Death Notice

The card Kelly gave to Qin Lun had a silver border and a blue background. The pattern on the front was a forest under moonlight, and the environment somewhat resembled the Moonlight Forest of the Elven Race. On the back, two swords crossed to frame a standing eye pattern. The eye had a spiral pupil. Staring at it for a long time made one feel a bit dizzy, as if even one’s mind was about to be sucked in.

This card was much larger than a tarot card. If some congratulatory words had been written on it, it would have looked like a greeting card. The card did not belong to Apostle items, and there was no introduction about it in the Death Notice. However, as an Apostle, Qin Lun could fully sense that it carried a trace of Shattered Laws, just like an ordinary item fused with a Fragment Crystal.

Qin Lun checked it and confirmed he did not understand this thing. Then, as Morning Star had said, he sent a message to Mafa, inviting the Elf Elder to come over for dinner.

After receiving Qin Lun’s message, Mafa found time to visit in the evening.

“Qin Lun, my brother, it is wonderful to see you safe and sound!” Time seemed to have left no trace on the handsome face of the Elf. Mafa was still that beautiful Elven man who made young girls crazy about him.

Promoted from Guard Captain to Elf Elder, and with the Moonlit Elf tribe having recovered from the turmoil over the Council of Elders’ management seats, Mafa had been living quite comfortably recently. His face had a rosy complexion, adding to his handsome appearance.

“Mafa, it has been a long time since we last met!” Qin Lun smiled and hugged the Elf.

“Oh? Haha, Qin Lun, it has actually only been a month since we last saw each other! You Apostles are just like that. A short month feels as long as a century to you!” Mafa was slightly stunned and sighed with emotion.

Mafa suddenly frowned, examined Qin Lun carefully a couple of times, and showed a look of surprise on his face. “Qin Lun, you are already a High-Rank Apostle?”

Qin Lun chuckled lightly and shook his head without speaking. In the eyes of the Sapient Races of the Shattered Starry Sky, all Professional Apostles were classified as high-rank. Previously, when Beruses saw him, he had the same reaction. “You entered the Shattered Starry Sky from the Other World… it has been less than three months, right? You are the Apostle with the fastest improvement in strength that I have ever seen!” Mafa’s expression became very complex, with mixed feelings in his heart.

As the Elf Guard Captain, Mafa’s combat power was equivalent to that of a Second-Order Apostle. However, Apostles had Law Bodies and recovery items. In a prolonged battle, he would be the one to lose. Mafa knew Qin Lun would eventually catch up to him, but he did not expect this day to come so soon. He had trained for over two hundred years to reach his current level.

“Three months… haha! You Apostles are truly blessed by nature!” Mafa smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Sometimes, I really want to go to your Quest Worlds to see what you have been through, that each time you return, there are earth-shaking changes!”

“Believe me, you don’t want to know. In the eyes of Apostles, you are the fortunate ones!” Qin Lun’s eyes flickered slightly as he said softly, “Mafa, never… ever try to step into that world!”

“Haha, no matter what, today you must drink to your heart’s content with me, to comfort this elder’s wounded heart!” Mafa smiled and nodded, pulling Qin Lun’s arm as he walked inside.

“What would you like to drink?” Qin Lun asked the Elf sitting on the sofa.

“Blaze Wine!”

“Oh? Are you sure?” Qin Lun couldn’t help but chuckle.

Blaze Wine was a strong liquor brewed by the Dwarf Clan. Elves usually preferred low-alcohol fruit wines with a bit of sweetness.

“I’m sure!” Mafa waved his hand vigorously. It seemed he was indeed quite stimulated by Qin Lun.

After taking the glass and taking a big gulp, Mafa’s mood slowly calmed down. He smiled and asked again, “You probably didn’t invite me over just for a drink with good intentions. Go on, what do you need my help with this time?”

“Can’t I just invite you over for a drink?” Qin Lun rubbed his nose awkwardly.

“Would you?” Mafa looked at the young man with a smirk.

Qin Lun immediately smiled wryly. He really wouldn’t casually ask Mafa over just to drink and chat. He wasn’t accustomed to socializing!

“Ahem, actually, this time it’s really not a very important matter. I just wanted to ask you to help me identify a card!” Qin Lun took out the card that Kelly had given him and placed it on the coffee table. “Someone gave me this thing. He said the Elven Race’s Council of Elders would know how to use it!”

“This is…” Mafa glanced at the card and slowly opened his mouth wide, as if he had seen something incredible.

“Mafa… Mafa?” Qin Lun saw Mafa staring blankly and shook his arm.

“Ah? Oh!” Mafa was startled and snapped out of his deep thoughts.

“From your reaction, you seem to recognize this card? What is it?” Qin Lun asked curiously.

