Fang Plover threw a few torn pages into the campfire, watching the writing on the paper curl and turn yellow, and finally carbonize, turning into scattered embers. The wind in the valley whistled, and the firelight reflected in front of the tent.
The snow is covered with gold and red.
With the flickering light, he held the remaining pages in his hands and continued to read the following text.
This is a log that Tian Lan dug out from the camp. It was probably left by a certain selector in the tent. Before he could take it back, it was already dead at the hands of the constructs outside.
This sounds unfortunate, but it is convenient for them.
The first half of the diary records their departure from the advance camp, some boring content. But starting from this page, something that Fang Plover is interested in appears.
On May 13th, they recorded that they had made some discoveries in the valley:
‘On the 14th, sunny
The wind outside has calmed down a bit, and we are going to go into the crack to check the situation. The alchemists in the team have confirmed that the luminous stones they picked up from the valley the day before contain elemental crystals, and their purity is not low.
The valley is to the north of the wind outlet, and you can reach it by walking down the slope for two or three kilometers. Because we didn’t go deep last time, we have reason to suspect that there may be something more valuable in the cave.’
‘On the 15th, the weather outside is unclear
Let me introduce our team. There are three of us in the team. I, Qiao Sen and a young man nicknamed Big Head.
Qiao Sen is the mage in the team and an aboriginal. Apart from being a bit arrogant, we have a good relationship.
‘On the 17th, I still don’t know what’s going on outside.
We went deep into the crack for two days, and the space below was larger than we imagined.
Today, we encountered a big fault, and everyone unanimously decided to stop and repair it.’
‘On the 20th,
We followed the direction of the fault for several kilometers, and it was very deep below.
The bad news today is that we lost a team, a team of four. Their rope broke and they all fell into the chasm.
They may quit this adventure, but even if they are resurrected at the nearest resurrection point, it will take at least a week to return to the forward camp. I wish them good luck.’
‘Twenty-one,
We continued on for several kilometers.’
‘On the 23rd,
The previous method encountered a dilemma, and a cliff with no focus blocked us.
We had to go back the way we came and find another way. But this time it was better, we went some distance further.’
The remaining text was written three days later. They once again encountered a dead end, and the food reserves were about to run out, so they had to return without success.
Here are some complaints about the weather and other people.
They returned to the camp, and the crystal stones they had harvested earlier were sold for a good price, which greatly encouraged them. Not long after, the team set off again.
They went deep underground three times in total, and found the correct way to get down to the crack on the last time.
It was also this time that they discovered the treasure beneath the crack:
'There are crystals with dim orange light scattered all over the rock wall. They are distributed along the long dark rock belt under the entire cave. Even if Qiao Sen didn't say it, we knew that we might be in luck.
Already.'
When the diary reached this point, the excitement in his tone was palpable, and Fang Yu could fully imagine the excitement of these people.
However, the rule of Corrin-Ithurion is that all mineral deposits in the kingdom belong to the king. If they are discovered in the noble territory, then in addition to taxes, the king also enjoys 30% of the proceeds.
There is no noble fiefdom in Nognis, so the mineral deposits discovered here are the property of the royal family, and the discoverers can receive a large reward.
If the discoverer is willing to buy the ownership of the discovered mineral deposit for ten years, then in addition to taxes, the king will still enjoy 30% of the income, and the rest will belong to the owner of the mineral deposit.
But before he came, he checked the information on the community. In the past six months, there was no information on the ownership changes of all the mines in the kingdom. There was no information on the discovery of any new mines.
It is very interesting where the Art Struggle Guild and the Lizard People obtained these Earth Source Crystals.
He found the answer in the record of July 11th:
"On the 11th, it was very windy and snowy.
The group leader suppressed the news of the discovery of the mineral vein. We are just an adventure group and cannot afford the ownership of such a mineral deposit. The reward for the discoverer is only a drop in the bucket of its value.
It is obviously unrealistic to mine it yourself, but the group leader thought of a way. He had already contacted several nearby guilds. They have the manpower and channels to transport the things out.
To ensure safety, we also brought in lizard people, so that all of us can share in the output of this mine."
The following information became boring again. It was roughly the daily output information of the mining area and some accounting.
