That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Chapter 238 Divine Essence

The gods in this world have many similarities to the gods in the D&D system.

Deities are the embodiment of concepts, and as long as these concepts exist in this world, deities cannot be completely eradicated.

However, deities are projections of concepts, and their ability to manifest in the real world depends on their essence.

Divine essence is the divine essence of a deity. When a deity kills another deity, it can devour the other's divine essence and thus gain even greater power.

Stripping away the essence allows the deity to return to a conceptual state.

Conversely, there are also ways to activate the divine essence. The origins of the various gods in this world are currently unknown. The god of doubt, Fanlou, who created the Mechs, as Hall knows, awakened naturally hundreds of millions of years ago when the world was still in a state of chaos.

Because he could not find anyone to communicate with, Fanlou, the God of Suspicion, created the Machine Race and waited for hundreds of millions of years before finally giving up thinking. Despair permeated his very essence, and he returned to an inactive conceptual state.

In addition, there is a simpler and more efficient method to revitalize the essence.

That is faith.

Faith can revitalize the divine essence and enhance the power of the divine race, which is one of the fundamental reasons why the gods created their followers.

Humanity is not great because it was not created by gods. The fact that it was not created by gods does not mean that humans have the right to free belief, can actively activate the essence of various concepts, and then create gods.

Fortunately, humans do not have spirits within them, and their numbers are so small that they have gone unnoticed. Otherwise, they would probably become the target of everyone's hatred, and all the divine species would want to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Tet, the god of games, was born from Rick's desperate and intense prayers. He was supposed to be the weakest god, but after coming into contact with the Star Grail, he became the only god.

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"Good, it doesn't look like it's been damaged yet."

Rick fiddled with the projection machinery inside the airship wreckage, starting to redraw the strategic map held by the goblins.

Hall drew a transmutation circle on the side, placed his hands on the transmutation circle and began to understand the structure and principles of the airship created by this goblin species. His main target was the weapons stored on the airship.

War is the root of technological progress, and weapons are usually the pinnacle of a race's technological achievements.

Alchemy can be used if you can understand it.

Rick glanced at the transmutation circle and asked, "Hall, does the magic circle on the ground have any special significance?"

"This is a transmutation array used to understand the principles of the flow of all things. I am analyzing the structure and operating principle of this airship."

Rick was quick-witted and immediately understood what Hall meant, asking in surprise, "Can it be made?"

"Impossible. Even if we understand the principles of airships, we don't have the raw materials. This airship is the essence of goblin forging technology. Even an ordinary piece of iron contains the unique technology of the goblin race."

Moreover, there is no need to create them. Hall could create magical firearms based on goblin technology, but what difference would it make? Magical firearms might eliminate some weak monsters or species, but they would indirectly increase the danger of human exposure.

Once other races perceive the elves and thus become aware of humanity's existence, only annihilation awaits humanity.

Ten minutes later, Rick finished drawing the map and they left the airship to head to the temporary base in the eastern forest to meet up with their two teammates.

In the dense forest, Rick carefully took out his Spirit Needle Disc, remaining on guard, as monsters he couldn't handle could jump out at any moment.

Even with the powerful Hall by his side, he wouldn't be careless.

"What is that?" Hall asked, feigning ignorance.

"Ah, this is the Spirit Needle Plate that my sister and I made. The main material is Radiant Stone, which is used to sense monsters and alien races that have spirits residing in their bodies. However, because the area has recently experienced a war, the density of black ash is very high, so it is not very useful."

"Let me see it."

Rick readily handed the needle tray to Hall.

Hall took the Spirit Needle Disc and used his Magic Eye to analyze its structure. It was indeed quite simple, almost identical to a compass except for the materials.

Hall used his pupils as spheres to manipulate the power of the spirits and employ alchemy. Azure lightning flashed from his hands, flowing through the spirit needle disc and slightly altering its structure, making it look more like a modern work of art.

The previously drifting needle stabilized and pointed straight in a certain direction.

Rick looked at Hall in surprise: "You modified it?"

Hall tossed the improved Spirit Needle Disc back to Rick: "Don't worry, it's just a structural optimization, and there are no spirits inside. Now its detection range is more than ten times the original, and it can ignore the influence of black ash. When an individual with a spirit approaches, the Spirit Needle will tremble violently. The stronger the individual's spirit or the closer the distance, the higher the frequency of trembling."

Rick asked incredulously, "Is something like that even possible?"

"Knowledge changes destiny. Just now I was analyzing the structure of the airship wreckage, and there were similar devices on it."

Rick stared at the Spirit Needle Disc in his hand, knowing how important this thing was to him and to the human adventure team. He said solemnly, "You've been a great help. This kind of item is very useful to the existing humans. On behalf of all the humans and adventurers in the settlement, I thank you, Hall."

Hall chuckled and said, "Then you'll have to treat me well when we get back. I've been eating monster corpses all this time."

"Is that thing edible?"

"We can't find good ingredients nearby."

"Because there's a lot of black ash here, there are basically no animals. If you leave here, you should be able to find normal food."

With the improved Spirit Needle Disc, Rick no longer needed to be timid and quickly led Hall to their makeshift base.

It was called a stronghold, but it was actually a hidden tree hollow. The dense forest around it provided natural cover, and because the trees in this world could grow to a very tall size, the interior was surprisingly spacious.

