strictlysupreme Chapter 122 Ancient Buildings in the Lava Lake
Chapter 122 Ancient Buildings in the Lava Lake
Chapter 122 Ancient Buildings in the Lava Lake
On the way back to Obsidian City, Rolin kept thinking.
The tentacles of the Ash Ring have already reached this place; it's only a matter of time before they make contact with the Indigenous Empire.
We must seize more initiative as soon as possible.
Returning to the fortress, they reported the two prisoners and the situation to Lord Karug.
Upon seeing the two true outsiders, Karug's soul fire flickered violently, clearly indicating that he had been greatly shocked.
"Outsiders—they do exist."
Karug's voice was low and deep, filled with vigilance and murderous intent. "They are eyeing the Empire's land and resources."
'
"Yes, my lord. They claim to be from an organization called the Ash Ring, and they are greedy and aggressive."
"We heard about them when we were homeless; they had a bad reputation."
"Their presence here is definitely not a good thing."
Yan Dun added fuel to the fire.
Karug circled the two trembling prisoners twice, then suddenly stretched out his large, calloused hand, grabbed the older wizard's chin, and forced him to look up at him.
"Tell me! How many of you have come?"
"What is the purpose?"
Under the threat of death and the powerful spiritual pressure from the native lord, the wizard stammered out some more information.
However, due to the language difference between the two sides, they ultimately chose to communicate through spiritual means.
It was much the same as what he had told Luo Lin before, except that they originally had a team of about ten people, but now some of them were dead or scattered.
"Get rid of it."
Karug released his grip and gave an order to the captain of the guard beside him, his tone icy.
"Wait, my lord." Roland stepped forward.
"Perhaps we can spare their lives."
"They know more about the outside world and might be able to provide some useful information, or—as bargaining chips in negotiations with the Ring of Ashes?"
"If this organization is truly powerful, killing their people directly might provoke even fiercer retaliation."
Karug turned to look at Rolin, his white soul flame flickering slightly, as if he were weighing his options.
Finally, he nodded: "Lock him in the dungeon and keep him under strict guard."
"You," he said, looking at the three of them, "continue dealing with the plague in the mine. As for the matter of these outsiders, I will report to the royal court."
Having temporarily saved the prisoners' lives, Rolin and his two companions bowed and withdrew.
Back in the stone house, I closed the door and activated the soundproofing.
"The situation is more complicated than expected."
"The Ash Ring has infiltrated, although it's just a small group of defeated soldiers, which means their main force may also be active nearby."
"We are caught between the natives and the Ash Ring, and we need to be more careful."
3
Nightingale took off her hood and rubbed her temples.
"The statements of those two prisoners were a mixture of truth and falsehood."
"They might be concealing a crucial mission, such as searching for specific ruins or resource points, like—the Star Core Ember?"
"We cannot completely trust the indigenous lord; he uses us more than he trusts us."
Flame Shield recalled and analyzed the words of the two wizards from the Ash Ring.
Luo Lin walked to the stone table and spread out a simple map of the mine.
"The mine is heavily polluted deep inside, so it's probably not a coincidence that the people of the Ash Ring appeared in that cave."
"There are special mosses there that absorb pollution, and the environment is relatively secluded."
"I suspect that something might be hidden deep within the mine, attracting the attention of both the Corruption Source and the Ash Ring."
"A thorough investigation is needed, but the risks are high." Nightingale looked at the main channel marked on the map, which showed a strong pollution reaction.
"We are now Flame Masters, and we have every reason to venture deep into the mine."
"But a reasonable excuse and preparation are needed."
"In short, we need to investigate the source of the pollution, assess the difficulty of purification, and request more resources and support from the lord."
"In this process, we can secretly investigate potential targets within the Ring of Ashes."
Rowling pondered how to proceed with the next step.
"The moss in that cave is worth studying."
"It has the ability to absorb pollution, and may become a natural tool for our purification methods, making our rituals seem more reasonable."
He remembered something else and added two more sentences.
The plan has been finalized.
Over the next few days, the three of them slowly purified the purple plague stone on the surface of the mine while collecting samples of blue-purple moss from the cave for research, and secretly drew a more detailed map of the mine.
Lorin made progress in his research on mosses.
This moss can indeed absorb trace amounts of corrupting source energy and convert it into an inert energy similar to the fundamental fire element of this world, which then settles down.
Its principle is similar to a miniature, extremely inefficient natural purifier.
Rolin attempted to simulate its energy conversion frequency using star power, which was much more effective than the moss itself, but also consumed a great deal of energy.
He used this discovery to improve the purification ritual.
Now, under the cover of the stable flame environment provided by the Flame Shield, he can secretly use the simulated conversion frequency in conjunction with the Star Power Order catalyst to purify small pieces of Purple Plague Stone more efficiently, while disguising the process as "using natural mediums and ancestral techniques".
After several successful purification demonstrations, Lord Karug seemed to have gained a little more trust in them, allocating them some higher-quality firestones and a few auxiliary slave miners.
The time is gradually ripe.
That day, Rowling proposed to the civil official in charge of supervising them that they should delve into the main passage to investigate the source of the pollution in order to develop a thorough purification plan, and requested the lord to send more guards and resources.
After the civil servant reported this, Karug agreed.
He was also eager to resolve this hidden danger, and the performance of Luo Lin and the other two during this period had indeed been reliable.
The next day, an exploration team consisting of twenty elite soldiers, three men including Rolin, and several slaves carrying tools and supplies set off towards the main passage deep inside the mine.
The further down you go, the harsher the environment becomes.
The temperature was so high that the air itself seemed to distort, and the dark purple veins on the rock face grew increasingly dense, even beginning to wriggle slightly as if they were alive.
The air was filled with a dizzying, chaotic energy and a chilling, whispering echo that seemed to come from the abyss.
Even the elite soldiers began to feel unwell, their soul flames flickering erratically.
Rolin stopped the group and distributed a small piece of "Soothing Amulet" made from blue-purple moss essence and warm firestone powder to each person, claiming it could temporarily ward off the plague.
The amulet did have some effect; the soldiers' condition stabilized somewhat.
They then continued on their way.
The passage began to branch off, some being old mine tunnels blocked by fallen rocks, while others extended into the darkness.
Based on the feedback unit's sensing, Rowling selected the path with the most intense pollution but seemingly regular energy flow.
Finally, after passing through a narrow tunnel almost entirely covered by dark purple crystals, the space ahead opened up, revealing a huge and chilling underground space.
This is a huge natural cave with a high ceiling and countless dark red stalactites hanging down.
In the center of the cave is a boiling, churning dark purple lava lake with a diameter of over fifty meters!
The lake was not the usual crimson red, but an eerie dark purple, constantly bubbling with sulfurous and decaying odors, and visible energy turbulence twisting above the surface.
Even more shocking is that in the center of the lava lake stands a dilapidated ancient building made of some kind of black metal and dark red rock!
Most of the building is submerged in lava, with only a small part of the tower and part of the dome visible. Its style is rough and bizarre, and its surface is covered with twisted, burning runes, which are extremely similar in style to the ruins found in the Scorched Rift in the Ash Ring!
At this moment, a simple campsite has been set up on a relatively stable black reef near the shore of the lava lake!
Several dark red tents, some piled-up supplies, and even a portable protective array emitting energy fluctuations were in operation!
There were faint figures moving around in the camp.