From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Chapter 348 The truth behind it

The west coast of the Tidal Sea, Moon Turbid Beach.

Lu Heng and his group of thirteen people came to the beach and found the place where the battle took place.

The site of the battle is not well preserved as part of it has been submerged by sea water.

In the areas that have not been flooded by the sea, you can see the footprints left by the battle between the warriors of the two tribes.

To be precise, the Dark Iron Dwarves leave footprints, while the Sirens leave wakes.

In addition to the footprints, there were also scattered blood and fragments of weapons and armor in some places.

Su Muyu asked the Chongming bird to scan the entire area, then walked to a reef, squatted down, picked up a bloody scale, held it up and said:
"It seems that the Dark Iron Dwarves did not lie. It was indeed the Kraken that attacked them."

In a world where supernatural forces exist, seeing is not necessarily believing.

The Dark Iron Dwarves said that the sirens attacked them. It is possible that other races disguised themselves as sirens through transmogrification magic and then attacked them.

At the place where the battle took place, bloody scales of the siren fell, indicating that it was not transmogrification magic.

The Dark Iron Dwarves did fight the Kraken.

There are also traces of battles left on the beach. Many of them can be seen to be left by sirens. It is basically impossible to disguise so many traces of battles of the Sirens.

However, there are still doubts about this matter. According to the Dark Iron Dwarf Great Wizard Hogre, after they arrived at the Moon Turbid Beach and saw the Siren, they said nothing and the Siren immediately launched an attack.

From the perspective of behavioral logic, this doesn't make sense.

The Sirens came here to negotiate as agreed. Even if they failed to reach an agreement in the end, they should have waited until the negotiations were over before fighting, rather than starting to fight as soon as they met.

So far, I have only heard what the Dark Iron Dwarves said, and have not yet heard the Sirens' explanation.

Therefore, if you want to find out the truth of the matter, you need to communicate with the high priest of the Sirens.

Lu Heng turned his head to look in the direction of the sunset, then looked at the sea.

The tide has begun to recede.

The Sirens have a magical conch that carries the sound of the echo conch back into the sea when the tide recedes.

When Lu Heng left the Sirens' territory, he received an echo conch from Sona, the Sirens' high priestess.

Therefore, if you want to communicate with the Sirens’ High Priest, you don’t need to return to the Sirens’ Temple, you can do it on the coast.

Lu Heng took out the echo conch, took two steps into the sea, bent down, scooped a handful of sea water with the conch, and then spoke to the conch.

After saying this, pour the sea water back into the sea.

The poured out sea water mixed with the receding sea water and submerged into the sea.

After waiting for a while, the echo conch began to glow faintly.

Lu Heng placed the echo conch on the beach and let the sea water soak half of the conch.

After a while, the voice of Sona, the High Priestess of the Sirens, came from the conch shell: "You didn't do what you promised."

When Lu Heng heard this question, he frowned and said, "Let me guess. The news you received was that the Dark Iron Dwarves attacked the Siren Messenger you sent to negotiate?"

High Priest Sona: "What else? How do you want to explain it?"

Lu Heng: "What a coincidence! I was at the Lava Crown and saw with my own eyes the injured Great Wizard Hogre of the Black Iron Tribe and the team of envoys he brought to negotiate. The news they brought back was that the Sirens had launched a surprise attack."

High Priest Sona's voice became even angrier: "Nonsense! Many of our warriors were injured."

Lu Heng: "It looks like what I expected. The report you heard was that the Dark Iron Dwarves attacked without saying a word, right?"

High Priest Sona was silent for a moment, then replied, "Yes, the two sides did not communicate with each other, and the Dark Iron Dwarves launched a surprise attack."

Lu Heng stood up, looked around, and continued, "I am now standing at the place where the two tribes' negotiating envoys fought. One thing is certain, there was indeed a conflict between the two sides. There were bloodstains and traces of fighting at the scene.

“And the two sides’ statements conflict, with each accusing the other of launching a surprise attack without communicating, which means one side must have lied.

"I am not accusing any party now. I just want to get the truth. Does the high priest agree?"

Sona, the chief priestess of the Siren tribe, thought silently for a moment, and after calming down, she agreed: "Okay."

Lu Heng then asked, "The person in charge of the negotiations on the Dark Iron Dwarf side is the Great Wizard Hogre of the Dark Iron Tribe. I personally checked his wounds and they are indeed seriously injured.

"I want to ask, who is in charge of the negotiations on the Siren's side? Who leads the envoy team?"

High Priest Sona: "My tribe's elder, Onatu."

Lu Heng then asked, "Did Elder Onatu participate in the battle?"

High Priest Sona: "Of course!"

Lu Heng: "Is he injured?"

