The sun is high

"Yes, yes... Messenger, this is the sacred mountain that protects our tribe. It is the last guidance and revelation given to us by Mother Earth in this distant land..."

When the rat-man hunting team stepped into the scope of the light, they became relaxed and happy. The old priest who had been silent because of the ups and downs of his situation also took the initiative to come to Xiuge's side and use his magic, and began to introduce the "mountain" in front of Xiuge seriously and carefully.

In the intermittent words of the old priest, Shuge learned that this "mountain", or this huge dilapidated building, existed before the rat people arrived here.

As Theseus guessed, the rat men who first arrived here were actually the victims of a certain "big hunt". In a certain massive battle, a group of people were forced into a desperate situation by the Dark Abyss hounds. The rat army had no choice but to pass through a huge rift created by the hounds that had not yet been closed.

Under normal circumstances, their behavior is no different than seeking death.

However, the leader of this army brought changes to the outcome of these rat men.

The rat-man commander was not only an outstanding warlord who could carve out a faction within the rat-man tribe, but was also a "chosen priest" who received the great attention and favor of the Mother Goddess of the Earth.

With the grace and power bestowed by the Mother Goddess, the priest finally led his people through the rift that was extremely fatal to the Van En creatures, and successfully arrived in this strange world.

After that, these rat people began their miserable wandering journey.

Shortly after arriving in the Dark Abyss Wasteland, the leader of the God-Chosen Priest was torn into pieces by a group of Dark Abyss Claw Spiders. As a result, the team of rat people began to flee in all directions, and most of the members were fleeing. In the process, they disappeared into the wilderness, and only a handful of them escaped the hunting of the spiders and the terrifying turbulence of the wasteland.

After that, this group of survivors began to seriously think about ways to survive.

The rat people are a very strange and complex group.

They are smart and cunning, but also cautious and cowardly. When facing difficulties, without the command and restraint of their leaders, they often collapse quickly, fight on their own, and even show their most selfish side.

However, the majestic vitality of the Mother Goddess of the Earth has given these "direct dependents" amazing resilience.

When a group of ratmen falls into despair and death, the survival instinct hidden deep in their bodies will fully attack again. At this time, they are fully capable of paying any price to survive.

The old priest told Shuge that in order to survive in this terrible world, the survivors initially occupied some abandoned tunnels of the Dark Abyss spiders and hollowed out the entire hill as a remnant. A refuge for rats.

After that, they went through several difficult migrations until they arrived at the "peak" in the dark abyss wasteland and finally settled inside it.

In terms of eating, etc., the rat people found that after passing through the rift and arriving in this strange and dangerous world, all their needs for food and water turned into greed for magic power and a desire for the continuation of the group.

And this has become the source of motivation for the rat people to go out hunting.

As Shuge saw, the rat people regard those Dark Abyss creations that are weaker than themselves as targets. They will track the battles that occur between dangerous Dark Abyss creations, or find places where soul residues accumulate, and search for places where soul residues accumulate. Traps and ambushes are set up at these locations to hunt down targets who try to "scavenge" here.

After a successful hunt, the rat people's priests would promptly compress the escaped rich magic power into special spherical crystals and bring them back to the tribe for distribution.

"Mother rats! There are many mother rats in our tribe!"

When talking about the issue of population reproduction, the old priest explained very directly: "In the beginning, there were many female rats in our army who were responsible for transportation work... Yes, transportation work! After they came here, they were all It’s protected, we need new rat babies, more rat babies!”

"Reproduce in the dark abyss?"

Xiuge's expression became subtle: "Newborns are so fragile, how can they adapt to this place?"

"By prey! Yes, prey!"

With that said, the old priest took out a ball from the container he carried and handed it to Shuge: "The crystal of power and shadow! Swallow it, change yourself, and adapt to the environment!"

Xiuge took the ball from the old priest, and then he discovered that the ball, which was compressed and condensed from the mist of the dark abyss, looked quite similar to Van En's magic crystal mine.

Although the properties of their internal magic are completely different, in this stable state, the magic structure presented is highly consistent.

And when Shuge tried to probe his perception into the inside of the round crystal, a sudden strong sense of hunger and thirst suddenly emerged. Then, the crystal ball in Shuge's hand suddenly exploded, and the mist sprayed out, and fell down. In an instant, I was pulled by Xiuge's body and absorbed by him.

There's something strange about this feeling.

It is different from the satiety that Xiuge had when he swallowed those soul fragments and fragments before. The increase and benefit brought by these fogs are more direct. Xiuge can even feel a "breeze" in his calm spiritual ocean. The wind blew slowly across the sea, and then Xiuge was surprised to find that the fatigue he had accumulated during this period began to disappear quickly.

Xiuge twirled his fingertips and then let out a long sigh of relief.

"...Does it feel like it's addictive?"

The astonishing sense of pleasure in the spiritual ocean made Xiuge's body tremble slightly. As a person with a strong enough spirit and will, he was aware of the impact this experience could have on people in an instant.

So, he declined the other few crystals handed over by the old priest and asked the other party to continue introducing things related to their tribe.

In this way, during the conversation between the two parties, Xiuge gradually came to the foot of this towering "mountain".

Here, Shuge was surprised to notice a very strange warmth.

The source of this warmth is the light that shines from the inside of the "mountain" in front of you.

This reminded Shuge of the sun.

The warm sun that once shined on Fan En is now "shielded" by the black celestial body.

