Chapter 626 The First Knight (8000, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Let's put aside what miracles are ultimately used for.

After roughly communicating with Xiaoxiao, Su Zhou cleaned up the corpses on the scene and buried them in the stone pit he dug.

It didn't take long to do all this. When he turned around, he saw Xiaoxiao flying around Gasha and Loya at a constant speed, looking at the two children with curiosity, like a large butterfly or a drone.

"What's wrong? Is there something special about them?"

Su Zhou wasn't worried that she had any evil intentions towards the children.

Because he knew that Xiaoxiao, apart from her racial characteristics that allowed her to fly and made her exceptionally long-lived, was actually 'weaker' than ordinary people.

Not to mention Loya, Gasha could probably beat three of her with one hand.

This was not difficult to understand, because the stronger the life, the harder it was to be 'stilled' by the 'stasis field' and thus hibernate unharmed through the long years.

Just like Su Zhou's body, it couldn't be stilled by the stasis field at all. Although his source energy wasn't much, its purity was extremely high and exceptionally active, enough to interfere with the operation of most precision equipment.

"Well, they are indeed very special... The life bloodlines of this era have actually merged to this point, almost into completely new races. This is something we didn't envision back then."

Stopping her flight, Xiaoxiao didn't mind Gasha's vigilance or Loya's curious gaze.

She even took the initiative to extend her metal wing pieces, letting the curious Loya touch them, eliciting a soft cheer from him.

The half-elf calmly gazed at the two children, sweeping over their different pupils, then turned to look at Su Zhou, nodding thoughtfully: "Of course, your bloodline is even more special, making me feel surprised—why would the blood of a tree person fuse with a devil? This doesn't make sense..."

"I also don't know how humans and silver elves got mixed up."

Watching the interaction between the half-elf and the children, Su Zhou stood aside and complained: "Elves are pure energy beings, how can they even have mixed blood? It's just outrageous."

"Actually, I don't know either."

Xiaoxiao floated in mid-air, pointing to a light silver rune brand on her shoulder, generously admitting: "I am an artificial creation made in an ancient era. They used a lot of advanced technology when they created me, even involving quite complex soul engineering, which is not a natural hybrid at all."

"And I suspect you should also be products of similar engineering."

At this moment, Master Suiguang had awakened.

He woke up slowly, and the first sentence after opening his eyes was a self-deprecating remark filled with surprise: [Ugh... I didn't die?]

But after speaking, Suiguang realized something was wrong: [Wait, why did I say that? I was just thinking it in my heart... This sentence too?! What's going on?]

[Why am I saying whatever I think, and I can't shut up?]

"Because you've been infected with my 'riddle-person-specific Heavenly Devil Virus'." Su Zhou didn't even turn his head: "I'll remove it later, but during this time, you'll say whatever you think, and you can't hide anything."

"Children, take a good look at Master Suiguang now, this is the fate of riddle-speakers."

And the children's energetic replies rang out: "Yes!"

[Alas... I didn't expect you to have this kind of technology, Professor.]

In response, the Dawn Sage, who fully understood his current situation, could only smile wryly: [If those experts from the Imperial Inquisition knew, they would definitely spare no effort to obtain this technology—truth serums are too expensive, and the interrogation effect isn't very good either.]

The reason why communication between humans is inefficient is because the two sides cannot prove their true inner thoughts, and do not know whether the other side is sincere or lying. Even if they confirm it again and again, they cannot really be sure of the truth.

But in the transcendent world, if both parties want to treat each other sincerely, they can guarantee sincerity, with the soul's fluctuations as evidence.

If one party is strong enough to cover up this fluctuation so that the other party cannot detect it, then in more than ninety percent of cases, the stronger party can obtain the information they want simply by force, without the need for communication.

Although Su Zhou's soul was powerful, he didn't intend to cover it up; and although Xiaoxiao had a peculiar origin, she also had no intention of hiding her thoughts.

As for Suiguang, he was interfered with by the Heavenly Devil Virus, and was currently temporarily unable to hide the thoughts deep in his heart.

[Forget it.]

After realizing this, this life, who was also considered artificial, couldn't help but smile bitterly, then shook his head slightly: [Since I can't lie, nor can I shut up, then I can only tell you everything I know.]

