Strange Voyage: Summoning the Fourth Disaster.

Chapter 826 Inspiration from Players

The sycophantic shouts of the philosophical scepter have faded.

Everyone present was startled, their pupils shrinking sharply.

My lord?

This scepter actually refers to the owner of the withered finger in the giant's skeleton's memory as "my lord".

That withered finger that could distort the sun with a single withered finger, and taint the twilight fire with a single fingerprint—was that its master?!

A storm of emotions swept through everyone's hearts.

The storyteller involuntarily felt the scepter in his hand grow cold and eerie, as if it would devour him at any moment.

But at that moment, Yuanfang reached out and firmly grasped the handle of the scepter, his tone calm and composed.

"continue."

"There are also fingerprints."

The calm tone from afar dispelled the storyteller's fear and unease, calming him down so he could carefully put away the scepter.

The two quickly arrived near the fingerprints. Although "Death is Life" could not be destroyed, it was still easy for everyone to deal with. They just had to be careful to protect the Philosopher's Scepter.

When faced with the fingerprints, the Philosopher's Scepter also offered a highly informative assessment.

"Existence and death seem to lie in your very hands... My great lord..."

The philosophical scepter is full of praise, like a fervent believer witnessing the splendor of a deity.

After confirming that there were no further comments, the five did not linger there, but quickly retreated to the anchored box inside the house. Only after confirming that the surrounding area was safe did they begin to talk.

"What do you think?" The storyteller sighed, wanting to hear other people's opinions.

The amount of information provided by the Philosopher's Scepter this time was so vast that it left him momentarily confused.

"This scepter might have been deliberately placed on Candlefire Island by the owner of the withered finger... Do you remember, this thing cannot be put into the inventory, probably to monitor us."

Li Miao frowned, staring intently at the philosophical scepter, trying to discern some reaction from it.

But he gained nothing; the philosophical scepter seemed still immersed in the excitement and joy of seeing its master's heroic figure, muttering to itself incessantly.

"My lord...where are you...?"

"Your humble servant begs you, that I may follow you once more..."

Its soliloquy naturally reached everyone's ears, and it was not hard to tell from it that it did not seem to be sent by the owner of the withered finger, but rather that it was lost.

But people didn't entirely believe what it said.

“If it’s to spy on us…” He crossed his arms, frowned slightly, and for once, a thought struck him, prompting him to ask, “Then why would it reveal its identity? Shouldn’t it pretend not to know or just lie?”

Upon hearing his words, the crowd seemed to ponder them, and the storyteller, unusually, expressed his agreement.

"But what it says might also be false."

Black Mountain Demon rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

"Is it possible that it's just bluffing, using the withered finger's owner to cover up its deeper purpose?"

Currently, many assessments of the Philosophical Scepter are correct, but there are also some errors.

Just like the previous comments on the prayers of the rat tribe, the comments on the Radiant Beings, and even the comments on the Long Night God Realm, players can easily tell that these comments are not entirely accurate after they have discovered the truth.

This means that people not only need to analyze the comments, but also need to distinguish between true and false comments, otherwise some scattered lies could ruin everything.

"What can be confirmed at present is that this scepter is of great importance and of a high enough status, as evidenced by the Candlekeeper's reply."

At this moment, Yuanfang spoke calmly, and everyone's attention fell on him.

Indeed, judging from the current state of this philosophical scepter and the comments that players have been able to verify, its status is indeed high enough, perhaps even reaching the level of the torch.

Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have dared to comment on the God of Fire... even if the other party had already been extinguished.

The candle keeper probably already knew its true nature long ago, rather than it does now.

"Indeed, this scepter always presents an air of superiority to everyone."

"Even if its owner is not the owner of the withered finger, its power level is probably not much different."

Li Miao pondered for a moment.

"If we assume that what this guy just said is true, then the content of his second sentence at the beginning also matches our current intelligence."

"First, the sun is incomplete, and the reason lies with the withered finger master. Second, there is the fire beside the altar... Although the description is somewhat vague, it roughly matches the giant eating the sun by the fire at dusk."

