When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 581: Chapter 7 Morley Chapter 581: Chapter 7 Morley Sherlock didn’t dare to pick up on Isabel’s comment.

He watched his nose, his nose watched his mouth, his mouth watched his heart, pretending he hadn’t heard anything and was focused on the document Aiwass handed to him.

It was only after confirming that Aiwass and Isabel did not intend to continue discussing this topic that Sherlock suddenly spoke up, drawing Aiwass’s attention and shifting away from this dangerous topic, “According to this document, Miss Freya is doing her advanced studies in the Fifth Ring.

And coincidentally, Mr.

Yunus is also in the Fifth Ring.”

The Eternal Theocracy was divided into twenty-two hierarchical circles from bottom to top.

Generally speaking, the closer to the top, the higher the proportion of the Longevity Species, the fewer the people, the quieter the environment, and the slower the pace of life.

Below the Tenth Ring was primarily mixed-race residential areas, while the First Ring was the most bustling and prosperous place—filled with various goods from around the world, all sorts of advanced magic-tech products, and various entertainment venues, all built there.

In some sense, it could even be said to be the center of the world.

“The Eternal Theocracy hardly has any factories within its borders; because of this, there are practically no industrial populations.

The very few industrial facilities are all located below the Fifth Ring, and those hazardous research projects are mostly positioned between the Second and the Fifth Ring.

“Among them, the Fifth Ring is dedicated to medicine, chemistry, biology, and paleobiology.

It is very reasonable for Miss Freya to go to the Fifth Ring to study.”

Sherlock flipped through the document, casually saying, “I’m not sure if you are aware…

the ‘Morley’ in Miss Freya’s name is a self-bestowed one.

It represents a special and mysterious herb that had been lost for hundreds of years, rediscovered by Miss Freya herself.

“Its herbal roots are black, and the flower color is like cream.

If eaten directly, it can effectively resist attractions, curses, and transformations from the Path of Love in the short term, and as long as any creature ‘which still has life’ comes into direct contact with this herb, it will rapidly wither and decay within an hour.

“Because of this, it cannot be easily stored and transported, and only Phantom Demons, lifeless Undead, or steel machinery are able to handle it.

“—It is the core ingredient of the ‘Spiritual Medicine.’

Sherlock spoke softly, “It is the same herb that ‘Ekardna’ destroyed.”

In fact, Freya’s youthful achievement of ‘recreating the lost formula of the Spiritual Medicine from the era of the Round Table’ had direct ties to the rediscovery of that lost ‘Morley herb.’

The ‘Spiritual Medicine’ was already a legend in Avalon.

It was a potion that could cure any illness, the very pinnacle of ‘medicine.’ It could even extend the lives of ‘those destined to die,’ postponing the inevitable end.

Aiwass had seen this part of the mystical knowledge in the school library…

It was a tale from the era when Giants still ruled this land.

The last Giant King had stolen the magic potion formula from a Witch named ‘Ekardna’…

and the formula, in turn, had been stolen by Ekardna from an Angel Envoy of the Lord of Scalefeather.

The Witch belonged to the Phantom Demons of the Path of Love.

She was essentially a unique kind of Fairy.

Unlike those naturally born from water, wind, or trees, Witches were raised as ‘Witches of Transcendents,’ becoming Phantom Demons—they were blessed with the Beast Master’s Strength, possessing both beauty and twisted bodies, along with the ability to breed new monsters.

“I’ve heard of her,” Aiwass nodded, “That Witch used to be a Lizardfolk—she was a follower of the Beast Master.

After ascending to a Witch, she had a fair and beautiful, eternally youthful upper body, along with a grotesquely monstrous snake tail.

“She lived underground, kind and gentle as a maiden by day and wild and hideous as a madwoman by night.

She ate the flesh of all kinds of intelligent beings, including humans—she feasted on the flesh of men, drinking the blood of women.

Because of this, she had also come into contact with the Giant King, who kept humans as livestock…”

Aiwass paused here, glancing briefly at Isabel, and stopped speaking.

Because what followed was not a harmonious ending for Ekardna.

Her collaboration with the Giant King quickly soured.

Thereafter, she was imprisoned by the Giant King, raped, and the formula for the Spiritual Medicine was taken from her.

During the twenty years of her captivity, she bore him twelve children and eight stillbirths—their names are well-known, including Cerberus, Chimera, Orthrus, Hydra…

In the end, after a bout of drunken rage, the Giant King strangled her to death.

Although their respective Paths all differed, they essentially became bosses of different dungeons.

And the players’ pay-to-win mounts.

“Before her death, she cursed the core ingredient, the Morley herb, causing it to degrade into ‘untouchable by mortals destined to die’ and also cursed the Giant Kingdom that it must ‘perish like melting snow’—a curse that indeed became reality thirty years later.”

Aiwass briefly explained to the somewhat interested Isabel, “Because any animal that touched the Morley herb would cause it to immediately decay.

The Spiritual Medicine that the Giant King sought also became extinct.”

