prynovel Chapter 4357 The Living Dead's Whispers
Chapter 4357 The Living Dead's Whispers
Chapter 4357 The Living Dead's Whispers
Of course, this is based on the premise that without Angor, Kemai will most likely end up like everyone else, falling into a coma after being invaded by the "unknown curse" due to the exhaustion of illusion nodes.
But now that we have Angell, we don't have to worry about that anymore.
Angor directly manipulated the power of "Celestial Changes" to help Kerma replenish the illusion nodes he had consumed.
Kemai also sensed that the illusion nodes, which were on the verge of depletion, were recovering at an astonishing speed. He immediately understood that it was Angor who had come to his aid and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
He was almost in despair, thinking he was doomed this time, but who would have thought that Angel would reach out to him again.
From the moment he entered this instance, he was lost and confused. It was Angor who brought him hope, gifting him illusion nodes and a minimap, giving him a foothold. And this time, just as his illusion nodes were about to collapse, Angor once again appeared in time, pulling him back from the brink of despair.
Ke Mai was overwhelmed with gratitude and could only whisper his thanks over and over again.
Angell didn't take it to heart.
If it weren't for Kerma's unwavering contact with the "living dead in the mist," this instance probably wouldn't have been able to open smoothly. In comparison, this assistance is far from enough to make up for Kerma's achievements.
After replenishing the illusion nodes consumed by Kermai, Angor noticed that Kermai was still hiding in a corner of the tent without moving, and a look of doubt flashed in his eyes.
After inquiring, it was discovered that Kemai didn't not want to move, but rather dared not move.
Previously, he had tried to check on his companions' condition while in a phantom state, but any movement he made would increase the consumption of the illusion nodes; especially when he was near an unconscious companion, this consumption increased almost exponentially.
After several attempts, he could only stand still in the corner, because only in this way could the consumption of the illusion nodes slow down.
Upon hearing Kemai's explanation, Angor was initially somewhat amused and exasperated, but when he learned that getting close to his companions would exacerbate the consumption of illusion nodes, he suddenly paused, realizing something.
"Try getting closer to them again. Don't worry about the illusion node's consumption; I'll cover for you."
With Angell's words, Kemai no longer hesitated, stood up and slowly moved toward the nearest teammate.
As he approached, Kemai sensed that the consumption of illusion nodes was accelerating, but at the same time, a gentle breeze seemed to rise in the sky, replenishing the consumed illusion nodes at an even faster pace.
Clearly, this is Angell's "safety net"!
He quickly knelt down next to his teammates and checked on their condition.
The breathing is weak but regular; the eyes are unfocused and the eye movements are slow, which are symptoms of deep coma.
He tried to wake his teammates with external force, but it didn't seem to work.
At that moment, Angel's voice came to Kemai's ear: "Make contact with more unconscious people. You don't have to limit yourself to your teammates. People from the Piccolo Caravan are also fine."
Although Kemai didn't know why Angor did this, he didn't ask. He nodded and began to check on the unconscious people in the camp.
On the other side, while helping Kemai replenish the illusion nodes he consumed, Angor was also using Kemai to sense the unconscious people.
Like Kemai, they also possess fluctuations of power.
However, the difference is that while the power fluctuations of the Kemai might be relatively weak due to the protection of the illusion node, the power fluctuations of these comatose individuals are much more pronounced.
The fragmentation of information has even emerged.
Simply put...
Angell could not decipher the meaning of the power fluctuations in Kemai.
However, the other comatose individuals, lacking the protection of illusion nodes, could only barely discern some of the meanings of power fluctuations, but these were relatively fragmented, requiring the collection of more information to confirm the specific situation.
As Kemai continued to examine the unconscious individuals, the fragmented information Angel gathered became increasingly complete.
Until Kemai made contact with the last person: Dakman.
All the information contained in the fluctuations of power has finally been completed.
"The Whispers of the Living Dead: A variant of the voice of the dead, containing the power of both the living and the dead, which will unknowingly draw the listener into the weaver's dream."
"Note: The dream will continuously absorb the power of living beings during its duration. If one fails to escape the dream, one will be completely lost, fall into depravity, and perish."
This is the so-called "unknown curse" that plagues everyone in the camp, including Kerma.
After thinking for a moment, Angell did not hide anything and told Kemai the information he had obtained.
The whispers of the living dead? A dream? Kemai's expression was one of confusion: "What...what are these?"
