There were interfering noises coming from the magic communication device, but Bernarda paid no attention to these interferences. She just waited patiently for a few seconds with a smile, and then heard a hoarse, low voice, as if dry. The sound of branches rubbing together came from the device:
"Today's wasteland is still as boring as every day in the past - Priest Bertila, why did you suddenly communicate through the hidden bridge?"< /p>
"I want to confirm the situation at the outpost," Bertila, whose pseudonym is Berna, but is actually the middle-level leader of the cult organization, said calmly, "You should already know that those blind monsters attacked Ti The border between Feng and Ansu."
"...'this side' of the wall is under control, and the accidents outside the wall have nothing to do with us, Your Excellency."
Bertila snorted, obviously dissatisfied with this answer: "There are mutant individuals with rudimentary intelligence and powerful spellcasting abilities among the aberrations. Why were these changes not mentioned in the previous report?"
The voice on the other side of the communication device was silent for a moment, and then the rustling sound sounded again: "...We have not observed the mutant you mentioned."
Bertila is good-looking Her brows furrowed slightly, obviously she was even more dissatisfied with this answer: "Am I going to make this up at will? Now even the humans outside the wall have witnessed brand-new mutant monsters, do you really not know about it?"< /p>
"Priest Bertila, don't question the loyalty of the 'sacrifice'. We don't know what the mutant you are talking about is, but we will investigate it - if everything is Really, that can only mean that those monsters are undergoing new mutations that have never been observed before. Faced with this change, the wisest choice is to wait patiently for the results of the investigation."
"I will wait, "Bertira's expression was cold and stiff, "But I don't have much patience."
"Be patient, be patient, we have been patient for seven hundred years, and there is nothing that can affect our plans... "
The noise in the communication device and the human voice gradually weakened together. Bertila knew that the effect of the "hidden bridge" was reaching its limit, and the illegal signals in the channel would soon be covered by the Silver Empire's The magicians noticed, so before the communication was completely interrupted, she took the time to say: "The elves will soon notice the movement of the magnificent wall, and our channel will be reset and modified according to the second plan..."
The sky is covered with filthy clouds that look like swamps. The turbulent chaotic magic energy creates never-ending lightning in the clouds. The whistling wind carries toxic gases and radiation. Motes of dust, all things withered and withered in this deadly environment, or mutated and twisted. Even the earth, regarded as the cornerstone of all things, was turned into a wasteland covered with scorch marks in the corrosive magical energy - here, life was cut off land.
But there are still some "things" active in this land cut off from life.
The Wasteland of Gondor, the Magic Scorch Area, a "forest"It's crawling slowly.
The dark and twisted branches grow wantonly in the corrupting magic energy. Sparse and messy gray-white leaves hang on the branches, or pale or blood-red crystal growths pierce the skin of these plants, like a mosaic. Growing among the creepy twisted branches and leaves, no knowledgeable person in the world can identify the species or names of these "trees". Even in the most absurd and bizarre paintings dedicated to describing the Black Forest, no one has drawn them. The appearance of "trees" with such strange shapes - especially when these trees are still swaying their branches and walking on the ground with their dense roots, is even more beyond the poor imagination of human beings.
Countless "trees" like this are crawling on the wasteland. Their roots are like tangled snakes, constantly expanding, contracting, and squirming. From time to time, a "tree" slows down its crawling. At such a speed, they briefly pierced some of the roots into the corrupted soil, seizing the time to absorb the remaining nutrients in the soil, but even so, their crawling pace would never stop, as if their mission It's like constantly trekking in this wasteland.
In the center of the creeping forest, an extremely huge and ancient strange tree slowly moved forward surrounded by its friends. The wrinkled and pitted bark on its surface shrank together to form a Like a strange pattern like an old man's face, the face made of tree bark changed slightly, and from the dry and cracked mouth of "it" came a hoarse and low voice: "No need to worry, Dean Bertila, everything is fine." After mastering..."
After a moment, the old face closed its mouth. However, around this giant tree, many smaller creeping trees began to sway in unison, one after another. Faces emerged from the wrinkled tree bark, and looked out of the forest as the tree branches twisted.
On the outside of the Creeping Forest, on the wasteland covered with filthy scorch marks, countless hateful and terrifying flesh and blood giants are moving slowly, and low murmurs that can drive ordinary people crazy come from each giant. came from the chest and filled the entire wilderness.
Among the blind and foolish flesh-and-blood giants, one or two extremely huge individuals can be seen from time to time. They are two or three times the height of ordinary giants, marching slowly in the team, And kept getting closer to the direction of the creeping forest...
Every leaf in the creeping forest trembled, and amid the rustling sound, ethereal words came: "Everything is under control..." < /p>
Bertila ended the communication and looked steadily at the dimmed magic device in front of him.