The small amount of Spiritual Medicine that existed at the time had all been used up over the years, either consumed or expired.

And Freya had found the deteriorated ‘new Morley,’ proving that it had not gone extinct.

Eventually, she successfully recreated the Spiritual Medicine of the new era—

“The Spiritual Medicine was indeed created, but since the original material had deteriorated, its effects were different.

It could cure most diseases, but it could no longer extend life.

Also, consuming too much in a short time could lead to severe addiction.

Its value, therefore, significantly decreased.”

Aiwass held a significant admiration for his “never-met” sister.

This kind of Spiritual Medicine was the incidental by-product of card draws in the commercial store—a pricey consumable that could instantly alleviate most negative effects, a 30-second CD ‘universal cure-all potion,’ also referred to as ‘The Big Purple Bottle’ by players.

Its official name was ‘Freya’s Tears.’

Aiwass had once thought ‘Freya’ was the name of some goddess or Angel Envoy…

until now, when he began to understand the origin of this medicine’s name.

Sherlock analyzed seriously from the side, “I speculate that Miss Freya went to the Holy Nation because she believed that the new panacea had too many impurities and the active ingredients were not completely purified, and Avalon could no longer provide her with help.

Hence, she sought assistance from the Elves—after all, she couldn’t take the technology to Star Antimony or Iris Flower.

At least the Holy Nation stands with us.”

“There’s also a possibility that she simply went to seek out those old Elves who lived through the era of the Giants.”

Aiwass added, “We can’t ignore such a simple possibility.”

“That’s not important, we’ll know when we go to the Holy Nation and take a look.

In any case, she and Mr.

Yunus are quite close.”

Sherlock shook his head slightly and became solemn, “More importantly…

your family has lost memories of Miss Freya, and this may be more significant.”

He looked at a section in the documents that Mycroft had highlighted in red—Freya’s “unstable resurrection concoction” had no valid experimental records.

Mycroft had also repeatedly searched the pharmaceutical research institute where Freya had worked.

He confirmed that there were no relevant experimental records for this medicine.

—It wasn’t that they had been eliminated, but rather they never existed.

Because the numbering of other records was sequential, and the dates all matched up.

In other words, no experiments had ever been conducted on this medicine.

No one could prove it had ever worked successfully.

So why was it still listed as one of Freya’s achievements in the Hall of Silver and Tin?

Realizing that something was amiss, Mycroft went specifically to find the Painter who was responsible for making Freya’s portrait.

And then he learned crucial information.

It was Old Moriarty who had personally instructed to add that detail.

“There are three possibilities now.”

Sherlock analyzed seriously, “First, the ‘resurrection concoction’ does not exist, and Professor Moriarty had it added for some other purpose; second, such a concoction does exist and Miss Freya had verified it in front of Professor Moriarty, demonstrating some kind of ‘unstable trait’, and it’s because of this that your family developed specialized amnesia; third, your amnesia is not directly related to the side effects of the ‘resurrection concoction’, but rather to the experiment itself—after the experiment, your memories were washed away, either voluntarily or involuntarily.”

“Which do you lean towards more?”

Aiwass immediately asked, “I think the first one can be ruled out first.

Between the second and third, I’m more inclined to the third…”

“—I don’t lean towards any, Aiwass.”

Sherlock said coldly, “Until we have actual evidence, speculation can only be that—speculation—if one becomes convinced by a speculation, and then seeks evidence to support it, it is no longer a search for the truth but rather a comfort to oneself.”

Upon hearing this, Aiwass was slightly taken aback.

His pupils trembled slightly as he realized that Sherlock was correct.

“Haha…”

Aiwass suddenly burst out laughing, and reached out to vigorously ruffle Sherlock’s hair until it was completely disheveled, “It’s embarrassing, I’ve said the same thing to others before…

and now I’m the first to forget it.”

—In his heart, he truly couldn’t let go of Professor Moriarty, who could potentially become the apocalyptic boss.

Or perhaps, it was precisely because the professor had been missing for so long that Aiwass, unable to trace him, felt increasingly anxious.

Now that the matter had dragged him in again, it made it difficult for Aiwass to maintain absolute objectivity and calm.

“Hey, Fox.”@@novelbin@@

Sherlock, with a sulking face, suddenly spoke, “You’re guarding against your foster father James, aren’t you?”

Upon hearing this, Aiwass turned his gaze to Sherlock.

He had guessed it.

If this had been several months ago, Sherlock’s sharpness would have only made Aiwass nervous and feel troubled.

But now it brought him peace of mind.

“Rest assured, I will help you.”

Sherlock replied succinctly.

He glanced at Isabel and added, “Her Majesty the Queen, as well.”

“—’Her Majesty the Queen’ especially!”

Isabel gave him a stern look and corrected him loudly.

Then the three of them looked at each other and smiled.

Aiwass felt the mild anxiety in his heart, like clumps of powdered milk, dissolving away.

Indeed so, Aiwass thought.

I am no longer alone.