"Hey!" Huo Yan Yang couldn't sit still. His eyes widened as he roared, "It lit up, didn't it!? That thing lit up, didn't it!?"
As mentioned before, ever since Cordova got this crystal, he had already shown it off to them, constantly muttering about Epic quests, a grand mission, and how it could darken or glow. However, that thing had never shown any characteristics different from a mere piece of glass...
Huo Yan Yang, as a player, had taken it to examine it several times but had never seen even a single item description on it, so he had stopped caring about it afterward.
But now, this crystal actually lit up...
It was even excessively bright, almost to the point of blinding one's eyes!
"Woof woof! I'm blind, ah ah ah!" Ya Ya froze for a few seconds, then immediately covered her face and howled, rolling around on the ground as she cried out.
Jia Deka reacted the quickest. The Old Mage immediately picked up his staff and shouted, "Let me use a light-binding spell to..."
"Don't mess around!" Cordova, who had long witnessed the power of that unstable explosive, immediately rushed in front of him and grabbed the staff, which had already begun to smoke. "Old man, that thing in your hand is much more dangerous than this light!"
After stopping Jia Deka, who was attempting to cause unnecessary friendly fire, Cordova stared at the crystal in his hand with a stern face for a long time, then looked up at Mo Tan and said in a deep voice, "Brother, are you okay?"
"Huh?" Mo Tan, who had been confused since earlier, nodded. "I'm fine, it just feels quite warm."
"I also feel quite warm." Cordova, also bathed in this mysterious light, chuckled dryly. "Want to take a few steps?"
"Should I do two big jumps again?"
Although he wanted to respond with that, Mo Tan could tell that the seriousness on Cordova's face was not fake. This was most likely related to the crystal in his hand, which was rumored to light up immediately if the right person touched it. So, he stood up and walked a few steps towards Cordova.
Bang!!
The crystal instantly shattered into pieces amidst increasingly violent tremors, and the scattered fragments transformed into dazzling beams of light that shot straight into the sky, almost turning the ruined capital into broad daylight. From a distance, it looked as if the Dawn Pope, full and bloated, had unleashed a super, super, super, super, super-large illumination spell with all his might.
Not far away, a long, clear, and somewhat low-pitched dragon's roar immediately rang out. It seemed Feimigeer was destined for a restless night.
"It's really you?!" Cordova's eyes almost popped out. He stared blankly at Mo Tan, his speech stammering, "This is not... no no... no no no way!"
"Calm down." As a party involved in a sense, Mo Tan was surprisingly calm and immediately said in a deep voice, "The way you're talking suggests a severe case of wordiness!"
Ya Ya, still rolling on the ground, then mumbled, "Woof, cut this part, don't broadcast!"
"Anyway!" Cordova seemed not to have heard the last two sentences. He stood up with a clatter and loudly declared, "You all stay here and don't leave yet, especially Mo Tan, please don't... you know! I'm going to find Feimigeer!"
With that, he immediately rushed out of the tent in a flurry!
Leaving Mo Tan and the other three to look at each other in the tent, which was as bright as day...
"Woof!" Ya Ya, having somewhat adjusted to the light, squinted her big eyes and crawled up, sighing with lingering fear, "You scared me to death, woof..."
The girl was indeed startled; Mo Tan noticed her tail and pointed ears were bristling.
However, this was not the current priority...
"Um~" Mo Tan looked around and asked Huo Yan Yang hesitantly, "You all saw it before?"
The latter nodded without hesitation. "Everyone saw it, including the few brothers who almost got blown to pieces. I can guarantee that until just now, that thing showed no reaction at all."
"Cordova should belong to the Tian Zhu Mountain side..."
Mo Tan began to think rapidly. After all, if what just happened wasn't a coincidence, it must be related to him. But what connection did he have with the force that could forcibly summon meteorites to complete the Sun Dynasty?
"Neither Cordova nor Feimigeer have told me much about Tian Zhu Mountain, but if I think about it from a game perspective, that place is definitely the most mysterious and powerful force I've seen so far!"
