"Plunder No. 221: Cylindrical Maze"
"Source: Emerald Cross Caravan"
"Acquisition process: The Temple sent us to rob a caravan from the Emerald Cross. Unlike most caravans, they did not carry any flags, which means they were not protected by any force. In this desert, this can only prove that they are thirsting for death, or that they have the strength to protect themselves."
"They are indeed very strong. After losing three Silver Fire Knights, we, under the leadership of our captain, completely wiped out this caravan. I believe that under the escort of the three Silver Fire Knights, their souls will be purified in the flames, ascend the Stairway to the Sun, and gain eternal peace."
"While searching for loot, I found a very fine cylinder in a tent that I could hold in one hand. Just then, I noticed a child hiding in the dark, staring at the cylinder in my hand."
"Perhaps the calamity fire confused my mind. I asked him what this was, and he said it was a family heirloom that contained the secret of triggering the vortex."
"Before the captain came in, I had already completed the purification of the child. May his soul be forever free from this disaster land."
"I hid the cylinder. After some investigation, I found that it was a treasure called 'Labyrinth'. It contained the aura of the Four-Winged Magic Spirit. If it is not opened in the correct way, the mechanism left by the Four-Winged Magic Spirit will automatically damage the things inside."
"My wisdom was not enough to solve this maze, so I pursued the smartest woman in the temple. After signing a vow never to break it, I gave the cylinder to her. It took her a month to finally open the cylinder and obtain the secret inside."
"With this secret, our magic power has improved by leaps and bounds. Because I was stupid, I only triggered the vortex once, but she triggered it twice, and has fully spread her silver wings."
"Until one day, after I left the virtual world, I found that the Templar Knight had bound my body. She stood behind the Knight, with a serious face."
"She informed me that I had hidden a broken cylindrical labyrinth in my clothes. She was promoted to the second wing and no longer needed this secret, nor did she need me. What she needed now was a chance to be appreciated by the temple, and she needed to alleviate the vortex of secret poison."
"I was sentenced to death for hiding and damaging important spoils. I could not be purified in the flames, but could only sink into a nightmare in the sewage. Until the last second, I did not reveal the secret in the cylinder, because the oath I would never betray was still in effect. She only unilaterally lifted the oath through a miracle after she was promoted to the second wing, and the oath is still binding on me."
"In fact, if I use Miracle: Burn the Remains, I can temporarily suppress all abnormal conditions on my body, and naturally break through the oath and expose her disguise."
"But looking at her, for some reason, I gave up."
"Perhaps the fire of catastrophe has confused my mind."
"Final destination: destroyed."
Sonia folded her hands and said, "The Fire Temple... I've never heard of this force."
"Shouldn't a normal person express his feelings about this magician's emotional experience?"
"Do you really want to hear this? I can't lie now."
"Then forget it."
"What's the method to trigger the vortex? Why did you deliberately skip it just now?"
"I was wondering if I should tell you."
Sonia was slightly startled, and tried to keep her mouth shut, but it was very hard to hold it in. Ash had never seen a sword lady like this before, and he almost laughed out loud.
Sonia couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, so she lowered her voice and said, "You're so wary of me, you want to eat all by yourself? My value in your eyes is not even as valuable as a whirlpool secret?"
Ash was a little surprised: "So are you angry that I'm wary of you eating alone, or are you angry that your position in my heart is not as high as you think?"
Sonia's eyes were almost visibly filled with anger: "I—"
"I'm sorry, don't answer. I was wrong." Ash said quickly, "I'm not on guard against you, but this secret is poisonous. Once you know it, you will be infected. I've been infected. Anyway, we can enter the vortex together, so I don't think it's necessary for you to know."
"Poisonous knowledge? I don't believe it." Sonia said, "I think you are lying to me, a big liar."
"I have to say, you are really easy to deal with because you can only tell the truth." Ash said, "Well, don't blame me if I tell you."
"How is that possible? If I get caught, I will definitely blame you for not persuading me; if I am fine, I will think you are lying on purpose." Sonia spread her hands: "Anyway, I don't think I am wrong."
"... It's really unreasonable." Ash sighed: "But the poison is not serious at the moment. As the saying goes, we are in the same boat. I feel it's a pity that I'm the only one poisoned..."