Angel: "I don't know the specifics at the moment. Although I have magical artifacts for obtaining information, the information I can obtain each time is limited. For example, this time, I can only obtain this much so far."
Angel used the props from Wonderland as an excuse, and Kemai had no doubts.
"What should I do now? What can I do to wake them up?"
Angel said thoughtfully, "At present, it seems that external forces cannot awaken them. Perhaps they can only rely on themselves to awaken."
The information extracted clearly states that "if one ultimately fails to escape the illusion, one will be completely lost, fall into depravity, and perish."
The implied meaning of this statement is that one can escape from a dream, and the initiative to escape lies in the hands of the person in the dream.
"So, there's nothing I can do but watch helplessly as they wait?" A pang of sadness flashed in Kemai's eyes. "If they don't escape the dream, doesn't that mean... they'll die?"
As Ke Mai finished speaking, his voice trembled noticeably.
Angel: "Don't worry, there won't be any real deaths in this level of dungeon. At most, they'll be considered as failing to clear the dungeon and will automatically exit."
Ke Mai was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses.
He was so engrossed in the tense moment that he completely forgot he was actually inside a dungeon.
Only after confirming that his teammate was not actually dead did his anxiety ease slightly.
But when his gaze swept over the unconscious caravan members in the tent again, and landed on the kind and gentle leader who had taken good care of him along the way, Kemai's eyes darkened, and his feelings became complicated and indescribable.
"The challengers won't die, but what about the caravan members?"
Angell was silent for a moment, then said softly, "They are just NPCs. They will perish in this round of the dungeon, but they will reappear in the next round."
Kemai was well aware of the NPCs' situation and understood that they were just part of a cycle within the dungeon, but recalling the leader's kindness earlier, he still felt somewhat sad.
Even knowing that they will reappear in the next round of the dungeon, for them in this round, death is true annihilation.
Thinking of this, Ke Mai felt a slight lump in his throat, silently lowered his eyes, and felt an indescribable sense of despondency rise in his heart.
Seeing Kemai's dazed expression, Angor remained silent for a moment before saying, "You didn't attract the evil spirit, so you don't need to take the blame."
“Even if you hadn’t followed the caravan and hadn’t entered this camp, the evil spirit would still have wandered here along its path. The camp is here, the caravan is here, and this encounter was destined to happen from the very beginning.”
Angleton paused, then stated this objective fact in the most straightforward way:
"You can think of this as a plot device that kills them off."
“You followed them all the way, without hastening the disaster or adding fuel to the fire; you simply happened to be part of this inevitable event.”
"You can't change the predetermined plot, and you don't need to blame yourself for the outcome of the plot."
Although it was his first time entering the instance, Ke Mai had learned what "plot kill" meant from other people. He stood there in silence for a long time, his shoulders tense.
After a long pause, he said in a self-deprecating and powerless tone, "
"As the challenger of the instance, I should have faced everything on my own... but in the end, I still have to rely on you, who did not participate in the challenge, to enlighten and comfort me."
His hands, hanging by his sides, tightened slightly, his tone full of frustration: "Someone like me is really not suited for tackling dungeons."
Angell replied almost without hesitation, “No, I don’t think so.”
"First of all, the NPCs in the dungeon walkthrough and the empathy-based storyline are essentially two different things and should not be confused."
"Moreover, the NPCs in the empathy-driven storyline are sometimes a universal solution in dungeon walkthroughs. If you lose even basic empathy, then the storyline becomes meaningless, and you will find it difficult to develop the subsequent plot."
For example, if you don't empathize with certain plot-driven deaths, you might not gain the favor of other NPCs, or even get any clues. The quest will simply end there, with no follow-up.
Therefore, Ingres did not think that this "empathic trait" was a bad thing.
This trait is actually essential for conquering dungeons.
"Besides, they might not necessarily die; perhaps they can escape the dream on their own."
"Or... if you can find the truth and properly deal with the 'evil spirits' before they are trapped and die in the dream, they might awaken."
"Therefore, empathy is good, but we don't need to be bound by it now."
Angell's words were like a wake-up call, relaxing Kemai's tense shoulders and slowly lifting his drooping eyes. The helplessness in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a hint of determination.
He clenched his fists in silence, a resolute conviction flashing through his mind.
