novelnext Chapter 4197 Looking for the truth
Chapter 4197 Looking for the truth
Chapter 4197 Looking for the truth
After all, it was Angell who sent Kermai to be stationed here to wait for the "living dead".
The reason Kemai took the risk to make the contact was ultimately because he was afraid of missing this rare opportunity. No one knows when the next opportunity to meet the three prerequisites of "favorable timing, location, and people" will come, and Kemai was also afraid of failing his duty of guarding the post.
Therefore, even though Kermaine did some things on his own initiative, Ingres still saw his inner urgency and sense of responsibility.
Therefore, as long as it is within his power, Angell will definitely try to ensure Kemai's safety.
Meanwhile, after receiving Angell's "promise," the survey team also put their worries aside and prepared to leave temporarily.
However, at this moment, Darkman stepped forward: "Lord Angor, may I stay?"
Angell looked over: "What, you still want to challenge the Misty Swamp Forest?"
Darkman's lips trembled slightly, and he said softly, "I want to wait for Kerma to come out here... Kerma and I were on guard duty here together back then, and Wes knew that. But now I've only returned, and Kerma isn't here..."
Even though he could explain it to Weiss, Darkman still felt ashamed.
He was the captain of the exploration team, yet he sent his team members to take risks... He had forced them to stop earlier because he was worried that no one would know the situation here, so he retreated.
But now, he really doesn't want to go back like this.
He could neither face Wes nor face his own heart.
But Darkman didn't know how to express these thoughts about "inner unfreedom" to Angell. He could only keep mentioning "Wes" and saying that he wanted to wait for Cem to come out so that he could go back with Cem to see Wes.
However, although Darkman did not express his inner thoughts, Angell, through his extrasensory perception and by using emotional codes, was still able to guess Darkman's thoughts.
He gave Dakman a deep look and said slowly, "If you feel guilty, go to the players' camp and call Gray Porcelain over for me."
As an official member of Rabbit Town, Darkman naturally knew about "Gray Porcelain" and was aware of her abilities.
His eyes held expectation: "Is Mr. Gray Porcelain here for a ranking assessment?"
Angell nodded noncommittally.
Darkman's eyes darted around, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Then, after Mr. Gray Porcelain assigns a rating to this instance, can I enter it?"
“So you still want to get in.” Angell glanced at him indifferently.
Darkman lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously gripping the hem of his shirt, clearly feeling somewhat uneasy.
Angel thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "If the danger level is determined to be low after Gray Porcelain is assigned a level, I will remove the illusion in this area; if the danger level is too high, then... we'll see when the time comes."
Darkman looked up abruptly, his eyes lighting up instantly.
Although Angell did not give a direct answer, the meaning in his words was already quite clear.
As long as the danger level is not high, the dungeon entrance will be open.
Whether he advances or retreats at that time, Angell will no longer stop him.
Darkman nodded emphatically: "I understand, I... I'll go find Mr. Gray Porcelain right now."
Darkman arrived with overwhelming force, and now he leaves in a whirlwind of excitement.
In the blink of an eye, only Angell remained in this fog-shrouded area.
Once no one disturbed him, Angell re-entered the illusionary mist and arrived at the crooked, withered tree.
Angor took only one step forward, and a large amount of information from the fairy realm began to cover him. The invisible power of the fairy realm seemed to want to drag Angor into the dark hole in the center of the tree trunk.
If it were anyone else, they would have already been pulled into the instance.
But as the one with the authority, Angell only moved slightly, and the feeling of being restrained disappeared.
The drag-and-drop functionality is disabled, leaving only the corresponding instance's Wonderland information, which slowly appears in the text bar.
The special dreamscape "The Living Dead of the Misty Swamp" has been unlocked.
Current number of participants: 1 (maximum 5)
"Mission objective: Find the truth."
The main quest has now been started.
Current exploration progress: 0%
This is the most basic copy information, which everyone who comes into contact with this dead tree can see.
More detailed information, such as "main storyline information" and "background information," will likely only be revealed after entering the instance.
However, Angor is not a regular challenger. For him, there is no need to enter the instance. He can get relevant information by simply opening the miniature garden perspective and contacting Kemai.
