CHAPTER 522: CHAPTER 256: DISCARD CASE_2

Either the lover dies early, or due to various reasons, they have to live apart, never having the chance to meet again.

To Lindong, this seemed more like a curse.

Ethan opened the notebook personally given to him by McCarthy Delin, tore out the page where the "future Lindong" left a message, and tucked it into the inside pocket of his clothing. Then he handed the notebook to Mrs. Judith, saying, "This notebook should be returned to its original owner."

The two of them watched as Mrs. Judith put the notebook back onto the bookshelf.

The good news was that while McCarthy Delin’s final envelope was unrelated to the magic web, it still contained some of his observations from within it.

Mrs. Judith was thoroughly familiar with the content of every book. She led Ethan and Lindong to the study, and it wasn’t long before a thick stack of books was laid upon the table.

The descriptions about the magic web were very fragmented, and McCarthy Delin did not deliberately arrange them in order when he wrote the words; the contents in the parchment were mostly observations, yet they were sufficient to impress Ethan deeply.

McCarthy Delin referred to the magic web as a mysterious place, a completely fragmented world filled with things that surpassed their understanding, where you might encounter anything beyond the realm of normality.

For example, there were towering structures over a hundred floors high, made of an exterior resembling the material of energy-storing crystals. These buildings used some sort of mysterious magic, with the lighting inside able to cover every area of each floor. McCarthy Delin tried to study the material making up this grand building but to no avail.

He also discovered many strange things inside the building.

On the table lay square boxes inside which strange images were displayed.

The people here put drinking water into a barrel, which was placed upside down on a white stand, and by pressing a button, pure, clean water would flow into their hands.

’Beast-Safe Zone.’

This was the name McCarthy Delin gave to this magnificent building. He found no signs of other life forms within the building and couldn’t ascertain who built it. There was an abundant supply of clean food and water inside, and once you stepped out the front door, you would switch to another area of the magic web.

"Do you know that place?"

The plush cat on the shoulder lazily asked.

When Ethan started reading, Lindong transformed into her cat form, curling up in her usual favorite spot.

She noticed the change in Ethan’s expression.

"That place should be called an office building, the box is called a computer, and the white stand is called a water dispenser."

All of these were familiar to Ethan: the desks separated each employee’s workspace, and McCarthy Delin also found edible snacks in the drawers of many desks.

This is a scene every modern person is familiar with.

"Exactly..."

Lindong murmured, "You always seem to know some strange things... Phones and motorcycles are also creations from there, right?"

"Yes."

Lindong suddenly realized, "So you came out from the magic web!"

"Have you been inside?"

"I went to a maze but didn’t find the entrance to the magic web; the magic power there has already dried up."

She shrugged.

McCarthy Delin’s notes also mentioned many less secure areas, such as villages shrouded in a plague, where in the first stage of sickness, the body would entirely rot away, followed by meat buds growing from the open wounds, transforming them into twisted mutant monsters; these monsters were extremely aggressive, and the village would fall within three days.

’Mutant Settlement - Extremely Dangerous.’

This was McCarthy Delin’s assessment, advising any mage who stumbled into this place to leave immediately, with the way out being to jump into the village’s dry well.

These strange and bizarre exit methods could not but make Ethan question whether Dean McCarthy Delin’s sanity was intact.

Yet, in reality, from his descriptions, it was not hard to discern that this was the end of the Third Epoch, at a village swept by the scarlet plague. At the time, McCarthy Delin naturally couldn’t foresee the world two epochs later.

Apart from areas like the office building, totally incompatible with this world’s setting, most of the areas McCarthy Delin mentioned seemed more like scenes from different timelines of this world.

Scrapped case.

This was a term that surfaced in Ethan’s mind.

If viewed through the lens of "game," these scenes would typically appear as easter eggs.

"What are you thinking?"

"Maybe McCarthy Delin is the first explorer of the polluted zone."

Reading the contents on the parchment, Ethan only felt that the polluted zone, the former realms, and those created by the Old Gods were essentially the same thing. In recent years, the Evil God’s Followers had been rampantly active inside and outside the Empire, performing soul sacrifice rituals, seemingly to replenish the magic web’s energy.

It’s just that among the Evil God’s Followers, the magic web might be known by different names—Lindong just mentioned that the magic web had fallen into a state of exhaustion.

"Teacher, what do you know about the Gallog Dynasty?"

"The Second Epoch? Why are you suddenly interested in it?"

"I suspect that the Time Travelers are closely related to the magic web; perhaps they possess some technology, allowing them to use the magic web to reach different timelines."

This theory perfectly aligned with the description of Time Travelers coming and going without a trace.

It’s just that there are still many unsolved mysteries, such as the purpose of the Time Travelers and their reason for destroying the Gallog Dynasty; from the rituals carried out in the lower levels of the academy, they seem dedicated to resurrecting their goddess, who likely belongs to the ranks of the Old Gods.

"Let me think."

The cat on the shoulder tilted its head; the academy offered a history class, and knowledge about the Gallog Dynasty of the Second Epoch was part of the mandatory curriculum.

After a moment, she cleared her throat, "Over a decade after the end of the Magic Addiction War, humans of the Second Epoch welcomed a new ruler, Gallog-Morgan. His parents were devout followers of the Goddess of Life, and the outbreak of the Magic Addiction War destroyed his homeland. After witnessing the various harms brought about by the addiction, Gallog decided upon founding a new kingdom to prohibit all research related to the magic web. These policies received support from the Neseriel Sanctuary and the Life Divine Teachings. Under the guidance of his mentor Merlin, he retrieved the sword blessed by fairies from the lake. This sword, crafted by elves, had its hilt made of gold and jewels set on the grip, capable of breaking all magic..."

"Wait a second, his mentor was Merlin?"

To a modern person, this legend sounded incredibly familiar.

Today’s "Oath and Sword of Victory" on the other side referenced this legend.

Intuition told him that the name Merlin wasn’t a coincidence.

"Yes, a mage named Merlin, whom many believed to be a High-tier Mage from the academy, yet there was no information about him within the academy. He taught Gallog-Morgan how to gather people’s hearts and assisted him in pulling out the holy sword to ascend the throne. He was both sage and warrior of the Gallog Dynasty, leading troops to defeat countless fallen, afflicted by magic addiction."

When studying this piece of history, Lindong had wanted to express her discontent.

In her view, Merlin’s experiences seemed much more legendary than the founder of the Gallog Dynasty, but the history books offered pitifully little about Merlin.

He was more like a symbol.

A mentor, a warrior, the hero in the hearts of the Gallog Dynasty’s people, yet no one knew where he truly came from.

"Oh, by the way." Lindong suddenly remembered something, "Merlin always existed as the Guardian of the Gallog Dynasty until the Time Travelers appeared. They plotted against Merlin, using a spear forged by the Evil God to pierce his heart."

With the loss of their Guardian, the Gallog Dynasty thus came to an end.

However, now thinking about it, according to the Divine Attendants’ "civilization succession theory," it would mean that Merlin lived for nearly four hundred years—a lifespan even longer than those of the Primal and Middle-Level Gods.

"Perhaps the Time Travelers were not aiming to destroy the Gallog Dynasty."

Ethan mused, "All they wanted was to kill Merlin."

To kill a "Transmigrator" who disturbed the course of the world.