There were a burst of disturbing noises from the magic device used for communication, but Berna didn't care about these interferences. She just waited patiently for a few seconds with a smile, and then she heard a hoarse, low, as if dry branches were rubbing together from the device:

“The wasteland today is still as boring as every day in the past – Master Belltila, why did you suddenly contact through the dark bridge?”

"I want to confirm the situation of the outpost," said Bell Tira, who is the pseudonym Bernard, but is actually the middle-level leader of the cult organization. "You should already know that those blind monsters attacked the border between Tifeng and Ansu at the same time."

"…The 'this side' of the wall is under control. The accident that happened outside the wall has nothing to do with us, Mr. Grandpa."

Belltila snorted lightly, obviously not satisfied with this reply: "There are mutated individuals with primary intelligence and powerful spell casting abilities in the distortion. Why are these changes not mentioned in the previous report?"

The voice opposite the communication device was silent for a moment, then the rustling sounded again: "...we did not observe the variant you mentioned."

Belltila frowned slightly with a beautiful brow. Obviously she was even more dissatisfied with this answer: "Will I make up this question casually? Now even the humans outside the wall have witnessed a brand new mutant monster. You really don't know?"

"Master Belltila, don't question the loyalty of the 'sacrificer'. We don't know what the variant you are talking about, but we will investigate it - if everything is true, it only means that the monsters are undergoing new mutations that have never been observed before. In the face of this change, patiently waiting for the investigation results is the wisest choice."

"I'll wait," Belltila's expression was cold and stiff, "but I don't have much patience."

"Be patient, be patient. We have been patient for seven hundred years and there is nothing that can affect our plans..."

The noise and human voices in the communication device gradually weakened together. Belltila knew that the effect of the "dark bridge" was reaching its limit, and the illegal signal coverage in the channel would soon be noticed by the magicians of the Silver Empire. So before the communication was completely interrupted, she seized the time and said: "The elves will soon notice the movement of the magnificent wall. Our channel will be reset and modified according to the second plan..."

The sky is covered with filthy clouds like a sludge. The turbulent chaotic magic energy creates endless lightning in the clouds. The whistling wind carries poisonous gas and radiation dust. All things wither and wither in this deadly environment, or mutate and distort. Even the land regarded as the cornerstone of all things is transformed into a scorched wasteland in corrosive magic energy - this is a place of vitality.

But there are still some "things" moving in this vital place.

In Gondor wasteland, magic energy scorched area, a "forest" is slowly creeping.

The black and twisted branches grow freely in the corrupt magic energy. Sparse and messy gray-white leaves hang on the branches, or pale or blood-red crystal vegetation pierces the skins of these plants, growing like inlays between the creepy twisted branches and leaves. No erudite in the world can recognize the varieties or names of these "trees". Even in the most absurd and bizarre paintings that specifically describe the black forest, no one will draw such strange "trees" - especially these trees are still shaking their branches, walking on the ground with their dense roots, which is even more beyond the poor imagination of human beings.

Countless such "trees" are creeping on the wasteland. Their roots are constantly relaxing, shrinking, and squirming like tangled snakes. From time to time, the "trees" slow down their creeping speed, and briefly pierce some of the roots into the corrupt soil, and seize the time to absorb the only nutrients left in the soil. But even so, their creeping pace will never stop, just as their mission is to continue to trek on the wasteland.

In the middle of the creeping forest, an extra huge and ancient strange tree slowly moved forward under the clusters of friends. The wrinkled and pothole-like bark on its surface shrank together, forming a strange pattern like an old man's face. This face formed of the bark changes slightly, and a hoarse and low voice came from the dry and cracked mouth of "it": "No need to worry, Master Belltila, everything is at your control..."

After a moment, the old face closed its mouth, but around the giant tree, many smaller crawling trees swayed in unison, and faces emerged from the wrinkled bark, and looked out of the forest with the twists of the branches of the trees.

Outside the creeping forest, on the wasteland covered with filthy scorch, countless abominable and terrifying flesh and blood giants were slowly moving, making ordinary people crazy and low murmurs come from the chest of each giant, and fill the entire wilderness.

Between those blind and foolish flesh and blood giants, one or two particularly huge individuals can be seen from time to time. They are two or three times the height of ordinary giants, slowly moving in the team, and constantly approaching the direction of the crawling forest action...

Every leaf in the crawling forest trembled, and amid the clattering sound, a misty word came: "Everything is in control..."

Belltila finished the communication and looked at the dim magic device in front of her.

