Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 106 This is Hell
Hell is a large piece of land located on the lava plane, and the land is swirling from the edge to the middle layer. Unlike the water cycle in the secular world, the magma of hell flows from the outer lava sea to the land in the opposite direction, starting from the edge and converging along the intricate river channels to the middle, and converging in the central area into the endless purgatory.
All creatures of Hell were born in the lava river. The closer you get to the center, the more powerful creatures of Hell are born. Therefore, the competition in the depths of Hell is very fierce. The demons who can stand firm in such an involution are all demon lords with powerful strength and military power.
Purgatory is the center of hell, and all the demons occupying its territory are ancient demons. The artifact Red Flame Torch was once in Purgatory, which gave rise to the Purgatory Civilization, one of the five ancient civilizations.
The passage between hell and the secular world is usually in the center of volcanoes and geothermal areas. Find the space cracks that can be connected due to energy pressure, and then use the corresponding spells to open a stable transmission array.
However, such channels are usually very small and are not suitable for the transportation of large quantities of goods, nor for the passage of large armies. The trading channel between Raging Waves City and the Demonic Red Flame is located on a volcanic island in the ocean, and the corresponding hell is a place called Three-Headed Dog Mountain.
The Three-Headed Dog Mountain was originally the border between the Demon Chiyan Territory and another Demon Territory, but it is now completely controlled by Chiyan. His Three-Headed Dog Corps headquarters is located here, and the headquarters of the Military Advisory Group of Nutao City is also here.
After meeting Chiyan, Luke took Darikova to Three-Headed Dog Mountain.
They were riding in a steam tracked vehicle.
This is a means of transportation designed by the Alchemist Association of Raging Waves City specifically for the hellish environment. In hell, heat energy is free of cost, and water immediately turns into steam when it arrives here, so liquid water is a scarce resource.
The self-circulating turbo-compression steam engine used by the steam crawler. The engine is arranged around the vehicle body, and uses a magic array to achieve heat stratification and energy concentration. The water vapor completes multiple expansions during heating in a closed cycle, and generates vortex kinetic energy.
This steam crawler has very good passability, and can be driven slowly even on semi-solidified lava ground. Now the Alchemist Association of Fury City is developing more versatile vehicles based on this steam crawler, because the heat source of hell is too cheap.
Inside the car, Darikova adjusted the heat transfer air conditioner, and the cool air with frost sprayed out from the air outlet made her take a deep breath of comfort. After her whole body was cooled down, she said with relief: "For polar people who are used to the cold, every second in hell is torture. Where are we going?"
Luke and Darikova sat in the back seat, with a human driver behind the wheel.
"Three-headed dog mountain."
Luke's answer was very concise.
Darikova asked again: "I didn't expect that the Golden Shield Empire would infiltrate Hell. Hell can't produce those armored weapons, nor can it build such steam tracked vehicles. You are an imperial spy! Hulk..." Darikova looked at the driver in front, did not say Hulkkin's name, and said: "Is the bald man working for you?"
"Baldy? That's a pretty descriptive name." Luke couldn't help but smile and said, "He really is working for me."
"How is this possible?" Darikova couldn't believe that the former chief of the Ice Cave agents was working for the enemy country, but that was the fact.
"That's why the baldy is so eager to get rid of you."
"It seems that the County Alliance is doomed to fail in this war ." Darikova couldn't help but sigh.
Helkkin was once the chief of the Ice Cave. Although he left the Ice Cave, his influence is still there. And now Helkkin is the Secretary of State of the County Alliance, and is highly valued by all parties in the County Alliance. The person sitting in this position is a spy developed by the enemy country. How can the County Alliance win?
Luke said: "The Empire has never regarded the Art County Federation as an opponent. The County Federation is now just a battlefield for the battle between the Empire and the World Bank. Therefore, no matter what the outcome of this battle is, the Art County Federation will be the loser."
"Although your words make me, as a member of the Art County Alliance, uncomfortable, I have no way to refute it." Darikova looked at Luke: "But who are you? I asked the demon descendants and humans in the Red Flame Territory, and they seemed to not know your true identity."
Luke smiled and said, "I am Luke."