“Of course I know this thing!” Mafa looked at Qin Lun with a strange expression. “I was the one who sent these out! I sent out no less than a hundred of them. I was just wondering why it is in your hands!”

“Ah? Is this thing very important?” Qin Lun’s curiosity was piqued, and he quickly pressed for an answer.

Mafa’s lips moved, but no sound came out. After a long while, he finally shook his head with a bitter smile. “This thing really can’t be explained clearly in a few words. It’s better for you to see for yourself. My Identity Plate has this recorded information. Normally, I can’t show it to you. But since you have this thing, then you can see it!”

Mafa stood up, took the Projector from the living room, and inserted his Identity Plate into one of its slots. The Projector’s screen flickered and soon displayed a three-dimensional image.

“This is… another Suspended Continent?” Qin Lun looked at the 3D projection and raised his eyebrows slightly.

The area of the Suspended Continent in the projection was much smaller than the Scorching Plain beneath the Devil’s Horn, roughly the size of the Huaxia District’s Shu Province.

What surprised Qin Lun was that the architectural style on this Suspended Continent was very similar to the modern world before the Earth Federation unified, approximately the late 20th to early 21st century in the Gregorian calendar.

The road network on the Suspended Continent crisscrossed, dividing the continent into various regions and towns like a chessboard grid. Towns were filled with towering buildings, including residential areas over ten stories high resembling honeycombs, and skyscrapers reaching hundreds of stories high.

Beautiful parks, flat and wide airport roads, fields of wheat waving in the wind, railways extending into the distance like arteries, bridges spanning wide rivers… This was a beautiful and prosperous small continent!

In the center of this Suspended Continent, a giant Floating City was stationed there. Qin Lun’s first impression of this Floating City was that it was big, very big! Although it was only the size of a fist in the 3D projection, comparing it to the surrounding scenery revealed its massive volume.

An airport covering thousands of hectares was only the size of a fingernail inside it. Compared to the Devil’s Horn, which housed tens of thousands of people, its area was almost equivalent to fifty Devil’s Horns. If the Devil’s Horn could be considered a small town in the Earth Federation, then this was an international metropolis.

The buildings inside the giant city had a similar architectural style to those on the Suspended Continent. It seemed it was the Floating City belonging to this Suspended Continent. As for whether it was an Apostle City, even Qin Lun dared not guess randomly.

The Devil’s Horn had nearly twenty thousand Apostles. If this Floating City were an Apostle City, it would probably have over a million Apostles, which was simply unimaginable!

However, this behemoth city clearly could not give him the answer. Most of the buildings in the city were dilapidated, covered with green moss and vines on the surface. As the projection played, wild creatures could often be seen scurrying around the city’s roads, like an urban forest made of concrete and steel.

It had fallen!

Of the eight huge pillars supporting the Floating City, three were completely broken. The entire city leaned crookedly against the ground like a tripod with a broken leg, silently telling of its former glory!

“This Suspended Continent is called Atlantis. It was once home to over ten million humans. However, its history was very brief. From its formation to its fall, it only had a history of three hundred years!”

“What? Are you sure it’s three hundred years, not three thousand?” Qin Lun looked at Mafa in surprise and couldn’t help asking.

Judging from the level of civilization on Atlantis, it had almost reached the era of the Fourth Technological Revolution in Earth’s old century. It took Earth humans thousands of years to reach that level of civilization!

“I understand what you mean!” Mafa said with a bitter smile. “I only said that Atlantis has a history of just three hundred years in the Shattered Starry Sky!”

“History in the Shattered Starry Sky?” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed as he asked uncertainly, “Mafa, do you mean… Atlantis originally did not belong to the Shattered Starry Sky? But… don’t Suspended Continents only form continent cores in the Shattered Starry Sky over time?”

“Most continents are indeed like that! However, there are some continents… that are exceptions!” Mafa’s expression became serious.

“Qin Lun, have you ever thought… if all Suspended Continents only slowly coalesced in the Shattered Starry Sky, then why are there so many completely different law civilizations formed? After all, there are Spacetime Star Gates connecting the Suspended Continents; they are not completely isolated.”

“You mean… the many Sapient Races in the Shattered Starry Sky… in ancient times, originally came from other worlds’ civilizations? And for some reason, the entire continent along with the Sapient Races on it were transported into the Shattered Starry Sky?” Qin Lun narrowed his eyes slightly. He understood what Mafa meant.

“Yes, much of the ancient history of the Shattered Starry Sky can no longer be verified. However, our clan’s elders believe that the Shattered Starry Sky itself cannot give birth to sapient life. All existing Sapient Races originally came from law civilizations of other spacetimes!” Mafa’s eyes held a trace of longing as he said quietly.

“In other words, we are just like Apostles, we are all spacetravelers. One of your Quest Worlds is the homeland of our Elven Race!”