Chapter 2332: Chapter 2333: Fragmented Images
After Sanders left, Angel saw Asaz idling at the bar and asked him to return to reality to pass a message to Dororo.
About a quarter of an hour later, Dororo logged into the Wilderness of Dreams.
Dororo appeared in the location, right on the second floor of the Rosewater Pavilion.
This place had been temporarily transformed into an art gallery, showcasing the paintings by Feng that Angel discovered in White Cloud Village.
Upon seeing Angel, Dororo immediately beamed with a smile and approached him.
"Sir."
Angel waved his hand, indicating no need for formality, then took Dororo over to a corner sofa in the gallery and sat down.
"Sir, that painting..." The first thing Dororo did after sitting down was to point towards the Path of Light before the Void Altar in the Feng painting not far away.
Back then, the scene Dororo saw in the prophecy was precisely the Path of Light, so naturally, he was very curious about it.
"Iâve already visited the place in that painting." Angel did not hide it from Dororo and briefly explained the Void Altar and Fengâs matters.
Others, after hearing about this, were mostly curious about Fengâs avatar in the painting and would ask questions regarding Feng. But Dororo completely disregarded the altar or Fengâs avatar, and once he confirmed Angel was safe, he put aside these irrelevant matters.
"Sir, is there something you need me for?"
"Indeed, there is. I discovered a peculiar Earth Cavern on Revelation Continent, inside which there is a living altar... I hope you can help me with a prophecy to see if any clues can be found."
After returning to the main topic, Angel did not merely give a brief summary but detailed all the information about the Earth Cavern and the intelligence gathered afterward.
To make it more intuitive for Dororo to understand, Angel used Illusion Technique to present the various images of the Earth Cavern. He even recreated the chilling, death-filled atmosphere perfectly.
Since Angel was the one asking for this, Dororo naturally took it very seriously.
With a solemn expression, he walked through the illusion, observing every corner, including the bricks and soil on the ground, the bones in the small caverns, and the shattered bones on the rectangular stone platform...
At each location, Dororo would pause for a long time, seemingly pondering something.
Finally, he stopped at the altar, quietly staring at the empty groove on the altar.
"Originally, there was a slab here with a symbol on it. The nature of the symbol is very special; it cannot be reproduced, memorized, or presented with illusions. According to Ironclad Grannyâs guess, it might be a symbol of a force called Stewart Soul Safe Zone in Quest World." Angel also came to the altar and explained the situation of the groove to Dororo: "If you need to see the symbol, I can take you to Nis Wizard who is currently researching it."
Angel did not explain why the symbol couldnât be replicated, yet Nis could research it. Dororo wasnât too concerned about it either, nodding his head: "Alright."
Though Nis was in New City, to save time, Angel directly had Dororo log off once, and upon re-login, they were no longer in the art gallery but appeared outside a very narrow wooden pavilion.
"Sir!" A cheerful and sunny voice came from the doorway.
Following the voice, Dororo looked over and saw a young man with a Bull Horn Helmet, left foot like a sickle hook, upper body unclothed, boldly displaying thin muscles.
Beside the young man was a woman in black clothes, who only turned her head away upon seeing Angel and Dororo.
"Tullas and... Mandhela." Angel nodded to them. Since Nis moved from Originheart City to New City, Tullas came along as a messenger; as for Mandhela, where Tullas went, Mandhela followed, so it wasnât surprising to see them both here.
Tullas waved excitedly, while Mandhela originally didnât want to speak but was eventually pulled into a reluctant bow by Tullasâ constant tugging at her arm.
Angel also didnât mind Mandhelaâs demeanor, and honestly, Mandhela being willing to bow to him was already a surprise to Angel.
After all, a naĂŻve persona is indeed the best tool against someone with a naturally dark persona.
"Whereâs Nis?" Skipping mutual introductions, Angel directly asked. â Since Dororo knew Tullas, introductions were unnecessary. As for Mandhela, Angel didnât quite know how to introduce her, so he left it aside.
