They won the Holy Grail War, but this turned out to be the Virtual Tree Universe.

Chapter 139 Dragging Huang Quan Down to the Sea
Huang Quan had no objection to Dan Lei's plan to collect the remains of the Zhu Luo Blood Sin Spirit after he had cleaned it up.

Because Huang Quan has been around for so many years, he has seen all sorts of people courting death.

After all, before she met the current Blood Sin Spirit Tirnan, her partner was an unknown person, a guy who wanted to launch himself into the Void Star God [IX] in an attempt to expand the Void Star God and surpass Akivili.

Compared to her, Dan Lei's actions after obtaining the remains of the Great Lord of Annihilation were not considered insane.

Therefore, Huang Quan's attitude at this time is to neither comment, encourage, nor stop Dan Lei. As long as Dan Lei doesn't regret it, she will just watch with a smile.

Seeing Huang Quan's nonchalant attitude, Dan Lei felt relieved.

It wasn't easy to get to the battlefield where Zhu Luo fell. Huang Quan will unleash his ultimate attack and wipe everything out. I need to take all the benefits I can get at once.

So, starting the next day, Danlei took Huang Quan and Tiernan to the battlefield to search for treasure.

Tirnan said many of the artifacts are now underwater, but Danlei said it was fine.

Chiming possesses a special technique called Cloud Chant that helps other races breathe and fight underwater, so as long as Danlei is present, water battles are not a problem.

As for the erosion of underwater void energy, only Dan Lei needs to worry about it.

Let's not even mention the Yellow Springs; if she wanted, it would be the sea itself that would be eroded.

Tiernan, he was originally a blood spirit, born from this sea.

If it weren't for Tirnan's memories telling it that it would drown if it stayed in the sea for too long, it could actually move freely in the sea.

Of course, Danlei also prepared a mount for rapid underwater movement.

Albion, being a second-tier dragon and a poison dragon, is an A-rank dragon in all terrains, so swimming is naturally a given for him.

Having grasped the meaning of emptiness and destiny, it naturally wouldn't encounter any problems soaking in the seawater.

Therefore, after going to sea, Danlei only needs to take care of himself, as he is the only one in the team who is affected by the negative environmental effects.

Of course, besides collecting relics, the official purpose of this trip was also to find the remains of those fallen sea rangers.

The sea patrolling knights who could join the Battle of Zhuluo were all experts. After their deaths, their bones, strengthened by the power of destiny, did not decay so easily.

There are no large creatures left in the sea; they won't just crunch away and eat all the corpses.

The remaining erosion from the void destiny will at most fill the bones with void power, but will not make the bones brittle or rotten.

As for why these remains were retrieved, the reason is simple: most people hope to be buried in the ground after death, rather than submerged in water.

Moreover, Danlei did this incident while he was looking for their equipment, which would also increase Tiernan's enthusiasm, so why not?

When it comes to guiding the way, Tiernan is clearly much more reliable than Huang Quan.

Riding in Albion, the three of them quickly arrived at the area of ​​the main battlefield from that year.

On the small islands in this sea area, traces of the battlefield from that time still remain.

Damaged equipment of the Sea Patrol Ranger, fragments left behind after the Breeding Bugs self-destructed—these are scattered all over the island.

Dan Lei prepared two food pouches specifically for the remains of the sea patrol knights, each containing a stone coffin he made himself using earth magic.

One can imagine that after that battle that shocked the world, the remains left at the scene must have been completely shattered.

Given Dan Lei's abilities, it wouldn't be difficult to determine whether the two bones belonged to the same person. Therefore, collecting the remains would simply take some time and wouldn't allow for identification of the deceased through the bones.

Even with Tirnan agreeing that he could take all of the deceased's belongings with him, Danlei was still very enthusiastic.

Although these patrolling rangers are not wealthy, their weapons and equipment still need to be at a certain level; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to overwhelm Zhuluo.

For example, right at the start of the game, Dan Lei found an extremely sharp dagger, the kind that could pierce directly into the armor of a warship based on its hardness and sharpness.

According to Tiernan, the dagger was a relic of a sea patrolman who was in charge of undercover reconnaissance.

Dan Lei discovered hundreds of craters around the dagger, caused by the self-destruction of insects, as well as numerous hoofprints of the trampling Void Soldiers.

His remains were also badly broken and had many puncture marks.

Clearly, this sea patrol ranger was eventually killed by the swarm of insects and the antimatter legion, most likely by arrows from the Voidwalker Tramplers.

Dan Lei found many more things like this, such as a badly damaged mech and a skeleton lying around the open cockpit.