High Priest Sona: "Injured, burned by fierce flames, I personally performed magical healing."

When Lu Heng heard this, he turned around and looked at Su Muyu.

Su Muyu released the Chongming Bird and flew back to the Lava Crown. He went to visit the great wizard Hogrei of the Black Iron Tribe and asked about the details of the battle.

After asking, Su Muyu relayed the answer he heard: "Hogrei said that he did not see the Siren Elder Onatu in the battle."

Lu Heng continued, “High Priest, you heard that the Great Wizard Hogre of the Black Iron Tribe did not see the Siren Tribe Elder Onatu during the conflict.

"The time and place for the negotiation between the two sides was decided after I communicated with you. As long as you arrive at Yuezhuo Beach on time, you will only see the negotiating teams of the two sides. There is no possibility of conflict with other disguised teams.

“Now, the Dark Iron Tribe said that they did not see the Siren Tribe Elder Onatu during the conflict, and Elder Onatu was injured again.

“One of them must have lied.

“I know that the high priest will definitely choose to trust his own people, which is reasonable, but I can also tell you very clearly that my prestige among the Dark Iron Dwarves is no less than that of their great wizard.

"So, I suggest you ask Elder Onatu whether he saw the Great Wizard Hogre of the Dark Iron Tribe during the conflict."

Sona, the high priestess of the Siren tribe, fell silent.

From the perspective of the Sirens, she would definitely choose to believe her people.

So she instinctively doubted Lu Heng's words.

Lu Heng continued, "You don't have to listen to my advice. It doesn't matter. But I fought for this peace talk. The Dwarf King Sorevil Copperfurnace has promised not to dump the embers of Gross into the Tidal Sea anymore.

“I can’t understand why there is a conflict when both sides’ demands are met?

“Regarding the crisis of the Fire Demon Gross, the Dwarf King has agreed to my suggestion to use the next three years to find a solution to the crisis.

"As a recruit from another world, the Dark Iron Dwarf King does not need to be perfunctory with me on this matter. As a ruler of the same tribe, you should understand the reason."

As a tribe ruler, there are too many things to do, and if it is not to solve a crisis, there is no point in wasting time meeting the conscripts.

Sona, the high priestess of the Siren tribe, fell silent because she could understand the logic here.

The conflict in this peace talk was illogical from beginning to end.

At first, she suspected that this negotiation was a trap set by the Dark Iron Dwarves.

However, if this negotiation was a trap set by the Dark Iron Dwarves, then the Siren envoy should have encountered an ambush, and an ambush by a force far outnumbering the Siren envoy, rather than a simple conflict between the negotiation teams.

After thinking about all the information, she came to the conclusion that someone was trying to prevent the two ethnic groups from reconciling.

After thinking for a long time, she asked, "Are you sure it's not the Dark Iron Dwarves who want to disrupt the negotiations?"

With the relationship with the Tempering Fort, Lu Heng's prestige in the Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom is extraordinary, and he has personally examined the wounds of the Dark Iron Dwarf messenger, so he can basically confirm this. "I just don't want to say it too bluntly, and want the high priest to find the answer himself. If it's up to me, I can even say directly that there is something wrong with Elder Onatu of your tribe."

Hearing this, High Priest Sona was very angry because Elder Onatu was her right-hand man.

The fact that Onatu could become her right-hand man showed that she had great trust in the elder.

Therefore, Lu Heng’s words made her feel very resistant.

Seeing that she didn’t reply, Lu Heng continued, “I know you must be very angry, which is why I didn’t make a direct conclusion at the beginning.

"As for the truth of the matter, you can find the answer yourself. One of the two parties must be lying.

“No matter who you choose to believe, you will have the answer in your heart once you ask Elder Onatu.

"I have done my best to reconcile your two tribes. If we fail to reach a reconciliation in the end, I can only say that I have no ability to change the world line.

“I have completed the main mission of this call-up, and the remaining ones are challenge missions.

“If the high priest ultimately decides not to consider reconciliation, the matter ends there.

"I would like to remind the high priest one last thing. One of my challenge tasks is to find the source of the abyss pollution.

“And most of the psychics recruited this time are marine warriors.

"That is to say, the source of the abyss pollution is not on land, but in the tidal sea."

After saying this, Lu Heng put away the echo conch and ended the conversation.

……

Although this call-up involved the Dark Iron Dwarf Kingdom, the main events of the call-up actually took place in the sea.

According to normal recruitment logic, since the main event of the recruitment occurred in the sea, the source of the abyss pollution is most likely in the sea.

In other words, it is the Sirens who are truly facing the crisis of the Abyss, while the Balrog crisis faced by the Dark Iron Dwarves will not erupt until at least three years later and is not the core event of this conscription.