Thinking of this, Angell slowly closed his eyes and entered a state of God's perspective.
From God's perspective, focus on the withered tree in front of you.
With a sense of rapid movement, his perspective shifted, entering a miniature garden view, like a god looking down upon a cage.
The entire appearance of the instance was fully presented to Angor's eyes.
—A vast swamp forest shrouded in thick fog.
Angel could even see some ferocious beasts appearing and disappearing in the swamp forest, and even some scattered man-made structures.
However, judging from the appearance alone, it is not yet possible to discern the nature of this instance; we still need to find the person who has been tainted by the "Fairyland Information".
Soon, from his vantage point, Angell spotted his target: Kemai.
Kemai was currently on the edge of the swamp forest, carefully concealing himself, occasionally hiding behind gnarled trees, seemingly tracking something.
Angell looked closely and saw a dozen or so people riding on several giant "earthworms" a few dozen meters ahead of him, clearing the way.
These "earthworms" also carried a large amount of supplies, many of which were unopened daily necessities.
At first glance, it looks like a caravan in a swamp forest?
Judging from Kemai's actions, he must have discovered human activity shortly after entering the instance and then followed them. Now, using the "earthworm" tracks, he's keeping a distance behind the caravan, presumably observing their situation.
Angor temporarily shifted his gaze from the "earthworm" caravan to Kerma.
As the only player currently in the Misty Forest instance, Kemai is surrounded by a large amount of visible and invisible fairyland information. With Angor's permissions, he can partially interpret it, but it is relatively time-consuming and laborious, and it is also easy to not be able to interpret it completely.
Therefore, he didn't waste his energy, but instead directly... transmitted his voice.
“Kemai”.
Kemai was cautiously hiding behind the giant tree when he suddenly heard a sound beside him. He was so startled that he almost instinctively rushed out.
Fortunately, Angel said in time, "It's me, Angel."
When Kemai heard that the other party was Angel, his eyes lit up with joy. But soon, a hint of doubt arose in his eyes.
The forest was shrouded in mist, and there might be some kind of auditory hallucination within the mist that could affect one's mind.
Then a voice came from beside him again: "You should have heard that Dream Mirror has a way to communicate across instances. I am right now by the withered tree outside the instance, and I am contacting you."
Upon hearing words like "dreamscape," "dungeon," and "dead tree," Kemai finally felt relieved. Auditory hallucinations couldn't possibly have such logical coherence, nor could they be caused by monsters within a dungeon, since monsters in dungeons wouldn't know proper nouns like "dreamscape" or "dungeon."
Of course, if a monster could read minds and glean information from his thoughts, then it might be possible for him to fabricate such a story.
But if he really encountered such a mind-reading monster, Kerma would have no choice but to accept it.
He couldn't possibly win against someone who could read minds.
Angell: "You can speak, I can hear you."
Suppressing his excitement, Kemai cautiously asked, "Is it really Lord Angel?"
Angel: "Dakman brought back information about your contact with the 'Undead in the Mist' to Rabbit Town, and I also happened to get this information, so I came to check it out."
After finishing his sentence, Angel also recounted his encounter with Dakman outside and the content of his conversation with Dakman.
Hearing that Darkman had returned to the dead tree with his exploration team and even wanted to enter the instance, Kemai felt a warmth in his heart, but still said, "Lord Angor, please be sure to stop Captain Darkman from coming in."
"What? You think Darkman will hold you back?"
Kemai quickly shook his head, his voice slightly hoarse: "No! Captain Darkman is more composed than me, and stronger than me... I just... I just feel sorry for him. He didn't have to get involved in this mess. I took it upon myself to do it. If he gets dragged into this because of me, I'll never have peace of mind for the rest of my life."
At this point, his Adam's apple bobbed, he lowered his head even further, and his voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum: "And... I feel even more sorry for you."
“I did not follow your instructions. I promised to report first and wait for further arrangements, but I rushed in because I was in a hurry... I was too reckless and let you down.”
Angell scoffed, "You should apologize to Wes rather than me."
Despite being the most opposed to taking risks, he ended up being the first to venture in.
“I’m sorry to Wes too.” Ke Mai pursed his lips and lowered his head.
