Hearing Pitman's words, Amber glanced at Gawain subconsciously, and the latter took the initiative to say: "I can avoid it - if you don't want others to hear it."
"No, I don't care," Amber shook her head, "You have a good mind and you always have unexpected insights. I want you to be here, and you can also read this notebook..."
Gawain glanced at Amber silently, without shirk, just nodded slightly.
The fountain was not the right place to dig up these secret memories. The three of them left the overly busy courtyard. In a lounge on the first floor of Silver Castle, Amber solemnly placed the notebook. On the table, in front of Gawain and Pitman, its old and fragile cover was carefully opened.
There are no patterns or heraldry on the inner pages. There are no various decorations that are common in most noble handwritten books of this era. On that piece of yellowed paper, there is only a simple sentence written on it. :
"To my daughter - I hope that when you see it, you have grown up happily and safely."
"There is still so much nonsense..." Amber He pursed his lips, but his hand movements were more careful than before, and he slowly opened the first page.
This is a diary, a diary written under special circumstances:
"...the third day after entering the Shadow Fortress.
" As a Royal Shadow Guard, I should not leave any written information while performing confidential tasks. This is a violation of confidentiality rules. However, the current situation is special and I may not be able to leave here safely. In order to provide future generations with Warnings and experiences left behind, I decided to document part of my trip.
“My name is Sally Randolph, a royal shadow guard. I was ordered to come to the dark mountains in the south to search for ancient heritage in this land abandoned by both humans and gods.< /p>
"Unfortunately, I am trapped in this place called the 'Shadow Fortress'. I believe this is the place where ancient heritage is buried...
"...According to the intelligence obtained in advance, The Shadow Fortress is not located in the real world as we know it. It is a territory opened up in the Shadow Realm by the ancient Gondor Empire through its superb lost technology. It floats outside the real world, but it has not established a stable connection with the Shadow Realm. , it is a free space that can only be entered through specific gates and rituals...
"Part of my intelligence is correct. There is indeed a space node in the Dark Mountains leading to the Shadow Fortress. , I started the ceremony at this node and successfully entered here, but the intelligence error was that the 'Shadow Seal Ring' used to open the door was disposable - or in other words, I could not find a way to recharge it.
"His Majesty the King gave me one of the two rings in his hand. Obviously, he did not expect that this ring could only be used once when opening the Shadow Fortress."
After just reading these few paragraphs, Amber couldn't help but raise her head, and looked at each other with Gawain who also raised his head.
"Shadow Seal Ring..." Amber subconsciously held a thin chain hanging around her neck. There were two simple rings hanging on the necklace, one of which still had magical brilliance. , the other is lackluster.
The ring with magical brilliance was obtained from Francis II, and the dull ring was carried by Amber since he was a child. Now, the origins of these two rings are finally explained.
She lowered her head and continued to read the following contents of the diary:
"...Even though I am trapped in it, I still have to admire the superb technology of the ancient Gondor Empire. Shadow Fortress It is an unimaginable place - including the process of entering the fortress. I am standing at the right magic intersection in the Dark Mountains. I only need to inject magic into the ring to open a path to the Shadow Realm in normal time and space. I suspect that the ring only sent out a signal during the process. The actual opening process was completed by some kind of facility in the Shadow Fortress, but I haven't found a clue yet...
"... This majestic structure, cast from some man-made material stronger than rock, floats in nothingness with no land around it. There are no luminous celestial bodies in the sky here, which is consistent with the scene described in the monograph of the Shadow Realm...
"My current location should be in the vestibule of this ancient facility. I can see There is a door, but outside the door is pure darkness. This makes people inevitably doubt the significance of this door - but I found some weird pillars on the limited platform in front of the door. I suspect they are made of To fix some kind of vehicle, or to fix some kind of mount that can travel through the Shadow Realm. The ancient Gondor people may have the ability to explore deeply in that void of darkness. After all, they are omnipotent Gondor people...