The outside began to get noisy. After all, even if the Orc warriors slept soundly, they shouldn't be able to stay asleep in such a situation. The unfathomably powerful High Priest might have even been paying attention to this side the moment the light appeared~
"The previous quest that would increase 'World Collapse' if it failed was also a bit inexplicable, but with my current strength, nothing I try to do will be easy. In short, I'll just wait and see for now, but if there's a chance to befriend Tian Zhu Mountain... I wonder if they could help me gather information on 'that me'..."
A hint of worry flashed in Mo Tan's eyes.
"If 'that side' is truly active on the Innocent Continent, the consequences would be unimaginable. That existence is something that no number of Bannais combined could compare to. The tragedy of Fenrir Squad... the fewer, the better..."
Forcing himself to calm down from a certain inexplicable anger, Mo Tan let out a sigh of relief, sat down on the spot, and smiled at the other three, "Let's wait for him to come back."
"Woof woof~" Ya Ya lay sprawled on the ground, face down, her tail wagging restlessly. "Sleepy, too bright, can't sleep, woof..."
Even unlike players who are generally not fatigued when online, such a carefree NPC was rare. At least Jia Deka had completely lost all sleepiness by now.
The Old Mage, though showing signs of age, was still vigorous (no error). He frowned slightly and mused, "But that scene just now was truly unmagical. That small crystal could draw forth such surging light. Hmm, it couldn't be faith power, but I couldn't feel any trace of light element from it at all. Strange, strange..."
"Mmm~" Ya Ya, who had just been mumbling about not being able to sleep, had already entered sleep mode. She mumbled in her dream, "With your talent, what else can you feel besides explosion elements..."
Jia Deka: "..."
Mo Tan: "..."
"Holy crap!" Huo Yan Yang, however, was startled and said in a low voice, "This girl has quite a complete set of Cuteness !"
The other two responded to his comment with dry chuckles.
"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Just ask Old Ko when he gets back~" Huo Yan Yang, who was always very clear about his player stance, was quite open-minded. After all, for him, Innocent World, though a relatively realistic and interesting game, was still just a game. Could there really be something about a chosen child?
In his opinion, the crystal in Cordova's hand was nothing more than a very awesome quest item that could resonate with players possessing certain traits; there was nothing to make a fuss about.
You should know that many games now have effects countless times more dazzling than this scene. Huo Yan Yang still remembered when he played a certain virtual game back then, every time the server's richest player recharged, the system would make it look like an Immortal Emperor or Demon King was undergoing tribulation. If judged purely on visual spectacle, this scene was still far from it~
So, at least in Wan Yang's eyes, this kind of thing didn't matter...
"Hmm, alright." Jia Deka seemed to have been quite provoked by Ya Ya. He shrugged somewhat dejectedly, then suddenly looked at Mo Tan and asked curiously, "Mo Tan, are you planning to go to Dragon Soul Town?"
The latter nodded. "That's the plan. Anyway, I don't have much to do lately, so I plan to go there to pay my respects. We can't just go back to Anka Market now, can we? It's still a long way from a month..."
"Go die ten thousand times, ah ah ah ah!!!"
The face of the adventurer Guild's receptionist immediately appeared in Jia Deka's mind. He felt that if the three of them really returned to Anka Market within thirty days, they would very, very, very likely die an unnatural death!
"Ahem!" Jia Deka coughed twice, then winked at Mo Tan. "Do you want us to go with you?"
Mo Tan was slightly startled. "You guys?"
"Me and Ya Ya~" Jia Deka stroked his long beard and smiled, "Since we can't go back to the market for a while, we might as well accompany you on a journey to Dragon Soul Town. Anyway, there's nothing to do here in the ruined capital, and I don't think Ya Ya will object, right?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Ya Ya, who was sleeping behind Mo Tan (to block the light).
"Mmm~" Ya Ya rolled over, wrinkled her little nose, and mumbled, "Scram!"
Then her two ears 'slapped' against her head, folding down. It looked like she had entered silent mode...
Jia Deka: "..."
Mo Tan: "..."
Huo Yan Yang: "Oh my, so cute!"
"Buddy." Mo Tan gave him a meaningful look. "Your thoughts are very dangerous..."
Then he nodded to Jia Deka. "I have no objection, but I might still have some things to deal with here, and I don't know when I'll be able to set off. Moreover..."
He suddenly found it a bit difficult to speak. After all, unlike Cordova and Huo Yan Yang, who could be online almost all day, Mo Tan's activity time for each character was relatively limited. It was hard for him to explain to Jia Deka and Ya Ya that he might occasionally disappear for a period.