"Then there's the evaluation of the fingerprints, which also matches up. That thing called 'death is life' is indeed between life and death."

Li Miao recalled and sorted out the intelligence information in the comments.

“So, the question now is whether the master of the withered finger is indeed the master it speaks of…” said the Black Mountain Demon.

"The other information in the first sentence should not be overlooked either; it mentions wisdom again... Is the owner of the withered finger related to 'wisdom'? Perhaps we can start from this aspect to conduct a second verification..."

The storyteller squinted at the scepter in his hand.

"Forget it, let's go ask the Candlekeeper again and see if there's any new conversation to give him a headache too."

He thought again of the Candlekeeper in the Candlelight Palace. He and the player were in the same boat. Although he was usually a bit of a riddle-maker, he undoubtedly had more information than the player.

"We should also post this on the forum to gather ideas from all sides," Li Miao added.

Other players would certainly be very enthusiastic about this.

With this in mind, the group quickly made arrangements for their next move.

……

The storyteller was right; Roger was already starting to get a headache.

Unlike the players, as the controller of the spirit candle, he learned more information immediately.

The most crucial element... is the aura of the philosophical scepter.

Previously, when the Philosopher's Scepter first appeared, he had taken it and examined it, and attempted to analyze it using the power of the spirit candle.

However, aside from noticing the "contradictory and chaotic" aura emanating from it, no other information was discovered. (Chapter 604)
Based on this aura, Rogge was naturally able to perform verifications that players could not, namely, the verification of the "aura".

If the aura of the owner of the withered finger corresponds to the aura of the Philosopher's Scepter.

Therefore, the philosophical scepter is very likely to have come from the owner of the withered finger.

But then, a headache came.

First, there are the memories within the giant's skeleton... Unfortunately, there is no trace of the owner of the withered finger in these memories.

What made the player's Candle Spirit body tremble was actually just the instinct of life within the Burning Earth, but this fear came from "seeing" rather than from the aura of direct confrontation. Since the memories couldn't be verified, Rogge could only start with the fingerprints.

The good news is that the fingerprint does indeed have a scent, which can be verified.

The bad news is that the guiding aura shares some similarities with the aura of the philosophical scepter, but they are not entirely the same.

What they have in common is that there is a contradiction between "existence" and "death," and the existence of "death is also life" is chaotic.

The inconsistency is simple: the aura of the scepter doesn't match.

Naturally, Rogge was unable to verify the truth or falsehood of the philosophical scepter's words through breath.

Furthermore, it's impossible to make inferences based on the evaluations they provide; they can only be used as a reference.

Therefore, when questioned by the storyteller, he still revealed the information he was supposed to disclose and then used a riddle to evade the question.

In addition to this, there is another thing Rogge needs to consider, namely the potential dangers of the philosophical scepter.

Indeed, the power of the spirit candle was strong, and various feedbacks told him that the Philosopher's Scepter was not affected by the limitations of the spirit candle's power.

But... after the memories of the giant's skeleton appeared, doubts arose in his mind once again.

Why did this philosophical scepter end up in the player's hands and come to Candlelight Island?
Is it just a coincidence?
Rogge lowered his eyes, thinking he might want to see what the players thought.

……

"This must be a hidden plot arranged by the Spirit Candle making team. What's there to guess? It's definitely meant to lure out the owner of that withered finger."

"That's right! We'll meet any challenge head-on, NPCs will come with quests, bosses will come with health bars—we players are invincible! (Hands on hips)"

Some players are very confident and even think that some players' discussions are meaningless.

"Bullshit! If we do nothing, we'll just be waiting to fail. With the strength of this withered finger's master, Candlefire Island might not even exist by then. (Sneer)"

"Yes, given Lingzhu's consistently rigorous approach, I feel that this game is capable of making such choices, and it's truly bold enough to do so."

"Then what do you suggest we do? We only have so little information about the owner of this withered finger, it's impossible to find him, and the strength he's displayed is so terrifying. Even if we bet all the players, we might not be able to win..."

