"Are you going to investigate the origins of these machines? Come with me." Iovia stood up and led everyone to an open-air cave.
"Because these things piled on the ground are too unsightly and keep making strange noises, I asked Fidna to throw them all here." Iovia said, pointing to the cave.
Isidor stuck his head out to look, and saw that the huge cave was filled with huge humanoid machines. They were of very uniform shape and were obviously mass-produced. Some of them even emitted red light and made noise, and did not seem to have completely lost their ability to move.
"You lost it yourself, how come you don't remember it?" Isidor turned around and looked at Fidna and said.
"That's right! I forgot it completely!" Fidna said, slapping her forehead.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this - Esna, what do you think of these machines?" Isidor asked, turning around.
"I don't know much about machinery, so let Emmeline take it apart and take a look - just look at the power system." Esna said, reaching out and using telekinesis to lift the remains of a guard and put it on the ground.
"Yes." Emmeline nodded and began to dismantle the mechanical guard.
Isidor noticed that her movements were very coordinated and she no longer had the awkwardness she had when she first changed arms. Perhaps Fidna's treatment was effective.
After a while, Emmeline had dismantled the mechanical guards into pieces all over the floor. She stood among the pieces and sighed, "I really learned mechanics for more than ten years in vain. The structure of these mechanical guards is so sophisticated that it is far beyond my level and that of any craftsman I know."
"So, what is the energy that drives them to act?" Aisina asked.
"I don't know. These things don't have any devices to store energy, nor do they have cores that react to magic. They are not golems, nor are they living creatures... To be honest, I can't understand how they move." Emmeline shook her head.
"I have an idea. The parts of these mechanical guards are not seriously damaged. We can try to assemble them and see if they can move." Isidor suggested.
"Can I ask Fidna for help? It might be a bit difficult for me to do it alone," Emilyne said as she looked at Fidna for help, then quickly lowered her head as if she had done something wrong.
"Great, I've eaten too much and have no place to vent!" Fidna rolled up her sleeves excitedly, jumped down the cave and started throwing mechanical parts up.
After discarding the remains of more than a hundred mechanical guards, Emmeline finally assembled a complete one.
"I'm sorry, actually we already had all the other parts, but the chests of most of the mechanical guards were damaged, so it took a lot of time to find them," said Emmeline.
"The chest is probably their core. Even if the head is destroyed, they can still move, but if the chest is destroyed, they will be paralyzed immediately." Iovia said while massaging Fidna's shoulders.
"No, this thing doesn't have a real core. The chest area is just a hub for distributing energy. Theoretically, they can function normally even without this part. The reason why they can't move after the hub is destroyed is probably because they didn't receive further instructions." Emmeline said with a frown.
"I'm so tired and my shoulders are sore. What's the point of putting it together? I can knock it down with one hand." Fidna complained.
"Esina, look again with your silver eyes," Isidor gestured.
Esna nodded, looked up and down with her silver eyes, and then smiled as if to say "as expected".
"It's just like I guessed. The unknown energy source underground is remotely providing energy to the mechanical guards. Because the destroyed guards no longer provide energy, I didn't notice it until now." Esina smiled.
"Then how do we get down? Fidna and I have been searching for a long time but can't find a way down. The bottom is probably completely closed." Iovia said.
"There is a very thick metal plate two hundred meters underground that isolates the energy source. My memory is a little scattered now, and I can't use telekinesis recklessly. Isidor, I think I need your help with this matter." Esna turned her head and said.
"Okay, how do we do it?"
"I need to freeze the metal plate underneath, all the way to the bottom. Can you do it?" asked Esna.
"Let's give it a try. The ice ability comes from the Sihan tribe, and I haven't tried its limit." Isidor replied.
"Okay, everyone stand still, we'll go underground now." Esina said, placing her palms flat on the ground and giving a delicate shout. Suddenly, a crack two or three meters wide appeared in the ground, revealing a large area of shiny metal ground underneath.
"You call this unscrupulous use?" Iovia said in surprise.
"This is originally the power of mind magic, but because the perfect virgin is gone, it can operate at maximum power." Aisina replied.
"What? The boss's virginity is gone? What a pity, I still didn't get it in the end!" Fidna said in surprise.
"That's not what I meant..." Esna said with a blushing face.
"Idiot, isn't it enough for you to have me?!" Iovia on the side angrily took out a dagger and put it on Fidna's neck at a speed that could not be seen by the naked eye.
"Your relationship is developing very quickly." Emmeline scratched her head, not quite understanding what she said.
