Chapter 1356 The Camp Deep in the Mountains

Ten minutes after entering the Dark Mountain Range, the surrounding sky became obviously dim. The clouds above seemed to cover the entire sky, and the light coming from them was obscure and dim. The range of changes during this period was obviously beyond normal natural phenomena. Obviously, the clouds covering the mountains The "Lolisa Wall" is already taking effect. It not only prevents the energy inside the mountains from leaking out, but also prevents things from the outside world from entering the mountains.

"In fact, not only the creatures in the Dark Mountains will be trapped by the Wall of Lorissa, but even the adventurers coming in from the outside will be disturbed by the energy field in the mountains," Betsy said while leading the way, "The powerful ones The impact on adventurers and mercenaries is relatively small, but the weaker ones will have various negative effects such as loss of direction, memory loss, and difficulty casting spells. The weaker ones will even be eroded by the energy and directly injured. The deeper you go deeper into the mountains. The farther you go, the greater the threat of uncontrolled energy, so the hunters and herb gatherers in the area usually only operate at the foot of the mountain. Only specialized professionals will challenge the mountain forest. As for the highest main peak... No one has been up there yet. .”

Hao Ren asked casually: "But in general, the 'Wall of Lolisa' seems to be more powerful against the creatures in the Dark Mountains?"

"Well, its original function should be to protect the inside but not the outside," Betsy nodded. "Some scholars speculate that this energy barrier was originally used by the ancient Magic Empire to seal off the testing site to prevent things in the testing site from escaping - It’s just that now that the years have passed and the energy barrier has gone out of control, it will also cause harm to visitors from the outside.”

The forest wind blows, and the lush shadow fir branches and leaves sway. Only a faint light leaks through the gaps in the canopy, and the shadows are like stars. Between the trees and weeds and shrubs, there is a steep hillside all the way up. There are all kinds of abrupt rocks, making the trek difficult. There are almost no things that can be called "roads" in the Dark Mountains. Hunters at the foot of the mountains only rely on some natural trails to enter the mountains, and these trails do not extend deep into the woods. On weekdays, adventurers mostly rely on personal experience. and bold and careful exploration to find their own way into the mountains. The road Betsy chose for Hao Ren was already the best one - the knights sent by the kingdom had more or less repaired and marked the hillsides along the way, making it much easier to walk than the pure mountain road.

Lily had transformed into a werewolf, her eyes widened along the way and she leaned down to sniff carefully from time to time. Her golden eyes shimmered in the dim environment, full of seriousness. She is usually carefree and unreliable, but in the wild environment, she is as alert as if a MOD has been added, like a wild beast, which can only show its strength when entering the mountains, forests and wilderness.

"There are a lot of scents left by wild beasts," Lily sniffed. "The deeper you go, the stronger the strength becomes, and there are mostly magic beasts - it is truly a testing ground left over from the ancient magic empire. Most of the indigenous creatures here have already I don’t even recognize my mutated mother anymore.”

"The deeper you go, the more dangerous it becomes. There are even hidden dragons making their home in the Dark Mountains." Betsy tightened the magic sword in her hand, but the expression on her face was eager to try. "Ha, without those knight guards, I found it. It’s a bit more exciting than when I was a mercenary~"

Although Hao Ren and his party's trip to the Dark Mountains was arranged by Ofra, they did not bring with them the escort knights sent by the Horleta royal family, because Hao Ren felt that he did not need those entourages at all, and there were too many people with him. Otherwise it will slow down the trip, so it is better to bring Betsy who is familiar with the situation as a guide. This is more efficient and there is no restriction in getting along. Of course, Betsy had no objection to this arrangement. Her only regret was that Marshal Ofra could not accompany her: as the highest-ranking general in the kingdom, the female marshal was really busy with everything. Something happened to one or two ruins in the Dark Mountains. Not enough for her to personally intervene.

After all, such incidents usually happen once or twice every ten years.

The journey was almost peaceful: the dangerous monsters in the dark mountains might be a threat to the local natives, but they were obviously not enough for Hao Ren and the two big killers around him. They didn't encounter any attacks from monsters along the way into the mountains - it wasn't that they didn't pass through those monsters' territories, but that any monsters with a bit of observation were scared off by the auras emanating from Lily and Vivian.

The most basic ability to survive in a place like the Dark Mountains is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

There was a sound among the trees in the distance, and Hao Ren vaguely saw a huge black shadow shaking among the trees. Lily immediately raised her head and showed her fangs, and let out a low "Woo" in the direction of the noise. roared, and the sound disappeared instantly.

The husky girl curled her lips in disdain: "Hey, they look quite scary, but they are all cowards."

"This is just the outer area. The power level of Warcraft is limited. Once you get to the depths, there will be guys who are not afraid of you," Betsy shrugged. "When the time comes, you can naturally fight them."

