Following Andrew's footsteps, the fifteen youths walked deeper into the island.
Purgatory Island was an irregularly shaped island with a diameter of about eighty miles. More than two-thirds of the island was covered by primitive forests.
Large patches of primitive jungle extended from this end of the island's shoreline to the depths of the island.
This forest was like a product of the Earth's hundreds of thousands of years of the Jurassic-era. There were giant trees everywhere. Those tall trees reached into the clouds, and the tall crowns were like big umbrellas that covered the sky. Even three to five people couldn't hug them. There were roots, vines, and plant roots everywhere.
These tall trees were the main species of trees on Purgatory Island--
The Fog Fir was a water-type magical plant. It absorbed the water elements in the air and released a large amount of water mist to adjust the humidity of the surrounding environment. They mixed with the decaying air above the Sea of Death, producing an even larger white smoke that enveloped the entire island. Only at noon, when the sun was blazing, would the Purgatory Island be freed from the fog and reveal its hideous appearance.
Due to the rising fog, people's vision was greatly hindered. Therefore, after walking into the forest for about 500 meters, the teenagers realized that there was actually a castle standing in the forest in front of them.
The castle occupied a large area. In the center was a tower that stood like a sword, overlooking the world.
He brought the youths to the front of the castle. Two youths around the age of sixteen came up to him at the door. One of them took a step forward and placed his right hand on his chest. He bowed respectfully and said,"Lord Andrew, you're back.”
"Did anyone make a mistake when I wasn't around?" Andrew asked coldly.”
"No one dares to go against your will, Lord Andrew," the young man named Sake quickly said.”
"Very good, Caesar. Tell them what this place is and the rules here.”
"As you command, Lord Andrew.”
Another young man called Caesar answered respectfully.
Hearing Caesar's description, Gong Hao finally understood where he had come to.
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To understand the existence of Purgatory Island, one first had to understand the history of magic development in the Windy Continent.
Ever since someone in the Windy Continent accidentally discovered the existence of magical elements and successfully resonated with the magical elements around him through his own power, he created the first human magic and became the first human mage in the Windy Continent, the history of the use of magic in the Windy Continent had developed for six thousand years.
In the 6,000 years of human magic development, more than 3,000 types of spells had been created, and there were dozens of factions. The classification of the types and levels of mages had gradually become systematic, making the entire Windy Continent a typical magic continent.
However, not everyone could learn magic. A person without talent could not become an outstanding mage no matter how hard he worked. Through thousands of years of research on the Windy Continent, people discovered that only one in ten thousand people could truly learn and use magic power. Only one out of every 100,000 people had outstanding talent and could master high-level spells. There might not even be one in a million people who could invent and create new spells.
Bloodline became an important criterion to determine whether a human had the ability to learn magic. The probability of a mage's offspring becoming a mage was far greater than that of ordinary people. The concept of bloodline was deeply rooted, and the noble spirit was deeply rooted in the hearts of everyone on this continent.
People believed that the world was naturally divided into classes. Anyone with the bloodline of a mage was born a noble.
However, humans never lacked rebels. There were always people who tried to break through the shackles, break the rules, and break through the cages that shackled them.
About a thousand years ago, there was a man named George Lamborne who persistently pursued the mysteries of magic even though he did not have the ability to communicate with the elements. Through his tireless efforts and research, he discovered that resonating with magical elements and borrowing their power was not the only way to use magic. There were many ways for humans to borrow elemental power, so that ordinary people could also have the power to use magic.
This discovery caused a sensation at the time, and many people who yearned for magic power continued to study George Lamborn's research. In the end, it formed a systematic and huge magic project, which was the origin of alchemy.
Unlike mages, alchemy did not rely on one's own strength to use spells. They used their rich knowledge to collect all kinds of rare materials and make all kinds of magic tools to achieve their goals. If Mages were existences with strong personal abilities, then Alchemists were great engineers. They designed and manufactured all kinds of magical equipment to fulfill people's constant pursuit of quality of life…
If the existence of mages was the pinnacle of primitive martial arts in the magic world, then alchemy was the mainstream direction of technological development in the magic world. And the latter was far more social than the former. It allowed ordinary people to master the power of magic and promote the rapid development of society as a whole.
Whether it was material technology or magic technology, their common characteristic was to constantly deepen their understanding of the world they were in and use this understanding to transform it into inventions that could serve mankind. When civilization developed to a certain extent, it became a competition between humans and other creatures for natural resources.
A bottle of ordinary magic potion might require the destruction of at least ten magical plants and the killing of five magical beasts to be made. People only used the parts that were useful to them, and the parts that were useless to them were discarded extravagantly.
During the craziest era of alchemy, large amounts of primitive forests were cut down and magical beasts were slaughtered. Other than a few extremely dangerous areas where top-tier magical beasts lived, humans would never let go of any place that humans could reach and destroy.
They took as much as they wanted and never gave.