"Forget it. I'll check it myself." Darikova turned her head and looked out the window. There was no life in the red world outside. After a while, she murmured, "I know that I am a tool to you, but... it's great to see you again!"
It didn't take long for the steam tracked vehicle to arrive at Three-Headed Dog Mountain.
The shape of the mountain resembles a lying hound, and the passage to the secular world is a large cave located in the belly.
The entire Three-Headed Dog Mountain is now a large military camp, with the Three-Headed Dog Legion occupying the head, the recruit training camp at the tail, and the large area in the middle being a material transfer station. The transfer station is filled with ore ready to be shipped to Raging Tide City, the crushing and inspection workshop works day and night, and the railcars are constantly transporting the crushed ore into the cave.
On the other side of the Three-Headed Dog Mountain is a lava river. The wholesale of arms has formed a market here, which has attracted more hell races to trade here. With this development momentum, the Three-Headed Dog Mountain will definitely become a trading city.
Luke climbed to the top of the Three-Headed Dog Mountain and had a panoramic view of the military camp, the transfer station, the training camp, and the lava river. There were many stone coffin boats unique to Hell in the lava river, and the shore was full of low-level demon trackers pulling the stone coffin boats forward.
After the sarcophagus ship docked, the low-level demons carried the ore in the ship ashore with their hands and shoulders, and their efficiency was extremely low.
Darikova followed Luke to the top of the Three-Headed Dog Mountain. The scene on this side of the mountain had already shocked her. The Raging Waves City not only obtained mineral resources from Hell, but also trained a quasi-modernized army of Hell here.
On the other side of the mountain there turned out to be a large market with a dock.
All you can see are red hell demons. Boats are coming and going in the river, and demon supervisors are constantly whipping slave demons with whips. On both sides of the market, you can see two city walls being built against the mountain. Is the Golden Shield Empire really going to build a trading city in hell?
Doing business with the devil?
This is crazy!
But the Golden Shield Empire is doing it.
Darikova couldn't help but ask: " Does the Golden Shield Empire want to conquer Hell?"
"I wouldn't mind conquering hell if I could conquer it."
"Arrogant..." Darikova didn't continue. She looked at the man next to her. His aura that looked down on the world made her believe his words. "Who are you?"
"If I decide to kill you, I'll tell you." Luke smiled and cast a spell to float towards the lava river: "Let's go... We are going to take a boat to the depths of hell."
Go to the depths of hell!
Darikova felt that she would not be able to leave hell alive. Seeing that Luke had already flown far away, she immediately cast a spell and floated down the mountain.
When we arrived at the lava river, a sarcophagus boat was ready.
The sarcophagus ship looks like a large sarcophagus. It is made of a kind of high temperature resistant stone. It can be up to 25 meters long and about 6 to 7 meters wide. There is a narrow platform around the outer edge of the sarcophagus ship, on which many slave demons cling. Slave demons are a general term for low-level demons. They are at the bottom of hell society and exist as coolies and spare rations.
These slave demons were the trackers who pulled the sarcophagus boat when needed. When Luke came over, several humanoid demons were cutting the meat of lava crocodiles to feed them.
Luke showed a token, and the leading one-horned demon immediately saluted: "Dear human, after we received the order from Lord Red Flame, we immediately prepared this ship for you..."
At this time, a slave demon bared his teeth at Luke, and was immediately captured by the demon descendants, dismembered, and thrown to other slave demons. The slave demons scrambled for food and were too afraid to look at Luke.
Luke didn't look at the slave demon for long, and said to the one-horned demon demon: "We are going to the territory of the demon fanatics in the deep hell. Can your ship make it?"
Hearing that his lord's guest was going to the depths of hell, the one-horned demon said in embarrassment: "I have heard of the demon fanatic. He is an ancient demon whose territory is in the deepest part of hell, Purgatory. There he owns an ancient scorched earth city, where many demon descendants who are more powerful than ordinary demons live.
My Lord, if you go to Scorched Earth City, I am afraid we will not be able to protect your safety. After all, you are a human being, and your soul and that of this human lady are a delicacy for the Hell race. "
Luke said, "I am responsible for my safety, you just need to send us to Scorched Earth City... Any problem?"
