Divine Beast Creator-Chapter 1123 - 1124: Beneath the City

"Special creations that maintain order, beings purely made of data."

Feng Yuan reached out and scooped up a mechanical cube to examine, and Agunas said with some confusion,

"Where exactly does this thing come from? What is Ernis up to?"

He had never seen such a thing, and it did not seem likely that humans would create something like this in the Data Domain at this time. Even Liao Yu did not recognize these gadgets. And when it comes to mechanical creations, it’s impossible to bypass Ernis. That Divine Beast holds the authority. As for Nierlat, it has some ability to improve, but definitely not the creative power of Ernis, so it can be ruled out.

"It has nothing to do with Ernis. Haven’t you helped Big Cat with the game before? These are the NPCs of this city, or rather, the guardians born from the Data Domain to maintain order, but their strength seems a bit too weak..."

Feng Yuan let go of the mechanical cube and let it drift away, he said somewhat helplessly. These mechanical cubes only possessed Common Level strength. With such little power, it would be difficult to maintain order—as even slightly stronger Spirit Beasts could easily eliminate them.

Hearing Feng Yuan’s explanation, Agunas looked around in surprise and said,

"NPCs? Is this a gaming world?!"

"No, the Data-based Spirit Beasts should also have their own areas of activity within the Data Domain, not like before."

Feng Yuan glanced at Agunas and said irritably. Now, these Data-based Spirit Beasts were simply using their abilities to create special virtual worlds within the Data Domain. While it’s possible to use rules to prevent destruction, it’s still very different from completely simulating the real world.

The recent incident with Big Cat deforming a trash can was one such example. Whether it’s Big Cat’s game or those virtual spaces created by Data-based Spirit Beasts, unless the conditions for destruction are set in advance, a situation similar to what happened when Feng Yuan and others destroyed the Chaotic Data Clusters would occur—the structure being hit hard would shatter into a mass of data blocks and dissipate.

"This area, you can treat it as a projection of the real world if you wish. Here, as long as you don’t launch an attack of Legendary Level power, it won’t cause a data destruction effect."

Feng Yuan looked around and said, seeing Xiao Ji apparently wanting to give it a try, he pressed down on its head and said,

"Don’t mess around here, there are other people around, and you wouldn’t be planning to attract those small cubes to suppress you, would you?"

Although those guard cubes couldn’t do anything to Feng Yuan and the others, he didn’t want to needlessly destroy the order here. Isn’t it nice to just enjoy visiting an unknown city?

"Regarding the information about this place, I don’t know much either. However, I can write down my speculations for you, and you can explore on your own. But I do not recommend the Special Duty Team take over here."

Glancing at Liao Yu, Feng Yuan casually said, he was just giving a heads-up. If the Special Duty Team really planned to intervene or even take over the city, he wouldn’t bother. Liao Yu looked at Feng Yuan speechlessly and said,

"With what manpower to take over this place? But there shouldn’t be any bad things happening here, right?"

"It’s hard to say, strictly speaking, this place is like a real-world city. I’m not very clear about the specific operating rules either. But if we called the areas we’ve previously created the Void Zone, then this is something akin to a real-world place."

"Well... how to put it, newly born Data-based Spirit Beasts should all appear here in the future, but I’m not sure which area specifically. However, we can deduce their traits because they will have a high level of integration with their surroundings."

Seeing that Liao Yu seemed not to understand, Feng Yuan smiled and said,

"Follow me, once you see that area you should know. Big Cat, did you find a map?"

Upon hearing Feng Yuan’s inquiry, Big Cat let out a mournful meow. A translucent screen appeared in front of Feng Yuan. He saw the complex web of roads and the towering map, layered three to four stories high, and knew his guess was correct.

"Where are you planning to go?"

As Feng Yuan led everyone through strange alleys, Qi Chen asked with some bewilderment. What weird place was this guy trying to take them to now? Feng Yuan looked at the maze-like map and said,

"Of course, to the lower levels. The higher up, the stronger the surface order. On the other hand, if we go down, it will be just the opposite. I wonder which layer the sewers and such would be on."

As he spoke, Feng Yuan stood still, chin in hand, staring thoughtfully at the map before him. Although he had led Qi Chen and the others through alleys to get closer to the next lower level area, the surrounding environment and buildings hadn’t changed much—they just seemed a bit more outdated, different from the dilapidated city zone he had imagined.

However, he was currently getting a headache from the maze-like roads. The lower they went, not only did the environment become more worn, but also the roads became increasingly complex. At least for now, Feng Yuan was struggling to find the downward paths. Big Cat glanced at the map and meowed something to Feng Yuan, which Agunas translated,

"It says it can find the way down."

"Is that so? Can you lead the way?"

Surprised at Agunas’ translation, Feng Yuan looked at Big Cat and said, not expecting that Big Cat had such an ability. But thinking about it, it made sense—after all, Big Cat had created video games, and the mazes in those games were probably more complex than the city’s streets. He patted Big Cat’s head and praised it a few times.

Xiao Ji looked somewhat unconvinced when Big Cat was praised and stared at the map in front of Feng Yuan for a long time. But even Feng Yuan could be confused by it at times, let alone Xiao Ji. With a light-hearted poke at Xiao Ji’s back, Feng Yuan said,

"Alright, this thing is not so easy to recognize. But if we continue downward, it shouldn’t turn into a maze, right?"

As he said this, Feng Yuan felt somewhat uneasy. The map was a two-dimensional one, and the crossroads were not very user-friendly. Not to mention that in some parts of the city, there were overlaps where three or four roads intersected at the same spot on the same layer.

As they moved on, the surrounding environment finally began to change. The light from the sky gradually disappeared, and shabby, variously sized street lamps lit the somewhat gloomy roads. Roadside greenery was completely gone from this area, with only shadow-loving plants on the windows of old houses.

"What is this place? Why does it feel a bit... gloomy?"

Surveying their surroundings, Liao Yu asked somewhat puzzled. Feng Yuan smiled smugly and replied,

"Of course, it’s gloomy. Take a look at where we are. This place must have been born from data of slums during the Dynasty Era, the dark side of a city."

"I see... Wait a minute! So you’re saying there could be Data-based Spirit Beasts with extremely nasty temperaments?!"

Just as Liao Yu breathed a sigh of relief, she abruptly realized what that meant and spoke with a shocked expression. The Data-based Spirit Beasts encountered by the Special Duty Team had tended towards order, without constraints, and wouldn’t do pranks for no reason. But if personality really depended on the environment...

"Why not? Every lineage of Spirit Beasts has those mischievous ones that like to play pranks. It’s no surprise that Data-based Spirit Beasts would have similar beings. What’s so shocking about that?"

Glancing at Liao Yu, Feng Yuan said with a look of you’re making a big deal out of nothing. Even among the Divine Beasts, there were the likes of Anernia, with a penchant for playing pranks and a bad temperament. Was it strange that Data-based Spirit Beasts could have similar beings? But Spirit Beasts born in such places... even Feng Yuan started to wonder if some truly nasty ones would appear.

After all, they were still a long way from the bottom level, but even here, the environment was already like this. Who knows what they would encounter if they went further down? Thinking about it, Feng Yuan suddenly realized.

Even though characteristics depend on the environment, in reality, it’s because their living environments differ. If they continue downward, it couldn’t necessarily be another residential area. It might be a weird place like a gloomy sewer, which could very well suit some order-leaning Data-based Spirit Beasts.

After all, creatures like the Mud Monster live in similar areas. There should also be Data-based Spirit Beasts with comparable habitats, right? Feng Yuan pondered this with some uncertainty.