Unknown Knight

Only then did Aix understand why he hadn't found out any useful information all day. Now the villagers were all those who survived the sandstorm because they did not dare to leave the village. That's why no one noticed anything unusual near the village during the sandstorm. This is the so-called survivor bias.

At the same time, this also shows that there is definitely something special happening near the village. Unwilling to give up, Aix asked the village chief again:

"Is there anything strange happening around the village? Or is it different from other places?"

The village chief thought about it carefully, shook his head and said:

"I've lived here for half my life, and I've never heard of anything strange happening around here."

Aix was not sure whether the village chief was hiding something from him, so he used the same old trick and talked to Velen about mirages, giant sandworms that appeared in the desert and other strange things.

Velen also understood what he meant, and he and Aix joined in the joke. Until Aix mentioned that someone saw a castle made entirely of steel in the desert, there was no sign of anything unusual on the village chief's face, which was full of interest.

On the contrary, the village chief seemed eager to try a few times after Aix finished speaking, as if he also wanted to show off the strange things he knew. It was only out of courtesy to the guests that he did not take the initiative to interrupt Aix's boasting and performance, so Aix stopped and asked the village chief:

"I think the village chief is also a knowledgeable person. He must know a lot about these strange stories, right?"

Everyone has a certain degree of desire to perform, especially the elderly. They always want to tell young people their life experiences in the form of stories, and use this method to indirectly laugh at the superficiality of the younger generation to achieve their own psychological satisfaction. The village chief is no exception.

After hearing what Aix said, the village chief immediately began to talk with great interest, telling about all the bizarre things he had heard over the years.

But Axel knew that such things were often not credible, and were mostly based on rumors, falsehoods and exaggerations. Moreover, they were all the so-called experiences of the village chief when he was out there. What he actually heard was far from his original intention, so he had no interest in it.

Perhaps the village chief saw the lack of interest on Aix's face and felt embarrassed, so he scratched his head and thought:

"In fact, I have experienced many interesting things over the years. The one that impressed me the most was when I was ten years old. That was probably the closest I ever got to death."

The village chief said quietly, seeming to be nostalgic for the good times that had been lost. He then continued:

"That year, I went out of the village with a few friends to catch lizards. As a result, my friends all got some, but I didn't. I was very dissatisfied and vowed to catch one myself.

So after they went back, I let you sneak out of the village alone, all the way east, deep into the desert.

At the bottom of a valley, I found several geckos. When I was about to catch them, I suddenly felt dizzy and lost consciousness.

As a result, it was not until the morning of the next day that I woke up from hunger. I was so scared that I quickly got up and ran towards the village. It took me a long time to get back to the village, but a sandstorm came as I entered the village.

Later, I heard from the elders in the village that the desert east of the village is the territory of the Black Sand God. He likes the souls of living people the most. Those who go out in the sandstorm have their souls captured by him and die in the desert.

I can only say that I was lucky to have survived. If it had been a little later, I might have become one of those missing villagers."

Although there was no connection between the village chief's story and the Steel City, it was the only strange story related to this village that Aix had heard so far. So he decided to explore the east side of the village tomorrow.

On the second day, Aix and his party got up early, and after making full preparations, they headed towards the east of the village.

Before setting off, while everyone was packing their luggage, Aix rode his horse around the village.

He found something very strange. Except for the small basin where the village was located, there was no life around the village. Even the most resilient plants, such as tamarisk, poplar and sedge, were gone. This made the basin where the village was located look like an isolated island in a sea of ​​sand.

The group walked eastward for more than an hour from the village. The situation they encountered was the same as the area around the village, with no signs of life, which was very different from other places.

At this time, Bestur came over and handed him the monocular telescope, pointing to the distance. Aix followed the direction he pointed and looked through the monocular telescope. It should be the valley that the village chief mentioned.

After walking for another hour, they finally entered the valley. They set up their tent under a large rock in the windward area and decided to explore the valley.

After working for more than an hour, they didn't find anything special, and no one showed the dizziness or other abnormal reactions that the village chief described.

However, Aix discovered that there were many crystal clear and sparkling natural glasses scattered throughout the valley.

After working for another half an hour, they still had no results, so they had to return to the tent to rest and eat some dry food.

After finishing their dry food, it was the hottest time of the day at noon, so Aix asked everyone to take a short rest in the tent and make plans after noon.

As soon as he lay down on the blanket, Bestur asked Aix if he heard any strange noises from above. Aix listened and found nothing, so he teased Bestur and asked him if he had been drinking secretly.

But Bestur insisted that he heard a sound he had never heard before, and went to Aix's luggage to search. After a few tries, he found the bag containing the nano core machine, pointed at it and said to Aix:

“That’s where the sound comes from.”

Axe was afraid that this rough man might damage the nano core machine he had obtained with great difficulty due to his clumsy hands and feet, so he snatched it back. However, at such a close distance, Axe could hear a tiny sound like the buzzing of ants coming from the bag.

He hurriedly took out the only item in his bag, which was the nano core machine.

When he took it out, Aix was shocked. He saw a hollow battery logo flashing on a round surface of the nano core machine, with a number 0.0002% behind it.

Upon hearing the news, everyone gathered around. Seeing this, Velen said:

"After this nano core machine cured several patients, it stopped responding not long after it made this sound. Did you do something to it?"

This last sentence seemed to remind Aix, and he hurriedly took the nano core machine outside the tent and looked at it carefully, but he didn't find anything different. Then Velen reminded him:

"Why don't you take it and walk around the valley?"

This sentence reminded Aix, and he walked around the valley holding this "artifact" as if it were a treasure.