384 What is inside that cave?
[It's not exactly hidden, but he doesn't have enough energy to keep those gates in this world for long.]
[Those gates are the entrance to another world, after all, to open such a gate and keep it alive requires enormous energy.]
[There are about 200 such gates in this world but he has hidden them all, no, to be more precise, temporarily hidden them.]
"So… what do we need to do to find them?"
[Master, follow my instructions….]
After that, Hikaru moved according to Rika's instructions, to an open land where the fog could not penetrate.
Looking at this place, Hikaru remembered the first time he met Sherwin, at that time he was at his weakest and most cowardly.
There were only a few bones left of the dead players in this place.
However, what he was looking for was not here, yes, it was the Dungeon Gate.
The more residents in his territory, the more resources he needs.
Not only soul points, but also many other types of resources and food. Of course, he also didn't plan to spend all his time thinking up quests for adventurers.
The resources around the territory were also not enough for the players and residents of his territory to exploit.
Therefore, he needed to find a more fertile land with more resources.
There's no better place than the Dungeon.
Yes, he was thinking of the Dungeon Gate, it was a place that was still undeveloped, no, to be more precise, unexploited.
Although the Hell-level Dungeon had Larry, it was, however, a dead land no different from Misty World.
However, he had faith that the other levels of the Dungeon would lead to worlds with more resources.
He discussed this with Rika and learned that Dungeon Gates were actually portals to other worlds.
Those worlds were all forgotten worlds, created by powerful existences.
Rika once said that after reaching a high level, and overcoming the system's control, such existences could create a world or even a universe.
However, if the existence is killed or feels that the world is no longer useful to them, the world they create will become a derelict world.
Dungeon Gates are portals to those worlds.
However, that gate is now gone, leaving only an empty field with bones left over from a battle.
He remembered that when he got here, the players attacked each other like crazy people.
Then he realized that the fog had made them lose their minds. Maybe it didn't affect them too much, but it was enough to stimulate the players' desire to kill.
Hikaru stood in the middle of the clearing, frowning as he looked around.
[Master, perhaps that gate is still here.]
"How?"
[Because the fog hasn't invaded this place yet, that means the Dungeon Gate's power source still exists.]
"But… even if it's here, there's nothing we can do if we can't see it."
[Try using Void Energy to find it.]
Hikaru then immediately took out the Void Hole. The Void Hole had now reached a diameter of 10 meters, however, Hikaru had shrunk it down to the size of a Tennis ball.
From the Void Hole, a tremendous amount of energy radiated out, sweeping the surroundings like a shock wave.
Suddenly, that energy enveloped something in front of Hikaru.
It was like an invisible gate, about 10 meters high, and 3 meters wide.
"Here you are!"
Then another problem arose, what did he have to do to get into this portal?
"Rika, do you have any suggestions?"
[Hm… I don't know either. Anyway, this portal is owned by the existence that created the system. If you cannot defeat or kill the existence then you cannot use Void Create on it.]
After Hikaru heard that he sighed, he frowned, and thought in his heart: 'Can't I get the gate to this new continent?'
He approached the gate, used force to push it but it didn't do anything.
Hikaru held the Void Hole in his hand, then used all his strength to throw it towards the gate.
As soon as the Void Hole touched the gate, there was an explosion, and a terrible sound echoed everywhere.
The ground trembled violently, cracks similar to that of a spider web covered an area of more than 5,000 square meters.
However, everything was useless. The gate remained undamaged.
Hikaru sighed: "Haizz, Rika, save the location of this gate, we'll find another way."
He shook his head, then used the skill to teleport back to the territory. Sitting in his office, he felt a little disappointed.
Although he had predicted that it would be difficult for him to bring the Dungeon Gate back to this place, he did not think that it would be so difficult.
Hikaru sighed, he knew that no matter how much the world's resources were, it couldn't satisfy all the inhabitants of this place.
In particular, he needed to find larger, more numerous and more diverse resources.
nothing else, he couldn't plant trees, and he couldn't develop agriculture.
12:44
Even the monsters in that place were just undead monsters.