This means that there is something else going on in the Sirens.

However, the peace talks between the two ethnic groups have now failed.

The situation within the Sirens is rather complicated, and they may not welcome recruits.

Lu Heng needs to wait for the Sirens' attitude. If the Sirens want to cooperate, he will go back to the sea to help them find the source of the abyss pollution.

If the Sirens don't cooperate, then this recruitment mission will be over.

The remaining time can be used to hunt abyss monsters and abyss summoners.

……

After hearing Lu Heng's reminder, Sona, the high priestess of the Siren tribe, also felt that something was wrong.

Although she instinctively chose to believe her own people, it didn't mean she didn't want to know the truth.

Moreover, Lu Heng's final reminder made her alert.

She had many ways to verify the challenge missions of the recruiters, so there was no possibility of deception in this information.

That means there is indeed a source of abyssal pollution in the Tidal Sea.

This is a huge hidden danger for the Sirens.

Regardless of whether or not we finally reconcile with the Dark Iron Dwarves, we must find the source of the abyss pollution in the sea.

She pondered for a moment, left the Sirens Temple, and went to visit Elder Onatu.

After being injured, Onatu stayed in his residence to recuperate.

At this moment, an air shield was opened in Onatu's residence, creating an air environment in the room.

The Sirens are indeed a race that lives in the sea, and most of the time they can live freely in the sea water.

However, when injured, the air environment is more conducive to wound healing.

Therefore, Onatu now stays in the air environment to speed up the healing of his wounds.

After hearing the guard's report, Onatu came to the door to greet the high priest with a very respectful attitude.

High Priest Sona stepped forward and released a stream of water to clean the burn on his left arm.

Onatu bowed his head to express his gratitude, and then asked the high priest why he came.

Sona flicked her tail, entered the residence, walked around casually, and asked casually, "This time when you came ashore, you were attacked by Dark Iron Dwarves. Who was the Dark Iron Dwarf leading the team?"

Onat was silent for half a second before answering, "It was the great wizard Hogrei of the Dark Iron Dwarves."

Sona then asked, "Did you hurt him?"

Onatu frowned, shook his head and replied: "I am incompetent and failed to inflict heavy damage on these despicable Dark Iron Dwarves."

"Really? But the Siren warriors you brought are elite warriors trained by you personally. They can be said to be the most powerful warriors of our Siren tribe." High Priest Sona questioned.

At first, she didn't think there was anything wrong with Onatu taking elite warriors with him.

After all, if you want to negotiate with a hostile race, you can ensure safety by bringing powerful warriors with you.

However, choosing a team with strong combat power has another possibility...

Onatu hurriedly explained: "I failed to hurt Hogre, but the warriors I trained defeated Hogre. Hogre's chest was pierced by the harpoon and it almost pierced through. It's a pity that he was not killed in the end."

High Priestess Sona turned, looked him in the eye, and asked, "Did you join the battle?"

When Onatu heard this question, he fell silent.

Sona raised her voice and asked again: "Answer me, did you participate in the battle?"

Onatu's expression darkened and he replied, "No."

Sona stared at the burning wound on his left arm and continued to question, "Since you didn't participate in the battle, who inflicted the injury on you?"

Onatu snorted coldly and replied, "Why does the high priest want to delve into these trivial matters? We have been hostile to the Dark Iron Dwarves for so many years, why should we reconcile with them?
“That’s right, my injuries were not caused by the Dark Iron Dwarves, but does it matter?

“In the Tidal Sea, we, the Sirens, are the race that rules the sea, and there is no need for us to reconcile with the Dark Iron Dwarves.

"If the Dark Iron Dwarves dare to step into the Tidal Sea, I will let them die in the sea!"

When the high priest Sona heard this answer, she understood what was going on.

Onatu did not hide anything any longer and told everything.

He took the initiative to take on the task of negotiating with the Dark Iron Dwarves, and then brought his most elite Siren warriors to attack the Dark Iron Dwarves' negotiating envoys.

His purpose was simple: he did not want to reconcile with the Dark Iron Dwarves.

After listening to this, High Priest Sona sighed and asked, "Why do you disobey my orders?"

Onatu bowed his head and explained, "I am loyal to the high priest, but the high priest has been too merciful in some matters. We, the Sirens, are the overlords of the ocean and do not need to reconcile with any land race.

"If there is one Dark Iron Dwarf who dares to step into the Tidal Sea, I will kill him. If there are two, I will kill both. I will kill them all until no Dark Iron Dwarf dares to approach the Tidal Sea."

High Priest Sona frowned and began to carefully examine the Siren elder in front of her, trying to determine whether he had been contaminated by the abyss.

(End of this chapter)