Players are coming, fortunately I have a time travel simulator

This corridor was extremely long, and Zhou Ning had to concentrate on guarding against the traps under his feet, so his progress was very slow for a while.

Like the previous corridor, the murals on both sides of the corridor depict a large number of scenes of the Elf King Alfred's life, governance of the country, and conquests. They seem to be arranged in chronological order, fully recording the scenes of the Elf King Alfred from youth, to middle age and then to old age. Given that the ancient elves had a long lifespan, the time span here is probably hundreds or thousands of years.

The portrait of Alfred here reminded Zhou Ning of the style of the goddess portrait he saw in St. Raymond's Church. In each mural, Alfred's image was both vague and solemn, as if surrounded by a halo, and his shape was lifelike, giving people a bizarre feeling of time disarray.

Jasmine was also observing the murals. Suddenly, she lowered her voice and said softly:

"This is a typical deification technique. This technique was very common in ancient times. Murals and other works of art would enhance the sense of existence of the individual, gain recognition in certain aspects, and then gradually elevate it to belief."

"You mean... Alfred wants to become a god?"

"It's possible, but not very realistic. To become a god, one must have godhood. If that were the case, he wouldn't be here," Jasmine said.

Zhou Ning continued forward and let the two lion-helmeted warriors walk at the front of the corridor. Because the surrounding environment was too quiet, even though he had tried his best to lighten his steps, the slight sound of footsteps could still be heard in the distance.

"Wait, this seems a bit strange." Jasmine's tone was a little doubtful.

"What's strange about it?" Zhou Ning asked subconsciously.

"Go back a little and look at Alfred then, and then look at him now."

Zhou Ning retreated a few meters as instructed. It was a war portrait of Alfred in his old age, a war between the ancient elves and the Dark Iron Dwarves. The old Alfred stood sideways, with layers of light circles covering his body, and behind him were thousands of war puppets and a dense army of magicians.

"It seems there is nothing wrong." Zhou Ning took a few steps forward, and in front of him was another scene. Alfred in the scene was in his prime, with a solemn look. He was holding a scepter and pointing it straight ahead. His army was following his orders and charging forward across the river, as if they were trying to stop the flow of the river with a whip. Opposite them were the Dark Iron Dwarves as well.

Noticing this, Zhou Ning's heartbeat quickened. He whispered, "You mean... Alfred seems to have found a way to regain his youth?"

This... is not possible? As a veteran player, Zhou Ning's first reaction was disbelief.

According to the game "Apocalypse," lifespan is an unbreakable constraint for every race. Even transcendental beings and immortal species like elves only have slightly longer lifespans than humans. Throughout the game, only the lunatics of the Life Alchemy Association are so obsessed with refining themselves, attempting to break the limits of the human body.

"That should be correct. According to the pattern of the previous murals, these murals are arranged chronologically. Moreover, these two murals clearly record the same war. This war is very famous in history. The Ancient Elves completely defeated the Dark Iron Dwarves in just three months and drove them out of the Jurgen Mountains. Any dwarf in Darkland should know this history."

Indeed... Zhou Ning nodded unconsciously and continued forward. On the murals ahead, Alfred's age grew younger and younger, from a middle-aged man to a young man, but his size seemed to grow larger and larger. At first, he was closer to an average elf, then he towered over an average elf, and then he was even more than twice as tall as an average elf, appearing to be five or six meters tall. Later, the murals depicting war became more numerous and more frequent. Some depicted hill dwarves, some werewolves, and some walruses. The painting style and linework became increasingly bizarre and strange.

"Could this be the artist's painting technique, depicting the Elf King as a giant taller than ordinary elves to deliberately elevate his status?" Zhou Ning said to himself.

"It's possible, but unlikely. The elves' painting style is generally quite realistic." Jasmine immediately rejected Zhou Ning's idea.

