Pillars of Ita

"Miss Adney, at this place?"

Returning to the river bank, Fang Plover and his party were led by Adni to a place that looked no surprising. Rugged rocks of all sizes were scattered irregularly in the valley, surrounded by lush forests.

There were only four people at the scene, Miya, Sylvide, him and Miss Nightingale. It took several hours to return from the ruins. Tianlan had already fallen asleep. Miss Scholar must also maintain high energy as a spell caster. Dali I escorted them back to the ship.

The boatswain was still staying in the mine, but he knew that several people had to do important things, so he didn't follow them. He only volunteered to stay in the mine to guard them. As for the maid on board, there was still a maid in charge, which was reassuring.

In addition to this is the girl who came with them.

Adni was holding an instrument in her hand, comparing it carefully, and then nodded to them: "It's right here."

Fang Plover doubtfully raised his magic gloves and directed the engineering lancers to move away the heavy rocks and throw them aside. If he was not mistaken, this place was still within the coverage of the mining area. If Jedham's laboratory was Underground here, how deep should it be?

But how could someone build a laboratory among a mithril vein, which is too conspicuous, and Adni's father is not afraid that later people will discover this place?And even if the pirate king was as rich as his country, he would not turn a blind eye to such a large mine of mithril.

He became more and more curious, but he could only watch as the huge engineering machines moved the rocks away little by little. Soon the soil was exposed underneath, and insects that suddenly saw the light were crawling around in dense numbers on the ground, which was frightening. Miss Nightingale's beauty was eclipsed.

Fortunately, Sylvester wasn't too afraid of this. She looked at Miya beside her, but saw that the sea witch didn't care much.

Adni, on the other hand, took a step back without leaving a trace and looked at Fang Plover. "Next, dig this place out. If each of us takes a shift, it only takes half a day. The laboratory should be somewhere underground that is not too deep."

The engineering machine modified by the Lancers did not have an excavation function, and the girl naturally noticed this.

But Fang Yu shook his head. He didn't have that spare time. He walked forward and said, "Miss Adni, just watch from the side. I will complete the rest of the work. You only need to tell me what to do." Just pay attention to where you are.”

The girl was slightly startled and looked at the latter suspiciously. She had surveyed the geological conditions here a few years ago. Except for a shallow layer of floating soil on the surface, there were solid rock formations underneath, and a metal vein ran through the rock formations here.

Digging it out is no easy task.

But Fang Yu pressed his gloves on the crystal on his chest, and a strange nautilus-shaped structure emerged from beside him in the illusion. It waved long tentacles made of light. Adni was surprised. Suddenly, he saw that the light circuits all over Fang Plover's body lit up. Those circuits were mainly concentrated on his two magic gloves. They were transmitted all the way up along the copper tubes on his arms, passed behind his back, and were connected to the magic guide behind him. In the furnace.

Every circuit and every core crystal on the gamma-shaped magic furnace was becoming dazzling. Fang Plover pressed his hand on the ground, and the girl's pupils vibrated. She watched a golden texture pour into the ground along the opponent's palm. The next moment Spreading in all directions like ripples.

The soil separated in all directions as if following Fang Plover's will, stacked layer by layer in a certain order, and eventually formed two high walls.It's like a door has opened on the ground, and that door stands high, just like the high wall built by Fang Plover.

After the 'door' was opened, what was underneath was naturally revealed——

This time it was the others' turn to be surprised. They saw a staircase going down, which was bottomless. The bottom step went deep into the netherworld, as if leading to the depths of the underworld, with no end in sight.

Fang Plover raised his head. Adni was right, Jedham's laboratory is here, but he looked around with some confusion, and the cross-section around the terrain he changed revealed the location of the rock formations, in the middle of the rocks. Mixed with a little silver light, it is the proof of the highest grade mithril ore——

But he had never heard of a mithril vein with only such a thin layer. It was like a layer of window paper that could be penetrated with just one pierce. At that moment, he felt something unexplainable. He didn’t know whether it was because his dreams were shattered or because he was sighing at nature. Creations of gods and ghosts.

That layer of rock was like a thin shell protecting Jedham's laboratory below. It was like extra material growing from the periphery of the laboratory. It gradually expanded to form this vein.

But Fang Yu quickly shook his head and threw away this weird idea. The girl on the side didn't think much about it, and only reminded him harshly: "Be careful next time, the laboratory is very dangerous, and there are some guards left." .”

"As long as it's a guard, it'll be easy." Miss Nightingale smiled and didn't care.

The average level of the Seven Seas Brigade is close to level [-]. The first world is no longer so dangerous for them. What's more, generally speaking, the levels of creatures such as puppets, marionettes and golems left in castles and ruins are very low. Not too high.

