Although the manned balloon flies through the air, from time to time adventurers have to dock on the ground to replenish water and food. The female druid Camilla can cast druid spells to attract some stupid birds, but their meat is really unpalatable if she doesn't make a fire. To light a fire in a light balloon to grill meat, no one would dare.

Not to mention, flying at night is an extremely dangerous act. Not only are the aircurrents changing more frequently at night, but it is also difficult to distinguish between birds and rising mountains. Mages and psionics don't keep vigil, and their arcane vision and synaesthesia vision can't help.

After the balloon crossed a vast Gobi desert, it arrived at an area with a lot of prey. According to Khorezmi, this place is known as the Great Gobi of Nazca. The Gobi Desert is full of cacti and dwarf date palms, and from the sky, it looks like a yellow carpet with balls of yarn. Herds of wild horses and lizards run on the ground, kicking up huge clouds of dust. Because the temperature on the sun-soaked ground is so high, there is a kind of lizard that runs on its hind feet, which looks ridiculous.

Amazingly, there are many thousands of feet of lines in this flat land, which are made of light-colored stones. Viewed from above, these lines form some giant birds, animals, or geometric shapes, which are spectacular and unusual. It is not known who left these lines or what their purpose was.

Vast expanses of yellow plains spread out, with clusters of saline plants and thorny bushes.

Some of the forested trees from afar and sparsely scattered up close are dotted on the horizon. The old man brought the balloon close to the ground, ready to drop anchor. At this time, a giant antlion lurking in the ground was startled by the sound of the balloon, and came out of the sand, opening its pincers and roaring silently into the sky.

This carnivorous insect is larger than a horse, about a dozen feet long. They dig funnel-shaped traps as large as windmills in sandy soil and bury themselves at the bottom of the pit, with only their paws exposed, to prey on prey on those who have fallen to the bottom of the pit. They inject digestive juices into their prey, then bare up the organs and bones that have melted into the liquid, leaving only an empty shell.

Unfortunately, the giant antlion, though ferocious, is completely powerless against the balloons flying through the sky, and can only bite in the air with a clatter.

"Haha!" Muscle Daddy laughed as he looked at the antlion who had no energy to spare. "I'm starting to fall in love with the idea of a balloon adventure, no matter how dangerous the monsters on the ground are, they can't threaten us. ”

"It's just an antlion, and if you'd seen Shalak, you wouldn't say that. Camila looked down at the antlion and said with a blank face. Her cold tone seemed to have made the temperature drop by a few degrees. "It's a lot bigger than the antlion, and it's only found deep in the desert of the south. Half plant and half animal, it looked like a hundred-foot-sized maelstrom of flesh and blood in the sand, full of razor-like fangs. It can move the vibrations in the air and sand, and stretches out its tentacles to drag its prey into its mouth and eat it. Even the birds may not be able to escape. ”

"It is said that some prey will soak in the digestive juices of Salac's stomach and wait for a thousand years of digestion. "When the female druid finished telling this story, the others were suddenly speechless.

Arriving at a suitable spot for 6, the old man lowered the balloon to the height of an arrow and threw the iron anchor. Soon it was clinging to the branches of a fig tree and holding it firmly in place. At this point, the wind almost suddenly subsided, and the heat was uncomfortable.

The area is arid and lacks water, and the compacted land is cracked by the sun, making it look extremely desolate. Scattered can show some traces of the camel caravan walking. Piles of human and livestock bones were mothed and mixed with dust. There is a carnivorous insect that likes to disguise itself as a white bone, mingling in the middle of the bones, waiting for its prey to come to the door.

"Now," said Muscle Daddy before the balloon could stop. "Psionic boy, take two bows, one for you and one for me. Let's try our luck at the front, I see a lot of tender lizard leg meat waiting for our dinner. ”

"I think druids are better at hunting. Amar raised an eyebrow and said, "Why don't you let me go around with this lovely lady." ”

The "lovely lady" in the thief's mouth glared at him indifferently, and he was so frightened that he didn't dare to mention it again.

"Hunting!" cried out Muscle Daddy with delight.

He flipped over the gondola and immediately descended to the ground, where he stretched out his arms and legs and waited for the Psychic Warlock. Because the two adventurers got off the hanging basket, the weight was reduced, and the balloon shook upwards. "Keep an eye on the balloons, but don't fly away while we're hunting!" shouted Muscle Daddy.

"Don't worry, braggart daddy. Amal replied from the basket. "I'll keep an eye on our balloons, they won't fly away, and I wish you a happy hunt. In addition, I am here to keep an eye on the movements around me, and if there is anything suspicious, I will notify you of the model number. This is the signal for us to gather. ”

"It's a deal. Muscle Daddy replied.

