Chapter 125: The Tablet
The next one he tested is the reverse of the first one; it emanates heat just like charcoal.
After testing all the crystals, Alex is both intrigued and disappointed by the result. He was intrigued because he had never seen something like this before but disappointed because every single crystal seemed to be a common household item.
"The civilization here seems to grow using crystals to fulfill all their needs, just like mine using mana and Minyue's world using Qi."
Thinking about the civilization reminded Alex of the tablet. "Vesa, how is that analysis?"
[I tried to analyze it, King, but the words are not too clear, and the translation result is also weird.]
"Weird, how?"
[I think it's because of mistranslation.]
Vesa then showed the translated message, "For the citizens of the El-Kulan tribe, this is Chief Altair speaking.
Please evacuate to the designated area because we will have a baby raining down upon us soon, which will threaten our existence and give us a lot of enjoyment. You all know the liquid they excrete is very useful for us but also very dangerous."
Alex burst out laughing; he was sure in no way this was correct, either as Vesa said it was a mistranslation or the content was a fictional story.
"Try to translate it again, Vesa."
[I will need more samples to improve this translation, King.]
"Let's wait till we get more samples then. Anyway, where is Emily? I thought she was staying with big sis."
[She should be under you now, King, inside the house.]
Alex then left the camp and jumped down to the house entrance.
Since they are still in the same building, he doesn't feel worried about leaving Quartz and Zold alone. Opening the door, he found Emily was absorbed in her own task as she was sitting near the table while playing with a similar crystal that Alex had found before.
To Alex's surprise, the crystal was activated. It showed a projection of a screen that reacted when Emily touched it. It's just like a hologram game.
This made Alex feel interested; after some observation, he realized it's a game similar to Tetris, 'so it's possible to create something like this, but the game doesn't seem that complex; it doesn't even have a score.' Alex thought.
The hologram showed many shapes and colors that Emily needed to move while it kept dropping from above, but the form was not square. Rather, it's in diamond form.
Alex saw Emily fail multiple times, making him chuckle. Hearing the voice made Emily stop playing.
"Bro, can't you say something if you are here? Don't tell me you plan to jump at me like usual?" Emily said with a frown.
Alex raised both hands, "I am innocent. I have no plan to do it."
Emily squinted her eyes, "Don't tell me you just did that to big sis Olivia."
Alex coughed, hearing her remark, then walked closer to Emily's side. With a closer look, Alex realized the crystal was socketed into the table. "How did you activate this?"
"I knew it. You did it to her. I am sure she is annoyed at you now," Emily said with a chuckle while her finger moved toward the crystal. She then pressed it gently, making the hologram disappear.
"Hmm, so that is how you do it."
Alex started tinkering with the button, turning the game on and off, then pried open the crystal, checking the pattern inside it.
The pattern is larger than the one he found; on this one, it spread to the entire crystal.
Seeing his expression, Emily knew he would ask how she found it, so she said, "I found the crystal in the cupboard, and then I remembered seeing a similar socket that fits the shape. So I tried it."
Alex then started looking at the table, 'Does this table have some reservoir of spice water?'
He asked himself, the more he learned, the more he felt interested in the civilization; with how the table worked, Alex started to wonder if the city had a huge reservoir of spice water that sent it to all the houses.
It would work similarly to an electricity company in his world. Since spice water equals electricity in this place.
"Bro, did you find anything about the species that lived here? Everything here is still intact and maintained. I wonder where they all went."
"I did find something, but I am sure it's wrong."
Alex then told her the translation of Vesa, making Emily laugh. "A baby from the sky, I am sure the translation is wrong."
"Or it's just fiction, who knows, but there are only two possibilities here. Something killed all the citizens in one day, or they all left in a hurry because a disaster struck them?"
Emily thought about it for a moment and then said, "I don't think it's a disaster. Look, if they really ran in a hurry, some of the furniture should be in a mess, but everything here is tidied up."
"So you are saying something killed all of them at the same time without allowing them a chance to fight back."
"Yes, but this is only an observation from this house. We need to check other places to be sure." Emily suggested.
Alex tapped his finger on the table, "If a monster is the cause of this, then it should have a similar size to us or smaller; a big monster would cause many destructions.
Another possibility is a pandemic that hit everyone. Whatever that is, it seems better for us to quickly leave this place."
"Oh, I thought you would feel curious and want to investigate this city's ruins."
"I do, but that is just secondary; our main goal is to look for a way to get out from this place after Aunt Quartz and Zold wake up.
We need to be careful, though; if the association knows that desert lochness exists here, I am sure they will raise the dungeon to category four. Who knows what kind of strong monster is still hidden here."