ctnovel Chapter 4 Carlo Star
Chapter 4 Carlo Star
Jiang Yong untied the silk thread in his hand, revealing the black fragments and mechanical devices wrapped within, and took them directly into his hand.
[You have obtained the item "Processed Necromancer Meteor Fragment" *1!]
"So it really is this thing. No wonder it allowed the Chrysalis to open the Necromancer branch."
He looked at the fragment with a complex expression. He never expected that a piece of the source of the destruction of the Carlo Star civilization would fall directly into his hands from the very beginning.
That's right, this thing is one of the core raw materials for creating that artificial elf.
The previous sacrifice in the cave that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, including Jiang Yongyuan himself, was the so-called "processing" process.
"Cruel, ignorant, and arrogant."
Recalling the corpses scattered on the ground and the horror he felt when he first opened his eyes, Jiang Yong still felt lingering fear. He then shook his head vigorously, trying to shake off any emotions that might affect his judgment.
"This is a bit troublesome. I've essentially stumbled upon Tiandu City's plan. They think that their exposure will accelerate production, which could hasten the destruction of the Carlo civilization. However, starting on Carlo Star does offer one advantage..."
He clenched his fists, his eyes flashing: "I—no, almost all the players—are intimately familiar with the background story of Planet Carlo!"
This isn't because the Archaeological Technology of the Arcadis Federation is particularly advanced, but rather because of a mechanism that is very common in normal gameplay but appears only a handful of times in Star Age: Evolution—the instance!
Because the spirit that destroyed the Carlo civilization possessed necromancy, and due to a combination of unknown factors, a "ghost world" exists on the ruins of the former planet Carlo. Members of the deceased Carlo civilization remain there as afterimages, endlessly reliving their fate before destruction. Players can participate in the story, interact with characters, obtain items, and even change the ending. However, regardless of their actions, the ghost world will completely reset after reaching its original point of destruction, continuing the cycle to the next, never progressing forward.
It is said that this phenomenon is caused by the artificial spirit carrying the resentment of countless dead who were killed because of "processing," and wanting to prevent the entire civilization from ever being reborn.
This somewhat harsh setting, however, holds immense appeal for players—due to the relatively low initial rank, most players initially have no choice but to obediently work for the civilization, grinding quests, much like the rest of the game world. But within this constantly recurring ghost dungeon, everyone can experience the thrill of possessing the advantage of foresight, becoming the protagonist, and saving the world.
As a strategy guide writer, Jiang Yong had played this dungeon dozens of times in his previous life. The most comprehensive strategy guide for the Carlo Star dungeon on the forum was written by him!
"It's just a matter of watching it again!"
Jiang Yong patted his chest, encouraging himself.
He then carefully put away the fragment, and after confirming that there were no random self-destruct devices at the entrance of the cave, he returned to the cave and examined the bodies of the two Tiandu City agents. Sure enough, he found two devices resembling walkie-talkies in their collars.
Carlo's industrial level is in the electrical age; it does not yet have the Internet or launch satellites into space, so its communication capabilities are also limited.
Jiang Yong held both walkie-talkies to his ears and listened, but heard nothing—the other party hadn't made a stupid mistake; they had already unilaterally cut off the communication.
"Alright."
He shook his head, put away the walkie-talkie for future use, and then left the cave, walking quickly into the dense forest in the opposite direction of the cart tracks.
His situation has been exposed, and there are many skilled elves on Carlo Star. The current crisis is far from over.
……
Since its inception, this universe has woven its own laws with a kind of hidden order.
The endless vacuum is filled with seventeen fundamental elements. Together with the equally omnipresent vacuum energy, they form the foundation of all things. Based on their properties, later generations classified them into two major categories: "Natural" and "Transcendental".
The natural elements include: water, fire, grass; electricity, ground, flight (wind); ice, light, and shadow, totaling nine.
The extraordinary elements include: dragons, insects, and undead; combat, superpowers, machinery (fire seed), and mystery; and "normal" which has no inherent advantage or disadvantage, for a total of eight types.
