Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 894 - 887: Docking Runes

Chapter 894: Chapter 887: Docking Runes

Leviathan was the name given by Earthlings to these types of sea monsters, which could be found throughout the oceans of Otherworld, delineating their territories everywhere. No one had the chance to see what they truly looked like, only glimpsing the sight of them churning through the ocean from a great distance.

Leviathans were naturally aggressive and would attack any ship that entered their territory, so the people of Otherworld generally only dared to navigate coastal areas. The water in these regions wasn’t deep, prohibiting Leviathans from dwelling there and hence allowing the people of Otherworld to venture into the water.

It was because of the fear of Leviathans that the people of Otherworld directly called the ocean the Forbidden Sea. When Earthlings named the ocean, they simply adopted the term "Forbidden Sea."

The eastern ocean of the Continent was called the East Forbidden Sea, the west as the West Forbidden Sea, and the south as the South Forbidden Sea. The only exception was the northern waters, which were known as the Arctic Sea.

Although this method of naming was crude, it was better than having no names at all. Before Earthlings arrived in Otherworld, all oceans were off-limits to the people of Otherworld, all referred to as the Forbidden Sea. Only with the Earthlings’ arrival and the application of scientific geographic exploration techniques did the people of Otherworld begin to understand the land and oceans beneath their feet.

"And then what did you say to him?" Cheng Ziang asked curiously.

"What could I say? I didn’t know," Axia shrugged and spread her hands, "But, speaking of which, he did speak Tasta with a Northern accent, which left a deep impression on me."

"Why would you specifically remember someone’s accent?" asked Cheng Ziang.

"Well," Axia thought for a moment, then continued, "Generally, when we see a Human who doesn’t look like an Aud person or a Bobulu person, we assume they might be from the South. Though the Church Court persecutes Southerners, the Church is after all only a governing body for the Human Race and doesn’t have anything to do with us Elves, so we tend to ignore such matters."

Changing the subject, Axia went on, "However, if someone were from the South, their accent would definitely have a heavy southern influence. I’m not very familiar with your Otherworld situations, but if I’m not mistaken, Luo’er’s Tasta must have been taught by his mother, since Wood Elves mostly come from the South and when they speak Tasta, they usually have an unmistakable Southern accent."

Hearing her words, everyone looked towards Luo’er, who nodded and said, "Indeed, my Tasta was taught to me by my mother."

"Perhaps you later learned Tasta with a Northern accent, which is why your accent doesn’t sound so southern, otherwise, it would be difficult for you to fit in up North," Axia reflected.

"Wow, you can tell where someone is from just by their accent?" Hu Daoke looked at Axia with admiration.

"Of course, I am an Elf," Asili said matter-of-factly, fully accepting Hu Daoke’s flattery.

"Speaking of which, who was that person looking for anyway?" Luo’er thought there was something amiss and asked anxiously.

"A girl," Axia pondered and then said, "He mentioned... a girl just like him, probably in her teens as well... "

Upon hearing her words, Luo’er instinctively glanced at Feng. Feng was now around her teens or twenties, and according to that person’s description, he might have been looking for Feng.

Coming to this realization, Luo’er took a deep breath and thought of the contents of the Book of Prophecy he had seen. Could it be that everything foretold in the Book of Prophecy was about to unfold?

"And you just let him go?" Cheng Ziang asked nonchalantly.

"I had no quarrel with him, why would I stop him," said Axia as a matter of fact, "Besides, that guy emitted an aura of keep away from me, so I didn’t dare to get close to him at all."

"When did you encounter him?" Cheng Ziang exchanged a glance with Luo’er, then continued to press the issue.

"Last summer, before the heavy snow sealed the mountains. I went to trade with a caravan and bought that unlucky broken gun," Axia recalled.

"Last summer... it seems we also met Feng last summer," Cheng Ziang pondered, causing him to take another look at Luo’er.

Luo’er bowed his head, sinking into prolonged contemplation. If everything was to be reenacted as set out by prophecy, then wouldn’t the scene from the book occur any day now?

"Luo’er, you’ve read the Book of Prophecy. Do you know something?" Cheng Ziang stared at Luo’er, asking in a lowered voice.

"I... don’t know..." Luo’er thought for a moment, then said with a guilty face.

"Tell the truth, who do you think you’re fooling with that act?" Cheng Ziang said, frowning.

"It’s better for you not to know." Luo’er sighed and said.

"Why?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"The content of a prophecy cannot be changed. Even if you know the solution, you won’t be able to alter the outcome. Any attempt to change or solve it will ultimately only bring about that outcome. That’s the curse of a prophecy," Luo’er said, pursing his lips.

"So you plan to bear it alone?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"What else can I do, announce it to the world?" Luo’er retorted with a frown.

Hearing his words, Cheng Ziang silently closed his mouth. After pursing his lips for a short while, he looked at Luo’er again and said, "Then you must have some idea of what’s going to happen, right?"

"I’m aware of certain specific aspects," Luo’er corrected.

He had only read a few pages of the Book of Prophecy, so he had seen just some general snippets of the plot, and could not have foreseen his entire life.

"Then make your own decisions. I have no idea what the future will bring; I can only take it one step at a time," Cheng Ziang said.

"Just like Feng..." Luo’er muttered, then turned his head to look at Feng, who was meditating. The prophecy had told him that there would be many more adventures surrounding Feng’s origins waiting for them.

Tangmo and Baiyue had worked until the late night and finally completed the drawing and engraving of the external rune. They just needed to connect it the next morning.

The next day, Luo’er was the first to get up, before anyone else; he hurriedly busied himself with preparing food and hot water for the team members. Although the tents were windproof, they were not cold-proof, so every morning everyone would wake up freezing, desperately needing a hot drink to warm up.

The weather was clear again the next day. After breakfast, Tangmo and Baiyue began the work of connecting the rune.

Tangmo discovered that this rune did not seem to absorb atmospheric magical power, so she speculated that the rune on the door must rely entirely on the magic crystal for energy. As long as they could open the door and then remove the magic crystal, they could generally shut off the door’s rune completely.

To connect the runes, it was necessary to engrave an external interface over the existing runes on the door, and then to connect their own engraved runes. Engraving an external interface was also a dangerous and delicate task because the slightest carelessness could easily change the nature of the original rune, leading to rune disorder.

For this reason, while Tangmo was engraving the rune, Baiyue was busy calculating the operational patterns of the existing runes, trying to find a location where he could engrave the external interface without causing any influence.

If this were Earth, such work could be handled by a computer in milliseconds. However, this was the Otherworld, so Baiyue had to tirelessly strike the abacus over and over again, then verify and recalculate until he finally determined the proper location for engraving.

Both of them carefully adjusted the position of their engraved runes and connected it to the interface, meanwhile using something similar to a wire to connect the paths of the two runes.

Generally, magic crystal powder is considered the most suitable material for connecting runes, made by grinding magic crystals that have been drained of magical power.

Although magic crystals full of magical power can also be ground into powder for use as material, this method is relatively wasteful. It’s a bit like buying a Coke to pour out the drink and then selling the Coke bottle to make money.

As mentioned before, the magical power stored in magic crystals cannot be harnessed without an appropriate channel, so the effect of grinding fully charged magic crystals into powder is more or less the same as that of drained crystals.

The only difference is probably that using powder made from fully charged magic crystals can enhance the power of runes or magic arrays on a psychological level.