https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-918-Sunlit-Secret-Realm-Part-17-Hidden-Boss-Emerges/12827208/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-921-The-Sun-Secret-Realm-Part-20-Public-Decision/12827216/
Chapter 919: The Sunlit Secret Realm (Part 18): The Volcano
Chapter 919: The Sunlit Secret Realm (Part 18): The Volcano
It was now seven in the evening.
All the Blue Star players, except for Su Yu, had returned to the dock.
At the dock, Zhong Feng, Yunzhong Mudi, and others stood patiently, waiting for Su Yu's return.
Relief washed over them as they saw the medium-sized fishing boat approaching, with Su Yu standing at the bow.
Su Yu waved to his companions on the dock, signaling that he was fine.
He didn't keep them waiting for long.
As the fishing boat was still several meters away from the dock, Su Yu leaped from the bow and landed gracefully on the dock.
"Boss Ke, did everything go smoothly today?"
"Why are you back so late?"
"You must have caught a lot of fish, right?"
Everyone gathered around Su Yu, bombarding him with questions.
Before Su Yu could respond, a cold, sharp female voice cut through the crowd: "Adventurer, I need to speak with you."
Hearing this voice, the Blue Star players were momentarily stunned and stepped aside to make room.
At the back of the crowd stood a woman in a white holy robe, none other than Jenny.
Jenny clutched a thick, brown leather-bound book, her face pale, and her blue hair whipping around in the dock's wind, giving her a haggard appearance.
The Blue Star players hadn't noticed her until now, but they quickly realized the arrival of this special NPC.
Su Yu walked up to Jenny and softly asked, "Jenny, is there something you need?"
"There's something very important," Jenny tightened her grip on the leather-bound book. "Let's go to my house and talk."
"Alright," Su Yu replied without hesitation.
He then turned to the Blue Star players, "Zhong Feng, I'll leave the unloading and delivering the fish to the altar to you. Keep the red shell coins safe, and we'll discuss other matters during the meeting tonight."
"Got it," Zhong Feng replied.
They were all players who had come from the game Evolution. From Jenny's actions, they knew Su Yu had likely triggered the secret realm's "main quest."
They eagerly awaited the good news Su Yu would bring back.
...
Su Yu and Jenny walked side by side to her house.
On the way, a few other adventurers tried to strike up conversations with Jenny, hoping to gain some benefit from her.
However, Jenny was deeply preoccupied and ignored them, walking straight to her house.
Once they arrived, she let Su Yu enter first, then carefully closed the door behind her. She stood by the door for a moment, as if afraid someone might be eavesdropping.
After confirming no one was listening, she sighed in relief and turned to Su Yu, "Adventurer, I have something very important to discuss with you."
"Alright," Su Yu's expression turned serious as he waited for Jenny to continue.
"Do you know?" Jenny said earnestly, "Today's fishing was not smooth for the adventurers. They encountered many Firefin Fish, with each adventurer facing at least one. Moreover, the Elemental Fish in the lake have been corrupted by fire elements, their bodies turning red."
Su Yu stroked his chin, "Each adventurer encountered a Firefin Fish? That's quite a number! Yesterday, there were very few, but if each adventurer faced one today, that means there are at least fifty of them."
He hadn't expected the Firefin Fish to have spread to such an extent.
"Such a situation has never occurred in Sunlit Village's history," Jenny's face was grave. "Today, I went to the Great Mother's library to find information about the Firefin Fish and discovered this."
Jenny handed over the thick, leather-bound book she had been clutching to Su Yu.
"What is this?" Su Yu took the heavy book, which still carried Jenny's warmth.
The cover was rough and devoid of any text, whether it had originally been blank or the text had eroded over time.
"This is the journal of the first Great Mother of Sunlit Village. By the way, the Great Mother is currently in her third generation."
"Is the book this thick?"
"You only need to read the first page."
"Alright."
Su Yu opened the book to the first page and saw two lines written there:
"To my children—If you ever see a large number of Firefin Fish in the lake, don't even think about it, flee the village immediately!
This is a sign that the village is about to be destroyed. Do not stay for a moment!"
Is the village about to be destroyed?
