Chapter 77
Little Feather, preoccupied with hiding, looked back and found that Pepe was still standing quietly on the rock without moving, as if seriously thinking about and examining everything that was happening.
Elder Gu Li, seeing that his granddaughter had also come, was stared at by the little girl and subconsciously became speechless. Had she heard their entire conversation?
He clearly felt that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but being stared at by his granddaughter like this, Elder Gu Li subtly felt embarrassed.
Lin Ran had already walked over.
Adding the 10 Affection points just now, Little Feather’s Affection Level was now 95.
In “Demon World,” the higher the Affection Level, the harder it was to increase. He didn’t expect it to increase by 10 points in one go.
“Little Feather?”
Hearing A-Ran’s voice, Little Feather instantly froze, and only looked up after a few seconds.
“Are you cold? Do you want to come over?”
Lin Ran opened his arms, signaling for the little guy to come over. Wasn’t it cold hiding behind the rock and being blown by the wind?
“Ee…”
Little Feather couldn’t help but flap his wings and fly into A-Ran’s arms, successfully being picked up from behind the rock by Lin Ran.
Pepe was also picked up by Elder Gu Li.
The old man was clearly worried that his young granddaughter would be affected by coming to such a place, but he couldn’t say anything because of Lin Ran and Little Feather.
“Patriarch Anvers, you and everyone else can just escort us here. Little Feather and I will go in together. Otherwise, it’s quite dangerous with the radiation. Can you lead the way, Little Feather?”
Lin Ran looked at the Feather Clan members behind him and didn’t ask them to follow him.
“How can that be? I’ll go with you. There might be some unforeseen circumstances inside.”
Anvers naturally wasn’t at ease letting Lin Ran, a human, go in alone, and directly said that he would go with him.
And if something really happened to someone on his territory, Anvers felt that he wouldn’t be able to explain it to that person… the consequences might be much more serious.
After all, no demon could yet say for sure what Lin Ran’s significance to “Demon World” was.
Elder Gu Li, holding Pepe, was about to stop Anvers when he was pulled by the beard by Pepe, who had transformed back into human form.
The old man looked at his granddaughter and found that she still didn’t speak, but clearly didn’t agree with what he wanted to do.
After freezing for a long time, Elder Gu Li finally watched as Anvers followed Lin Ran towards the ruins.
This human was truly difficult for demons to understand.
A very strange and stubborn existence.
“Thank you, Patriarch Anvers, I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Lin Ran was quite surprised that Anvers actually came with him and subconsciously thanked the Feather Clan demon.
“But it’s really great that you’re here, because I’m worried that my wings might not be able to fly for long.”
Anvers looked at the young human who thanked him with a sincere smile and, after a few seconds, inexplicably looked away in a fluster.
“…It’s just my duty.”
Anvers felt that if the demons in the “Demon World” forum had the chance to see A-Ran in person, they would probably be the same as him now.
He was really attractive to demons, making them involuntarily want to get closer.
Little Feather looked at A-Ran, then at Anvers, and remembered how A-Ran praised his good looks when he grew up. He really wished he could grow up a little faster, just like Anvers’ size.
As the patriarch, Anvers indeed had the standard Feather Clan appearance and tall stature, looking like a very powerful adult demon.
“Ee.”
However, just before landing, Little Feather grabbed A-Ran’s fingertip.
“What’s wrong?”
Lin Ran patiently asked Little Feather and saw specks of starlight appear on the fingertip held by Little Feather. The protective shield provided by the bracelet was given an additional purification effect by Little Feather.
“This cub’s awakened ability is actually purification!?”
Anvers was shocked and, for the first time, truly saw the original form of Little Feather’s ability in a non-attacking state.
“Is this ability very rare?”
Lin Ran looked at Anvers while holding Little Feather.
“It’s more than just rare, it’s contradictory… a cub born in a source of pollution actually awakened the ability of purification.”
Anvers muttered to himself.
He felt that it was too incredible.
And after the double protection buff was stacked, when Lin Ran entered the withered ancient tree, apart from vaguely feeling the air pressure was a bit low, he didn’t feel any discomfort.
On the other hand, Little Feather, who had returned, excitedly pulled A-Ran, wanting him to see his former nest.
He didn’t know why, even though this place was terrible, he just wanted A-Ran to see it, to let A-Ran know more about him.
“Is this your nest, Little Feather?”
Lin Ran was led by the cub into a small compartment and found a cradle that could still be vaguely discerned in the charred room.
“Ee.”
Little Feather nodded.
“Our Little Feather is actually really, really amazing…”
Lin Ran looked at the cub and really wanted to tell him that he had already done his best.
