“Plunder Item No. 221: Cylindrical Maze”

“Source: Emerald Cross Caravan”

“Acquisition Process: The temple sent us to plunder a caravan from the Emerald Cross. Unlike most caravans, they did not carry any flags, which means they are not protected by any faction. In this desert, it can only mean that they either crave death or have the power to protect themselves.”

“They were indeed strong. After losing three Silver Flame Knights, we finally annihilated the caravan under the leadership of our captain. With the protection of the three Silver Flame Knights, their souls will be purified in the flames and ascend the stairs to the sun, gaining eternal peace.”

“While searching for loot, I found a very exquisite cylindrical object in a tent, which can be held in one hand. It was at this moment that I discovered a child hiding in the shadows, staring at the cylindrical object in my hand.”

“Perhaps it was the flames of plunder that confused my heart. I asked him what it was, and he said it was a family heirloom that contained the secret to triggering a vortex.”

“Before the captain came in, I had already purified the child, wishing his soul to forever leave this disaster-stricken place.”

“I hid the cylindrical object and, after some investigation, I found that it is a treasure called the ‘Maze.’ It contains the aura of the Four-Winged Artisans. If it is not opened correctly, the mechanisms left by the Four-Winged Artisans will automatically damage the contents inside.”

“My wisdom is not enough to solve this maze, so I sought out the most intelligent woman in the temple. After forming an unbreakable vow, I handed the cylindrical object to her. It took her a month to finally open the maze and obtain its secrets.”

“With this secret, our artificing power skyrocketed. Due to my own stupidity, I only triggered the vortex once, while she triggered it twice and fully unfolded the Silver Wings.”

“But one day, after leaving the virtual realm, I found that the temple knights had bound my body. She stood behind the knights, with a serious expression on her face.”

“She accused me. I had hidden a broken cylindrical maze in my clothes. She had ascended to the Second Wing and no longer needed this secret, nor did she need me. Now, she needed an opportunity to be appreciated by the temple and to alleviate the poison of the vortex.”

“For privately hiding and damaging important loot, I was sentenced to extreme punishment. I cannot be purified in the flames but can only sink into the nightmare of the sewage. Until the last second, I did not reveal the secret inside the cylindrical maze because the unbreakable vow was still in effect. She only unilaterally released the vow after ascending to the Second Wing, but the vow still binds me.”

“Actually, if I use the Miracle·Incinerate Corpse, I can temporarily suppress all abnormal conditions on my body and naturally break her disguise.”

“But looking at her, for some reason, I gave up.”

“Perhaps it was the flames of plunder that confused my heart.”

“Final Destination: Destruction.”

Sonia crossed her arms. “The Temple of Plunder… I’ve never heard of this faction.”

“Normally, shouldn’t a normal person express some sentiment about the sorcerer’s emotional experience?” Asho asked.

“Do you really want to hear it? I can’t lie now.”

“In that case, forget it.”

“The method to trigger the vortex? Why did you deliberately skip it just now?”

“I was thinking whether I should tell you or not.”

Sonia hesitated for a moment, trying to keep quiet, her expression showing the struggle. Asho had never seen Sword Girl like this before and almost burst out laughing.

Unable to hold back any longer, Sonia couldn’t help but burst out, suppressing her voice as she said, “So you’re suspicious that I want to hog it all for myself? I’m worth less in your eyes than a secret about the vortex?”

Asho was somewhat surprised. “So are you angry that I’m suspicious of you hogging it all for yourself, or are you angry that your position in my eyes is not as high as you imagined?”

Sonia’s eyes almost visibly burst into flames of anger. “I—”

“Sorry, don’t answer that. It’s my fault.” Asho quickly said, “I’m not suspicious of you, but this secret is poisonous. Once you understand it, you will be infected. I have already fallen for it. Anyway, we can enter the vortex together, so I thought you didn’t need to know.”

“A poisonous knowledge? I don’t believe it.” Sonia said, “I think you’re lying. Big liar.”

“I have to say, you who can only tell the truth are really easy to deal with.” Asho said, “Then I’ll tell you, but don’t blame me.”

“How could I? If I’m infected, I will definitely blame you for not dissuading me. If I’m fine, I will think you deliberately lied.” Sonia shrugged, “Anyway, I won’t think I’m wrong.”

