Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 625 Returning to the Old Place (1)

Energy flowed through his eyes, and Han Zu's vision underwent a qualitative change. The previously blurry outline of the distant cliff became clearly discernible, and the dark red patterns on the cliff face seemed to come alive in his energy vision, outlining faint veins that meandered like the blood vessels of the earth. He stared intently and discovered that these veins were not random; they started from the coast at the bottom of the cliff, extending upwards and eventually converging at a certain point at the top. However, the distance was too great to discern what lay hidden at that convergence point.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty smell, poured into the window, ruffling the hair on his forehead. He shifted his gaze from the cliff to the coastline to his left. This coastline, like a giant black python, stretched into the distance under the dark red sky until it disappeared into the horizon. The ship wreckage on the beach was more densely packed than what he had seen on land, piled up in layers. Some ships were completely broken, leaving only scattered planks and metal components; others were relatively intact, leaning askew in the sand, their sails long gone, leaving only bare masts pointing to the sky, like silent tombstones.

Han Zu's gaze lingered for a long time on an exceptionally massive wreck. It was a ship that appeared to be a flagship, at least 150 meters long, its hull constructed of thick oak, covered with a layer of metal armor that had long since lost its luster. The bronze ram at the bow was even larger than the ram of the three-masted warship he had touched before, covered with dents of varying depths, clearly indicating it had endured fierce battles. A fist-sized, dark red gem was embedded at the tip of the ram, still emitting a faint glow even in the dim light. He tried to probe the gem with his energy perception, but it was futile; his senses were swallowed up by an invisible force as soon as they approached the hull, yielding no useful information.

When exactly were these wreckage pieces left behind?

Judging from the quantity and scale of the wreckage, a large-scale naval battle had clearly taken place here. However, neither the sand on the beach nor the wreckage itself showed any signs of weathering or decay, as if the battle had just ended yesterday. Even more strangely, he found no bones on the wreckage, not even the slightest trace of biological remnants, as if the participants in the battle had vanished into thin air.

Han Zu turned his gaze back to the sea. The black water, like viscous ink, churned beneath the crimson sky. Waves crashed against the shore, making a monotonous, echoing sound that reverberated across the silent coast. There was no sign of life on the surface; no seabirds flew by, no fish leaped from the water, and not even a single seaweed, the most common plant, could be seen. The entire ocean resembled a desolate desert. He unleashed his energy perception to its limit, covering an area of ​​tens of kilometers around the sea. Within his perception range, apart from the ripples of the seawater and the air currents of the sea breeze, there was no other energy reaction, let alone the presence of any living creature.

He slowly turned his body and began to observe the scene on his right. The coastline on the right was more rugged than that on the left, dotted with many large and small reefs. The reefs were also dark brown in color, their surfaces covered with sharp edges. Waves crashed against the reefs, creating white spray that quickly disappeared into the black seawater. Deep within the reefs, he discovered a small bay. The bay's entrance was narrow, flanked by towering reefs that formed a natural barrier. The water inside the bay was relatively calm, with some broken planks floating on the surface, clearly broken off from the wreckage outside.

Han Zu's gaze swept carefully across the bay, hoping to find some clues. Suddenly, his eyes fell on a huge reef on the bay's shore. The reef's shape was peculiar, resembling a giant sea turtle lying on the shore. The top of the reef was flat, with some patterns faintly etched on it. He immediately concentrated his mind, channeling energy into his eyes, trying to make out the patterns. As the energy continued to flow in, the outline of the patterns gradually became clear—it was a simple mural depicting a huge ship sailing at sea, with a sea eagle symbol painted on its sail, the same one found on the foundation stone of the tower. Next to the mural were some strange characters, none of which he recognized, and without any discernible pattern, like randomly drawn graffiti.

"It's the sea eagle symbol again..."

Han Zu frowned, his doubts deepening. The fact that this symbol appeared on both the murals at the base of the tower and in the bay was clearly not accidental; it must represent something special—perhaps a symbol of an organization or ethnic group, or a sign of some ritual. He tried channeling his energy into his mind, recalling all the documents and materials he had ever seen, but no matter how hard he tried, he found no record of this symbol. This discovery made him realize that he might have stumbled into a completely unknown realm, a world not recorded in any historical documents.

The sea breeze grew stronger, rustling the metal components at the top of the lighthouse with a mournful "whoosh," like someone weeping in the distance. Han Zu took a deep breath, turning his gaze from the bay back to the area below the lighthouse. Illuminated by the glowing stones, the spiral stone steps resembled a winding serpent of light, stretching from the lighthouse room all the way to the ground floor. His senses traveled slowly downwards along the steps, carefully examining each step and each wall. He had sensed something unusual about the dark red patterns during his earlier climb, and now, with the aid of his energy vision, he was even more certain that these patterns were not naturally formed; their direction and distribution contained some peculiar pattern, like a complex magic circle.

He noticed that the patterns had a node at each level, corresponding precisely to the niches in the walls. Recalling the ceramic oil lamps he'd seen during his climb, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: could those lamps not be decorations, but rather the key to activating the array? But when he examined the lamps earlier, he hadn't detected any energy fluctuations, and the wicks were all dry, clearly never having been lit. This idea was quickly dismissed.

Suddenly, Han Zu felt a sudden tightness in his chest, a strong sense of unease welling up inside. He immediately narrowed his perception range, focusing it on the interior of the lighthouse. However, there was still nothing unusual within his perception range—no energy fluctuations, no signs of life, not even the resonant sound of the stone steps was as uniform as before. He immediately became alert, circulating his energy throughout his body, preparing for battle at any moment. He slowly turned his body, his gaze carefully scanning every corner of the lamproom, from the central oil lamp holder to the rope components in the corners, and the exterior of the six windows, not missing a single detail.

