Temple News

"Swamp People really do exist?" Alex stood by the pond, turned to look at Emma behind him, and teased her with a grin.

Emma’s expression suddenly changed drastically. Pointing into the distance, she shouted, "Alex, get back here!"

Alex turned around in surprise and saw many more Swamp Savages emerging from the high ground in the distant marshes. Their numbers kept growing, and judging from their expressions, they seemed rather displeased by the visitors’ presence.

"Emma, can you read their minds?" Alex cautiously backed away, his face tense. Two fists could not fight four hands. With so many Swamp Savages, Alex did not have the courage to provoke them.

"They really are Swamp People, a type of human that lives in the marshes." Emma frowned deeply and said anxiously, "They’re furious right now. They want to kill us! Run!"

Emma stepped forward, grabbed Alex, and turned to run into the forest. Behind them, a group of Swamp People charged after them, waving crude wooden clubs and stone cudgels as they shrieked strange cries.

After only a few steps, their roles switched. Emma had originally been pulling Alex along, but now Alex was carrying Emma on his back. As he ran, Alex complained indignantly, "We didn’t even do anything. Why do they want to kill us?"

"We invaded their territory." Emma glanced back at the relentlessly pursuing Swamp People, sensing their thoughts through telepathy. "They’re like wild beasts. Anyone who trespasses into their territory has to die."

Alex straightened up and hitched Emma higher on his back, grumbling nonstop, "Just as expected of savages. They’re brutally simple."

After running for a while, Alex turned back and found that the Swamp People had long since vanished. He could not help asking in surprise, "Where did they go?"

"They already went back!" Emma reluctantly climbed down from Alex’s back. Before he could continue, she said, "I discovered a lot from the Swamp People’s memories. This place is far bigger than you can imagine."

"Tell me about it." Hearing that, Alex immediately tossed his previous question aside and asked curiously.

Emma casually snapped off a branch, swept away the rotting leaves on the ground, and began drawing. Before long, a crude map appeared.

Pointing at one corner of the largest section of the map, a U-shaped landmass, Emma said solemnly, "According to the Swamp People’s memories, the forest we’re in is here. This is an enormous, enormous region. What we saw was only this small area near the edge." After a brief pause, Emma pointed to the hollow within the U-shaped landmass and continued, "This is the marsh where the Swamp People have lived for generations. To the left is forest. To the right, beyond the marsh, is another forest. New humanoid races have appeared in those vast forests: beastmen such as Ape-men, bird-men, and Pterodactyl-men."

"You’re not joking, are you?" Alex looked at Emma in disbelief. "Bird-men, beastmen… what, is this Azeroth?!"

Emma gave Alex a strange look, then continued while pointing at the simple map on the ground. "Besides forests and marshes, this continent has many, many other places inhabited by many, many races. At the other end of the continent is a vast plain. That is human territory, inhabited by humans with an advanced civilization."

"My head is spinning. They can’t be aliens, can they?" Among a bunch of savages, there was one civilization with advanced technology. Alex could think of no other possibility but aliens.

"They call themselves the Descendants of Atlantis." Emma’s expression grew even stranger. She had once read Alex’s mind and knew some things about him.

"Namor?" Alex froze when he heard that. After a long moment, he said, "Could this place have been created by Atlantis? Didn’t Atlantis sink into the sea?"

"None of that is the key." Emma suddenly smiled and pointed to the center of the map, to a tiny piece of land left of the Descendants of Atlantis’ territory. "The key is here, at the center of the continent. There’s a Floating Island here, and on it stands a temple—the temple supposedly left behind by the gods, according to Swamp People legend!"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked in surprise.

"You’re so stupid!" Emma rolled her eyes seductively and explained with a light laugh, "Gods and such are definitely fake. I’m guessing that this so-called temple was actually left behind by whoever created this continent. There might be a way to leave this place there."

Alex suddenly understood. Looking at Emma with delight, he asked eagerly, "Then should we go now?"

"It won’t be that easy." Emma gave a bitter smile. Using the branch in her hand like a pointer, she indicated the map on the ground and said helplessly, "The temple is in the center of the continent, while we’re here."

Alex looked where Emma pointed. It was at the left-side border between the marsh region and the forest region. So if they wanted to reach the temple, they first needed to cross the marsh region, enter the forest on the other side, leave that forest, and cross part of the Descendants of Atlantis’ territory before they could see the Floating Temple.

Having witnessed the forest’s cruelty, Alex could imagine that this would be a hopeless journey with almost no chance of survival. Thinking of that, he shifted his gaze to the edge of the map, to that unmarked, borderless blank expanse. "What about beyond this continent?"

"It’s a vast ocean, the Gohan Sea." Emma looked at the map and said slowly, "The Gohan Sea is boundless. It is also home to many humanoid races that can survive underwater. They are extremely hostile toward land creatures and often wage war against the Swamp People and beastmen. Going by sea would be even more dangerous."

Alex waved his hand with a bitter smile and pointed at the map helplessly. "Then what else is there to say? Let’s just go!" Before Emma could respond, he continued, "We’ll be careful and take it slow. Sooner or later, we’ll reach the temple."

Emma stared at Alex for a moment, then nodded and asked, "Then what do we do now? Go back?" The Swamp People were not easy to bully, and they had strength in numbers. If they charged back like this, they would probably be beaten to death by the Swamp People before taking more than a few steps.

Alex was stumped. They had not yet found a solution to the forest’s dangers, yet the threat posed by the Swamp People was already pressing. If they did not find a way to deal with the Swamp People, they could not cross the marsh region, much less reach the forest on the other side.

Thinking until his head ached, Alex began to miss Teleportation. If he had Teleportation, why would he need to agonize over this? With a single thought, he could leave this damned place instantly.

PS: This was a little late, but I finally made up for it.

To prevent further confusion, Scorpion would like to explain that the place Alex is currently in does exist in Marvel. Scorpion only altered the map and a few things, so please understand.

Since the review section is too chaotic, Scorpion needs to clean it up. Please forgive Scorpion if your review gets deleted!