Chapter 240 Hidden Mechanism (Part 2)
Fleeting Time then turned around, and continued studying the words on the statue, "This is a statue of the current Goblin King, Ciel, and the writings here is actually a poem praising his great deeds. Well, it's not like they're important anyways."
His voice was calm and collected, as if nothing happened between the duo. Ye Ci could also feel her thumping heart slowly calming down, and her strength returned to her.
She stole a glance at Fleeting Time who was busy translating the words that were engraved on the statue. Ye Ci's focus, however, was not on Fleeting Time's words. Her mind was occupied with something else. What will happen if I did not move just now?
Ye Ci did not have the courage to think about the possibilities.
Her mind was a jumbled mess.
The statue of Ciel held two scepters on each side. Ye Ci reached out to the scepter on the left, and was immediately hit with a gust of chilly wind.
Ye Ci's wits returned to her in that moment, and she spoke up to Fleeting Time, "Try pulling the other scepter."
"If that's the case, we'll have to split up." Fleeting Time responded. He could see the determination in Ye Ci's eyes, which was a direct opposite to her gentle side mere moments ago.
"Alright." Ye Ci nodded.
"Will you be fine alone?"
Ye Ci turned around and stared at Fleeting Time. She knew that he was concerned about her. "Gender doesn't matter in a dungeon, the class of a character does. I'm Gongzi You, a lvl60 Huntress. I won't be having any problems." said Ye Ci with a smile on her face.
Fleeting Time returned her smile after a brief moment of pause. This was the real Gongzi You. The Gongzi You who captivated his heart. The Gongzi You who always showed confident in herself. The Gongzi You who was always rational and decisive.
"I'm Fleeting Time, a lvl60 Hunter, and I'll be waiting for you on the other side." said Fleeting Time as he pulled at the scepter on the right. A strong gust of wind immediately blew out at him from the path on the right.
"I wouldn't count on that." Ye Ci one last glance at Fleeting Time and dashed into the darkness.
The only thing left in the darkness was Ye Ci's captivating laugh.
It took Fleeting Time some short while before he could recover from his daze. He then dashed into the darkened path on the right as well, with the laughter of Gongzi You still ringing in his ears.
Ye Ci sprinted in the darkness with a dozen robots following close behind. Even when the number of her mechanical helpers was halved when she split up with Fleeting Time, Ye Ci could still put them to good use. The path seemed to be endless. The only thing that accompanied Ye Ci in the pathway that was shrouded in darkness was her own footsteps, and the footsteps of the Goblin Robots. Even the strong night vision capabilities of the Elves was no help to Ye Ci. She could only press on forward to the direction of the chilly wind.
After an untold amount of time, Ye Ci stopped in her tracks, and stood in the darkness.
Her surroundings were so quiet that she could hear the sound of a needle falling onto the ground. The silent that she was experiencing, however, felt slightly different.
Ye Ci closed her eyes, and listened intently to her surroundings. The howling of the wind was gone without a trace. Did the wind become calmer? Why did I not notice it earlier? Ye Ci's long, pointed ears twitched as she strained to listen to the wind, but there was nothing at all.
What happened? Why did the wind suddenly stop?
Ye Ci popped her left index finger into her mouth and raised it high above her head in an attempt to detect the presence of even the slightest gust of wind. The wind, however, had stopped entirely.
With her options exhausted, Ye Ci pulled the last torch from her inventory and began studying her surroundings.
With the size of the place, it was impossible for the single torch to illuminate Ye Ci's surroundings entirely. She cast a backwards glance, and found Roman style pillars and paintings depicting the former glory of the Goblin kingdom on both sides of the corridor that she passed through earlier on.
Ye Ci studied the paintings that told tales of the rise of the Goblin civilization. Not a single negative portrayal of the Goblin civilization was made in the paintings. One might even be awed by such a display, they were merely relics of the past buried in the dust of history.
She arrived at a gigantic metal door after walking for a full circle.
The rust covering the metal door could not hide the wonderful craftsmanship of its maker. Ye Ci studied the door intently, but could find no knob or keyholes. The seamless door loomed in the darkness silently. Ye Ci could find no way to pry the door open.
Am I going to be trapped here?
Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. I've been guided to this place by the hints offered by the quest. There must be a way through this door, but it's very well hidden.
Fleeting Time's voice rang out in the Party Channel as Ye Ci studied the door intently, "Little Gongzi, where are you right now?"
"I'm at the end of a corridor." said Ye Ci after a brief moment of thought, "Well, it might not be the end of this corridor, but there's a huge metal door in my way, and I don't know what's behind this thing. What about you?"
"Well, according to what you've just told me, we're in the same situation." said Fleeting Time with a carefree voice. It was clear that he was looking for a way to get through the door just like Ye Ci.
"I'm looking for some sort of mechanism that will get the door open. Have you found anything on your end?" Ye Ci began inspecting every inch of the wall around her for clues, but to no avail. If Fleeting Time is stuck in the same situation, maybe he might be able to find something useful on his end.
"I don't see anything." came Fleeting Time's voice, "By the way, what's in the painting on the wall at the right side of the door?" he asked after a brief moment of thought.
