novelraw Chapter 81 The Ant Tribe - That's Strange
Chapter 81 The Ant Tribe - That's Strange
The old man emerged from the woods with a cane, his steps slow yet remarkably steady.
He walked straight toward the steam engine, wanting to get a closer look at the steel monster.
Not far away, the big gray saint, wearing short sleeves and shorts and sunbathing on the edge of the field, caught sight of this scene and quickly stepped forward, pressing down on the yellow straw hat on his head, and stopped the old man.
"Hey old man, stop! Stop! The farmland ahead is being cleared by a tractor; no loitering!"
"Death Blade Manual?"
The strange pronunciation puzzled the old man, clearly indicating that the game's built-in translation function had failed to perfectly translate the Great Gray Sage's words.
However, the Great Grey Sage didn't care about this, since these minor issues actually highlighted the realism of the game world.
"That's right, see that steel monster belching white steam? It takes three people to barely control it. If you approach it carelessly, sir, it will be very dangerous!"
The Great Gray Saint looked at the old man before him, whose face was weathered and whose beard and hair were white. His aged but still robust body was dressed in a white robe, and his hand, covered with age spots, held a strange, multi-sectioned, jet-black cane.
Since there's no name above its head, it must be an NPC?
However, judging from his attire and the direction he came from, he doesn't seem to be an ordinary NPC!
The thought flashed through the Great Grey Saint's mind, and then a slightly fawning smile appeared on his face: "Old man, you don't look like a native of Sogoria. Where are you from? What brings you here?"
"We are Ventra Senkin Trier Badora Gusiyi Dorado... (omitting 330,000 names), and we have come to help you by the will of the Wheel of Infinite Life."
The sudden influx of a long string of fleeting names left the Great Gray Saint somewhat bewildered.
What just happened? Did the game bug and stuff a roster into my head?
It was at this moment that the Great Grey Sage realized that the old man NPC seemed not to open his mouth when he spoke.
Spiritual communication?
The player's thoughts raced, and he vaguely sensed that the old man in front of him was no ordinary person.
Is this person a special NPC?
By the way, the other person just said that he came to help humanity at the behest of the Wheel of Life, right?
The Wheel of Life—isn't that one of the most powerful gods?
Thinking of this, the Great Gray Saint became excited and tentatively asked, "Old man, do you have any task for me?"
"Please lead us to the favored one of the God of Light who governs this region. I will convey His will to you on behalf of the infinite wheel of life."
[Ding! You have triggered a hidden quest.]
Side Quest: Visitors from Another Race
[Quest Description: The kin of the Wheel of Life extend an olive branch to the God of Light and His kin.]
[Mission Objective: Lead the members of the Wheel of Life to cooperate and communicate with the relevant personnel.]
[Level Requirement: No Limit]
[Failure Condition: Communication Failed]
Number of participants: 1
[Mission Rewards: 1000 Contribution Points, +10 Human-Ant Friendship Points, Limited Title "Diplomatic Ambassador"]
【Whether to accept】
【whether】
Hey, it really is a hidden mission!
And looking at the mission rewards, wow, the ant race! Is this a newly added race in the game?
The Great Grey Saint accepted the mission without hesitation.
"Hey, sir, this way please... By the way, judging from your tone just now, you seem to have companions. Should we wait for them to arrive so we can go into town together?"
Looking at the strange, somewhat obsequious human before him, the old man shook his head earnestly.
"No, there is only one of us. Just take us there!"
The Great Gray Saint raised an eyebrow, noticing that the old man hadn't opened his mouth but a voice was ringing in his mind, and the content of the voice was quite strange. He couldn't help but wonder if the game had a bug.
The Great Grey Sage didn't pay too much attention to this. After all, what game doesn't have bugs? He'd just report it on the official website later!
"Alright, this way, sir!"
As the Great Grey Saint led the old man toward Sogoria, he posted a message in the Blue Alliance's internal communication group.
[Help! I've encountered a visitor from another race. Who should I take him to?]
【image】
The Great Grey Saint posted a screenshot of the task, which instantly attracted everyone's attention in the group.
"Holy crap, aliens? What's going on?"
"Is this game going to develop a new race?"
"The Legend of the Ant Tribe? What is the Ant Tribe, and what is the Wheel of Life?!"