Large magic puppets used in war were created, and all kinds of puppet warriors appeared like mushrooms after a rain. Every weapon was enchanted with magic power, and warriors used scrolls and potions to fight... Any great invention would always be used in war first. They would consume each other, invade each other, plunder resources, destroy production, and annex land. For example, if a large amount of refined gold or mithril was discovered in a certain place, it would cause a situation where countries would fight over it. They would mine, refine, and consume through war, waving all kinds of resources to their heart's content.
During the crazy hundred years of war, alchemy became the standard that determined the strength of a country. The huge magic war puppets were far more useful than those unruly mages, and they were also more affordable. However, after a hundred years of war, people discovered that the once rich continent had been reduced to ruins. There were fewer and fewer materials that could be used for alchemy production. A large number of magic plants died, and all kinds of magic beasts disappeared from people's sight. The primitive forests disappeared from the surface one after another, and in their place were large ruins made of abandoned magic puppets, golems, magic puppets, and other alchemical items.
Humans had always spared no effort in destroying ecological resources, whether in the past, in the present, or in the future. To a certain extent, it represented the level of technological development of a world. The greater the damage to the natural ecology, the higher the technological achievements.
However, with the exhaustion of resources, alchemy, which lacked materials and could not carry out a large number of experiments and production, gradually lost its former glory. People discovered that mages were still an irreplaceable force on this continent, while alchemists were starting to be useless.
From then on, alchemy gradually declined. Some powerful alchemy techniques were also lost.
Although alchemy had declined, some countries with strong expectations were not willing to give up on their yearning to regain the glory of alchemy...
About 20 years ago, a merchant ship belonging to the Lance Kingdom accidentally entered the Purgatory Island hidden in the fog when it entered the Sea of Death.
On this island, they discovered a primitive forest that they had not seen for a long time, as well as various rare magical beasts.
They discovered that there were more than 8,000 species of creatures living on Purgatory Island, including nearly 2,000 demonic creatures and plants. Because Purgatory Island was hidden in the fog all year round, this island was rarely known to the world. The environment here had almost never been damaged by outsiders. Currently, there were about 300 species of magical beasts that lived on this island that had already disappeared from the Windy Continent.
The leader of the caravan reported this great discovery to the king of his country, and a huge plan was born.
The king of the Lance Kingdom, Strick the Fifth, personally invited Patrick, the most outstanding alchemy master in the country at that time. Heinz asked him to go to Purgatory Island immediately and build an alchemy castle. He also asked him to make the Sea of Death under the jurisdiction of the Lance Kingdom a forbidden area for the sake of protecting the lives of the fleet.
On Purgatory Island, Heinz received the help of the entire kingdom and developed all kinds of war puppets for the Lance Kingdom. Due to the extreme scarcity of resources, war puppets were extremely rare in the current continent. The existence of Purgatory Island gave the Lance Kingdom a chance to rise.
From that day on, Heinz devoted himself to his favorite alchemy research. On one hand, he provided a large number of war machines for the Kingdom of Lance, and on the other hand, he studied various lost alchemy with the help of the Kingdom of Lance.
Ten years later, the Lance Kingdom successfully defeated two neighboring countries that were originally stronger than it and became one of the three powerful countries in the northern continent of the Windy Continent. Strick VI was crowned emperor and became the Lance Empire.
Twenty years later, Patrick. Heinz had become the most terrifying alchemist on this continent. He had mastered at least 30 kinds of lost alchemy.
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"So this is the alchemy laboratory of the empire?”A young man cried out in surprise, but his tone carried a hint of excitement.
To be able to work in a core secret location that could rapidly strengthen a country, every youth would be excited. Everyone began to whisper. Some people even fantasized that they might be able to learn some profound alchemy spells. Then, from then on, they could also soar.
However, Gong Hao's heart sank in an instant.
After all, he wasn't an innocent teenager. He came from the information age where information was exploding. His understanding of human nature was much better than these children.
Coming to such a place of great importance usually meant only one result-they would never be able to leave the island again.
Could it be that he had transmigrated to this world just to be a prisoner?
And for some reason, he had an even more ominous feeling in his heart, but he could not put it into words at the moment.
" Master Heinz is the supreme master of Alchemy Castle," Caesar said." His will is our destiny. Master Heinz had two assistants. They were Lord Andrew and Lord Pierre. You've already met Lord Andrew. He's mainly in charge of managing the servants. Lord Pierre was mainly responsible for managing the apprentices.”
Pointing at the tower behind him, Caesar said,""Master Heinz and Lord Pierre live in that tower. They usually don't come out. Under normal circumstances, you won't be able to see them. All orders are issued by Lord Andrew, so we only need to follow his instructions.”
"May I know the difference between an apprentice and a servant?”A youth asked curiously.
" Apprentices are the assistants who are responsible for participating in the master's experiments, designs, and manufacturing. Their status is much higher than servants like us. There are not many of them, about ten of them. They are the best alchemy apprentices selected from all over the empire. A servant's job was to do all kinds of chores and be the assistant of an assistant. There were about sixty servants in the castle, and each of them had a lot of work to do. Sake and I are the servants. You are under our command.”
