Shen Qiu watched as Mivia's figure disappeared from view, then he took out the wooden plaque and raised his head to look at the top of the Eternal Tree.

Although the text information on the wooden sign is very limited, Shen Qiu probably guessed a little.

The people of the Lansa civilization inhabit the Tree of Eternity and seem to have a unique faith.

The place called the Tree Whisper Sky Dome is the place they yearn for, a place similar to heaven.

As for the location of the Tree Whispering Vault, if you look at the information left by the child, it should be at the top of the Tree of Eternity.

"Interesting!"

Shen Qiu touched his chin and became more and more interested, ready to try to explore it alone.

So Shen Qiu's whole body flashed with purple thunder, and his toes touched the ground, and he jumped up towards the branches above his head.

When Shen Qiu jumped on the top branch, he quickly continued to jump upward.

He climbed through the dense foliage.

Although Shen Qiu didn't know how tall the Eternal Tree was, Shen Qiu was confident that with his speed, it would not take long to reach the top.

However, just as Shen Qiu kept jumping up.

A pair of scarlet eyes lit up in the pile of leaves, and Shen Qiu instinctively sensed the danger and turned his head to the right to look over.

I saw a poisonous snake more than ten meters long with green patterns all over its body, opening its bloody mouth and biting him.

Shen Qiu raised his left hand to accumulate the power of the rage, and a thunderous roar blasted over.

In an instant, the poisonous snake was pierced and fell.

After Shen Qiu finished settling it, he didn't stop and continued to jump up.

As a result, not long after, another ghost-faced spider with a body as tall as seven meters, red spots all over its body, and a baby's face fell from the top branch, swinging its sharp tentacles towards Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu subconsciously dodged.

Click!

The sharp tentacles cut through the branch with a three-meter incision.

Shen Qiu didn't entangle with it, but quickly pulled away like lightning, jumped to the top branch, and quickly broke away from the battle.

He quickly threw it away, but even so, Shen Qiu's expression was very solemn.

He found that the higher he went, the more frequent the attacks became, and the monsters became stronger.

If you didn't guess wrong, the upper part of the Eternal Tree, Mivia and her family must not have developed it.

However, Shen Qiu was not deterred, but wanted to go up more and more, so he kept jumping and climbing up.

Soon two hours passed.

Eternal Tree: 50,000 meters in height.

Shen Qiu struggled to avoid the attacks of all kinds of monsters, constantly jumping up.

As he ascended to higher and higher heights, Shen Qiu was surprised to find that the frequency of being attacked by monsters became lower and lower.

However, along with it, the body began to appear uncomfortable.

And as he ascended to higher heights, the discomfort intensified.

This discomfort is not due to the high-altitude reaction and lack of oxygen, as the Atom Suit can provide a certain amount of oxygen.

Shen Qiu then stopped on a branch, he held on to the thick body of the tree, and muttered to himself in astonishment.

"What's the situation? Why is my strength weakening? No, not debilitating? Is it suppressed? ”

Shen Qiu reacted suddenly, his current state was exactly the same as the inner city that attacked the city of Anjikara, and was suppressed by the Stone of the Black Luo Ring.

So Shen Qiu turned his head to look around, but there were branches and leaves all around, and there was no Black Luo Ring Stone at all.

Shen Qiu's expression became more and more puzzled, could it not be the Stone of the Black Luo Ring? Is there a problem with the air? ”

But the speculation about the air was quickly rejected by Shen Qiu.

If there is a problem with the air, then there is no reason to be fine down there, after all, the air is circulating.

Shen Qiu didn't have a clue for a while, but now he was facing a very serious choice.

If you give up and continue to explore at this moment, you will be tantamount to failure. But if he doesn't give up and climb up, his abilities will soon be completely suppressed with the current situation of being suppressed by injuries.

At that time, he will become an ordinary person with a stronger physique, and if he collides with an unsuppressed monster, then he will die.

Shen Qiu's expression kept changing, and finally he decided to give it a go.

If you keep being timid, it will be difficult to achieve great things in the future.

After Shen Qiu made his decision, he immediately stopped hesitating, turned on the Instant Thunder Polar Shadow and continued to jump up.

The Tree of Eternity: 80,000 meters in height.