"The Wheel of Life seems to be a deity, and in the background, it seems to be an existence of the same level as the Throne of Light."
"Um... who is the [Throne of Light]...?"
"Dude, how did you skip the story in the game? There's no story skip button in this game!"
The players in the group were exchanging random messages, which made Big Gray Saint frown.
"Dear experts, help! Who should I contact regarding this?!"
"have no idea"
"It wasn't a task I accepted, how would I know?"
"I'm so envious! Why wasn't it me who triggered the hidden quest?"
The players offered a variety of suggestions, and one of them did give a suggestion that seemed somewhat useful.
"When in doubt, just ask the shopkeeper."
The image of the game's main character upgrading in front of him dozens of days ago flashed through the Great Gray Saint's mind. That was definitely the most beautiful game protagonist the Great Gray Saint had ever seen.
Unfortunately, he was a minor.
Is she the mascot?
She does indeed meet the criteria for the relevant personnel, and the teleportation array in Sogoria was completed a few days ago, making it convenient to take this old man to the Ruhr Royal City.
The Great Grey Saint had an idea in mind. He led the old man into Sogoria and headed towards the newly built teleportation hub.
The old man following behind the Great Gray Saint kept scrutinizing him with his dark eyes.
Strange guy.
Although alive, it seems to have no spirit.
But if he has no soul, how can he possess self-awareness?
I'm not sure, let's observe first!
We suspect that they are not human, but rather some kind of power of the God of Light.
But we remember that the authority of the God of Light is only "order" and light, isn't it? Are you trying to tell me that these guys are actually some kind of order?
This possibility cannot be ruled out, after all, you have seen those steel monsters spewing white smoke.
It operates without relying on any magic, but entirely on the simplest order: flames generate heat, water absorbs heat and vaporizes and expands, and the vaporized and expanded water can then drive the movement of steel.
What a simple, ingenious order! Why haven't we noticed it before? Perhaps these strange humans are some kind of order discovered by the current God of Light?
Perhaps!
Within the old man's body, countless consciousnesses intertwined and explored each other.
A consensus was eventually reached.
They are countless individuals, but under the influence of magic, they have become a whole. All their faint wills have converged into one, and they are the only existing golden race in the world of Errol.
However, with Errol's magic power now low, their survival is not easy, and they even need the main god to output energy in order to barely maintain their existence.
Since entering the city of Sogoria, the old man following behind the Great Grey Saint noticed that more and more people were gathering around them, and people would come up to greet them from time to time.
Moreover, these people are all strange creatures who have consciousness but no spirit whatsoever.
"Hello, my name is Flying Cute Cockroach. It's nice to meet you. Is there anything you'd like to say to me?"
"Hello, my name is XXXX, you can call me Four Crosses. It's nice to meet you. Do you have any tasks for me?"
"Hello……"
So many strange humans.
Yes, and these strange humans seem to know us?
Yes, it seems they came specifically for us!
We should not have revealed our presence, and that strange human in front of us doesn't seem to be using any means of long-distance communication.
I don't know, and what kind of "mission" are they trying to get from us?
"Mission"—the strange human who led the way seemed to have asked us for a mission as well when he first saw us!
Is a mission what their very existence requires?
As the old man watched these players, who had been arriving one after another after the Great Gray Saint had asked for help in the group chat, his thoughts began to wander.
Meanwhile, the players were chattering and making a lot of noise on the sidelines.
Although the Great Grey Saint posted a screenshot of the task, this task only requires one person.
But that didn't stop them from coming over to watch the excitement, and to see if they might have gotten lucky and triggered a hidden quest or something.
Given the nature of this game, some NPCs will only give you a quest if you confront them directly.
"Is that an alien race? They don't seem much different from humans!"
"I don't know, but judging from Da Huizi's screenshot, this old man seems to be from the ant tribe."
"Ant tribe, judging from the name, they must be some kind of insect!"
"I don't know, but the fact that humans and ant-people are on friendly terms is making me wonder. Could it be that the authorities are finally going to open up other races?"
"I don't know, but I have a very high feeling that it's unlikely. It's only in closed beta 2.0 now, and it seems unrealistic to open up the Tranquil Forest in the west and the Black Crystal Mountains in the south so soon."
