Chapter 321 - 309: Red Coral Mirage
’Is it a positioning error, or is there something wrong with the space here?’
Luh Yao brought out the [Eye of True Sight] and aimed it at the area locked by the coordinate system.
In the empty area where there should have been nothing, a data panel appeared.
「...」
[Continent Island]
[Divine Format]: None.
[Divinity]: None.
[Divine Body]: None.
「...」
This Divine Kingdom seemed to be hidden by some kind of power.
Luh Yao sailed the Vortex World, accelerating for two seconds, and finally touched this invisible world, dragging it into the Ring Realm Group. Even so, [Continent Island] still couldn’t be observed directly.
Continent Island was a Divine Kingdom where no God existed, which was exactly the kind of important resource Luh Yao had been searching for.
He opened the Golden Field and began the anchoring process.
[Do you want to connect this world to the Silvanus Tree?]
[Estimated cost: 175,312 Faith]
[Yes][No]
Luh Yao’s finger paused for a moment.
Based on past experience, anchoring a completely desolate Divine Kingdom should consume very little Faith.
For example, anchoring [Banquet Bird] had only cost 124 Faith.
But Continent Island, another Divine Kingdom with nothing, required an expenditure of hundreds of thousands of Faith.
This made Luh Yao a bit more curious about this world.
He clicked yes.
On the Silvanus Tree, a fifth ball of light appeared, joining the Yao Race World, the Banquet Bird Mine, the Black Abyss, and the Divine Kingdom Adhesive.
Luh Yao double-clicked his mouse and officially entered this brand-new world.
「...」
Viewed from above, Continent Island lived up to its name: vast waters surrounded a northern landmass.
Long, narrow capes, like tentacles, extended from the landmass southward into the ocean, reaching deep into the southern waters.
From the outside, the entire world looked like half of a large watermelon placed face down, with the water and capes forming winding patterns of dark and light stripes on its surface.
Within the Continent Island World, there were no signs of cities or villages on land, nor were there any humans or similar intelligent lifeforms.
Currently, the world was in a warm season.
The land was occupied by seabirds, crabs, and creatures resembling giant starfish. Wild boars could be seen running through the forests and jungles, while the sea teemed with various schools of fish and some larger deep-sea predators. There was no shortage of ordinary wildlife.
What was rather strange was that many Red Corals grew from the soil on the ground. These corals were densely packed, forming what looked like residue left behind after a low tide.
No old sites resembling the ruins of a civilization could be seen.
Luh Yao dispatched Isabel to conduct a field investigation. He ordered the [Deep Sea Lord] to assist with surveying the seas, while he himself opened the backend encyclopedia to read about the world’s past records from the source.
「...」
[Continent Island]—Gravel World—Abandoned—1022nd Era in progress
[Description]: A Divine Kingdom built by the God [Suo Liweng], one of the Dragon Residence Passage Worlds.
[Development History]: Originally part of a Fragment World, it was later transformed into a Divine Kingdom by the God [Suo Liweng]. After officially becoming a vassal of Dragon Residence, it was modified into a passage...
「...」
Continent Island’s history began with its God, Suo Liweng.
After creating Continent Island, Suo Liweng carried his Divine Kingdom with him as he ascended into the Crawling Area, where he began to drift like the other Gods. Unlike other Divine Kingdoms, this one gave birth to a special miracle: the [Red Coral Mirage].
This miracle was composed of countless [Red Corals] and [Illusory Mirages], covering the entire seabed of Continent Island. The mirage could blend into its surroundings, creating a [Mimicry] effect.
Suo Liweng further enhanced and strengthened the Red Coral Mirage, using it to cover almost all of Continent Island, leaving only a small corner of land in the north.
Even so, it was enough to wrap and hide most of the world within the mirage.
The most similar artifact Luh Yao had seen before was the King of Bamboo Reed’s [Bamboo Mirage Light].
He had only learned through the world’s backend that the King of Bamboo Reed had used this Fire Seed Artifact to disguise his world as an ordinary, dilapidated Gravel World, thereby evading the prying eyes of the Gods.
Luh Yao moved his mouse and found the miracle that covered the seabed.
「...」
[Red Coral Mirage LV5]: A miracle jointly created by the Zhouzhou People and the Merfolk clan. It can refract light and shadows from various locations where the miracle is present, and possesses mimicry abilities.
