Chapter 1114 - 867: The So-Called Second Hell

"I strongly suggest you take this potion, once and for all," Landers said.

"Alright," Long Yi glanced at Landers before tilting his head back to drink the potion, stuffing the bottle into his pocket.

"I think it would be best for you to wait here for us," Long Yi said to Landers.

"No, of course, I want to go down with you," Landers replied.

"You’ve lost your memory now, and even you probably don’t know how much strength you have left. It would be troublesome if you were to die here," Long Yi said as he took out a table, chairs, and some food ingredients from his personal space and handed them to Landers. "So, why not just wait here obediently? When we come back, you can restore your memory, give me that magic, and then we go our separate ways. Isn’t that a good plan?"

Landers thought about it for a while and found Long Yi’s words quite reasonable: "Then I shall wait here for you, and in the meantime, I will prepare food for you."

Long Yi nodded, then asked, "So, about your memory, is there anything you’d like to add? You wouldn’t have us go in there and search blindly, right?"

Landers laughed, "My memory is hidden at the top of the black Blade Mountain. All I know now is the name."

Upon hearing the words "black Blade Mountain," the Bone King’s body evidently shuddered.

"What, is that place very dangerous?" Even though the Bone King had no head or facial expressions, Long Yi read tension in its movements.

"It’s more than dangerous. The black Blade Mountain isn’t just a mountain, it’s a Hell Lord," the Bone King said.

"Great, it seems we might be dealing with a giant Hell Lord as big as a mountain," Long Yi smiled.

"No, not just one, but many," the Bone King said.

"Lucky me," Long Yi chuckled.

"Lucky you for what?" Landers looked at Long Yi in confusion.

"Lucky I’m brave, or else I’d be scared to death right now," Long Yi swaggered into the center of the array and then said to the Bone King, "Come on, let’s go see just how wondrous this so-called black Blade Mountain is."

The Bone King crouched down, and its four limbs turned into arcane cannons, bombarding the ground array. The array was immediately activated, and the three of them vanished. Meanwhile, Landers went back to the edge of the pit, setting up the table and chairs. Then he pulled out a scroll from his personal space, opened it, and poured mana into it. The portrait of Master Elma, master of the Ancient Mage Tower, appeared on the scroll. Landers said to the scroll, "Great Master Elma, Long Yi and his companions have entered the Second Hell."

Elma glanced around and asked, "Didn’t you follow them in?"

Shaking his head, Landers replied, "Long Yi did not agree to my accompanying them into the Second Hell, because he thinks my strength is too weak, and I might lose my life if I went with them."

Elma burst into a hearty laughter, "This Long Yi really does value your life, after all, your magic is his only hope to reach the middle plane through the teleportation gate, given no other exit. It’s just too bad that even if he really gets your memory, he will never have the chance to return! Hahaha!"

Landers bowed respectfully and said, "Yes, Great Master Elma, you are incomparably wise, nobody can escape your schemes."

The scroll closed, and Landers, as if nothing had happened, continued to roast the meat. Meanwhile, inside the Ancient Mage Tower, Elma was laughing heartily, not having expected the plan to go so smoothly, Long Yi really took the bait.

Then Zulal spoke up, "Master Elma, the results of the investigation just came in, and we still have not found out who has been leaking information to Long Yi."

Elma immediately reined in his laughter and took the report, giving it a brief look: "It’s all irrefutable proof, indeed."

Zulal nodded, "Yes, none of the suspects we were focusing on ended up being them."

Elma’s brow furrowed, his crystal stone skin making a cracking sound, but it healed quickly.

"Despite this, using Long Yi’s own methods to trick him this time, their presence here remains a threat," Elma said.

"So, Master, you mean?" Zulal bowed his head, leaning in towards Elma.

"All those on the list, make them disappear secretly," Elma said.

"...Yes, Master!"

As the teleportation light vanished, Long Yi’s head hit the ground hard, and he ended up planted upside down.

"Damn!"

It didn’t hurt, but falling headfirst was just too uncomfortable. In contrast, Little Zi swiftly levitated in mid-air, while the Bone King supported itself completely with its four limbs, appearing to have no intention of righting itself.