“At the other end of the courtyard is the main body of the building, a vast palace or fortress. I have explored a small area of its entrance, and I was shocked by its scale. There are countless corridors and rooms, as well as empty halls and warehouses... I can't imagine how many people were in this alien space. Work and live in the facility... It is so large that I doubt many people can live here for a lifetime. If a new baby is born in it, as long as no one instills the correct knowledge into it, he may even I don't know the existence of the outside world...
"Ah, my rich association ability can only be used to relieve boredom, but it cannot let me get out of this damn place."
Amber flipping Turning the paper, for a while the only sound left in the quiet lounge was the sound of turning paper and the gentle breathing of three people.
"...The fourth day of being trapped.
"I had spent the previous three days thinking about whether I should explore deeper into the fortress, which might mean additional risks: The defense mechanism in the ancient facility may still be working, and it is more likely that there are sleeping ruins guards who will be awakened by me.
"It is said that the Violet KingdomThe golem guards can continue to operate for six hundred years after the death of their master, and those legendary iron soldiers of Gondor may be able to operate for even longer...
"But I should probably take some risks - I'm already in After three days of searching in the courtyard and external corridors, there was no device that could open the space door. My food and water were already in a very dangerous situation. Between dying of thirst and starvation or having my head chopped off by an ancient guard, the latter Perhaps more mercifully.
"I'm going into the inner cloister.
"...On the sixth day, still trapped.
"Why is this damn fortress so big! ! How many cloisters, how many rooms, how many halls are there! Did the people of Gondor throw a whole city into the Shadow Realm?
"The technology of the Gondor Empire is so superb. They can build such a fortress in the Shadow Realm. They can allow thousands of people to live in this alien space for a long time, and I, It's really ironic that a royal shadow guard from thousands of years ago can only dig around in this ancient facility without finding any clues.
"By the way. In a word, I ran out of water and ran out of food.
“On the seventh day, I found an empty room, which may have been some kind of research facility before. I saw some platforms with runes on them and pipes and containers with no apparent function. Man regrets that there is no water in all the pipes and containers
“I must start thinking about the aftermath.
“On the eighth day, today’s keyword is moss.
“Yes, moss! In this fortress that has been isolated from the world for thousands of years, there is actually moss! There is moss in a place like the Shadow Realm!
“They grow in a room like a laboratory. There are many large tubular containers fixed on the ground. The containers are all empty, but the outer wall of one of the containers and nearby walls and floors It's covered in these cute little plants, and like everything else in the Shadowlands, the moss is gray-black, so much so that I almost confused it with regular stains at first, but thankfully I'm here. Staying in the room for a little longer...
"The presence of moss means moisture, and moisture means water.
“The taste of moss is a bit bitter, and it also has a weird, gelatinous texture. They may not be good for my health, but I can’t care so much. Without these moss, I wouldn’t be able to eat in a few years. I’m afraid I won’t have to worry about my health in a few days.
“The mosses restored some of my strength, and the moisture they contained was enough to cheer me up, but it was obviously not enough for long-term survival. . I collected all the moss on a nearby pipe, squeezed out the juice and put it into a kettle. I was going to take this small supply and start exploring the surrounding rooms with this room as the center.
“On the ninth day, I didn’t find water, but I...saw a human figure!
“I can’t record my shock at that moment in words.Surprised, I saw a figure, but the figure flashed past the corner of the room... I wasn't sure if it was real.
"Do those mosses contain hallucinogenic ingredients? But I must rely on them to survive...
"On the tenth day, I found water! In a place where many people are dining, water can actually flow from one of the pipes! And it’s clear water! I think I can live here for a long time!
"The appearance of this clear water, does it mean that some kind of purification device here is still running? Are there more devices running?"
Amber took it seriously He stared at every line of text recorded on it, biting his lips unconsciously, as if he was watching his adoptive father struggle to explore and survive in such an isolated ancient fortress. After seeing Surrey Lun, After Daofu found the water source, she couldn't help but breathed softly: "He may have found a canteen that can still be used..."
Gawain nodded slightly beside him and whispered at the same time: "I am more Curious about what the figure he saw was."
"He mentioned here-" Amber turned the page, glanced at it and pointed to the content above:
" …I saw figures again, and there was more than one. This time I could confirm that it was not an illusion, but what happened next made me even more stunned and confused.
