Find a Troubled Girl after leaving the Guild-Chapter 347 - 201: Past Events in the Deep Cave (Part 2)
"What was that shadow just now?" Zoe asked, putting away her weapon.
"That’s exactly what I want to tell you all."
Li Ang said, the number of spiders in this cave was way too few, not at all in line with the normal state of the Soul-devouring Spiders.
He kicked the spider corpse on the ground with his boot: "Their tiers as well, they’re all just barely reaching the level of a level 4 adult, otherwise you’d have to exert more effort."
"You just said that thing was raising the spiders, shouldn’t there be a lot of them?" Dorothy asked.
Li Ang replied, "Normally, that’s the case."
Leading the young girls forward, he inspected the situation inside the cave.
"I said raising because that thing presents a domineering state over these spiders, yet it’s not a simple summon."
"Is there a difference?" Perhaps something in his words piqued Andasu’s interest.
Li Ang explained that Demon’s servants often exist in a mutually beneficial relationship; some demons willingly surround strong beings because they benefit as well.
In rare cases, overly powerful, high-intelligence demons might forcibly subjugate other groups, but in such cases, it’s absolute domination, unlike the driven-out ones we saw earlier.
"As for why it raises spiders? We’ll know once we find that demon deep inside."
As they walked further in, what appeared wasn’t demon-related but human creations.
In a recess in the rock wall, a shelf and wooden table had been built, covered with containers and instruments, but all veiled with cobwebs, making it difficult to discern what tools they were.
Li Ang used his system panel to check, they were all related to alchemy and biological cultivation.
"Sure enough, the spiders here were brought in by humans."
Li Ang pointed to the ground, where the remains should be the original owner of this place.
His skull was completely pierced, and the bones of his body were incomplete, showing signs of being gnawed.
"He raised the spiders but didn’t do it well and got attacked and eaten by them?" Zoe examined the unsightly skeleton, feeling a bit scared and not daring to approach.
Except for ALulu, none of them got very close. Zoe and Andasu were a bit scared, while Xiaoniu stood uncaringly beside Li Ang, watching him inspect the body.
"Doesn’t seem like the work of spiders."
After checking, Li Ang moved to the workbench, clearing away the cobwebs, searching for any texts.
Sure enough, there were this person’s experimental records piled thickly.
Li Ang casually picked up a book, flipping it open to a page.
"Guild Calendar, June 13, 288. Rainy. The cave is also becoming damp, affecting the spider eggs’ absorption of enhancing liquid. Experiment halted for now."
This proves he indeed had something to do with spiders, but it didn’t relate much to the cave and the street outside.
Li Ang pulled out the very bottom book, a record of the earliest experiments.
"Guild Calendar, January 6, 275, the experiment begins. Found a secluded spot, to my surprise, discovered an underground hollow outside the Holy City, quite good."
"So early, this man came here more than thirty years ago." ALulu stretched her head over to look, making Li Ang feel warm.
Li Ang flipped a few more pages, according to this person’s experimental records, it can be seen he was a specialist in demon research, particularly adept at analyzing Mutated Insect Species demons.
"Come help take a look together."
Everyone brushed away the cobwebs and dust, flipping through the pages.
Li Ang noticed that the owner of this workbench would occasionally vent his emotions in the writings with phrases like "damn Thousand Tower City" and "Tower of Magic looks down on my research," suggesting he originally hailed from Thousand Tower City.
"Thirty years ago, Flower City wasn’t even built; how did they construct such a prosperous city?"
Dorothy, hailing from a lord’s family, found it hard to imagine the development speed of Flower City.
"Magic guided Technology from Makena Island Country can create some engineering machinery that accelerates development. Alchemy and Magic can create earth golems to transport and compact soil and stones, crafting bricks and stones needed for construction right on site with Earth Element."
Li Ang listed various technologies speeding up city construction.
He further explained, "That street outside couldn’t have been deserted for so long; his accident should have occurred within the last decade."
As Li Ang spoke, he turned to the last page of the notes, where this person only recorded some experimental data he couldn’t quite understand, prompting him to search further back.
The experimental records were thick, but under everyone’s perusal, they found what could be the timing of his mishap.
"293, May 14, a strange magic power fluctuation appeared in the Holy City, causing a batch of spider eggs cultivated under simulated natural conditions to hatch abnormally, escaping from the experimental cave, and devoured a nearby resident. Why was there such a fluctuation, odd?"
"It was eight years ago." Dorothy looked nostalgic.
Eight years ago was also when she and Li Ang first met.
Li Ang smiled at her, continuing to flip through the records under the half-elf’s blushing and dreamy gaze.
The experimenter was someone hard to empathize with; after his young spiders escaped and killed someone, he remained emotionally unfazed and continued his research.
"June 3, 293, I investigated and discovered that the magic power fluctuation that day disturbed the spirituality in the test subjects, causing them to evolve towards a stronger, more ferocious state. Interesting, could this be used to create my ideal Soul-devouring Spiders? In that case, the blueprint for establishing my ideal nation can begin to take shape."
"His ambition is truly grand," Dorothy commented.
ALulu frowned, "Causing the death of innocent people and still dreaming of establishing a nation? No wonder he failed; it must have been his own actions that backfired."
