482. This Dish Is Not Fit to Eat

"This dish is not allowed to be eaten."

Lu Ban thought to himself.

Those without any foreign name hints are generally from your own world.

As for things like Soul Calling, Lu Ban had heard of them before. This kind of feudal superstition had caused great turmoil in ancient times and was a long-standing and eerie phenomenon.

Lu Ban himself did not believe in such demons and monsters.

He felt that the reason why the Soul Calling ritual caused various problems was because it was inherently bizarre and a kind of distorted rule.

The rule is roughly that once someone's name is called and they respond, something like that will happen.

It looks a bit like the purple-gold gourd of the Silver Horn King.

Perhaps the purple-gold gourd itself is a kind of eeriness.

This is the scientifically reasonable explanation that Lu Ban received.

There might be information about the Fate Jade in this mission, but navigating the city these days isn't so simple.

He looked at the second plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

100,000 Leagues Under the Sea

[Having dived 100,000 miles into the ocean, I saw the entrance to hell.]

Legend has it that gods dwell somewhere Deep Sea, in those secret realms that even the Tide Caller dares not venture into, ancient whispers echo, and ancient evil lurks.

Touch it, open it, witness to Him.

Earth and sky merge into one; this is the end.

"No way, no way, could someone really be trying to release an evil god?"

"New map."

Lu Ban made his judgment.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes is nothing new, but the Deep Sea is undoubtedly a new and exotic place in the Silent Land.

If he hadn't been to the Deep Sea with Feng Yu before, this would be a completely new map. Unfortunately, Lu Ban had already been spoiled in advance, so it lost its novelty.

Of course, Lu Ban still gained a lot of information from the mission description.

"Are there evil gods sealed away in the Deep Sea?"

Lu Ban asked Feng Yu.

"Which alien realm doesn't have a few evil gods sealed away?"

Feng Yu countered with a question.

"It's more accurate to say that most alien realms wouldn't even have developed civilizations if they hadn't been contaminated by the sealing of evil gods."

"What do you mean?"

Lu Ban was curious.

"Just like the world, if you pay attention to paleontological evolution, you will find that the world did not have a gas like oxygen at the beginning, but life still existed when there was no oxygen."

Feng Yu explained briefly.

"Those life forms that could survive without oxygen, such as anaerobic bacteria, were transformed when oxygen appeared. Over 99% of life forms went extinct, and the ancestors of modern humans emerged afterward. So, do you think the appearance of oxygen was a powerful form of pollution for those anaerobic bacteria?"

After listening to Feng Yu's words, Lu Ban felt that they made some sense.

For humans, oxygen is undoubtedly the source of life.

For anaerobic bacteria, oxygen is poison.

If a living organism cannot adapt to an oxygen-rich environment, it will undoubtedly perish.

The same principle applies here, where oxygen is converted into pollution.

In particular, Lu Ban had seen exotic places like the Deep Sea, which, in Lu Ban's words, were so polluted and mutated that they couldn't be more mutated.

But civilization was still able to be preserved.

In places like City of Dusk, where the original civilization was destroyed by the fall of the gods, races like the Eye Demon could also evolve. It must be said that life is tenacious, and life will always find a way out.

This further confirms Lu Ban's idea that appropriate self-contamination can effectively resist the contamination of other realms and slow down the pace of time that is constantly moving towards destruction.

If he had never been to the Deep Sea, he might have needed to go on this mission to broaden his horizons, but unfortunately, Lu Ban had already done so.

Moreover, he felt that if the evil god of the Deep Sea were really released, the Little Fishmen would be too pitiful.

Not only could they not be sold to foreign lands to realize their self-worth, but they were also tormented by evil gods.

Kind-hearted Lu Ban couldn't bear to see such a scene and didn't intend to choose it.

So it seems there's only one answer left.

He looked at the last dish.

On the dry pot cabbage, the system's cold and indifferent words appeared.

For whom do the swarms soar?

Some say the three most despairing things in the wilderness are the scorching sun, the dryness, and the insects.

But in my opinion, insects are the most terrifying. They are everywhere, coming from all directions. In the shortest amount of time, these insects will devour your flesh and blood, leaving only broken bones.

However, some people make a living by studying these insects, trying to find ways to control them, without considering that even after studying death for so many years, humans still cannot escape death.

If you ask me, I'd rather pray that I die quickly when attacked by insects.

"Shh, listen, it's the sound of wings flapping."

"Speak of the devil and he appears."

Lu Ban had originally planned to go to the wasteland to meet those insects, and now, just in time, he had a mission.

He selected the task almost without hesitation, without even needing to spend money on [The Madman's Knowledge].

Lu Ban picked up the last bit of food with his chopsticks and ate it.

The food was a bit cold, and the cabbage had a strange texture, like eating insects.

The words changed immediately after taking a bite of the food.

[Quest item detected; quest details changed]

Then, below the task description, a few lines of text spread out from the already solidified oil.

[Task Difficulty: Enhanced]

[Mission Objective: Find the Queen Insect]

Mission Objective: Survive

[Mission Objective: Obtain Du Danping's Melody Fragment]

"Du Danping!"

Lu Ban finally saw that familiar name again.

Prior to this, at the Nanhua Private Renji Hospital in the Ruined Capital Town, Lu Ban had already obtained two Melody Fragment.

The third one has finally appeared in the wasteland.

However, the description of this task is too simple and crude, and it is undoubtedly related to insects.

"The mission requires finding the queen bug, and it seems like it might involve protecting someone while searching for the bug, and surviving after finding the bug is also part of the mission."

He had roughly outlined the mission: to protect one or more scholars who study insects, search for traces of the insects, eventually find the queen insect's location, and then escape.

Lu Ban still needs to try to kill the Queen and obtain her Heart of the Swarm.

Simple and direct, no riddles needed, very reasonable.

As for Du Danping's Melody Fragment, Lu Ban suspected they were also on the Queen Insect, but he couldn't say what role these Melody Fragment played.

This time, Lu Ban had no companions and had to go alone.

"I hope Old Cui is alright."

Lu Ban couldn't help but pray for Trist.

Which god are you praying to?

Suddenly, Feng Yu, who was standing to the side, asked as if he could read Lu Ban's mind.

"Well, so it seems there really isn't any god we can pray to."

Lu Ban thought for a moment and realized that there were no gods or saviors in this world, so he should rely on himself.