Furthermore, the situation with Marshall hadn't been settled yet, and the Tan Mo character had just found out about a relatively important source of information. At least when he was in the latter state, it was basically impossible for him to actively switch personalities just to accompany Jia Deka and the others on their journey...
Not to mention the few hours of 'blanking out' that occurred every day...
But just as he was pondering how to begin, Cordova, who had left not long ago, rushed back in a flurry!
"Mo Tan." Cordova entered and said very seriously to Mo Tan, "A symbolic question: can you immediately come back to Tian Zhu Mountain with me?"
Mo Tan spread his hands at him. "Why do you say it's a 'symbolic' question?"
"Because it sounds better that way~" The latter shrugged. "After all, if you're willing, Feimi and I won't have to forcibly take you away."
"Although I already guessed it." Mo Tan scratched his hair. "But can you first explain to me what exactly happened just now?"
Cordova chuckled dryly. "I'm not particularly clear on that, after all, you know, I'm just like you... Ahem, Feimi just made an urgent contact with Tian Zhu Mountain, and now that place is practically in an uproar. I can only say that what happened to you seems to be quite complicated, and it's somewhat related to the mission I received before. I'm confused about the rest~"
Then he quietly walked to Mo Tan's side and whispered in his ear, "If you really don't want to go, just go offline now. I might be able to trick Feimi into taking me back first, and then you can take the opportunity to leave. But I suggest it's best not to. The people of Tian Zhu Mountain are generally good, aside from being a bit superstitious, and if they put their minds to it, they can definitely find you!"
"Thanks~" Mo Tan could feel Cordova's goodwill and smiled at him, saying, "I'll go with you guys. Actually, I'm quite curious about Tian Zhu Mountain too~"
Cordova was immediately overjoyed. "Great, how about we set off now!?"
This time, Mo Tan shook his head and said in a low voice, "No, it's already very late, and I might not be able to go online very early tomorrow. It would be best if you and Feimi could wait until I go online next time to set off."
"No problem." Cordova patted his chest. "I'll go tell him about it in a bit."
"Hmm..." Mo Tan suddenly yawned tiredly and turned to Jia Deka with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I might not be able to go to Dragon Soul Town for now. Tian Zhu Mountain wants me to go there."
The Old Mage nodded understandingly. "It's okay, Ya Ya and I can go ahead. You can just come find us in Dragon Soul Town after you've finished your business."
"Mmm." Ya Ya suddenly curled up in her sleep, her fluffy silver-gray tail wrapped halfway around Mo Tan's waist, and she hummed softly, "Doodooloo..."
Huo Yan Yang, seeing that there was nothing much left to do, stood up and rubbed his eyes dramatically. "Then I'll go rest now~ I have to get up early tomorrow to set off. Remember to often send... often write letters oh~"
Cordova also said goodbye to Jia Deka and left to find Feimigeer.
"Then I'll go too." Mo Tan carefully untangled Ya Ya's tail from his waist and smiled at Jia Deka, "Are you sleeping here?"
The Old Mage swayed as he stood up, picked up his staff from beside him, and shook his head. "How could that be? Although this is my tent, Ya Ya bites people when she sleeps. Oh, right..."
"Hmm?" Mo Tan, walking out of the tent side by side with Jia Deka, turned his head back in confusion.
"We won't be setting off for now." Jia Deka chuckled and patted Mo Tan's shoulder. "I have something I want to give you before you leave, but I need to go back and rummage around. The stability of the Seven-Handed Space Pouch is really too poor~"
Mo Tan thanked him in advance, watched Jia Deka return to Ya Ya's tent (which was also a single tent, no explanation needed), and then quietly went offline when no one was around.
...
A minute later, he woke up from the game pod and soon walked into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.
"Any tragedy should not be repeated!"
Although there was still a bit of game time left today, Mo Tan no longer planned to go online.
"Truly without any beauty or fun~"
Too much had happened this night; an unprecedented fatigue kept washing over him~
"Something only I can do exists..."
Time to sleep...
"No one can escape."
"Huh?"
Mo Tan groggily opened his eyes, then fell back into a deep sleep...
Chapter 70: End
