Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 385 The truth of the world

Unfortunately, Ash's originally well-intentioned joke did not relieve the depressed mood of everyone in the hall.

Harvey didn't even need to say much; these words instead made everyone present have a creepy guess in their hearts.

Yes... what happened to those powerful tribes that emerged victorious in the competition? There wasn't an insurmountable chasm across this entire continent, so why, for thousands of years, had there been no historical records of them, whether among humans, demons, or other smaller tribes?

Duncan whispered, seemingly to comfort himself, "Perhaps for the races in the center of the continent... the wasteland and the southern border are considered barren and untamed, so they simply disdain to set foot there."

Harvey shook his head, bluntly shattering the Master of Illusion's assumptions. "They call the area north and south of the Divine Spine Mountains the 'Continental Corner,' which means this land was once within the sights of these tribes. Perhaps because the dragons have been entrenched here since ancient times, the cost of occupying this not-so-fertile land is disproportionate to the rewards."

"But what worries me most is... the most profound and recurring phrase in the fragments of memory from the core: 'They are coming.' What does it mean? Combined with the long history of the 'Continental Center,' I'm guessing it might be referring to the powerful alien race that defeated us in the past."

Asdalen asked in confusion, "But how could a magic core buried deep underground record these ancient memories? Who preserved these fragmented historical memories in it?"

This question accidentally came up with Harvey's "specialty", but Dean Arturo, who is also currently devoting himself to theoretical research in this area, was the first to explain.

"This is the reflection of soul energy within the magic network..." Arturo said slowly. "The more powerful the spellcaster or magical creature, the deeper and longer-lasting the traces their soul energy leaves within the magic network. We speculate this may be due to the varying degrees of magical erosion they have experienced."

"So... the memory fragments I received from the magic core are most likely warnings or prophecies left for us by our ancient ancestors."

Harvey stood on the hall steps, facing the crowd below with a serious expression. "Everyone, the truth of the world has been revealed to us through the magic core. But at least we finally understand... the real enemy does not come from within the human race, nor from the demons we have been fighting for hundreds of years."

He turned and walked towards the huge wasteland map hanging on the wall behind him, and pressed his palm on the blank area that was completely undepicted, farther north than the permafrost area deep in the wasteland.

"The real enemy comes from the north, the legendary [Center of the Continent]."

……

Shortly after the meeting ended, three forum members, Eye of Illusion, Astrologer and Mithril Unicorn, hurried to Harvey's study to ask for a meeting.

"Are you asking me whether I should announce this shocking historical truth in the forum?"

Harvey looked calm and didn't seem to be worried at all.

The Eye of Illusion pondered for a moment and asked cautiously, "At least... at least we should seek the opinions of those two beings, right?"

Harvey chuckled, fully understanding the unspeakable thoughts and ideas of the three forum members - could the mysterious existence behind the Spellcaster Forum be one of those powerful alien races from the [Center of the Continent]? And as their agent, would Harvey stand on the side of the forum or his own bloodline?

"Don't worry, the organization behind the forum is not what you think..." Harvey said sincerely, "They don't directly intervene in ethnic disputes in the real world. I can fully guarantee this." The three of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this, and their stiff backs sitting on the sofa couldn't help but relax.

"What I'm worried about is... it will be difficult to gain the trust of all members if the truth is announced directly in the forum." Harvey raised his hand and tapped the table lightly, pointing out the real difficulty.

The Mithril Unicorn asked doubtfully, "As an agent...isn't that enough to gain their trust?"

"Don't forget, the conflict between the Federation and the Church is still escalating, and our racial dispute with the demons has lasted for hundreds of years..." Ms. Astrologer has always been calm and spoke out the core of the problem in a quiet voice.

It was easy to announce the truth of history in the forum, and it was not difficult to make the chiefs and senior leaders of the Federation believe it, but the problem was... Harvey, as the forum agent, was unable to mediate the faith dispute between the church and the Federation, nor could he ease the hatred and struggle with the demons.

The three of them immediately fell into an awkward silence after hearing this. If Harvey couldn't do it, then ordinary forum members like them would be of no help at all.

"As I just said in the meeting, the most pressing issue right now is to figure out... who our enemies are? Where do they come from? And when will they come..."

If they were inevitably faced with a war for the survival of the race, Harvey believed that they should at least find out the cause of the war and why these enemies had never taken action in the past, but had to wait until thousands of years later, when humans and demons had gained a foothold in the so-called "Continental Corner", before they bared their fangs of aggression.

No war is ever fought without cause. The battles between the Church and the spellcasters are fought for the truths and beliefs they uphold. Humans and demons compete for resources and expansion. So what are the motives of the alien enemies in the [Center of the Continent]? It can't be that they simply want to kill and exterminate the weaker tribes that escaped the net, right?

Harvey also noticed the word "They" mentioned in the memory fragments, which meant that the other party was at least a powerful race with divine qualities like the dragons. This was completely different from the illusory "gods" claimed by the church, but rather immortal species with long lifespans like dragons and giants.

"So the most important thing we need to do next is to continue collecting more magic core fragments."

"As long as I absorb and integrate enough magical [Origin], the ancient memories I receive will become more and more complete, and the truth of history will finally surface..."

The Eye of Illusion was stunned for a moment, then mumbled, "Besides the ruins beneath the Divine Spine Mountains...where else in the Southern Continent is there a vast cluster of magic stone veins that might contain a magic core?"

The Mithril Unicorn, a high-level alchemist, shuddered and blurted out, "The Breath of the Hills in the Dwarven Kingdom, the Holy Valley of Light in the Papal State of Goris, the magical capital of Alaye... and the Evil Moon Mountain Mine, which has recently been jointly controlled by the Federation and the Seven Wizarding Nations!"

"Then how can we obtain the possible core? It's impossible to occupy all these mining areas?" The Eye of Illusion retorted subconsciously.

The core mining area for mining high-level magic stones is not a tourist attraction, so Harvey and his team will naturally not be allowed to go in and search and explore openly. Moreover, if the secret of the magic core is exposed, it will become the target of many extraordinary forces in the southern region.

"If we can win them over through negotiation, there's no need to resort to violence..." Harvey didn't find it difficult at all. He said calmly, holding his teacup, "If we can't win them over... then we can only seize them by force."

(End of this chapter)