“…You really are unreasonable.” Asho sighed, “But the poison is not severe at the moment. As the saying goes, we’re in the same boat. I feel a bit cheated being the only one affected by it…”

“The method to trigger the vortex is to find a knowledge creature of the fish-dragon species, inflict heavy injuries on it, and let it escape. Then, chase after it without killing it, and let it naturally exhaust and die. The location of its corpse will form a vortex passage. This is because…”

Sonia and Asho said in unison, “The knowledge sea embraces its sleeping child.”

After speaking, Sonia looked at Asho in astonishment.

The words she had just spoken almost naturally blurted out, as if after listening to the knowledge introduced by Asho, the knowledge within herself had bred new knowledge uncontrollably, rushing into her mind!

At the same time, Sonia felt a strange sensation. Nothing seemed to have changed, but she felt that the whole world was different!

She looked around trying to find the difference, and soon her gaze focused on the water outside. After staring for a moment, she felt a nauseating feeling—

“The toxicity of this secret is that it makes us repulsed by water,” Asho said.

He opened “The Sorcerer’s Manual of Orola” – “Agent Management” and saw that both “Final Observer” and “Dead Crazy Sword Girl” had an additional abnormal status.

“Vortex Poison”

“Number of Infected: 131”

“Degree of Poison Enhancement: 131%””Current effect of the Secret Poison: Aversion to Water (enhanced when the intensity reaches 300%, alleviated when it drops to 100%, and turns into a beneficial effect when it drops to 50%).”

It’s a very peculiar toxin, not damaging the body, but distorting the soul. The most terrifying part is, the more people who know about this secret, the stronger the poison becomes, and everyone who knows the secret will be implicated!

When Asho informed Sonia about the Secret Poison, she immediately scowled, “Why didn’t you firmly reject me just now! Blabbermouth!”

She really does as she says, blaming me as she said she would. Although dealing with such a Sword Girl is much simpler, she has also become much more annoying, acting like an outspoken, hypocritical brat.

“Wait, you just said that if fewer than 50 people are infected, this Secret Poison will turn into a beneficial effect?” Sonia suddenly said, “Then we should just…”

She made a throat-slitting gesture, and Asho immediately backed off, “Are you the wife who betrayed the Axe Artificer in the story?”

“I won’t rashly betray you unless you wrong me first.”

“Your honesty is not reassuring at all…” Asho muttered.

After this conversation, they both understood why this secret was unnecessarily hidden in the cylindrical maze, and why the Axe Artificer was betrayed – because even if you can keep a secret, you can’t guarantee that others won’t leak it.

Once the secret is leaked and spread, the Secret Poison may reach a critical point and intensify into a deadly poison, such as being completely unable to touch water, or even dying from shock upon contact with water.

When it reaches that critical point, those without means to save themselves will die, and the number of those who know the secret will rapidly decrease to a safe level.

Therefore, those who know the secret are natural enemies. Each one must try to eliminate the others to reduce their own chances of being harmed. The wife of the Axe Artificer, for this reason, unilaterally broke the oath and decisively reported the Axe Artificer to reduce the number of infected people.

But even if every secret keeper actively keeps the secret, it will still leak out – just like Asho and the others, other Artificers can also get similar information from the Sorcerer’s Manual.

The Virtual Realm is the graveyard of Artificers, and death cannot keep secrets.

Therefore, after knowing this secret, Asho is essentially taking a deadly poison and embarking on a road of no return.

If he does nothing, and one day the number of infected people suddenly increases, causing the Secret Poison to intensify to a level he can’t bear, then he can only complain a few times ‘why me? why is this happening?’ before ending his journey in the other world under the torment of the deadly poison.

But unexpectedly, Asho didn’t have much fear.

Because he knows that all the difficulties given by the Virtual Realm can be solved in one way.

From beginning to end, Artificers only have one way to survive.

“Next, we should find a Fish-Dragon type Knowledge Creature.” Asho said, “Only by becoming stronger can we possibly alleviate the power of the Secret Poison, or even directly eradicate it – such as forcibly forgetting this knowledge – in short, we must make good use of this information obtained through poisoning, convert it into our strength as much as possible, keep moving forward, and never stop!”

“Isn’t that a given?” Sonia leaned against the small boat and said, “Aren’t we Artificers such greedy creatures?”