Arei, who was hiding in front of the tree hollow, rushed over to Rick with a sigh of relief when he saw him return. With tears in her eyes, she exclaimed with joy, "Rick! That's great! I thought you were never coming back!"

Rick calmly asked, "How's the map?"

That drawn map is extremely valuable; if anything were to happen, it would become one of humanity's hopes.

"It's still well preserved... Who is this?" Arei looked at Hall behind Rick with suspicion. In this world, the wild has become unsuitable for human survival, and the probability of encountering someone of the same race is infinitely close to zero.

This adventure only involved a three-person team, so why is there an extra person? Judging from their clothing and style, they don't belong to the adventurers in the settlement at all.

Rick nodded: "Let me introduce you. Hall is a traveling alchemist, a human."

"An alchemist?"

Hall smiled and said, "You can think of it as magic."

Arei's expression froze, and he carefully stepped back: "Magic... there shouldn't be any elves in the human body."

Rick calmly replied, "His situation is special; I can guarantee his safety."

Rick's indifferent demeanor actually reassured Arey. It was precisely because of Rick's almost cold rationality that he wouldn't make various mistakes. He nodded and said, "If that's what Rick said, then there's no problem."

Let's go down the farming route!

Chapter 239 I think there's still a chance to salvage it

Where is Ivan?

Arei lowered his head slightly, giving a frustrated and bitter smile: "This... you'll know once you come in and take a look."

The three entered the tree hollow, where a fire was still burning, providing some light. A person lay beside the fire, breathing heavily and uttering a painful groan: "Nonna... Father will keep his promise and come back."

Rick crouched down to examine him and found burn marks on his face that extended down to his chest, where a bluish-purple tinge was visible.

This is a sign of inhaling black ash.

If it's a large amount of black ash, it's fine; humans only need to feel a momentary stinging pain upon contact before they lose consciousness forever.

However, if even a small amount of grayish-black substance is inhaled into the lungs, the entire respiratory tract and lungs will be burned, ultimately leading to death in despair and agony.

Rick, his face cold, turned to Arei and asked, "Why don't you make a move?"

Arei clenched his fists, head bowed, and murmured weakly, "I'm sorry, I can't do it. Nonna is still waiting for him to come back, and I don't know how to explain it to her..."

To date, Rick has seen many humans die from the Black Ash, but none have been saved, because human bodies do not contain spirits and are powerless against the Black Ash.

Rather than letting Ivan suffer and die, it's better to take action from the beginning, end his life, and alleviate his suffering.

With fewer unnecessary personnel, the risk of exposure is reduced.

Rick has abandoned his teammates in this way more than once, and he has done it himself most of the time.

"sorry."

Rick drew the dagger from his waist, intending to end Ivan's suffering.

Hall patted him on the shoulder: "Wait, I think he can still be saved."

"You also know healing magic?"

"It's not as good as the forest elves. I've developed a magic that can heal the damage that black ash has caused to the human body, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet, so I can't guarantee the success rate."

In fact, the restoration alchemy for black ash has been successfully tested on monsters and Hall himself, but it has never been tried on humans in this world.

Rick nodded and gave up his seat: "Please, even if there's only a one percent chance, it's still a victory for humanity."

Hall nodded, squatted down, and placed his hands on the ground. The power of the elves flowed and gathered into a circle. There were no exaggerated special effects. As the blue lightning formed by the magic flowed over, the expression of the billions lying on the transmutation circle gradually became calm, and the purplish-black color of their skin completely disappeared.

This scene made Rick, who was watching from the sidelines, widen his eyes and a smile of excitement spread across his face. Now, there are people in human settlements who can only wait to die in despair because of their contact with the black ash.

Arei stared at the scene with his mouth agape in disbelief; this was the first time he had ever seen "magic" at such close range.

After the alchemy was complete, Ivan calmed down, slowly opened his eyes, and looked around in confusion before his gaze settled on Rick: "Rick..."

At the same time, he also noticed Hall's presence.

"What happened? I must have accidentally inhaled the ash while on the run." Ivan touched his throat in confusion, but when he looked down, he couldn't see any traces of ash on his chest.

Arei couldn't contain his excitement as he explained, "That's amazing! It was Mr. Hall who saved you! He's a human who can use magic!"

"A human who can cast magic!?"

Rick reiterated, "Don't worry, I can guarantee his identity. Humanity has nothing left to lose. In this era, the only ones who will help humanity and have pity for humanity are humans."

Ivan nodded knowingly. He trusted Rick and Rick's decisions completely. Even if Rick ordered him to die, he would carry it out without hesitation. He solemnly thanked Hall: "Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Hall."

Rick added, "Thanks to Hall's assistance, after dealing with the spirit of the mountain, I went back and drew up all the remaining strategic maps."

Arei cheered, "Great! All that effort wasn't for nothing!"

Rick asked, "Ivan, how are you feeling?"

Ivan shook his arm and shook his head, saying, "Sorry, I don't think I can move freely yet."

Hall said, "That's normal. Treating your body consumes your energy. What you need most now is to replenish your food and rest for another two or three hours, and you'll be fine."

Let's do it this way.

After resting for half a day, the three shared some of their emergency rations with Hall. Although Rick outwardly expressed his trust in Hall, there was still an element of testing in his words.

The topic was also very cleverly chosen. At first glance, it seemed like just casual conversation, but in reality, it contained a lot of common sense about humanity. Even if the living environment is different, the commonality of human weakness will not change.