Chapter 150 Mysterious Core
"Okay, let's talk about these trivial matters later." Isidor waved his hand to interrupt the chat, hugged Esna in his arms and jumped down.
After landing at a distance of 200 meters, the metal ground only made a muffled sound, but there was no deformation on the surface, which showed that the thickness of this piece of metal was quite amazing.
"The thickness observed by Silver Eye is about tens of meters, and there are many layers of different materials in the middle. I need you to lower the temperature as much as possible to make the metal brittle." Esna said, hugging Isidor's neck.
"If you concentrate your abilities, you should be able to give it a try." Isidor said as he threw Esna aside, pressed his hands on the metal floor, and used all his strength to drive the cold air deep into the ground.
Even with the "moderation" skill that greatly reduced consumption, such a powerful frost spell quickly exhausted Isidor's magic power. He had to stop and use fantasy construction to make a few bottles of magic potions, drink them and continue casting spells.
This went on several times until Isidor's stomach began to swell from drinking, and the cold air finally reached the bottom of the metal plate.
"Thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to me." Esina patted Isidor's shoulder, activated her silver eyes, and used telekinesis to attack the weak points of the metal floor's structure directly from the inside.
Since her attacks can reach directly inside, and most of the metal has been weakened by the low temperature, each attack can perfectly destroy a weak point.
After launching hundreds of attacks in succession, Esina let out a cry and used her telekinesis to attack the metal surface with all her might. The already damaged and fragile parts exploded, and the entire ground collapsed.
"Oh! Success!" Fidna on top looked even happier than Esna. She jumped in, holding two companions in each hand.
"Wait! There might be danger in there! Ah, I can't stand this idiot..." Esina shook her head and had to jump in with Isidor.
After landing, the first thing Isidor saw was a huge ball of light, suspended in the center. There were many interfaces on the surrounding walls, as well as some abandoned equipment, but the entire hall was empty. It was obvious that most of the things here had been moved away.
"This is the thing that provides energy to the mechanical guard. How should I put it? It gives me a very pure feeling, as if it is not refined magic or holy light, but pure energy - everyone must not get too close, this thing is definitely very dangerous at close range." Aisina said.
"What on earth is this?" Isidor asked.
"It's probably the energy core of this island and the key to its ability to float in the air. This thing continuously emits invisible energy waves of a certain frequency, which seems to have some impact on living things. It's hard to say whether it's positive or negative at the moment. But I have reason to guess that those poisonous giant creatures on the island are related to it." Aisina said.
"Is there any way to use it?" Isidor asked.
"Its energy seems to be endless and quite pure. I'm afraid that living things cannot absorb it directly. If we want to use it... I'm afraid we have to store it in special containers." Esina pondered for a moment, and ordered Fidena to go up and get some parts of the mechanical guards. After discussing with Emily, they made a metal device that can store energy.
"This is probably feasible. We can store the energy in it by concentrating the energy waves it emits. But the volume cannot be controlled too small, so it cannot carry too much." Esina said with some distress as she looked at the storage device that was more than one person tall.
"Maybe, I have a way." Isidor thought for a moment, stretched out his hand and summoned a huge whale-shaped evil creature.
"I recently discovered that the summoned creatures of evil come from a special space. Although the evil creatures in it are automatically generated, I can also specify a certain evil creature to appear repeatedly. If we take advantage of this feature, we can use evil creatures to store things - of course, living things cannot. The storage is not unlimited because it will occupy the individual limit of the summon." Isidor said.
"Wow! This is so convenient! Let's make more. They may come in handy in the future!" Esna became interested immediately after hearing this. She asked Emily to work overtime together to make hundreds of energy storage devices. She stuffed the belly of the whale-shaped evil creature full in one breath before she stopped.
"Is it okay like this?" Emmeline asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, evil creatures are similar to the undead and are lifeless. As long as the structure is not damaged, it's okay to put some things inside." Isidor said, stretching out his hand to send the evil creature back to its original space.
"With this, our exploration of this island has come to an end. Next we have to look for the lost Cup of Babylon, but the Holy Order is still watching us in secret, so everyone needs to be extra cautious." Isidor looked around at everyone, and finally set his eyes on Iovia.
"Don't worry, as long as I'm alive, I won't let the team fall into a sneak attack - the kind that comes from the sky like the Demon Lord doesn't count," Iovia said with a smile.
"So let's talk about the next plan. How do we get the Cup of Babylon back? Do I need to use the divination magic again?" Isidor said, turning to look at Esna.