The efficacy of the riddle-person-specific Heavenly Devil Virus was that terrifying.

From then on, everyone had a friendly and cordial multilateral conversation based on the current situation in a sincere, honest, and unconcealed communication environment, exchanging some information and opinions with each other.

And the result was that everyone was quite surprised, even shocked.

The technological level of the Aean Continent civilization was not low. According to Xiaoxiao, it was 'only a few key technologies away from the previous era to start a new generation of technological revolution', and it could catch up in a few hundred years.

After all, being able to create things like source energy mobile cities was enough to prove that this world's industrial capabilities were quite superb.

But what surprised Xiaoxiao was not this.

"You mean to say that the Holy Sun has dimmed again?"

Listening to Master Suiguang explain the current situation of the continent, the girl's pupils couldn't help but focus slightly: "Let me confirm, is it only eight thousand years from the previous era of civilization?"

"To be precise, the time when the ancestors of the various races appeared on this continent was more than eight thousand years ago."

Su Zhou corrected based on the information in his memory: "Before that, there must have been a period of unrecorded blank history."

"Coming to the continent from the shelter is at most a few hundred years, which is almost nothing."

Sighing softly, the wings behind Xiaoxiao vibrated slightly, proving the unrest in her heart: "Since it has already begun to dim, then extinction is about to come. I didn't expect that I would encounter such a situation again as soon as I woke up."

[That's right. For you who just came out of the iron coffin, this news is indeed terrible, but the fact is that according to the observations of the Light Chasing Order, the Holy Sun will be completely extinguished within a hundred or two hundred years at most.]

Suiguang obviously didn't know that Su Zhou was also a being who rose from a coffin. He shook his head worriedly, making a scraping sound of metal: [For short-lived ordinary people, two hundred years sounds very far away, but in fact, the consequences of the Holy Sun dimming will soon manifest—the Aean Continent will gradually be buried by ice and snow, the ocean will freeze, and plants will become extinct. It doesn't take two hundred years for all living beings to face a silent, dark, and icy cold.]

[And the worshipers of the Twilight Dragon, the Winter and Dusk tribes, will also take the opportunity to launch an attack at this time. They are not afraid of the end of the world, and even desire the advent of the end of all things, because the place where they live now is a suffering ice hell. The equal destruction brought by the Twilight Dragon is precisely the revenge they most desire for this continent.]

"Again?"

Su Zhou noticed the details in Xiaoxiao's words. He narrowed his eyes and looked at her: "It seems that you haven't encountered the current situation for the first time, right?"

The girl turned her head, glanced at Su Zhou, and then nodded slightly: "You are very perceptive, that's right."

"I am not a creation of the last era, but a life created in an even more ancient era, when the gods still existed."

"I am one of the direct successors of the gods, a creation of the 'Elf Civilization', one of the many methods they tried to deal with the Twilight Dragon and the ultimate calamity of 'the extinction of the Holy Sun'."

This news was indeed unexpected.

Both Su Zhou and Suiguang were slightly taken aback, and then their expressions became solemn.

The murals in the ruins of the First Light depict scenes of the gods fighting the Twilight Dragon, but do not show the elements of the Holy Sun extinguishing.

In addition, except for Su Zhou, no one believed that the God Tree and the Gods truly existed—they believed that it was probably the result of the scenes of heroes fighting against the Twilight Dragon in ancient times being mythologized.

"After the gods sealed the Twilight Dragon and transformed it into the 'Moon of Seals', the Holy Sun began to gradually dim. Apart from that, I don't know the things of that era."

Xiaoxiao also did not know the ending of the gods. Although she was a creation of the Elf Civilization, she spent most of her time in the laboratory and did not truly live in the Elf Civilization.

Most of the gods, who had almost died out, disappeared, and the civilizations of the various races were forced to join forces to deal with this sudden doomsday. The Elf Civilization was one of the most enthusiastic.

Because elves were pure energy beings, their very foundations of existence began to collapse in the face of the indeed gradually extinguishing Holy Sun and the gradually polluted source energy under the infection of the Demon Moon.

Before other races became extinct due to the cold, they were about to die out due to the dissipation of source energy.

