[You have arrived at Dark City.]
[Dark City is located within a plateau frozen tundra to the northwest of the Star Spirit World, an underground city about one thousand to five thousand meters deep. Divided into four levels, due to its depth underground, the city has no direct sunlight throughout the year. The only sources of light are the countless fluorescent stones embedded in the rocky ceiling and man-made sunflower lanterns. If one were to look up, it would seem like a dazzling starry sky eternally existing...]
[Dark City is the main city for the Dark Elf Clan. Dark Elves were originally elves that had committed crimes within the various elf tribes. These criminals were abandoned by the group, bearing the curse of ’never seeing sunlight again,’ and were forced to live underground. Over many years, these exiles gradually formed their own civilization underground. As most of these exile elves had constant contact with a type of amethyst rock underground, their skin turned black-gray or purple, thus they were referred to as Dark Elves by outsiders.]
[Also due to Dark City’s status as a city of exile, its atmosphere is rather open. Unlike the Forest Elves and Sunlight Elves who are xenophobic, the Dark Elves openly embrace other cultures. Besides about 80% of the population being Dark Elves, Dark City is also home to about 10% humans, 3% dwarves, 2% beastkin, and even 5% mixed-races like Vampire Werewolves. It is a resource-rich city with various underground minerals and tribe specialties, thriving with commerce.]
Mu You arrived at this underground city for the first time through the teleportation array of the Forest Elves.
According to the explanation, the Dark Elf race was not originally in existence. They were just Elves who were exiled from other Elven communities, slowly forming this civilization through solidarity.
Even the queen of Dark Elves has the suffix ’exile’ following her name. This indicates that their underlying identity as ’criminals’ still exists within them. Among all the Elven tribes, they are considered the lowest in status.
Mu You didn’t care about the pecking order within the Elven tribes. Upon arriving at Dark City, he instantly found a significant advantage: There was no daylight!
Because it was located deep underground, it was always night here. Therefore, his vampire skin and Pumpkin Lantern could be effective round-the-clock, which was very soothing.
First, Mu You had his character stroll around the city, aiming to find some unique buildings of the Dark Elves.
However, to his disappointment, there seemed to be hardly any exclusive structures for this race. Even the items sold in the shops were all common goods that could be found everywhere else.
After not finding anything interesting in the city, Mu You didn’t waste any more time. He left the city directly and headed straight to his specified mission location, the Elf Temple.
[You have arrived at the Dark Temple.]
[You see a large pile of discarded scrap metal in front of the temple entrance. It looks like the wreckage of many alchemy devices.]
[You observe from a distance while hiding. There doesn’t seem to be anyone guarding the area. Do you take this opportunity to approach the temple?]
Although it was strange that there was no guard at the temple, he was already here. He might as well probe the situation first.
Going unnoticed, Mu You guided his game character towards the temple with precautious steps, pocket watch at the ready.
[Maintaining your invisibility, you quietly approach the temple entrance.]
[Everything was calm along the way with no incidents.]
[Just as you were about to step within five meters of the temple entrance, you suddenly found a faint red light emanating from a piece of scrap metal. This light darted around, sweeping across your body!]
[The pile of abandoned metal in front of you suddenly floated in the air. In their rotation, they transformed into self-walking cannons resembling spiders and three battle robots!]
[In the blink of an eye, the pile of scrap metal had turned into a powerful mechanized army!]
[Fire tongues spouted out from magic cannons all around, attacking you relentlessly. The deafening sounds of cannon fire resounded throughout the area and instantly caught the attention of the Goblin Engineers dwelling inside the caves.]
[The small Goblins rushed out of the caves driving various beast-shaped robots. They howled and charged at you. But before they could even approach, you were already bombarded to pieces by the concentrated cannon fire...]
Mu You felt his heart leap into his throat. He hastily pressed the pocket watch, returning to five seconds before he tripped the alarm, and quickly chose to retreat in silence.
These Goblins’ technology is highly advanced. They’ve even managed to make Transformers! Besides this automatic intruder detection system, an auto-counterattack mechanism, and a concentration fire network... It’s no wonder they dared to set up without a guard. These alchemical constructs are certainly more efficient than manpower.
This lightly guarded front entrance was indeed the most heavily defended. It was impossible to break through directly from the front. He had to think of another way.
Mu You opened the panel and glanced at the friend list.
Both Lin Xue and Little Ya’s game characters were online.
Mu You hit ’Other-shore Flower’ and sent Lin Xue a message.
[Lamp-lighter: Are you online?]
[Other-shore Flower: Mm, on a mission, what’s up?]
[Lamp-lighter: I’ve transported over.]
[Other-shore Flower: Oh? You’re in Dark City now?]
[Lamp-lighter: Mm, so I was wondering if you have a map or so...]
Lin Xue had arrived several days earlier and had been doing missions in Dark City recently. She’d even found accommodation there, so she should be quite familiar with the environment.
[Other-shore Flower: I do have a map, but it’s not very detailed.]
[Lamp-lighter: Can I have a look?]
Within seconds, Mu You received a notification on the forum. Lin Xue had sent him a photo of a map.