novel-bin Chapter 90 The Source
Chapter 90 The Source
Chapter 90 The Source
"The medication was administered before entering the core contaminated area."
"Read the data as soon as possible; it contains my speculations about the possible weak points in the gap."
"I'll give you three hours to prepare and rest. Midnight is the best time to act, as the energy tides are relatively calm."
Horn gave his final instructions.
After receiving the items, Rowling returned to the temporary room assigned to him on the upper level of the fortress.
First, take a regular energy recovery potion, then meditate and regulate your breathing to quickly recover the mana and mental energy consumed in the battle.
At the same time, quickly browse through the materials provided by Horn.
The information is detailed, including few historical records of corrupting source forces, analysis of energy characteristics, speculation on the patterns of their impact on organisms, and several sealing techniques based on the principle of energy counteraction.
Horn speculates that the crevice may be hidden somewhere in the rock layers or shipwreck remains at the bottom of the whirlpool, and its shape is extremely irregular, requiring careful searching.
Three hours passed quickly.
Luo Lin has recovered to about 80-90% of his original condition and has memorized the contents of the document.
He checked all the possible reels and chemicals, and made sure the directional beacon was placed close to his body.
As midnight approached, the sea breeze carried a biting chill and a more pronounced sense of energy imbalance.
Rowling arrived at the fortress exit and took the bottle of icy blue deep-sea sanctuary potion.
As the medicine entered my throat, it transformed into a cool yet resilient energy that flowed throughout my body, forming an invisible protective film beneath my skin. My spirits were also lifted, and the discomfort from the chaotic energy around me was greatly reduced.
Wizard Horn transmitted a brief telepathic message through the crystal ball: "Good luck, Wizard Rowling."
"The Star Focusing Array is ready."
There was no response. He simply tightened his robes, glanced at Baha, who had also taken the special resistance potion, on his shoulder, and then resolutely stepped out of the observation station, disappearing back into the dark night shrouded in eerie energy, heading towards the ominous vortex bay area.
Returning to the bay area shrouded in dark purple energy, the scene under the night sky appeared even more eerie.
The whirlpool on the sea surface spun slowly, and the light shining from its center was like a wound deep in the earth bleeding.
The energy pollution in the air was stronger than during the day. Even with the protection of the deep-sea sanctuary, the skin could still feel a slight numbness and pricking sensation, as if countless tiny, malicious tentacles were trying to penetrate the protection.
Baha appeared somewhat agitated, his dark golden eyes fixed on the direction of the vortex, sending a strong warning of danger through the mental link.
Lorin gently stroked its feathers, signaling it to maintain high-altitude reconnaissance, primarily to be vigilant for any unusual activity above the sea surface.
Instead of heading straight for the vortex, they first went to the place where they had fought before, next to the scattered armor of the three drowned guards.
On the armor, most of the dark purple patterns had faded, but some faint traces remained, as if engraved deep within the metal.
This is an excellent sample for studying residual energy. Horn's materials mention that the corrupting source has the properties of polluting and transforming matter, and these armors, having been impregnated for a long time, may reveal more information about this otherworldly energy.
He crouched down, put on special protective gloves, and carefully picked up a large piece of breastplate.
The fragments felt cold and heavy to the touch, their surfaces covered in sea salt and rust, but faint energy fluctuations emanated from the remaining dark purple marks.
Chaotic, cold, and filled with a strong urge to erode.
Using his mental energy, he cautiously probed for those traces.
The moment the mental tentacles made contact, a fragment of information mixed with resentment, madness, and pure destructive desires attempted to erode them along the mental connection.
Luo Lin was prepared and immediately cut off that part of the mental probe. At the same time, he activated the [Myriad Manifestations Star Vortex] to cleanse his mental sea with the order and stability of star power, crushing that trace of invading chaotic intent.
"Such a domineering residual will; even just the traces are so powerful."
Luo Lin frowned slightly.
This energy is indeed sinister; it not only erodes matter and energy, but it can even pollute mental energy.
No wonder Horn attaches so much importance to it.
He tried a different approach.
Instead of using mental power to probe deeper, he took out a small crystal plate from his dimensional bag, which was inscribed with basic elemental analysis runes.
Place the armor fragments on the crystal plate, then slowly inject a tiny, pure star-tempering force, devoid of any spiritual imprint, into the activation node of the crystal plate.
The runes on the crystal plate lit up one by one, emitting a soft white light as they scanned the fragments.
A moment later, some fine energy spectrum lines and elemental composition diagrams appeared on the surface of the crystal plate.
