Chapter Thirteen: Fantasy and Science

  Holding a crystal ball, the emaciated young man walking towards Malong and his companions finally stopped his footsteps at a distance of three or four steps from them.

  He raised his head and looked at Ma Long.

  "Are you Ma Long and Li Xiaoxia?"

  The young man who asked this question revealed a typical, ordinary and plain face with many pimples and blackheads, a very common pure-blooded human face.

  "I am. What's up?" Malong confirmed his identity and flashed a smile at the other party, who also saw the crystal ball hidden between the two large sleeves of the thin youth.

  The thin youth who blocked his way, seemed to have a somewhat eerie behavior, but with the beneficial presence of Druid Master De Rudolf by his side, he was still thinking about the problem of the Mind Spirit and the masquerade ball, letting Marlon not think too much - dressed like an ascetic, probably has some sort of wizard apprentice identity.

  "I want you to take a look at this."

  The thin young man blocking the road slowly lifted up the crystal ball he was holding.

  As the crystal ball in the emaciated youth's hand slowly rose, Malong was astonished to discover that inside it, there were rows upon rows of neatly arranged soldiers, countless and endless, divided into two sides, using all sorts of clumsy, large, and crude steam-powered firearms to engage each other in a fierce battle!

  No, not just fully armed soldiers, but with his excellent eyesight, Malong soon saw even more things ——

  A fleet of majestic airships, with dark clouds gathering in the crystal ball's sky, chased and bombarded each other with their all-over black-painted cannons; tens of thousands of steam tanks, spewing out black smoke and steam, similar to the tanks of World War I on Earth, either shuttled between the phalanxes of armed soldiers or gathered into pure tank legions, frantically charging forward while pouring cannon fire at each other and the sky!

  Whether it's a hovercraft or a steam tank, the shells that explode after hitting the enemy don't just produce intense explosions, but also blue ice that can freeze people into ice sculptures, yellowish-brown debris flying everywhere, violent green tornadoes, and even green corrosive substances that can corrode the ground into large pits...

  Undoubtedly, what is being staged inside this crystal ball is a war of at least the scale of a grand assembly battle where steam and magic coexist.

  So here comes the question——

  What is this crystal ball, after all?

  Memory told Malong that the crystal ball held in the hands of an unknown, thin young man was absolutely not the valuable military material "Battle Reconnaissance Level Command Projection Crystal Ball System" he had seen once at the top tree house of Eshiliya's Light Restaurant.

  After all, it can be seen with the naked eye that it is different from the "Battle Reconnaissance Level Command Projection Crystal Ball System", which projects realistic images and sounds outside. The crystal ball in the hand of this thin young man is like a magical movie, showing what he has "investigated" inside the crystal ball.

  "Is this a crystal ball of witchcraft? Where is this war taking place again?"

  Ma Long asked.

  It seems that Ma Long is asking the young man who blocked his way, but his eyes are actually looking at Lirien Druide.

  Anyway, Master Conchita-Bobberwoon, the great Druidic sage, was a true polymath and nearly seventy years old - although, thanks to the protection of natural forces, a seventy-year-old Druid is still considered a young buck among his peers.

  "The Battle of Koria Sada occurred four years ago." The boy who blocked the road spoke first.

  "No, this is not a crystal ball of divination; no crystal ball of divination would project an image inward." Lirien Druide, the master, did not disappoint Marlon's expectations and denied his guess.

  As Lizard Druid Master said, the crystal ball in this alien world will only serve as a super high-tech projector in sci-fi movies on Earth, projecting fixed-size actual proportion holographic images outward.

  "Little guy, roll up the sleeves of your clothes that cover your hands, I guess the key secret of this crystal ball is on your hands that are completely covered by your sleeves, right?"

  Having answered Marlon's question, Master Litudru took a step forward and said to the thin young man holding the crystal ball in his hand with a slightly commanding tone and a hint of interest.

  The emaciated young man blocking the way glanced at Master Druid's eyes and his gaze flickered slightly.

  It was probably Lycan's half-human and half-bear appearance, as well as his commanding tone, that scared the thin youth who blocked the way.

  "Do not worry, he is the benevolent Great Druid Conchita-Bobowen, beneath his beastly appearance lies a gentle heart."

  Ma Long said with a hint of irony, trying to use his words to calm the thin young man who was blocking his way.

