Chapter 104: The Reason

After a long rest, the exploration team of the "Abyss of Nothingness" was once again restored to high spirits. Though the waste crystal mine was pitch-dark, certain small timekeeping gadgets still worked in this world, so everyone generally maintained their usual daily routines.

"Good. Since everyone is well rested, let's set out!" Strand said.

The others nodded without objection.

The passage from the fourth floor to the fifth was not long, and before long, everyone arrived on the fifth floor one after another.

Immediately, the sight before them stunned the group. This was a karst cavern even vaster than the cave where they had been resting—stretching almost beyond the limits of their sight. It was hard to imagine that such an enormous space could exist so deep beneath the earth.

They had entered through an opening on one side of the cavern. Gazing along the edges, they could faintly make out several similar entrances, clearly indicating that the path to the fifth floor was not the only one.

The cavern floor sloped downward toward the center, where a massive pit yawned. Countless streams of black aura rose ceaselessly from it, drifting and swirling throughout the fifth floor. This black aura was not dark elemental energy but rather a conglomeration of negative emotions—much like what Rando had seen in the mountains when he first entered the waste crystal mine, except here it was far more condensed.

The group advanced toward the central pit. As they drew closer, a kind of terror-inducing pressure settled upon their hearts, leaving everyone deeply uneasy.

When they finally stood before the pit and peered down, all they could see was endless darkness, mingled with sobbing wind and a suffocating dark aura. Leia grabbed Rando's sleeve and shrank back slightly. Alice cast a glance at them, then nonchalantly averted her gaze.

"This should be the 'Abyss of Nothingness'!" Strand said with some excitement.

Jens said calmly, "If your intelligence is accurate, then this should indeed be the place."

Strand's excitement dimmed somewhat, and he fell silent.

Seeing everyone remain silent, a question mark slowly materialized above Leia's head, but she too kept quiet, well-behaved.

Jens broke the silence: "Strand, we've come all this way—there's no point in keeping secrets anymore. If you have more information, just say it!"

Strand glanced around and saw that everyone was waiting for him to speak. He smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry. Since we've made it here, I'll explain everything."

"Ordinarily, I wouldn't come for a resource like the Crystal World. But not long before it opened, a certain 'great figure' approached me and shared a great deal of related intelligence. I don't understand why he did so—perhaps it was an experiment? Or simply for amusement? Either way, it didn't stop me from choosing to come to this world to see if I could claim that reward!"

"Everyone should know about the wager between the crystal life form and the Empire, right? Actually, calling it a wager is not quite accurate—it's more like a plea for help."

"The crystal life form, though magnificent, is profoundly lonely. It hopes the Empire can help it find or nurture kin of its own kind. As long as that is accomplished, the wager is fulfilled."

"Our symbiotic crystals—the crystal creatures of this world—are all the Empire's efforts toward fulfilling that agreement."

"This continued until the conclusion of the last Crystal World cycle, when one of the great figures cast a new generation of experimental subjects into this world. According to the information I obtained, this batch has a great chance of fulfilling the wager. Once we return, the great figure will naturally collect the relevant data through our symbiotic crystals and determine the experiment's completion level. The next opening of the Crystal World might well be the last."

Jens asked in a low voice, "Then what does that have to do with us? The experimental subject should be in the 'Abyss of Nothingness,' shouldn't it? If the great figure has already arranged its outcome, why have we come?"

"Heh! Don't worry—I came prepared. After being tipped off by that 'great figure,' I didn't merely sit idle. I researched a great deal of related information, and after entering this world, I gathered extensive intelligence and conducted a thorough analysis."

"I arrived at a hypothesis: the reason the Crystal World has failed to nurture a true crystal life form after so many openings is that it lacks a crucial element—spiritual essence, specifically the spiritual essence unique to crystal life forms."

"Below the 'Abyss of Nothingness' lies the core node of the Crystal World's ley lines. The great figure cast into it a creation capable of absorbing emotions to nurture spiritual essence. Through the crystal network that pervades this world, it continuously absorbs the emotions of the tribes settled near the node crystals, using them to grow."

"Because negative emotions tend to be more enduring and more corrosive than positive ones, this place gradually became what it is now after years of accumulation."

"Now all we need to do is enter the 'Abyss of Nothingness,' break open the vessel containing that spiritual essence, and fuse it into our own symbiotic crystals. Then we can successfully nurture a true crystal life form! When that happens, we'll not only gain the friendship of that great crystal life form directly, but also obtain a companion with extraordinary potential!"

Rando nodded inwardly. Strand's account matched perfectly with the intelligence he had gathered.

Hearing this, everyone momentarily showed excitement. But there were also the clear-headed among them who raised a doubt: "Wouldn't this be disrupting the plans of the great figures? Is that really wise?!"

Sensing the question, Rando keenly noticed that most people wore the same worried expression. However, two or three individuals, including Strand and Jens, subtly revealed looks of disdain, gazing upon the questioner with considerably more contempt.

Strand smiled and said, "Don't worry. The great figures won't hold something like this against us. On the contrary, once we succeed and return, we might even receive a reward."

These words were spoken with great conviction.

Jens also smiled and said, "Indeed. In the eyes of those great figures of the Empire, we are still children. Even if we are a bit 'mischievous,' it is understandable. As long as resources aren't wasted, it doesn't amount to anything."

Calvo also nodded in agreement—this was a well-known truth in their Ancient School.

A bolt of lightning seemed to flash through Rando's mind. In that moment, he thought of Odo's teachings, of what Leia had said about the Empire's policies on talent, and of the casual indifference Strand and Jens showed toward disrupting the experiments of the Empire's great figures. All of this once again shattered his conjectures about the Empire's tolerance toward arcane practitioners.

'It seems many of my previous worries were unnecessary. Perhaps I can afford to be even more conspicuous!' Rando glanced at his system interface and repositioned himself anew.