"The method to trigger the vortex is to find a knowledge creature of the ichthyosaur species, severely injure it, and chase it after it escapes, but do not kill it. Instead, let it die of natural exhaustion. A vortex channel will form at the location of its corpse, because..."
Sonia and Ash said in unison: "The sea of knowledge is embracing its sleeping child."
After saying that, Sonia looked at Ash in surprise.
She blurted out those words almost naturally, as if after listening to the knowledge introduced by Ash earlier, new knowledge had been bred from that knowledge and was pouring into her mind uncontrollably!
At the same time, Sonia felt a strange feeling. Nothing had changed, but she felt that the whole world was different!
She looked around to find something different, and soon her sight focused on the sea outside. After staring for a while, she felt nauseous.
"The toxicity of this secret poison is that it makes us hate water," said Ash.
He opened "Aurora's Sorcerer's Manual" - "Operator Management" and saw that "End Watcher" and "Death Mad Sword Princess" both had an abnormal state.
"Vortex Secret Poison"
"Number of people infected by secret poison: 131"
"Secret poison enhancement level: 131%"
"The current effect of the secret poison: aversion to water (when the strengthening degree reaches 300%, it is enhanced, when it drops to 100%, it is alleviated, and when it drops to 50%, it becomes a benefit effect)."
This very strange poison does not harm the body, but distorts the soul. The most terrifying thing is that the more people know this secret, the stronger the secret poison becomes, and everyone who knows the secret will be implicated!
When Ash told Sonia about the secret poison, Sonia immediately frowned and said, "Why didn't you reject me firmly just now? Trumpet!"
She really keeps her word. If she says she will blame me, she will definitely blame me. Although it is much easier to get along with Sword Princess like this, she also becomes much more annoying, like a double-standard brat who speaks without restraint.
"Wait, you just said that if the number of infected people is less than 50, this secret poison will turn into a positive effect?" Sonia suddenly said: "Then we will kill all the other people who know the secret..."
She made a gesture of cutting her neck, and Ash immediately retreated to the back: "Are you the wife who betrayed the axe mage in the story?"
"I won't betray you rashly until you've let me down."
"Your truth really makes me feel uneasy..." Ash muttered.
After this conversation, the two understood why the secret was hidden in the cylindrical maze, and why the axe master was betrayed - because even if you can keep it secret for yourself, you cannot guarantee that others will not leak it.
Once leaked and spread, the secret poison will likely intensify to a point where it is almost fatal, causing the person to be completely unable to come into contact with water, or even go into shock and die upon touching water.
When that critical point is reached, the weak who have no means to save their lives will die, and the number of people who know the secret will quickly drop to a safe level.
Therefore, secret-knowers are natural enemies, and each secret-knower must eliminate other secret-knowers as much as possible to reduce the possibility of being killed. It is for this reason that the wife of the axe-chopping magician unilaterally canceled the oath and decisively reported the axe-chopping magician to reduce the number of infections.
But even if everyone who knows the secret takes the initiative to keep it secret, the secret will still spread - just like Ash and his friends, other magicians can also obtain similar information from the magician manual.
The virtual world is the grave of magicians, and death cannot keep secrets.
Therefore, after knowing this secret, Ash was equivalent to taking a fatal poison and embarked on a path of no return.
If he did nothing, and one day the number of infected people suddenly increased rapidly, causing the secret poison to be strengthened to a level that he could not tolerate, he could only complain a few words, "Why me? Why is this happening?", and end his journey to another world under the torture of the poison.
But surprisingly, Ash didn't show much fear.
Because he knew that all the difficulties brought by the virtual world could be solved in one way.
From the beginning to the end, the magician has only one way to survive.
"Then we should find a knowledgeable ichthyosaur next." Ash said, "Only if we become stronger can we mitigate the power of the secret poison, or even eradicate it directly - for example, by making us forget this knowledge - in short, we must make good use of the information we have gained through poisoning, and convert it into our strength as much as possible. We must keep moving forward and never stop!"
"Isn't this natural?" Sonia said next to the boat, "Aren't we magicians such greedy creatures?"