CHAPTER 483: 042 TAKING OVER VIRTUAL CITY

Bo Wen was dead!

After Carl had agreed to take care of the Void City for some time, it seemed as if he had resolved a concern, the breath of life fading from him.

Perhaps the only reason he had held on for so long was to wait for someone to whom he could hand over his duties.

「Soon after.」

Wails and cries shook the Void City to its core.

"The tutor was promoted to Divine Envoy at the age of forty, and for over a hundred years, he toiled for this Void City."

Makin collapsed to the ground, his eyes void of spirit, "Over a hundred years..."

"Our Void City has seen the birth of a few Divine Envoys apart from the tutor, but without exception, they all left."

"Only the tutor, who could have had a better life elsewhere, continued to care for the citizens of the Void City."

Generations of Void City citizens grew up under the care and guidance of Bo Wen.

Each child had received his baptism.

Every nook and cranny of the Void City bore his footsteps; each building had once been caressed by him.

HUFF...

Sandstorms swept over the Void City.

With his hands clasped behind him, Carl let the Gale caress his face, his Wizard Robe fluttering, looking at the weeping crowd.

His face was devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

The intense Perception of a One-Circle Late Stage Wizard allowed him to clearly sense the complex emotions of everyone present.

Confusion, dullness, panic...

And a slight sadness.

Even though Bo Wen devoted himself to helping others, the recognition he received in the end was not guaranteed.

When Cloud Divine Envoy departed, no one except Makin stayed behind.

With Bo Wen’s death, the first concern of these people is how they will get by in the days to come, which is not entirely unreasonable.

Carl shook his head lightly.

"Compile a list of the remaining citizens in the city for me, along with the locations of the nearby Void Cities and the specific targets of the Divine Gifts."

In the core of the Void City, there was a unique building that housed the ’remains’ of the past Divine Envoys.

It also contained records from much older eras.

SNAP!

Carl snapped his fingers. Light Spell!

A soft halo illuminated the surroundings, and the inscriptions and patterns carved on the walls were clearly revealed.

They recorded the ancestors’ conjectures about the Crash Divine Domain, and the experiences gleaned over hundreds of years.

Carl stroked his chin, pensive.

His understanding of this world far surpassed that of the Void City’s Divine Envoys, so his perspective was much more comprehensive.

The timelines of Otherworlds gradually became clear before his eyes.

In Ancient Times, the Otherworlds were ruled by the Dragon Clan and giants. Afterwards, the Divine descended, exterminating the giants and enslaving the Dragon Descendants. This process persisted for a long time but eventually culminated in the triumph of the Divine and the great rise of the Human Clan.

During the subsequent Age of No Lords, the control over the Gods of the Otherworlds changed hands multiple times, and the Human Clan also experienced its ups and downs...

The Age of Wars, the Age of Steam, the Age of Savagery...

Under the control of the Divine, the Human Clan was always the source of faith for the Divine. Even though there were occasional rebellions, they never succeeded.

The Divine constructed their own Divine Domains in the Star Realm, which connected into a vast expanse, their power and influence reaching their peak.

Until...

The convergence of the Heavenly Sphere!

What Carl understood as ’the convergence of the Heavenly Sphere’ was presumably when several worlds collided and interlaced.

「At that time.」

External Evil Gods invaded en masse, attempting to claim this ’rich’ world for themselves.

「At this critical moment.」

The Divine of this world fell into civil strife. The Moon Goddess assassinated the Master of the Gods, seizing the position of Main God for herself.

Yet before she could secure her position, she was subject to a sneak attack by the Death God, and though she did not perish, she was gravely wounded.

There were certainly schemes and conspiracies, manipulations by the Evil Gods... In short, the Moon Goddess opened her Divine Domain, sacrificed the Gods in a blood ritual, and used the shattered crimson moon to fend off the invasion of the Evil Gods.

The Gods fell!

The Divine Domains collapsed!

And the world gradually spiraled towards its doom.

Based on my conjecture, when the Gods fell, their bodies disintegrated and scattered across the land, forming various veins of ore.

Which are now the Void Cities!

According to these records, when the Divine Domains had just begun to collapse, the Void Cities were like stars sprinkled across the world, interconnected with each other, and there was a time of prosperity. However, as fiends proliferated, one Void City after another was destroyed by these creatures, making the roads between the Void Cities impassable. In time, not even Divine Envoys dared linger outside the Void Cities for long.

The number of Void Cities dwindled, and the lives of mortals became increasingly difficult.

Carl paced.

In the Wizard’s Book, the Divine are comprised of Divinity, Divine Office, Divine Power, Divine Fire, and Divine Rank.

Divine Office and Divinity are two sides of the same coin, Divine Power and Divine Rank are similar, and Divine Fire is the foundation of Becoming a God.

As the Gods fell, their bodies transformed into veins of ore creating the Void Cities; Divine Power was distilled into Divine Gifts, and Divine Fire sheltered each locale...

He stroked his chin.

Due to the Moon Goddess, this world could not sustain beings above the Second Order, including the remnants left by the Divine.

Hmm... Thus, from the current perspective, this world has little value left to me, only potential danger. Except for the Divine Marrow!

「 」

"Carl, Divine Envoy."

Makin presented a stone tablet covered in writing, explaining, "Currently, the Void City has 563 residents: 72 infants and young children under the age of seven, and 103 people aged thirty or above."

"Among them, in the next ten years, there are a total of five with the potential to break through to the rank of Great Knight and become Divine Envoys."

"There are two water reservoirs, one meat worm, two ant colonies, seven people skilled in crafting Divine Stone Seals, nineteen weavers, and twenty-five miners..."