"Sacrifice..." The female dean closed her eyes, with a hint of nostalgia and bitterness in her cold and indifferent expression, "Seven hundred years..."
But after just a few seconds, the female dean restrained all unnecessary emotional changes. She opened her eyes, and her eyes became cold and distant again. After confirming that the "hidden bridge" had been put away, the magic device After there was nothing strange left on her clothes, she straightened the wrinkles on her clothes and turned around.I am ready to leave this place.
However, her feet stayed firmly in place as if they had taken root. Even though the upper body had turned around, she could not lift her steps.
She glanced down in surprise, only to find that her roots did not appear - it was not the vines and roots that held her in place, but her own legs, her own feet.
Bertila frowned and tried to lift her steps again. However, this time she not only failed, she even put her hand back on the extinguished magic device!
The female dean exclaimed in a low voice: "Berna? What are you doing?!"
Bertila's body stiffened and she no longer moved at all. However, a deep-seated confrontation was unfolding inside this body. Her face - the innocent and beautiful face that belonged to a certain elf, was constantly changing with different expressions at this moment, sometimes angry, sometimes painful, Sometimes determined, sometimes desperate...
In the end, all expressions turned to a layer of indifference, and Bertila regained control of the body.
However, a sigh came from her mouth.
"Berna...this is your last willful time.
"Go ahead, before I change my mind. ”
The elf girl’s body staggered, and then slowly walked towards the magic terminal in the room. She gently rubbed the smooth alloy surface of the magic terminal, and then moved it a little unfamiliarly. Putting his hand on the top of it.
After a moment, the elf runes brightened again, the light mist projection and the sound appeared together, and a silver elf with a friendly smile waved his hand in front of Berna.
< p> "Wind Whisperer 1015, hello, sisters who are traveling far away. "The elf girl hesitated, but still slowly opened her mouth to break the silence: "I am...Berna Qingfeng, from...White Rock City. "
"Okay, Miss Berna, how do you feel about traveling abroad? Are you trying to contact your family in the empire? Or do you want to report what you saw and heard outside? Or are there special circumstances that require switching to a confidential line? "
"I... no, I don't need to contact my family. I only have a few words that I want to send to Master Heart of Thorns in Moon Valley. ”
“Okay, please tell me, it will be recorded here for you. "
"...Teacher, I am very good outside. Traveling is really interesting. The world is so big, much bigger than the forests I have seen in my hometown...
p>
“I’ve met a lot of people, including humans, elves who also travel, dwarves who are very common in the north of the continent, and even a goblin - goblins are really interesting, small, but He spoke with great air...
"Teacher, I don't regret coming out to see the world, but I also want to see the forest in my hometown again...
"But... I won’t go back.
“I want to stay in the outside world because I have a promise that I must fulfill..
"One last thing, mentor, don't gamble anymore...Really, I'm actually embarrassed to tell others...
"That's it, Feng Miss Whisperer. "
"Okay, it's been recorded," the silver elf on the magic light screen smiled and recorded everything Bernard said, and then asked, "There are other messages for others. Who is it? "
The elf girl Berna was silent for a moment and shook her head slightly: "No more. "
"Okay, sisters who are traveling far away - I am very happy to have this short conversation, and I hope to see you again next time. May the stars and the earth always favor you. ”
“May the stars and the earth always favor you. Thanks. "
The runes on the surface of the communication device gradually dimmed, and Berna repeated it again as if talking to herself: "Thank you. ”
This is obviously not meant for the offline wind whisperers.
The body of the “elf girl” shook slightly, and an indifferent voice came from her mouth. Line: "You don't have to say thank you to me. You and I both know that this is part of the transaction contract.
"You sacrifice your flesh and blood and vitality, and I will make up for your regrets.
"I just want to better stabilize the flesh and blood state after the 'fusion', and in addition On the one hand, I have been monitoring your actions, and nothing you say or do can escape my control - so you really have nothing to thank me for. "
There was a long silence in the room. After a few minutes, Bertila suddenly chuckled: "Ah...I am actually influenced by you..."
She Shaking her head, all the expressions on her face quickly faded, and then she opened the door of the compartment and left the place without hesitation.
She skillfully passed the checkpoint in the messenger hall and walked through the streets. And left the town founded by elves through another entrance.
Soon after, she was walking in the coniferous forest outside the valley.
Still maintaining "Berna." "Bertila was walking in the forest. Although she was surrounded by uninhabited frontier mountains and forests, she seemed to be strolling in the garden at home. She walked leisurely, and after arriving at a wide area in the forest She stopped.
She raised her head with a smile and looked at Solderin who had opened her short bow not far away.
"Sister Sol, we are here. We meet again. ”