In order to solve this situation, they simulated the human body and then tried to integrate the pure energy elves into the body.

This was difficult, but it was eventually successful. Xiaoxiao was a creation of that era.

With a physical body, the affinity for source energy was greatly reduced, but the resistance to turbid source energy was also increased. The elves worried about whether their creations and brand new descendants would be able to inherit their technology and civilization, but time was running out. The extinction of the Holy Sun was approaching, and they had to make the final choice.

"That was when I was first sealed, and when I came out again, I was excavated from the ancient ruins by the Winged People."

Shaking her head calmly, Xiaoxiao's tone was neither sad nor happy: "That was 31,000 years after the destruction of the Elf Civilization, a new era. The Holy Sun began to extinguish again. Humans, Winged People, and Demons fought a war for ten thousand years, but facing the reality of the end of the world, they still joined forces to try to fight this second coming doomsday."

"As an ancient existence who inherited part of the technology of the Elf Civilization, and some other relics of the previous era who were also excavated, I cooperated with them for a period of research to create a new batch of more optimized races with stronger resistance to source energy."

"To be honest, I have never left the laboratory—but I don't really care. Anyway, before the second Holy Sun extinguished, I was sent into the stasis field again, to exist as a 'watcher'."

"Then came the third Holy Sun extinguishing, another new era... which was the civilization of the era before you."

"Because of the creations inherited from numerous relics, their technology was quite developed, and they even touched the realm of the gods, but the time left for them was shorter—31,000 years, 25,000 years, 17,000 years, and by the time of your generation, the fourth Holy Sun extinguished, there were only 8,000 years left."

"Although technology is being inherited, and civilization is developing, one generation is better than another, the time the Holy Sun maintains its light is also getting shorter and shorter."

Speaking of this, the half-elf looked around at everyone present. Her eyes were as calm as a mirror, reflecting everyone's expressions: "And this time, the Aean Continent civilization is actually not as advanced as the last civilization, the situation is very bad."

"However, your source energy utilization technology is very powerful, and you can even create steel bodies that entrust thoughts with pure source energy and machinery... This is a brand new idea."

She praised: "I saw your battle. This is a path similar to that of the gods, and perhaps you can find another way."

The information and truth revealed by Xiaoxiao were beyond Su Zhou and Suiguang's expectations.

This half-elf was actually a being who had passed through several era endings, passing through long years in the stasis field again and again!

And the fact that the Holy Sun extinguished again and again made everyone present frown.

[The academic community has been thinking about why such an advanced civilization of the previous era suddenly destroyed...]

Suiguang murmured: [Originally, we guessed it was a geological disaster, a world war, or an outbreak of natural disasters, but we never thought that they, like us, faced the extinction of the Holy Sun...]

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: [The Order's guess was not wrong. This relic does hide secrets about the last era facing the end of the world, which may help us fight against the end of the world.]

[But who knew it was such a secret?]

"Ancestor... you really are an ancestor, this is from several eras ago."

Su Zhou said with emotion, and then asked curiously: "Excuse me for asking, not counting the time in the stasis field, how many years have you consciously lived in total?"

"Four hundred and seventeen years, which is still very young for a half-elf, and ninety percent of the time was spent in the laboratory."

Xiaoxiao's expression was calm, even when Gasha on the side whispered in shock to Loya, 'Not an older sister, but a grandma!' 'Grandma can't live for more than four hundred years!'

She didn't shy away from this: "Every time I wake up, I have to face the extinction of the Holy Sun, but it's not surprising. It takes thousands or tens of thousands of years for a civilization to develop to the point where it can find the research institute—primitive people can't dig open the mountains and wake me up."

Now, Xiaoxiao had a certain understanding of the current situation of the Aean Continent civilization.

"The situation is not too bad. At least your civilization has noticed the changes in the Holy Sun and is planning to deal with it."

Saying this, the half-elf simply turned around and floated towards the depths of the ruins, passing Su Zhou and Suiguang: "That way, I can help you like I helped the previous civilizations."

"Follow me, we're going to the deepest part of the research institute. I want to restart it."

"Why help us?"

Su Zhou got up and walked, beckoning Gasha and Loya to follow together. Suiguang naturally also started.

But he still habitually questioned this.

