Carl shook his heavy head, trying to dispel the fog in his mind, and slowly stood up. His limbs felt stiff. He looked around, and his sight finally fixed on the dull gem on the altar. It was like an ordinary stone, lying there quietly, no longer emitting any light.
"What's wrong with me?" Carl muttered to himself, his memory was like broken fragments, difficult to piece together. He only remembered the captain's appearance, and then everything fell into darkness.
Mark supported Carl and helped him sit on the stone steps beside the altar. "You were stunned by the power of the gem." Mark explained, his voice was calm, but his heart was like a turbulent sea. The captain's image and those words, like a heavy hammer, hit his heart. The mission of the ancient humans, the fate of the ice beast, the conspiracy of the rebirth organization, these burdens seemed to be on his shoulders.
Mark's eyes swept across the ground around the altar. The ancient symbols had stopped flashing and returned to calm. He walked to the center of the altar and carefully observed this huge underground space. The dome was so high that it seemed to reach the sky, and ice crystals flickered on the dome like stars in the night sky.
He carefully drew the outline of this underground space on the map with a charcoal pencil and marked the location of the altar. This is a key location, and perhaps he will return here in the future. After doing all this, Mark returned to sit next to Carl. "Do you remember what the captain said?"
Carl rubbed his temples and tried to recall. "I... I remember the captain mentioned the history of ancient humans and ice beasts, and... energy stones..." His voice was a little intermittent, "But the specific details... I can't remember clearly..." Carl frowned and patted his head in annoyance, but apart from a headache, he didn't gain much.
Mark took a deep breath and briefly explained to Carl the process of the captain's integration into the light cocoon, as well as the history and mission of ancient humans and ice beasts. He tried to narrate in a calm tone, but his words still couldn't hide his inner excitement and uneasiness.
After listening to Mark's story, Carl's expression became solemn. He slowly stood up and looked at Mark with a firm gaze. "I understand, Mark. I will do my best to help you complete this mission. Maybe this is why the captain created me." He reached out and patted Mark's shoulder, with a hint of encouragement in his tone, "Let's find other energy stone fragments together and restore world peace."
"Thank you, Carl." Mark nodded gratefully. He walked to the center of the altar and carefully observed the remaining energy fluctuations on the altar. Although the light of the gem has disappeared, the altar itself seems to still contain some kind of energy. This energy fluctuation is weak and elusive, as if it is an ancient whisper, telling unknown secrets.
Mark placed his hand on the cold surface of the altar, closed his eyes, and tried to feel the flow of this energy. There was a slight vibration from his fingertips, which resonated with the energy fluctuations in his body, making him feel inexplicably excited. He slowly moved his palm and carefully groped along the surface of the altar, hoping to find some clues.
Suddenly, his fingers touched a hidden mechanism, the surface of the mechanism was smooth and cold, slightly different from the surrounding ice crystal material. He moved his heart and pressed hard.
With a light "click", a piece of ice crystal at the bottom of the altar suddenly sank inward, revealing a hidden compartment. In the compartment, an ancient book lay quietly. The cover of the book was made of some unknown metal, engraved with complex runes, emitting a faint glow.
Mark carefully took out the ancient book, turned the pages, and found that the pages were filled with a large number of ancient words and patterns. He had never seen these words before, but the patterns were very similar to those he saw on the cave murals.
He handed the ancient book to Carl, "Carl, take a look at this, do you recognize these words?"
Carl took the ancient book, and his eyes quickly swept across the pages. "These words... seem to be the words of ancient humans." There was a hint of surprise in his tone, "I have seen similar words in the captain's collection of books."
Carl began to read the words on the ancient book carefully, his brows sometimes locked, sometimes stretched, as if he was interpreting some profound secrets. Mark waited quietly on the side, his eyes fell on Carl's face from time to time, observing his expression changes.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the cave was quiet, with only the sound of Carl turning pages and the occasional breathing of the two. The light of the torch swayed in the cave, casting the figures of the two on the ice wall, like two travelers exploring in the dark.
"I... I think I understand." Carl raised his head, his eyes flashing with excitement, "This ancient book records the whereabouts of other energy stone fragments!"
Mark's heart surged with joy, he walked to Carl and asked impatiently: "Really? Carl, tell me, where are the other energy stone fragments?"
Carl pointed to a map in the ancient book, "Other energy stone fragments are scattered all over the world. We need to find these places to collect all the energy stone fragments."
There are several red dots marked on the map, these dots are distributed in different areas, and each dot represents the location of an energy stone fragment.
"It seems that we still have a long journey to go." Mark looked at the marked points on the map, his tone was firm, "But we must complete this mission, for this world, and for ourselves."
Carl nodded, his eyes full of firmness. "We will succeed, Mark. We will succeed."
"The next energy stone fragment is..." Carl pointed to a mark on the map, "In the deepest part of the Ice Abyss." His tone was solemn, "That is the territory of the Ice Abyss Beast, it is very dangerous. Moreover, we don't know how the captain was injured. Was it the Rebirth Organization that hurt the captain, or the Ice Abyss Beast? If it was the Rebirth Organization, then we are in even greater danger!"
Mark took a deep breath. He knew that the road ahead was full of unknowns and dangers, but his heart was full of determination. "No matter how many difficulties there are ahead, we must go on." He looked at Carl, with a firm light in his eyes.