Free Web NovelFrom high above in the dead of night, the enormous coastal Lake Mainas looked like a giant eye, gazing at the sky and observing the earth, with the island in the lake resembling the pupil of this eye.
That island in the lake has a very interesting name—Bairouming Island, its pronunciation and spelling are the same as the chemical element bromine.
It's hard to imagine that an island, once a scenic and pleasant resort, would be named after a strong oxidant that is blood-colored, volatile, has a pungent odor, and is highly corrosive to skin.
Around Bairouming Island, and even further out at the estuary, no trace of “bromine,” an element known as a marine element, can be detected.
According to some elderly residents of Free City, adults have called the island that since they were very young, and it is said that the name was passed down from the first pioneers who came to Free City.
Legend has it that those pioneers discovered something terrifying on Bairouming Island and carried out a brutal extermination of the island's indigenous people, leaving behind records claiming they were children of the devil.
However, such incidents are common in the history of M Country's establishment, and with the passage of time, they have gradually faded and been submerged in history, untouched by anyone; otherwise, a town would not have been built on Bairouming Island, which was once inhabited by children of the devil, nor would it have become a resort.
However, Shen Baiwei, the strongest creation of the third phase of the Saint Plan and an escapee from Tethys Laboratory, knew the reason why that island was named Bairouming Island.
On Bairouming Island, there is actually a large amount of bromine element, deep underground, and it exists in a form that is almost impossible in nature: elemental bromine...
Massive amounts of elemental bromine are buried deep underground, flowing like rivers in intricate, narrow caves, exhibiting strange activity and emitting vast yet faint Spiritual Energy fluctuations, like the sealed blood vessels of some giant creature.
It seems to be able to continuously draw bromine-containing substances from the seawater flowing into the coastal lake, and then, through some unknown, strange method, convert them into elemental bromine, storing them in a cavity-like “organ” deep beneath Bairouming.
It's like a venomous snake storing venom in its venom sac.
According to some Tethys Laboratory staff, it should be a terrifying urban legend that is either not yet fully formed or has already decayed and fallen dormant.
And the legend that gave birth to the urban legend might have been fabricated by the first pioneers one or two hundred years ago as an excuse, under the name of the devil, to slaughter the indigenous people, or it might have originated from some primitive worship of the island's indigenous people...
However, how the urban legend legend originated is not important. For the senior elder faction members of the Eclipse Society, how to utilize the massive Spiritual Energy generated with the birth of the urban legend is the key!
When Tethys Laboratory chose to establish itself here, besides valuing the “simple and free” folk customs of Free City, it was also drawn to the strange bromine “underground rivers” beneath Bairouming, using them as the laboratory's energy supply.
In fact, at least half of the Spiritual Energy required for various experiments at Tethys Laboratory originated from those bromine “underground rivers.”
As for how the Tethys Laboratory staff extracted the Spiritual Energy, Shen Baiwei, whose actions were severely restricted and who was an peripheral figure as a laboratory assistant and experimental product, had no way of knowing.
However, this still doesn't explain why the island was named after the element bromine...
How could those pioneers, or even earlier indigenous people, have discovered the large amount of elemental bromine hidden deep underground and recognized what it was?
They might have discovered or come into contact with deeper secrets of this island than the Eclipse Society members who only landed on it more than a hundred years later.
It is worth mentioning that the frequent urban legend incidents that led to the gradual decline and dilapidation of Bairouming Island a few years ago were caused by a Spiritual Energy leak due to an operational error by Tethys Laboratory during the extraction of Spiritual Energy from the bromine “underground rivers”...
High concentrations of night erosion and a large amount of Spiritual Energy spread, almost covering the entire island, transforming the urban legend legends that had accompanied tourists to the island into genuine urban legend, rampant in every corner of the island.
Later, tourists gradually left, and the entire island became a urban legend breeding ground for Tethys Laboratory. As for those stubborn town residents who refused to leave, Tethys Laboratory did not care; in their view, those people would sooner or later become new urban legend or urban legend fodder.
What will Bairouming Island look like in the future?
Shen Baiwei originally held the same view as those Tethys Laboratory members, but after having deeper contact with the town residents while escaping from Tethys Laboratory, and hearing the song of the Indian Old man just now, she couldn't help but have a different idea.
Is the urban legend hidden beneath Bairouming Island about to awaken?
Could it be that the final Saint Plan is about to be completed, causing some unknown change?
What kind of authority does it possess, and what will its true form be?
If it could directly destroy that laboratory, which buried countless cruelties and sins, when it awakens, that would be for the best! Shen Baiwei thought bitterly.
Although her knowledge about the bromine river underground in Bairouming Island was limited, she always felt that something even more terrifying was hidden there, something that might be capable of destroying Tethys Laboratory.
Immersed in slightly unrealistic fantasies, steering the small boat across the lake that seemed to be far from the real world, by the time Shen Baiwei came back to her senses, the old wooden boat had already traversed the deep lake and docked at a hidden port on Bairouming Island.
Stones stacked into square shapes, wooden stakes extending into the lake, mangrove trees concealing everything... From a certain perspective, this could not even be considered a true port.
