Chapter 544 - 510: The Connected Islands Underground
After repeated measurements with Vali’s pocket watch, it is confirmed that this is the legendary Eastern World where Naga rampage and criminals hide, the other side of Earth.
Hangeval also quickly took out the map crumpled by Elena to check, but unfortunately, this mysterious eastern region remained a blank on his map.
At this moment, everyone looked at each other, and Da Fei’s face was a mix of happiness and anxiety. He was glad that he had planned to pioneer and expand in the New World, and now he could start his work ahead of schedule! However, he was worried about the troubles in the Eastern World, wondering if his group of over a thousand could make a stand. Damn! They must hold their ground, since if even such a strong team couldn’t stabilize here, wouldn’t more people from him be sent to die later?
The Eastern World, the legendary Eastern Marsh Country with thousands of islands, has countless unknown small reefs. If compared with a real-world map, it would probably be similar to the Southeast Asia region, with a subtropical climate.
But in the game, the Eastern World does not have those large land areas found in the Malay Archipelago; even an island the size of a town’s territory is considered a large island here. Due to the limited land area, the scale of the various tribal forces here is not very large. The real rulers here are the Naga Sea Race, as only they can unite these fragmented land tribes.
All tribes must submit to the Naga and tribute their products. Tribes favored by the Naga can even send people to serve as priests in the Sea God Temple. The Naga also do not refuse criminals fleeing from the Western Continent, of course, under the condition that they must submit and pay tribute to them. Only in this way can these fugitives possibly find a place to settle among the countless islands. However, the Naga will not protect these people. Thus, it is quite normal for these fugitives to kill each other to finish their tribute tasks or even attack native forces.
Life here is like hell, with endless chaos within the order defined by the absolute power. The so-called order is that no tribal force may own more than two large islands of territory; otherwise, it would challenge the rule of the Naga and be punished.
The information about the Eastern World available from the official website is just this much, and even less was available during the public test. After all, this place is only accessible to players stronger than level 50, and level 50 players are more interested in the resource-rich New World, having no interest in crossing oceans to come here. High-end players who make it here would definitely not disclose any discoveries on forums.
...
At this moment, Hangeval let out a wry smile: "It’s said that this place hides ferocious fugitives; our arrival here really seems like fate."
Vali spoke in a deep voice: "I heard that as long as we pay tribute to the Naga, they will accept all comers; survival shouldn’t be an issue for our group."
"Paying tribute? That’s worse than being in prison!" Hangeval’s face darkened, and he turned to Da Fei and asked, "What do you think, my friend?"
Damn! What is there to think, bro? Haven’t you already escaped through two maps, and shouldn’t you be giving out the Little Jin’s task rewards by now?
Da Fei shook his head and sighed, "Let’s first scout the island, and I’ll check the surroundings!"
Hangeval nodded: "Good, that’s what we need to focus on right now." Immediately, he waved his hand and ordered, "Bazak, take some people and search the whole island. Steel Hammer, organize the defense immediately..."
"Yes, boss!"
The dwarfs got busy at once, and Da Fei commanded the Blood Eagle to scout the islands around. However, the entire sea area was enveloped in fog, making the scouting ineffective. That puzzled Da Fei, wondering how there could be such heavy fog on a clear day? What would have happened if it was cloudy? This definitely isn’t scientific!
The Blood Eagle soared over the foggy sea and discovered countless red dots swimming in the water, which were numerous water elements of various sizes! Meanwhile, the dwarfs’ continuous shouts of discovering another Naga skeleton here and there kept coming.
Now, Da Fei was starting to feel the strangeness of this place. Generally, like humans, a high-end intelligent sea race like the Naga would not allow their people’s skeletons to be exposed to the wilderness. The current situation with Naga skeletons everywhere could only mean one thing: this sea area dominated by water elements was not under Naga rule! If that was the case, doesn’t it mean his team wouldn’t be threatened by Naga? Damn, where else could you find such a good and coincidental situation?
The Blood Eagle had now reached the island Da Fei initially saw with a blurry outline, which had similar landscape to Da Fei’s island with woods, grasslands, and beaches with Naga and unknown sea beast skeletons. Just then, Da Fei spotted a building—it was a lighthouse!
