Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 302 Elegy
(I accidentally forgot to delete the outline I wrote yesterday.)
The three-meter-tall stone figure was the first to react; pieces of stone peeled off its body and hit the ground with a dull thud.

As the stones gradually crumbled away, a young stone figure stood panting amidst the rubble, his eyes red as he rushed toward the terrified girl who had just stood up from the ground.

This action seemed to ignite something, and the stone men rushed forward, lifting up the heads of the Griggan people who were still blinking in terror.

What awaited them was the long-suppressed anger and hatred of the stone people.

Li Xia didn't continue participating, but instead found a slightly cleaner place to sit down.

Whatever you do next, you have to wait until this person vents their pent-up anger.

It's a good time to take a look at what we've gained.

"Black Charcoal, go and call those two siblings back. This is all over."

The kitten nodded, then quickly darted away on all fours.

Li Xia then opened the panel; the side quest had been completed.

Side Quest: Stone Village

Mission objective: Defeat the 'Gregor Slave Capture Team'

[Mission Status: Completed (Impeccable, you even left your head for these stone golems to vent their anger)]

[Task Rewards: 1. Grigan and Stan Stone Golem Diagram 2. Notary Permit *1 (Bonus reward for high score)]

The text on the panel vanished into a faint glow, leaving only a reader and a thin sheet of white paper.

The paper read, 'This warrant grants the holder of this license exemption from the consequences of taking items from the small world. All balance will be maintained by &^&(*&).'

The signature is 'Light Hill'

It's alright. I heard this thing is quite sought after and is considered a form of hard currency. However, it's only useful at Tier 3; it's useless at Tier 4.

Having this allows you to take a notarized piece of loot out of the world without paying for it; it's very practical.

Compared to this, Li Xia was more interested in another reward.

The illustrations of Griggan and Stan Stone Men are very useful for understanding the mysteries of these two races.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. If you treat them like humans, you are likely to suffer a great loss.

Just like the Griggans, being cut in half at the waist is still quite lethal; if you don't know this, you might be seriously injured if caught off guard.

Li Xia looked up and saw that the stone figures were gathering the heads together, seemingly preparing something powerful.

Feeling that they needed some more time, they refocused their attention on the reader.

The Griggans are people who possess characteristics of both plants and humans, and their skin can generate special energy through light.

This energy can not only be used to sustain life, but can also be converted into light energy, a unique life energy.

The Griggans are omnivorous and can obtain nutrients through normal eating. Their stomachs are like pitcher plants, producing a powerful corrosive liquid.

They can also extend tentacles from their limbs to penetrate deep into the soil to obtain nutrients, and they have extremely strong resistance to decay and pollution.

Aside from the brain, the rest of the body is completely disposable; only by destroying the brain can the Griggan be completely eradicated.

Awoo, who was craning his neck to watch, suddenly asked:
"Boss, is there a section on reproduction?"

"Ok?"

"I'm so curious." Awoo waved its paws: "Just now there was a Griggan carrying a stone girl. Aren't these two species different?"

"That's absolutely amazing!"

Hearing what Aowu said, Li Xia also became curious.

Generally speaking, it's difficult for two species to develop desires, but that's not always the case. Li Xia knows of a country where males even have desires for lizards and motorcycle exhaust pipes.

They don't even spare any tubular objects.

Li Xia picked up the e-reader and quickly started searching.

"found it!"

Skipping over all the useless nonsense, let's get straight to the point. It says above:

'The Griggans don't actually need to maintain a human form; theoretically, they can grow their bodies into any shape they like.'

Furthermore, in their reproductive system, they stubbornly maintain behaviors similar to humans; as plant bodies, they can remain in estrus all year round.

However, the plant body was clearly not without its advantages; the Greganes pioneered a unique way of obtaining pleasure.

Through physical contact, countless extremely tiny roots penetrate the other person's body, establish nerve connections, and then release special biological toxins.