"You’re not going to right yourself?" Long Yi asked as he stood up.

"No... actually, this is how I was originally created," the Bone King said.

"No way, have you been standing on your head the whole time?" Long Yi asked in amazement.

"It’s not exactly standing on my head. In fact, I never cared about orientation. Later, I had to pretend to be Brick, so I kept that position," the Bone King said.

Long Yi nodded and then looked around. The air here was stuffy and very humid. In the sky, there was a glowing body, while the horizon in the distance seemed to be rising.

"Are we standing on the inner wall of a planet?" Little Zi asked, looking around.

"It seems so," Long Yi replied.

"However, the environment doesn’t seem all that harsh," Little Zi continued.

There were mountains, water, grasslands, and forests around them. They could see some oddly shaped birds and beasts moving back and forth, a scene brimming with life.

"This is the Green King’s territory. Although it’s quite friendly in the mountains, it’s difficult to communicate with. We never know when it might get angry, so we’d best leave here quickly," the Bone King said.

"Green King? Where is he?" Long Yi asked.

"Every plant you see in front of you is a part of its body," the Bone King said.

Walking on someone without them getting angry? Long Yi didn’t think he would be able to keep his temper, so he decided to leave quickly before the Green King became upset.

The grassland abruptly ended at a certain point, giving way to a red land beyond.

"This is the true ground within the Second Hell," the Bone King said.

Long Yi crouched down and scooped up a handful of the red soil, which was extremely heavy, as if he were holding a lump of lead.

"My God, I know where this is," Long Yi suddenly realized.

"What is this place?" Little Zi asked.

"The closed biosphere of the Giant race,"

Long Yi and the Bone King spoke simultaneously.

"So you’ve known all along that this isn’t the so-called Second Hell," Long Yi said.

"No, to me, this is just like Hell, which is why we call it the Second Hell," the Bone King said.

"But this wasn’t created by God," Long Yi said.

"You’re wrong. To us, this was created by God. To us, the Giants are gods," the Bone King said.

"So, are you not going to explain it to me?" Little Zi interjected, completely confused.

"Alright, it all comes down to the Giants in the end," Long Yi sighed.

It turns out that before creating the Human Realm, the Giants had opened up many experimental fields, and this closed biosphere was one of them. Giant theory held that as long as matter and energy were contained, a vast biosphere could be entirely self-sufficient through recycling. So, the Giants created this completely closed-off planet and fashioned a series of specific species to maintain the ecological balance. Initially, these beings coexisted peacefully, but problems soon arose. As an unevolved biosphere, there was no precise recycling process. Within the food chain, if one link was too strong or too weak, it would cause the cycle to collapse.

The Bone King was such a link.

Fitting into the food chain awkwardly, the Bone King race seemed like it was created more to add diversity than anything else, making them an uncomfortable fit. On one hand, they lacked value as prey, with no creature wanting to touch these boney beings. On the other, their own hunting capability was fairly poor.

The Giants had planned to redefine the existence of the Bone Kings, even having plans in place, but the betrayal by the Dragon Clan brought everything to an abrupt halt. Over the following ten thousand years, the Bone King race dwindled, until only he was left.

"Perhaps by mistake, or intentionally, the Giants set us with a very long lifespan. However, most of my kind didn’t last very long," the Bone King said.

"I am sorry," Long Yi said, feeling quite awkward. Despite his pride in being a Giant, he realized he also had to shoulder the blame.

"It’s not your fault, and actually, it’s not the Giants’ fault either. At first, I truly hated the Giants, but as I learned more, I realized that hate alone wouldn’t solve anything. I had to make myself stronger,"

As the Bone King spoke these words, its body swelled! In the blink of an eye, it towered over five meters tall! Its white bone armor turned red and grew thick with spikes!

"At first, I felt guilty about helping Landers, but later, when you told me voluntarily that you were a Giant, I knew my chance had come!"

Long Yi watched the Bone King carefully and asked, "What chance has come?"

"The chance to kill a Giant and avenge my people!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)