At this time, Shen Qiu stopped, he felt that his strength had been completely suppressed and he had become an ordinary person. And the top of his head is still covered by the sky and the sun, and the top is not visible at all.

Shen Qiu didn't give up, he walked in front of the tree, stretched out his hands to grasp the uneven surface, and climbed up like a gecko.

At this moment, he had the feeling of going back to the beginning of playing extreme sports and challenging death climbing.

The danger of death stimulated Shen Qiu's nerves, and his blood gradually boiled, feeling more and more excited.

One hour, two hours

Shen Qiu didn't know how long he had been climbing, and his arms began to swell, but he didn't stop, he only had one belief, that is, to keep climbing up.

Tree of Eternity: 100,000 meters high.

Finally, when Shen Qiu passed through a dense foliage, the obscured vision instantly opened up infinitely, and the dazzling sunlight fell on his body.

In an instant, Shen Qiu saw the blue sky, and the entire sky seemed to be within reach.

Shen Qiu's face showed a joyful expression.

He did it!

But unfortunately, he looked around and didn't see the so-called Tree Whispering Sky at all.

Shen Qiu touched his chin and thought.

"Could it be that the legend is false? Or am I coming up in the wrong place? ”

Shen Qiu kept thinking about the words on the wooden card, although the child was indeed good at nonsense, but it could be engraved on the wooden card, so precious to hold, he felt that the child should not be lying.

But if the Tree Whispering Sky Dome really exists, which direction should I look for?

Shen Qiu's head is also a little painful, and the top of this Eternal Tree is also outrageous, and there is no end in sight.

If you don't know the specific location, you can really find death.

On top of that, his power was suppressed, and he couldn't move like lightning now.

However, at this moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Shen Qiu's mind.

"Wait, suppression? If the suppression is not generated out of thin air, but from a certain source, then as long as you move a distance in all directions, and then feel it carefully, won't you be able to distinguish which direction the suppression is enhanced? So is it possible that the source of suppression is in that direction? At the same time, the source of suppression, maybe it is in the so-called tree language sky? ”

The more Shen Qiu pondered, the more he felt that it was feasible.

So Shen Qiu began to try to move some distance in all directions to the top of the Eternal Tree.

Soon he locked on a direction.

"Found it!"

Shen Qiu showed a bright smile, and he immediately climbed in that direction.

Although it is a tree, the Tree of Eternity is not very difficult to climb because its branches and leaves are strong and lush.

In comparison, the biggest trouble is still suppression, and the window period of losing strength makes Shen Qiu feel that something is wrong.

In addition, Shen Qiu should always be vigilant around and keep his body close to the branches and leaves as much as possible, so as not to be so conspicuous, so as not to be targeted by some flying monsters.

……

——

Inside the Tree of Eternity, Skycanopy Base, and Conference Hall.

Gate, Aren, Dr. Achille, Michelin, Madley, Daankan and others all gathered.

At this time, Khruga walked out, and Getter and the others looked at Khruga and asked with a puzzled look.

"Big brother, you called us all over, what's going on?"

Heruga raised his hand, motioned for Gait not to speak, and then walked over to the group.

"All of you here are my closest relatives and important partners, and I am honored to be able to explore a different world with you. But due to my frequent physical problems, which caused us to continue to affect the land, I decided to transplant the Aberque heart. ”

As soon as these words came out, Michelin's expression suddenly dimmed, and in the end, her father still chose this path.

"Big brother, we support you!"

Gette immediately chimed in.

Arenn said in a deep voice.

"Old man, I believe you will be able to survive this hurdle, and when the time comes, you will never be bound by a broken body again."

In fact, although Heruga is not in good health, he has nothing to fault in terms of talent or combat strength.

Simply a genius among geniuses!

"Definitely!"

Heruga nodded heavily.

Dr. Achille said with a smile.

"Lord Heruga, when are we going to start transplanting? Once you have this heart, you can have a new lease of life and no longer have to endure the pain of physical failure. ”

"Without further ado, let's get started, let's go to the lab."

Heruga is not the kind of mother-in-law who has already made up his mind to transplant, so he will carry it out immediately.

When Gate's eyes showed a hint of joy when he heard this.

But he quickly disguised his delight.

Soon they arrived at the laboratory, only to see that Arburke's heart was sitting quietly in the laboratory container, and the whole heart was constantly contracting and beating.