This was the only small port on the entire island not controlled by Tethys Laboratory, once belonging to a family in the town who had transitioned to taking tourists out for fishing by boat. She had escaped by boat from here, and now she had returned the same way.
However, to her surprise, the town residents who were supposed to pick her up did not appear. Only a dim miner's lamp hung at the port, swaying gently with the breeze, its rusted handle groaning “creak, creak.”
Frowning and gazing at the empty port, Shen Baiwei hesitated for a moment, gently bit her pearly teeth, stood up and jumped ashore, casually tying the rope connecting the small boat to a wooden stake at the port, took the miner's lamp, and then walked along the pebble path into the misty mangrove forest...
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【"Calamitys Death" countdown, 105h31m12s】
After more than ten hours of travel from Yumen Pass, Lu Yibei finally met Zhang Huainan in the back mountain of Da Chunyang Palace.
Upon seeing her arrival, Zhang Huainan dismissed others and cordially led her into Lan Yue Cave, where he brewed a pot of good tea for her.
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Lu Yibei took the teacup and placed it aside.
She dared not drink the tea Zhang Huainan offered.
According to Void, it contained “night-glowing sand,” which is bat excrement...
“Old man, let's get straight to the point, shall we?” Lu Yibei said.
“Oh?” Zhang Huainan's eyebrows raised slightly. “So eager? It seems the Nameless Assassin Group of Assassins is putting a lot of pressure on you!” freēwēbηovel.c૦m
“You already know?” Lu Yibei tilted her head.
“Naturally.” Zhang Huainan nodded, stroking his beard. “If I didn't have to reason with the Old Man of the Mountain, why would I have let that girl, Hua Sang, go to meet you just now?”
As he spoke, his gaze occasionally drifted behind Lu Yibei, as if sensing something present there.
“Since you already know, then still...”
Lu Yibei was only halfway through her sentence when Zhang Huainan waved his hand, interrupting, “No rush, no rush. Before we get to the main topic, I have another question for you.”
“A question? What question?” Lu Yibei frowned.
Zhang Huainan smiled, raising a finger to point behind her, “Do you know this little friend following you? Or rather, is it alright for her to hear what we are about to discuss?”
This old man can actually sense Xiao Hua's presence?! Lu Yibei was stunned for a moment, then came back to her senses, looking back with a surprised expression.
At the same time, Nanling Yaohua's face also showed surprise, and then she pouted.
She had thought that only Lu Yibei could see her, but she never expected to be detected by two people, one old and one young, as soon as she arrived at Da Chunyang Palace.
A little unhappy!
Her special connection with Lu Yibei was no longer unique in the world!
“You can see her too?”
“No.” Zhang Huainan shook his head and said, “But not being able to see doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Not everything in this world can be seen with the eyes, can it?”
Although he couldn't see Nanling Yaohua with his eyes like Lu Yibei, just as Hua Sang could indirectly sense Nanling Yaohua's presence through Clairvoyance, he also had his unique methods, even far more advanced than Hua Sang's.
Hearing Zhang Huainan say this, Nanling Yaohua's lips curled slightly upward, secretly delighted.
Indeed, it's still unique!
After listening to Zhang Huainan's explanation, Lu Yibei shook her head, “It's fine, Xiao Hua can hear everything we're about to discuss.”
“Xiao Hua? That Miss from the Nanling family?” Zhang Huainan mused, nodding. “I understand...”
Next, he spent more than ten minutes thoroughly explaining the “Calamitys Death” plan to Lu Yibei.
After listening, Lu Yibei rested her chin on one hand, pondered for a moment, and then raised her small hand, “There are no problems with using a body double for faked death, influencing perception with a special Spell, and the Night Watch issuing announcements, but I still have two questions.”
“Oh? What are the problems?” Zhang Huainan frowned.
He believed that all the details of this plan had been arranged meticulously enough.
“Firstly...” Lu Yibei raised a finger. “Two Calamity-level experts fighting to the death will certainly cause large-scale destruction. The terrain and even the entire environment will undergo drastic changes, making it difficult to go unnoticed.”
“At that time, those guys might sneak into the scene behind your back to investigate, and who knows what clues they might find!”
“Secondly, we're just acting, and yet we're going to damage the environment. Isn't that a bit bad?”
“Then what do you suggest?” Zhang Huainan asked.
“If you ask me...” Lu Yibei raised her eyebrows and said, “Why don't we enter my God Kingdom Prototype together? I'll temporarily create an area for this grand performance?” frёewebnoѵēl.com
“At that time, if they can't find the place where we fought, it's not really a problem... If they can't find it, it's because the Night Watch did a good job of keeping it secret, and they themselves are incapable.”
“Moreover, don't you want to see Ancestor?” Lu Yibei probed softly, her eyes slyly darting towards Zhang Huainan, sizing him up.
Zhang Huainan, “...”
Good heavens! I originally only intended to arrange a fake battle, but this fellow actually wants to use a fake venue too?
Besides, who told you I wanted to see that guy?
Lu Yibei, “...”
Entering the God Kingdom Prototype has another benefit: it can prevent this old man from abusing his power and taking advantage of the situation to strike secretly...
With Ancestor watching from the side, if the old man tries to strike secretly, Ancestor will definitely deal with him!