Angel: "Alright, apologize to Wes after you come out. As for me, there's no need to apologize. Your choice was ultimately to complete the guard duty I assigned you. I'm the one who should be thanking you."
His tone shifted, becoming more serious: "But honestly, the unknown risks in the new player instance are too great. You're not a professional raider, you really shouldn't have rushed in like this."
"It's good that I was able to contact you, which means that this instance should not have a mandatory 'instant death' rule, otherwise it would be too late to say all this."
While Kemai felt ashamed, Angor changed the subject: "Let's get back to the main topic and talk about the quest information for this dungeon, as well as your current situation... I'll see if there's any way I can help you."
Ke Mai was overjoyed and, without hesitation, immediately said, "This instance is called 'The Living Dead of the Misty Swamp,' and it's said to involve some great thief..."
With Kemai's explanation, Angor gained a preliminary understanding of the background and main storyline of this instance.
"Special Dream 'The Living Dead in the Misty Swamp' Main Quest - Find the Truth."
"Main plot summary: In recent days, fog has been lingering in the swamp forests along the southern branch road from Dawn City to Evening Light Harbor. Not only are there rumors of "evil spirits appearing", but there are also suspected traces of the Forty Thieves."
Main Quest: Venture deep into the swamp and uncover the truth about the "evil spirits".
"Note: The current main quest has no time limit, but because it involves the 'Dreamers,' you need to seize the window of opportunity to find out the truth yourself."
Note: Due to the involvement of "dreamers", the task content and objectives may change at any time.
The above is the mission information received by Kemai.
Just like the information Angor had found in the Sea of Power, this instance does indeed involve "Dreamers".
Perhaps that's why this instance is so difficult to access.
After all, dreamers are alive in reality; they need to enter a state of slumber to be captured by the powers of the fairy realm.
The appearance of the mist forest also requires the prerequisite of "heavy fog".
The three prerequisites—a dense fog, the dreamer being asleep, and the ability of the celestial realm to capture the dreamer—must be combined to explain why the "spirit in the fog" has not appeared for so long.
This appearance occurred during a very short window of opportunity. If Kemai hadn't rushed forward to make contact with the other party regardless of the consequences, it would have been a long time before this instance could appear.
It's even possible that it will never happen.
As mentioned in the precautions: "Because it involves the 'dreamer,' the task content and objectives may change at any time."
If the person who had the dream in real life were to suffer some personal accident, such as death... this scenario would probably never happen again.
So when Angell said he should thank Kermaine, he wasn't just joking.
Without Kermaine, this dungeon might have truly never been born.
Back to the topic.
Judging from the main quest of this instance alone, there doesn't seem to be anything special about it.
Searching for the truth behind the "evil spirit"? It sounds a bit like a puzzle game.
However, the main storyline also mentions the Forty Thieves, which are related to bandits and should involve combat.
Overall, however, I personally think that a dungeon with a maximum of five participants shouldn't be too dangerous.
It might be a short-to-medium thread dungeon with a heavy emphasis on puzzle-solving and a light focus on combat.
However, there was one thing that caught Angell's attention.
The background of this instance seems to involve a very familiar place name—Dawn City.
If he's not mistaken, Dawn City should be located in the Great Sman Empire of the Western Continent. The Uriel instance that Luigi is currently conquering is located in Dawn City.
"Another instance related to Dawn City?" Angor muttered to himself, "That's quite a coincidence."
However, Angell did not think too much about it.
After all, although the background of this instance mentions "Dawn City", it actually has little to do with Dawn City. Instead, it is about what happens in the swampy forest on the way from Dawn City to Evening Light Harbor.
"How are you doing now?" After learning about the main quest, Angor asked about Kerma's situation.
"I'm fine now. I'm in a dense forest after entering the instance."
"As far as I can see, this dense forest is rich in resources, and there are also plenty of water-rich land. If I didn't have to worry about the mission, I could live here for several years without any problem."
Carmichael wasn't exaggerating; he was once a seasoned scout, and his survival skills were ingrained in his very being. Before entering Charles's Palace, he had spent many years in the material world living a life of hardship, sleeping in the open and making the mountains and forests his home.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he could even consider the dense forest his home.