Chapter 1348 - 1347: Farewell on Your Journey

Chapter 1348: Chapter 1347: Farewell on Your Journey

The middle-aged man curled up on the ground blinked hard, as if his memory, mind, soul, and body had been divided into different layers by some kind of force. As a result, he was unable to think and understand the situation before him like a complete human being. This state lasted for several more seconds, when some disordered and shattered fragments of thought finally reorganized in his consciousness, and he finally remembered who he was, and also recognized the woman in front of him.

"Beltira..." he hesitated to speak, his voice hoarse and inhuman, chaotic thoughts crashing through his mind. As his memories started to gradually resurface, his expression became increasingly terrified, "I... I... what have you done..."

He suddenly stopped, as if only then realizing the strangeness of his own "body". He looked down at his human form in shock and panic, then almost crawled on his hands and feet trying to rise, muttering to himself as he attempted to stand, "This isn’t real... this is an illusion, what did you do to me? Don’t make such jokes..."

"This is the last peace for your soul, my ’compatriot’," Beltira had been silently observing the person in front of her, and now she spoke with extreme calmness, "You cannot go back anymore. Your body—if you can even call it your body—collapsed and mutated due to facing the appearance of the gods, and is now gradually being disintegrated. Your consciousness was brought here by me, into the depths of the neural network, a space I constructed using my own thought nodes. Bertrum, if you still have a trace of sanity and humanity left, recall everything you’ve done, because we don’t have much time to waste."

Bertrum—or perhaps the Bertrum formed from memories—suddenly fell still, ceasing his attempt to stand, instead staring ahead with an astonished expression. His unfocused eyes seemed to be gazing at some endlessly distant past, before he slowly collapsed, kneeling amidst an endless field of flowers, clutching his head tightly and emitting a howl that was almost impossible for a human to produce.

Beltira watched him, and only after Bertrum quieted down did she slowly speak: "I’m sorry, I could only forcibly call back your original self in this way, but it seems that an early version of you can’t endure the subsequent centuries of dark memories, which has imposed immense pressure on your conscience."

"We wandered the dark, desolate wasteland for hundreds of years... we calculated, we deduced, we took root in the decaying soil, coexisting with forces incomprehensible to mortals, and repeatedly tried to calculate that path... we reached a conclusion, we reached a conclusion..." Bertrum murmured softly, "It was a dead end, we calculated it three hundred years ago, it was a dead end... unfeasible..."

"Yes, unfeasible, we now know that—but fortunately, it’s not just us trying to survive in this world. The Cecil Clan found another way, while you were trapped in the depths of darkness, your thoughts trapped there, unable to see the existence of other paths," Beltira lowered her gaze, "Bertrum, even to this day, I still appreciate the sacrifice you made when you charged into the wasteland. I believe that at least in the beginning, your oath was sincere—but that darkness and despair were far beyond what mortals could resist. It was a mistake we all made in underestimating the malice of this world."

"It’s already too late, it’s too late to say these things now..." Bertrum finally raised his head, a face somewhat distorted, appearing before Beltira, "I don’t know how long I can maintain this state—the enormous anger and hatred are gradually engulfing my consciousness. I even want... to kill you, so hurry and ask, Saint Princess, I’m beginning to not even recognize your face."

"What do you intend to do?" Beltira didn’t waste any more time, "Why are you placing those Rune Stones in the Deep Blue Webway, what do you intend to do with them?"

"Deep Blue Webway... Rune Stones... I remember now," Bertrum’s facial muscles twitched as he recalled more secrets of the Dark Cult, his boundless malice and anger increasingly filled him. Fighting against this power, he spoke quickly, "This is Archbishop Bolken’s plan, we... we need to tame this planet beneath us, and the Magic Circuit that spans the entire planet and can simultaneously interfere with the material and immaterial world is a natural ’rein’. We want to hold the rein in our hands..."

He suddenly began coughing violently and gasped heavily for a few seconds before continuing, "All of our suffering, all the malice in this world, comes from two points, the first being the gods, and the second being the ’Magic Shock’ that periodically sweeps across all stars, the former... the former brings the divine calamity destroying all things, the latter... the latter will temporarily change the boundary of all things, chaotic wave... yes, we call it the chaotic wave..."

