middle East.
Also known as, the Middle East.
That refers to the eastern and southern regions of the Mediterranean, a large area from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, parts of West Asia and North Africa, and an area including about 23 countries in West Asia except Afghanistan and Egypt in Africa.
It covers an area of about 15 million square kilometers and has a population of 490 million. It connects the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, and connects the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It has been the hub of transportation between the East and the West since ancient times, and is a land of two oceans, three continents and five seas. The strategic location is extremely important.
The people here are mainly Caucasian, but in history, Eastern and Western cultures have frequently exchanged here, and various ethnic groups have gathered here. However, each ethnic group still retains its own religious beliefs and customs. Most residents believe in Islam. Silanism, a small number of residents believe in Christianity, Judaism and other religions, and regard Jerusalem as a holy city.
Due to cultural differences, the Middle East is extremely unstable. In order to compete for precious fresh water resources and oil resources, guided by religious and cultural differences, the situation here has been turbulent all year round.
According to formal human history records, in the thirteenth century, what is recognized as the last large-scale Crusade targeting the Holy Land, the Ninth Crusade, took place.
Louis IX's failure to capture Tunisia in the Eighth Crusade led Prince Edward of England to decide to march to Acre, which was the beginning of the Ninth Crusade.
However, this expedition ended in failure.
It is said that the reason for the failure of the Ninth Crusade was the loss of the chivalry of the Crusaders and the rise of the Mamluk forces headed by Baibars in Egypt.
Its defeat heralded the fall of the Crusaders' last stronghold on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
With the fall of the city of Acre, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was officially declared extinct. The center of Crusaders' activities moved north to Tortosa, and finally had no choice but to move to Cyprus. The last stronghold in the Holy Land, Awad Island, also It was captured in 1302 or 1303 AD, just 208 years after Urban II first called the Holy War, and the Crusader era in the Holy Land came to an end.
The beginning of this era was the end of the Ninth Crusade. The Western countries retreated from Jerusalem, announcing the end of the Crusade as its origin.
Luo Zhen and Ma Xiu came to such an era.
At this moment, on the land of the Middle East, two huge giant wolves were running wildly.
On its back, Luo Zhen and Ma Xiu were sitting respectively, carrying the giant wolf, running forward.
These two giant wolves are naturally the familiars summoned by Luo Zhen to travel and act as mounts.
Originally, Luo Zhen wanted to summon a flying dragon to ride. Flying would undoubtedly be faster and more convenient.
But after thinking about it carefully, Luo Zhen gave up and instead summoned these two giant wolves that were intermediate familiars.
The reason is naturally because of the scene that I had glimpsed before.
"If you fly in the sky so blatantly, you may be discovered by the owner of that light and be shot down directly."
If that happens, the gains outweigh the losses.
Therefore, Luo Zhen decided to travel from the ground and gave up flying.
While rushing from the ground, Luo Zhen and Ma Xiu could see their surroundings very clearly.
After deliberately avoiding the huge crater-like pits, what Luo Zhen and Ma Xiu saw was the earth burning everywhere like lava lurking.
"Ouch!"
"Ouch!"
The two giant wolves were running wildly while making irritated sounds, as if they were made uncomfortable by the surrounding heat and the high concentration of magic power.
"The environment at this singularity is really harsh."
Matthew's face looked heavy.
In the past, it was not like Matthew had never experienced singularities in harsh environments.
For example, in the sea area of the third singularity, not only do you have to survive on the sea, but you also often encounter storms.
For example, in London at the Fourth Singularity, the entire city is shrouded in magical fog, and ordinary people will even melt.
Compared with these, the environment of the sixth singularity is not to mention more tolerant. It is also full of depression, heaviness and even despair. The huge crater-like pits are so shocking, and there are also slowly burning flames that seem to be about to burst out. , it really makes people feel like they can’t breathe.
Luo Zhen looked as usual.
"This singularity is more fragile than any previous singularity and may collapse at any time, so the influence of human incineration has already interfered here, causing the earth to burn, right?"
Luo Zhen's cloak was dancing in the howling wind, making Luo Zhen's figure look extremely elegant.
Luo Zhen spoke to Mashu in this situation.
"Now, we have to quickly collect intelligence to see what is going on with this singularity, and then quickly resolve the situation and repair this singularity. Otherwise, we may have to go to hell with this singularity at some point. ”
For this reason, when Luo Zhen summoned the giant wolf, he also summoned countless flocks of birds, letting them disperse around and began to collect intelligence.
At the same time, Chaldea is also providing support.
"The radar scanning results have come out, and I will send you the map now."
Da Vinci's voice came out from the communicator, causing the light curtain to take shape and appear in front of Luo Zhen.
Luo Zhen was able to see that the map of the Middle East in this era appeared in front of him in the form of a holographic image, similar to the satellite scanning receiver in GGO.
Then, Roman's voice came.
"As you can see, the entire Middle East is roughly divided into three regions, namely the Holy Land area, the mountainous area and the desert area, which is biased towards the central area."
"We can observe that there is only one huge city located in the Holy Land, that is Jerusalem, but the area around Jerusalem has all turned into wilderness, becoming like the surface of the moon, with huge craters like craters. The land was also covered in fire phenomena, making it almost unimaginable that anyone could survive in it.”
"Mountain areas are relatively remote, and sporadic life reactions can be detected. There may be villages scattered among them, but the specific location is not yet clear."
"For some reason, the desert area cannot be observed or scanned at all. We can only observe huge sandstorms and terrifyingly strong magic power. The rest is unknown. It is the most mysterious of the three areas."
"You are now in the Holy Land. The distance from Jerusalem is only two or three hours at the current speed."
That was the end of Roman's explanation.
Then Olga Marie's voice sounded.
"According to this situation, the key to the singularity is likely to be in the desert area. The Holy Land realm is likely to be an assister of the human side in resisting the desert area, and the sporadic life responses in the mountainous areas are probably survivors of this era. With the current environment, apart from the holy capital of Jerusalem, it is the only place that is barely suitable for human survival."
In other words, the Holy Grail of the Singularity is likely to be in the desert, where there are enemies of Luo Zhen and others, and there are neutral servants resisting them in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Humans in this era live in mountainous areas. , this is probably the current situation.
"Then, we happen to be in the Holy Land territory now. Heading to the Holy Capital and cooperating with the facilitators there should be our top priority right now."
Mashu concluded, earning the approval of everyone in Chaldea.
Luo Zhen pondered for a moment, and just when he was about to say something, something moved in his heart.
"What's wrong? Senior?"
Mathu noticed this keenly and asked.
"... It's okay." Luo Zhen narrowed his eyes and said, "It's just that most of the familiars I sent out have been eliminated."
"What?" Matthew was stunned.