After a moment, Kemai took a deep breath, his tone regaining its composure, and said in a deep voice towards the void, "Lord Angor, you are right, I cannot remain trapped here forever."
"Since defeating the evil spirits and finding the truth might awaken them, I will now go and track down the evil spirits."
After speaking, Ke Mai began preparing for the tracking work.
For example, they would first move the unconscious people lying on the ground into the tents one by one, and then take out the caravan's warning traps and place them near the tents to prevent wild animals from entering.
At the same time, it also prevents them from being continuously exposed to the fog and poisonous insects of the swamp forest.
He even took precautions against multi-legged leeches.
After finishing all this, Kemai straightened up, took a deep breath, suppressed the urgency in his heart, and took a step to walk into the depths of the swamp forest.
Angel had been silently observing Kemai's actions without intervening, until now when he spoke up: "Evil spirits don't speak. Tracking them doesn't necessarily lead to the truth."
Ke Mai paused, a hint of bewilderment and confusion flashing in his eyes.
Upon closer reflection, Lord Angel was right. The evil spirit was clearly clueless; searching for it was utterly pointless.
"Then... what should I do?" Ke Mai asked, somewhat at a loss.
Instead of giving a direct answer, Angell said in a persuasive tone, "This dungeon is only E-rank in difficulty, and the clues won't be hidden too deeply... You might as well calm down and think more, and make good use of all the clues and items you can."
Make good use of all the clues and props?
A look of doubt flashed across Ke Mai's eyes. He had no clues at the moment; the only clue he had was the main summary in the text column.
Hmm, a summary of the main plot?
It feels like... we've overlooked some information?
Kemai quickly opened the text panel and reread the summary information given by the main quest.
"Main plot summary: In recent days, fog has been lingering in the swamp forests along the southern branch road from Dawn City to Evening Light Harbor. Not only are there rumors of "evil spirits appearing", but there are also suspected traces of the Forty Thieves."
Upon seeing the information about the "Forty Thieves," Ke Mai's eyes lit up!
He now understands the information he had overlooked earlier!
The best way for him to get the "truth" is to ask someone who can speak up.
According to the information he obtained from the caravan, there are currently about three groups of people active in the Misty Swamp Forest: the caravan and his team are one group, the native inhabitants of the swamp forest are another group, and the rest are the Forty Bandits.
He had no connection with the natives, no strong ties to rely on, and no way to make contact; but the Forty Thieves were different. He remembered the information he had overheard when he first entered the instance: the caravan's purpose in entering the Misty Swamp Forest was to deliver goods to the Forty Thieves!
Now, everyone in the caravan has fallen into a coma.
In other words, if he claimed to be a member of a caravan and made contact with the Forty Thieves, no one would expose his true identity!
Therefore, he could use this opportunity to ask the Forty Thieves!
The "Forty Thieves" are key figures explicitly mentioned in the main storyline summary, and they definitely know some secret information!
Thinking of this, Ke Mai's tense expression completely relaxed, and a determined light rekindled in his eyes.
Then, he shared his thoughts and asked Angell for his opinion.
But there was no reply, and the air was completely silent.
Kemai thought Angel had left, and a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly cheered up and began to organize the identity props he would need to play the role of a "caravan member".
First, there were the clothes and the token.
Currently, almost all members of the caravan, except for the leader, are dressed in uniform.
Without a doubt, these are representative items of the Piccolo Merchant Guild, and also the most direct and trustworthy items for gaining the trust of others.
He found someone with a similar build and swapped clothes with them.
Next, he searched through the caravan's cargo information, looking for some "not particularly critical but necessary supplies," such as non-armed daily necessities.
He planned to take a batch of supplies to find the Forty Thieves.
Having both "skin" and supplies should be enough to convince the Forty Thieves.
As for why they didn't bring "critical supplies," it's because if they did, they might not be able to get out. The name "master thief" implies that they are likely not good people.
Therefore, we must leave them with something to hold onto.
While searching for cargo information, Kemai also found a rough map of the Misty Swamp Forest from the leader. Although it was no better than his own "big map," the map had several "OOXX" markings. Kemai remembered that he had brushed past the area marked "X" yesterday, and the leader had solemnly warned them not to enter it, which obviously meant it was dangerous. The location marked "O" was most likely the opposite of "X," and it was very likely a safe area, or even the area where the Forty Thieves were currently active.
The map shows an "O" location a few kilometers away from the camp.
Kemai plans to visit this place next.