Xiaoxiao stopped flying, her metal butterfly wings trembling slightly.

The half-elf, who rarely showed any emotion, turned her head, looked at Su Zhou, and answered seriously: "Because this is the meaning of my creation and existence in the world."

"Because I also want to live."

Under Xiaoxiao's leadership, Su Zhou and his party walked towards the deepest part of the ruins of the First Light.

At the same time.

Asmodei Empire, New Capital, Fort Saint Montasini.

October 22nd, Sunny.

The massive mobile city was like a mountain peak traveling on the ground, and the intense source energy fluctuations were like visible waves, spreading in all directions.

Since Asmodei IX abandoned the northeastern capital and moved the capital to the center in order to avoid the increasingly intense incursions of the barbarian tribes of Winter and Dusk in the north, the empire had lost control of the northern regions.

If it weren't for the Frostguard Army, formed spontaneously by the locals centered on the Frostguard Pass, which blocked the barbarian invasion, the northeastern region of the continent would probably already be a mess.

But emperors naturally never cared about such trivial matters—since they could live and die in luxury in the prosperous central regions, enjoying pleasure, why bother facing the barbarian soldiers on the frontier?

In early winter of late autumn, the sunny days also brought a hint of coolness, but for the local residents, after three consecutive weeks of cloudy and rainy weather, this bright sunshine was truly rare, just right for drying quilts and visiting relatives and friends.

Fort Saint Montasini was originally a large military fortress city of the empire located in the central region. It was one of the largest mobile fortress groups in the empire. Its usual operating area was between the Montasini Mountains and the confluence of the two rivers. Even if a natural disaster struck, it would not move too far, always guarding the periphery of this strategic location.

But after becoming the new capital, the original military fortress quickly transformed into a large comprehensive city. Many small commercial city-states merged into this mobile city group, making it lively and prosperous.

Of course, even so, this could not change the fact that its essence was a military fortress.

Crack, crack. The sound of metal friction sounded, accompanied by the buzzing of the source energy engine. A row of tall steel giants patrolled silently in the core city, holding huge shields and spears, their momentum like a row of moving city walls, enough to crush everything in front of them.

Bang. Their steps were uniform, but they walked like one person.

This scene caused the surrounding pedestrians and vendors to silently show respect, subconsciously lowering their eyes.

Because that was the Imperial Royal Guard, the figure of the Emperor's Guards.

Each guard was at least a Spirit Radiance-level professional, and the squad leaders were all Mind Light-level masters. The third-generation Mars armor they wore was difficult for even Mind Light-level cultivators to break, and was enough to withstand a base's worth of source energy artillery fire.

Just these twelve guards alone, when placed outside, were enough to fight an army of more than ten thousand people. Their charge could not be stopped even by tanks, and conquering a mobile city-state was simply easy.

Only in the core city of Fort Saint Montasini could their figures often be seen, and if they were seen outside of this place, it meant that a storm of blood and rain was about to be set off, and the Emperor's wrath was about to descend.

The guards were carrying out their daily routine patrols, which was monotonous, but necessary.

But in the middle of the patrol, the leading guard captain saw a figure walking in the street that made him feel quite familiar, and was slightly stunned.

Immediately afterwards, he immediately knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice:

"Lord Knight!"

Even the other guards who had not reacted immediately realized what was happening after hearing this title, and immediately knelt on one knee in unison, bowing their heads to the figure who had been forced to stop: "Greetings, Lord Knight!"

For a time, not only the guards, but everyone who heard this title, whether they were tourists, residents, or vendors, all looked in that direction, and then fell to the ground in cheers.

"Greetings, Lord Knight!"

In just a few seconds, only one person was standing in the entire street, a man who had obviously disguised himself.

He was surprised at first, but then helplessly looked around at the kneeling crowd.

Taking off his disguised sunglasses and removing his fake beard, the handsome old man with gray hair and golden eyes sighed: "Everyone, get up... Alas, I'm not a noble, I don't even have a military rank, why do you kneel every time you see me..."

But obviously, this kind of statement could not convince anyone.

"If it weren't for Lord Knight's unwillingness to accept awards, with your merits and strength, you would have become a count and a marshal long ago."