Time ticked by, and nothing unusual occurred in the room. The sudden unease seemed to have vanished without a trace, as if it had never happened. Han Zu recovered some of the energy, but remained vigilant. Past experience told him that this inexplicable unease was rarely unfounded; it always indicated some hidden danger that he couldn't detect at the moment.

"Is it an illusion? Or some kind of danger that can block out perception?"

Han Zu frowned, deep in thought. He recalled the scene when he touched the ram of the three-masted warship on the beach, feeling a similar eerie sense of oppression then, and how the ram of that warship could absorb his energy. Could this unease also be related to those strange wreckage? Or perhaps, the lighthouse itself harbors some unknown secret?

To verify his guess, Han Zu walked to the metal support in the center of the lamp room and examined the enormous oil lamp again. The lamp's bronze surface was covered with intricate patterns, somewhat similar to the nautical designs on the tower's base panels, but more abstract, resembling the flow of some kind of energy. He reached out and gently touched the lamp's surface, feeling a cool sensation on his fingertips—completely different from the feeling he had when touching the tower's base panels and ramming horns. This time, no energy was absorbed, and there was no unusual reaction.

He walked around the oil lamp and discovered that besides the eagle symbol and the surrounding small holes, the bottom of the lamp had more complex patterns. These patterns intertwined to form a complete design, echoing the dark red patterns on the wall. He tried to inject a tiny amount of energy into the eagle symbol at the bottom of the lamp. The energy was absorbed as soon as it touched the symbol, and then the patterns on the lamp's surface suddenly flickered, emitting a faint red light, but it disappeared after only a second, and the lamp returned to its previous state.

"There is indeed a problem."

Han Zu was overjoyed; this discovery further confirmed his belief that this lighthouse was no ordinary structure. He injected energy again, this time twice as much as before. The patterns on the lamp's surface shimmered more clearly, the red light became brighter, and its duration extended to three seconds. He could sense that the patterns, after absorbing energy, seemed to be guiding the energy flow within the lamp, but the energy was too weak to cause any significant change.

Just then, Han Zu's gaze inadvertently swept over the oil lamp's wick. A thought struck him, and he immediately focused his attention to observe carefully. He discovered that on the solidified dark red oil surface inside the lamp, there was an extremely thin layer of energy mist, almost imperceptible. This mist was similar to the energy he had poured into the oil lamp, but it was purer and more ancient, rippled almost imperceptibly under the illumination of the glowing stone.

He immediately focused his attention, carefully observing the energy mist. The mist flowed slowly across the oil surface, forming tiny vortices, the centers of which seemed to be absorbing some kind of energy from the air. He tried to touch the mist with his senses, but as soon as his senses approached, the mist suddenly fluctuated violently, then, as if drawn by some force, flowed towards his fingertips. Han Zu was startled and immediately withdrew his senses; the mist returned to its previous state, flowing slowly across the oil surface.

"What is this fog? Why is it reacting to my senses?"

Han Zu was filled with questions. He realized that the lighthouse, the wreckage on the beach, the patterns on the cliff, and the mist inside the oil lamp were all intricately connected, forming a huge mystery. The key to solving this mystery might lie in how to activate the lighthouse, or rather, how to utilize the energy mist inside the oil lamp.

He went to the window again, unlatched it, and leaned out, trying to observe the layout of the entire coastline from a higher vantage point. Under the crimson sky, the black sea and dark brown sand contrasted sharply, and the lighthouse stood like a giant pointer in the center of the shore, pointing towards the sky. He suddenly realized that from this angle, the shipwrecks on the beach seemed to form a huge circle around the lighthouse, with the lighthouse precisely at the center. This discovery startled him. He immediately counted the relatively intact wreckage and found that there were exactly twelve, evenly distributed around the edge of the circle, like twelve guards protecting the lighthouse.

"Twelve wrecked ships, arranged in a circle, with a lighthouse in the center..."

Han Zu muttered to himself, a thought suddenly flashing through his mind, "Could this be a massive magic array? The lighthouse is the array's core, and those ruins are its foundation?" If this guess was correct, then the dark red patterns he had seen on the wall were the array's energy veins, and the veins on the cliff were the channels connecting the array to the earth. But what was the purpose of this array? Was it to protect something, or to seal something?

To verify this hypothesis, he released his senses again. This time, instead of spreading them out, he focused all his senses on a wrecked ship on the beach. As his senses approached the wreckage, he could clearly feel an invisible force hindering his perception. He circulated the energy within his body, forcibly injecting his senses into the wreckage. This time, the energy was not fully absorbed. He vaguely sensed a weak energy core inside the wreckage. The aura of this core was similar to the energy mist inside an oil lamp, but weaker and more unstable.

Just as he attempted to further probe the energy core, the invisible force suddenly erupted, instantly repelling his senses. At the same time, a strong wave of dizziness washed over him, causing him to sway uncontrollably. Han Zu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the dizziness and withdrawing his senses. He knew his guess was likely correct; the debris and the lighthouse did indeed form a massive array, and the power of this array far exceeded his imagination. With his current strength, he was unable to forcibly probe it.

He leaned against the window frame, closed his eyes, and rested for a moment. The sea breeze kept blowing, clearing his mind somewhat. He knew he had to find the answer, or he might never be able to leave this place.

After resting for a few minutes, Han Zu opened his eyes and once again turned his gaze to the sea. This time, he didn't circulate his energy; he simply observed it quietly with his naked eyes. The black seawater continued to surge, waves crashing against the beach with a monotonous sound. In the distance, the sea met the dark red sky, forming a blurred dividing line. Just then, he suddenly noticed that at that dividing line, there seemed to be a small black dot moving.