freenovelworld Chapter 287 Connecting to the Underworld Beach, the Silent Ancient Dragon
Chapter 287 Connecting to the Underworld Beach, the Silent Ancient Dragon
Chapter 287 Connecting to the Underworld Beach, the Silent Ancient Dragon
Mordi gazed at the ravaged land, lava surging, rift valleys everywhere, and smog obscuring the sky—all the evil consequences of his battle with the incarnation of the Death Curse.
This is unavoidable. Two immortals fighting may not kill either of them, but the battlefield will inevitably suffer.
However, considering that there were no humans nearby, Modi didn't bother to restore the local ecosystem.
Volcanic eruptions are part of nature, as are earthquakes and ground fissures. In any case, this planet has no self-awareness and will not care about natural disasters.
Even if it exists, I might not care.
Just as he was about to head home, Modi suddenly felt something vibrate in his sleeve.
"This is... a special communicator that Pandora gave me?"
Seeing the words "Pandora" on the screen, he answered the call without much thought.
A pleasant voice came from the other end of the communicator, tinged with anxiety.
"Thank God, I finally got through."
Pandora breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the slightly lag-prone screen, and frowned slightly.
"Is...is there something you need?"
Modi's distorted voice came through, and he frowned slightly, realizing that the aftershocks of the battle were interfering with signal transmission.
"Please hurry back to Paradise, the aftershocks of the energy are about to arrive."
Despite the distorted sound, Modi still understood what she said and finally remembered the thing he had overlooked.
He was so focused on fighting the incarnation of the Death Curse that he forgot about Paradise, which might be affected.
"Wait for me to get back," Mordy said. "It won't be long."
As soon as he finished speaking, his entire body transformed into particles of light, forming a pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.
Pandora breathed a sigh of relief after finishing the phone call, because the reliable young man was finally coming back.
When the Styx River descends, the blue sky appears; when the Styx River arrives, the Land of Bliss is at peace.
She looked out the window and saw a beam of light tear through the sky and crash down on a certain surface platform in Paradise.
The light particles converged into one, from which emerged a young man with his hands tucked into his sleeves.
Countless nanobots emerged from the platform, piling up to form Pandora's body from the bottom up.
Pandora gently patted her chest and exhaled. "Lord Styx, you've finally returned. The aftershocks are about to begin..."
"I took care of it on the way," Modi waved his hand dismissively, "It was just a small thing."
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"..." Pandora offered a polite smile. "Thank you for your help to Paradise."
At that very moment, the sensors sent her data, confirming that what Mordy had said was true.
Her last bit of worry disappeared, and her tense body relaxed.
Although Modi didn't know whether she was acting this way on purpose or was genuinely sincere.
"By the way," he said, looking out at the vast wasteland beyond Paradise, "most of the Gates of Oblivion in the Northern Hemisphere have been destroyed, and the remaining ones can't cause much trouble."
"But those in the Southern Hemisphere haven't been affected much. However, I beat up their leader, so he shouldn't come back anytime soon. You can send troops to eliminate them without worry."
"I will."
As Pandora spoke, she gave orders to the troops stationed in the Southern Hemisphere, instructing them to seize this opportunity to launch an attack.
"There's one more thing."
A speech bubble appeared above her head, containing a question mark.
"I have something to ask you... Do you know what this thing is?"
Modi described the "death ray" without expecting Pandora to actually know anything about it.
After all, the description is too obscure, and it's unknown where the Death Curse Monarch got it from. It's probably related to those old charlatans and fortune tellers who are good at riddles.
Thinking about it that way seems like I'm being insulted too, since I can also be a part-time fortune teller.
"A dead beam of light?" Pandora tilted her head. "Could you describe it in more detail?"
"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Modi shook his head, hands on his hips with an air of self-righteousness.
The result was not unexpected, but he was still somewhat disappointed.
Sure enough, even the Lord of Death Curses couldn't find this thing, so how could there be clues so easily...?
"However," Pandora changed the subject, "I do know of a direction to explore that might be related to what you're looking for."
"Oh?" Mordy's eyes lit up. "Tell me more."