Perhaps if this log were to leak out, it would cause an uproar, but it would probably be nothing to the Chosen Ones who are fearless.
The worst possible outcome would be that the mining area would be taken back, but before that they had already made a lot of money.
It would be difficult for the Kaolin royal family to hold these lawless people accountable. At worst, they would become pirates in the air and sea, or hide in places like Saint-Hughan.
As for the guilds involved, as long as the Super Competitive Alliance doesn't cause trouble for them, everything will be fine.
Fang Yu continued to scroll down, and it was not until a month later that he found the content he was interested in.
The diary records what happened on August 3rd:
'We encountered some troubles as we continued to explore the lower mining area. Some strange structural creatures emerged from under the rock formations, and many people died.'
This is the first time these constructs appear in records.
And there are more and more traces of them later.
According to the owner of the diary, the names of these constructed creatures are "Crystal Beasts". Their biggest feature is that they are not just a piece of living crystal, but have sophisticated structures inside, as if they are man-made products.
But there is no evidence that they are man-made, and they have a strict social structure, with larger crystal beasts dominating smaller groups.
From the description in the log, the large crystallized beast should be the big crab outside. The small individual Square Plover has not been seen yet, but according to the description in the log, it should be in humanoid form.
In addition, there are larger crystallized beasts in the records, and the owner of the diary even suspected that these crystallized beasts should have a leader.
Because the crystallization beasts quickly swarmed out from the depths of the ground under its command and began to attack the entire mining area.
That day was obviously a turning point for all of this. From that day on, the mining area went from bad to worse, with the crystallized beasts starting from the bottom and encroaching upwards layer by layer until they reached the surface.
After discovering that they could not control the situation, the team that the log owner belonged to had to turn to the outside world for help.
This is what happened this week. In order to protect their own interests, the guilds that cooperated with them also sent their own teams to support.
In the distress letter they intercepted before, the man named Bulcaisuo was the leader of one of the people who came to support the guild. But their luck was obviously not good. Not long after they arrived, the crystallization beast attacked.
Got to the campground.
After Fang Yu finished reading the last word, he threw the last page into the fire and burned it to ashes.
Now before them are several questions:
First, there are indeed earth source crystals in the place Bei Ji mentioned, and there are quite a lot of them. But now there are constructed creatures called crystal beasts all over the place. Since the level of the selectors in this camp is not clear,
, they also don’t know the origin, habits and danger level of these creatures.
The big cat man once said that the formation of the earth source crystal down there may be related to the extraction of magic power from the entire area of Nognis. Therefore, although he could not figure out the origin of the crystallization beast, he had to wonder if there was darkness behind it.
The followers of All Saints are causing trouble.
Second, the only good news is that the chosen ones before them have established a reliable path under the crack, so that they will not be blind to find the way on their own.
But it is not certain whether the crystallization beasts have destroyed those roads. According to the description in the log, it is not impossible for them to have this consciousness.
Third, the log mentions that before the camp was attacked, the guild team that arrived to support sent several advance teams into the mine. Although it is not ruled out that these people have died, it is still possible that they remain
Under the mine.
As for the people who died in the camp, judging from the dates when the logs were cut off, they should have been attacked before the start of the war at the earliest. Even if they were resurrected in the advance camp, they would have arrived here within a week at the latest.
In other words, the time left for them is only three or four days at most.
Among these people, most of them have guilds, and the guilds behind them are involved in the pursuit of the Seven Seas Brigade. Although these people may not take the initiative under the current circumstances, they will certainly not let them go easily in the future.
In comparison, those people who stayed in the mine may be just a small trouble. If they were still alive under the mine at this moment, they would definitely be in dire straits. They were hoping that someone could help them. Even if they recognized the people from the Seven Seas Brigade,
I don't dare to cause trouble to them easily.
Moreover, the Seven Seas Brigade only wants some Earth Source Crystals, and it is impossible to clear out the mining area. There is no fundamental conflict of interest between the two.
After Fang Yu finished speaking, he raised his head and looked at the people around the bonfire.
After listening to his analysis, everyone behaved differently.
Naturally, the Walnuts and others in the underground had no say. Ti Wandou and Zaozi were even a little worried. Several members of the guild were killed in this place, which gave them a great sense of crisis. They always felt that this snowstorm
Danger is everywhere, and nameless monsters may be lurking behind a certain snowflake.