He couldn’t imagine what Little Feather would have become if he hadn’t taken him in, growing up in such an environment.
And Anvers, seeing the heartache in Lin Ran’s eyes, as the Feather Clan patriarch, finally realized that the clan had indeed been too harsh on this cub egg left by Yin Er and Rhine Man En.
But as they went deeper, Anvers hesitated again, unsure whether he should let Lin Ran get any closer.
“Further inside is the core of the laboratory. We sent people to investigate from a distance before, and the residual source miasma inside has become increasingly rampant over the years…”
Inhaling too much miasma often caused demons to completely transform into mindless beasts.
Even he couldn’t guarantee his own safety, let alone what effect it would have on humans.
“Careful——!”
Just as Anvers hesitated, a dense black miasma suddenly burst out from the gate!
The magic runes in the scar on Little Feather’s face also faintly appeared, making the little guy, who was in an unstable state, involuntarily cover his face, subconsciously wanting to scratch the scar.
“Little Feather, don’t touch the wound, it will bleed!”
Lin Ran immediately stopped Little Feather’s small hand and made the eye mask cover that side of his eye again.
Then he frowned and looked at the miasma.
[Ding——You have discovered “Lost Source Miasma” X1.]
[This is a section of source miasma extracted from the abyss of the Demon Energy River ruins by Yin Er and Rhine Man En during their field investigation. This is also the reason why this area of the Feather Clan was completely affected.]
[Detected that your level is sufficient to capture this source miasma. Do you want to obtain it?][Yes][No]
Notifications from “Demon World” popped up one after another, and Lin Ran was certain that Little Feather indeed held the latest clues about the main quest of “Demon World.”
Since he could capture it, why not try?
The moment he clicked [Yes], Anvers, who was trying to fly over and prevent the accident, widened his eyes in silence.
Because the seemingly fragile young human actually reached out and caught the black miasma!
A white light instantly appeared, and the miasma caught by Lin Ran struggled and tried to escape like a fish caught in a net, but in the end, it had to be bound by the light.
It gradually turned into a drop of slowly flowing black liquid in a transparent glass bottle in Lin Ran’s palm.
It was clearly so dense that it had liquefied from a gaseous state.
“So this is the true form of miasma?”
Lin Ran looked at the glass bottle in his palm, a little surprised.
“You actually caught the miasma? How did you do that!?”
Anvers’ gaze towards Lin Ran had completely changed.
Undoubtedly, Lin Ran, who could do this, was absolutely the most unique existence in “Demon World”!
Anvers was certain that with the density of this miasma, once it entered his body, he might instantly transform into a mindless beast.
But it was being held in Lin Ran’s palm!
“I just felt that I could, so I did it, and then I succeeded.”
Of course, Lin Ran couldn’t tell Anvers his biggest secret, although what he said wasn’t wrong.
“You’re all very resistant to approaching this kind of miasma, right?”
“Yes, weaker, ordinary miasma can be directly devoured and resolved, but approaching this kind of dense source miasma is very dangerous. Once you’re backlashed by it, it’s easy to completely turn into a beast.”
“And in places with high miasma density, it will gradually become barren and completely unsuitable for demons to live in.”
Anvers stared at the small bottle in Lin Ran’s palm as if he were staring at the source of a plague, subconsciously revealing the information he knew.
Lin Ran pondered after hearing this.
If wherever he went, it would become barren, it sounded really serious.
If the entire Demon World was destroyed because of this, wouldn’t the demons living here have to all enter human society?
However, Lin Ran looked up at the laboratory gate in front of him, tried to push it open, and found that the last light membrane faintly appeared and disappeared into countless specks of starlight.
“Eno Gard…”
A female voice echoed in the hall. Little Feather was stunned at first, then looked at the phantom in front of him with uncertainty.
He wanted to approach, but with a strange sense of vigilance and resistance.
Lin Ran and Anvers also looked at the two figures in surprise.
So beautiful.
Lin Ran’s first reaction was that these two Feather Clan elders were too beautiful, and their features looked inexplicably familiar.
After looking at them for a while, he suddenly realized that they looked very similar to Little Feather’s grown-up appearance!
Could this be the last remnants of Little Feather’s parents’ consciousness?
The woman looked at Little Feather as if she wanted to say something, but the remaining magic power was clearly running out, not enough for her to completely walk up to Little Feather.
“This time it should be real…”
After Anvers said this while looking at the vigilant and resistant Little Feather, Lin Ran instantly frowned and looked at Anvers.
This time it should be real?
Had there been fakes before?
“Yes, to catch this cub before, while I was away, Elder Gu Li and the others temporarily created two phantoms… which led to Little Feather reacting so violently when he saw the demons in the clan later.”