Lily's eyes suddenly rolled, and she quietly hid behind Hao Ren: "Oh... Tsk, how can I have that free time..."

Vivian was quite contemptuous of the Husky girl’s performance: “With the wind and the waves, you can go against the wind, and there are a lot of skill points piled up from heaven and earth, all of which allow you to drink salt soda and eat spicy strips without spitting out the packaging bag. "

"Bat, you have the ability to catch my dog ​​cannon with your face!"

In just a few days, she had been tricked into accepting this setting...

The four of them walked through the outer areas of the Dark Mountains as easily as if they were walking in their own back garden. Hao Ren collected a large amount of data along the way. After confirming that there was nothing more worth paying attention to, they accelerated their speed, and finally when the sky turned more and more. An had previously arrived at the observation camp established by the Horleta Royal Investigation Team—it was located in an open space deep in the dense forest halfway up the main peak.

Around the camp, Hao Ren had already noticed the sporadic ancient ruins - thick moss covered the broken slate fragments, and where the vines and weeds intertwined, you could see metal fragments that were almost integrated with the soil. Among some shadowy trees, he even saw crumbling stone pillars and collapsed altar-like objects. All these signs indicated that they were approaching an ancient ruins.

Relics left by the ancient magic empire.

The observation camp is not large. It occupies an open space in the forest with a diameter of less than a hundred meters. The camp is surrounded by several wooden slatted houses that have obviously just been built. They should be the residence of soldiers and ordinary handyman assistants. Further inside, there are three This is a house that looks more refined and solid, and the emblem of the Royal Knights of Horleta hangs on the outer wall of the house. That should be where the formal knights and magician apprentices live. The core building of the camp is a surprisingly small magic tower. This tower is suspended in the air and is only three stories high. The bottom is four or five meters above the ground. Although the entire tower is small, it has a complete structure and is made of masonry. It is built, and the surface of the tower is illuminated with complex magical patterns - this is obviously not the kind of crude building built in a temporary camp.

"That's the mini magic tower owned by Master Heimo, the top leader of the investigation team. He summoned it directly from the headquarters of the Royal City Magician Association," Betsy said with envy. As a magic swordsman, she also has the ability to cast spells. and a certain amount of magic knowledge, but compared with a real great magician, it is obviously not enough. "For a magician, the magic tower brings not only an improvement in strength, but also the laboratories and various auxiliary facilities inside." All facilities can help explore this ruins. In addition, his personal assistant also works in that tower, and the houses around the tower are the knights’ residences..."

Hao Ren nodded and roughly understood the situation of the investigation team. At the same time, the sentries observing the camp had already noticed this group of uninvited guests who suddenly emerged from the forest. They were first surprised that someone could be so careless. They walked deep into the dark mountains without any sound of fighting or triggering the alert around the camp. Then they recognized Betsy's face.

"It's Captain Betsy!" a soldier shouted from the guard tower.

"Open the gate and inform Archmage Heimer!" Betsy came to the gate of the camp, raised her head and shouted loudly, "Marshal Ofra's instructions should have arrived before us."

"Yes, we just received the order this morning," the guarding soldier loudly agreed while instructing the people behind the gate to pull the winch. The heavy camp gate slowly opened with a creaking sound, "Arch Mage Haimo is already here. Waiting for you.”

Hao Ren originally thought that Archmage Haimo would be a serious old man of many years, but he was shocked when he actually met him: the other person turned out to be a young man who looked less than thirty years old, and his expression was a little reserved. Introverted. This young archmage wore a dark blue magic robe and a pair of round gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He had a rather elegant temperament. When he saw Hao Ren, he first took the initiative to perform a mage salute, and then He said somewhat nervously: "I'm glad to see you in person... I really didn't expect you to come to this place in person..."

"Well, I just came to check on the situation..." Hao Ren was a little uncomfortable being treated so warmly. He agreed while being curious, "By the way, do you know me?"

"I was present when the 'eldest son' of the Sunset Volcano was taken away," Heimer, who was young but already had the title of Archmage, showed a shy smile, "and I also participated in the launch of the Hodecius Fortress - I I have studied in the crystal mine you left for a long time, and my current title and strength should also be attributed to the research experience during that time."

"Oh..." Hao Ren nodded, somewhat understanding why the young man in front of him was so enthusiastic.

"Let's talk about the following situation first," Betsy interrupted at this time, "It's rare for experts to come and give guidance."

Although he didn’t understand the meaning of the coined words “experts came to guide”, Heimer understood what Betsy meant and immediately nodded: “Please follow me - energy has appeared several times in the ruins in the past few days. Fluctuations, and I am almost unlocking the secret of the second gate. This must be a discovery that shocks the world: I actually found an intact ancient facility down there! Can you believe it? Intact! It’s like time It’s like I’ve never visited the cave behind that stone wall! I even suspect that time inside was once frozen!”