Mercenary Wars

Chapter 259 The County of Lorraine
The level 10 Gaussian Eye Demon's "Eye Demon Vision" is stronger than that of the level 8 one, and it also seems to have some new characteristics.

Gaucano discovered that when he focused his attention on a person, he could see increasingly clear ripples on that person.

At first, he thought it was visual blurring caused by the injury—the ripples piled up near the outline looked like double images, but after he recovered, he could still see the ripples.

Moreover, these ripples can only be seen on people; they are not visible on other objects.

Gao Jiano realized that things were not simple, and then stared at the several undead for a while.

He soon noticed that the number of ripples on each person was different, seemingly corresponding to their level.

When he was converting the undead, he touched each one of them, so he knew their levels. Based on this, he couldn't help but have a guess: the eye-sight of a level 10 Gaussian Eye Demon gave him the ability to observe the levels of living beings.

Gao Jiano stared at Dariss and himself for a while.

Six layers of ripples.

Seven layers of ripples.

It seems my guess was correct.

I do indeed possess the ability to directly observe the levels of others.

However, "Elementary Demonology" does not mention that the Eye Demon's vision has this function.

A reasonable explanation is that this is a unique ability of this level 10 Gaussian Eye Demon.

This is not surprising. Although the diversity of holy names of certain races of demons cannot compare with that of mortal creatures, they cannot all be the same. Especially for demons of level ten, they must have some unique features.

Gao Jiano stood up and approached the spirits: "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome, just bring some more books!" Oren said.

The other spirits nodded in agreement: "Especially novels!"

"Yes, novels from the time of Fonfredo were really exciting!"

Pope Fonfredo, known for his enlightenment, naturally fostered a flourishing of cultural endeavors during his reign. For the Mosas living in a relatively isolated era, the novels of Fonfredo's time were truly eye-opening.

The spirits had long since abandoned the Mosa faith; for them, living in a confined environment and without any physical needs, this spiritual nourishment was their true sustenance.

"I'll definitely do it next time," Gao Jiano readily agreed.

He then cleaned up the somewhat messy scene nearby, disposed of the corpse of the level eight Gaussian Eye Demon, and left with Dariss.

After leaving the water cellar ruins, the next destination was naturally the County of Lorraine, as Pierce had mentioned.

They found a camel caravan and traveled together to the County of Lorraine in the southwest.

As part of the ancient kingdom of Asur, the County of Lorraine was not far from South Asur.

However, the environments of the two are quite different.

Asur is a vast desert, and almost everything within its borders is yellow sand.

In contrast, the environment in the County of Lorraine is much more normal. Although there is some drought, it is sufficient to support considerable agriculture and can basically achieve self-sufficiency in food.

Somewhat strangely, there is a rather obvious abrupt change in the environment between Asur and the County of Lorraine. At least near the border where Gaucano passes, there is almost no transition between desert and normal soil, creating a natural border in a clear-cut manner.

This prompted him to ask the fellow merchant, "Is this the border between Asur and Lorraine?"

"Yes," the businessman nodded.

"Why is this? These boundaries look like they were designed that way."

The merchant smiled and said, "Of course it was designed—the masterpiece of Mosa."

Gaucano didn't know what to say, because he wasn't sure how much of his words contained any element of faith.

The merchant continued, "At least according to Count Lorraine, these borders are called the 'Walls of Dew,' a gift from Mosa, but..."

He lowered his voice slightly: "However, according to other rumors, these boundaries are actually signs of the impending formation of the Tidal Lands." Signs of the impending formation of the Tidal Lands?
Gao Jiano's eyelids twitched slightly.

After all, if this were true, it would be somewhat frightening.

No one wants the land beneath their feet to suddenly turn into a tidal zone and trap them within it.

The merchant sized up Gaucano and Dariss: "Are you mages?"

"Yes."

"You should know more about the secrets of the Tidal Lands than we do, right? How exactly were the Tidal Lands formed?"

Darius shook her head: "The formation of the Tidal Lands is unpredictable. Even the most learned magic professors can only attribute its formation to the will of God."

The merchant then asked, "Is it possible for the tidal zone to revert to a normal area?"

"No."

Is it possible for the two tidal zones to merge into one tidal zone?

"It seems like it's not possible either..."

"So, sooner or later, the world will be reduced to countless shattered tidal lands, with no normal areas left." The merchant sighed. "That will be the 'Judgment Day' mentioned in the scriptures!"

Gao Jiano couldn't help but frown slightly.

He had never thought about this question before.

However, the businessman's speculation is entirely reasonable.

The tidal lands only increase, never decrease; they merely separate and never connect. Sooner or later, they will occupy and tear the entire world apart, and that would truly be an apocalyptic scene…

Upon entering the County of Lorraine, Gaucano and his companion separated from the caravan, rented a carriage, and headed to the location designated by Pierce.

A few hours later.

They followed the map to their destination.

The destination was a manor.

The estate was of good size and value, which gave Gaucano a slight headache.

After all, he didn't need an entire estate; he just wanted the Shackleton family's secret cellar buried within it, and then he could resell it for a good price.

For him, the ideal situation would be that the secret cellar is located on a small, desolate piece of land, where he could acquire it for a few dozen silver coins.

This manor is estimated to be quite valuable; buying it would probably cost several hundred gold coins.

What if you buy it only to find that the secret cellar has been turned into ruins? Wouldn't that be a waste of money?

Therefore, Gaucano decided to first investigate the secret cellar before deciding whether to purchase the estate.

That night, he and Daryls secretly sneaked into the manor, found the location of the secret cellar, and prepared to investigate.

Together, the two used clay magic to dig a tunnel more than ten meters deep.

"You stay outside and keep watch, I'll go down and check," Gao Jiano instructed.

"Don't worry, boss." Daryls nodded in agreement.

Gao Jiano then went down into the tunnel and dug around with clay for a while before finally finding a stone door.

There is a spell on the stone gate.

It wasn't any particularly powerful magic. Given the meager strength of the Shackleton family at the time, it would have been impossible for them to create a powerful spell that could last for hundreds of years.

In fact, the only function of this magic is to unleash the "ill-gotten gains" curse upon intrusion, marking the contents inside and preventing their circulation in the market.

(End of this chapter)