Chapter 303 : Chapter 303

Chapter 303: Ninglan New City

Ninglan New City, an ancient city that had stood amidst these ruins for over a thousand years.

Although the few people guiding us weren't very good at history, after some questioning from a specific angle, Big Sis Bai and I managed to gather some information.

For example, why this city could survive here for so long.

It was because the establishment of Ninglan New City was inseparable from the "Ninglan Shelter Stele" in the very center of the city.

This was the foundation upon which Ninglan New City stood.

As for why such an important matter was revealed so easily, it was because this massive stone stele was located in the most central and conspicuous position in Ninglan New City.

It was impossible to hide, so they might as well reveal it openly.

The Ninglan Shelter Stele was discovered by the first Ninglan City Lord, who then established Ninglan New City based on it, and generation after generation guarded and passed down this shelter stele.

And why the city had to be built under such a shelter stele, and what this shelter stele sheltered from, was also well worth understanding.

According to what they said, an energy tide that affects the entire world surges here periodically.

Without an equivalent energy to counteract it, people cannot survive under such a tide, and the damage of this energy tide to the human body is permanent.

No cure has been found to this day.

So, the time we were in right now was actually very fortunate.

It was not a period of energy tide flushing, but rather a period of low energy, and also the safest time to be active outside.

The energy tide had destroyed too many things, including but not limited to the flora and fauna of the outside world.

The plants that could be seen outside now were all energy-adaptive plants that had been catalyzed by the residual energy after being destroyed by the energy tide.

This was the way plants chose to face this kind of disaster.

The same went for the animals; under the effect of the energy tide, they either died or mutated, otherwise they could not survive.

The mutated beasts were the kind of monsters we had seen before, and they mostly fed on those energy plants.

I didn't know if this energy tide was effective against our consciousness, which was in a dream state, but I guessed it was most likely useless.

According to this City Defense Army brother, when he patrolled outside the city and encountered outsiders, he needed to confirm their identity and whether they were benevolent.

This was mainly judged by their subjective opinion.

If they obtained our consent, they would take us to see the highest-ranking officer of the City Defense Army, who was called Mo Le.

It was even possible to meet with the current City Lord of Ninglan New City.

But not every outsider received such treatment.

However, as long as they didn't violate the regulations in Ninglan New City, they would be temporarily provided with a residence.

Regarding this point, I was also a bit curious.

The current City Lord of Ninglan New City was also very curious about us outsiders, otherwise they wouldn't have met with us personally.

If such a large city was managed and scheduled by them, then their work was undoubtedly very busy.

Perhaps it was precisely because of our form of existence that we were a huge trouble for them, so they used a gentler way to tell us not to cause trouble.

Otherwise, if their attitude was tough and they encountered scoundrels, they would also have a hard time.

When we approached this so-called Ninglan New City, I couldn't help but marvel at the vastness and magnificence of this giant city.

Many of the fortifications on the periphery were used to deal with various troubles.

The outer defensive walls were built with the most primitive yet effective giant stones, and there were strict defenses below, which should be the main force of the City Defense Army outside the city.

This design completely did not consider the need for people inside the city to enter and exit conveniently.

Perhaps in the face of the kind of natural disaster described earlier, the impact of the energy tide, it was not impossible for the people in the city to have never walked out of the city walls in their entire lives.

When we arrived here, we were stopped as expected.

"Please wait a moment. I'll go and report the situation. Please don't make any movements here."

"Mm."

Big Sis Bai and I nodded and didn't make any movements.

After all, when we saw the appearance of these people who stopped us, we understood that not everyone was as easy to talk to as those few.

People who fought and killed all year round, especially those who fought against the so-called mutated beasts here, were very hostile, and they didn't seem to be good at communicating.

But compared to these, I was more concerned about what the ability of the Ninglan Shelter Stele to resist the energy tide was.

It was obvious that this power did not cover the entire Ninglan New City, or perhaps the city wall I was seeing now was a layer of multiple defensive outer walls that Ninglan New City had pushed outwards.