Adni did not retort immediately.

She hasn't recovered from the shock just now.

The girl's brown-green eyes flashed with an indescribable color. She looked at the young man's back and was speechless. What kind of alchemy was that? How come she had never heard of it?

She had only heard of the Continental League, but had never really paid attention to it. She knew about that competition because Xing told her that the son of Traveler would come to Xinta'an to participate in that game, and asked her to take care of him if she had the chance. .

But now it seems like it was just a joke. She doesn't have the ability to take care of the other party, and the other party doesn't need her care.

She actually just inherited that identity from her father, but his father was only a peripheral member of the 'Shadow Society' during his lifetime. Unlike 'Traveler', 'Traveler', 'Raptor', and 'Pharmacist' were all members of that organization. Core member.

The girl suddenly regretted it. She had known that she should have gone to the Empire to see what happened in the Continental League. At that time, she was still trekking in the wilderness to avoid the eyes and ears of those people, but it was not without gain.

Otherwise she wouldn't be here.

Fang Yu didn't say much about Alyssa's words. He had even seen the Dragon Knight, how could he still be afraid of a few guards?He picked up the wind lantern and walked down. The flickering firelight reflected the sides of the corridor, and a metal passage appeared not far away.

There was a magic light source placed on the wall, but the light had long gone out.

Natural light sources are more useful when exploring underground, because firelight can warn of insufficient oxygen. Fang Yu is also an experienced adventurer, so naturally he does not need to be reminded by others.

After passing through the long corridor, a closed door appeared. Adni did not know how to open the door. It seemed that this was not the first time she had dealt with such a scene and she had considerable experience.Fang Yu couldn't help but remember that she once said that her father left four clues, but only two of them were true.

In addition to the one here, there must be another one in her hands. She spent four years investigating this valley, and she didn't know how much time she spent before that.

The closed door slowly opened, like a rolling stone sliding to one side, but the entire door was actually made of steel, and it was half a meter thick when viewed from the side. If no one knew how to open it, he would be forced to break through. I'm afraid it will take a lot of effort.

Fang Yu had just entered the door and was raising the wind lantern in his hand. Several clockwork fairies flew out from behind him and shot into the surrounding darkness. But at this time, in the swaying firelight, the darkness in front suddenly surged. move.

I saw a giant metal claw coming out of the fog from that direction and grabbing it straight.

Fang Yu reacted quickly and was about to dodge, but there was a flash of sword light behind him and the star dagger was already in the wolf girl's hand.The sea witch had long silver hair and she slashed forward with the dagger in her hand, causing sparks to fly.

The claw bounced back.

Miya took a step forward and stopped in front of Fang Plover.Miss Nightingale was only one step behind, but she also drew her weapon and stood in front of him.

"Be careful," Adni was the only one whose expression changed when she saw the giant metal claw, "Spider Guard, why is this thing here?"

She couldn't help but changed her expression and said to the others: "Go back quickly, that is one of the most powerful constructs in my father's laboratory, it will-"

Her voice has not yet fallen.

Then he saw the wolf girl taking a step forward, and the giant metal claw poked out from the darkness again. Miya reached out and grabbed the upper part of the claw, and pressed it down to the ground.

That scene was like a tiny ant grabbing a giant's finger, but incredibly lifting an opponent countless times bigger than itself, and then fell heavily to the ground - the huge construct fell directly into Miya's hands. It was pulled out of the darkness and its true form was exposed——

The huge structure is like a metal octopus. The diamond-shaped shell is connected to eight metal arms. Each one is extremely flexible. The tips of the arms are equipped with three blade-like claws. Evisceration is just a piece of cake. matter.

On the rhombus-shaped main body, there is a flashing red eye in the center of the dark copper shell, which is a visual crystal.

But at this moment, its body was dragged out and hit the ground hard, making a deafening roar. There was an uncertain flash of light in the crystal, and a few conspicuous magic sparks even shot out from the gaps in the shell.

The eight flexible arms and legs could not play any role and could only be waved around randomly.

The Sea Witch released one of her arms and legs, and then raised her left hand upwards. The huge structure seemed to be grabbed by an invisible force and rose upwards, floating in the air.

Miya's eyes flashed with silver fire, her eyes were calm, she held her five fingers in the center, and countless sparks suddenly burst out from the metal octopus, as if it was squeezed by the invisible space, and its diamond-shaped body let out a strange sound. It screamed, twisted and collapsed, and finally turned into a piece of metal paper.

The eight tentacles paralyzed in the arc of electricity and became motionless again.

