They don't need to travel through all nine kingdoms to reach Midgard - in fact, after Heimdall's death, the Midgard space was fixed on the seventh level of the Nine Kingdoms, and behind this solidified chain of spaces are the Nibelungen of the Dead and the Niforheim of the Underworld.It is said that the situation in those two countries is worse than in other places, but Hao Ren does not plan to go there at the moment.They arrived at their destination: the Twilight Capital of Midgard.Midgard, in the days when the Norse gods were prosperous, it was the "atrium" of the Nine Kingdoms.It is said that Odin led the gods to open up various kingdoms on the branches of Eugudo Lahir, and divided the atrium into places where humans lived, and in Vivien's memory, this continent was actually the human experimental base and observation test ground of the Norse "gods".But whatever it used to be, it's almost like any other country now.The sky of Midgard was a reddish lead, and the dim light was almost indistinguishable from midnight, and the cloudy clouds covered the dry and twisted earth, drowsy as if it were about to collapse.Beneath the canopy, the charred earth was no longer visible, smoke and poisonous mist were pouring out from the criss-crossed ravines, and the tentacles of the eldest son peeking out of some of the most massive crevices in the ground, forming ridge-like protrusions in the aftermath of the disaster.Midgard used to have several rivers that flowed across the continent and a verdant mountain, but now that the rivers have dried up and the mountains are bare, among the scorched mountains lies the last spark of the "world": the Twilight Capital.The spherical aircraft glided silently through the darkness, gradually approaching the source of the energy response in front of them, and the situation in the Twilight City was presented to everyone through holographic projections.It was a city of unprecedented scale, but it was also a chaotic, old, crumbling city.Hao Ren saw a dusky barrier hanging between the mountains, which was translucent and irregular in shape, as if someone had tried to expand it to its present appearance.Inside the barrier, you can faintly see large areas of strangely shaped buildings.The buildings were stacked on top of each other, filling every inch of the barrier like some kind of diseased biological tissue, just as Wendell described it.The spherical vehicle stopped some distance from the Twilight Capital, and Anthony asked, "Where is the entrance?"
”Wendell was clearly a little uncomfortable with this aerial view.He stood at the edge of the platform and made out the direction of the city for a long time, and then raised his hand to point to the edge of the barrier near the corner of the mountains: "That's one of the gates. ”"Do I need any procedures to enter or exit?"
Hao Ren asked casually.Wendell just shrugged his shoulders silently: "Who are the formalities for?"
”Hao Ren quickly understood the meaning of this sentence: inside the barrier was the only remaining refuge for humans, and outside the barrier was endless darkness cut off from life, which could almost be seen as a one-way passage between the living and the dead, except for the light-seekers.Who would dare to go out through the gates?
And in this dark and eternal night, who will come in through the gates?
Perhaps thousands of years ago, the gates of the Twilight City were still passable, but now, even the relevant cards are probably useless."
We're afraid we'll have to deal with the Steam Council when we're inside," Wendell said, "and they're in charge of the city. ”The old man's face was mixed at the mention of the name "Steam Council", and there was a hint of dissatisfaction in his respect: he respected the city's administrators, but this "Steam Council" did not support the cause of the Light Seekers.In fact, as a pragmatic ruling collective.It was the Steam Council that continued to reduce the size of the Lightseekers, and recently issued a notice that they would no longer send out Lightseekers.This made Wendell's feelings about the council very complicated."
The Steam Council?
We're not very interested in that," Vivien shook her head, "We'd like to meet your 'Old Sage' first, who is still sheltering the Twilight Capital." ”An "ancient saint" who suddenly appeared two thousand years ago and has been sheltering the humans of Midgard to this day, which intrigued Vivien, and she vaguely guessed the identity of this ancient saint, which is why she came here.Wendell glanced at Vivien in surprise, "Of course the Ancient Saint is still sheltering us......
But I'm afraid it won't be so easy for you to meet him. ”Hao Ren raised his eyebrows: "He doesn't see anyone?"