After all, looking up close, the weathering of these stacked giant stone city walls was a bit too severe, and I could even feel the elemental energy that had infiltrated those stones.

The transcendent energy and matter had formed this stable protective layer against the energy tide... This was truly a miracle.

After waiting for a period of time, another group of people walked out.

Among them was the squad leader who had brought me over, whom I recognized.

And the one in the lead... just from his aura and the battle armor he wore, you could tell he was not ordinary.

Perhaps this was the highest-ranking officer of the City Defense Army, Mo Le?

"Hello, outsiders. I am Mo Le of the Ninglan New City City Defense Army."

Without any unnecessary words, he announced his identity as soon as he came up.

"Ninglan New City welcomes the visit of outsiders, ladies."

"Hello, my name is Yang Yuehan."

"Bai Yu."

After a brief self-introduction, this rather stern-looking defense officer, Mo Le, began to ask us about our purpose in coming here.

"We are new here. We were exploring around and found a city here, so we came over out of curiosity."

"Is that so? Then your luck is really good."

Mo Le was a little surprised by our calm demeanor at this moment.

As the City Defense Army, they were the first to come into contact with outsiders.

After some probing, they naturally knew about the other party's situation.

But in the initial contact, the other party was basically in a state of panic, fear, confusion, or didn't understand what had happened, as if even they themselves were not clear about their arrival.

But these two in front of him were so calm.

They were either powerful, or they knew something.

But whether the other party was powerful or not was not important to them.

Although they could not touch these outsiders, the outsiders' attacks also had no effect on them.

So Mo Le was not afraid of powerful outsiders, only afraid that the other party would play dirty and disgust them.

"Indeed, I think so too."

I nodded.

This luck was really something else.

"By the way, are you just going to let us chat here?"

"My apologies, please come with me."

Mo Le seemed to have just realized and led us to the front of the huge city gate.

After the gate was opened with his order, this sealed-like gate slowly opened with the ear-piercing sound of the mechanism operating.

But the scene after this door opened was not the prosperous city behind it, but a transition zone that could be called a dangerous place.

"This is the forefront combat zone and buffer zone of Ninglan New City. The real Ninglan New City is still a walk away. I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine, I don't mind. But... are such fortifications... really necessary?"

Perhaps I had never seen such a grand scene, but if it was just to defend against those mutated beasts, it shouldn't be necessary, right?

"Of course it's necessary. As the outermost fortification of Ninglan New City, it can deter a large number of mutated beasts from harassing us even in normal times, reducing unnecessary trouble. When the beast tide comes, it will also be a threshold to filter out the mutated beasts. Its strategic significance is great..."

Mo Le explained the value he perceived while also probing our situation.

It might take a long time to walk this way, and we also probed each other a lot.

But most of it was blocked by Big Sis Bai.

After all, in terms of conversation, Big Sis Bai was much better than me.

"This is it. Please allow me to say it again formally, welcome to Ninglan New City."

After Mo Le finished speaking, the real Ninglan New City was displayed in front of us.

The first thing I felt was a unique sense of shock.

It was a prosperity that formed a great contrast with the desolate ruins outside, impacting my cognition with a unique cultural charm.

As we passed through this threshold, the open and shocking scene seemed to form two different worlds from the outside.

A huge stone stele stood in the center of the most open square.

It was so conspicuous, as if it was pulsing with the lifeblood of the entire city.

And I also "saw" the source of the power of the Ninglan Shelter Stele, which separated the inside and outside of Ninglan New City.

There seemed to be small characters carved on the stele.

Were they probably engraved with the great achievements of past generations?

The area around the square was a bustling market with people coming and going, and shops lining the streets.

But under the prosperity, there seemed to be a hint of… gloom.

The buildings here had a retro style and elements that formed such a prosperous Ninglan New City, but I didn't know if it was an illusion, I always felt that the style of these buildings was a bit familiar.

But compared to these small things, I was more concerned about the Ninglan Stele.