The girl's voice stopped suddenly.

But there was another construct lurking in the darkness, but just as it had time to attack, when another tentacle poked out from the darkness, a majestic construct had been assembled in front of Fang Plover, under a glowing blue light. It crashed to the ground.

The structure was so tall that it could almost reach the top of the laboratory. Six metal wings behind it formed a beautiful ring of flames. As soon as it appeared, it grabbed the tentacles of the metal monster under the control of Fang Plover's magic gloves.

In a burst of magic sparks, it pulled the octopus outward, then held down the opponent's diamond-shaped head with its other hand, raised its first hand and punched its body, with a loud bang, and the opponent's shell The top immediately became dented.

The spider guard tried to wave his claws to resist, but the tall construct nimbly avoided it. Fang Plover's raised right hand kept stretching out and closing his fingers, turning the magic glove without saying a word. The sub-dragon knight construct from the empire As if they were given life, they kept blocking each other's tentacles with their hands in a tacit understanding.

If it can't avoid it, it will grab the opponent and tear it off alive, as if dealing with an insect, and punch the construct guard into a pile of scrap metal with one punch after another, and arcs of electricity will continue to appear. In the midst of it, the opponent's claws finally went limp.

Adni looked at the pile of huge constructs that were constantly flashing magic sparks, and subconsciously touched her short-handled hammer, as if wondering if she would be as helpless as that construct if the other party attacked her. Resist?
Xing had told her that the other party was the son of Traveler, and she had guessed the identity of Fang Plover's combat craftsman before.

But wasn't he going to participate in the Continental League? She didn't lack common sense enough to know what kind of event the Continental League held in the empire was. She originally thought that the other party was an alchemist that was common in outdoor adventures.

As he moves with the adventure group, he has the ability to participate in battles to a certain extent, but although he has the status of a first-level combat craftsman, he is actually responsible for logistics work most of the time.

Such craftsmen are quite rare, but because of their comprehensive abilities, they often become the core or even the leader of the adventure group - just like the Seven Seas Brigade.

But she only guessed the first half.

"You..." Adni held her short-handled hammer without leaving any trace, "The outside world has never said that you..."

"Why," Miss Nightingale naturally noticed the cowardice in her heart, "Miss Adney regrets it and is worried that we will go back on her word?"

Adni blushed slightly. She was naturally not as confident as she said, because she still had some strength, otherwise she would not have been able to take risks in the wilderness alone, not to mention she still had the ability of Silver Fire to rely on, which allowed her to Transmitted in the Ethernet vein.

The reason why she reached a deal with the Seven Seas Brigade was partly because she relied on her own strength, but she found that she seemed to have far underestimated the strength of this team, whether it was the woman or the construct in front of Fang Plover. body.

She looked at Miya, "Psychic Blade, Huntress of Asgard, Blade Dancer, you are the Witch of the Sea, right?"

The wolf girl didn't refute. Since someone recognized her ability, it was unnecessary to cover it up. She nodded.

Adni took a small breath.

She looked up at the construct standing in front of Fang Plover again, "Seraphic Seraph, it is the most special alien construct in the empire. The empire once produced six units, but now only one is left. Because of the operation It’s too complicated, but its own power is not at the level of a real pseudo-dragon knight.”

"Which one is this from Gu Jin's Magical Attic?" Fang Plover nodded.

"I heard no one within the Empire can operate it."

"Yes and no," Fang Yu shook his head and said, "If you are a selector going to the second world, it will be very easy for a combat craftsman of that level to control the six-winged seraph. It's just that the gain outweighs the loss. There are better ones at that level. Used constructs.”

Adni was a little silent, her hand holding the short-handled hammer tightened, and she hesitated for a moment whether to use the silver fire ability to teleport away.

But the last clue she had been looking for was just ahead, making it difficult for her to choose.

"Miss Adoni, you actually don't have to worry," Fang Piao silently closed his magic gloves, opened his goggles, looked at the pile of scrap metal, and said, "You are honest with us, but the Seven Seas Brigade never We would treat our friends badly. In fact, we have heard about the pirate king’s secret treasure for a long time, and we also have the key to open the secret vault, but we really don’t know anything about that workshop—”

"You want to investigate that workshop, and we have no objection. Everyone gets what they want, so we have always agreed with your proposal. Generally speaking, we only respond to offenses. As long as you, Miss Adney, There is no going back on one’s word, and that promise will always remain true.”

The girl with short gray hair was a little silent.

Miss Nightingale, on the other hand, smiled brightly and said, "Actually, we didn't mean to hide it. The Seven Seas Brigade has actually always focused on fighting. It was actually an accident that we participated in the Continental League this time. In Kaolin-Ithulian, everyone knows that we are What kind of team is it, but in the empire, the information is biased."