Zhou Ning frowned. Somehow, Alfred's situation seemed to give him a strong sense of déjà vu, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

In the game's background, in ancient times, Alfred thought he was the ultimate creature, perfect, immortal, and a living god. He was even so arrogant that he thought the sun was the golden testicles between his crotch, and he declared war on all living creatures.

Wait, a giant four or five meters tall, he had indeed seen it before, in the lake of Rivers Manor, the giant that Sherlock described as looking like Charles VI.

Suddenly, Zhou Ning's mind was filled with many thoughts. Was there any connection between the two? Or, in other words, was there any hidden, unchanging connection between the Life Alchemy Association, the Kingdom of Blyston, and the Ancient Elf Kingdom?

Zhou Ning stood in front of the mural in silence for a few seconds, and walked around the surrounding murals, but did not find anything else.

"Let's take a look ahead." Jasmine suggested.

"Okay." Zhou Ning suddenly felt a little uneasy.

After walking another forty meters forward, at the end of the corridor stood a half-open door.

At the same time, a message suddenly popped up on the panel:

[You trigger the S-rank team quest [Thoroughly explore the ancient elven royal tomb and gain insight into the secrets within], accept or give up?]

[Mission Tip: As the burial place of the ancient Elf King, this tomb contains a wealth of treasures and astonishing secrets. Try to lead your teammates to thoroughly explore this tomb and unearth its secrets. Of course, the choice is yours.]

【Term: Unlimited】

It turned out to be an S-level team mission...

Zhou Ning's eyes flashed, but since there was no time limit, he just accepted it and took the task immediately.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise from the door in front, and after a moment, it returned to silence. Zhou Ning suddenly discovered that the two lion warrior statues that were spiritually connected to him had suddenly lost contact.

This... Zhou Ning's eyes flashed and he stopped instinctively.

Then he discovered that his left palm suddenly swelled up, and several tiny tentacles seemed to have grown on it, wriggling in the wind.

A debuff was quietly placed on my body without me noticing.

Gaze of the Ancient Evil Spirit (Light): You are being watched by the evil spirit of the ancient elves. All attributes are reduced by 15%.

Is this... a curse?

Zhou Ning immediately used the power of ripples, and a golden energy flowed into his palm, creating a small hole on the edge of his palm. What came out of the hole was not blood, but tiny black insects entangled in it.

Wow!

These tiny black insects were ignited by the pale golden ripple flames, fell to the ground, squirmed, struggled, and turned into ashes.

"Go!" Jasmine whispered in her mind.

Zhou Ning saw the door in front of him move out of the corner of his eye, and it seemed that something was squeezed out from inside. He couldn't see clearly in the darkness, but the debuff on his body clearly jumped and became 30%.

Gaze of the Ancient Evil Spirit: You are being watched by the evil spirit of the ancient elves. All attributes are reduced by 30%.

Hey!

Zhou Ning turned around without hesitation, not caring about maintaining his idol demeanor, and ran out of the corridor at full speed.

His agility was over 200 points, and even after being weakened by 30%, it was still close to 200. When he ran at full speed, his speed was astonishing, and he ran a long distance in the blink of an eye. However, the thing behind him was chasing him closely, and even getting closer and closer. The sense of oppression in Zhou Ning's heart became stronger and stronger.

Just as he was about to run out of the tunnel, Zhou Ning felt a chill on his back. He quickly used the Traveler's Ring and teleported out of the tunnel.

The debuff on his body disappeared instantly, and Zhou Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Evil spirit... at least an evil spirit above level 80, because even the level cannot be detected. I didn't expect that there would be such a big thing inside. The danger level to me is even higher than that to Robbins. Fortunately, this evil spirit seems to be bound in the middle corridor, otherwise it would be a bit dangerous.

Zhou Ning took a breath and looked toward the corridor ahead. The intense feeling of unease had completely vanished. However, with his current strength, he was definitely not qualified to explore this place. If he wanted to explore here, he would wait until he reached level 70.

There was only one way left, so Zhou Ning cast his gaze towards the corridor on the right. Regardless of whether there were other forks, he would prepare to retreat after exploring this corridor.