Clothing, food, shelter, transportation. For the citizens of the Void City, only ’food’ is of utmost importance; the rest are dispensable.

In the Crash Divine Domain, food is extremely scarce. Under such dire circumstances, the Human Clan has a strong capacity to withstand hunger.

They can endure three days and nights without food or water. But food is always indispensable, as is water.

Carl curiously inquired, "How did the reservoir come about?"

He had seen the reservoirs of the Void City, similar to a well device, whose water would automatically refill itself.

It was as if witchcraft had been employed.

"Oh!" Makin explained, "There is a Void City that has grasped the ability to manipulate water from a Divine Gift. They can use the Divine Stone to construct reservoirs, but there are usage limits. When those limits are reached, they must find them and pay a renewal fee to maintain use."

"That Void City sustains itself with this craft."

"Originally we had three reservoirs, but one of them expired without renewal, so it was shut down. However, the remaining two are still operational, but if another one breaks down, we’ll be in trouble."

Carl’s lips twitched slightly. Is there also this talk of renewal here? I wonder if there are any member upfront discounts?

"Where do the clothes come from?"

The Crash Divine Domain doesn’t have cotton, hemp vines, or other plants. Nor is there a hint of greenery within thousands of miles.

"When mining the Divine Stone veins, stone threads are produced, which can be made into clothing with a degree of defensive capability."

Makin looked at Carl somewhat strangely, pausing his gaze on the Wizard Robe Carl wore. "Didn’t the Void City you previously belonged to as a Divine Envoy make garments like this? Your clothes look very nice."

"It’s different there from here," Carl shook his head without explaining. "What’s the current food situation in the city?"

SIGH!

Makin sighed, "The mother insect is still fine, but the ant colonies you gifted us, Divine Envoy Carl, are producing fewer ants, and the ant queen has symptoms of mutation. I’m afraid it won’t be long before we can’t eat them anymore."

Carl raised an eyebrow.

"Let’s go!"

"And have a look."

He had specifically chosen ant colonies that bred quickly and contained high amounts of protein. It couldn’t be possible that they were about to go extinct so quickly?

One must know, this was a breed improved through Bloodline Magic, which could easily become a plague in a mere mortal’s world.

"Divine Envoy Carl."

John stood beside the ant nest, bowing respectfully. He was currently learning the techniques of Cultivation from the records on the slate.

The few who had mastered Cultivation techniques, including the apprentice Lulu, had all gone to the Mu Jiu Void City with the Cloud Divine Envoy.

"Hmm."

Carl nodded nonchalantly as he squatted down to inspect the ant nest. Immediately, his brow furrowed in concern.

Mutation?

Could mutations occur in the Void City too, even with the influence of the Divine Stone veins and Divine Fire?

"Rarely," Makin interjected. "Only newborns and people who have suffered severe mental shocks have a chance of mutating."

Hmm?

Carl raised an eyebrow.

He suddenly realized that the Crash Divine Domain was different from the Magic Forest. This place was filled with an aura that depleted one’s sanity.

Once sanity dropped to a certain level, mutation would occur.

The locals had resistance to this. Besides, being in a Void City protected by Divine Fire usually kept them safe.

The ant nest from the Magic Forest was different.

The ant queen was not adapted to the Illusion Realm here, so it was normal for it to mutate.

"Leave it to me."

Shaking his head, Carl reached out and collected the ant nest. "I’ll give you something else to use for now. Wait until I... fix it, then use it again for food Cultivation."

"Yes," Makin hesitated slightly. "The city’s food shortage has worsened recently, and with the Fallen Angel lurking outside, we’re unable to go out hunting..."

"Don’t worry." Carl took out some dried meat from his storage Witch Artifact. "You can use these for now."

A mere few hundred people, he could sustain them. Besides, these people had low demands for food quality; they would eat anything that wasn’t human flesh.

However... providing food for an extended period clearly would still require Cultivation techniques.

Since it’s hard to resist the mutations here, weakening lifespans while accelerating the breeding of offspring should do the trick.

「The mine.」

The entrance to the mining tunnel, three men high, led straight to the pitch-black depths below.

A chill, cold breeze flowed from within the tunnel, making even someone of Carl’s Constitution feel uncomfortable.

"The atmosphere inside the mine is very harmful to the human body, and not even a Divine Envoy can stay in there for an extended period," Makin explained.

"But some are immune to the mine’s atmosphere. They are natural miners, and the Void City’s mining relies on them."

"We pummel the Divine Stone into powder and fragments to draw runes or craft various items, carrying them when we go out."

Carl did not continue down. The aura deep in the vein had already triggered an alarm in his body.

After all, the mine wasn’t going anywhere; there was no rush to explore it then and there.

"What’s the likelihood of extracting Divine Marrow?"

"Very small."

Makin shook his head. "At the beginning of the veins, it was possible to frequently extract Divine Marrow to power the Divine Fire. Now, it’s been nearly a year, and we’ve only found two pieces of Divine Marrow."

Two pieces?

All of them were in his possession.

HUFF...

Carl straightened his back and spoke slowly, "So, the city could be running out of water at any moment, food shortages have already emerged, and there are problems with mining as well."

"To make matters worse, there’s a despair-level Fallen Angel outside, and if it doesn’t leave you don’t even dare to exit the city."

Makin’s expression was dry. "Yes."

"However, despair-level evil creatures won’t stay in one place for too long. It should leave after a while."

"Should?" Carl shook his head. "What if it doesn’t leave?"

"Forget it!"

"Problems need to be addressed one by one. Take me to the well to have a look first."

"Yes."

Makin nodded in agreement.