It should only be available during the public beta, otherwise what will players play during the public beta?
"We'll do PvP then. Friendly fire has been a constant issue since the game's beta!"
As the players chatted amongst themselves, the old man's brow furrowed even more deeply.
At first, he could understand what the players were saying, but as the players' communication became more and more enthusiastic, he unknowingly started using another strange language.
That was not the language of the Errol world, and the old man was quite certain of it, having lived for at least a thousand years.
Could they be from beyond this world?
Beyond this world refers to the world that the Supreme God occasionally mentions.
In the old man's mind, the chattering thoughts began to communicate again, and the liveliness was in no way inferior to that of the players around him.
The Great Grey Saint led the old man into the city center square, pointing to the magic circle supported by white stone pillars in the distance, and said, "Old man, do you see that? That's a teleportation hub. As long as we go through it, we can go to the Royal City of Ruhr!"
"Teleportation authority...space..."
Looking up at the magic circle supported by the towering stone pillars pointing straight to the sky, the old man's eyes showed a hint of astonishment.
Because he sensed from the unfolding magic circle a pure spatial power, even more powerful than the "direction" controlled by their main god, the Wheel of Life.
"How did you come to possess this power?!"
The old man couldn't help but ask.
This question stumped the Great Grey Saint. He hurriedly went to the official website and found the official setting collection.
"Because of the Archangel of Time and Space! He is a servant god under the God of Light, possessing the ability to jump through time and space. The Archangel of Time and Space bestows power upon mortals, allowing the Time and Space Envoy to exercise His authority."
The Great Grey Sage read the answer the old man wanted from the setting book, but it made the old man fall into deep thought.
The chattering thoughts in my mind began to communicate once again.
Who is the Archangel of Time and Space?
There shouldn't have been anyone like this under the [Holy Throne of Light] before!
There really isn't one, but I do recall one being who controls the power of time and space.
A master of time and space?
Yes, but it shouldn't be Him. In that battle, He sided with the Gluttonous Dragon and was struck by the Eternal Spear of the Throne of Light, resulting in the complete shattering of His essence and authority.
They chattered amongst themselves, but stopped in front of the magic circle of the teleportation hub.
"What's wrong, old man? This teleportation array is safe; there's no danger!"
The Great Gray Sage noticed the old man's actions and assumed that the old man was afraid to try, so he spoke up to comfort him.
The old man shook his head, and his hoarse voice echoed in the Great Gray Saint's mind.
"We will destroy the teleportation array; your teleportation array should not be able to withstand the energy required to teleport us."
"Ah, no, this teleportation array is of excellent quality! We had a legendary expert test it, and it works perfectly for continuous teleportation!"
"It's not a question of the level of life, but a question of the quantity of life!"
The old man's voice was hoarse, tinged with a hint of helplessness.
"Number of lives?"
The Great Gray Saint was bewildered when he saw the old man raise his arm.
The withered yellow arm lost its yellow color and was stained with a layer of silvery white that reflected the texture of steel. Then the silvery white shattered, and countless silver insects with three pairs of limbs and three-sectioned bodies emerged.
"Yes, we are composed of 350,000 'ants,' each with 350,000 interconnected independent 'spirits.' This teleportation array can accommodate legendary life forms, but it cannot perform 350,000 spatial jumps in an instant."
"Er..."
The Great Gray Saint thought he didn't have trypophobia, but when he observed this scene up close, his face turned pale and his entire back trembled with fear.
He suddenly realized that there was no bug in the game; he simply hadn't been able to keep up with the game's logic.
The "we" that the old man was referring to were all the individuals that constituted his existence, namely those shimmering silver insects.
Ant tribe... so that's what it means!
I thought they were a race like Ant-Man who could change their size!
"Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you..."
Seeing the pale-faced, instinctively retreating Great Gray Saint, the old man quickly restored his arm form and expressed his apology.
Upon hearing this, the Great Gray Saint felt a pang of anxiety. He had finally encountered a hidden character, and he couldn't afford to lose the NPC's favorability with that hidden character, as favorability in "Otherworld Online" could significantly impact the gaming experience!
So he quickly said, "It's my problem, it's my problem, it's my fault, I'm just not good at accepting things, it's not your, uh, your problem..."