The rat-man hunting team stopped at the foot of the mountain. They knelt on the ground, bathing in the light and praying silently. For some reason, looking at their appearance, Shuge was inexplicably reminded of those devout Mel believers in Van En.

In the metal disc, the reawakened Ernst family wills were also amazed by the scene in front of them. Whether it was this wasteland, the strange mountains in front of them, or the rat men themselves, they were all brought to them. A strong cognitive impact.

After the prayers were over, the rat people took Shuge and continued to move forward. As Shuge got closer to the towering ancient building, the feeling of warmth became stronger, and the warmth from the metal disc in Shuge Theseus's strength also declined rapidly.

"Ah...this place makes me sleepy."

Theseus complained suddenly, and he even yawned: "I feel like I need to sleep."

"etc!"

Seeing this, Xiuge quickly grabbed this guy: "Tell me first, what is going on with this building? And these lights, what is its nature?"

"Hmm...it's not easy to explain."

Theseus was probably really sleepy. In the warm light, he yawned again: "I said it before, right? If Van En follows the path of Charron, the Lord of the Ocean, he will achieve something new. A dark abyss...this sentence can actually be reversed."

"Dark Abyss can also be regarded as another Van En. Within it, there were also many ethnic groups, countries and civilizations."

"So what I see are the relics left by those civilizations?"

Theseus was silent for two seconds and responded: "Absolutely, or you can regard it as a tombstone commemorating the last struggle and effort of this world."

"tombstone?"

Xiuge raised his head in surprise. Standing under this huge building, he deeply felt his own insignificance.

The existence in front of him is too huge, and it is still an entity that can be touched. Reality and illusion are intertwined at this moment, making Xiuge unpredictable.

He wanted to ask something more, but Theseus had already "sneaked away" while Shuge was dazed. No matter how Shuge called, he only received a gentle snore in response.

“Does the ever-changing God also need to sleep??”

Although there were many puzzles in his heart, at this moment, Xiuge could only move on. He also wanted to know what secrets were hidden inside the spectacular ruins in front of him, and why Theseus suggested that he visit this place. at.

Some figures appeared in front. They were another team of rat men. They also carried weapons, but judging from their stature, these rat men were obviously younger.

"They came to greet us, to greet the messenger... They are all young cubs, they need more experience, yes, experience."

The old priest gave a timely explanation. After leading several young rat men to see Shuge, he explained: "The tribe is in the mountain, on the mountainside... We need to go up, the prophet is waiting!"

This was not the first time that Shuge heard the term "prophet", so he made a request: "Tell me about your prophet."

"Prophet, yes, prophet!"

When talking about the "prophet", the old priest who was already very "highly respected" among the rat people actually showed an extremely humble side.

It thought seriously for a while, and then gave its answer: "Just like you, the messenger, at first, the prophet walked alone in the wilderness, until he met a hunter from the tribe, and then he joined us... The prophet is smart and powerful. , see through the future! The prophet masters a thousand rituals, the prophet teaches the tribe, and leads us to move here!"

After hearing this, Shuge couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Walking in the wilderness like me? Your prophet is of the same race as me?"

"no no!"

The old priest shook his head quickly: "The prophet is a rat, a rat who has been blessed by the Mother Goddess!"

Hearing this, Xiuge became more and more curious. At this time, he followed the team into a deep and dilapidated tunnel. It was filled with all kinds of debris and debris, and the original structure of the tunnel could no longer be seen at all. Looks good.

Shuge then asked: "You mentioned the prophet's prophecy before, your prophet, how did it predict me?"

The old priest tried hard to remember for a while, and then replied: "I was present when the prophet made this prophecy! Yes, I was present!"

"The prophet said that if a bright light appears in the wasteland, it means that a messenger is coming... That is a messenger sent by the Mother Goddess from her hometown!"

"Light?"

"Yes, light! Warm, dazzling firelight!"

The old priest described it in detail: "We saw it before. The bright fire drew a huge circle in the darkness of the wasteland! So we set out to find the messenger and you where the fire was!"

Hearing this, Xiuge was slightly shocked. He realized that the "fire" the other party mentioned was the "Wanderer's Bonfire" magic that he had used to fight against the nightmare bears. His encounter with them was also It's not an accident - these guys came for me!

During the conversation, the team had already marched deep into the building. Here, Xiuge saw many dim lamps made of crystals. They emitted a gloomy green luster, illuminating more of the life of the rat tribe. trace.

"This tribe is huge!"

Old Bernhardt, who observed the outside world through Shuge's eyes, exclaimed: "These mice are so capable of giving birth!"

"General Bernhardt, don't forget, you are also a rat now."

Countess Alexandra sighed: "I think you should pay more attention to our situation. A huge rat's nest is no safer than the wilderness outside."

"Ah... Okay, I just want to say that these mice completely match the idea I proposed before. They definitely have the potential to form a perfect army!"

Xiuge ignored the quarrels of the old guys, because at this time, he had already followed the team to a huge shaft.

Inside this shaft, there are obviously some complex mechanical structures.

But now, these structures have long been destroyed, replaced by simple elevators built by the rat tribe using a large number of strange materials.

Yes, lifts.

In fact, it is a huge stone slab inlaid with multiple Dark Abyss crystals. There are dark chains made of unknown raw materials on the edge, and some weird ritual patterns are engraved on the center of the stone slab.

"The Prophet is up there, we'll be there soon!"

The old priest took Xiuge up the elevator, and the ritual began to take effect. As the gloomy light flowed from the inside of the ceremony, the dark chains around the stone slab began to be affected by some kind of force.