Chapter 617 - No Need for Light at the End of the Tunnel (1/2)
The closer they got to the True Ancestor of the vampires, the more likely they were to complete their quest.
Following the gnome’s lead, Roland and the others pushed their cargo carts and walked slowly.
There was no way around it. The gnome was short and he bounced and trotted, but it was still slow compared to normal people like Roland.
The gnome seemed to be quite famous in this place, and everywhere he pa.s.sed, some greeted him warmly, while others smiled coldly and sarcastically.
Either way, it showed that Ragnar had a wide range of contacts.
Roland and the others, who were following behind Ragnar, naturally received attention. Even some residents who were antagonistic to Ragnar would give the five of them unfriendly looks.
But Li Lin, Raffel, Brazil all looked back with a fiercer glare.
Although the previous half a year or so were spent with women to level up, the three of them had still survived many b.l.o.o.d.y battles.
Their glares were fierce and vicious, scaring most of those who dared to sneer at them.
It was very gloomy and cold in the Ten Thousand Stones Abyss, and even though there were many people, this never changed. For one thing, it was a sinkhole, and for another, there was no sun here in the first place, and it was difficult for the light generated by the mental energy in the air to pa.s.s into this giant sinkhole.
So it was quite chilly here.
But the people here were used to it and didn’t think anything of it.
Staying in a place that upheld order was far, far better than the wilderness outside, even if it was gloomier.
On the side of the street, every hundred meters or so was a huge stone pillar.
These stone pillars were naturally formed and varied in size, but even the smallest stone pillars were over a hundred meters in diameter.
The larger ones were three to four hundred meters in diameter.
A stone pillar, as long as it had a weight-bearing wall and was carefully chiseled, would be a huge high-rise building. After pa.s.sing a dozen pillars, Ragnar brought Roland and the others to the largest stone pillar.
Roland had seen the stone pillar from a distance and had known then that it was huge.
But seeing it now, it was quite shocking.
The black rock pillar blocked all vision, and it stood so tall that when one looked up, one couldn’t see the top, as if it were a tower supporting heaven and earth. There were many windows on the surface of the pillar above, faint light s.h.i.+ning through. Directly in front of them was a large entrance that was being guarded by a dozen soldiers. Ragnar the gnome skipped over and bowed and sc.r.a.ped to one of them.
It was not long before a man with skin as pale as plaster came, who circled the crate, looked at it, took a few pieces of jerky with him and put them in his arms, and then stared at Roland and the others for a while.
“All of you just came from outside, right? No wonder you’re carrying such great goods.” This soldier was full of arrogance. “Yo, there’s actually a follower of light. It’s fine for you guys to go in and sell stuff inside, but remember, don’t go above the sixth floor; those places are the territory of the vampire lords. If you barge up there and get drained of blood, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
Ragnar bounced at the soldier’s feet and shouted, “I understand, I understand.”
The soldier stepped aside and made a waving motion.
Ragnar then immediately moved forward as Roland and the others pushed on.
As they pa.s.sed through the gate, a dozen other soldiers came over and each took another slice of jerky along with them, moving skillfully as if they had done it countless times before.
The jerky on the cart was almost gone.
When they entered the gate, they saw an open square in front of them, and next to the square, up along the walls, there were many densely packed windows and doors like the holes of a beehive.
Staircases went up and connected to the doorways of these rooms.
Many people were walking in and out of the rooms while shouting.
The raucous sounds of people echoed through the place.
Ragnar pointed higher up, where the holes were densely packed, and walkways were sloping upward in a circle on the walls.
Higher up, a ceiling layer of thick black rock separated the top from the bottom, with only a plank road on the side leading up.
“There is the sixth leve,.” Ragnar said enviously. “Only the vampires and the chosen blood slaves can go up there. It is said that there are forests, rivers, and even fruit trees up there. It’s a place almost as wonderful as the divine realms.”
Speaking of this, Ragnar suddenly looked back at Roland and the others. “Say, you were just ‘thrown’ down from the main plane, right? Is the main plane as the legends say, with warm suns.h.i.+ne, never cold, endless food, and never needing to worry about starvation?”
“No.” Roland shook his head.
“There’s cold and hunger all the same, not much different from what you have here.”
“How is that possible!” Ragnar didn’t believe it. “How can one not be warmly clothed and well-fed where there is suns.h.i.+ne and plenty of fruit trees?”
Roland chuckled and shrugged. “But it’s true.”
Ragnar still didn’t believe it, and the way he looked at Roland gradually became suspicious, almost as if he were looking at a liar.
The netizens broke into laughter in the livestream.
“Summer bugs can’t talk about ice.” “It’s not that exaggerated. Just like when we looked at the bald eagle country, there was a natural filter. It felt like they were doing everything right. Thinking about it now…”
“Roland, do not destroy the child’s dream. You’re being too cruel.”
“Doesn’t Roland know Long-Distance Teleportation? After the quest is completed, take this dwarf with you so that he feels the difference between reality and longing and won’t think you’re lying.”
It was also at this time that a woman stopped in front of Roland.
A very unique woman with a fierce appearance and st.u.r.dy body.
A powerful female orc.
Ragnar saw her and greeted her happily while calling out, “Sister, I’ve brought you a guest.” “What kind of guest?’”