Life Value: 12502/12502
Damage: 0
Defense: 0
Speed: 120
[Symbiote]
Can exist as multiple organisms in a symbiotic state to gain additional bonuses.
[Mirage Refraction Lv2]
Red Corals connected to the Red Coral Mirage can transmit and refract a mirage image.
[Mimicry Mastery LV8]
Simulates blending into the environment to deceive enemies and protect oneself. The effect depends on the ability’s level and Life Value.
「...」
This miracle caught Luh Yao’s attention.
The mirage was Level 5, one level higher than the Dwarf Fortress, which had been forged and strengthened for many years.
Stat-wise, its speed reached 120, which was 2.4 times that of the Yao Race’s king of speed, Black Demon Heiduan.
Luh Yao was a little puzzled.
The mirage was a Symbiote composed of numerous corals and Illusory Mirages. Whether looking at its description or its actual form in the world, it didn’t seem like the type of thing that could just get up and run.
’So how should I interpret this speed of 120?’
The only thing he could think of was that it corresponded to the [Mirage Refraction] ability.
Judging from the description alone, this ability seemed to be equivalent to a giant glass mirror, refracting and transmitting scenes from the areas covered by the mirage.
Luh Yao decided to just click on the mirage directly. He spent 12,000 Fire of Faith to officially convert it into his own miracle, and he even received 1 Apostle Mark.
He used to think he had a large stock of Apostle Marks, but after using them up along the way, he now only had 3 left.
Luh Yao tried it out a little and found that operating the miracle was simpler than he had thought.
He just needed to select a piece of Red Coral—provided it was already connected to the mirage—then click on Mirage Refraction. After that, he could randomly find another piece of Red Coral and repeat the same operation.
After a few seconds, the Illusory Mirages (a type of large, beige clam) dwelling in the two corals would slowly crawl out, open their shells, and project an image of the surroundings of the other coral into the air.
This scene first startled Luh Yao, then filled him with delight.
’A biological projector!’
’The Red Coral Mirage is so useful!’
It was an advanced version of the Ghost Lighthouse, turning sound into a more intuitive visual display.
’As long as I lay a path of Red Corals, I can connect to and observe another city, or even another continent. The Red Coral comes with its own Sky Net Project. Even if its precision is lacking and its transmission is slow, in the Fire Steam Era, it would be an Extraordinary Device with a massive impact.’
Just obtaining this one miracle made the whole journey worthwhile.
At this point, Luh Yao was certain that the Red Coral Mirage’s speed referred to the transmission speed of its refracted images; the main body itself could not move.
Next, he conducted a series of experiments, and by referencing the backend description, he got a general grasp of this miracle’s characteristics.
The mirage’s Life Value referred to the number of Red Corals and Illusory Mirages, but the specific calculation was still unclear.
These two groups existed in symbiosis, which was what formed this miracle. The greater their numbers, the better the mirage’s effect.
Another peculiar aspect was that the level of the mirage’s [Mimicry Mastery] ability exceeded its own level.
Based on Luh Yao’s observations and experience, for anything with a data panel—be it a miracle, an Apostle, or an ordinary creature—the level of its abilities could not normally exceed its own level.
This anomaly was caused by the fact that the [Red Coral Mirage] was severely damaged.
According to the Continent Island World’s backend description, the mirage’s peak level was LV9. It later endured long periods of an extreme cold era and a volcanic era, causing the coral clusters and Illusory Mirages that composed it to be damaged and die off, leading to a continuous drop in its level.
The Mimicry Mastery ability was what made Continent Island completely invisible in the World-Dimension Space.
This was far stronger than the [Bamboo Mirage Light].
Just as Luh Yao was still fiddling with the corals, Isabel reported, "My Lord, I’ve discovered a suspicious area beneath the seabed. However, it’s affected by the mirage, so I can’t see it clearly."
Luh Yao moved his perspective to the deep southern sea where Isabel had placed a marker.
When he moved the mouse over it, nothing changed in the sea.
He activated the [True Sight Curse].
Just as expected, a name appeared.
[Nine-Grain Pillar] (Damaged)
’The Mythical Miracle, the Nine-Grain Pillar... didn’t it explode on Earth?’
Luh Yao was utterly confused.