  After all, the slender youth who blocked the road was holding a crystal ball in his hand, which seemed to be quite interesting to Ma Long.

  Malong's words of comfort seemed to have an effect, and the thin young man who had been blocking the road with a dodgy gaze finally regained his composure. He looked up at Malong for a moment before his eyes fell back onto the bear face of Master Lycan Derui: "Yes sir, respected Master Derui."

  The young man blocking the way raised his hands even higher, and the wide sleeves that had been covering his hands slid down to his elbows.

  Then, Ma Long was shocked to see that the young man blocking his way, holding the crystal ball with both hands, did not have a normal person's flesh and blood body, but rather a pair of mechanical hands with a crimson magic array engraved on their surface.

  But what caught Ma Long's attention was not the mechanical hands themselves, but the fingertips of the ten fingers that came into contact with the crystal ball, which kept flashing a faint red light.

  "This seems to be... a modified version of the Halev Blood Rune Array?" Liru Druid Master, far more knowledgeable than Marlon, had already recognized the blood-red magic arrays that were engraved on the mechanical hands of the young man who blocked their way.

  "Little guy, how did you do it?" Lizard Druid Master, unknowingly took another step forward, he lowered his head and carefully observed the young man's hands: "If I'm not mistaken, the original purpose of the Helios Blood Rune Array was only to provide a new type of lightweight weapon power source for the Helios Empire's infamous, short-lived but legendary Blood Color Vanguard Corps, which was more powerful than steam magic crystals."

  The youth who blocked the road, revealed a look of surprise, he seemed to have not expected that Lycoris Druid Master could so easily see through the origin of those crimson magic arrays engraved on his mechanical hand.

  Under the curious gaze of Master Lizard, the young man who blocked the way slowly began to answer: "Yes, this is indeed a modified version of the Helios Blood Rune Array. In fact, it's not a new source of power, but rather a way to convert the unstable energy inside the magic crystal into a continuous and stable controllable energy without going through the cumbersome steam device, just by using the magic array..."

  "What's wrong with it?"

  Master Lizarduth interrupted the slender youth's statement and asked a piercing question.

  "What's the drawback?" The slender youth's eyes suddenly became sorrowful: "My dad said that the disadvantage of Helios' Blood Rune Array is that it requires a large amount of expensive materials such as Secret Silver and Blood Spirit Stones, and the conversion efficiency is very low, less than 10%, while the energy conversion efficiency of steam devices is at least 30%."

  He looked up at Lycoris again, and the sorrowful young man's expression transformed into hatred. He said: "These hands are what my father left me... his only legacy."

  "Please accept my condolences, death is a natural order, and except for the divine, no one can escape the long sleep of the flesh."

  Ma Long comforted him with a sentence, which was a theory he learned from Li Zhiwei's master.

  "Thank you." The young man blocking the road thanked Ma Long, his voice filled with pride: "My dad is a genius! He not only taught me many things, but also successfully cracked the secret of the Black Law Blood Rune Array and increased the energy conversion efficiency of the Blood Rune Array to 15%!"

  Then, the eyes of the boy who blocked the road dimmed: "But my father only studied and forgot to protect himself. He didn't realize that there was a crazy curse hidden in the blood-colored symbol array, and there were also despicable people whose souls had long fallen into darkness, wanting to take away his research results..."

  Alright, having heard this much, Ma Long basically understood already.

  This young man who blocked his way should be a young magician with a deep family background and a blood feud.

  The young man who was blocked by the road carefully held a crystal ball in his hand, which should be his invention.

  However, this small crystal ball, although it can "play" images in a micro form inside, seems to be of no use compared to the more realistic "Battle Reconnaissance Level Command Projection Crystal Ball System"?

  "I think we seem to need to find a suitable place to chat, rather than continuing to stand under the eyes of everyone."

  Ma Long said with a smile.

  "I live just over there."

  The young man blocking the way turned his head and looked at a small wooden house nailed tightly from the outside not far away.

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  Sorry, a certain wizard's home lost power, so I was delayed in updating just now...

  Deep bow of gratitude: Special thanks to Bookworm 588 for their generous reward support!

  Deep bow of gratitude: Yan Wang's soul-stirring book friend cast a perfect score vote.

  Then, the second more certain wizard will code it out before twelve o'clock!!!!!