It seemed that this Murloc hero by the name of Slark had done something to enhance his strength, which caused his body to mutate into a grotesque form. The one he once loved was still unaware of the transformations he had undergone, a torment so acutely captured in his diary that even after countless years, the emotional turmoil could still be felt.
Huang Yi suddenly thought of himself, a mutant as well. He evolved time and time again, shifting forms from a Spirit Cat to a Half-Beastman, but unlike Slark, he was not afraid, perhaps because he didn’t have a loved one and didn’t care about the opinions of others.
As Huang Yi was about to place the sheepskin scroll fragment into his storage ring, he noticed that there was another line of writing on the back - "I so wish..." The rest of the sentence was torn off, seemingly continuing on the other two pieces.
Huang Yi immediately took out the other two fragments and pieced them together, forming a complete sheepskin scroll, finally revealing the full sentence — "I so wish I could return to my homeland to see her."
Sighted this sentence, Huang Yi’s heart stirred! This boss had dropped several fragments, which certainly must serve some purpose; they seemed unlikely to be useless trinkets. Generally, System Prompt dropped items that were relevant to a player’s actual situation. Since the system had dropped these fragments for him, it indicated that in the system’s judgment, the fragments were useful to him!
If one were to consider the content of the diary, there seemed to be nothing special about the sheepskin scroll, just an ordinary diary entry. However, the addition of that last sentence lent it a hint of direction.
"I so wish I could return to my homeland to see her." This line clearly reflected Slark’s longing, perhaps even a dream in his life, and when an NPC expressed such sentiment, it often signified a quest that required a player to fulfill it on their behalf.
Huang Yi became intrigued by this Murloc hero named Slark. If he was a figure from Ancient Times, he was unlikely still alive, unless he was in a place like Heroes’ Prison, where one could withstand the ravages of time.
With that thought, Huang Yi immediately took out the Book of Heroes, holding onto a sliver of hope as he started searching to see whether this hero was indeed imprisoned in the Heroes’ Prison.
The strong from the Ancient Times would have their levels neither too high nor too low, usually around level 100 or so, and Huang Yi paid special attention to heroes of this range.
After searching for a while, Huang Yi’s eyelids twitched as he actually saw that name — Murloc Nightwalker Slark!
Murloc Nightwalker Slark (Level 155, Identification Number 4745)
One of the great assassins of the Murloc race from Ancient Times, imprisoned for life for sneaking into the Death God’s Temple to steal Pact of Water!
Originally a human, Slark’s greed for power led him to be ** by Biliev, the King of the Fallen, with whom he entered into a Master-Servant Contract, taking on a Murloc form. He later left human territories and stealthily entered the endless abyss beneath the dark seas, hidden in shadows; the shadow was his shelter, his kingdom, his source of energy, and hardly any living creature ever saw his true form.
He could bathe in the inscrutable darkness and attack invisibly. Each strike on his enemy made him more agile and strong, while his foes only grew weaker by the attack. He seemed to possess an obsession over everything around him, fearing anything drifting away from him. Whenever prey would attempt to leave his presence, he would watch them with a painful gaze before frantically catching up and casting an unbreakable Bind to prevent those who tried to escape from him.
...
After reviewing Slark’s file, Huang Yi had a general conjecture about this hero. Slark was not inherently bad; it was only because he was corrupted by King of the Fallen, Biliev, that he eventually deteriorated and signed the Master-Servant Contract. The charges for his imprisonment in Heroes’ Prison indicated that he must have felt regret, thus wishing to steal the Pact of Water to cleanse the Master-Servant Contract and revert to human form. And from that sentence on the sheepskin scroll, it was clear that his ultimate dream was to return home and see the woman he loved.
A mission seemed imminent! Slark was now locked up in Heroes’ Prison, and if Huang Yi could strike a deal with him, demanding some form of compensation, Huang Yi wouldn’t mind letting him take a look at his hometown, fulfilling his dream...
Although this was not a mission set by the system, in theory it could be treated as one. To proactively seize such an opportunity was a preliminary idea for Huang Yi, but whether it was feasible, he wasn’t certain.
Huang Yi decided to summon Heroes’ Prison immediately and personally meet with Slark to gauge his attitude.
System Prompt: You are currently in a secret realm and cannot summon Heroes’ Prison.
The system’s prompt disrupted Huang Yi’s summoning. Since this was a secret realm, it was not possible to summon Heroes’ Prison here. He would have to return to Thornbush City.
Huang Yi immediately teleported out and returned to the Teleport Plaza of Thornbush City, teeming with crowds—clearly, it was not suitable to summon Heroes’ Prison here. He quickly left and headed towards the more secluded areas of Thornbush City.
After about half an hour, Huang Yi arrived at a desolate ancient city district, far from the hustle and bustle, empty of inhabitants, with ruins and overgrown weeds. It was the perfect place to summon Heroes’ Prison.
Huang Yi took out the Book of Heroes, and gently spoke the eight words on the first page, "Feared by Pantheons, Heroes’ Prison!"
As his words fell, ripples suddenly spread through the air, like ripples on a calm lake. Then the ripples slowly formed a transparent barrier, and swiftly, a majestic Dragon Head broke through the barrier, emerging!
This was his second time summoning Heroes’ Prison, and he was already adept at it, so he immediately entered through the Dragon Mouth and arrived at Heroes’ Prison.
Following the map in the Book of Heroes, Huang Yi headed toward Slark’s cell. On his way, he passed by numerous tall prison cells, each harboring giant figures lurking inside, exuding heart-palpitating auras.
The entire Heroes’ Prison currently still housed over five thousand criminals. These criminals themselves were a colossal treasure trove; they could be released to kill enemies, materials could be collected from them, information gathered, missions acquired, and even their skills could be learned... Anything conceivable could be attempted.
And these heroes were historically well-known figures; history was created by them, the heroes sung of in epics were them, and any bit of information they left behind became the legends and secret tales that future generations delighted in retelling.
Now, what Huang Yi controlled was such a prison, which in a sense meant he controlled the entire history of The Second World.