—Lighthouse: A neutral facility in the wilderness. After a player visits, it will light up the surrounding area, increasing the speed of that player’s fleet in that sea area by 5%. (The effect of the lighthouse increasing fleet speed can be stacked; visiting more lighthouses benefits fleet navigation. Players from the same camp visiting a lighthouse will not affect other players who have visited, but once an enemy camp player visits, the visiting effect for all players of the friendly camp will disappear.)
Da Fei raised his eyebrows; it turned out to be a nu
At this moment, seeing a lighthouse in such a mysterious sea area truly gave Da Fei, who had been roughing it in the wilderness for a long time, a hint of the comforting essence of civilization. However, the issue is with so many Water Elements below the sea surface, how could a ship dare to navigate this area? If ships can’t come in, aren’t these dwarves essentially no different from being in prison? So-called early pioneering is completely empty talk.
Da Fei felt troubled again. Damn it, does this mean I can’t go back to guard the city?
Just then, Da Fei spotted a new development: there was a clearing in the forest on the island, and suddenly, it was the entrance to an underground staircase!
—Underground Staircase Entrance: A neutral facility in the wilderness, allows players’ troops to instantly reach the Underground World through this entrance.
Another facility in the wilderness! This Underground Staircase Entrance acts like a short-range Teleportation Gate connecting to the underground, allowing any troops that are inconvenient for burrowing due to their enormous size to easily enter and exit the Underground World. This means there’s a hidden realm beneath this island!
Startled, the dwarves on the island immediately began to shout: "An entrance to the Underground World has been discovered!"
Understood! Although the waterways between the two islands are blocked, they are actually connected through an underground sea tunnel! If that’s the case, this is definitely not Naga territory; the Naga would never allow the islands to connect, thus forming a unified military threat against them.
So, who owns this sea area?
Now, Da Fei, Elena, Hangeval, and Vali were gathered at the entrance of the underground staircase in the forest clearing.
Hagval said solemnly, "I’ve been to many places in the world and seen many such underground entrances, but without exception, those who can construct such pathways are extremely powerful entities. I also feel a threat coming from underground, and if we dare to enter this entrance, we will definitely be attacked!"
Elena added seriously, "This is an exit of the Divine Domain Space, and to some extent, it has also received Divine Power from the Divine Domain Space, so this area is filled with power. Naturally, it attracts some powerful beings to reside here, this fog, these Water Elements, and the underground passage are surely the masterpieces of this powerful entity."
Hangeval nodded, "Correct, and powerful beings will not pay tribute or submit to the Naga."
Vali sighed, "It’s also possible that this is the work of that Demigod who escaped from the fifth layer of the prison. If it’s him, he would definitely hate us dwarves to the bone!"
Da Fei suddenly remembered the black-figure man mentioning the origin of the Otherworld escape route at the tavern, which was a permanent spatial rift left by an escaping Demigod forcibly tearing the space.
Da Fei exclaimed in shock: "Can it be such a coincidence? Are we on the same escape route as him?"
Hangeval bitterly smiled, "If it were me, my first reaction would also be to run towards the island; otherwise, running towards the mainland could be very troublesome if it happened to be in some kingdom’s territory."
Vali chuckled, "I knew you would think that way. If it were me, my first instinct would also be to pursue the island."
—Ah pu! Da Fei sprayed out old blood! And here he thought running to the island was a unique and unexpected approach; turns out they were thinking the same? No wonder they all supported it so readily!
Da Fei quickly asked, "Do the officers know who that Demigod is?"
Vali shook his head, "I don’t know; I know too little about the fifth layer, and moreover, that was many years ago."
Hangeval shook his head, "No matter who the owner here is, our crisis has not ended. We need to settle down first, but this island is too small, not suitable for so many of us to settle and develop. We must find a larger island."
Da Fei nodded, "I’ll continue to scout the surrounding conditions, everyone wait for my results."
Hangeval nodded with satisfaction, "Truly worthy of being a brother. Without brothers, we wouldn’t know where to go in this fog."
Vali also sighed, "Totally convincing."
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