depart. But in a strange situation, he was not sure whether ordinary methods would still be useful, so it was safer to use items made by a professional funeral team.

Holding the cross, he approached the miner and the train conductor. The two of them huddled together, not knowing whether they were frightened by Jenkins' sword or the continuous demonic roar at this moment. If the metal cocoon hadn't been so badly damaged, they would probably have crawled in again.

"I'm not a bad person. Now I probably have a way to let you continue to 'go on' instead of being trapped here as bait for the devil and being tortured forever."

He shook the cross in his hand:

"Of course, it's only possible. So, tell me everything you know now, otherwise I can't guarantee who will kill you in the end."

"Sir, we are all poor people..."

"Yes, yes, I know that you are all poor people of our era, victims of the era, oppressed objects in the corners that the big shots can't see, people who really need to be saved, and your true It has supported our era, but your lives are still stuck in the previous era... Do you two have anything else to say?”

He looked at the two men, and the miner and the conductor looked at him. Then, he decisively rotated his head and let the face on the back of his head deal with Jenkins.

"Now that you know, why..."

"You always have to give me some time. Do you think I was someone who could influence the times in the past?"

He has only been in this world for a year. Although he has become a vested interest within one year, he cannot be blamed for this. Twenty years from now, if he still faces such questions, he may not be able to answer them, but now he is not afraid to ask his inner questions like this:

"I am just a part of this world. I have seen the luck and misfortune of this era and intend to change it. However, before I succeeded, you have already become like this. I feel sad for your misfortune, but I will never take this as my responsibility.”

Chapter 2110 Chapter 2079 Jenkins’ Conditions (Additional update 7/10)

The two faces on the back of the head looked at Jenkins, not knowing what to say.

Jenkins is not the complete "good guy" they thought.

"Now, let me just say this for the last time. How much do you know about this place? How much do you know about this hateful snake here? Have you ever seen a terrible worm? What kind of souls are in those metal cocoons above? "

The eras that the miners and the conductor lived were 12 years ago and 7 years ago respectively, which was the era before Jenkin came. After the two died, they came here directly and were trapped in the cocoon. The cocoon would periodically enter the magma, allowing the crazy demons to extract soul nutrients, but also protected the souls of those sinners from being extracted all at once. .

Jenkins originally thought that these metal cocoons were the work of the Difference Engine. After all, the cocoons themselves were made of metal, but in fact they were the tools of the devils.

The two souls also gained some knowledge while being trapped. When the demon sucked their souls, they even learned some information about this place from the crazy demon through soul contact.

Those metal cocoons are made of a special demon alloy and are similar to "food containers". These metals can make the soul in them continuously stronger regardless of the consequences. Although this will cause the soul to mutate, deform, or even completely collapse, the devil does not care about these.

In other words, the two people Jenkins met had symptoms of soul splitting. On the one hand, it was because they were exposed to untouchable forces due to the "tragedy of the times" when they were alive, and on the other hand, they were instilled with the power of demons after death. This causes problems in the soul.

This is what the two of them know about this place. Although those metal cocoons are not transparent, they are not soundproof either. They can always hear the mad demon's sleep talk and the roar in the magma, but they cannot know what is happening outside through hearing.

Therefore, the two could not tell Jenkins the origin of the human-faced snake, let alone whether there was a big worm here.

"Maybe others will know. The souls here are not just people like us, but there are some ancient and powerful guys."

The conductor warned in a low voice, actually not wanting Jenkins to ask any more questions.

Jenkins sniffed:

"Then what's the reason for the smell of burning exhaust gas in your cocoons? This is a smell unique to Nolan City. Why do you have it on your body?"

“This is for nourishing the soul.”

“Nourishing the soul?”

"Yes, those black ash you see can penetrate into people's souls, making them powerful...tear and mutate."

Jenkins was not surprised that these things created by the Difference Engine had such an effect. He was just surprised that the demons in [Magma Hell] were so advanced with the times and could obtain such things from the material world.

"Who is in charge? Are there guards here? You can probably tell that this is a prison for crazy demons."

"This area is much larger than you think. There is a guard, but it's nowhere to be found."

The treacherous realm is just a small piece of space debris, so the actual area cannot include the entire range mentioned by the two people. The guard responsible for guarding this place is most likely not in the treacherous realm.

Thinking of this, Jenkins looked at the human-faced snake suspiciously. Hearing the sound of the bubbling magma below getting louder and louder, he looked up again at the hundreds of metal cocoons hanging above.

Under the rules of the strange world, if he dared to shoot down all the cocoons at once, then the strange world might dare to perish with him. So he could only choose one more and try to see if there was someone who knew the situation here completely.

He did not choose immediately, but looked at the two souls:

"Since you have told me the information, I can send you away from here. But where you go next is not up to me."

"As long as you leave here, you can go anywhere!"

Both said this, really afraid of this terrifying place.

Let the train conductor and the miner's soul sit together, Jenkins held the cross in his right hand, pointed the cross-shaped skeleton face at them, and pressed his left hand on the back of his right hand to keep his hand stable:

"Praise the inheritance sage, praise the end of death."

He said in a low voice, this sentence on the one hand showed that he had not changed his faith, and on the other hand hoped to get the help of the god of death. Be sure to pay attention to the order, otherwise it may cause trouble.

Tried to activate this alchemical item:

"Dust to dust, earth to earth, those who should leave, don't stay."

The cross in his hand turned directly into brown dust and scattered all over the ground from Jenkins' hand. He shook his hand, but the two souls in front of him were still there.

But it was not that nothing happened. They all observed that the color of the soul was fading and turned into some light particles that dissipated in the air.

"It actually worked... I mean, it looks like it really worked."

The miner and the conductor finally smiled. They hugged each other and looked at Jenkins:

"Sir, you are really a good person, you..."

"No need to say more, keep going, no matter which world you go to, I hope you won't go on the wrong path."

"But this is not up to us. It is life that chooses us, not us who choose life... If possible, we also hope to go to a more prosperous, more developed, and fairer era, where everyone can read, everyone can have enough food, and everyone can..."

The voice disappeared, and the souls of the two also disappeared in front of Jenkins.

"You want to free their souls like this, but do you have to go find the door in the magma yourself?"