The guard captain still lowered his head. He said in a deep voice: "His Majesty's personally recognized 'Empire's First Knight', 'Hero Who Defeated Natural Disasters', 'Seeing him is like seeing me', single-handedly repelled the Dusk Tribe's twenty-four offensives, the Empire's strongest who defended Frostguard Pass... My lord, why must you disguise yourself? Where in the world can you not go?"

——Of course I can go anywhere, I just want to wander around the city with a little less commotion and not be too disturbing to the people...

Every time he went out, it caused chaos and confusion. The old knight also knew that it was not good to refuse the enthusiasm of the people. He could only loudly tell everyone to stand up, and then disappeared as quickly as possible.

Obviously, this scene was not the first time it had happened.

After realizing that the knight had left, the guard captain stood up, maintained order, and allowed the excited people who had seen their idol to return to calm.

Some time later, on the edge of the new capital, in a secret residence.

"What's wrong, Illowitz, you old fellow, why did you run to my place again today?"

A dignified old man standing by the window, reading a newspaper in the sunlight, suddenly noticed something. He turned his head and saw the gray-haired knight with a helpless expression opening the door as if opening his own house, then picking up a cup of tea from the table and drinking it.

"What can I do? I went out for a walk and was discovered again... Why do you like to put sugar in your tea? It's too weird!"

Although frowning, the old knight still drank it in large gulps—taking advantage of a friend was a pleasure in itself.

"Haha, I knew you didn't like sweet things, so I specially changed it." The old man put away the newspaper, and then greeted him with a big laugh, giving him a solid hug: "Why come to my place to steal my tea? Are you bored with staying in your mansion? Or are you tired of the beauties His Majesty gave you?"

"Aharonov, you know I hate that kind of luxurious enjoyment the most. I refused many times, but His Majesty insisted on giving it to me."

Hugging the old man hard, after letting go, the gray-haired old man, the First Knight Illowitz, took off his coat and threw it on the sofa next to him.

Hearing his friend's words, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "But you're right, I'm really bored. If His Majesty hadn't said that this is a critical moment and I need to guard the capital, I would have gone to patrol the border long ago."

"You, you always can't learn to enjoy yourself. You clearly have such great power, but you live like a ascetic."

Taking a few steps back, Aharonov stroked his beard as he looked at the plain clothes on the man in front of him. He smiled and said: "Then are you here today to spar with me? But today is not possible, I have things to deal with."

"What's wrong, did something happen to the Third Army again? I remember that your son has completely mastered the military affairs, and is just waiting for His Majesty's formal appointment next year, so you can retire, right?"

Illowitz, who really wanted to spar with the old man to pass the time, couldn't help but be a little curious—since the old man retired to the second line and only occasionally remotely controlled military affairs, the other party had never rejected his sparring request: "Could it be that there is something that is quite tricky for even you, a general?"

"It's not a tricky thing, it doesn't need your attention, Lord Knight."

General Aharonov shook his head slightly, sitting on the sofa next to him, not caring that his butt was under Illowitz's coat. He frowned slightly: "It's just that one of my promising subordinates died, and there was a problem with the exploration of the ruins. The preparations that should have been foolproof went wrong."

Saying this, he clicked his tongue with displeasure: "No matter how thorough the plan is, there will always be accidents. The Light Chasing Order should indeed be warned, they actually dared to interfere in military affairs and hinder His Majesty's plan."

"Is it the one in the North Ionia Mountains?"

Hearing the Light Chasing Order and the ruins, Illowitz realized what the other party was talking about. He nodded slightly: "The plan was leaked from the beginning, there is an Order's spy in the military. I said that this exploration would not be smooth."

"Yes, but I didn't expect Yelena to die."

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the old man's tone was troubled: "How should I explain to Little Anna that her mother will never come back?"

"She was a good subordinate. I originally planned to promote her to lead the Guards Division when she came back."

"Yes, it's a pity."

Illowitz also nodded slightly. He obviously knew Yelena: "She has good talent, and she will definitely advance to the Divine Intent in the future. Even if it's the 'Calamity Realm', it is possible to break through. She is a general seed."

"But it's not a failure."

Patting the sofa, signaling Illowitz to sit down, General Aharonov's tone was calm at the moment, like the frost in the north: "Her death means that there is indeed something there—something we need."