"No, that would have a huge impact on you. And the location of the Cup of Babylon is likely a trap set by the enemy for us. I think it would be better to just give up the Cup of Babylon and head directly north to the ancient capital of the elves." Esina pondered for a moment and gave her opinion.
"But, those undeciphered spells..."
"I have memorized all the spells. My only worry is that we may need to perform some kind of ceremony with the Cup of Babylon when we get there. But now that I think about it, the ceremony itself might be an evil magic left by the Demon Lord. We should first find out the truth and then decide what to do." Esna explained.
"Okay! In that case, let's go directly to the ancient capital of the elves! Now that we have the ghost bird, it won't take too long even though it's thousands of miles away!" Isidor nodded.
After everyone had made their decision, they rested on the island for a day. The next day, they took a hot air balloon down to a height suitable for the ghost bird to fly, and then changed to the ghost bird and headed north.
The ghost bird's ability to cross terrain was indeed superior. It could fly straight through mountains, rivers, and lakes. It only took more than ten days for everyone to arrive at the Death Mountain Range that separated the north and the south.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Nimega and Abe for a while. Let's take a moment and go down to see her!" When the ghost bird flew to the southern slope of the mountain range, Isidor suddenly looked at Esna with some embarrassment and said.
"Why are you looking at me? Would I be jealous of a human? I don't know how Miss Nimega's health is recovering. As a doctor, I should go for a follow-up check." Aisina said with a smile.
Chapter 151: The Crisis of Grimdor
Seeing that Esna had no objection, Isidor ordered the ghost bird to land, and the five of them walked to Grimdor Town.
The town of Grimdor is still basically the same as before, but the city defenses seem to have been strengthened a lot. There is a mercenary camp not far from the city gate, and it looks very heavily guarded.
After finally passing the inspection and entering the city, Isidor couldn't wait to go directly to the bounty mission office of the Adventurer's Association, ready to find Dora May to ask about Nymega's situation.
However, after arriving at the place, Isidor discovered that the original bounty mission office had been completely renovated and converted into a temporary camp. The originally scattered adventurers were gathered together for training, and there were also many armed civilians among them.
"Strange, why is everyone so serious? The old office is gone. Have there been such big changes during this period of time?" Isidor looked around in confusion and suddenly recognized a familiar face.
Manglan, the old blacksmith who once made the Cang Jin Sword for him, was standing next to the training team. It seemed that because of his old age, he stopped after training for a while and sat aside to rest.
"Hey! Old buddy, long time no see!" Isidor greeted him enthusiastically.
"You are...ah, it's Lord Isidor! You seem to have changed a little, but I recognized you! You are my benefactor! I didn't expect to see you again in my lifetime!" When the old blacksmith saw Isidor, he was so excited that he burst into tears.
"Old friend, I remember you were a blacksmith in Rodria Town. Why did you suddenly come here?" Isidor asked curiously.
"It's a long story... The town of Rodria has been occupied by cultists, and the people inside have been either brainwashed or killed. Fortunately, President Doramei brought support and rescued some residents and adventurers." Manglan sighed.
"President Dora Mei? Dora Mei is the president?!" Isidor said in surprise.
"Shouldn't you be surprised first why a small town was suddenly occupied..." Esna complained.
"Forget it, we'd better ask Dora May about this - do you know where she is now?" Isidor asked.
"Do you want to see President Dora Mei? I'll take you there!" Manglan said, greeted the instructor in charge of training, and then led a group of people to a warehouse in the city, where he met Dora Mei who was counting supplies.
Although she looked very busy, she immediately put aside her work and received Isidor and his party.
"It seems that you are doing well. You have even become the president." Isidor said with a smile.
After hearing what Isidor said, Dora Mei sighed and said, "Don't make fun of me. The former president was unfortunately killed in the war with the cultists, and I was forced to become the acting president. The old blacksmith is right. Now the cultists are preparing to attack Grimdor in the south and completely control the right of passage to this section of the Death Mountain Range. As you can see, I am desperately recruiting people and hiring soldiers to resist."
"Where do these cultists come from? How come they are so powerful? Why didn't I hear of them when I was here?" Isidor asked.
"No, you actually have come into contact with them. But you probably didn't know their purpose at the time." Dora Mei replied.
“I’ve been in contact with it too?”
"Yes, do you remember the female thief leader you killed?" Dora Mei asked.
"It's that white tiger... bah, it's the woman with the scimitar! Now that you mention it, there were indeed a lot of suspicious points at the time. She captured a lot of children in the camp and no one knew what she was going to do with them." Isidor immediately recalled the graceful and dangerous figure in the moonlight.
