Dawn approached, and a deathly silence hung over the city

The impermanence of the cold wind seemed to never stop, and they reverberated among the ruins and broken walls, bringing with them a little plausible whimper. The whining echo was like the hoarse wail of the souls who had died here, making all the unfortunate guests feel a chill that was difficult to resolve.

The tattered clothes were useless, and the chill hidden in the air poured directly into the body through the cold wind, recklessly depriving the two of them of their body temperature. The lake outside the city evaporated with a mist of rusty metal, and the chill contained in the inside of the droplets mercilessly penetrated the air.

Lumps of ash solidified on top of everything that was exposed, and the thick ash buried most of the waste. Not a single living plant was to be seen in the city, and the trees that remained were translucent crystals long before they visited.

The mysterious teenager referred to this as the "dead" world, and now it seems that he is not right at all. Not only this city, but also the physiology that may have been stored in this city has gone to death with it. That's why they went all the way, and the two didn't even show up as an aborigine.

Curt originally thought that the so-called "end of the world" would make everyone face the danger of disappearing, and no one would be able to escape in that unparalleled ruin. But the corpses of this world are still well preserved, and the dead city left behind is like carrion left on the corpses.

What kind of destruction did it take for a whole "world" to weaken to death? In any case, it became a barren Dead Sea. The wilderness of ash and high rocks makes you feel like you are in the middle of the vast sea, and there is no hope in sight.

A small half of the huge moon wheel sank into the distant horizon, and the distant sky was stained a little white by the moonlight. There was no sense that dawn was approaching, and the dark sky was covered with strange clouds - rather, as the moon fell, the surroundings seemed to become darker.

The so-called "transaction" conditions are actually very simple, at best they can be regarded as a process of division of labor and cooperation. The two of them rushed from the black tower in the center to a stone tower in the city at the boy's request, and installed the crystals containing magical power in the center of the stone tower's top floor, while the boy was responsible for controlling their activities.

Although it bears some resemblance to the legendary "City of a Thousand Pillars" of the Cult of Wigginas, the towers in this dead city are notably as many as the narrative poems depict. The tower, built in the center of each block in the city, is the node of the overall structure and serves as the basis for the operation of the Rubik's Cube.

It is different from the central tower, which has been washed by black turbidity currents. These towers are clearly not protected by anything. The gray, hard stone has long been scarred by the cold wind and frost. A slight pull with your hand will crack like grit.

The interior of the towering grey stone tower is also dotted with many strange structures of various sizes like the central tower, which are like some kind of long-standing mechanical structure, which are delicately placed inside the building. Although most of them are only mutilated outlines. But it seems that it can still wield the corresponding function to some extent.

As with all Rubik's Cubes. These complex mechanical structures were supposed to play an important role in the city-wide megastructure. They connect with their companions through the roads in the city. Like an array of ancient words that are indispensable in every Rubik's Cube, those powerful words use a network of magic to connect with each other and organize mortal forces that are powerful enough to interfere with the "world".

But the "words" that drive the content are hard to decipher – no matter how hard Lizzie tries to discern them. They're all just weird patterns. These things are engraved on each of the stone tablets inside the tower, arranged in order according to some strange pattern.

The structure inside the tower takes on a slightly oppressive style, with tightly stacked boulders condescendingly scrutinizing strangers entering the interior. Many of the sculptures depict creatures that have been seen by the Sustains, twisting their bodies to succumb to the feet of giants and become their humble slaves.

The two climbed up the stone stairs almost to the height of Curt's chest, and each floor felt the seriousness of the designers who built the towers. Although the reliefs carved into the inner walls of the tower have been severely eroded, the exquisite decoration of the time can still be seen from the wreckage.

"The scale of the ancient building was thus buried under the ashes...... It's a shame to think about it. It took a great deal of effort to reach the top of the tower, and Curt had no complaints—for the architecture had completely captured his attention.

He looked at the structure left on the top platform with interest, and his expression revealed a trace of regret: "The people who lived in this city must have put a lot of effort into building these towers, right? ”

The top floor of this tall tower is still relatively well preserved, and you can still see a little bit of the old scenery on this cogwheel platform. The stone monuments arranged around the circular platform are decorated with elaborate carvings, and a circular coat of arms depicting a large bird flying towards the moon can be seen everywhere.