Although it is just a heart, when everyone sees it again, a chill always rises in their hearts.

It was as if it wasn't a heart, but a beating and dormant monster.

Dr. Achille spoke respectfully.

"Lord Heruga, I'll prepare the surgical equipment."

"Hmm."

Khruga replied in a deep voice.

But at that moment, there was the sound of hurried footsteps, followed by an anxious shout.

"Wait!"

For a moment, everyone froze slightly, and Dr. Achille also stopped, and everyone turned their heads to look over.

I saw Mivia rushing in panting.

Gatt raised his eyebrows and reprimanded in annoyance.

"Mivia, what are you doing? Didn't you see that your father was about to have surgery? ”

"Great, just in time! Father, don't change your heart, I have found the fruit of eternity. ”

Mivia excitedly pulled out the dark red fruit from her pocket.

Everyone was shocked for a while, including Heruga's old face, which also showed a look of great surprise.

At this time, Michelin asked happily.

"Sister, have you really found the Eternal Fruit?"

"Hmm!"

Mivia nodded heavily.

At this time, Gate's face was gloomy, he suppressed his annoyance, and said angrily.

"Nonsense, there is no eternal fruit in this world, it is just a myth woven by the people of the Lan Sa civilization. And can you stop messing around, it's not a joke, you just pick an unknown fruit on the side of the road and come back for your father to eat, it will kill him. ”

"Third uncle, this fruit was found by my master for me from the ruins, so it wasn't picked by the roadside."

Mivia replied angrily.

"Big brother, that guy named Shen Qiu hasn't left yet, and he knows at a glance that he has a bad intention. There is definitely something wrong with this fruit, big brother, don't be deceived, the people of the Red Alliance must be uneasy and kind. ”

Git hurriedly said to Khruga.

"That's right, that guy Shen Qiu is very despicable, and he deliberately contacted Miss Mivia, we thought this guy was very suspicious at the time."

Madeley and others chimed in.

"Enough! It's all quiet! ”

Heruga shouted in a deep voice.

When Getter and the others saw Heruga speak, they closed their mouths one after another.

At this time, Michelin whispered to Heruga.

"Father, I don't think my sister will lie, as for Shen Qiu, although he is a member of the Red Alliance, but you have such a good relationship with the head of the Long Yan Council, he has no reason to harm you."

Heruga's expression changed for a moment, and then he spoke.

"I announced the suspension of the operation, and first tested this fruit to see if it was the fruit of eternity and what it did."

Heruga's transplantation of Aberke's heart was mainly for survival, and he knew better than anyone what was terrible about this heart, and if there was a better choice, he would certainly be willing to choose.

And his current body can still last for a while, so it's not a bad thing to test it first.

When Gate's expression stiffened a little when he heard Heruga's words, it was almost a little worse.

Soon, however, Gat returned to normal, and he glanced at Dr. Achille out of the corner of his eye.

Archie saw Gate's gaze and said with a smile.

"Miss Mivia, please give me the fruit and let me test it."

"Good!"

Mivia happily handed the fruit to Dr. Achille.

Achilla took out a box and carefully took the fruit, then said to Heruga.

"My lord, it will take some time to test, so you should pay more attention to your body during this time."

"Well, let's disperse."

Heruga waved his hand and said in a deep voice.

So they all departed.

——

The Tree of Eternity: 120,000 meters high.

At the end of the tree, Shen Qiu continued to climb in the direction of suppression, and he found that in the direction he climbed, the branches and leaves continued to rise, like a bulge.

If nothing happens, he should be heading towards the center bulge at the top of the Eternal Tree.

Just when Shen Qiu crawled over a raised branch and leaf.

I saw the sky in the distance, a magnificent and mysterious city in the sky, standing on the top of the Eternal Tree, the whole city was shrouded in a mysterious light, the solemn and magnificent spire-like buildings were staggered, countless trees and vines were entwined on the surface of the building, blooming with all kinds of flowers, the whole city in the sky was like a dream garden, it was amazing.

Shen Qiu took a deep breath and muttered to himself.

"I didn't expect there to really be a place where the tree whispers the sky."

Shen Qiu looked at the sky for a long time before slowly coming back to his senses.