"Hey, what's the big deal? The game can't just disappear while we're playing, right? Even if it completely collapses, we'll still have something to play."

"...Hard to say."

Although the owner of the withered finger has never appeared, his mystery and power are beyond doubt and deeply rooted in people's hearts, which makes players feel somewhat worried.

Roger calmly withdrew his gaze, turning his attention away from the comments and beginning to search for posts that could inspire him.

However, perhaps because this matter has only recently become known to players, there aren't many related discussion posts, and nothing that could inspire him has emerged.

However, a player's post about the Coral Ring and the Oath of Gullad caught Rogue's attention.

"By the way, did no one notice an important piece of information in the Oath of Gulad dialogue?"

"The Gulad Empire is in a hurry. What are they in such a hurry for?"

The poster was referring to the oath of Gulad, which states that "the conquest must be faster" and "the suppression must be carried out at the fastest speed."

Many players responded to this post.

"Ah, I noticed that. I asked other people before, but no one paid any attention to me."

"...I know the Gulad Empire is in a hurry, and I also want to know why they're in a hurry, but can you find any relevant information? No, right? Since you can't, what's the point of talking? (picks nose)"

Players aren't stupid, especially some candle enthusiasts who are seriously studying the background story of the spirit candles. They have thoroughly researched the situation on Coral Ring Island in just a few days, not even missing the dialogue of some small monsters or the nooks and crannies in the sea.

But clearly, the players got nothing.

"In the spirit candles, there are too many things like this that have only been started but have no other relevant information. If you are bored, you can try to connect these things together. You might discover something."

As one candle expert said.

Above him was a reply from another player, also a candle enthusiast. His post came a little later than the former's, but it received more likes, suggesting he was inspired by the same event.

"Inspired by the comments upstairs, I've actually thought of some things. I'll venture to share my guesses, but please don't be offended if you disagree."

"...As mentioned in the background story, the Gulad Empire strives for conquest and unification, but if it is only pursuing land, especially in emergency situations, the Gulad Empire can actually conquer many places and then let them roam freely."

"But even under these circumstances, the Gulad Empire still insists on enforcing laws and order in the Coral Atoll."

"If this were a world without magic, I would think that this empire has the ambition to unify the world."

"But this is a fantasy world with all sorts of magical powers, anything can happen, and! We need to introduce another important event to connect the dots..."

That is the [moment of extinction].

"Judging from the various aspects revealed in the instance, this disaster struck suddenly, and the Gulad Empire seems to have made no response whatsoever, still busy expanding its territory and enforcing its laws..."

"However, although we have not yet met Emperor Gulad, as the highest level of the empire, his control over the empire is strong enough... and judging from the descriptions in some ancient books, this emperor may be ruthless, but he is definitely not weak or stupid."

"Even in a small coastal town, there are 'Signs of Extinction,' something that even ordinary people can sense. How could Emperor Gulad not know about it?"

"Then why does he still insist on accelerating the expansion of the Gulad Empire's territory?"

"From this, we can make some bold guesses..."

"That means Emperor Gulad not only sensed the impending doom but also took action, which was... to continue the expansion and suppression of the empire!"

“Doing this will definitely be beneficial to Emperor Gulad.”

"Emperor Gulad might even be trying to gain something by taking this to a certain extent!"

Although this player was speculating, their words seemed to imply certainty.

After reading this player's comment...

Roger's heart skipped a beat.

'Take this to a certain extent...'

work……

Rogge's gaze sharpened as he quickly recalled the incident of "touching the firewood" and connected the two events.

Life in this world can only ignite after being touched by fire...

Did Emperor Goulard want to ignite the flames of revolution by establishing a great, unified empire, or did he want to achieve some other purpose?

"I see……"

Rogge muttered to himself.

Although he gained nothing from the matter of the withered finger master and the philosophical scepter, he unexpectedly found inspiration in the player, a case of serendipity.

This discovery is of great significance for exploring the moment of extinction and the eternal altar.

(End of this chapter)