Could this be some kind of symbolic coat of arms, or are they actually a status symbol of the tower's owner? Whatever they are, in this tower, which is almost entirely gray and white, only these round, golden coats of arms exude a metallic sheen.

A tall black rock pedestal sits in the center of the platform, with a triangular surface carved with a large number of geometric patterns. At each of its three corners were towering metal columns, and the crystal chains that connected them were almost broken remains.

In the center of this triangular pedestal is a large circular crystal column - unlike all the stones seen before, it has the texture of a plant fossil, and the transparent crystal surface is full of folds, but it is extremely smooth.

Flipping over the crystal pile that fell on the ground, Curt gently stroked the crystal pillar with his hand: "This should be what that guy called the 'center'? Sure enough, it is a device that can be seen at a glance, and this sense of storage alone makes it difficult to ignore its storage." ”

When the boy handed the crystals to Curt, he didn't specifically explain the appearance of the center of the stone tower, but mysteriously said, "You will definitely recognize it when you see it" and let them go into action. Sure enough, the device on this pedestal is connected to all the nodes without exception, and if someone gives it enough energy, it may immediately be in operation, controlling the operation of all the mechanical structures inside the stone tower.

A dull ring of metal wraps around the top of the crystal column, lined with tiny grooves. Looking up, there were still some fragments of gray crystal left in the grooves. Presumably, this is the key point for supplying energy, as long as the boy gives them what he gives them.

If you're a native of the city, it's a simple act of embedding tiny pieces of crystal into the nodes in front of you - but it's not so easy for ordinary people. In order to embed the finger-sized blocks of crystal into the grooves, Curt had to climb the towering crystal pillars with his bare hands.

"What percentage do you think what he says is 'true'?"

Watching Curt set the gray crystal into the groove in the metal ring, Lizzie suddenly spoke: "You should also know that my spell can only detect deliberate deception, and if he thinks that he is telling the 'truth' or avoiding certain facts, then it will not react in any way. ”

The use of intelligence processing to find the contradictions in the other party's words is not so much a spell to "identify lies" as it is to feel the malice implied in the words. In other words, if the other party's words do not have an element of "malice", then the spell is useless.

She shook her fingers casually, and the previous Rubik's Cube reappeared in her fingertips. What the boy had said before had not touched the spell's effect, so Lizzie could at least be sure that the information she had given was not maliciously deceptive - but that in no way meant that the boy could be trusted.

"Probably less than one in 10...... This is still a conservative estimate. ”

Seeing that the metal ring in front of him began to rotate slowly after being embedded in the crystal, Curt easily jumped off the pillar and continued: "If there is no accident, I think he just picked a few parts of the inconsequential information that seemed to be worth two or three points and told us. ”

Buzz Buzz -

The metal ring made a small grinding sound, and the fossilized pillar of the tree began to glow subtly. In the dim light, all the structures that looked like gears and levers began to rotate slowly, and the resonance of all parts was like an earthquake.

The dusty mechanical structure turned again after a long sleep, and the harsh sound was extremely unpleasant. The ruins of the wall submerged under the pile of ashes trembled slightly, even if they wanted to wield their former role, they were probably powerless to break down to such a distance.

Despite the loss of many key parts, the mechanical structure of the neighborhood has been partially restored - although it may not seem to make much sense. Shimmers of light emerged beneath the ruins, magical glows shining like scattered stars.

"This is one of the key points in the supply of energy...... Even though the grey crystal blocks that strange guy gave us were only a little bit more effective than nothing. ”

Condescendingly observing the changes that have taken place under the tower, Lizzie uses her fingers to outline the positions that these mechanics will take on when they operate in a magical network. A map of the neighborhood came to her hand, and her finger was fiddling with the various symbols.

At this moment, a mutation suddenly occurred.

Thick darkness poured in from all directions like a tidal wave, and the horizon was compressed to the limit in the blink of an eye. The key nodes, which had only shimmered light before, suddenly became the most important light source, and those points of light scattered on the ground were instantly covered by darkness pouring in from nowhere.

"Is this the so-called 'dawn'?"

Curt turned his head to look at the sky, where the huge moon wheel had sunk completely below the horizon, and the morning light that should have been revealed was nowhere to be seen. (To be continued!)

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