"Wait!" the female druid jumped out of the basket as well, "I'll go too, maybe there will be some new species here that haven't been recorded." ”

"Welcome. Muhati replied to Kamila as he laboriously pressed the bow and tied the string.

The three of them trekked through most of the hourglass before burrowing into a cactus forest. They looked at each other with wary eyes, their hands on the bowstrings, and searched carefully. The bars of these bows, which had been picked up from the wreckage of the bow shops in the city of Ram, were all well-made recurve bows, and the weakest one had at least a hundred and twenty pounds of pull. With the right arrows, they can shoot through the heavy shells of giant shell beetles.

"This place is too hard to walk into. "Muscle Daddy stumbled through the gravel and gravel, and he wore woven straw sandals that easily caught stones.

Camilla, on the other hand, walks with almost no sound at all, as graceful as a caracal and as deadly as a cheetah. Miraculously, all kinds of flies and insects common in the sand oasis did not dare to approach her, which made Muscle Daddy especially envious.

Before long, they found an oasis with a pond with a few stagnant puddles of water in the center, and a dozen pony-sized lizards were drinking. The gentle animals seemed to have a premonition of danger and looked very uneasy. With each sip of water, they raise their beautiful heads with agility, lift their nostrils, and follow the direction of the wind where the hunters stand, and smell the air vigorously.

Muscle Daddy stood motionless, bending his bow and arrows, aiming at his prey ready to shoot. But the druid was faster than he was, and she threw a bone dart from under the skin on the inside of her wrist.

In the blink of an eye, the group of lizards disappeared without a trace, except for a male lizard with a bloody hole in the middle of his head, and he collapsed and died. The psychic scurried for his prey.

It is a flesh lizard with a yellowish gray body and light, small scales on its belly and inner thighs, and a beautiful head.

"Accurately, you must have practiced with men regularly. Muscle Daddy cheered. "It's a good skin, and in a big city, it sells for enough money to squander a night at a bar. ”

"I'm afraid it's worth the price if it's a whole skin," the psychic sorcerer, flipping his prey, pointing out a wound on its body, "It has an old wound on its abdomen, and it's incomplete." ”

"That's okay. Muscle Daddy said. "When I get back, I'm going to peel it off and make a pair of boots. ”

The Psychic Warlock looked at the female druid, wondering if she, as the spokesperson of nature, would object to skinning animals for clothes.

However, to his disappointment, Camilla did not have any resistance to this kind of thing. As the three of them walked back, Muhathir finally couldn't help but speak out of his curiosity.

"As I imagined," he asked. "The druids would oppose the hunting of animals and skinning them for clothing. ”

"Why am I against this?" said the female druid, walking in front without looking back.

"Morality, I guess, isn't that hurtful to nature?"

"Don't speculate on the moral code of my generation Starch Spencer Druid. Camila said as she walked. "The only morality to be observed in life is survival itself, and everything else is false, including your tricky magic stick. It just deceives the foolish, and it is not worth it in my eyes. ”

"That's not a trick, don't question your wisdom that is much greater than yours. ”

"There are two kinds of people in the world – one who is wise and unfaithful, and the other who is godly and stupid. The female druid said disdainfully.

This sentence was also said by the poet Abu Allah al-Maali of the Arab Abbasids on earth, so Muhadi didn't think it was very new when he heard it.

"It does sound like an evolutionist statement, but you have to admit that even according to your logic, morality is objective," he said. It is the ethical and moral norms that act as the binding agent of human society, and the socialized life improves the survival probability of each person. In the case of skinning clothes, at least morality prevents some perverts from skinning and wearing them, doesn't this protect the survival of some people, and thus better benefit the species as a whole?"

"Don't fool before me, blind believers. Camila was indifferent. "Homosocial beings don't need morality at all, have you ever seen bees or ants have such a thing? But their population and distribution in Atas is much larger than that of humans. ”

"As for that ridiculous off-topic example you gave you," the female druid's head fell, and she flicked it back. It also proves that the moral code itself is contradictory and inconsistent. What kind of rarity is this? There are a lot of druids in our Starch Spencer faction, which are not only light but also demon-resistant. There are also elf skins, but unfortunately the effect is a little worse. ”

"Do you think that sounds cruel? From ancient times to the present day, there have been many legendary dragon slayer warriors who have worn dragon scale armor, and these warriors are often praised as heroic role models. Dragons, or humans or elves, are all intelligent beings. Why does morality regard the outer skin of the latter two as contemptible, and the former as admirable? It is itself a mess of indescribable and illogical mush, and the sooner you abandon discipline, the sooner you become powerful. ”

"Did I miss something?" Muscle Daddy, who had long legs and legs, walked in front of him, and didn't hear what the two were talking about clearly. But he seemed to hear the argument and leaned over. "Who doesn't want to be disciplined? Tell me about it. ”

Along the way, the two did not speak again, and the muscular father hummed a lewd tune, involving many maidens and horses.