The power it exuded at all times was too familiar to me!

Earth Vein Energy.

"Ladies, please come with me."

At this moment, Mo Le spoke again, interrupting my contemplation.

"Hmm? Where are we going? Are you arranging a place for us to live?"

I asked subconsciously.

Mo Le's words had just interrupted my train of thought.

After realizing that this power was Earth Vein Energy, I seemed to have thought of something, but my thoughts were interrupted.

Then I'll put it aside for now.

"We will arrange a residence for the two of you as soon as possible. But before that, I would like to invite the two of you to Ninglan Township Fortress to meet the City Lord."

"Oh?"

I raised my eyebrows.

I didn't expect him to hit me with a royal flush right away, asking us to meet that City Lord?

Although the City Lord seemed to be in a "hereditary" form, and the current one was not as good as the first Ninglan City Lord who founded Ninglan New City, but to be able to defend the city until now, they were not a pushover either.

"By the way, your City Lord shouldn't have too much energy to meet every outsider, right?"

"Yes, the City Lord is busy with a myriad of affairs and naturally cannot meet with every outsider. So I also need to go and ask for instructions."

"So you are a threshold, to identify whether we are qualified to meet that City Lord?"

I asked with a slight curve on my lips.

"Yes. Even among outsiders, not everyone is welcome in Ninglan New City. From my contact and conversation with the two of you so far, I think you are indeed qualified to meet the City Lord. I think the two of you should also have many things you want to communicate with the City Lord, right?"

Mo Le admitted generously.

Mo Le knew very well that the other party seemed to be very curious about the current Ninglan New City and everything here, including the questions about history they had asked when they came with that small team.

He was very clear about it, so he made such a judgment.

"Of course, if the two of you don't have this intention, I will just arrange a residence for you to stay here temporarily. If the two of you want to leave, just let me know. I am usually at the forefront of Ninglan New City."

"Mm, okay."

I nodded, then looked at Big Sis Bai, mainly to see what Big Sis Bai thought about meeting that City Lord at this moment.

Actually, my thoughts about meeting that City Lord were very average.

It wasn't a must-go.

Meeting the other party would at most be to understand the situation of this world, and... how the other students affected by the Nightmares in this Ninglan New City were doing.

"We should indeed go and meet them."

Bai Yu nodded at this moment when she saw my gaze, agreeing to Mo Le's presumptuous decision.

But even if we didn't go, our arrival would probably still be reported to that City Lord.

After all, we were unstable factors, and maybe they were also very interested in our existence.

On the way here, Mo Le had intentionally or unintentionally probed what kind of world we came from, trying to find out our background.

We were already used to this.

It wasn't until Mo Le brought us to the most conspicuous building in the city, which was the Ninglan Township Fortress that Mo Le mentioned.

Speaking of which, wasn't this in a way the City Lord's mansion?

But then again, Ninglan... this should be a surname, right?

Or the surname Mo of Mo Le as well.

At this moment, I seemed to have grasped something very crucial!

Surnames, architecture, language...

All of these were reminding me that this place had an inseparable relationship with the world I was in!

And the Earth Vein Energy from before.

I thought of the Earth Veins, which reminded me of the Earth Vein Chains.

I remembered the Academy Head telling me that the Earth Vein Chains bound us.

If we wanted to leave our original world, we had to sever the Earth Vein Chains, but I hadn't severed them yet, so... I hadn't come to another world.

Maybe this was also a part of the main world?

This guess was a bit too shocking.

If this world was also a part of the main world, then those ruins... a thousand years ago... I remembered that I was the 1145th batch of newcomers to the Witch Academy...

This time, the clues seemed to be pointing to one fact.

"Stop! This is Ninglan Township Fortress. Unauthorized personnel, please stop!"

At this moment, a guard suddenly blocked our way.

"It's Lord Mo Le. My apologies. You've brought... I'll go and report right away."

"Mm, thank you."

Mo Le nodded and said from the side.