After all, the Seven Seas Brigade actually came to the Empire as representatives of the Continental League.

Most people in the Empire will not take the initiative to learn about what is happening on other continents, and most of the lengthy reports on Dragon Alchemist in various newspapers come from craftsman competitions.

Most people still have information bias, let alone Adni, who doesn't know much about the competition.

However, this situation will soon be gone forever. It can be imagined that the shocking battle that took place in Ayin Block has already shocked the entire empire. Even if Fang Pliong relied on the power of Ayin Block Fortress, there is still no doubt about the two sides. The disappearance of a dragon knight and the death of a great alchemist.

And everything about Dark Dragon Queen Alyssa.

Soon it will spread throughout the entire continent and even the entire sea of ​​clouds.

It's just that Adni, who is operating alone in the wilderness in this remote corner, doesn't know all that yet. But in fact, as long as she inquires a little bit, she might be able to find out about it from the adventurers outside. A fragment of the Empire's battle.

Even in such a remote corner, people began to discuss the missing team of Aiyin Block.

Some good people even ranked the Seven Seas Brigade, thinking that their current strength can already enter the top 20.00% of the brigade rankings, although almost all of them are top teams from major guilds.

Almost none of the members of those teams are lower than them, or almost none of them are still in the first world. The Seven Seas Brigade is the only exception.

Of course, some people have questioned it. After all, the Dragon Alchemist rarely used his own power in Ayin Block, and even in his past experiences, but only used the abilities of craftsmen in a clever way.

If there is really an upright battle, it is hard to say where the strength of the Seven Seas Brigade lies.

But soon someone came up with a video of the Ai Yin Block battle, a video of the mysterious sorceress who suddenly appeared in the academy competition and took away Luo Yu and Laila, and a video of Luo Yu taking action on the mobile fortress.

Both videos are enough to illustrate the actual strength of each member of the Seven Seas Brigade, not to mention the earlier video of several people confronting the patrolling cavalry and the Death Advent Guild during the Aiinbrok turmoil. Therefore, people can at least draw the conclusion :
"So there are at least three selectors in the Seven Seas Brigade who are close to the second-level strength. Although their level may be less than level [-], their actual combat power is far beyond that. This situation was not uncommon among top teams in the past."

"Therefore, the strength of the Seven Seas Troupe can be completely re-considered. Although they have not been registered in the Adventurer Guild and Guild Ranking, there are three such powerful spellcasters in the team, and the strength of the others will not be much worse. go."

"As for its leader, the Dragon Alchemist himself, he should now be called a moving disaster star, or simply a 'disaster star'. As a team leader, his strength will only be stronger, not worse. In fact, judging from his performance in the mainland league You can also get a glimpse of it."

However, what is being discussed more in the community is actually about the identity of the third mysterious person - the sorceress who appeared briefly in the academy competition and rescued Luo Yu and others. Some even speculated that the identity of the Seven Seas Brigade was Teleportation over long distances.

It is very likely that it was the work of this sorceress.

Top players from all the major guilds analyzed the video. The video itself was taken by the selector who stayed in the academy competition at that time. The camera was a little shaken, but it was still enough to see roughly what kind of spell the opponent cast at that time.

In the third division, both KUN and Chen Xi openly discussed each other's strength. Both of them believed that it was at least not inferior to the level of the top selectors in the second world, which meant that they were on par with them.

It may not be as good as the Ten Kings, but it's not far off.

There may be a selector behind the Seven Seas Troupe who is close to the level of the Ten Kings. This will undoubtedly stir up waves. Although not many people think that the sorcerer will act with the Seven Seas Troupe, because the levels of the teams are too different. Rarely present in Aitaria.

Higher-level Chosen ones gain little benefit from working with lower-level Chosen ones.

But most people generally believe that they are actually the supporters behind the Seven Seas Brigade. There must be supporters and funding sources behind an elite team. Even Loofah's team had an unclear relationship with the Rose Crusade. .

It's just that people are analyzing which big guild the wizard comes from.

It's a pity that Adni cannot see these things that are being discussed a lot in the community, and will never be able to understand them.

She only looked at Fang Plover with some surprise and asked, "Do you have the key to that treasure house?"

Fang Yu nodded, not hiding anything, and told the story of how they saw the pirate king's sunken ship in the sea of ​​fog, were entrusted by him, and then got the key.