Thus, when life emerged in countless forms in the universe, a small portion inevitably possessed an innate affinity for certain elements. These life forms merged with the elements, thereby gaining power far exceeding that of their kind; they were called "spirits."
Elves are not rare. On the contrary, as waves of ecological reshuffling swept across planets time and again, while other species struggled and perished in mass extinctions, elves almost always managed to stand safely atop the ruins, aided by the power of the elements. Thus, over a long period, the number and abundance of elves in the universe increased, occupying the top ecological niches on countless planets and even in outer space. Eventually, differences in development emerged among elf races, resulting in varying degrees of strength, and they were roughly categorized into four tiers.
Common, Rare, Elite, Lord!
Because survival is so easy, most elves don't need to develop intelligence; their power is the answer itself. And in the shadow of the elves, a life form that has taken a completely different path slowly trembles and grows stronger in the darkness.
Lacking both elemental favor and relatively powerful physiques, even "ordinary" level spirits posed a significant threat to the survival of their entire species. Individuals had no chance of survival, so they drew closer to each other. Over the long years of overcoming danger together, they slowly learned to transmit information, to remember, imagine, explore, create, and even control those spirits that were once seemingly unattainable…
Civilization was born from this.
Every civilization that eventually ventures into space inevitably goes through the process of fighting its way out from the wild creatures of its home planet and conquering them. As a civilization still on the surface, the Carlo civilization is currently experiencing this process.
The human settlements on the planet Carlo were once separated by the elven territory, and after a thousand years, they split into twelve city-states of varying sizes. Later, after developing enough strength, they cleared away the obstacles between them and united to fight against the more dangerous wild elves, becoming the "Carlo Confederation" we know today.
However, internal strife is an inevitable part of life for all intelligent beings. After sweeping away the more aggressive elves and seizing most of the continent's resources, people gradually discovered that attacking other city-states was more cost-effective than subjugating the remaining, more docile but extremely powerful wild elves. Coupled with the cultural and geographical differences resulting from long-term isolation, the camaraderie forged through past battles gradually faded, leaving only endless deceit and treachery. Although the city-states have temporarily restrained themselves and haven't erupted into large-scale armed conflict, they are indeed sliding in this direction. The already fragile confederation is crumbling.
Naturally, there will be far-sighted individuals who are dissatisfied with this situation, but they are ultimately a minority. Even among them are many highly influential figures, they are powerless to stop this trend; all they can do is slightly slow down the rate of deterioration.
The fate that awaited the Carlo civilization was either to fall into internal strife and never recover, forever trapped on the surface; or to be awakened by some great crisis and rise from the ashes. However, one day, an alien meteorite fell from the sky and changed everything.
The meteorite possessed extremely high-level necromancy power, at least at the "Lord" level. Since there were no necromancy-type spirits on Planet Carlo, this element was almost incomprehensible to the local contractors, yet it contained power exceeding the planet's limits. Therefore, when the meteorite landed in the territory of one of the most powerful city-states, "Tian Du City," and its value was discovered and kept strictly secret, the city lord of Tian Du City ultimately decided to take a risk, seeing it as an opportunity to turn the tide. The plan was simple: use the meteorite to create an artificial spirit that surpassed known limits, directly unifying the Carlo civilization by force, and incidentally wiping out the surrounding wild spirits.
Subsequent events proved that the artificial spirit's strength indeed reached the "Lord" level, overwhelming the native species of Carlo Star, whose highest level was only Elite. If it hadn't gone berserk, it would have been the ideal spirit partner for the City Lord of Tiandu City.
The accumulated resentment of countless dead broke through the control system installed during its creation, turning the elf into a ferocious beast. In the instant of its birth, it crushed the city lord of Tiandu City and his city-state, thus causing the entire Carlo civilization to perish along with it.
"According to the opening animation, it should be the year 3301 of the Federal Calendar now, and the Carlo Star civilization was destroyed in 3304. Moreover, after discovering that their plan has been thwarted, their plans will be greatly accelerated, so if we calculate it like this..."
"I have about two years left!"