In this place, nothing was available, especially food and trees. Even if he had "Perfect Simulation", the amount of resources needed to maintain it was too much and it only covered a small area.
He also contacted Larry, however, Larry let him down. That world, besides the Elemental Stone, had nothing else, he couldn't plant trees, and he couldn't develop agriculture.
Even the monsters in that place were just undead monsters.
The main food source in that world was a fruit called Ellan and it was distributed by the Ellan Church.
Hikaru sighed, he couldn't take care of that world yet because the problems in this place were still unresolved.
"Kiki…" Suddenly, Anno's voice from outside rang out.
"Come in!"
Anno pushed open the door, she saw Hikaru sitting on a chair, with a slightly disappointed face and she asked: "Are you… still not satisfied?"
Hikaru: "..."
What the hell are you talking about?
He smiled shyly: "No, I'm just thinking about a few things."
"Is there a problem that is difficult for you?" Anno smiled, then approached him and sat on his lap as usual.
Hikaru hugged Anno in his arms like a pillow, he inhaled the scent of her body, while rubbing his head in her soft hair.
"Haizzz, I am worried about the resource issue to maintain the territory. I fear that this place does not provide enough resources and jobs for the entire population."
"Heh?! Kiki, are you worrying about that little thing?"
"Little thing? What are you talking about? That is a huge problem." Hikaru explained, "Currently, our territory only has Soul Points and food."
"What we are lacking is the diversity of products and jobs for residents here."
"However, there are only monsters around this place, fog, and a little bit of vegetation that has been contaminated by the fog. They are of no help to us."
"The 12 resource mines that Bryen gave us only solved a few problems in a short time. So in the future, what will we do if the resources are exhausted?"
"Hahahaha…" Anno suddenly burst out laughing.
"Heh?! What are you laughing at?"
"Kiki, you are so stupid. Have you gone to the end of this world?"
"I… I haven't…" Hikaru stammered.
Anno explained: "You probably don't know, but this world is very large, food may be lacking, but there are many other resources."
"Also, you haven't gone to the Lokar Sea yet."
"Lokar Sea?"
"Um… I only read about it in books. It is said that it is located in the East, where the sages come to study the problem of eliminating the fog."
"If you count the distance… hm… suppose if I used the One-Horned Beast to move around, it would take about 7 years to get there."
"Is it that far?" Hikaru was startled.
He had once sat in a cab pulled by a one-horned animal, which was Anno's private cabin.
Its speed was quite fast, about 60 - 80 km/h.
At that rate it would take 7 years to reach the Lokar Sea, then that place was at least 150,000 kilometers from here.
Approximately 4 times the length of the equator.
Terrible, just how big was this world?
'Wait! Anno's words probably make sense because by the time I arrived here, about 1 billion players had already been brought here.'
'1 billion players but they rarely meet each other, and they rarely even meet natives.'
'That said the world is very large and sparsely populated, but not as much as I thought.'
"Anno." Hikaru asked, "Do you know of any other places with more resources?"
"Um… I know there are places with lots of resources. It's just… those places are all unexploitable."
"Heh?! Why?"
"Because those places are occupied by monsters, or are the caves of legendary monsters." Anno said: "I also know there is a cave 40 days away from here, however, there is a high level monster in that cave."
"I don't know what its level is, however, its power is so terrible that even if the king of an ancient kingdom came, he would have to flee."
Hikaru frowned and said, "If the king of the ancient kingdom can't defeat it, it means that the monster is at least King-rank or maybe higher."
"However, what is inside that cave?"
"I heard people say that there are a lot of resources inside that cave. According to the sages, there are many Elemental Stones inside that cave."
"Some people even speculate that there is clean water inside. However, no one has been inside yet, so all speculations are not necessarily correct."
Hearing that, Hikaru rubbed his chin, feeling a bit interested. Although his domain already had infinite lakes and many Elemental Stones, however, he was a greedy man who wanted more.
"Wait!" Hikaru suddenly remembered something and asked, "Isn't that Saric Sanctuary interested in that cave?"
Anno shook her head: "I don't know. However, the Saric Sanctuary really doesn't care about that cave."
"That is also the reason many people say that the speculations of the sages may be wrong."