"Nis is upstairs on the second floor and has not left the room for several days..."
"Take us in to see him."
Under Tullasâ guidance, they reached the second floor of the pavilion. The pavilion wasnât large, and the second floor did not have defined rooms, but as soon as they came up, they saw the floor was piled with various books, some stacked in heaps, some opened randomly, and others just left in disorder.
Behind this "sea of books," Nis was sitting at a table filled with experimental tools and skin scrolls, focusing on the stone slab in the center.
Nis was so engrossed that even the sound of footsteps upstairs didnât make him look up.
"Tullas? Youâre just in time, have Mandhela come up and pass me that thick shell book wrapped in black cowhide from the corner cabinet."
Soon, Nis saw a thick shell book beside him, precisely the one he wanted.
Nis directly took the shell book and began flipping through it, muttering about the new data he had discovered from the stone slab.
About twenty seconds later, Nis suddenly felt something was wrong. Usually, after Mandhela handed over things, she would eagerly leave, but why was she still standing aside this time?
Could it be that his persistent advances finally made Mandhela fall for him? Willing to abandon that big lug Tullas and join him?
"Mandhela, I was going to say..." Nis raised his head, wanted to say something tenderly, but upon seeing the visitors, he paused. The words that had reached his throat were abruptly swallowed down: "Oh, itâs Angel, wh-why are you here?"
Angel gestured for Dororo to observe the stone slab himself, while he raised an eyebrow: "Nis Wizard certainly enjoys, never changing his flirtatious nature anywhere."
Nis blinked his eyes: "With a beauty by my side, itâs naturally more interesting than a silly lug who only knows how to flaunt flesh."
While Nis spoke, Angel glanced at Mandhela behind him and found her expression unwavering, even rolling her eyes, indicating she was now completely immune to Nisâs harassment.
"Should I replace Tullas next time, send a beauty to deliver your stone slab instead?"
"That would be the best." Nis naturally heard the sarcasm from Angel but still shamelessly nodded.
Angel stared at Nis for several seconds, finally defeated by his audacity, muttered "How did Sanders become friends with you," and sat down onto a pile of books nearby.
No more idle talk with Nis, he explained his purpose directly.
After learning that Angel was searching for clues to the altar, Nis became interested, but he was more intrigued by Dororo.
With a tone full of excitement, Nis said, "I went to Starry Sky Island earlier to find Witch Maya and asked her to use Divination to determine which node of the symbol is more useful. Witch Maya failed... She said perhaps Dororo could help."
"But when I asked Dororo, that guy stubbornly refused to help with the prophecy."
At this point, Nis looked at Angel and said in a flattering tone, "Now that Dororo is here, why not let him calculate for me as well?"
Although gradual deductions and repeated attempts will eventually lead to finding the node in the Quest World, Nis wouldnât refuse a shortcut if available.
Angel thought for a moment and said, "Wait and ask Dororo. If heâs willing, you can ask him."
"No, if I ask, heâll definitely refuse." Knowing Dororoâs situation, Nis understood that this difficult face paralysis only recognized Angel. Anyone else asking for prophecy, except Maya, would be rejected. Even Maya couldnât always command Dororo.
Angel glanced at Nis, aware of his thoughts, "Weâll talk about it later, letâs first see if Dororo can find any clues. Maybe, by then, weâll directly find the one who arranged the altar and get the coordinates to Quest World."
Nis murmured, "Itâs not that simple... This is apparently new coordinates, different from those of the other three families. If the other party wanted exposure, it wouldâve happened already, and maybe they donât know the real coordinates either. They just got feedback through Sacrifice."
Despite his words, Nis calmed down. He was indeed curious about the altar in the Earth Cavern, and he wanted to see if Dororoâs prophecy ability was as terrifying as rumored.
The air became quiet, and everyone looked at Dororo.