This toxin can give the poisoned person unimaginable pleasure, but it can also lead to a variety of serious long-term effects.

The Griggans, on the other hand, communicate through their tentacles, sharing the special senses that the other possesses without being affected themselves.

'

After reading it, Li Xia and Ao Wu both fell silent. Griggan is a real psychopath!

In contrast, the stone men are much more normal; their fatal weakness is in their chests, where there is a life crystal.

They have no blood; instead, a mud-like liquid circulates within their bodies. They lack a dermis; beneath their skin lies a thin, solid rock shell.

Their reproductive method is also similar to mixing mud, but they will separate a small portion from their own life core to inject into each other.

Finally, a stone embryo was formed, and within the stone embryo was the newborn stone man.

Similar to the Griggan, the Stone People obtain nutrition by consuming various minerals.

The Stone Golems' greatest disadvantage is that the presence of their rocky shells prevents them from bending their bodies significantly, thus restricting their movement.

Actions like climbing are difficult to perform.

Li Xia turned off the reader, and was greatly shocked.

In the distance, Black Charcoal was riding a motorcycle, carrying two Stone Clan children, galloping towards them.

Even from a distance, you could see the joy on the two children's faces.

But when they arrived at the village, seeing that the familiar village had been reduced to ruins, an overwhelming sadness welled up inside them.

The stone men threw the heads into a stone vessel resembling a millstone, which rotated round and round, with green liquid mixed with a paste dripping down the pipes.

Every Griggan thrown in wore a look of despair, their expressions ranging from frantic to pleading.

But the stone man's face was filled with hatred, one after another, without stopping.

"This is our stone powder. People put the stones they find into it, grind them into powder, and then mix them with oil to make stone powder paste."

In this way, a stone that was originally meant for one person can now be shared by three.

Mika's somber voice rang in his ears, but Li Xia did not reply. He watched with Heitan and Aowu as the stone men scattered the green paste on the ground.

Then the stone figures gently tapped their chests, producing a low 'thump-thump' sound.

A deep, resonant voice rang out, like some kind of bugle call:
“Woo—ah—”

"The fingerprints on the rock paintings are still warm."

Moss gnaws at the stone bed that guards the night.

Your vine bag is filled with stardust and morning dew.

"Clap clap clap"

The other stone figures clapped their hands, creating a rhythmic chorus like a dense drumbeat, echoing the action.

"Wild fruit pits gnawed by mountain spirits"

"It sprouted into a monument between your fingers"

"Every scar is a mark of God."

"Star trails etched with the migration patterns of different groups"

"Ah—Eya—Woo-wei—" "The enemy's blood and bones have mingled into streams, meandering through the cracks in the rock paintings."

We'll call you home with the campfire.

The chorus gradually subsided, and Mika opened her mouth and began to murmur softly.

"Stars fall on your empty stone bed"

"The children of the tribe are counting light-years."

"Wait until the wildfires once again set the sky ablaze."

You will raise a new dawn from the ashes.

"We are children of the stars."

The Hall of Light grants native-level language proficiency; every time Li Xia hears a sentence, the corresponding Chinese sentence comes to mind.

The song ended, but the sorrow only grew stronger, like ink that could not be dissolved.

Just listening to it evokes a sense of desolation and sorrow; it is the elegy of the stone man.

The crowd didn't leave; instead, they gathered together and walked towards Li Xia.

Led by a stone figure that appeared to be quite old, they knelt down on the ground in a dark mass.

They expressed their sincerest gratitude:
"Thank you for your helping hand."

Inside the empty room, Li Xia sat on a stone chair, and the items that came with the previous side quests were beginning to appear.

Some things can't be labeled on the panel, but they actually exist.

For example, the stone man's gratitude and trust.

Gangyan stroked Mika and Laika's heads, saying gratefully:

"I am the village chief of this village. Thank you again, sir."

As for whether the Griggans would retaliate after Li Xia killed the slave-catching team, and thus harbor resentment, etc.