"A Magic Shock that periodically sweeps across all stars?" Beltira suddenly paid attention to this peculiar term, "What does this mean? Is this your understanding of the chaotic wave? How did you research it to this extent?"

"I don’t know... this knowledge is not our achievement, it was said by that pair of elf sisters. They said that an ancient Magic Shock echoes throughout the universe, like a layered net traveling back and forth among the stars. It is the original form of all things in the world, and also the ’baseline wave band’ of magic. When this force sweeps the sky above the stars, all ’ethereal stars’ will blaze and shine brightly, while all ’material stars’ will be immersed in a powerful force field... the minds of all sentient beings will be affected, perception deviates from all things, and the boundary between material and immaterial blurs, they also mentioned... mentioned..."

Bertrum’s eyes suddenly became a bit vacant, as if another consciousness was about to dominate his thoughts, but the next second, Beltira held his shoulder, forcibly bringing him back to clarity while urgently probing, "What else did they mention?"

"The amplification and displacement of the Observer Effect... the projections in the deep-sea and the ’archetype’ in the material universe losing their boundaries... I only know this much, most people only know this much, maybe Archbishop Bolken knows more explanations behind this, but I’m not sure..."

"...It seems this is the Voyager’s understanding of the ’chaotic wave’," Beltira said in a deep voice, then observed Bertrum’s condition before continuing to ask, "And what does this have to do with the Rune Stones you are deploying? What was the ’taming’ of the planet you mentioned earlier?"

"Blocking that Magic Shock... we want to create an eternal, safe world... seven hundred years ago, the explosion at the Well of Deep Blue was not truly a chaotic wave, quite the opposite, the powerful planetary-level Magic Surge erupted and resisted the ’shock aftermath’ that swept the sky above the planet at that time—we are trying to recreate this process, control this process," Bertrum said with a low, hoarse voice, his speech sometimes broken, his mind sometimes in a daze, but overall, what he said was understood by Beltira, "We want to use the Rune Stones to control the entire planet’s Deep Blue Webway, and then actively trigger its massive explosion, if the control is precise, the planet itself will not disintegrate, and we will have a barrier enveloping the planet...

"This barrier will last for eternity, it will isolate our planet from the universe filled with malice, free from the threat of chaotic waves. It will also sever the connection between the mortal world and the gods, becoming a high wall between the real world and the deep-sea, the gods will never be able to find us... like a baby returning to a safe cradle, forever and ever..."

Beltira slightly widened her eyes as she watched Bertrum in front of her. She remained silent for several seconds before suddenly speaking, "Do you really think this will bring eternal safety?"

"The Archbishop said so, and so did that pair of elf sisters," Bertrum said softly, "As long as we carefully wrap our planet, permanently isolating it from the outside universe, only receiving limited energy gifts from the sun, we can construct a permanent happy home, at least... it will last until the sun above our heads goes out, and that will take many, many years."

Beltira didn’t know how to evaluate this crazy plan. She suddenly thought of another very crucial point: "Wait a minute, you’re saying you’re going to guide the ’big explosion’ of the Deep Blue Webway. How many people will die in this process?"

"Like the Gondor Empire seven hundred years ago," Bertrum said in a deep voice, "this process essentially recreates the birth of the Gondor wasteland—therefore, the entire mortal civilization will be destroyed, all the kingdoms of mortals will perish, and more than ninety percent of the world’s creatures will become extinct in this process. But some will still remain, just like us on the Gondor wasteland. They will evolve bit by bit in the environment saturated with Deep Blue magic, eventually adapting to this new world."

Bertrum paused for a moment, then slowly said in a low voice, "Our appearance is the future of all creatures."

"You truly are insane..." Beltira’s eyes widened as she stared intently at the middle-aged man before her. "Turning the entire planet into an environment like the Gondor wasteland, destroying all civilized nations, leaving only scattered mutated freaks like you wandering the wastelands that cover the planet... What is the point of such a ’paradise’? What is the point of this long-lasting ’protection’?"