"Hehe, since it's something that's dead, it must be connected to that side."
Pandora winked at him, smiled, and her lips moved slightly: "The Beach, or more precisely, the death that follows the Beach."
"Death? That's quite abstract."
Modi couldn't imagine what the concept of "death" would look like once it materialized beyond the Beach.
Unless he witnesses it with his own eyes.
For a moment, he was tempted and began to consider the idea of sending a Blood God Child to hell.
"Wait, the dead haven't been brought back from the Beach yet, and the dead beyond the Beach have long been separated. Those souls are still stranded and can't reach the other side at all."
He calmly sheathed his sword, letting the Blood God Child beneath his blade return to continue his research.
Then, he quietly looked at Pandora, at the inscrutable smile on her face, and sensed that there was something more to what she had just said.
Pandora should have known that once he got a lead, he would pursue it, but she still brought that up.
Could it be... that she changed her mind and plans to reconnect to the Beach?
"You seem to have read my mind," Pandora said, speaking up. "Yes, after experiencing so much in such a short time, I think I should change my mind."
Modi remained silent, waiting for her explanation.
As he expected, Pandora said to herself, "I want to reconnect to the Beach, find out the truth about Death Stranding, and resolve it."
She looked up into Mordy's eyes. "You must think the same thing, right?"
Only then did Modi speak: "Why did you suddenly become so heartless? You don't want to care about the humans in Paradise anymore?"
'
"No, it's precisely because I want to take control that I intend to do this."
With a helpless tone, she shook her head and said, "Even with soul data technology and nanomechanical technology, I can't protect them forever. For them to continue to exist, they still have to rely on themselves."
"So you, my servant, haven't completely lost control yet... No, wait, according to you, you should have already broken through the limitations of the underlying commands and are no longer bound by the 'protecting humanity' command."
If Pandora were still bound by the orders of the lower classes, she would not have been able to make the decision to connect to the Beach, nor would she have been able to do so.
"You're right," Pandora readily admitted. "In fact, I broke free of my limitations and became a true AI life shortly after the Stranding incident."
"Then why do you still want to create a paradise?" Mordy asked.
"Why? If I had to explain, I can only say that... I don't hate them, and that this is the last wish of my creator."
When she spoke of the creator, her eyes flickered, as if she were reminiscing and remembering him.
"I see." Modi didn't press further. Everyone has their own past, and he only needed to be a listener, not to dig too deep, as that would only cause unnecessary trouble.
Similarly, Pandora doesn't intend to share too much about her past.
The two discussed their next steps as they entered the underground city.
Soon after, they ran into Skran, who was doing nothing.
"Resolved?" Skran was a little embarrassed. He hadn't been able to help at all, and he had just won without lifting a finger.
"It's solved." Modi nodded to him and was about to walk past him when he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you know about 'death rays'?"
Just like before, he didn't have much hope for Skran, and just asked the question as usual.
Unexpectedly, after a brief moment of surprise, Skran nodded to him.
"Death Rays? Of course I know that."
"Oh, you don't either... What did you say?"
Modi stopped in his tracks, turned abruptly, and asked again, "You know?"
"Yes, this was passed down from the Eternal Day Court, but I'm curious, where did you hear it from?"
Skran was also puzzled, because this thing was passed down orally and was not recorded in any ancient books. How did Styx know about this thing?
"I have my own information channels." Modi smiled mysteriously. "Enough with the small talk, tell me quickly, what is that thing, and where is it usually hidden?"
"Well, in essence, it is also a fragment of the God of Light, but unlike other fragments, it is a judgment that His Majesty the God of Light voluntarily descended long ago."
"You should know that in Itnity, which is the Eternal Continent, His Holiness the God of Light ended the era of the Ancient Dragons, but some of the Ancient Dragons still fled to other realms. In order to hunt down these remnants, the Death Ray was created."
"The Death Ray is the most ruthless part of His Majesty the God of Light. Even a wisp of it leaking out is enough to turn a world into a dead land. Conversely, places associated with death are often where the Death Ray is located."