"But actually, I don't quite understand."

Reaching out to pull his coat from under the old man's butt, Illowitz sat down without ceremony. He frowned slightly: "Why do you have to explore these ancient ruins? Although the technology of the previous era was indeed very high, according to the analysis of many ruins, we have surpassed them in source energy cultivation. At most, it's just that some civilian technologies and biotechnology haven't kept up."

"Because of His Majesty." The old general closed his eyes.

"His Majesty?" The First Knight raised his eyebrows. He subconsciously looked out of the window, at the light located deep in the Montasini Mountains.

A light that reached the sky, pierced the clouds, and went straight into the sky.

The reason why Fort Saint Montasini was chosen as the new capital was because, in the mouths of many residents of the Empire, it was located in the center of the Empire, the most peaceful and tranquil place, where one could enjoy life and spend their days in pleasure.

But in reality, the upper echelons of the Empire, at least those close to His Majesty the Emperor, knew very well that these were just rumors among the people.

Fort Saint Montasini was originally a military fortress, located on the edge of a remote mountain range. Although it was now prosperous, how could it have been associated with enjoyment back then?

The reason why Asmodei IX and the four subsequent emperors chose this place as their capital.

Was simply because this fortress was closest to that 'relic'.

Deep in the Montasini Mountains, the magnificent tower named 'Babel' was about to be completed. Because of the will of the Emperor, the top of this towering tower, thousands of meters high, shone with brilliant light. It condensed enough source energy to destroy any strong city wall, but it was only launched towards the top of the sky, like a ladder to the sky, directly to the brightest Holy Sun.

If one were to look down on the earth from the sky, one would discover that the giant tower was located precisely in the center of the Montasini Mountains.

And the Montasini Mountains also happened to present an unusually regular 'circle'.

No... not just that...

The entire Montasini Mountains, located in the center of the entire Aean Continent, and the surrounding towering hilly areas, were a whole. And its shape would be unusually familiar to all lumberjacks.

Because, it was like...

The stump of a giant tree.

"It's actually His Majesty's will..."

At some point, Illowitz and Aharonov were both standing by the window, gazing at the distant giant tower and beam of light, and couldn't help but remain silent for a moment.

"Asmodei XIII... His Majesty the Sun Emperor." The aged general muttered to himself: "We, these subjects, can never understand what His Majesty wants to do."

"Illowitz, you are the person closest to His Majesty, you..."

"...His Majesty promoted me from humble beginnings, and I will naturally repay him with my life."

Shaking his head slightly, interrupting his friend's words, the First Knight said calmly: "If His Majesty doesn't say it, I won't ask."

"Whatever he asks me to do, as long as it doesn't violate morality, I will do it."

"Heh, you stubborn fellow..."

Aharonov originally wanted to ridicule the other party a few words, but suddenly, his expression changed slightly.

The white-haired old man, who looked like he was already dying, had a solemn gaze. He turned his head and looked towards the northwest, his gaze like lightning piercing through the void, stirring up source energy: "What happened?"

"Is it a natural disaster? No, there has already been a natural disaster in that direction... Is it an earthquake?"

Illowitz's senses were even more acute. He narrowed his eyes slightly, concealing the source energy array that was swirling in his eyes.

The First Knight frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice: "It's an earthquake—and it's a man-made earthquake! The earth's crustal plates in that direction are not shaking—has a Calamity Realm expert emerged from the barbarians in the North Ionia Mountains?!"

"Or..."

"Did something go wrong with the ruins?"

After regaining his composure, General Aharonov's tone was calm, like the frost in the north: "I will do what His Majesty asks me to do."

Illowitz, who had been silent for a moment, was suddenly disrupted.

"Is it a natural disaster? No, there was already a natural disaster in that direction... Is it an earthquake?"

Illowitz's senses were even more acute. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and his face was serious: "It's an earthquake—and it's a man-made one! The earth's crustal plates in that direction are not shaking. A Calamity Realm expert emerged from the barbarians in the North Ionia Mountains?!"

A terrible conjecture had risen from the heart

"Or did something go wrong with the ruins?"

Ask for a monthly ticket for recovering the update.