Dororo completely ignored the outsidersâ gaze, focusing all attention on the symbols on the slate. Looking at the twisted worms on the symbols, fragmented images flashed in his mind.
These images werenât new; they appeared before when he saw the illusion of the Earth Cavern constructed by Angel.
Dororo didnât know what these images represented, but he realized the images werenât complete, so he needed to look at the symbols on the altar to see if he could complete the picture.
The facts proved these symbols indeed provided him with some inspiration.
However, the images still couldnât be completed.
He needed to keep looking...
The clock in the corner ticked away, and time slowly passed. After approximately half an hour, Dororo returned to his senses from immersion.
Nis was sitting at the table, directly facing Dororoâs face, so he was the first to notice Dororoâs awakening from thought.
"How is it, did you find anything?" Nis asked.
Dororo glanced at Nis but didnât speak, instead turning to Angel and said somewhat apologetically, "Master, I saw some fragmented images, but theyâre disjointed and incomplete."
Angelâs eyes brightened, "No problem, even incomplete images are useful."
Using words to describe them would fall short. To let Dororo present what he saw, Angel casually grabbed a piece of parchment with a draft, flipped to the back of the paper, and constructed a large number of basic Illusion Nodes on it.
Then he handed the parchment to Dororo, "Touch the parchment with your spiritual power, then recall the images you saw, the parchment will display the content of the images. If you canât extend your spiritual power here, you can directly touch it to your forehead, it works the same."
Put simply, itâs a simplified version of an illusion projection. Due to lack of facilities, a three-dimensional image can only be presented in a flat form.
But this is sufficient.
Dororo took the parchment and immediately followed Angelâs method, starting to activate the residual Illusion Nodes on the paper.
With the touch of spiritual power, the Illusion Nodes began moving instinctively, and a fragmented image surfaced on the rectangular parchment.
Nis felt a bit slighted because Dororo ignored his inquiry. But seeing the images unfold on the parchment now, he couldnât bother with self-pity, he promptly stood up and craned his neck to look at the parchment.
"This is the image I saw when looking at one of the bones in the small cavern," Dororo said.
An image appeared on the parchment, but nine-tenths of it was blank.
The only clear image was a tied-up, struggling young man sitting in the narrow cavern, looking ahead with terror.
In front of this young man was a figure, but the upper body was blank, and there was also a large gap from the waist down, leaving only the lower part of the left leg visible.
It was a pair of black checkered trousers and shiny leather boots.
"Though we canât see this personâs appearance, from the shine on the leather boots, itâs clear theyâre maintained daily, forming a stark contrast to the ragged young man." Nis paused, "Without a doubt, the tied-up person is one of the slaves you mentioned were brought in, and the owner of the boots is likely the buyer of these slaves and one of the culprits of the Earth Cavern altar."
The boot owner may be the mastermind behind the Earth Cavern altar or just a trivial lackey, but is definitely one of the culprits.
Angel said, "From this fragmented image, itâs hard to deduce much. However, thereâs a logo on the boots. It could be a shopâs badge or a family emblem. Someone could investigate it."
Due to its fragmentation, this image yielded few clues. Dororo realized this too, quickly proceeding to display a second image.
The first fragmented image slowly faded away, and under Dororoâs stirring, the Illusion Nodes on the parchment reorganized.
The second image began to emerge.
Dororo said, "This is an image I saw while on the steps of the altar."
The new image was slightly less fragmented than before but still had approximately four-fifths blank space. Moreover, these blanks were irregularly scattered among the clear parts, further complicating interpretation.
One could only vaguely perceive a figure walking on the altarâs stone steps.
This figure was incomplete too, only a small portion of the upper body visible. Additionally, crucially, this person wore a leather cloak, covering everything from the hair down, the cloak had no significant markings.
From the figure alone, virtually no information was gained.
But the person walking on the altarâs steps was clearly another culprit, and being able to get close to the Main Altar meant the individual held a considerable status.
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