"Sacrifice..." The female minister closed his eyes, and a hint of remembrance and bitterness were actually brought to his cold and indifferent expression, "It's been seven hundred years..."

But just a few seconds later, the female principal restrained all unnecessary emotional changes. She opened her eyes and her eyes became cold and alienated again. After confirming that the "dark bridge" had been put away and there was no strange thing left on the magic device, she sorted out the wrinkles on her clothes and turned around to leave the place.

However, her feet were fixed in place as if they had grown roots. Even though she had turned around, she could not take up her pace.

She looked down in surprise, but found that her roots did not appear - it was not the vines and roots that fixed her in place, but her own legs and her own feet.

Belltila frowned and tried to raise her feet again, but this time she not only failed, but even put her hand back on the extinguished magic device!

The female principal exclaimed in a low voice: "Berna? What are you doing?!"

Belltila's body stiffened and no longer had any movement. However, a deep confrontation unfolded inside the body. Her face, the innocent and beautiful face of some elf, was constantly changing with different expressions, sometimes angry, sometimes painful, sometimes determined, sometimes desperate...

In the end, all expressions stopped in a state of indifference, and Belltila regained control of the body.

However, a sigh came from her mouth.

"Berna...This is your last time to be willful.

"Go ahead, before I change my mind."

The elf girl's body staggered for a moment, then slowly walked towards the magic terminal in the room. She gently stroked the smooth alloy surface of the magic terminal, and then placed her hand on the top of it slightly unfamiliarly.

After a moment, the elf rune brightened again, the projection of light fog and the sound appeared together, and a silver elf with a kind smile waved in front of Berna.

"Wind Whisper 1015, Hello, sisters who are traveling far away."

The elf girl hesitated, but still slowly opened her mouth to break the silence: "I am...Berna Qingfeng, from...Shirashi City."

"Okay, Miss Berna, how do you feel when you are traveling? Are you trying to contact your family in the Empire? Or do you want to report what you saw and heard outside? Or do you need to transfer to a confidential line if you have special circumstances?"

"I... no, I don't need to contact my family. I only have a few words to send to Master Thorn Heart in Moon Valley."

"Okay, please tell me, this will record it for you."

“…Teacher, I’m very good outside, traveling is really an interesting thing. The world is so big, much bigger than the forest I’ve seen in my hometown…

"I have known many people, including humans, elves who also travel, dwarves that are very common in the north of the mainland, and even a fairy - the fairy is really interesting, small, but it speaks with a very proud look...

"Teacher, I don't regret coming out to see the world, but I also want to look at the forest in my hometown...

“But…I won’t go back.

“I want to stay outside the world because of a promise that I have to go and fulfill.

"There is one thing in the end, mentor, don't bet anymore... Really, it's really embarrassing to tell others...

"That's all, Miss Wind Speech."

"Okay, it's been recorded," the silver elf on the magic light curtain smiled and recorded all the words of Berna, then asked, "Are there any other messages to be handed over to someone else?"

The elf girl Bernard was silent for a moment and shook her head slightly: "No more."

"Okay, sisters who are traveling far away - I'm glad to have this brief conversation. I hope I can see you again next time. May the starry sky and the earth always favor you."

"May the starry sky and the earth always favor you. Thank you."

The runes on the surface of the messaging device gradually dimmed, and Berna repeated it as if she was talking to herself: "Thank you."

This is obviously not for those who are already offline.

The body of the "elves girl" shook slightly, and a cold voice came from her mouth: "You don't need to say thank you to me, you and I know very well that this is part of the transaction contract.

"You give your flesh and blood and vitality, and I will make up for your regrets.

"I just want to better stabilize the flesh and blood state after 'fusion', and on the other hand, I have been monitoring your actions, and your words and actions cannot transcend my constraints - so you really have nothing to thank me."

There was a long silence in the room. After a few minutes, Belltila suddenly chuckled: "Ha... I will be influenced by you..."

She shook her head, and all the expressions on her face quickly retracted, and then she opened the door of the compartment and left the place without hesitation.

She skillfully passed through the streets and alleys through the checkpoints in the messenger hall, and left the town built by the elves from another entrance and exit.

Soon after, she was already walking in the coniferous forest outside the valley.

Beltira, who still maintains the "Belna" form, strolls in the forest. Although there are deserted border forests around her, she seems to be walking leisurely in the garden at home. She walks slowly and stops after arriving in a vast forest.

She smiled and raised her head, looking at Saldrin, who had a short bow not far ahead.
Chapter completed!