Under Lin Ran’s gaze, Anvers quickly recounted what had happened back then, his face filled with an unusual guilt for the first time.
He hadn’t stopped it at the time and was indeed an indirect instigator.
Anvers admitted that he was irrefutable on this point.
“…”
Lin Ran didn’t say anything more while looking at Anvers, but the undisguised disappointment in his eyes undoubtedly made Anvers’ wings droop.
He hesitated to speak.
He didn’t know what to say.
Fortunately, under Anvers’ explanation, Little Feather’s escape was delayed for a moment, and he was finally gently hugged by the phantom’s hand.
[You’ve already hatched… that’s good.]
The woman looked at the little guy and smiled contentedly, and the man behind her also silently watched all this, his gaze only lingering on Lin Ran for a moment.
Little Feather carefully memorized his parents’ appearance. After a few dozen seconds, this scene completely ended as the restriction formation dissipated.
Anvers then realized that the entire forbidden area had been set with a final line of defense. Now that the restriction had disappeared, the remaining miasma finally escaped.
However, without the support of the source miasma’s magic power, the escaping ordinary miasma clearly couldn’t cause any waves.
[Ding——You have obtained the key prerequisite item: “Cage of Purification”.]
[This is a magic array urgently woven by Yin Er and Rhine Man En with all their magic power at the last moment, which can effectively prevent the spread and escape of miasma. Remaining energy: 71%. It will break and disappear after the energy is exhausted.]
[Now given to you by Eno Gard’s father, Rhine Man En, as a reward for raising Little Feather.]
Lin Ran looked at the exquisite little cage handed to him and remained silent for a long time.
The remaining energy was 71%, which meant that this restriction magic array could theoretically trap that source miasma for quite a long time.
But if the energy was exhausted, that would probably be the true moment of crisis for the Feather Clan, right?
In Little Feather’s Time Mirror, could that scene be prevented from happening?
However, at this moment, Lin Ran, holding the item in his hand, looked at Anvers very seriously.
“Perhaps Little Feather’s parents weren’t irresponsible demons, Patriarch Anvers.”
“They should have tried their best to prevent the disaster from worsening as soon as they realized the experiment had failed. It’s just that their abilities were limited, and they could only do so much.”
Anvers silently looked at the cage in Lin Ran’s hand and naturally understood the meaning of his words.
No one had tried to approach the center of the disaster before, so no one had noticed that there was a final restriction holding back the source miasma.
Anvers didn’t dare to imagine the consequences if this time bomb exploded during his tenure.
“I apologize, the clan does bear a great responsibility for this. I will seriously consider how to deal with it afterwards.”
But after Anvers finished speaking, he found that Lin Ran was no longer looking at him, but had taken Little Feather back into his arms.
As for Elder Gu Li and the other demons waiting at the edge of the forbidden area, when they noticed the sudden tremors in the forbidden area and the large amount of escaping miasma, they initially thought that the disaster was happening again.
“But Elder, this miasma seems to be at the end of its rope and has no aggressiveness at all.”
The Feather Clan demons tried to pursue but quickly realized something was wrong. This miasma didn’t seem to be attacking, but rather escaping.
It could be easily dispersed and repelled.
“Could it be that it has been lurking inside all these years? And was just discovered by the patriarch and A-Ran?”
“Eh, something’s sprouting on the ground.”
Soon, a Feather Clan demon saw Pepe fly out from Elder Gu Li’s side, land beside a withered tree root, and look at the green sprout emerging from the root.
It was actually regaining its vitality, no longer as lifeless as before!?
Could their former settlement be habitable again?
What exactly happened in the depths of the forbidden area?
At this moment, this question made every Feather Clan demon curious.
And when Anvers and Lin Ran reappeared in the sky, all the demons could clearly see that Patriarch Anvers’ mood was very unusual.
“Let’s talk about it in detail when we get back. Gather all the adult demons in the clan, and those who are out also need to return immediately.”
After Anvers gave the order with a serious expression, the entire Feather Clan, although puzzled, quickly mobilized.
In fact, after the meeting was held, all the Feather Clan demons who learned the cause and effect of the incident in the depths of the forbidden area were undoubtedly at a loss.
“This is the source miasma, it has already been captured. If it weren’t for Yin Er and Rhine Man En’s consciousness holding it back, do you think the range of the forbidden area would have remained the same and not continued to expand?”
When Anvers displayed the small glass bottle, even Elder Gu Li’s expression became extremely solemn.
“It’s hard to imagine that this thing has been in our territory all along, my god…”
“If A-Ran hadn’t insisted on going in, wouldn’t we have been living near a source of pollution? That’s too terrifying.”