“Those figures were ‘shadow residents’. .
"They are just like what is described in the monograph. They are like ghosts and have no form, wrapped in some kind of tattered 'shroud' into human form. They move freely through the shadow realm, and they obviously noticed me. This uninvited guest broke in.
“I was ready for a fight, but the fight didn’t happen - all academic records say that the shadow dwellers will attack all material creatures who enter the shadow realm, but those shadows The residents just stared at me indifferently. I can be sure that they were watching, although there was only empty darkness inside those 'shrouds'...
"After the unbearable confrontation, the shadow residents all Left with no communication between us
“I had no idea what was going on. "
Amber frowned. She also felt that the shadow residents her adoptive father met were a bit strange, but she couldn't explain it. She had to keep these questions in her heart and continue to look down - —
On a new page, Surrey Randolph’s words continued to record his experience in the Shadow Fortress:
“…On the fourteenth day, I discovered A room, and some of the devices in this room...are still functioning.
“It’s difficult for me to accurately describe what I saw. Those things are really beyond the scope of my knowledge-around a huge pillar, I saw a large number of light yellow translucent eggs. The containers are fixed on brackets. The size of those egg-shaped containers is about the size of an adult cow...
"There are many pipes extending from the large pillars and connecting to the surrounding egg-shaped containers. superior.
“Almost all the containers were broken, cracked, crooked, and fell to the ground. The contents inside had dried up. In those damaged containers, I saw many small bones.< /p>
"This makes me shudder - as a royal shadow guard, I have seen many miserable scenes and many death scenes, but the small bones in those containers are more beautiful than anything I have ever seen. The scenes are all weird and terrifying, which makes me wonder, what on earth were the people of Gondor doing here back then?
"With shock and nervousness I checked the room and found her.
"The only complete vessel, the only individual still alive.
"She was curled up in some kind of liquid, floating in a translucent crystal container, all of which looked like amber.
"I can't describe my feelings at this moment. What makes me even more at a loss is that these crystal containers are exactly the same as the target items described in the mission, which means... the 'things' in the containers are the 'ancient heritage' I want to take back.
“My mission can be completed, but only if I find a way to get out, and I have to go out with this impossible-to-handle container - if I open it rashly, the little girl inside will Will you die directly? This is a very difficult matter."
Hu Amber's eyes were fixed on the page in front of her, even though she had finished reading the page, she never turned to the next page. After a page of actions, it wasn't until a minute later that Gawain gently patted her shoulder.
Amber woke up with a start, then took a deep breath and turned the page——
“…On the fifteenth day, I haven’t figured out what to do yet, but I suddenly realized that it was useless no matter what I thought: I am still trapped here.
“A person who can’t even get out alive is living a daydreaming life thinking about completing the task. Headed.
"I will put aside the problems that cannot be solved at the moment and refocus my attention on finding a way out.
"Considering that I am afraid that in the next long period of time, , the only one who can accompany me is this little one in Amber. I named her Amber.
"But I guess she has another name - each egg-shaped container here has a line of letters engraved on the base, and the letters of each container are slightly different. They may be the real names. name (although I also doubt whether the Gondor scholars who worked here would really name a batch of experimental products), but that is the ancient Gondor script of a thousand years ago, which is similar to today's universal alphabet. It’s very different, and my knowledge of ancient characters happens to be a weakness.
“I can only trace these letters. If I can really escape alive one day, maybe the scholars in the royal capital can answer my questions. , let me find out this little one's real name, or at least what the Gondorians called her back then. ”
At the end of this page, Surrey Randolph leftThere was a large blank space, and in that blank space, he used bold font to trace a line of letters that few people in this era can understand.
Amber stared at the line of letters, then raised her head after a moment and looked into Gawain's eyes: "What do these letters...mean? What was my original name?"
Gao Wen Wen looked away from the letters. He looked at Amber silently for four or five seconds. Finally, he exhaled softly and spoke slowly:
"Artificial Man No. 36."
< p>(Double period+.+Please give me a monthly ticket!!!)