Those monsters will appear at any time and devour them until even their bones are left.
Walnut Underground is a little better. After all, he has seen Fang Plover and the others fighting, so he has some confidence in the Seven Seas Brigade.
Bei Ji remained silent, lowering his head and not knowing what he was thinking.
The performance of the Seven Seas Troupe was much better. Only Tianlan lowered her head, holding the steaming cup in both hands, and pecked at the warm milk in the cup, leaving a faint milk mark on her lips.
.
Looking at her look, Fang Yu didn't know that this little girl was feeling guilty. Although she was the first to join the group, she had experienced the fewest battles, so it was inevitable that she would be a little uneasy.
As for Jita, she had developed her courage in the Blood Thistle Grove. She would at most be a little worried about unknown situations, but she would never be fearful or frightened.
Parker was heartless and had already fallen asleep.
The big cat man wiped the shining sword with a piece of cloth and only replied:
"Whether those things are powerful or not will be known once you try them. If they are difficult to deal with, we will find another way."
Indeed, this is the only way to go. Without knowing the strength of the enemy, Fang Pulmon cannot boast about Haikou, saying that the people hanging here are all rookies.
If the crystallization beast was level 40 or 50, wouldn't he slap himself in the face?
"What about the people from other guilds?"
"We can't control the people here in the camp," the big cat man replied. "Three or four days are enough. We also have to rendezvous with the Seven Seas Traveler within a week, so we can't stay here for too long. As for there are still people under the mine.
If so, let’s talk about it when we meet.”
Let’s talk about it after we meet?
Titanium Pea and Zaozi looked at each other, how could it be like this? This did not sound like a reliable suggestion anyway, so the reliable image of the Lion Paladin suddenly collapsed in their hearts.
But Fang Plover agreed to this proposal. Indeed, the people under the underground mine may not be still alive. They may not be able to meet them if they are alive, and they may not be able to recognize them if they meet them.
So thinking about this now is a waste of time.
What's more, even if they do recognize them, the other party can't do anything to them.
So it is undoubtedly the best way to act according to circumstances when the time comes.
Finally, Sylvide also made a suggestion: "We'd better bring climbing tools. There are still some materials that can be used in the camp. Regardless of whether the crystallization beast may damage the roads built by predecessors, we must always be on guard.
Prevent trouble before it happens.”
Fang Yu nodded, and the discussion ended simply.
You could only see Walnut and the others in the ground, stunned for a moment.
From the perspective of the members of the Seven Seas Brigade, who are used to seeing more troubles, the troubles in this world can only be divided into two levels.
What can be solved and what cannot be solved, there is no need to worry about what can be solved, and there is no use worrying about what cannot be solved.
So the problem becomes simpler.
It's nothing more than how to deal with it. It's pointless to ask for trouble.
…
A night of silence.
They camped in the camp left by the other party throughout the night, and in the end they did not encounter any attacks.
The crystallized beasts seemed to have retreated after the attack and never appeared again.
Fang Plover felt a little regretful about this. He decided to stay here. Firstly, there was a ready-made camp to use, and secondly, he wanted to see if those crystallized beasts would invade again. This way, they could deal with it before going to the mining area.
Have an intuitive understanding of possible enemies.
He didn't think that the crystallization beasts could surround them again. He had just replaced a batch of constructs, and he still had some confidence in himself.
Of course, if all the crystallization beasts really start at level 40 or 50, there is nothing we can do. After all, this is a category beyond abilities. If you take risks, you have to take risks. Isn't this a matter of course?
Early the next morning, everyone continued on the road, heading in the direction described in the diary.
The diary helped them a lot. Although Bei Ji also knew this place, she only knew the general direction.
The log not only clearly states the specific directions, but also how to get there and the distance. In this way, they can avoid many detours.
The wind and snow gradually subsided during the day, but the mountain was still overcast and gloomy.
The clouds in the western foothills of Mount Piried were very low. After passing through the canyon in front, they actually entered an area surrounded by clouds and mist.
The suspended fog contains not only tiny water vapor ice crystals, but also snow particles, making visibility extremely low.
After crossing the wind outlet, the entire north slope is a long and narrow glacier belt.