…
While the meeting was being held, Lin Ran also received a series of notifications from “Demon World.”
The Feather Clan’s Affection Level was indeed rapidly increasing.
But Lin Ran felt that it was Little Feather who they really needed to apologize to.
Perhaps his parents had indeed done something wrong that caused the accident, but they had done their best to prevent the disaster from expanding. Little Feather was innocent.
“Ee…”
However, after noticing A-Ran’s unusual mood, Little Feather reached out and touched the corner of A-Ran’s eye.
Just then, the Feather Clan demons who had finished the meeting silently knocked on the door and looked at Lin Ran, who was holding Little Feather’s hand.
Anvers took the lead and solemnly handed a golden scroll to Little Feather in Lin Ran’s arms.
Little Feather frowned with some vigilance, but he clearly also realized that this scroll wasn’t a bad thing.
“This is the Page of Knowledge, which records all the secrets of the clan. Every elder has recorded their knowledge in it, which is enough for the cub to absorb and learn for quite some time.”
As Anvers spoke, the expressions of Elder Gu Li and the other demons were clearly very unnatural.
“And after discussion, the clan has also unanimously decided to record Little Feather in the clan register, reconfirm his identity and race information, and let him receive education and training along with the other cubs, it’s just…”
Hearing this, Lin Ran looked down at Little Feather, clearly knowing that he had to ask for Little Feather’s opinion.
“Ee!”
Little Feather directly shook his head, hugged A-Ran tightly, and even became vigilant, wondering if this was some kind of trick to separate him from A-Ran.
The atmosphere became very silent and awkward.
“Little Feather doesn’t seem to be willing, Patriarch Anvers.”
Lin Ran also subconsciously protected Little Feather, not intending to let the Feather Clan take the cub away directly.
“We’ve also thought of this, so another solution is for me to personally act as the teacher and visit a few days every month to teach Little Feather the relevant training methods. Would that be okay?”
For Anvers, as the patriarch, to personally teach a cub’s skills was indeed the highest honor.
Lin Ran could sense Anvers’ apology and intention to make amends, although Little Feather was still a little reluctant and wasn’t very willing to let Anvers teach him.
“But you still have to attend some classes, Little Feather, what do you think? If Patriarch Anvers comes to us. If you explore on your own, it might be very difficult.”
Touching Little Feather’s head, Lin Ran tried to discuss it with him.
Little Feather tugged at A-Ran’s clothes and looked at Anvers.
Thinking of the scene when the miasma suddenly erupted outside the laboratory and Anvers quickly adjusted his magic power to try and protect A-Ran, Little Feather struggled for a long time before reluctantly nodding.
Because this great demon did seem to have some areas where he was a little bit more powerful than him now.
If he learned all of his knowledge, would he become more powerful? Could he better protect A-Ran when he grew up?
In any case, Little Feather’s reaction finally made Anvers heave a sigh of relief.
“There’s one more thing that should probably be given to him.”
Elder Gu Li, who had been silent, awkwardly interrupted the scene, reaching out and handing the box he had just taken from the clan to Lin Ran.
“This is?”
Lin Ran looked at Anvers and asked.
Anvers was also a little surprised that Elder Gu Li had already taken it out, but he looked at the box with some reverence.
“This is the Feather of Truth created by Yin Er and Rhine Man En back then. Theoretically, it should also be given to their only descendant.”
“And the most magical thing about this feather is that the person holding it cannot lie.”
After opening the box, a pure white feather lay inside.
Lin Ran was very surprised when he heard “Feather of Truth.” It was actually given to him by the Feather Clan on their own initiative?
And it had such a magical effect?
“For example, what is the thing you care about most right now?”
Lin Ran looked at Elder Gu Li, who handed him the Feather of Truth, and couldn’t help but ask a question.
All the demons: ???
He, he’s starting to experiment already?!
Elder Gu Li’s face instantly stiffened. He tried to keep his mouth shut, but it involuntarily started to tell the truth.
“What I care about most is how to apologize and make amends so that this cub can slightly forgive what happened in the clan.”
“Because we are truly ashamed to have taken out our incompetence on a cub, and we are even thinking about what else we can do to make up for it…”
The more Elder Gu Li spoke, the more his voice trembled, but the scene became deathly quiet.
Everyone looked at Lin Ran with awe, not expecting that he could use this method to make Elder Gu Li, the oldest and most stubborn, reveal all his inner thoughts in one breath!?
So, so exciting!
“Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
But maybe he did.
Lin Ran admitted that he did want to know if Elder Gu Li, whose temper was as hard as a rock, felt any guilt in his heart.
He just didn’t expect the effect of this “Feather of Truth” to be so good.
It felt like a feather that could easily cause social death…
