Chapter 121

Hearing Hao Ren's muttering, Nangong Wuyue, who was scrambling to her feet to treat Gun's arm with ointment for scratches, was greatly shocked: "Besides us? In this ghost place ruled by monsters?"

"That brain monster just tried to send out an alert, but a suddenly appearing force shielded it," Hao Ren nodded. "Our senses might be malfunctioning, but the data terminal's sensors and memory won't be wrong. It can confirm that the force that appeared at that time was different from the aura of the corrupted monsters."

"Wait, quiet—" At this moment, Nangong Sanba suddenly raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet and began to vigilantly pay attention to the movements around him. "I feel it again… that feeling when we first entered this underground… there's something around!"

This time, the strange feeling was so obvious that even Gun-meow quickly noticed the abnormality. The cat girl crouched on the ground on all fours, her back arched high, and her tail stood up like a stick, with all the fur on it bristling: "Meow wuuu wuuu wuu—"

Having just solved a brain monster and escaped the danger of being exposed, they were now encountering an unknown peeping presence. Everyone's nerves were instantly stretched to the extreme, but Vivian quickly calmed down, summoning lightning orbs to hold the line while lowering her voice: "Come out, I've already sensed you—if you continue with this ambiguous attitude, we can only remain hostile to you."

Several seconds passed after Vivian's words, and the tunnel was still silent, but just as Lily was losing patience and preparing to speak, a small ball of flashing light suddenly popped out of thin air in the air near everyone.

The small ball of light was blue-white, but it was also mixed with a slight trace of black-red. After appearing, it quickly bounced twice in mid-air, and then condensed into a small human figure.

It was a little fairy wearing a blue skirt with big eyes.

Hao Ren: "..."

The little fairy: "..."

"It's... it's a fairy!" The first to break the silence was indeed Lily. The husky girl jumped up on the spot, pointing at the little thing emitting a faint light in mid-air and exclaiming, "How can there be fairies here! Where did this come from!"

The little fairy immediately bared its teeth and brandished its claws: "This is Amantir! Fairies live in Amantir! Of course, there will be fairies in Amantir!"

The fairies of Amantir?! They still existed, and they had survived until today?!

Hao Ren was instantly struck by a strong shock, and a series of conjectures emerged from his mind. At the same time, he also saw some detailed features on the fairy in front of him: everything looked no different from the fairies seen on Nakdal or the Nexus Planet, but one thing was special.

This little fairy had a strand of hair on its head like a cowlick, and that cowlick had a very glaring black-red color, which could not help but remind people of the earth under the erosion of those corrupted monsters.

If he guessed correctly, this black-red characteristic was evidence of the direct erosion of the Lord of the Abyss's power, which meant... this fairy in front of him was actually corrupted?

But after taking a look at the little one in mid-air, who was crossing its arms and glaring at Lily with all its might, looking unconvinced but not daring to fight, Hao Ren suddenly felt that if there really were these little fairies in the corrupted minions, the average *B-ge* of the entire corrupted army would probably be dragged down...

"Alright, alright, you two calm down," Vivian also noticed the black-red cowlick on the little fairy's head, but she did not show too much difference, but stood in front of the little one and Lily first. "Fairy... right? Are you a surviving Amantir fairy? Was it you who helped us just now?"

"What else could it be but a fairy!" The little one shouted arrogantly, "You're so stupid, you dare to run around here with just a few people, if I didn't take action, you would definitely be surrounded by so—many (she deliberately dragged out a very long sound here) monsters! Hurry up and thank the great fairy!"

"Was it you who made the move just now?" Hao Ren was greatly surprised, and the vigilance he felt towards the little one's black-red cowlick could not help but weaken. "So you are fighting against those corrupted legions?"

"Of course, fairies have to fight with those monsters!" The little one crossed its arms in mid-air, and the cowlick on its head stood up as if it had been stimulated. "And if it weren't for the fairy's action, you would have been discovered by now!"

Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other, and the latter then looked at the little one: "How many fairies are there like you? Could it be that Amantir still has a surviving fairy settlement?"

The little fairy thought for a while: "There are many fairy companions, settlement... wait a minute, why should the fairy tell strangers these things! You haven't said where you came from yet! What if you are bad guys?"

Having contacted these little things more than once, Hao Ren already had a good understanding of their average intelligence and way of thinking, so he said casually: "Can bad guys fight those monsters to the death—we who came over and stirred up trouble so obviously are good guys."

Sure enough, the little one immediately nodded: "Oh, what you said makes sense, those who fight with those monsters must be good guys..."

"You said just now that there are still many fairies in this place?" Vivian continued to ask the previous question, "How did you survive?"

"Then you first say who you are," the little guy was unexpectedly stubborn, and his memory seemed to be stronger than other fairies, and he had not forgotten the previous topic. "Why did you suddenly appear here—the fairy doesn't remember there being races like you around here."