"That's right! Later we sent out more people to investigate and found out that there is a huge cult group behind them. They are keen on performing some strange rituals and claim that they want to resurrect their gods. They are willing to carry out large-scale human sacrifices for this purpose. They attacked our town for this reason." Dora Mei replied.
"Where is Miss Nimega? The sanatorium where she lives is far away from the town. She won't be in danger, right?" Isidor thought of a possibility and immediately stood up and asked loudly.
"Miss Nymega's body has recovered a long time ago. After her recovery, she is stronger than before. She made great contributions in the war against the cultists and was promoted to S-level adventurer. The reason why I, as the president, can remove the word "acting" is also due to her strong support." When Dora Mei said this, she suddenly lowered her head and bit her lips tightly.
"So? Where is she now?" Isidor asked.
"In order to relieve the pressure on the city defense, Miss Nymega led a team of adventurers to attack the cultists' grain transport convoy. I advised her not to leave the city, but she insisted that she couldn't just sit there and wait for death, so she led her people out anyway. Now it has been more than a month and there is no news... I'm afraid..." Dora Mei said here, looking up at Isidor guiltily.
"It's not your fault. I know Nimega's character well. She will never be willing to be trapped in the city like this. Tell me her attack route and I will take people to find her immediately." Isidor said.
"Yes!" Dora Mei quickly asked someone to bring a map, and drew the attack route planned by Nymega on it with a feather pen.
"Most of the cultists' grain is stored in the villages in the north. Now, because they need to concentrate their forces, they are transporting grain to the town of Rodria. Nymega's idea is to take advantage of the adventurers' familiarity with the terrain, lead people to cross the mountains on a small trail, go around to the north to attack the grain convoy, or directly burn the granary. According to her speculation, the cultists must think that the north is stable, so they will not guard against sneak attacks from this direction. According to her plan, she will be back in half a month at most, but it has been more than a month now... I am preparing to send people to search, but I am afraid that the city defense will be empty and the cultists will take the opportunity to attack." Dora Mei said with a worried look on her face.
"Fidna, can I borrow Iovia? Considering that Nymega may have been captured, she is the most suitable person to save people." Isidor turned to look at the vampire who was eating his fingers.
"Jiebei, we are brothers, and my wife is your wife." Fidna said, and generously pushed Iovia to Isidor's side.
"Who is your wife? How shameless! You haven't proposed to me yet?" Iovia glared at Fidna, who smiled shamelessly and said nothing.
"When I come back alive this time, I will report the wedding to you. Let's set off now without further ado. Fiona, Emiline, and Esna, please help guard the town." Isidor smiled, put away the scroll on the table, and left the room with Iovia.
Chapter 152: Nimica's Awakening
It was late at night, but the moon was still high in the sky. The cold moonlight illuminated the rocky Death Mountain Range, giving it an eerie vitality.
In this place where it seems that no living thing can survive, several adventurers are hurriedly traveling with several packages on their shoulders. Their goal is the temporary camp on the top of the mountain, where their companions are waiting for rescue supplies.
Food, equipment, and precious medicines. Without these things, the team would quickly lose their combat capability. In these mountains, failure to fight would mean death.
At this moment, several monsters with ferocious faces appeared on their way forward. The leading adventurer recognized them - this was a special kind of monster called a crystal monster, its body made of a hard crystal stone, and ordinary swords had little effect on them.
"It looks like we can't avoid it. Everyone, switch to blunt weapons and finish this quickly." The leading adventurer said as he tied his sword and scabbard together with a cloth strip, used it as a blunt weapon, and rushed forward first.
In front of the well-trained adventurers, the monsters were so vulnerable. It only took a few minutes for several crystal monsters to be broken into pieces and lose their mobility.
The body of the crystal monster is a high-quality ore that can usually be sold at a good price in the market, but these adventurers are obviously not interested in it. They put on an expression of fear and avoidance, and quickly bypassed the remains of the crystal monster and continued on their way.
However, the eyes of the night were already upon them.
"Help!" The last adventurer screamed, and his whole body suddenly sank into the ground. His companions hurriedly grabbed his hands and dragged him out of the mud under his feet.
"You are too careless. You are a B-rank adventurer, but you can't even recognize this dangerous terrain?" the partner who pulled him up blamed him.
"It's not a problem of the terrain. This pool of mud has a magical aura... It's an enemy attack! Was the noise we made just now when we were dealing with the monsters too loud?" The leading adventurer frowned and quickly ordered the entire team to be on alert.