The pilot clearly fought for some time after leaving the mech after the crash before being killed.

Because the data inside the mech was not destroyed, Danlei was even able to see a glimpse of the horrific battlefield from that year through the stored data and learn the pilot's identity.

So Danlei retrieved the entire mecha; the thing and the data inside could be used as historical records.

Also, if Danlei finds rings, pocket watches, photos, or similar items, he will keep them separately.

One should not be too greedy. Danlei only intends to take the weapons on this trip. Those items that can only be exchanged for money or have sentimental value will definitely be given to Loretta after they leave, so that she can find them and give them to the relatives of those sea patrol knights.

Loretta is getting old, so going to her old comrades and relatives is definitely safer than fighting the antimatter legion.

Of course, in addition to the above, Danlei also found a treasure, a burial item, the kind of burial item that Pinocchio Yellow Springs gave to the Sea Ranger in accordance with Tiernan's last wish.

However, the one Danlei found was an arrow, not a bullet.

According to Potio in the game, only heroes who have made great contributions to the Sea Rangers deserve to possess such a thing.

But in Dan Lei's view, this thing is actually a product of highly condensed energy from the hunting path.

Clearly, the glorious achievements that Potio spoke of were actually the fulfillment of his destiny. As a seafaring ranger, the fact that he could condense such a thing meant that he must have gone very far on the path of destiny in his lifetime.

It's important to understand that the sea patrol knights don't play games; their journey of exploration and hunting relies almost entirely on practice, not on enlightenment.

Therefore, being able to condense this thing is equivalent to having made outstanding military achievements.

However, Dan Lei found it strange that, in terms of fulfilling their destiny, the Immortal Boat Alliance was in some ways even more fanatical than the Sea Patrol Rangers.

There were quite a few generals and soldiers like Feixiao who were either fighting against the Abundant Beasts or on their way to fight them during the Immortal Ship Wars.

But I've never heard of anyone leaving behind such a thing after they died.

Moreover, Danlei tried injecting the power of the Hunting Fate to see if he could use it.

The arrow had no effect, and Danlei was unable to use it.

Fortunately, Dan Lei had Tirnan by his side. Although he had become a Blood Sin Spirit, seeing Dan Lei's puzzled expression towards the arrow, he still explained...

"Dan Lei, only the Sea Patrol Knights know how to use this arrow."

It is something that is condensed after the death of a sea patrolman, and it usually resembles the shape of that person's main weapon in life.

However, it won't be too big. For example, if it's a sword, the final form is usually only a small sword about the size of a finger. The one you have in your hand is probably a relic of an archer.

However, although your Immortal Ship Alliance is favored by hunters and you also have a hunter's destiny, you still cannot use the relics of the Sea Patrol Ranger.

The specific secret is something I cannot tell you unless you also become a Sea Patrol Knight.

Of course, I'd be happy to guide you on your journey as a seafaring adventurer.

At this point, Tiernan had his eye on Danlei's potential and had also seen Danlei's desire not to be bound by rules, so he wanted to poach him from the Immortal Boat Alliance.

However, the path of hunting has never been Dan Lei's main path.

Danlei felt that the concept of the Vengeance Hunt was a bit abstract and not quite suitable for him.

After all, if necessary, I never mind being a villain with some principles, but not too many.

For example, when Dan Lei threatened Zhang Chulan in "Under One Person," as long as he didn't actually cause chaos in the world, it was fine for him to threaten Zhang Chulan however he wanted.

But this is clearly not a matter of justice, especially since he later forcibly enslaved the free-thinking Draig and Albion.

These were all acts that benefited Danlei, so he directly committed these evil deeds.

It can only be said that there is a reason why [Hu] took a liking to Dan Lei, as Dan Lei has done many things, both good and evil.

Therefore, Danlei neither wants to become a sea patrolman nor can he become one.

Because identity brings responsibility, and destiny is subjective, star gods will suffer backlash for going against destiny, while mortals will not be punished as severely, but they are not completely unaffected.

Doing things that go against one's destiny may, at best, lead to stagnation in one's destiny, and at worst, deprive one of the right to draw upon the power of destiny.

Of course, it is also because destiny is subjective. As long as one can convince oneself that one is fulfilling one's destiny, the power of destiny will not be affected.

A prime example is Oswaldo from the marketing department of Interstellar Peace Corporation.

He believed that expansion was also a form of pioneering, even if it seriously violated the pioneering creed of "fighting against injustice even when facing life-or-death situations."

His actions were enough to unite the nameless ones to eradicate the internal cancer, yet he could still use the power to forge his own destiny.

