The middle-aged man curled up on the ground blinked hard, as if his memory, thinking, soul and body had been divided into different levels by some force, so that he could not think and understand what was happening in front of him like a complete human being. This state lasted for several seconds, and some messy and broken thought fragments were reorganized in his consciousness. He finally remembered who he was and who the woman in front of him was.

"Beltira..." He hesitated, his voice hoarse and unlike human voices. Chaotic thoughts hit his mind. As the memory revived a little, his expression finally became more and more terrified, "I...I...you did all..."

He suddenly stopped, as if he realized the strangeness on his "body". He looked down at his human body, with a look of shock and panic on his face. Then he almost supported himself with his hands and feet, muttering while trying to stand: "This is not true... This is an illusion. What have you done to me? Don't make such a joke..."

"This is the last peace of your soul, my 'compatriots'," Belltila just looked at the person in front of her from beginning to end, and her voice was extremely calm at this moment. "You can no longer go back. Your body - if that is also your body - collapsed and alienated by facing the posture of a god. Now it is gradually decomposing, and your consciousness is brought here by me. This is the depth of the neural network, the space I built with my own thinking nodes. Bertleme, if you still have a little at least rationality and humanity, then remember it as soon as possible. When we recall everything you have done, we don't have much time to waste."

Bethleme—or, Bethleme condensed from memories, suddenly stopped and struggled to stand, instead looking ahead with a look of surprise. His eyes that had lost focus seemed to be staring at some endless and distant past times. Then he collapsed little by little, kneeled between the endless fields of flower fields, held his head tightly with his hands, and let out howls that humans could hardly make.

Belltila watched him until Bethlem had just calmed down for a moment, and she slowly spoke: "I'm sorry, I can only force my original 'you' in this way, but now it seems that an early 'you' cannot withstand the dark memories of the hundreds of years later, which puts great pressure on your conscience."

"We have been wandering in the dark and desperate wasteland for hundreds of years... We calculate, we deduce, we are rooted in rotten soil, symbiotic with forces that cannot be understood by mortals, and try to figure out that path over and over again... We have come to the conclusion, we have come to the conclusion..." Bertleme whispered, "That is a dead end, we calculated three hundred years ago, it is a dead end...it doesn't work..."

"Yes, it doesn't work, we know now-but fortunately, it's not just us trying to survive in this world, the Cecils found another way, and you are trapped in the depths of darkness, and your mind is trapped there, and you cannot see other ways," Belltila lowered his eyes. "Bertleme, even today, I still thank you for your sacrifice when you rushed into the wasteland, and I believe that at least in the beginning, your oath was sincere--but that darkness and despair are far beyond the mortals that ordinary people can resist, and that we all miscalculated the world's malice."

"It's too late, it's too late to say this now..." Bethleme finally raised his head, and a distorted face appeared in front of Belltira. "I don't know how long I can last this state - huge anger and hatred are gradually covering my consciousness. I even want to... kill you, ask quickly, Saint, I'm almost unable to recognize your face."

"What the hell do you want to do?" Belltila no longer wasted time. "What do you want to do with those runes in the Deep Blue Channel?"

"Deep Blue Net... Rune Stone... I remembered it," Bertleme's muscles trembled. As he recalled the secrets belonging to the Dark Clan, the boundless malice and anger became more and more abundant. While fighting against this force, he spoke quickly. "This is the plan of the Grand Priest Bolken. We... we need to tame the planet under our feet, and the magic circulation system that can interfere with the material and the intangible world at the same time is the natural 'revolt'. We must hold the reins in our hands..."

He suddenly coughed violently, gasped for a few seconds before continuing: "All our sufferings and all the malice in this world come from two points. One is the gods, the other is the 'magic shock' that swept across all stars from time to time. The former... The former brought about a divine disaster that destroyed all things, the latter... The latter will briefly change the boundaries of all things, the magic tide... Yes, we call it the magic tide..."