"But at least creatures on this planet will no longer have to face the chaotic wave and celestial catastrophes," Bertrum shook his head, "and after a long passage of time, maybe a further ’evolution’ will occur. The wandering mutated creatures might establish new civilizations, and more life forms might arise in the wasteland environment. What seems like a harsh and hopeless environment to you could be a fertile idyll to another group of creatures... Beltira, do you know? After wandering through the Gondor wasteland for seven hundred years, I’ve come to see that dark and corrupted land as rather vibrant... Time can change everything."

"But this should not be the fate of the civilized nations, and you have no right to deny their future," Beltira gazed into Bertrum’s eyes. "If we are to face an apocalypse, we are willing to fight to the death, willing to battle on the battlefield until the last person, willing to face the end in resistance—not have a natural disaster created by you, and hear you claim you’re protecting the future world while denying everyone’s future."

"... You’re absolutely right, but unfortunately, those of us who’ve been immersed in the wasteland for many years no longer think like you do," Bertrum twitched his lips, revealing a smile twisted to the point of ugliness, "including myself—when the remnants of my reason and conscience dissipate, I’ll only think of your words as naive and sanctimonious."

"Perhaps, this is everyone’s sorrow," Beltira sighed softly. "Let’s continue, Bertrum... I now know your real purpose, and I want to know about those Rune Stones. What is your next deployment plan? How many more Rune Stones do you need to deploy? Once you’ve completed all your deployment plans... how will you activate them?"

"Our deployment progress... is currently more than half complete. I don’t know the specifics of the entire plan, but I think we still need... still need at least another third of the Rune Stones to ’domesticate’ this planet," Bertrum’s tone was somewhat hesitant, as if struggling for some kind of ’dominance’ within himself, but then his words became fluent, "The Deep Blue Webway is very complex, and it’s not just about throwing a large number of Rune Stones into the webway to get enough ’quantity’; suitable nodes are limited...

"Originally, we had found almost enough nodes in the wasteland. Without disturbing the Deep Blue Well central node, we could place over ninety percent of the Rune Stones into the planned vein flow, but the plan changed later; some Rune Stones planted in certain nodes were intercepted by sea demons... Ultimately, we had to set our sights beyond the Barrier...

"The most important node is located at Ancestral Peak, where deep within the mountain lies a natural magic surge source no less than the Deep Blue Well. The locals, however, are completely unaware of it and only see the magic-rich environment around Ancestral Peak as a gift from their ancestors...

"Additionally, the predetermined nodes are located in the mountains of the northern continent, with each marsh at the borders of the Sacred Dragon Kingdom having a deployment point, three in the eastern extension of the Dark Mountain Range, one in the Shadow Marsh at the Typhon border, two in the Blue Rock Hills in the southern part of the continent, and three in the northwest of the Highmountain Kingdom...

"The number of Rune Stones needed per deployment point varies, ranging from at least one to as many as four or five. Rune Stones possess the function of autonomous navigation and positioning in the Deep Blue Vein Flow. Once they enter the webway, they will begin moving..."

Bertrum’s tone gradually lowered, but he kept narrating everything he knew. Throughout the long narration, Beltira remained attentively listening, not missing a single word.

After a while, Bertrum’s voice finally fell completely silent.

He seemed asleep, his head drooping as he slumped in front of Beltira, motionless. The memory unit that retained his conscience seemed to have completely departed from this "body," leaving only an empty shell behind.

But soon, a new consciousness began to grow in a corner of this body. This body started to tremble, accompanied by hoarse and rough breathing; the once-still body suddenly raised its head, its eyes filled with anger and hatred, facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, and a hoarse, distorted voice squeezed out of its throat: "Bel-ti..."

However, the roar only managed to spill a few syllables before it abruptly stopped. The field of pure white flowers around them suddenly began to writhe, and what once appeared as sweet and harmless plants intertwined into a massive maw filled with fangs, devouring Bertrum’s rapidly distorting "body" in one gulp.

The next second, the flower field returned to tranquility, leaving no trace behind, except for Beltira in her light green dress, standing quietly, watching the sea of flowers gently sway in the breeze.

"Farewell, Bertrum."