At this moment, Shen Qiu's heart was also quite excited and nervous, he wanted to unveil this mysterious city, but he didn't know the bottom of his heart.

No one knows what unknown dangers there will be, and perhaps there may be remnants of indigenous people.

With a complicated heart, Shen Qiu got closer and closer to the Sky Dome of Tree Language.

At this time, he stepped on the solid ground, looked down at his feet, and all kinds of weeds and wildflowers were growing vigorously, covering the floor tiles laid on the ground.

Shen Qiu continued to walk, and soon he came to a ruined boulder arch, the surface of which was covered with moss, and the bare part of the arch was carved with sacred and solemn reliefs.

Shen Qiu passed through the boulder arch and entered the Sky Dome of Tree Language.

The solemn minaret-like retro buildings made of white boulders blend in a very harmonious way.

And all the streets are covered with all kinds of vegetation, and all kinds of beautiful flowers bloom everywhere.

The breeze blows, the vegetation swayes, and the scenery is beautiful.

Shen Qiu continued to walk forward, and at this time he saw a broken war mecha lying on the ground not far away, half of its body covered with vines and weeds.

"This?"

Shen Qiu looked at the broken war mecha in front of him, and his eyes showed an extremely shocked look.

Isn't this the mechanical weapon that appeared in the silver corridor in the video that Qi Lin cracked at that time?

I didn't expect to be here.

Shen Qiu cautiously approached, but the broken war mecha did not react at all.

Soon he walked in front of the broken war mecha, this mecha was very advanced in appearance, the face was in the shape of a human face, the body height reached more than ten meters, the chest was broken, and other parts were also seriously deformed.

How strong a attack it has to be to be so badly damaged.

Shen Qiu touched his chin and said to himself with some regret.

"It's a pity that Anji didn't come, otherwise I can try to see if I can read some information from the wreckage."

Of course, Shen Qiu was not a person who only complained, after he regretted it, he decisively climbed onto the wreckage of the mecha and came to the head of the mecha.

He pulled out the abyss and plunged into the crack in the broken armor of his head, prying hard.

Click!

Soon the broken head armor was pried open, revealing the internal structure.

Shen Qiu squatted down and pulled, and after half a day, Shen Qiu pulled out a data box, and he put it into the mechanical capsule.

After doing this, Shen Qiu stood on the wreckage of the mecha and looked ahead, and the broken mechanical weapons that fell in the weeds one meter high came into view.

Shen Qiu was also becoming more and more curious, what happened to this Tree Whispering Sky Dome?

Thinking of this, Shen Qiu immediately jumped down from the wreckage of the mecha and walked forward.

As a result, he didn't take a quick walk, his foot was tripped directly, and the whole person leaned forward, but fortunately, Shen Qiu stabilized his body in time.

However, Shen Qiu looked at the ground covered with weeds in confusion, he was curious about what he had tripped up.

However, when Shen Qiu picked up the weeds on the ground, the whole person was stunned.

Below, I saw a skeleton in a sky-blue linen robe, holding a long sword embedded in a triangular module.

Shen Qiu took a deep breath and immediately turned around and walked to the side, brushing away the weeds on the ground, only to see a corpse dressed in a strange robe.

For a while, Shen Qiu's scalp was a little numb, he raised his head and looked at the huge tree and heavenly dome, could it be that the whole city was full of corpses, right?

Shen Qiu's heart continued to fluctuate, and he felt that his conjecture was absolutely correct, and these dense vegetation were actually explained in disguise.

If it weren't for the sustenance of these corpses, how could the vegetation here grow so well?

As for these corpses, if there is no accident, they should be the aborigines of the Lansa civilization.

It's just that Shen Qiu is a little unsure now, whether these mechanical weapons are the guards of this tree whispering heavenly dome or the intruders.

At this time, Shen Qiu's gaze fell on the weapon held in the corpse's hand.

Although many of these weapons are decayed and damaged, the atomic modules embedded in them still shine.

"Forget it, don't think about that, collect the atomic modules first."

Shen Qiu suddenly became excited when he thought that there were corpses everywhere here, and the weapons in each corpse's hands were embedded with atomic modules.

This proper pie in the sky?

So Shen Qiu began to search for corpses along the way, prying the module from the top of the weapon.

A!

Two pieces!