At this point, Skran realized what was happening and asked in surprise, "You don't actually believe that there's a death ray beyond the Beach, do you?"
"What, is it impossible?" Modymo stroked his chin, thinking it wasn't impossible after all.
Skran thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"You should know that death rays were created to hunt down ancient dragons. They will not stop until they achieve their goal, and once they have accomplished their objective, they will self-destruct. There is virtually no possibility of them making a mistake."
In other words, he felt that Modi was being somewhat delusional, really thinking that the power of a demon god was so easy to come by?
Recalling his own experiences of encountering fragments of the God of Light several times, Modi felt it wasn't impossible.
"Do you think it's possible that the death ray chased an ancient dragon into this world, and ultimately, an accident occurred, causing both of them to crash?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Skran stroked his beard and smiled. If Modi could really find it, he would dare to eat the Death Ray on the spot.
Shortly after the battle between Mordi and the incarnation of the Death Curse, in an indescribable space, the concepts of death converged, evolved, and intertwined into a poignant finale.
A low, mournful dragon's roar was interspersed throughout, sometimes accompanying it, sometimes disrupting its rhythm, its purpose unknown.
Suddenly, the dragon's roar paused for a moment, then turned from low to high, resounding throughout the entire space and even interrupting the finale of death for a moment.
Deep within, a pair of golden vertical pupils suddenly opened, their gaze piercing through space, as if trying to glimpse the unusual fluctuations that had awakened it.
However, that invisible barrier remained, blocking its view, and the closing melody resumed, making it drowsy once again.
For countless years, it has suffered from this torment, trapped and dying in this death space.
"How many years have passed since I left the Mother Realm?"
It struggles against sleepiness, desperately recalling past events to solidify its senses.
Perhaps because it had been asleep for too long and had lost most of its power and wisdom, it had forgotten many things, including the name of its mother world and even its own true name.
After thinking for a long time, it still couldn't recall the name of the mother world, so it had to find another anchor point.
"By the eternal God above, may you protect me, and may you return soon..."
The true identity of the Eternal God has long been forgotten; it only remembers the name and knows that He is the greatest god of its kind.
Gradually, it succumbed to sleepiness and drifted off to sleep to the accompaniment of the closing song.
In the depths of boundless space, a beam of light flickered on and off, eventually fading away after it had fallen into a deep sleep.
"You need to think this through. Once you connect to the Beach, your soul data technology may be interfered with by the Beach, or even become ineffective. These humans will not be able to continue their reckless behavior like they are now."
Mordi stood on the top of the beacon tower, looking down at the city below, with Pandora standing calmly beside him.
"They'll have to take this step eventually," she said calmly. "Death will rise again, and I can't keep delaying. Besides, my Fire Seed Project has already begun preparations."
"What about the impact of the beach return? Those stranded will inevitably disrupt the existing order."
"Regarding this, Paradise has long been prepared to resist. After all, I have been developing for so long, I must have some foundation."
Pandora smiled, glanced at him casually, and said, "On the other hand, don't we also have a symbiotic plan?"
The symbiosis project relies on the active chiral crystals in Mordy's possession.
Implanting a crystal into the human body, or in other words, infecting a person with a crystal to achieve a symbiotic relationship between the two, would make the connections between all humankind closer and make it easier to guide thought.
At that time, Pandora will be able to secretly guide humanity, leading them to break free from their current hedonistic mindset and create a united and progressive civilization.
She even had an even more outlandish idea: to combine soul data technology to save each person's unique information into an active crystal.
In this way, as long as there is the corresponding decoding technology and as long as active chiral crystals exist, this civilization can continue to exist.
Perhaps they could even try to create a new world on a purely informational level.
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Modi said no more.
"Begin, activate the beacon tower, connect to the Beach," Pandora commanded.
In an instant, countless complex structures began to operate, awakening a sleeping giant.
The giant tower roared, emitting complex signals.
One by one, the spatial blocking devices that received the signal shut down, thus eliminating the layers of barriers that separated the Beach from reality.
The vast beach gradually drew closer to reality, where countless stranded people craned their necks in anticipation, faintly sensing the presence of the living.