After the flames had dissipated, the entire Lizard Man tribe was thoroughly doomed.
Most of the Lizard Men had been absorbed by Honid, while the few who initially escaped the disaster also perished in the blaze or died from asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen. An ancient tribe that had persisted for over a thousand years disintegrated so simply and easily, completely annihilated.
However, at this moment, Fang Zheng had no mood to contemplate the fragility of life. He furrowed his brows, staring intently at the scorched earth before him. After confirming that he had burned that unlucky artifact to the point where not a trace was left, not a single fish slipping through the net, then did Fang Zheng finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But even so, deep in Fang Zheng’s heart, there still lingered numerous questions.
That was... just what was that so-called Secret Treasure?
And what was the deal with this Lizard Man tribe?
At this moment, Fang Zheng’s heart was filled with countless doubts. If it had been before, he likely would have been at a loss, but now...
Accompanying Fang Zheng’s call, the Omniscient Angel "Ratziel" just like that appeared in his hands... well, one must admit that carrying around a GOOGLE encyclopedia was quite useful.
Now then, let me investigate the matter concerning this Lizard Man tribe and the Secret Treasure.
With this thought, Fang Zheng stretched out his hand and flipped open the omniscient record before him. Quickly, the page before his eyes revealed the history of the Lizard Man tribe.
Just as those Lizard Men had claimed, they originated from a very ancient era; they were created by [———], once worshipped [———], however, due to [———], they were ultimately exiled deep into the bowels of the earth. And the [———] they were seeking...
"No, I can’t read any further."
Fang Zheng "snap" shut the "Ratziel" he held in his hand, then reached out to rub his faintly aching forehead.
Indeed, "Ratziel" possessed the ability to know all, but it also had significant limitations. First, only Fang Zheng himself could understand the content recorded in the book. It wasn’t written in any known language, but instead, it gathered and extracted information from all things in the world, presenting it in the form of "text" on the pages. Fang Zheng would "decipher" these symbols to extract the information contained within.
"Ratziel" itself had no limitations, but for Fang Zheng, there were constraints. He couldn’t decipher anything beyond his "range of understanding." Information that far exceeded Fang Zheng’s understanding, mastery, and possession was too complicated for him to read and interpret.
Nevertheless, even if he couldn’t interpret those "key words," Fang Zheng was still able to obtain some fragmented information from the records. First, it seemed that the Lizard Man tribe was indeed one of the most ancient races in the Main World; they were created by some powerful being (whether it was the Goddess of Order was unknown), and they also worshipped some sort of divine spirit. However, it appeared these Lizard Men had committed some transgression, so they and their city were sunken deep into the earth...
In these parts, Fang Zheng was unable to interpret the section about the "Secret Treasure"; the only piece of useful information he could gather was that the Secret Treasure seemed to be an artifact created by [———] for some purpose, but beyond that, Fang Zheng was still unable to interpret any further information.
But Fang Zheng did have some clues.
Firstly, that thing called "Secret Treasure" was very likely from the Ancient Era; at the very least, the Lizard Man tribe hadn’t left for thousands of years, and the form of the Secret Treasure was exactly like one that Fang Zheng remembered Williams possessed. As for its effects... well, Fang Zheng had to sadly rejoice in his good luck for not turning into a Slime Monster that eats anything and everything.
Of course, perhaps it was because each "Secret Treasure" had a different function? After his injection, it turned into a time travel system, while after Honid’s injection, it turned into a Slime Monster that eats everything?
However, that being said, why was that "Secret Treasure" in Williams’s hands?
With such questions in mind, Fang Zheng once again opened "Ratziel" to investigate, and to his surprise, he discovered a secret! The reason the Twilight Day Church was closely associated with the Williams Family... turned out to be because of this Secret Treasure!
"Guided by the great [———], we found the location of the Williams Family, a minor nobility with no significant power. It was child’s play to corrupt them, to turn them into believers of our lord!"
"We succeeded, the Williams family has abandoned their ugly and corrupt old faith, and turned to worship the majesty of our lord instead. To test their loyalty, our lord bestowed upon them a Secret Treasure, which they were to guard generation after generation until the day of the ultimate Judgment... Why did the lord choose the Williams? I do not know..."
Well, the puzzle didn’t decrease but rather increased.
Looking at the information provided by the Ratziel, Fang Zheng became even more perplexed. According to the records, the Twilight Day Church had planned to approach and corrupt the Williams family under the guidance of some Evil God, and afterward, the Evil God bestowed a "Secret Treasure" upon the Williams family, which was passed down for at least four generations.
But why choose the Williams Family?
If one were to consider the logic of typical fantasy novels or games, it should be that there is some kind of mysterious lineage or a special inheritance and soul mark hidden within the family, Yet Fang Zheng, having scrutinized the Williams family through the Ratziel, could not find anything special about them. The most notable thing was that the great-grandfather of the Williams family was awarded a title and land after commanding the fight against the cultists with distinction and outstanding merit... That was all.
"It seems the problem behind this is indeed complicated..."
After confirming there was nothing left to investigate, Fang Zheng had no choice but to surrender. Although the Ratziel had saved him a lot of time, the unsolvable issues were beyond his current ability to resolve. For now, the Secret Treasure in the hands of the Williams was bestowed by the Evil God worshiped by the Twilight Day Church, yet Fang Zheng couldn’t access any information records concerning a True God.
Not only that, but the Secret Treasure itself obviously held a significantly high rank, well beyond human comprehension, otherwise, given Fang Zheng’s current peak human status in the Extraordinary Domain, he wouldn’t be unable to decode the information on it at all.
But no matter what, at least Fang Zheng had found some very important clues.
His time travel, it seemed, was not an accident... At least, that "Secret Treasure" did not fail; if Fang Zheng’s guess was correct, then the "Secret Treasure" must have played the role it was meant to.
As for why it manifested in this form... That was beyond Fang Zheng’s knowledge.
After investigating everything he could, it was late at night, and Fang Zheng did not choose to stay in the ruins of the Lizard Man village but went back to the Zerg’s Domain. Then he opened the Mage’s Mansion—Fang Zheng dragged his weary body to bed and fell into a heavy sleep.
He didn’t know if it was because of the Secret Treasure’s influence, but that night, Fang Zheng had nothing but bad dreams, especially as he dreamt more than once that Honid had not been completely burned to death by him. Instead, the remainder escaped his search and quietly slipped into the depths of the earth, merging with a Slime and starting to revive. Then, he devoured those powerful creatures underground, taking their strength for himself, and then the aura of a web novel protagonist unfolded.
Finally, Honid transformed from a Slime into... a cute sister?!
"What the hell kind of plot twist is this?"
Fang Zheng abruptly opened his eyes and couldn’t help but blurt out his criticism, and just at that moment, suddenly, a gentle and crisp voice sounded in his ear.
"Are you awake, Master?"
Upon hearing this unfamiliar voice, Fang Zheng was startled. He turned his head and saw a young girl in a black dress with waist-length hair sitting beside him, smiling and watching him.
However, for Fang Zheng...