Amidst the group’s amazed gazes, the Gondola, its thin veil billowing like a starry sky, soared into the air.
"Hmph." While the others were still admiring the Gondola, the Black Earl let out a cold snort.
The group’s motives were unclear, but Vay heard the Black Earl mumble in his mind: "So flamboyant, afraid others won’t recognize his signature."
Vay only dared to listen, not to comment.
As for Angel, he could discern the Black Earl’s reason for the snort, but he didn’t mind. To him, such deliberate contrariness was actually a subtle compliment.
Once everyone was settled in, everything was left to Speedy to control.
Angel had shown Speedy the map yesterday, so there was no need to worry about getting lost.
After the gondola set off, Angel glanced at Dox sitting beside him and said softly, "The green sandworm you summoned earlier, is it a natural elemental creature?"
Dox nodded noncommittally.
"Sandworm form... was it caught in the desert? Can natural elves still be born in the desert?"
Dox: "I don’t know if other natural elves can be born in the desert, but I happened to encounter this one in an oasis. At least for now, in the wizard circle of the entire Laksum Principality, I think I’m the only one with a natural-type sandworm."
Dox’s tone was calm, but the sense of pride was almost overflowing.
However, when he felt the surrounding gusts of wind and saw Speedy’s smooth operation, Dox’s pride slowly receded.
This natural sandworm, though rare, wasn’t very capable. Angel’s wind element creature did not reveal much power, yet its surging elemental force was immensely astounding. Even though his sandworm had passed its elf phase, it paled in comparison.
Not only Speedy, but the flame elf on Angel was also very unique.
Speaking of which, this guy has just advanced not long ago. Where did he get these elemental creatures?
Dox asked curiously.
Angel: "You’ll know soon enough, but for now, let’s keep it mysterious."
Looking at Angel’s deliberately mysterious smile, Dox’s spiritual sense quickly moved, and after a while, Dox wondered, "Why do I feel like there’s something odd about this?"
This time, Angel didn’t answer. When the Tidal World unveils itself, Dox will naturally understand. With Dox’s profit-driven nature, he should be the first to head to the Tidal World. However, whether he’ll be able to enter when the time comes is another story.
...
The Garden Labyrinth was just a few dozen miles from the Bilun Tree Court. In just a few minutes, moving at Speedy’s steady pace, they saw a ruin covered in green moss.
The expanse of this ruin was exceedingly vast, comparable to the size of major capitals of various countries today. In its time, it must have been a magnificent giant city.
Unfortunately, no matter how grand a city, once abandoned, time’s erosion leaves it in ruins.
Debris-filled buildings were everywhere, all covered with moss and tiny flora. To wasteland enthusiasts, this might be paradise.
But to Angel, who has seen the true Naraku City, the sight of such dilapidated ruins brings more sighs than anything.
This place is the Garden Labyrinth, and it used to be Naraku City.
Angel navigated the gondola over the Garden Labyrinth, taking in the complete view of the ruins while comparing it with yesterday’s bird’s-eye sketch.
Yesterday, he thought the sketch artist was being overly imaginative when reconstructing the buildings in the bird’s-eye sketch, but once he saw the Garden Labyrinth in full view, Angel had to admit admiration. The bird’s-eye sketch artist’s imaginative ability is almost off the charts.
Such utterly broken-down ruins could still be depicted as a city, even with roughly iconic buildings marked — a talent worthy of being called visionary.
At least, when Angel took a bird’s-eye view, he couldn’t even identify Naraku City’s iconic buildings.
Without the bird’s-eye sketch, they might have come in vain today.
While overlooking, they also noticed a few figures. Though compared to the city’s ruins, they were scattered and few, the total number wasn’t insignificant, somewhat defying the "desolation" rumored about.
Upon closer inspection, most individuals in the ruin turned out to be ordinary people. Transcendents were sparse, and as for Official Wizards... Apart from their small group, none would inexplicably come here.
These ordinary people were here treasure hunting. The items trash to Transcendents might be invaluable treasures to ordinary people. Having ordinary people here was thus normal.
After circumnavigating once, Angel stopped at the top of a bell tower ruin.
Green moss was all over; the building was dilapidated, with only 20% left standing. Even the "bell" itself was nowhere to be found.
If it weren’t for the bird’s-eye sketch marking it as a bell tower, Angel wouldn’t have recognized it on his own.
"Is the destination here?" Kaier asked curiously.
Angel did not respond. He directly jumped into the bell tower. Seeing this, the others followed suit.
Angel came to this bell tower because he had seen the full map of Naraku City; he knew there was an entrance to the Underground Aqueduct near the bell tower.
Though there were several entrances to the Underground Aqueduct, those close to iconic buildings were uncommon.
Angel planned to explore here first.
Upon entering the bell tower, Angel frowned. The ground was covered with rubble, not originally broken but pushed up by huge underground vines breaking through the surface.
Earlier, he hadn’t figured there’d be such gigantic vines in the ruins; if they’re everywhere, the Underground Aqueduct might suffer severe damage. Given this situation, it becomes significantly harder to smoothly find that wall in the Underground Aqueduct.
After navigating around numerous vines and ruins for a few minutes, Angel arrived near an arched pile of stones.
According to his mental map, this should be one of the entrances to the Underground Aqueduct.
Angel initially intended to clear these piles of stones himself but seeing Dox following, he stepped back, leaving the clearing work to him.
"Won’t you handle even this? Where’s your wind elemental sprite?"
"It’s tired," Angel lied directly.
Dox spat a curse but moved forward with grumbling. With a wave, he effortlessly cleared the stone pile using pure physical strength.
With the stones cleared, the manhole cover to the Underground Aqueduct was revealed.
"Is it here? So we need to go underground," Dox muttered, lifting the manhole cover.
However, once the cover was lifted, it revealed a heap of rubble and soil inside, indistinguishable from the outside ground.
"Time has changed everything here," Angel sighed. Since this Underground Aqueduct was sealed, they’d try another route.
Yet Dox seemed unwilling to give up, "It’s just some dirt! Watch me, I’ll clear it by mouth if need be."
Saying that, Dox pushed Vay forward, pointing at the soil below the cover, "Your turn."
Vay was silent for a moment before slowly stretching out his hands. The rubble and soil beneath the cover lifted, and as he did this, he retorted to Dox, "I don’t chew dirt."
"Pretty close; you Earth Wizards are either chewing dirt or on the way to chewing dirt."
Vay held his silence.
Suddenly Vay’s stone slabs on his body began to glow. A burst of fierce energy washed over him, flipping Dox upside down.
When Dox sat up again, he was still dazed.
At this point, Kaier remarked quietly, "I heard from my mentor that people of the Noah Clan are all Earth Wizards."