Tower of Truth.
Twentieth floor.
A salty sea breeze blew in, and with a flash of lightning, Mike’s figure appeared on the smooth “ground.”
He easily steadied himself and looked down at the grayish-white surface beneath his feet.
Before entering the twentieth floor, Mike had read the strategy guide.
The story background of this instance wasn’t too complicated.
On an icy plain, there was a small village isolated from the world, relying on fishing for generations.
Whales were their revered totem.
One day, while fishing, a villager named Harry encountered an injured baby whale. After a perilous struggle, he saved the whale from a sea monster and brought it back to the village for treatment.
Though this story seemed far-fetched, Mike could only silently scoff at it as a background narrative.
The rescued whale, after a brief stay, returned to its ocean home.
But soon, the icy plain was hit by a deadly cold wind, making survival increasingly difficult, and the fish in the sea became scarcer.
Facing starvation and freezing, the villagers were on the brink of despair.
They gathered and prayed to their village totem, hoping for a miracle.
The whale heard their prayers and prepared to respond.
The whale that Harry saved was now beneath Mike’s feet, named simply-Cetus. “Blub-Blub-”
Huge bubbles rose from the water below, and even without the Eye of Truth, Mike could understand Cetus’s message.
“Kind traveler, could you take me back to the village near the icy plain? This is my final wish.” Cetus was a Blue whale.
“Do you accept the quest [Blue Whale Cetus’s Request]?”
Mike fell silent, not answering immediately.
In front of him, three faction Exploration Rates appeared.
[Ice Village faction Exploration Rate: 0%]
[Blue Whale Cetus faction Exploration Rate: 0%]
[Fisherman Harry faction Exploration Rate: 0%]
“The methods to achieve 100% Exploration Rate for these three factions are completely different, almost impossible to achieve all at once!” Mike analyzed seriously.
The Ice Village’s Exploration Rate was straightforward: solve their life-and-death crisis of cold and hunger.
The method was simple but cruel.
Bring the blue whale Cetus to the icy plain. The dying Cetus would end its life.
The death of a whale has another term-whale fall.
When one whale falls, countless forms of life arise!
The whale’s blood would dispel the curse of winter, and the fish living off the whale fall would sustain the villagers!
Cruel and harsh.
Successfully bringing Cetus there would calculate the score based on the final completion, determining the Exploration Rate.
This was the Ice Village faction.
The Blue Whale Cetus’s Exploration Rate was divided into two parts!
The first part was its desire to repay the life-saving favor by using its dying self to do something for the villagers.
Giving them a whale fall as a token of gratitude.
Helping Cetus achieve this would earn 50% Exploration Rate!
The second part was fulfilling a promise to Fisherman Harry.
Harry was the one who saved Cetus.
Legend spoke of a Sea of Life.
Bringing back water from the Sea of Life would completely lift the curse of frigid, restoring vitality to the land.
Harry wanted to find the Sea of Life, but as an ordinary person, he had no hope of doing it alone.
He had once told Cetus about his dream during a casual chat.
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener took it to heart.
Cetus remembered.
Taking Cetus to the Sea of Life would earn the remaining 50% Exploration Rate!
But the problem lay here!
Mike faced a tricky situation: the Sea of Life and the Ice Village were in opposite directions!
The severely injured Cetus could only choose one direction to move towards, and whether it could reach the destination was another question.
Choosing the Sea of Life, Cetus would likely collapse before reaching the end, leaving only its remains to be brought to the Sea of Life.
Ordinary treatments were ineffective for Cetus.
Its injuries were too severe, requiring something precious to heal.
Many compassionate people couldn’t bear to see Cetus die and tried to take it to the Sea of
Life.
Even if successful, Cetus would die at the Sea of Life.
The water from the Sea of Life had no healing properties.
The twentieth floor’s plot revolved around the Cetus.
Mike’s immediate task was to heal it first, then consider which direction to choose to
maximize the Exploration Rate!
Without addressing Cetus’s severe injuries, everything else was at a loss!
As Mike focused, more information prompts appeared.
[Treatment method: 15 gallons of the source of life…]
Mike raised an eyebrow, 15 gallons?!
Where was he supposed to find 15 gallons of the source of life?
The only source of life he had was almost given away by Mike for free.
Back on the third floor, Mike had obtained the source of life, and the lizard had drunk half of it
during the challenge…
Wait!
A light bulb went off in Mike’s head. The lizard had drunk a lot of the source of life?!
How could he have forgotten that!
The lizard’s strength wasn’t great, and it had said it merely stored the water.
Could it mean…
With a thought, the lizard, which had been sleeping in the mine, suddenly appeared on the
whale’s back.
Lizard: “Sssslizzz-snap! Hizz-huzz, crick-crack!?”
Mike: “Sssslizzz-snap! Hizz-huzz, crick-crack!”
Quickly, with the help of the Eye of Truth’s translation function, Mike communicated with the
lizard.
It indeed had some source of life left, about 20 gallons.
Mike said seriously, “I need to borrow some water!”
Lizard:…
It had been living comfortably, eating and drinking Mike’s provisions. With Morgana’s curse
lifted, it no longer needed the source of life to counteract the curse.
Mike placed a bucket in front of the lizard, and the lizard opened its mouth.
“Ugh-”
15 gallons of dark liquid poured out.
Mike: …
Was this the source of life or oil?!
“Stop, stop.”
With the [Dark Version of the Source of Life] in hand, Mike needed to do one more thing: heal
the whale Cetus!
Mike had Cerberus hold the bucket in its mouth while he stood at a distance, coaxing, “Come
on, open your mouth and drink the source of life!”
Cetus: “Blub blub-”
[It smells bad, and it came from the lizard’s mouth. I don’t want to drink it.]
“Drink it, I promise it’s good for you.”
Cetus: “How about you drink a sip first?”
Mike: “No more nonsense, just drink it!”
At Mike’s command, Cerberus shoved the bucket into Cetus’s mouth, and the [Dark Version of
the Source of Life] began to take effect.
Ten minutes later, Cetus’s injuries were completely healed!
“Alright, first step complete!”
Mike sat cross-legged on Cetus’s back, pointing ahead,
“Let’s go!” “Destination, Sea of Life!”