”Wendell shook his head, "The Old Saint hasn't shown up for many years, and now only the caretakers of the lower districts can see him.There are thousands of people in the Twilight City who want to meet the ancient saints.But ordinary people simply don't qualify for this. ”Vivien smiled slightly, "We are from other realms, and I think this identity is enough to arouse the interest of the ancient saints." ”Wendell's expression changed instantly, obviously agreeing with Vivien's words.He muttered slightly, "Okay, that makes sense.The Ancient Saints would be glad to hear from you.I can help you get a message through the organization of the Light Seekers, and we still have a bit of a friendship with the caregivers.Either way, the Steam Council will be on your radar - they run the city, and they can't hide anything that happens within the barriers.To be honest, I try not to provoke the Steam Council as much as possible, they ......
Very conservative.I'm afraid there will be a block. ”Hao Ren waved his hand to signal that it didn't matter, and Anthony controlled the spherical craft to move towards the gates of the Twilight Capital.When they were still some distance from the barrier, the aircraft slowly descended, and the group took Lu directly in the desolate place outside the city: in order not to cause too much commotion, they could not fly in such a large air shuttle.Before reaching the entrance of the barrier, Hao Ren saw what was happening beyond the light curtain.Outside the barrier was a shriveled and twisted land that had been eroded by a storm of magical energy, and everything on the ground showed signs of severe weathering, and in the severely weathered landscape was a rather old complex of buildings: the remnants of a city from more than 2,000 years ago.The ruins clinged to the Twilight Barrier, and some of the ruins were even split in two by the barrier!"
It was the ancient city of 'Camhillen'."
Wendell explained as he stood beside Hao Ren, and curiously fiddled with the life support collar around his neck: this little device was much more advanced than his original magic amulet, and he didn't feel anything when he walked through the magic radiation.Looking at the ruins of the building that were divided in two by a light curtain, Hao Ren certainly knew what they meant: "Life and death, separated by a wall." ”"When the barrier was raised, the city was right on its edge, so the whole city was split in two, half of the city survived and has now merged into a block of the Twilight City, and the outer part of the barrier became like this," Wendell shook his head with a wry smile, "There were no gates here, so the people who stayed outside died." ”Lily stood on a large rock protruding from the ground and looked into the distance, and suddenly found that there were dots of light in the dark wilderness outside the light curtain, and she was immediately surprised: "There are people outside the barrier who are actually moving?!"
”"That's the gatherers," Wendell nodded, "The resources in the Twilight Capital are always limited, and we have to risk mining ore from the darkness outside, and the scholars have studied all sorts of ways to open up three mines near the Twilight Capital, but unfortunately not farther away."
Come with me, I know a way when I enter the gate, and I can walk from there so as not to cause trouble. ”The team marched through the darkness to the majestic curtain of light that emitted a soft yellow light.As its name suggests, the Twilight City serves as the last beacon of civilization on the night-shrouded continent of Midgard.It took them half an hour to walk through the ruins of the city beyond the barrier, and after passing over a large area of weathered and collapsed, almost indistinguishable from the rubble of buildings, a halo that could hold three trucks moving side by side appeared before everyone: this halo was embedded in the twilight barrier, and the light curtain inside the halo was noticeably thinner than the outside, and this was the gate."
What is this?"
Hao Ren looked at what was outside the gate in surprise.Outside the gates of the Twilight City is an artificially leveled land, where hundreds of sculptures are arranged in a disorderly manner, all of them are men, women and children with different expressions, some of them are hugging and crying, some are supporting each other, some are struggling to crawl forward, and the most striking is the one at the front of the sculpture group: this is an old man sitting on the ground, his legs have shrunk and deformed, but he just sits there quietly, facing the door, waving and smiling.It was as if he was waving and smiling at the entire Twilight Capital, or as if someone was standing on the other side of the light curtain, and the old man was waving goodbye to him.To this, Wendell only said one sentence: "When the barrier is raised, half of the city is left outside." ”(To be continued.) )