It seemed that this day was not destined to be peaceful, and when it was time to eat, something strange happened.

Muscle Daddy and Amar team up to handle food, easily bleed, peel and rip out lymph nodes in their muscles. The Coral Witch pulled out a handful of powdered spellcasting materials and easily lit a fire. The color of the flame was green, and it looked terrible. However, Sadiri assures that there is no problem with this fire, and that it has an additional anti-virus effect. Hearing this, Kharazi Mi was very interested, and frowned and wondered what the truth of the green flame was.

"That's the benefit of going on an adventure with a mage. Muscle Daddy said as he cut the meat. "I used to hire a little mage, but unfortunately one time we were stuck in the desert by a sandstorm during our adventure, and my dad had to force the mage to cast a spell to rub out some water and food, and he drained his life force and hung up. ”

"You actually hired a mage?" Amal's voice sounded envious. "That's a lot of money. When I took the job, the last thing I wanted to hire was a mage. Even if you do the work of stepping on the field and letting off the wind, you have to share at least 40% of the commission. ”

"I had money at the time. The muscular daddy boasted to himself, and with his hands and feet he quickly cut off one of the lizard's front legs, put it on a stick, and roasted it on the fire. Droplets of oil seeped out of the flesh and fell onto the burning firewood. "In addition to taking risks, I've done a lot of big deals. ”

"Tell me about it. Amar took a piece of roasted meat and put it in his mouth, "I'm interested in any way to make money. ”

"It's mainly one-way caravan escorts and huge withdrawals in the vault industry. Muscle Daddy said. "Speaking of which, I am a companion with that Ram prince Benedict. ”

"One-way escorts and huge payouts?" Amar didn't know. "What does that mean?"

This means that the one-way ticket to hell and the bank robbery, Muhathir is familiar with the muscular daddy, and immediately understands what he is talking about, so he explains it to the thief. "It's robbing caravans and vaults. ”

"Ah, I see. Amal smiled in understanding and nodded. "I understand what Muscle Daddy used to do. I also know that Satili started learning magic at a very young age, and that Old Man Kharazimi was a brothel owner......"

"I'm not a brothel owner, I'm a scholar, scholar, do you know?!" the old man protested angrily.

Amal shrugged at the old man and continued. “...... I've been a wealth redistributor since I was a child. So what did you two do before?"

When he says "the two of you", he refers to the female druid Kamila and the psychomancer Muhadi. The two of them each cut off a large piece of lizard meat and were roasting it to eat. The Coral Witch was eating some strange fruit with one hand in her mouth, and she was wearing a pure white mage robe. Even though she looked a little tired, she sat in perfect stance, a pair of jade feet in leather sandals playfully poking her head out from under the mage's robes.

"Starch Spencer Druid. Camilla simply said it as if that one word could sum up her life's experience.

Muhadi naturally wouldn't tell others that he was a traverser, so he only said that he got lost in the depths of the desert and was accidentally rescued by the elves of the Scorpio tribe, and then became a slave, a warrior, and a chanter, until now.

"I would like to thank the elf who saved you in the depths of the desert," said Muhadi, squeezing his hand in sympathy. "Otherwise, we might have one less honorable friend today. ”

"Thank you. The Psychic replied to the female mage.

"It's just a fluke. Camilla commented. "If it weren't for luck, you'd have died in the desert. ”

"Everything I have won is my own personal effort. Whatever you accomplish after you are rescued, you are no longer entirely on your own. The female druid continued.

Muscle Daddy scoffed at this, but Muhati himself could not refute this and remained silent. If it weren't for his luck, he would have died in the desert.

"We're all human...... Amalta's bloodline may not be pure, but he is basically human. Muscle Daddy seemed to think of something again, and said loudly while eating. "It would be nice if there was another elf or dwarf or something, you know...... Ahh

He was interrupted in the middle of his words, as if he had bitten something in his mouth. With a snort, he spat out what was in his mouth and took it in his hand to look at it. "What the hell?"

It was a small piece of metal, roughly conical, embedded in the muscles of the lizard's thigh, near the side of its abdomen. "Is this some kind of arrow? How come I've never seen one?"