Ancient ice flows split the rock, and the large crack where the mining area is located is also under the ice here.
The ice was full of dangerous cracks, and the journey was fraught with dangers, but there were no real dangers and no real trouble.
On the contrary, the crystallized beasts seemed to have disappeared, and they didn't encounter one for a long time.
At about four o'clock in the afternoon, everyone successfully arrived at their destination.
The crack is located in a steep rift valley. The glacier seems to have cut a hole in the black rock, forming this straight rift valley like a knife.
Everyone lay on the cliff and looked down.
On the rock wall not far away, the crack was curved like an open twisted mouth, exactly as described in the log.
But there was no trace of the Crystal Beast at the entrance of the cave, or in other words, there was almost no other sound in the valley except the howling wind.
"Is it this place?" Fang Plover turned around and asked Di Diwalnut and others.
Although it was not much different from the description in the log, he still asked other people to be on the safe side.
It will take a lot of time to go down from here, and it will be a lot of fun if you get it wrong.
The Walnuts Underground set their sights on Bei Ji.
The taciturn girl finally spoke: "My father has been to this place. He said that the crack looked like the devil's mouth, and those people made a mark on the hillside south of the rift valley."
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look around, and soon Parker shouted: "I found it!"
He pointed with his short hand, and everyone saw a small pile of stones in that direction. At first glance, it looked the same as the surrounding rocks, but if you look closely, you can still see the difference.
Fang Plover looked at the place and then sent the Clockwork Goblin to investigate below the rift valley.
Rays of silver light shuttled into the valley.
Although it was not the first time for the Walnuts and others under the ground to see him control the clockwork goblins, they watched the clockwork goblins being thrown out one by one. In the end, the bottom of the rift valley was filled with silvery flying spots, and there were twenty or thirty
There are so many ways.
They looked back at Fang Plover's rattling control gloves and the magic cursor on them that kept changing directions, and their hearts were still filled with wonder.
If there is any construct that can represent the multi-control level of a combat craftsman, then the Clockwork Fairy must be the most intuitive one.
This is why so many craftsmen like to use it to show off their skills.
Although multi-control does not necessarily represent the full strength of the Combat Craftsman, when people measure the potential of a Combat Craftsman rookie, they often subconsciously use the multi-control level shown in the rookie stage to draw conclusions.
Those excellent combat craftsmen all showed amazing potential in the apprenticeship stage. For example, Loofah's five-control clockwork fairy in a competition was called the masterpiece of the world.
And her subsequent performance did indeed live up to people's expectations.
Of course, few people know that Fang Plover himself did achieve the level of five controls during his apprenticeship.
At least the people from Walnut Underground were looking at the dozens of silver lights dancing below the rift valley. Although they knew that Fang Plover was not a low-level person, they still couldn't help but be speechless.
Darling, how much control is this?
It's not that they don't know Fang Plover's origins, after all, the deal between the Seven Seas Brigade and the Art Struggle Guild is well known in the guild.
The nickname "Dragon Alchemist" is also somewhat famous in the third division.
It's just that no video of Dolifen's battle was leaked, and many people questioned it.
As for the Elfendor battle, in the eyes of the keyboard master, with the support of the computing power of fourteen master craftsmen, who can't control a dragon knight?
Especially after what happened to Luo Lin, many people suspected that Fang Yu was also a hyped rookie.
On the contrary, he won a lot of fans after the breakup of the Super Competitive League, because after all, this proved that he really had no capital behind his operations.
Of course, many people still think that this is a new method of hype, and the Seven Seas Brigade will definitely reach a settlement with the Super Sports Alliance in the future.
Although Titanium Pea and the others said they were not yet convinced of such a ridiculous thing, the reason why they chose to cooperate with Fang Plover in the first place was probably because they were desperate.
Instead of being optimistic about the Seven Seas Brigade early in the morning.
On the contrary, Walnut Underground can barely be regarded as a passer-by fan of half of Square Plover.
Therefore, it is reasonable for a few people to be a little surprised by this.
However, they, including the walnuts in the ground, naturally didn't know that Fang Plover had a little secret that he didn't tell them.
That's this silver swarm, and they're not actually clockwork fairies.
They are much harder to control than clockwork goblins.