It didn't take long for Shen Qiu to pry dozens of pieces, including cubes.

Shen Qiu was about to laugh.

However, in the distance, a crippled mechanical warrior fell from a tall building with a minaret.

The dim electronic eyes suddenly lit up.

Its mechanical head turned with difficulty, and a jerky grinding sound sounded, and then the electronic eyes locked on Shen Qiu, who was picking up the atomic module in the distance.

"Unknown target spotted!"

"Matching database."

"Match failed."

"Scanning target."

In the scarlet electronic eyes, next to the scanned image of Shen Qiu, rows of data scrolled.

"Pupil data being acquired, data composition unknown"

"Unidentified."

Syllable~

In the next second, the mechanical samurai's electronic eyes dimmed.

At this time, Shen Qiu was still happily collecting modules, and soon he collected them in front of a spire-like building, and he walked in curiously.

See if you can make additional gains.

As a result, when Shen Qiu entered the building, the whole person was stunned.

The walls and floors of the building are made of metal, and there is nothing but the chains on the walls.

The whole minaret-like building is like a model.

Shen Qiu took a deep breath, and a very bad thought rose in his mind.

Shouldn't this so-called Tree Whispering Sky Dome be a prison from beginning to end, used to deceive the people of the Lan Shao civilization?

If that's really the case, it's a scam from start to finish?

The more Shen Qiu thought about it, the more he felt that the possibility was extremely high, if this was the case, the lie should have been exposed, and Lan Shaoren fought back.

Thinking of this, Shen Qiu was even more determined to explore the city.

If you can find out the relevant history and figure out who destroyed the Lansa civilization, maybe you can find the clues of the high-dimensional civilization.

So Shen Qiu walked out of the building and continued to collect modules while exploring the city in front of him.

Three hours later.

Just when Shen Qiu was full of exploration, he walked past a towering mecha that had fallen to the ground.

Suddenly, the entire mecha's electronic eyes lit up.

"Beast Mecha, remove the dormant state."

"Hint: Unknown target spotted."

"Identity matching fails, intruders are exterminated!"

Creak!

With the jerky sound of mechanical joint bearings, the huge beast mecha moved.

Shen Qiu, who was bending down to collect the atomic module, was suddenly startled by the sudden movement, and he turned to look over.

When he saw the beast mecha crawl up, his face turned green!

He didn't expect that there would be a mechanical weapon that could move.

So it was like running, but unfortunately, the beast mecha that got up didn't let Shen Qiu go at all, and it strode towards Shen Qiu.

At this time, Shen Qiu, who had lost his thunder ability, couldn't run fast at all.

He turned his head to look back, and saw that the distance was being narrowed a little bit, and his face became even more ugly, and then he raised his left hand to release the thunder roar cannon.

As a result, the left palm covering the Atom Demon Suit had a cracked emitting port, but it didn't shoot a dazzling beam, just a little purple lightning.

Zizi!

When Shen Qiu saw this scene, the corners of his mouth twitched wildly.

This time it's a big problem, and while the Atom Suit isn't as affected by Suppression, the Atom Suit is best used to provide defense and amplification.

It has no means of attacking itself.

At this moment, the beast mecha opened its mouth, revealing a pitch-black cannon barrel.

Zizi!

A dazzling beam of light blasted directly towards Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu didn't have time to dodge at all, his current speed and strength were just stronger than ordinary people.

Rumble!

A huge explosion swept through.

Shen Qiu flew straight out and slammed into the ground.

The sharp pain made Shen Qiu grin his teeth, and he struggled to get up and glanced down at his abdomen on the side.

I saw that the armor covering the atom was blown up, and the surface was also blown up by the flesh and blood.

However, in the next second, a phenomenon that shocked Shen Qiu happened, and Shen Qiu's bloody wound recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before he could react, the wound healed, and the skin returned to its original state, leaving not even a single scar, as if it had never been injured.

Shen Qiu was also frightened by this terrifying recovery power, which was not something that a human could have at all, and it was no different from a monster.

Of course, if you guess correctly, this terrifying recovery power should be provided by Qi Lin's genetic medicine mutations.

Shen Qiu could only pray now that his body was stable and that he wouldn't turn into a monster.

Without waiting for Shen Qiu to think about it, he suddenly sensed the danger and hurriedly dodged.