The stone people never considered that since it was a blood feud, there was no question of revenge.

Li Xia nodded: "These two children asked me to come, and I do indeed have something I need Shi Ren's help with."

The granite's yellowish-brown face turned serious:
"You said that as long as we can do it, we will never back down even if we are covered in mud."

"It's nothing, I just wanted to find out a few things."

"Inquiring about something?" A smile appeared on Gangyan's face: "To be honest, normally the Griggan people wouldn't allow an old stoneman to live in a stoneman village."

But these children did everything they could to hide me whenever they encountered slave hunters, which is how I managed to survive for so many years.

"I do know a great deal about this matter. May I ask what aspect you wish to inquire about?"

Oh? That's a pleasant surprise.

"This is better."

Li Xia said solemnly:
"What I want to know is all about the Griggans, such as the location of the Griggan sacred totem."

"It would be even better if we could have general information about the guardians of the sacred relic, as well as the locations of other legions."

The old village chief's smile froze on his face. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly waved to someone not far away.

Mika immediately jogged over and whispered:

"Grandpa Village Chief?"

"Go and call your brother Honghong over here."

Mika nodded, then hurriedly ran out. Gangyan whispered:

"If anyone knows what the adults are asking about, it's only through Honghong."

After hesitating for a moment, he continued:

“Honghong is a member of the resistance and the strongest warrior in our village.”

A short while later, the young man who had turned into a three-meter-tall stone statue in the center of the village walked in, his jewel-like eyes gleaming like water.

It looks like...he/she just cried?
Behind him followed the pretty stone girl, Li Xia remembered her name was Lika, and the two held hands tightly.

Clearly, everything that had happened had left the young couple still shaken.

"Grandpa Village Chief, are you looking for me?"

He hurriedly wiped his eyes, spoke in a buzzing voice, and gave Li Xia a grateful smile.

"Ah."

Gangyan waved for the others to leave and said softly:

"Sir, I have some questions for you, all about Griggs."

The old village chief repeated the question he had just asked.

"Ah this"

Honghong scratched his head, the two-meter-tall man making the gesture appear particularly憨厚 (honest and simple), and said with some distress:
"I only have a general understanding of the Southern Front Legion; the Relic and other legions are also involved."

"Let's start with the Southern Front Army."

Li Xia sat up straight, not disappointed. It would be a rare occurrence if he could get all the information he wanted in a small village.

It's no less shocking than 'the villagers shared controlled nuclear fusion technology with you'.

"Oh, alright."

After thinking carefully and organizing his thoughts, Honghong slowly said:

"The Southern Legion has three 10,000-man squads, and its commander is Scarpo, whom the Griggans call the 'Sword of the Empire'."

He is extremely powerful, and it is said that he can face three commanders of ten thousand men at the same time without being at a disadvantage.

The Southern Front Army was also very strong, after all, its role was...

Yes, it should be the stone guard. Those who are sent to guard the frontier and suppress the enemy are basically not weaklings; they are border troops.

"Each 10,000-man unit of the Southern Front Army consisted mainly of 4 cavalry units of 1,000 men, 4 heavy armor units of 1,000 men, and 2 projectile units of 1,000 men."

Their cavalry rode beasts of steel, and when they charged in a swarm, even if we were to transform into rock, we could not stop them.”

The booming sound carried a hint of desolation. In every battle, the stone men fought to the death, unafraid of death.

But each time they suffered a crushing defeat, and even within the resistance organization, there was an atmosphere of despair.

The Griggans were so powerful that there was not even a glimmer of hope for victory.

The initial sadness lasted only a short while. He quickly rallied and told everything he knew, to the best of his ability.

Li Xia listened attentively, mentally simulating what Hong Hong was saying.

Finally, Honghong let out a long breath:

"That's about all I know. But there's one place that can definitely provide more detailed information."

And perhaps even your other questions, sir, can be answered?

"where?"

Li Xia asked naturally.

Honghong said seriously:
"Tianbi City"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)