"The magic shocks that swept through all the stars from time to time?" Belltila suddenly noticed this special word, "What does this mean? This is your understanding of the magic wave? How did you study this step?"

"I don't know... this knowledge is not our result, it was said by the elves sisters. They said that the universe is echoing a primitive magical oscillation. This oscillation is like a layered net, wandering back and forth between stars. It is the original form of all things in the world and the 'base band' of magic. When this force passes over the stars, all the 'virtual stars' will burn and shine brightly, and all the 'physical stars' will be immersed in a powerful force field... The minds of all intelligent creatures will be affected by it, cognition deviates from all things, entity and non-entity blur the boundaries, and they also mentioned... and also mentioned..."

Bertleme's eyes suddenly dissipated, as if another consciousness was about to dominate his mind, but the next second, Belltila pressed his shoulder and forced him to wake up while asking: "What else did they mention?"

"The amplification and dislocation of the observer effect...the projection in the deep sea and the 'original image' in the physical universe lose its boundaries...I only know these, and most people only know these. Perhaps the Prime Minister Bolken knows more explanations behind this, but I'm not sure..."

"...It seems that this is what the Settler understands about the 'Demon Tide'," Belltila said in a deep voice, then she observed Bethlem's state before continuing to ask, "What does this have to do with your placement of runes? What's the matter with the 'domestication' of the planet you mentioned just now?"

"Stop that magic shock... We want to create an eternal and safe world... Seven hundred years ago, the big explosion of the Deep Blue Well was not a real magic tide. On the contrary, powerful planetary magic gushed out, resisting the "shock after wave" that passed over the planet at that time - we try to reproduce this process and control this process," Bertlem said in a low and hoarse voice. His language sometimes intermittently, and his consciousness sometimes falls into a trance, but overall, Bell Tira can understand what he said, "We must use rune stone to control the deep blue network of the entire planet, and then actively trigger its big explosion. If the control is accurate, the planet itself will not disintegrate, and we will have a barrier covering the planet...

"This barrier will last forever. It will isolate our planet from this malicious universe, and will never suffer from the demon tide. It will also block the connection between the mortal world and the gods, and become a high wall between the present world and the deep sea. Gods will never be able to find us... Just like a baby returning to a safe cradle, forever..."

Belltila opened her eyes slightly and stared at Bethlem in front of her. She didn't say anything for the next few seconds, then she suddenly said, "Do you really think this can bring eternal safety?"

"That's what the Grand Priest said, and so the Elves sisters said," Burtleme whispered. "Just wrap our planet carefully, permanently isolated from the universe outside, and only accept the limited energy gift of the sun, we can build a permanent home of peace, at least...it can last until the sun above us is extinguished, and it will take many, many years."

Belltila didn't know how to evaluate this crazy plan, but she just suddenly thought of another very critical point: "Wait, you said you want to guide the 'big explosion' of Deep Blue Network. How many people will die in this process?"

"Like the Gondor Empire seven hundred years ago," Bethlem said in a deep voice, "this process is essentially a recreation of the birth of the Gondor wasteland - so the entire mortal civilization will be destroyed, all mortal kingdoms will perish, and more than 90% of the creatures in the world will become extinct in this process, but some will still survive, just like us in the Gondor wasteland, they will evolve into our appearance little by little in the environment of deep blue magic... and eventually, adapt to this new world."

Burtleme paused for a moment and said slowly in a low voice: "We look like the future of all things."

"You are indeed crazy..." Belltila stared at the middle-aged man in front of him, "turning the entire planet into an environment like Gondor wasteland, destroying all civilized countries, leaving only scattered stars like you mutant monsters wandering on the wastelands all over the planet... What is the meaning of this 'happy home'? What is the meaning of this long-term 'protection'?"