The fairies living in Amantir could not know the changes outside, and it was obviously useless to mention the drone legions and observers at this time, so Hao Ren brought up Salaman: "We are allies invited by Salaman, the legion commander of the Guardian Legion, to infiltrate this planet to carry out a mission."

"Salaman?! That big guy?" The little fairy exclaimed, "He's still alive? Still guarding the Nexus?"

"You thought the Nexus had fallen?" Hao Ren was stunned for a moment, then turned on the communicator, confirmed that the encrypted link was still secure, and activated the communication with Salaman. "If you don't believe me, you can talk to Salaman directly."

The little fairy immediately stared nervously at the communication device that Hao Ren took out. The picture that appeared on the device was extremely blurred, and the sound was distorted and intermittent: In order to remain hidden in Amantir, a fallen stronghold occupied by the corrupted, all communication lines had been highly encrypted and had their intensity downgraded. In addition, Amantir was full of chaotic interference, so being able to ensure a connection was already extremely difficult, and naturally it was impossible to pursue communication quality any further.

However, from the blurred picture, it was still very obvious to distinguish Salaman's face with thick beard and hair, and the old giant's voice was transmitted two seconds later: "Observer, Lord of the Throne, is the operation going smoothly? Why did you send a message suddenly?"

According to the previously agreed security rules, after the operation began, both sides should reduce contact as much as possible to reduce the risk of being discovered by the corrupted. Actively sending a message was only allowed in special circumstances, so Salaman asked this question.

"Salaman? Bi-i-ig guy?!" The little fairy saw the figure of the Guardian Legion Commander really appearing on the communicator, and finally couldn't help but exclaim, "He's really still alive! It's really you!"

"This is..." The giant legion commander obviously did not expect to see such a little one from the communication screen, and was also dumbfounded at the moment. "This is a fairy?! Where are you? Why are there fairies?!"

"We are now in the underground facilities of the Great Temple of the Control Center, and we are close to the storage location of the Amantir Crystal," Hao Ren briefly explained his current situation. "... then this little guy appeared and said that there are more fairies here."

"The fairies of Amantir actually survived..." The giant legion commander's voice sounded quite incredible. "Unbelievable... how did you survive? And it seems that you have not been corrupted by the power of the Lord of the Abyss? Did those freaks not attack the crystal matrix in the fortress?"

"We escaped in advance," the little fairy somersaulted in the air. "Those monsters dug out the crystals as energy, and many fairies didn't have time to escape, but the remaining fairies discovered the danger in advance, cut off their connection with the crystals, and then moved to a deeper place. When the goddess built these planets, she used primitive crystals as the core, and although those crystals were rough and had no energy, it was still possible for the fairies to live in them!"

Salaman listened and exclaimed in admiration: "There is such an operation? You all hid in the core? Did those freaks not chase you?"

"No, because the fairies are all su~~per weak, they thought that the fairies were all killed when the crystals were removed!" The little one said with a smug face (however, there was really nothing to be proud of in what she said). "Occasionally, some fairies pop out, and it seems that those monsters don't care much..."

Hao Ren looked a little speechless at the little one in front of him who didn't know if she could figure out the current situation, and then found an excuse to take the data terminal to the side and said to Salaman in a low voice: "Did you notice the cowlick on her head?"

"Cowlick?"

"... the hair that sticks up. That fairy actually also has traces of being infected by the power of the Lord of the Abyss, but..."

"It seems that her spirit is very normal, and she is still standing on the opposite side of the Abyss's minions," Salaman took over the part that Hao Ren didn't finish. "You also said just now that the fairy helped you."

Hao Ren frowned: "Can this situation occur? Being infected by the power of the Lord of the Abyss, but not being affected at all, just dyeing your hair?"

"It has never happened before, but anything is possible for fairies," Salaman said quietly. "When the mother created this race, she designed many... 'characteristics' that we cannot understand. I believe that many of these characteristics were specially prepared to fight against the Lord of the Abyss. After all, although the Creation Engine can completely eliminate the Abyss's erosion of the entire universe after it is started, before the engine is started, she must first ensure that the End Network can survive safely—and the fairies are the computing units of the End Network, so they must also have the ability to maintain themselves and survive for a long time under the erosion of the power of the Lord of the Abyss."

Hearing Salaman's guess, Hao Ren nodded slightly, and then asked: "Now we have to modify the plan a bit—there are a large number of surviving fairies in Amantir, and our mission may have to add one more item."

"... you don't plan to 'take' the entire core away, do you?" Salaman looked at Hao Ren in astonishment. "You must know that those surviving fairies are living in the core of Amantir!"

"It doesn't necessarily have to be like this," Hao Ren thought for a while. "I want to talk to that fairy first. There should be a way."