Chapter 474:
Chapter 474:
Alott Refinery.
This large refinery, with its long history, stood on the outskirts of Hoth City, not far from the edge of town. The booming noise of the massive magic-powered machinery used to extract magic stones could be heard constantly.
Kaluoer, Bai Yan, and Evie stood outside the refinery. They looked up at the enormous factory, puzzled about why they had been brought here.
But Evie wanted an explanation, while Kaluoer didn’t need one.
Bai Yan spoke slowly, saying, "The problem this time lies here, yet it doesn’t lie here."
Upon hearing this riddle, Evie scoffed disdainfully and sarcastically remarked, "Your words sound somewhat similar to those spoken by people from the Kingdom of Dark Light. It may seem logical, but in reality, it lacks substance."
The religious group oversees the Kingdom of Dark Light, and it turns out that eight out of ten high-ranking individuals are "riddlers." Evie, having grown up listening to such talk, is extremely familiar with it, but she doesn’t like it very much.
After listening, Bai Yan smiled slightly. Throughout the journey, Evie had always spoken to him in a calm tone, but now she had revealed a bit of her true nature.
He knew the reason.
It was simply because he had not responded to Kaluoer’s expressions.He considers other people’s feelings and takes into account the well-being of those he cares about, but he never allows anyone to shake his own beliefs.
In less than a month, World would face another doomsday, and time was incredibly tight. Bai Yan’s mental and physical strength were also limited… To put it a bit crudely, he had enough energy for physical pursuits, but he truly had no spare energy for romance. If he were to be honest and open with Kaluoer, it would mean being honest and open with more than just one person, and that would be troublesome indeed.
Kaluoer had a blank expression on her face as she gazed at the factory. It seemed as if she could see through the walls and into the things that were happening inside.
"Go."
She finished speaking and vanished without a trace.
With the next breath, Kaluoer had already taken Evie inside the factory, their little hands tightly held together.
In the blink of an eye, Bai Yan also found himself inside the factory.
This was the innermost and most heavily guarded room of Alott Refinery, with no one inside. All the work was done by automated magic machinery.
World where Enos civilization resides was "automated," but the automated magic devices in this world were expensive, and the cost has never come down, so they haven’t been able to truly popularize them yet.
Bai Yan gazed at the numerous magic devices in front of him. They were constantly "extracting" something from the enormous empty transparent vessels and then placing it into a series of complex alchemical and magical apparatus. The process involved several dozen intricate refining steps.
However, at this very moment, the enormous transparent vessels were empty. These expensive magic devices were doing pointless work.
"What’s going on? What are all these things?" Evie couldn’t understand the situation and was very confused.
Bai Yan pointed at the transparent vessel and said, "There used to be a large amount of liquidized souls inside."
"Liquidated souls?"
Evie froze, unable to comprehend how souls that were intangible and invisible in the physical dimension could be liquefied. How is that even possible?
"Yes."
Bai Yan nodded and continued, "I learned from the memories of the factory owner here that they have been doing this for hundreds of years. Generation after generation, they have been refining magical stones and refining the already liquefied souls."
"As for how the soul transformed into a solid form in the material world, that was not something the factory owner knew. For hundreds of years, their responsibility here was only limited to this final step."
"Wait a moment!"
Evie exclaimed in panic, "After a person dies, the soul is reincarnated. This is the natural law. If those liquefied souls are refined, does it mean that they completely cease to exist in World?"
"Yes,"
Bai Yan nodded again, his face expressionless.
Evie felt incredibly fearful upon hearing this. In the Kingdom of Dark Light, even the most humble and lowly individuals, the despised sinners that made the gods detest them, would at worst be physically slaughtered but their souls would not be obliterated.
Unless they are immortal deities, no matter what, they can leave traces in the multiverse. Otherwise, if the soul is gone, there is truly nothing left.
Her voice trembled as she said, "You mean this family, this refining factory has been doing these things for hundreds of years. So, are there not thousands of people whose souls have been obliterated because of them?"
Bai Yan remained expressionless and spoke in a steady voice, "The amount of liquefied souls in the container was originally very large. The number you mentioned may perhaps be just a small fraction… or it may not even be considered a fraction."
