I Have a Sailing Game

Chapter 375 - 237: Puppet Gear, Deep Root Maze (Double-Length)

"Perhaps your homeland is in an extremely hidden place..."

Before Daniel could reply,

Rogel gestured to Lina and then stood up.

"Knight Daniel, I can help you find your home."

"However, I need you to answer a question for me, is that okay?"

Hearing Rogel’s words, Daniel was delighted and quickly nodded.

"Captain Rogel, please go ahead."

"Do you know Doyle Devis?" Rogel asked.

Upon hearing this, Daniel frowned deeply, as if trying hard to recall.

But after a moment, he shook his head slightly, somewhat hesitantly: "I... I don’t know this person."

Rogel was a bit puzzled: "Then why did you just mention his name?"

"I... I don’t know." Daniel looked a bit confused: "Those memories just suddenly appeared in my mind, maybe I... I dreamt it..."

Dreamt it?

Impossible, no dream could be such a coincidence.

Rogel certainly wouldn’t believe this was a coincidence.

However, judging by Daniel’s behavior, he didn’t seem to be lying either.

... Looks like it calls for another trouble.

Rogel sighed inwardly, Doyle, this guy, was the riddle-maker he despised most.

"How about this, you wait for us to go to a place first, and after we’ve taken care of things there, we’ll go find the Isle of Light and Dark you mentioned, how does that sound?"

Rogel suggested.

Although he didn’t really want to bother with this affair, since it involved Doyle, it might be worth checking out.

Also, he wondered what riddle Doyle was playing at this time.

Upon hearing this, Daniel could only suppress his inner anxiety: "Okay."

"Thank you, Captain Rogel."

Although he was anxious, he was even more aware.

Given the changes in his body and their words,

It was highly likely that he had arrived at an unknown place.

If they didn’t help, with his current blind state, getting home would be extremely difficult.

"I think his homeland might be similar to the situation in the Five Great Seas."

Lina said to Rogel.

"Looking for his home? Isn’t that like searching for a needle in the ocean?" Noemi scratched her head.

Rogel shook his head: "We’ll know after we ask on Giant Tree Island."

With that, he turned to look at Daniel again.

"By the way, what’s up with that gear you coughed out?"

Under Rogel’s control, a Bone Spirit stepped forward, picked up the gear, and handed it to Daniel.

"Gear?"

Upon hearing Rogel’s words, Daniel was startled.

"I... I coughed up a gear?"

"That’s impossible!"

...

"Congratulations on becoming a Deputy, Captain Rogel."

Inside the Giant Tree, the Tree of Life nodded slightly towards Rogel.

After some time sailing, Rogel and the others returned to Giant Tree Island once more.

"Thank you."

Rogel expressed his gratitude.

Then he got straight to the point: "Take me to the Deep Root Maze."

Upon hearing this, the Tree of Life didn’t respond immediately but remained silent for a while.

Soon after, a glimmer of green light shone and landed in Rogel’s hand.

"Hold onto this, it may help you."

[You have obtained: Leaf of Life ×1.]

[Leaf of Life]

[Type: Special Artifact]

[Quality: Golden]

[Effect: Immune to one death, transferring your death to the Tree of Life, and rendering you immune to all corrosion, pollution, and damage for a period of time afterward.]

[Explanation: Death does not dissipate, but there are those who can transfer it.]

Looking at the exquisite, divine green leaf in his hand, Rogel smiled slightly.

"Thank you."

"Though I think, I might not need to use it."

The Tree of Life also smiled: "Then consider it a blessing."

...

[You have arrived: Bottom of the Giant Tree.]

In front of the interwoven thick tree roots was a dense, dark mist.

The tree roots stained by it all turned deathly black, devoid of life.

The air was filled with a strange smell.

Rogel stepped forward, slowly reaching out his hand.

At the instant of touching the Death Mist, Rogel’s whole body was instantly enveloped.

In an instant, space twisted.

A moment later, the scene before Rogel had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Gloomy, deep, cold.

This was a space formed by pitch-black tree roots.

Above was a thick, impenetrable fog, and below was darkness with no bottom in sight.

In front of Rogel, the grotesque black roots resembled serpentine, twisting paths branching off in various directions, extending until they were lost from view.

[You have arrived: Deep Root Maze.]

Before entering this area, Rogel had already saved his progress.

So his heart was calm as he observed everything around him.

The air here was filled with black particles, resembling the ash produced by burning wood, creating a feeling of murkiness.

The platform Rogel stood on was the sole verdant platform formed by the roots of the Tree of Life.

But beyond that was only an endless darkness.

This seemed to be a unique region formed by that source of erosion.

Its power gradually spread from the source here.

Rogel took a breath: "I hope there aren’t any disgusting creatures here."

He shrugged.

If there weren’t any powerful monsters blocking the way, then he would just need to spend some time to find the source.

"Let’s set off."

With that, Rogel willed himself out of True Perspective and lay on the bed.

[Auto-exploration enabled.]

The Deep Root Maze wasn’t a simple flat plane.

The deathly roots extended in all directions, forming countless routes.

If Rogel explored on his own, it might take an eternity to finish exploring.

Using a game-like perspective could save a lot of time.

[You have chosen the widest path, which appears safe on this root.]

[As time passes, you have walked along the black roots for quite a while, seeing neither creatures nor a single fork in the path.]

[You feel a bit bored.]

[Suddenly, a fracture appears in the black root ahead, but on your right-hand side, there’s a branching path.]

[You continue moving forward.]

[There seems to be a force in the air here that slowly erodes you.]

[Your maximum stamina has decreased.]

[Your maximum spirit has decreased.]

[Your Faith Value has begun to dissipate.]

[You begin experiencing some kind of hallucination.]

[Countless death scenes flash before your eyes: stabbed to death, starved to death, torn in half, burned to death, engulfed by a tide of darkness...]

As Rogel went deeper,

while he encountered no monsters, he couldn’t avoid accumulating a host of negative effects.

His progress also slowed down further.

But he wasn’t worried.

"These negative effects are intensifying. Does this mean I’m getting closer to the source of the erosion?"

Rogel thought to himself.

He took note of this direction.

Later, when the game character was about to collapse, he chose to revert to a previous save.

...

The sky outside gradually darkened.

Rogel sat at his computer desk with some route sketches laid out.

After much trial and error, he had mapped out most of the routes.

This source of erosion seemed to lack sentience.

It didn’t spawn any monsters, but as Rogel approached, the negative effects on him intensified.

Of course, this was based on the assumption that Rogel’s guess was correct.

[You feel unprecedentedly weak and exhausted.]

[Due to the erosion of an unknown force, you have been afflicted with permanent negative effects, halving your lifespan.]

[However, as you go deeper, you finally see a vague black object. It...]

[The moment you look at its true form, countless deaths consume you mercilessly from within, and darkness shrouds your vision.]

[You are on the brink of death.]

[The Leaf of Life has rendered you immune to death once, and transferred all negative effects from you.]

[You have received the Tree of Life’s blessing, temporarily immunizing you against all negative effects.]

Rogel smiled as he looked at the screen.

After noting down the route, he loaded the saved game and turned his head.

"Found it."