Su Yu nodded to himself, this confirmed his suspicions.
Jenny sighed, "I told the Great Mother about this, but she has no intention of evacuating the village. She said this..."
Jenny closed her eyes and mimicked the Great Mother's slow and deliberate voice, "This is not your concern. The gods will handle everything."
"We just need to pray sincerely to the spirits, and all our problems will be resolved."
She opened her eyes and looked at Su Yu, "Although the Matron said that, I'm really worried right now! So I want to hear your opinion, adventurer. What do you think we should do?"
Jenny looked haggard and her voice was filled with anxiety.
From her tone, Su Yu could tell she was at her wits' end, which was why she had come to him for help.
Su Yu didn't plan to deceive her and replied earnestly, "Jenny, I've actually found the answer to what's happening..."
"Oh? What is it?!" Jenny shot up from her seat, her eyes fixed intensely on Su Yu.
"Relax for a moment," Su Yu soothed. "I can't be 100% certain about this truth yet, and I need more information to verify it.
"Here's what I propose: in an hour, come with me to a place. I'll tell you everything I know once we get there."
Jenny stared at Su Yu's face, her eyes blinking a few times.
Finally, she let out a soft sigh, "Alright."
...
...
The reason Su Yu didn't reveal his suspicions to Jenny was, as he said, he needed more evidence to confirm them.
Once he returned to the base, he would share his suspicions with everyone, including Jenny.
In the meantime, Su Yu spent the next hour meticulously studying the first Matron's entire journal.
This book, after all, was left behind when the village was established, and it held significant value for research.
The book detailed the entire process of the villagers of Sun Village migrating to this place, tilling the land, and building a village where they could live in peace and prosperity.
The so-called "spirits" were actually the ancestral spirits of all the village's residents.
These spirits, due to their cultivation techniques, would last for centuries before gradually dissipating.
The villagers' offerings and rituals would strengthen the spirits' power, and in return, the spirits would bestow blessings on their descendants.
Influenced by the ancestral spirits, each generation of Matrons could live for up to 300 years and at least become Fourth-Stage warriors.
However, the cost was that the Matrons could not bear children, thus unable to pass on their lineage...
As for the "Firefin Fish" that Su Yu was most concerned about, the book provided no detailed explanation.
It didn't even explain the front page, only stating that such an event did indeed occur and that anyone who encountered it should flee immediately.
Su Yu carefully verified his suspicions against the entire book, searching for any clues that could support or refute his theories.
...
It took Su Yu about an hour to thoroughly study the journal.
During this hour, Jenny tried several times to ask Su Yu questions.
However, seeing Su Yu's focused expression as he studied the journal, she didn't press, sitting beside him anxiously waiting.
An hour later, it was 7 PM.
By this time, Zhongfeng and the others would have finished their tasks and returned to the base.
Su Yu closed the book, stood up, and said, "Let's go, Jenny. I'll take you to where I live, and my companions are there too. Once we get there, I'll tell you the entire truth."
"Alright." Jenny had been waiting impatiently and quickly got up to follow Su Yu.
...
10 minutes later, in the living room of the base.
The base looked the same as it did yesterday, with a large spread of food on the table, including white bread and dried meat.
The Blue Star players were sitting in a circle around the table, sharing the food.
The only difference this time was the presence of an additional person, an NPC.
This NPC had no intention of eating, not even glancing at the food on the table. Instead, she kept staring intently at Su Yu.
Su Yu felt a bit uneasy under her gaze and gestured to her, asking, "Would you like to eat something?"
Jenny couldn't refuse Su Yu's invitation.
She picked up a piece of bread and took small bites, but with her mind preoccupied, the bread had no flavor, tasting as bland as wax.
"Now, let's begin the meeting!" Su Yu looked at the Blue Star players present.
After scanning the room, he focused on Old Li and Old Meng, "As the hunting team, why don't you start by sharing your results?"
"Sure," Old Meng said, continuing to eat. "This morning, we followed the map and hunted and gathered herbs in the First-Stage Beast activity area.
"We successfully captured a 200-kilogram First-Stage Beast, which the villagers call the Gaglo Beast.
