Chapter 306: Chapter 306: Clue to the Race-Level Main Quest
A magic array appeared beneath the Banshee, creating an illusory portal. “The door on this wall is a magic trap; this is the real portal,” the Banshee explained.
“Wait.” The Banshee halted Li Yao.
“Do you have any other instructions, my lord?” asked Li Yao, puzzled.
She laughed, “I wouldn’t dare presume, I just wished to ask a question on behalf of the Queen. Did you remember the spell and handprint I used just now?”
“Er, sorry, it wasn’t intentional.” Li Yao turned uncomfortable. He had indeed been paying close attention to the opening technique and key, and had memorized it.
The Banshee shook her head and said, “That’s good. The Queen said, if you can open the portal by yourself, then you are the true inheritor. Because only those with the same origin power as the Queen can open this portal. I can only open it once.”
Li Yao was taken aback, “What if I have not remembered correctly and cannot open this portal?”
“You’re a clever person. The Queen likes clever successors, you should know,” The Banshee casually floated away as she spoke, and the portal closed behind her.
Li Yao bitterly laughed. The Queen’s actions were unpredictable and often startling. One slight misstep could be disastrous.
Now, his role as a Dark Ranger seemed compelling, but if the queen turned against him, he was doomed.
Despite his pride, Li Yao still simulated the procedure in his mind before activating his magic power. He chanted the spell and made the handprint simultaneously; the two were meant to complement each other.
For players, casting a spell usually only requires the incantation. The technique of using handprints has not yet been reached.
To the Queen, as a High Elf from the Kingdom of Magic, such talent should be expected. If not achieved, you’re either of insufficient quality, insufficient intelligence, or lacking focus. Such individuals wouldn’t even be able to enter today.
Li Yao wasn’t a mage, he’d only encountered the skill of handprints in the late stages of the game, and it was generally the non-mage players who were left in the dark.
Soon, the Magician portal appeared, and Li Yao entered.
As the Queen stood atop a platform, watching the crowd below, she didn’t turn around when Li Yao arrived.
Glancing around, Li Yao noticed he was in a massive underground space, beneath was a vast Alchemy Laboratory where countless undead were busy.
The room emanated a foul smell, a mixture of potions and decaying corpses. Li Yao almost vomited, hastily he put on a magic pattern cloth mask to bear it.
“What do you think we’re doing here?” The Queen casually asked.
Helplessly, Li Yao replied, “I can only see that you are conducting alchemical experiments, important experiments concerning the Forsaken race.”
Throwing a glance at him, the Queen asked, “Is that all?”
“Er, I am not proficient in Alchemy and can’t really tell what exactly you folks are busy with. But I can say for sure that it’s not about awakening new Forsaken or creating mutated undead. Most importantly, even though there are countless Forsaken Alchemists here, none of them are members of the Great Alchemist Association,” Li Yao stated with certainty.
“Not bad. So now, let me ask you, why am I not making use of the Senior Alchemists from the Great Alchemist Association, but rather starting from scratch?” the Queen posed another question.
Li Yao’s heart cried out. These NPC’s were the hardest to deal with, but he had to respond, gritting his teeth he said, “It’s because the Queen doesn’t trust them, they harbor ulterior motives.”
The Queen, showing a rare hint of sorrow and desolation, responded quietly, “I see, that’s how you all perceive it.”
However, that expression vanished quickly, she regained her aristocratic and aloof demeanor, coldly asking, “Honestly, do you think us, the undead, should exist in the world of the living?”
Li Yao opened his mouth but remained speechless. He finally understood – if he encountered a regular undead, Li Yao would unequivocally state that they have every right to exist. But when it came to the Queen…
“Hmph, just as I thought, a cunning little fellow,” the Queen responded indifferently. “In my opinion, we should not exist. We’re merely walking corpses with the ability to think. We’ve returned to the land of the dead, yet we’re alive and not alive at the same time.”
“My reasons for not relying on the Great Alchemist Association are not because they plot to kill me, but because they are misguided. They only see slaughter and hatred, they despise all living creatures. In their eyes, only revenge and destruction exist. Tell me, how is this any different from the Scourge of the Undead?”
Upon hearing this, a bolt of lightning struck Li Yao’s brain. He suddenly understood what this place was.
“Could it be that the Queen wishes to reverse life and death, to bring you all back to life?”
Turning suddenly, the Queen’s sharp eyes fixed on Li Yao as she said, “I knew I hadn’t misjudged you. With such a little hint, you’ve deciphered my real intent. You will become my true inheritor. Now tell me, can my wish be fulfilled?”
This time, Li Yao was truly sweating bullets. This was a significant matter that had the potential to trigger a major update in the game world. The implications were enormous; every word he said could lead to unpredictable developments. The Ancient God would not prevent such an evolution; it valued speculation and natural evolution.
In his previous life, after many years of playing the game, a significant piece of news broke out.
The Great Alchemist Association had betrayed the Queen and launched a counter-attack on the Undercity, occupying the main city while she was away. The two major factions teamed up to besiege and eventually extinguish this force, and the Queen’s experiments in reversing life and death were exposed.
There was a significant uproar; after many years of unsuccessful experiments, they had become cruel and deranged, met with resistance from all races.
Nevertheless, the Queen insisted. The alliance then dealt with the Scourge of the Undead, only to see the Queen’s experiment fail yet again.
The Queen, whose great enemy had been vanquished and whose life held no further interest, died by suicide once more. This time, she was revived by a mysterious undead creature. She found that her body had sprung back to life, not artificially done by magic.
Immediately, she rekindled her hope. The repeatedly self-destructive Queen plunged herself back into experiments, eventually succeeding.
This event became famous as the “Undead Reversal” event. After this, all the Forsaken had their lives reversed. Though they were called the Forsaken, they also had another name, the Half-Lives.
Li Yao was thrilled. If a player were to accept such a mission, it would lead to an incredibly prolonged quest line, yielding enormous benefits.
Choosing his words carefully, he finally said, “In this world, even gods exist. Reversing life and death might not be impossible.”
The Queen’s eyes lit up…