Kaluoer stood by, always silently listening, without uttering a single word.
"Who could be doing such extremely evil things?" Evie frowned and continued to inquire.
Her temper was short, her character was nasty, but deep within her soul, the underlying color was ultimately inclined towards goodness, otherwise her title would not have the words "pure" in it.
Bai Yan pondered for a moment and provided an answer.
"Maybe there is a connection with the ancient queen from a thousand years ago, Aphrora."
Evie was taken aback, never expecting to have any connection with characters from a thousand years ago in this world. With a puzzled expression on her face, she asked, "Wait, how do you know? We’ve only been in this world for a short time, and I don’t even know how to navigate this city. How could you already be aware of such secrets?"
Bai Yan remained calm, not making a sound.
No explanation needed.
Hehe, do I really have to tell you that I have a clue about the Babel Tower?
Evie looked at him without saying a word, feeling that Viscount Edmond was incredibly mysterious and even more difficult to understand.
"Oh, perhaps this is the kind of thing that captivates little sisters," she thought.
Evie was mistaken about this.
She saw that the container was empty and suddenly realized something… Bai Yan, who had noticed these things long ago, must have released all the "ingredients" ahead of time, so the liquid soul he mentioned was never actually seen by her.
"How can we find this ancient queen?" Evie continued to ask.
Just then, Kaluoer suddenly spoke up, her tone indifferent, "What are they trying to create?"
Bai Yan gave an answer, "They want to create something with immense power, containing the power of miracles, the Philosopher’s Stone."
The Philosopher’s Stone, Evie had never heard of what it was, but Bai Yan had heard various legends about it from the knowledge bestowed upon him by the "Projection".
"It is the power of morals and God, the ultimate goal and purpose of everything in World. It is the perfect essence of all elements, an indestructible object that cannot be harmed or destroyed by any element. It is a dual and living mercury with a spirit, capable of handling any weak and imperfect metal. It is eternal radiance, a healing elixir for all diseases, a blessed phoenix of the heavenly kingdom, the most precious treasure among all riches, and an important possession of the entire nature."
This description is simply too incredible, Evie was also amazed and asked in confusion, "Is it really that powerful? What practical use does creating it serve?"
Bai Yan continued,
"The Philosopher’s Stone is the manifestation of the ‘power of miracles’ among the four great extraordinary powers. Once combined with emotional energy, it can catalyze an endless and terrifying power. It has many practical uses, but behind the scenes, the Philosopher’s Stone consumes countless souls to create, so there can only be a few things that can be done with such a large amount of energy."
Evie was momentarily startled, but then she had a small moment of clarity in her heart and didn’t ask any further.
After Bai Yan finished speaking, he turned around and left without looking back, saying, "Let’s go and take a look inside the imperial palace of the people of Enos today. Perhaps the ancient queen from a thousand years ago is still hiding in her own home."
"Go straight ahead like this? Shouldn’t we investigate other things first?" Evie had many little question marks today. Kaluoer had already grabbed her hand, wanting to keep up with her.
The mission began, and Kaluoer didn’t really mind how the Master wanted it to be done.
Even if they made her walk out from here and start killing people, and kept killing until she could never see anyone again, she would still obey the command.
Bai Yan simply replied, "We’re short on time, let’s just capture the Emperor Enos directly."
Speaking so casually, but this civilization doesn’t seem like an easy target at all. Trying to capture the ruler of a nation is definitely not an easy task!
Evie felt that this approach was a bit too rough, but upon closer reflection, it may also be one of the most straightforward and practical methods.
In a situation where they could win, using a bunch of messy tactics might be inefficient.
Even with Evie, Bai Yan, and Kaluoer, their movements were remarkably fast. Hoth was not far from Enos’ current capital city.
That afternoon, before the sky turned dark, the three of them had already arrived at Enos’ new capital city.
Just then, on the other side inside the Babel Tower, Bai Yan furrowed his brow. Unexpectedly, a message popped up on his phone – an "emergency mission"!
It wasn’t about a mission within Enos’ homeland, but rather a foreshadowing that in the near future, the three of them would face an attack from a third party!