They didn't even know that the methods Fang Plover was using at this moment were more sophisticated than when he was on Fenris Island:
This is actually the Fairy Wall.
But it's not just a fairy wall, or it can be said to be an improved version of the fairy wall.
Fang Yu added the idea of Ming's swift tactics into it. Of course, this is not his original creation. As the inventor of swift tactics, Ms. Ming may not know this skill.
But there is at least one thing that Fang Plover can be sure of, that is, Ms. Ming's use of a single clockwork fairy and wide-angle field of view is definitely not as good as his.
He now also knows that his use of wide-angle vision is actually completely opposite to others, so naturally he will not make the same joke as at Traveler's Rest.
Therefore, there is nothing wrong with saying that this is his fairy wall.
Fang Plover closed his hand, and the clockwork fairies scattered throughout the rift valley flew up together with a buzzing sound, as if countless rays of silver light were all caught in his hand.
And disappeared one by one in the light of information crystal.
He is also very proficient in the reverse use of this multi-winged hand.
The big cat man smiled and shook his head, thinking about the nature of young people.
Jita was a little surprised and said: "Brother Ed, your computing power has improved again?"
Fang Yu lifted up his goggles and shook his head. His computing power had improved somewhat since he studied the Star Array, but what was more important was his proficiency in operating techniques.
At least this month, he has gained a lot.
However, everyone in the Seven Seas Brigade could still understand, while Walnut and the others in the underground could only marvel.
Bei Ji couldn't even marvel. He just thought that the previous scene might be a bit powerful, so he asked the underground walnut beside him:
"Is he a powerful alchemist?"
"It's a battle craftsman," Walnut Underground himself didn't know how to describe it: "It should be a very powerful one..."
Bei Ji couldn't help but glance at Fang Plover in surprise. In her mind, she thought her brother was the top alchemist in the world.
Unexpectedly, Walnut Underground would have such a high opinion of the person in front of him. Why would he become a pirate if he obviously had such a high standard?
She has always been very cold towards pirates.
Fang Yu still didn't understand why the girl in front of him was so repulsive to everyone on the Seven Seas Traveler.
He was concerned about other things, such as the existence of the Fairy Wall which greatly shortened the investigation time.
Facts have proven that his improvements to the Fairy Wall are effective.
He almost wanted to send Ms. Ming a message to praise himself, but it seemed like he hadn't contacted her for a long time.
On the other hand, that weird woman from Elite sends me messages every three days, which doesn't bother her at all.
He blocked the other party once, but to his surprise, the other party worked tirelessly to find a small account to send him a message, asking him if he wanted to join elite. It was really annoying.
He led a group of people down to the bottom of the rift valley and came to the crack.
Seen from the top of the cliff, this crack is not very big, but only when you really walk in front of it can you realize how wide and wide this crack is.
Climbing up from among the rocks and standing under the crack, Fang Plover looked up and found that he could not see the top of the crack.
It is nearly ten meters wide from side to side and can accommodate several carriages running parallel to it. It is better to say it is a crack than the entrance to a long and narrow cave.
And in this place, he finally saw the corpses of those crystallized beasts again.
A giant crab like the one seen in the camp was lying motionless on the ground. Next to its body, there were some other fragmented bodies.
However, it is not the chosen one. As we all know, intelligent creatures such as humans can be resurrected by consuming starlight after death. Unless the starlight is exhausted, corpses will rarely be left behind.
The corpses that Fang Plover saw turned out to be fallen tree trunks with gray-white bark, vivid facial features, and painfully closed eyes.
The fat little Zaozi behind him let out a light sigh and couldn't help but ask: "Aren't these Gray Tree Men?"
"They are indeed gray tree men," the big cat man replied.
"It seems we made a mistake." He looked at the corpses and said again.
"What's going on?" Parker asked.
"The gray tree people migrating in the valley below probably did not come from the lower swamps, but from here. The cause of their migration is not floods, but crystal beasts."
"But the question is," Tang Xin held a healing staff and frowned at the scene, "How come they live here?"
Fang Yu also frowned. He took two steps forward and tried to turn over the corpses of the gray tree men.
But just as his hand touched the other party's gray bark, a voice suddenly came from his inner world:
"Young man, I need your help."
It was an old voice, and it was said twice in a row.