Ye Ci stared at the painting on her right, and found it different from its counterparts. While the other paintings were about the rise and development of the Goblin civilization, this painting was a portrait of a young female Drow. The Drow was standing in a beautiful garden as she stared ahead with bitterness hidden in her eyes while Ciel was standing behind her with a face full of happiness. From the blooming flowers, towering trees, and an elegant pavilion in the painting, one could tell that they were in the palace garden.
"It seems to be a wedding picture… A cross-species wedding." Ye Ci described the portrait to Fleeting Time.
"Why does it sound so weird?" Fleeting Time stifled a laugh.
"What do you mean? They are from different races. One of them is a Drow while the other is a Goblin. I wonder what would their offspring look like…" Ye Ci's curiosity was piqued, "Then again, from what I read in a book at the National Library, it is unusual for members of the royal family to marry member of other races. If I'm not mistaken, it's to protect the purity of their blood. This is what makes this strange."
"Heh, I don't know much about that." Fleeting Time chuckled and stared at the young Drow. Her dark skin was the feature of a Dark Elf, but her red eyes signified her status as a rare type of Elf. She was a Drow.
It was said that the combat prowess of the Drows was way superior than the Dark Elves, and their obsession with nature was unparalleled even by the High Elves. Despite the Drows' status as a high-tier race, they lack in the capacity to breed, and most of them lived in seclusion. This was why any traces of the Drows began to disappear from the world. Even the Elves themselves were unsure if there were any Drows left in this world.
"It was said that Drows have higher innate Perception, Balance, Endurance, and Intelligence that us High Elves. They receive more stats when they level up as well. As expected of a high-tier race." Fleeting Time was curious about the Drows, "Then again, this race does not seem to be made available to players."
"Seems like it. I've never seen a live Drow before." Ye Ci could still remember her playthrough as a Human Sorceress in her last life. She was lvl150 when she first encountered a Drow. It was a time when Fate was already released for nearly seven years. The Drow in question was but a fragment of memory of a Drow Sorceress, but she was impressed by the skillful mastery of spells by the Drow. The high innate stats of the Drows made them into powerful mages.
Ye Ci had only seen not more than ten Drows in her last life, but they appeared in the form of illusions, paintings, and even a corpse. She had never seen a live Drow. What if I can gather all the pieces of the map that will lead me to the Elven King Dau'er? Maybe I can ask him about the Drows!
"Do you mean that you've seen a dead one before?" asked Fleeting Time.
"Isn't there one in the painting?" replied Ye Ci, who was slightly flustered. She sighed at her poor choice of word that almost revealed her identity as a reincarnator.
Despite his intelligence, Fleeting Time was unaware of such a thing as he could not directly see Ye Ci's expression.
As Ye Ci stared at the young Drow, she noticed a beautiful red gem pendant on her neck. The large gem looked so real even when it was part of a painting. Ye Ci extended her arm to the pendant, and found the part of the painting to be softer than the rest of the painting. She then pressed down on the gem, but the metallic door did not budge.
Well, I guess it's just my imagination.
Fleeting Time spoke up in the Party Chat just as Ye Ci was still deep in her thoughts, "Did you touch anything?"
"Not really." Ye Ci was baffled, "I touched the necklace on the painting of the Drow girl because the gem encrusted in the necklace looks different. Nothing happened though.. Did something happen on your end…"
The grumbling of long rusted metal entered Ye Ci's ears before she could finish her sentence, and the huge metal door in front of her slowly swung open.
"The door on my side opened as well…" Ye Ci was astonished, "Did the door on your side open as well?"
"Yes."
"Did you pressed the gem on the girl's neck?"
"Yup. I can't believe that this is where the mechanism to the door was hidden. The gem on your side is used to open the door on my side, while this gem right here opens yours."
"Heh, it seems that a minimum of two players is required to explore this dungeon. If someone came here alone, then he or she would be trapped here." said Ye Ci as the metallic door swung itself open slowly.
"Things will get harder from now on."
"Yup. We haven't encountered a single monster yet. I guess this is what they call the calm before the storm. Things will definitely not be as quiet from now on." said Ye Ci as she brushed her hair away from her ears. She could see lights in the corridor behind the door. Unlike the torches used by the other races, the Goblins have already invented wall lamps that were powered by a tiny energy core. These lamps shone brighter than torches, and could illuminate a wider area.
The corridor was bright as day with the number of lamps that lined the wall.
It was glaring for Ye Ci who had grown accustomed to the dark.
There seemed to be no end to the corridor before Ye Ci. The ground was covered with blood red carpet, and the walls were lined with paintings. Of course, they were not as awe-inspiring as what Ye Ci saw when her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness.
She saw rows of mechanical warriors standing silently at both sides of the corridor. They were like an army standing at attention, guarding their master who was deep in slumber from any harm.
Hiya minnsan! I’m so sorry for not updating for an entire week, but this week’s been hectic as hell for me. I’ve completed like 2 midterms and 4 assignment submissions in this week alone, and well… Here we are! New release! Having groupmates who are lazy can be so frustrating sometimes. They won’t do their work, and will flat out REFUSE to do their part citing “I don’t know how to do it.” So yeah… I have a lot of asses to wipe even after completing the part that I was supposed to do a long time ago.
Don’t forget that we have a teaser next page! And to all who will be celebrating: 新年快乐!!! Happy New Year!