The beast mech rushed up and picked up a huge iron fist and smashed it down on him!

Bang!

The iron fist smashed directly into the air, smashing a huge hole in the ground.

Shen Qiu ran wildly.

The Beast Mecha tries to straighten its body, but the mechanical joints of the body rust, so it is very slow.

When it straightened up, Shen Qiu had already run some distance. So the beast mecha opened the belly launch port, and there was still a missile left inside.

Shen Qiu turned his head to look back, his face was dark, and he hurriedly ran towards the building next to him.

Unfortunately, when it was about to launch, a red prompt popped up in the electronic eye.

"Launch failed."

"Restart the launch!"

Click!

The Beast Mech tried several times before finally succeeding in launching the missile.

Shen Qiu immediately turned behind a spire building.

Rumble!

The missile hit the building instantly, and the huge explosion directly blew the building down.

Shen Qiu hurriedly fled with a cold face.

The beast mecha chased after it with heavy steps, its electronic eyes flashing with clear commands.

Shen Qiu's nerves were tense to the extreme, if it was changed to normal circumstances, he would definitely not be afraid of the other party at all.

But now the ability is suppressed, and although it is protected by the atomic magic suit, the physical strength and resilience are still there.

But as long as you are caught up, you will die if you don't do it.

And who knows how many mechanical weapons can move in this city?

Facts have proved that when people are unlucky, they often do not go alone.

Just as Shen Qiu was desperately trying to escape, the eyes of a seven-meter-tall humanoid mechanical weapon, Iron Wolf Flower, with a metal wolf head and sharp mechanical claws, lit up on the side of the road.

Immediately after that, the broken mechanical weapon Iron Wolf Flower climbed up, but fortunately, one of its mechanical feet was broken, and the internal wiring flashed with sparks.

But even so, after Shen Qiu turned his head and saw it, his face kept twitching.

One pursuer became two.

This was a bright beam of light shot over from a distance, Shen Qiu's face changed suddenly, and he didn't care about the Iron Wolf Flower, and jumped forward suddenly.

Rumble!

A huge explosion exploded behind it, and the shock wave sent it flying more than a dozen meters.

Boom~

Shen Qiu fell heavily to the ground, got up in embarrassment, and ran away!

At this time, the mechanical weapon Iron Wolf Flower limped to catch up.

Plop, plop~

Shen Qiu's heart kept beating wildly.

He tried to calm himself down, and kept looking at the towering buildings around him.

Immediately after, Shen Qiu locked onto the middle alley of the two adjacent buildings in front of him.

He ran decisively wherever he went.

Bell bell~

At this time, the Iron Wolf Flower jumped up suddenly, and the shadow directly shrouded Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu could see the shadows on the ground, raised his claws high, he held his breath, completely ignored, and desperately rushed into the alley.

At this time, the mechanical weapon Iron Wolf Flower swept over with a claw.

Click!

Sharp claws are blocked by towering buildings.

Shen Qiu turned his head to look back, and accelerated to rush out of the other exit of the alley, coming to a dense complex of buildings.

He then turned around the complex, then found a building and hid in.

The Iron Wolf Flower and the Beast Mecha, which had lost their target, began to wander around and walk in other directions.

Shen Qiu hid quietly, when no movement was heard at all outside.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew~"

Shen Qiu's expression changed for a while, if he guessed correctly, although the Lan Shao people had destroyed most of the mechanical guards here. But in the end, it must have been lost, so there is more or less a little bit of active mechanical weapons left here.

It wouldn't have been a problem if it had been changed to the usual, but now that his abilities have been suppressed, it will be deadly.

The point was that Shen Qiu had no clue at all, and he couldn't figure out what was suppressing his ability at all.

The safest thing to do now is to get out of the city.

But Shen Qiu was really a little unwilling.

His expression changed for a moment, and he finally decided to explore further, maybe he could find the source of the suppression.

Thinking of this, Shen Qiu immediately walked out of the building cautiously, and he continued to grope forward.

However, this time, Shen Qiu was very cautious, but whenever he saw the mechanical weapon lying down, he tried to stay away as much as possible, whether it was broken or not, he did not approach.

After all, the two mechanical weapons that chased him just now were both dormant at first.

If you don't touch it yourself, you should be fine in theory.

(End of chapter)