Chapter 717
Chapter 717
The tense atmosphere in the meeting room seemed to find an outlet, and everyone's eyes instantly focused on them.
Uri still held her smooth, long blade, her clear and calm gaze visible under her long lashes, as if the hostile vibe in the room had nothing to do with her.
Dane, on the other hand, looked like a tiger ready to pounce. He had clearly overheard Francis's last remarks from outside the door. His eyes burned with rage, his heavy breathing audible, and his stare was like a sharp knife, cutting straight at Francis.
When Francis saw them, his face openly showed extreme contempt and disgust, as if he were looking at something filthy, "The savages finally showed up! What, are you here to teach us how to rub sticks for fire to fight the super tech of the Mainframe?"
His harsh sarcasm drew muffled snickers from a few of his close followers.
Gilbert frowned, about to speak up and stop this rude behavior.
But Uri seemed to ignore Francis's mockery.
She walked lightly to the massive strategy table, paying no attention to the curious, scornful, or scrutinizing looks around her.
Carefully, she took something out of a bag woven from some strange plant fiber she carried with her.
It was a fist-sized, dull purple crystal fragment, collected from the spaceship attack incident, now lifeless and inactive.
A wave of suppressed gasps filled the meeting room.
Everyone recognized it! In the horrifying footage Ronnie had shown, it was this creepy crystal that grew wildly and corroded human bodies!
Uri gently placed the ominous purple crystal cluster on the polished table.
Then, she did something that made everyone hold their breath. Slowly, she lowered her ever-present long blade, sheath downward, and lightly touched it to the purple crystal!
A very faint but distinct humming sound rang out, reaching everyone's ears!
What followed was unbelievable!
At the point where the sheath touched the purple crystal, a soft yet powerful platinum glow, carrying some ancient and resilient energy, suddenly appeared!
The light rippled out like water waves, instantly enveloping the dull purple crystal.
A subtle sound, like melting snow, could be heard.
Under everyone's shocked gazes, the surface of the eerie purple crystal—which even energy weapons couldn't fully destroy and could regenerate itself—began to emit a faint, almost invisible purple mist!
The crystal itself, like ice under intense heat, visibly softened, collapsed, and melted!
In just a few seconds, the fist-sized crystal, under the platinum glow from the blade, completely turned into a small puddle of deep purple, sticky liquid, no longer resembling a crystal at all!
The light from the blade faded, returning to normal.
Silence!
The entire strategy room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the sound of heavy breathing and heartbeats remaining.
Uri lifted her clear eyes, calmly scanning the stunned and disbelieving faces around her, finally resting on me. Her voice was cool and clear like a spring, "James is right. The Mainframe's power isn't unbeatable. Its creations aren't invincible either. The battle on the airship made me realize that the 'Heart of the Sacred Mountain,' guarded by our Wildman Tribe for generations, produces the 'Purifying Flame Stone,' which is one of its weaknesses. Maybe we can use the Purifying Flame Stone to fight the Mainframe. Abandoning allies will only let the flames consume us all faster. Against a shared icy threat, we must cling to the wild fire."
As her words ended, Dane took a heavy step forward, making a loud thud. He glared at Francis, his voice like rolling thunder, "Did you hear that, you dressed-up 'smart guy'? Dare to talk about abandoning James again, and I'll smash you into a pulp with one swing of my hammer. Let's see if your 'smarts' can save you then!"
Francis's face instantly turned pale as a sheet.
He looked at the puddle of purple liquid still faintly steaming on the table, then at the seemingly ordinary yet terrifyingly purifying blade in Uri's hand. His lips trembled, unable to spit out another mocking word.
The "reason" he relied on to stir fear and divide people was shattered by the Wildman Tribe's silent but stunning display.
I ignored Francis and invited Uri and Dane to sit down, "Your arrival will definitely help us come up with ideas to deal with the Mainframe. I've never doubted that."
Looking at Uri and Dane, I continued with my questions, "Where is this Sacred Mountain you mentioned? How come I never heard about it from Elder Noah back on Savage Island?"
"And what exactly is the so-called Heart of the Sacred Mountain? How is the Purifying Flame Stone refined? How can we use it to fight the Mainframe?"
These were my questions, and I'm sure they were also on the minds of Gilbert, Jack, Ronnie, Cecil, and the others.
Facing my string of questions, a barely noticeable hint of seriousness flashed in Uri's clear eyes.
She didn't answer right away, instead glancing at Dane first.
Dane spoke up in his rough voice, with a protective tone that left no room for argument, "The Sacred Mountain is a forbidden place for our Wildman Tribe! No outsiders are allowed near it except for the elders and guardian warriors! James, it's not that we don't trust you. This is a strict rule passed down from our ancestors!"
"Dane!" Uri softly interrupted his overly harsh tone, then turned to me. Her voice remained cool but carried an explanatory tone, "James, what Dane said is true. The Sacred Mountain is the source of our Wildman Tribe's bloodline and heritage, and it's the only place where the Purifying Flame Stone can be found. It doesn't exist on the surface lands you know, like Forbidden Island, Savage Island, or Monster Island."
"Not on the surface?" Gilbert couldn't help but cut in, frowning, "Then where is it? Under the sea? Or…?"
Uri shook her head slightly, her gaze seeming to pierce through the alloy walls of the meeting room, looking toward a distant, unknown place, "The Sacred Mountain exists within a spatial fold. It's closely tied to Savage Island but is separate from the main physical plane, in a strange dimensional gap. It's not a mountain you can see with your eyes; it's more like a secret core, wrapped and protected by space itself. Only through specific spatial nodes, at certain times, and guided by a guardian bearing the 'Heart of the Sacred Mountain Mark,' can one safely enter."
"Spatial fold?" Chief Councilor Marshall gasped. As a tech expert, he immediately understood the technical barrier, "Even in the Elite Alliance, stable and controllable spatial passage tech is just a theory! The Mainframe might have it, though."
"So that's why Noah never mentioned it," I realized, feeling a bit stuck, "Because it involves the Wildman Tribe's most core secret and the foundation of their survival. Then what is this 'Heart of the Sacred Mountain'?"
"The Heart of the Sacred Mountain," Uri's tone carried a near-reverent awe, "It's the core of that spatial secret realm. It's not a heart in the literal sense, but more like a pulsating energy source that radiates pure life and purifying power."
"Its form is hard to describe. It's like a massive crystal cluster burning with platinum flames, or like a solidified lake of molten rock flowing with light."
"The Purifying Flame Stone is a special ore mined from the environment or companion veins around the Heart of the Sacred Mountain. It's then refined over a long time by our guardian clan using the energy emitted from the Heart, finally taking shape with the ability to purify corruption and resist mental erosion, just like the material of my blade's sheath."
Uri gently touched the sheath of her long blade.