"With this First-Stage Beast and the herbs we gathered, the Shell Coins we earned were enough to cover all our expenses for the past two days!
"So this afternoon, we each rented a medium-sized fishing boat and went out on the lake. It went very smoothly all day."
"Smooth sailing, then." Su Yu smiled and nodded, turning to Zhongfeng. "Zhongfeng, it's your turn. up. you.. How did our fishing expedition go today?"
Zhongfeng put down the bread in his hand and replied, "We received a total of 5,903 Red Shell Coins from the sacrifices, which is pretty close to our plan, just 153 more than we expected."
"Hmm, that's in line with our expectations." Su Yu nodded.
Today, the Blue Star players went out with the "Fireproof Stones" and managed to catch a total of ten Firefin Fish, significantly boosting the day's earnings.
However, Su Yu's long journey reduced the catch by over 200 kilograms, which balanced out the additional gains from the Firefin Fish, keeping the overall results close to the plan.
But at that moment, Jenny frowned and asked, "Red Shell Coins? What do you mean by 'Red Shell Coins'?"
"Oh, those are the shell coins we receive from the gods after sacrificing elemental fish," Su Yu explained. "They're red, so we call them Red Shell Coins to distinguish them from the village currency."
"Got it." Jenny nodded in understanding.
Su Yu then continued, addressing everyone, "Now that I have a better understanding of the situation:
To be honest, after a day of investigation, I now know who the 'mastermind' we discussed last night is. I'm very confident about this."
"Oh? How so?"
"Mastermind? Who is it?"
"How did you find out?"
The group asked excitedly.
Some also turned their gaze to Jenny, who was standing beside Su Yu.
Did CEO Ke find the mastermind because of this NPC?
I didn't expect the secret realm's main plot to revolve around her.
Jenny, however, looked puzzled. "Mastermind? What do you mean by that term?"
Hearing her question, Su Yu's lips twitched.
But he still explained, "The mastermind is the one behind the scenes causing Sun Village to be in its current state."
He then turned to Binghongcha. "Binghongcha, you guessed last night that the mastermind was a massive elemental fish king in the lake, right?"
"That's right," Binghongcha replied.
"This possibility has been ruled out," Su Yu said. "Today, I found that the water temperature at the westernmost part of the lake is exceptionally high, almost reaching 25 degrees. So I had the boatman take us to the easternmost part of the lake.
When we got there, I discovered that the water at the easternmost part of the lake was also warm!
This suggests that the entire lake's water temperature has significantly increased, which is not something a single elemental fish king could cause."
"That makes sense," Binghongcha agreed.
In fact, earlier at the dock, Binghongcha had noticed that all the fish caught by the adventurers were infused with fire elements, glowing red, which already told him his guess was incorrect.
If an elemental fish king could affect the entire lake's fish with fire elements, its power would be at least fifth stage, if not higher.
Facing such a powerful being, the adventurers trying to kill it together would be a joke, a pure suicide mission.
So the mastermind is unlikely to be an elemental fish king but something else.
Su Yu looked at everyone seriously and said, "If my guess is correct, the mastermind is not a creature but... a volcano!
The volcano behind the village is about to erupt, and it is the culprit behind the village's impending destruction, the appearance of numerous elemental fish in the lake, and the increase in the lake's water temperature!"
"Volcano?!"
"It's a volcano?!"
Hearing Su Yu's words, the players present were all shocked.
They didn't know that the appearance of a large number of Firefin Fish was a sign of the village's impending destruction, and they usually thought of the mastermind as something they could defeat.
They never expected the mastermind to be a natural disaster!
After hearing Su Yu's explanation, Jenny's body tensed up.
After a while, she relaxed and slumped into her chair, her eyes losing focus.
Upon careful consideration, what Su Yu said made a lot of sense.
A volcanic eruption would undoubtedly destroy the entire village.
And it was precisely because of the volcanic eruption that the village was experiencing strange phenomena, such as the appearance of numerous fire-attribute Firefin Fish, the warming of the lake water, and the fire element pollution of the elemental fish in the lake.
No wonder the First Matriarch emphasized the need to flee the village quickly. With a volcano about to erupt, staying behind would mean certain death.
(End of Chapter)
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