The results showed that the armor itself was made of some kind of ancient alloy mixed with trace amounts of enchanted metal, but the material structure of the dark purple areas was distorted, and an unknown energy factor that could not be fully analyzed by conventional elemental spectra was infiltrated.
This factor has fused with the armor-based metal to some extent, altering the local energy conduction and solidity properties, while continuously emitting weak negative energy and chaotic fluctuations.
"It's not a simple attachment; it's a deep-seated transformation of matter and encoding of energy —"
Rowling recorded his observations, seemingly lost in thought.
"This corrupting force is more like a highly assimilative active energy that attempts to reshape everything it comes into contact with according to its chaotic rules."
This discovery made Rowling even more vigilant about the crevice in the seabed.
If the rift persists and the corrosive energy seeping out is sufficient, the entire Shattered Star Bay, and even the more distant seas and lands, may gradually be transformed into a desolate wasteland filled with twisted monsters and chaotic energy.
The gap must be located and repaired as soon as possible.
The armor fragments were collected; perhaps more sophisticated instruments could be used for deeper analysis in the future.
Now, it's time to get to the main task.
I walked to the shore and looked at the slowly rotating black whirlpool.
The light at the center of the vortex seemed to pulsate slightly, as if it were alive, resonating with the energy pollution permeating the air.
He took out a simple diving amulet provided by Horn from his dimensional bag.
This is not actually used for prolonged underwater activities, but rather to form a temporary air bubble on the body surface to maintain breathing and resist water pressure, lasting for about half an hour.
For a first-ring wizard, it is feasible to engage in short-term shallow-sea activities with the help of magic and tools, but deep-sea exploration is still fraught with danger.
Activate the amulet, and a layer of pale blue transparent bubbles will envelop your body.
I took a deep breath and then plunged into the icy, bone-chilling seawater.
Bubbles provide basic buoyancy and breathing protection, but energy pollution in seawater is several times stronger than in air.
Even with the deep-sea protection potion and bubble filtration, one could still feel wisps of cold energy trying to penetrate, causing chills to run down the skin and a persistent low mood.
Luo Lin sank.
The seawater was dark and visibility was extremely low, with only the dark purple light at the center of the whirlpool providing some illumination.
He relied on his mental energy to extend his perception outwards, but the range was severely suppressed. He could only detect the situation within about ten meters around him. Beyond that, everything became blurry, and his mental energy consumption increased dramatically.
Carefully controlling the descent speed, while having Baha circle above to keep watch, maintaining basic orientation through mental connection.
After descending about twenty meters, we were close to the outer edge of the vortex's influence.
The water flow became turbulent, carrying a force pulling it towards the center.
A dark purple halo spread across the water, and the seawater seemed to be tinged with an ominous hue as far as the eye could see.
Here, Rowling saw more signs.
Some marine animal bone fragments float in the water, their surfaces bearing faint dark purple marks, making them appear particularly gruesome.
Occasionally, small, polluted fish swim by, their eyes glowing an abnormal red light, charging aggressively, but they are easily deflected by the protective bubbles.
We continued to descend, approaching a depth of thirty meters.
We're nearing the comfortable depth limit for a typical diving amulet; the water pressure is becoming noticeable, and the bubbles are slightly deforming. A dark purple light source is not far below, its light filtering through the deep seawater and illuminating an area.
Using his mental energy to scan the area, he finally saw the scene at the center of the vortex.
It wasn't the seabed fissure or hole you might imagine, but a huge and ancient shipwreck, half-buried in black mud and reefs!
The shipwreck has been around for countless years. Most of the hull is rotten and broken, and the wooden structure is riddled with holes by seawater erosion, covered with thick layers of seaweed, barnacles and other seabed attachments.
However, in the center of the ship, presumably the command or cargo hold, a dark purple light was continuously radiating outwards from the damaged compartment. The source of the light was obscured by the ship's structure and could not be clearly seen.
Clearly, the energy rift that appears to connect to another world is inside this shipwreck.
On the seabed surrounding the shipwreck, more bones and rusted metal objects are scattered, and fragments of weapons and armor can be vaguely discerned.
This place is likely an ancient battlefield or accident site. The strong aura of death and negative energy may be one of the reasons why the corrupting source of power is attracted to form a crack here.
What's more troublesome is that the area around the shipwreck is not empty.
Bathed in a dark purple light, several blurry figures could be seen slowly swimming around the shipwreck.
They resembled drowned guards in form, but appeared to be larger, with clearer and brighter dark purple patterns on their armor. Instead of bone swords, they wielded tridents made of condensed energy and barbed.
There were at least five or six of them, and the energy fluctuations emitted by two of them were significantly stronger than those of the enhanced guards that had been dealt with on the shore, approaching the peak of the first ring.