However, Danlei is actually not very good at deceiving himself.

In my past lives and the life before that, I was forced to wear a mask all the time.

Danlei has finally turned his life around, and he doesn't want to continue living a life of compromise with an Ah Q mentality.

Therefore, Danlei directly and explicitly rejected Tirnan, saying...

"Senior Tiernan, I am very sorry, but my personality and way of doing things mean that I am destined not to become a sea patrol knight."

However, I intend to study this arrow for some time. If I cannot figure it out, I will hand it over to Lady Loretta.

When Tirnan saw that Danlei had clearly refused, he looked regretful but did not insist.

After all, one cannot force one's destiny. Unless one is blessed by the stars like the mourner, there is no one who has ever heard of someone who vehemently dislikes a certain destiny and still chooses to pursue it.

In such cases, these people who choose a particular path in life are generally honest-hearted but talkative individuals. Alternatively, they may have a malicious mindset, knowing their destiny is good but wanting to ruin its reputation before secretly leaving.

In short, these people say they hate a certain fate and promote their hatred of that fate, but their actions are more proactive than anyone else's.

Tirnan did not object to Danlei's request to study the arrow.

Since no one has ever stipulated that these burial goods must eventually return to the hands of the sea patrol rangers, if Dan Lei wants to keep a memento, considering that he has collected the remains of so many sea patrol rangers here, no sea patrol ranger will force him to hand over the arrows.

However, Tirnan never imagined that Danlei had two genius girlfriends.

Dan Lei had already made up his mind: he would give this thing to Hei Ta and Ruan Mei when he got back.

This thing can transcend time and space and affect the past. As long as we tell Heita and Ruan Mei that we can use this thing as a weapon to hit the past Polkakaka, they will definitely do their best to crack the secret on it.

That concludes the discussion about the arrows used as burial goods.

Dan Lei quickly searched all of these scattered islands.

Next, we should go into the water to look for it.

There's not much to say. After using Cloud Chant to buff Huang Quan and Tiernan, Dan Lei pulled them into the water, with Albion following closely behind.

After going into the water, Dan Lei finally saw how the Blood Sin Spirit condensed.

In the originally empty seawater, upon sensing living people, the energy of the Void Fate instantly gathered together, then transformed into a human form, and finally became a Blood Sin Spirit that pounced on them.

However, these guys chose the wrong target.

As soon as Danlei activated [Echoes Intertwined: The Reign of the Key], the area around Danlei instantly turned into a mixture of ice and water.

Any blood spirit that dared to approach was instantly frozen into a lump, and then shattered by Tirnan's single shot.

As for those who attack remotely, the Blood Sin Spirits' behavior patterns of mimicking the actions of the living and their inheritance of the memories of the living directly harmed them.

Most of the ranged weapons in the hands of those sea patrol rangers are not very effective underwater, so they have all opted for melee combat.

So these blood-sin spirits kept coming to deliver their heads, just like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather.

However, Dan Lei still felt that there were too many Blood Sin Spirits, so he directly asked...

"Huang Quan, are these Blood Sin Spirits really all patrolling sea knights? You've eliminated quite a few here over the years, haven't you? Isn't this number excessive?"

As soon as Dan Lei asked the question, Huang Quan looked at Dan Lei with an expression that said, "You don't know?" and then said...

"These blood-stained spirits are certainly not limited to the sea rangers who perished here. The shadow of [IX] shrouds the entire universe, and all those who walk the path of destiny will leave behind obsessions and reflections."

In places shrouded in shadow, powerful obsessions, combined with their reflections, form blood-stained spirits.

Upon hearing this, Dan Lei immediately wanted to curse, saying that according to this logic, it was impossible to eliminate all the Blood Sin Spirits. How did you two guide all the wandering souls of the Sea Patrol Rangers in the game? How could you possibly distinguish the identities of these strangely shaped Blood Sin Spirits?
However, just as Dan Lei was about to question him, he suddenly found a scene image from the game where Huang Quan said those words.

In the picture, Huang Quan says that when the two finished guiding the souls of the dead, a huge blood sin spirit was clearly being born in the primordial sea.

Moreover, the other blood spirits around them did not disappear.

Therefore, Dan Lei realized that this passage might be Huang Quan's judgment that the rationality of the Blood Sin Spirit of Tiernan was about to collapse under the continuous erosion of nothingness, and that it was about to degenerate into a monster.

So, Huang Quan told a lie so that Tirnan could rest in peace.

She must have dealt with Black Sun with a single strike after sending Tirnan away, resolving the problem by completely eliminating the void shadow in this area.

(End of this chapter)