He didn't even ignore the matter of the dragon hunter. Now it seems that the dragon hunter and the star device on his body are very likely to be related to Jedham. Maybe it is his masterpiece, but he doesn't know if the other party was the same as Lin En back then. The craftsman who Jazz worked with and left behind the half-finished star device.

But now it seems very likely.

As a descendant of the other party, Adni wanted to know if this girl knew something.

It’s just that Adni didn’t react much after hearing his description. Only when she heard him talking about the Pirate King’s enemy did she say: “Pirate King William has countless enemies in his life, maybe even me is one of them. But the person who can really betray him must be his most trusted confidant and the most powerful person among the villains."

She looked at Fang Plover: "It may not be easy for you to deal with such a person."

Fang Yu shook his head. In fact, there was no agreement between them and the pirate king. It was just that the other party unilaterally promised to give them a legacy. He did not even specify who his enemy was.

Now that I think about it, the Pirate King must have some back-up plans. Maybe that will be one of the conditions for entering his treasure house. He really has no intention of avenging a Pirate King, especially if he doesn't know who his opponent is. .

But as long as it is a secret vault, there must be a way to crack it. He himself is an alchemist and a craftsman. He has long made up his mind that if the other party really asks him to deal with an innocent person, he will try to crack it himself. That puzzle.

But if he just wanted to kill someone who had committed all kinds of crimes, and it wasn't that troublesome, he wouldn't mind doing it easily.

Fang Yu walked forward in silence. He had already made a plan in his heart.

The need for his own strength is becoming somewhat urgent, and Aitalia is changing. He has introduced Brianne to Princess Rupert, and has truly intervened in the political situation of Corin-Ithurion. After that, Nanami The Brigade cannot stay out of trouble forever.

He has long lost the innocence of the past. If he wants to control his own destiny under the great changes, he must have the power to match it.

Just like the blessing that the elemental tyrant gave them for no reason, it is unlikely that there will be no corresponding price, and the only way to deal with the price is the strength of the Seven Seas Brigade itself.

But he won't cross the line.

That's exactly why he promised Adni.

The girl seemed to have finally made up her mind. She had already come this far, so naturally she couldn't give up anymore, so she gritted her teeth and followed.

Others were not as nervous as she was. After Miss Nightingale looked around and walked into the hall, she realized that the place below was much larger than imagined. Behind the sealed metal door was a vast world, and the towering vault made the tall people Everything here seems small.

She looked up and saw a crystal emitting natural light hanging from the top of the laboratory. Although it was very dim, the weak fluorescence still outlined the entire hall. The circular hall was filled with all kinds of machinery. .

There are still many of the eight-legged spider guards we saw before, but they are all in a dormant state, hanging in the surrounding containers, with their arms and legs hanging low, like machines that have just come off the production line.

But apart from these strange-shaped structures, what is really eye-catching is the device in the center of the laboratory. It is like a huge instrument, with countless pipes extending from all sides, connected to the machine.

In the center of the machine is a huge crystal.

That thing looked a bit like an energy supply device, but it had been sleeping here for many years and had lost its function. Even the surface was covered with a thick layer of dust. Fang Yu thought he would see many dragon hunters down here. , or a similar construct, or an unfinished star device——

But I didn't expect it to be neither.

He raised his head and looked at the thing, and something suddenly came to his mind. What was William and Jedham's real experiment? If the talented craftsman had already completed the star device and designed the dragon hunter.

So what does the pirate king really expect from him?
In his imagination, a pirate leader might be interested in combat weapons like the Dragon Hunter, but he would never be interested in the star array in the star device, let alone call it a masterpiece.

Only those who truly understand alchemy can understand the value of the Star Array, but in fact even people like Friston can't really see through it. He originally thought that the pirate king was also an outstanding alchemist.

He may be the inventor of the Dragon Hunter, but this speculation has been made since he checked the nameplate on the Dragon Hunter and learned information about her father from Adni.

Change happened.

Therefore, even the pirate king had witnessed the miracle, and even he called it the most valuable thing——

What is it?

He then looked away from the huge device and asked Adni who was walking up to the side: "Miss Adni, what exactly is your father's experiment?"

Adni was also looking at the device in the center, unable to look away for a long time. The girl was silent for a long time before quietly speaking: "It is a technology that turns water into oil, turns stones into gold, makes dreams come true, and transforms matter. .”

"Material transformation?"

Fang Yuru heard the Book of Heaven, although it did sound more in line with the aesthetics of a pirate leader. Although turning stone into gold was never a secret in Aitaria, alchemy could indeed do such a thing.

But that requires a prerequisite first.

He suppressed the shock in his heart: "Is your father studying the Philosopher's Stone?"

Adni nodded slightly.

... (end of this chapter)