"Understanding too little... perhaps?" Celine's fine tendrils drooped, seemingly touched by the remark. "Indeed, the longer I stay in the Association of Secret Seekers, the more I feel I know so little. And those books you brought back from the Dream World have opened my eyes greatly. Hearing you say that, perhaps I shouldn't describe it as unbelievable—because there's something even more unbelievable."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Us," Celine chuckled. "According to what you said, aren't we all made up of a bunch of elements? Carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and such... not much different from trees. But we can cry, laugh, and think, which is much more miraculous than emitting light."

"I've read that book too, but I still find it hard to believe," Nightingale sighed. "I really don't want to admit that the skin on my body is not fundamentally different from rough tree bark."

"That's probably the secret of the structure that Your Majesty is referring to."

Celine looked at Roland, but he didn't respond.

"Your Majesty?"

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Roland then came back to his senses. "Celine, what was that sentence you said earlier?"

"That the luminous monoliths are more miraculous than us?"

"That's it..." He felt an idea about to burst forth in his mind. "Could it be that the so-called monoliths were not placed there by someone as a memento, but that they are the stick figures themselves?"

"You mean—" Celine's voice was somewhat surprised.

"The stick figures are the monoliths, and what we see are the remains they left behind," Roland answered, word by word, while his body couldn't help but shudder. That's right, a completely new life form, different from carbon-based organisms—silicon-based life.

At first, he hadn't associated it with this aspect, but once the idea emerged, not only could some characteristics of the "luminous monoliths" themselves be explained, but the murals left in the temple also had a deeper meaning.

First of all, why are there so many lines on the monoliths? Not only on the surface, but also inside—if they were all carved with tools, then even Anna, who has awakened Blackfire, wouldn't be able to do it in a short time, let alone the fact that, according to the discoverer, every monolith is like that.

If you think from a different perspective, it's not surprising that they grew out of themselves.

Perhaps "blood" once flowed endlessly in the lines. Under the pressure of the blood, the silicon oxide produced a localized piezoelectric effect—and these electrical signals mixed together, eventually forming thoughts. In addition, the current can be converted into visible light through some mechanism, so they have the ability to communicate with the outside world.

Roland couldn't help but think of the huge combined stick figures and the lake formed by flowing blood in the murals...

From the perspective of stability, oil is naturally more suitable than water.

Thinking deeper, the stick figures' greatest enemy, the Radioactive Race, may not have developed a worship of radioactive materials for no reason.

Strong radiation can interfere with circuits and even cause "electronic devices" to malfunction—this may be the source of the Radioactive Race's faith!

Roland seemed to see a shocking picture slowly unfolding before him.

Two completely different civilizations launched a final battle in the extreme south for the relics of the gods. One was completely wiped out, and the blood that flowed out formed the underground River Styx and the strangling marsh. But because the body does not decay, it still exists as a tombstone buried underground after thousands of years. The other side won the victory, but its whereabouts are unknown. Except for the ruins of Cage Mountain and the Ceremonial Magic Cube, it disappeared even more completely. Later generations can only guess the history that once happened through a few weathered murals.

This is just unbelievable!

"The luminous monoliths are life forms like us?" Celine pondered. "Forgive me for speaking frankly, but I find it hard to imagine that these blocks have their own consciousness and can move freely... Do you have more evidence?"

Roland calmed the shock in his heart and shook his head slightly. "This is just my personal speculation. The truth may be very different, because from an evolutionary point of view, such a thing is almost impossible."

What a life will become depends largely on the environment in which it is nurtured. Whether it's devils or evil beasts, they are still products within a biosphere, but silicon-based life? That's completely another path of evolution. If they share a set of natural environments, it's hard to imagine that there should be two kinds of life with different essential structures.

"But according to you, the content of the murals is surprisingly consistent..." Celine was silent for a moment. "In that case, let's put the mystery aside for now. I think as long as we continue to explore, we will always know the truth—after all, only in this way will people truly grow."

"Sounds reasonable..." Nightingale pouted.

"This is also one of the Association of Secret Seekers' creeds," Celine smiled. "Speaking of which, I've also done some tests on the luminous reaction of the monoliths. I wanted to try using it to replace the magic stones used for lighting, but the results were not ideal."

"It doesn't work...?" Roland frowned. When he first received the report, the first idea that popped into his mind was to replace the lamps. After all, due to the constraints of power generation, light bulbs only exist in factories and a few surrounding communities. It is still a daunting project to popularize nighttime lighting. If the monoliths can be used as lamps, it will undoubtedly bring great convenience to the livelihood and education of Neverwinter City.

"It's not that it doesn't work, it's just very troublesome. Please take a look, Your Majesty." She picked out two samples—obviously, these are monolith fragments that have been cut twice, one as thin as a piece of paper, and the other about the size of a piece of tofu. Celine squeezed them at the same time, and two beams of light suddenly shot out from her accessory tendrils. The thin piece was a little dazzlingly bright, while the thick one was comparable to a magic stone. After ten seconds, the former suddenly dimmed and stopped emitting light, while the latter lasted for half a minute longer. "I used the same strength with both hands."

Roland immediately understood what she meant. "Its luminous brightness and duration are related to the degree of deformation and its own volume."

"That's right," Celine nodded her main tendril. "The monolith fragments cannot stay lit forever. The smaller the volume, the faster it goes out. Although it can recover slowly afterwards, the time it takes is quite long—if I want to use them to light up the entire underground hall, then I would probably have to place hundreds of complete monoliths and pile several hundred kilograms of iron blocks on each monolith. After the light is exhausted, I have to move those iron blocks down. The two together are definitely a behemoth."

If it is used as a fixed light source and a pulley system is used to lift the heavy objects, it is also a feasible method, although it is cumbersome enough. Roland looked at the fragment that had lost its luster, lost in thought... The smaller the volume, the easier it is to deform, but the corresponding lighting time is shockingly short, almost like a flash in the pan—

Wait, a flash in the pan?

His eyes suddenly lit up.

The development of "monoliths" may continue for a long time, but he has now thought of a very suitable use.

This problem has plagued the First Army for a long time, and it will become more and more obvious in the foreseeable future.

But now, it seems to have a chance to be solved in disguise.

That is the "guidance line" for gun shooting—tracer bullets.