Muhathir stepped forward to take a look, almost in disbelief what he was seeing. What kind of arrow is this, it is clearly a warhead, and traces of rubbing rifling can be seen on the outer edge of the conical metal. In Ram's Witch King, he had seen that the world had primitive flints. But the technical level of this warhead is much higher, where did this come from?

"It's been around for years. Camila was also drawn to the thing, and she looked at the piece of thigh meat in the muscular daddy's hand. "The fact that there is no wound left in the musculature around this thing means that this thing has been inside this lizard for a long time, at least seven or eight years. ”

The Coral Witch gave a more professional opinion, "This metal, now Atas is extinct. However, during the Teal Age, it was common, and halflings often used it to make weapons. Now, the metal can only be found in some ancient ruins. This lizard may have strayed into some ancient ruins when it was young, and accidentally touched some kind of ancient mechanism. ”

There is some truth to that, Mohamadi thought. There was no magic in the age of halflings, and they were famous for their skills, and it is not surprising that they had gunpowder weapons. And he looked at the warhead carefully, and now there were no signs of ablation on the bottom of it, indicating that it may not be a gunpowder weapon, maybe mechanically driven or pneumatically driven.

"This means that there are ancient ruins nearby!" Amal said excitedly. "Antiques are very valuable, not to mention that there may be psionic equipment from the ancient era. Shall we go find this ruin and explore it?"

Sadiri shook her head, "This lizard was injured many years ago, and no one knows how far it migrated, maybe the ancient ruins aren't around here." ”

"This lizard has a migratory range of no more than five palesans, and has a clear back-spawning habit. Camilla pointed out the mistake in the female mage's words. "So it can't be too far from where it was injured. ”

"In fact, judging by the range of oasis distribution that I observed in the air. Camila reasoned her way. "If there are ancient ruins, they are only two parasans away. ”

"So what are we waiting for? "Hua Razimi couldn't hold back and wanted to speak. "What a great fortune a working Ancient Trap is. If I can take a closer look, I'm going to have to come up with something new. ”

"Wait," Muscle Daddy wasn't happy about. "How much are ancient traps worth? I'm not going. ”

"But we still have to cross the Salt Sea. Satili patiently explained, unwilling to spoil everyone's interest. "We can't afford to waste too much time here. ”

"If it weren't for my manned balloon, you wouldn't have been able to get here. The old man hurriedly retorted. "To explore this ancient ruin, it should be paid to me. ”

Now Amal and Khorezmi are in favor of exploring the ancient ruins, Sadiri and Muscle Daddy are against it, and Camilla is noncommittal, so the key to the decision is what Muhathir thinks.

"When I was in Ram, I heard stories about the ancient ruins of halflings nearby. The Psychic Warlock recalled, but still told what he had seen in Ram. "At that time I was with Prince Corwin, and Corwin told me that there was a halfling ruin near my Ram, which was once the capital of the Halfling country of the Teal Age. ”

"Ancient halflings?" the eyes of Khwarazmi and Amar were about to glow.

Muhati nodded, "At least that's what Prince Corwin said. His men had probed a small part of the ruins. ”

Corwin added, "The Psychic Warlock recalls the story he heard at the auction. "There's a strange door in that ruin that that can travel through time. ”

"And there may be other useful information there. Muhathir said. "The Pure Fortress was built by the halflings of the Teal Age to resist the Red Tide. If that ruin is really an ancient halfling, there must be some information about the Pure Fortress, right?"

"So far, we still don't know what Pure Fortress looks like or what kind of guards there are, which doesn't bode well. "The Psychic Warlock has a powerful point. "Shall we go unprepared into the most legendary and famous fortress of Artas? Let's go to this ruin and gather information. ”

Hearing that the Psychic Warlock supported the expedition, Old Man Khwarazmi and Amal were overjoyed and spoke in agreement.

What they don't know is that Muhaditi yì expedition was not at all for the reason he said.

Before Tyre defeated the forces of the Three Witch Kings, the Psychic Warlock had met with his faithful follower, the great merchant Fuwad ibn Abbas, who was now a loyal servant of the True God and a staunch warrior of the First Cause of Faith. The great merchant converted to the true god because he had seen the future Muhadi. According to Fovard, he walked through "a door that you brought back from your adventures" and went to the past more than a decade ago, leading directly to his own birth.

Whether this story is true or not, Muhathir has never been able to say. Instinctively, he felt that the story of the big businessman was too bizarre to be true. But the fact that the other party was able to greet him in the language of the earth added a bit of truth to this absurd story.

The Psychic Warlock feared that if he didn't explore this ancient ruin and dig out the door that could travel through time and space, it might lead to a space-time paradox. What the consequences of the paradox can be, he doesn't know, he rather doesn't know.

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