"No problem!" Without having to take responsibility for safety, the one-horned demon readily agreed: "Please get on board with your female companion. We will set off immediately."
A demon on the ship lowered a stone slab, and Luke and Darikova passed through the stone slab and entered the sarcophagus ship.
After the one-horned demon distributed the cabins, the sarcophagus ship left the shore and sailed along the lava river into the depths of hell.
Purgatory is a world that spirals vertically downwards, and the space is fragmented. If you don't master certain methods, it is easy to get lost in Purgatory. The territory of the ancient demon maniacs is located in a stable space in Purgatory, and the Scorched Earth City is the residence of the demon maniacs.
Due to prejudice and misunderstanding about hell, the mainstream common sense in the secular world is that there is no real city in hell. Because the hell races have no talent for architecture, because the hell races like to kill each other, and because the limit of human contact with hell is the fringe area, this is the stereotype of hell.
In fact, as one of the ancient civilizations, no matter how poorly the Purgatory Civilization had developed cities, it could still build a city over time. Especially in demon territories with stable rulers, high-level demons would gather and form cities, and there were even several large cities in Purgatory.
Scorched Earth City is a large hell-type city.
It was built along a spiraling lava river, and its structure was like an inverted tower. Because several lava river tributaries converged or flowed out, it had a transportation advantage. It was precisely because of this feature of the Scorched Earth City that Tan chose this place as the first stop of his Hell Trade Road trip.
Today, Tan and her subordinates came to the castle at the bottom of the Scorched Earth City with a large stone box. The stone box was pulled by four hellfire horses and was engraved with exquisite carvings .
Tan, who was wearing a slim-fitting suit, took off his hat and saluted to the closed castle gate: "I am the human merchant Milia, and I am here to visit the Mad Lord."
A face emerged from the black castle gate, looking down at the group of humans below, as well as the hellfire horses and the stone boxes they were pulling.
"Human, why have you come to see my master?"
Tan replied: "Some time ago, I promised to give the Mad Lord a set of special armor. Now the armor has been made, and we came to visit this time to ask the Mad Lord to try it on.
If there is anything we are not satisfied with, we can modify it.”
"Armor made for the master? It's a good gift. My master is very satisfied with the armor and weapons you provided. You will definitely return with a full load from your visit this time.
Please come in, follow the flames, and you will see my master."
The castle gate opened and a ball of fire floated through the gate.
The fireball swayed and floated into the castle.
Tan waved his hand, and the team followed him into the castle.
Deep inside the castle, two demons sat opposite each other, sharing a piece of meat from an unknown creature. They tore off the meat, stuffed it into their mouths with the skin and bones, and chewed it with a big crunch.
One of the demons said as he ate, "Tyrant, we haven't seen each other for more than a thousand years since you were defeated by the Sword of Oath. We all thought you were dead, but I didn't expect you to suddenly appear in front of me like this.
What do you want to do now that you have returned to hell? As a former comrade, I will definitely help you. "
The tyrant chewed the meat and spat out a bone residue: "Of course I came back to take back my former territory, are you willing to help me?
"Brawler!"
The devil maniac laughed: "Tyrant, if I can help you take back your territory, do you think I will give it back to you? You have been away from hell for more than a thousand years, and this place is no longer what it used to be. There are not many stable spaces in Purgatory, and all the ownerless territories have long been divided up.
I suggest that you submit to me, and I can give you a piece of land in my territory to manage."
The tyrant sneered: "I will not rely on a demon weaker than me. I beat you to a pulp before."
"But that was in the past! Your infernal magic was very strong, really strong, and it allowed the Sword of Oath to deal with you personally. But the artifact has been lost. Without it, how much strength do you have left?"
The tyrant stopped eating and asked: "Do you want to try it?"
The madman chuckled and said, "Don't try. Even if you are still very powerful, I can defeat you with my demons. Tyrant, if you really want to take back the territory, I suggest you start from the edge of hell.
When you have gathered enough powerful demons, you can approach Purgatory little by little. If nothing unexpected happens, you can enter Purgatory to challenge it in a thousand years."