"But at least, creatures on this planet will no longer have to face the tide of demons and disasters," Bertlem shook his head, "and after a long time, perhaps a further 'evolution' will come. The wandering mutant creatures may establish a new civilization, and more life forms may be breeding in the wasteland environment. You seem to be a harsh and desperate environment, but for another group of creatures, it may be a fertile countryside... Belltila, do you know? After wandering in the wasteland of Gondor for seven hundred years, I actually feel that the dark and corrupt land is still alive... Time can change everything."

"But this should not be the fate of civilized countries, and you are not qualified to cut off the future for them," Belltila looked into Bethlem's eyes. "If we will face a doomsday in the end, then we are willing to fight to the death, fight to the last one on the battlefield, and face the end of the resistance--not to create a natural disaster, and to cut off everyone's future in the name of resisting the enemy, and in the end you will hear you say that this is protecting the future world."

"...You are right, but unfortunately, we who have been in the wasteland for many years will no longer think like you," Bertlem pulled the corner of his mouth and showed a twisted almost ugly smile. "This also includes me - when my only remaining reason and conscience dissipated, I will only feel that your remarks are childish and hypocritical."

"Maybe, this is the sorrow of all of us," Beltira sighed softly, "Let's go ahead, Bethlem...I know your true purpose now, and now I want to know about those runes, what are your next release plans? How many more runes will you put? If you complete all your release plans...how will you start them?"

"Our delivery progress... is now halfway through, and I am not sure about the specific situation of the entire plan, but I think we still need at least... one-third of the rune stones to achieve the "domestication" of this planet," Bertleme's tone was a little hesitant, as if he was competing for some kind of "dominance" with himself, but in the end his words were still smooth. "The deep blue network channel is very complicated. It is not that you can get enough "number" by putting a large number of rune stones into the network channel in one breath. The appropriate nodes are limited...

"Originally, we had found almost enough nodes in the wasteland. Without disturbing the deep blue well of the central node, we could send more than 90% of the rune stones into the predetermined vein flow, but then the plan occurred, and the rune stones invested in some nodes were intercepted by the sirens... In the end, we had to look outside the barrier...

"The most important node is located in the Ancestor Peak. In the depths of that mountain, there is actually a natural magic source that is no less than the deep blue well. However, the locals know nothing about this and only regard the magical environment near the Ancestor Peak as a gift from their ancestors...

"The other predetermined nodes are located in the deep mountains in the northern part of the mainland. There are two swamps on the border of the Holy Dragon Principality, three extensions of the eastern part of the Dark Mountains, one shadow swamp on the Tifeng border, two blue rock hills in the southern part of the mainland, and three in the northwest of the Gaoling Kingdom...

"The number of rune stones that need to be placed at each placement point varies, at least one, at most four or five. Rune stones have the functions of autonomous navigation and positioning in the deep blue vein flow. They will start to move after entering the network channel..."

Bertleme's tone gradually became quiet, but he was still talking about everything he knew. During the long story, Belltila kept listening seriously without missing a word.

After a while, Bethleme's voice finally calmed down completely.

He sat in front of Belltira as if he was sleeping, with his head down lowered and his body remained motionless. The memory that retained his conscience seemed to have completely left this "body", leaving only an empty body in place.

But soon, another new consciousness grew out of the corner of this body, and the body began to shake. With a hoarse and rough breathing, the body that had been still for a long time suddenly raised its head, his eyes were filled with anger and hatred, the muscle lines on his face twitched and trembled, and a hoarse and twisted voice squeezed out from his throat: "Bel-Ti..."

However, the roar only had a few words to pop out and it stopped abruptly. The fields of pure white flowers around it suddenly squirmed. The originally cute and harmless flowers and plants intertwined into a huge, slim mouth, swallowing Bethlem's "body" that had begun to twist quickly.

The next second, the flower fields returned to peace, and there was no trace left behind. Only Belltila, wearing a light green long skirt, stood quietly, staring at the sea of ​​flowers swaying gently in the breeze.
Chapter completed!