" Alright," Zac took a step forward." Now, everyone, count from left to right. Those with even numbers, follow me. Those with odd numbers, follow Caesar. We will take you to your respective places. From now on, you must work hard and do not make the adults unhappy. Do you understand?”
"Understood." All the youths shouted at the same time.
After explaining some things that they should pay attention to, Caesar and Sake divided the newcomers into two teams and brought them into the castle.
In the center of the castle was a large open space. Countless white-clothed young servants were busy with their work.
The targets of their work were the unknown creatures locked in cages.
A mantis-like creature was waving its sickle-like arms in the iron cage and letting out a sharp hiss at the people outside. The magic barrier on the iron cage would occasionally flash with white light.
A huge snail was like a small mountain, lying lazily in the cage. As it breathed, a cold mist appeared.
A three-eyed cat was jumping up and down in the cage. Its hissing was like thunder, but it could not penetrate the soundproof enchantment outside the castle. In the iron cage next to it was a dragon-shaped creature covered in thick scales. It spat out flames, making people's hearts jump.
What surprised Gong Hao was that he didn't find any information related to these creatures in Shuiglaire's memories. In other words, most of these magical beasts were endangered creatures.
The castle was surrounded by puppet warriors in iron armor, exactly the same as the one behind the middle-aged man. The main defense force of the entire castle was made up of these puppet warriors. They weren't real lifeforms, but they were very powerful and forever loyal to their masters.
After arranging for the other teenagers to do their work, Caesar brought Gong Hao to a flower shed. There were some strange potted plants that Gong Hao had never seen before. There were even some plants whose branches and leaves swayed in all directions, as if they were as agile as human limbs.
"Glaer, from today onwards, you will be in charge of the material collection work in Area No. 13.”Caesar said to Gong Hao.
"What should I do?" Gong Hao asked.
Cesar pulled out a plant from the pot beside her. The root of the plant looked like a doll. It had hands, feet, and facial features. The moment it was pulled out of the soil, it immediately burst into tears.
"This is called the Weeping Grass. Its cries are very annoying.”said Caesar. She then pinched the cheeks of the Root Doll with her fingers. There was a row of sharp teeth in its wide mouth.
"The saliva of the Weeping Grass is an excellent dissolving fluid. Pinch its face and drip a few drops of saliva, just like what I am doing now, but be careful, its teeth are poisonous. If your finger gets bitten by it, you're dead. Don't drip too much every day, or the Weeping Grass will wither.”As she spoke, she took a few drops of saliva from the bottle and stuffed the Weeping Grass back into the pot. She covered it with soil again and stopped crying.
Next, Caesar explained the characteristics and precautions of various demonic plants to Gong Hao.
There were about 40 types of plants in Area No. 13, and each of them was very unique, and each of them had its own use. Other than the Weeping Grass, there were at least five other demonic plants that were extremely deadly. One had to be very careful when handling them.
"Alright, I've already told you the uses, maintenance, and methods of using these magical plants. It's not complicated or simple.”
"Yes." Gong Hao nodded.
"Very well. Every morning, an acolyte will come here to collect the materials you collected the day before. You just have to give them to him. At the same time, he will tell you what materials you need to prepare for the next day. Your room is number 13, which matches your management area. As long as you do what you have to do, you can arrange the rest of the time yourself. There was a canyon on the east side of the castle and a lake on the west side. Both places were forbidden areas. In addition, only apprentices and a few adults could enter and exit the tower where Master Heinz lived. Other than that, you can go anywhere else, but it's best not to leave the castle because the castle is protected by a barrier, and there are many terrifying magical beasts outside the castle. Don't think about running away, just focus on your work, understand?”
"Understood." Gong Hao nodded.
"Caesar, can I ask you a question?" he suddenly asked.”
"Go ahead."
"I remember you said that the number of servants here is maintained at around sixty all year round. Is that true?”
"Yes."
"But I heard that the empire sends a batch of servants to Purgatory Island every month.”
"Indeed."
"Where did so many people go?”
"There are often people who make mistakes. Andrew will take away those who make mistakes and never see them again." Andrew said that they didn't work hard, so he didn't want them to work here and sent them to work elsewhere.”
Gong Hao's heart instantly fell to the bottom.
Send a batch of young servants who don't work hard to work elsewhere every month? And then send a batch of newcomers over every month? Such a lie could only fool these inexperienced children.
"So, last month, 15 people were taken away by Andrew?" Gong Hao asked in a low voice.”
"Yes, so we added fifteen people this month.”
"How many people does Andrew usually take away every month?”
"I'm not sure. I've only been here for four months, and the number of people is different every month. Last month, there was a servant who made a mistake and was taken away by Lord Andrew.”At this point, Caesar frowned."You said you would only ask one question, Shuiglaire. You ask too many questions.”
"Alright, Caesar. I'll do my best. I hope you are too."
"What do you mean?" Caesar was stunned, not understanding what Gong Hao meant.
"I mean…good luck."
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