Being an otaku in the world of American comics

#145 - The One Ring

Walking in the dim underground world, Liang Yue did not choose to light a torch at this time, because after his eyes gradually adapted to the surrounding environment, this guy was surprised to find.

This underground world actually has light~

During the walking process, Liang Yue even found several large mushroom clusters growing sporadically on the ground with abundant water vapor and soil deposits.

The cap of each mushroom was as big as two of his heads~

He used an observation skill on them, and after confirming that these mushrooms were not poisonous and were said to be delicious, this guy leisurely collected a batch and threw them into the underground tunnels in the stronghold world, letting them grow on their own.

Slowly advancing along the path of the underground crevice, Liang Yue pressed his feet tightly against the ground, trying not to make any noise, while also trying to listen to all the movements around him.

He had only walked for a short while when he captured a trace of strange noise between the deep underground rock walls.

Immediately, Liang Yue narrowed his eyes, and a gleam of light burst out from his pupils.

Unconsciously, he began to speed up his pace, walking quickly in the direction from which the sound came.

After about a few minutes, this guy arrived at a relatively open rocky beach, and looking around, his sight was almost filled with sharp rocks with jagged edges.

On these rocks, there were densely packed corpses of goblins, either stuck or lying down, all incomplete.

Looking at the cut marks on the wounds, many of the corpses should have been cut out by Liang Yue with his sword.

There was no way around it, the characteristics were too obvious, that kind of enemy-killing method of directly splitting the body in two, probably only he could do it here!

"Speaking of which~ these corpses should have fallen directly from the cliff above, right?"

Thinking of this, Liang Yue subconsciously looked up, even with his eyesight, he only saw a patch of darkness and could not find anything.

"In other words, there should still be many obstructing boulders in the middle of this cliff. It seems that I was quite lucky to fall directly from the cliff to the underground~"

……

"Excellent~ Excellent! Today, Gollum's luck is really excellent!"

"So much meat has fallen from the sky, enough for Gollum to eat for a long time!"

"But Gollum better skin it early, remove the internal organs, and then make it into jerky, otherwise the meat will spoil quickly~"

"Cold air icy~ stinging palms~ biting soles~ giant rocks and stones like bones~ no meat no clothes~ cold dead bodies~ lifeless…"

Just as Liang Yue was standing at the edge of the rocky beach, planning the route back, a strange, rhythmic song suddenly came from within the rocky beach.

This voice was hoarse with a bit of shrillness, giving people a strange feeling.

Under the reverberation of this deep and dark stone wall, it actually created a somewhat eerie and terrifying atmosphere in this underground world.

However, Liang Yue naturally would not have any terrifying emotions. On the contrary, he was a little excited at this time!

Because fear always comes from the unknown~

And at this time, Liang Yue clearly knew whose throat the voice came from!

"Gollum, a complete tragic character~!"

Through the gaps in the rocky thorns, Liang Yue quickly saw that short figure on top of a stone.

It is said that Gollum was once a Hobbit. One day, he and his companions discovered the One Ring, which was sunk in the sand at the bottom of the river, and he was tempted to kill his companion. From then on, he began to hide in the mountains alone.

It is said that after Gollum obtained the One Ring, he was always in a trance, enslaved by the Ring, until he later split into two personalities.

One of them is Gollum, who is actually a slave incarnation controlled by the Ring.

The remaining second personality is a weakened version of his personality as a Hobbit, still retaining some conscience and reason.

It is said that after Gollum obtained the One Ring, although his personality changed greatly and his image became extremely wretched and strange, he lived for more than 500 years by relying on the power of this ring!

Destroying it can directly end the life of that Dark Lord, but before that, I think I should try it myself to see if I can turn his magic power into my own!"

Thinking of this, Liang Yue no longer hesitated, stepping on the ground, his whole person suddenly leaped onto a large rock in front of him.

Looking at the mumbling little monster not far away, whose skin had completely turned pale due to years of living underground and lack of sunlight, this guy couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"His whole life is a tragedy, it's better to let him be free here~"

Afterwards, Liang Yue stepped on the ground continuously, leaping between the tops of the stones. In just a few breaths, he had quietly arrived in front of the other party.

"Gollum~"

"Who is it! Who is there~! A human? Ha~ How do you know Gollum's name?"

"I also know a lot about you, but~ I'm here for the One Ring this time."

"The One Ring? What is that? Gollum doesn't seem to have seen it~"

"The One Ring is the treasure you put in your pocket."

"What? Human, you dare to covet Gollum's precious! Today, Gollum will eat you!"

"Want to eat me? Not so easy. Hmm~ Looks like you really put the precious in your pocket!"

Looking at Gollum squatting on the sharp rock in front of him, subconsciously covering his groin pocket, Liang Yue suddenly felt that the other party seemed a bit傻得可爱 (silly and cute).

Enslaved by the One Ring for a lifetime, it seems that besides this ring, he has never cared about anything else in his entire life.

In view of this, when Liang Yue originally wanted to say a few more words to the other party, Gollum couldn't help but succumb to the anger in his heart, spreading his hands, baring his teeth, and pounced directly at him.

But thinking about it, it's right. After all, the so-called "precious" is the most important thing in the other party's life. Since Liang Yue dared to covet the other party's precious in front of him...

Then, the relationship between the two parties is undoubtedly that of mortal enemies, and there is no room for compromise!

"Whoosh~"

As a Hobbit who was only seduced and corrupted by the power of the One Ring, he naturally doesn't possess any particularly superb combat skills.

Facing Gollum's beast-like pounce, Liang Yue didn't dodge. With a flick of his sleeve, after a mere horizontal sweep of the long sword in his hand, the other party's entire head flew into the air.

Finally, with a crash, it fell into the lake below.

In the process of blood splattering, there was surprisingly little vitality, as if the blood flowing in his blood vessels was cold in itself.

After only a few splashes, it fell weakly on the stone along with his falling body.

"Ding-a-ling~"

Whether it was a coincidence or not, the moment Gollum's body landed, a golden ring immediately fell out of his pocket.

Just like that, hopping and jumping, rolling and spiraling, it came to Liang Yue's feet.

"The One Ring, it is said that it has always wanted to return to Sauron's side, and for this reason, it did not hesitate to seduce Gollum. Who knew that that kid was too hopeless and actually holed up in this underground lake for hundreds of years.

Presumably, you have long wanted to change masters, right?"

Looking at the One Ring at his feet, Liang Yue didn't hesitate at all, directly bent down to pick it up, and brought it to his eyes.

The moment his fingers touched the ring, Liang Yue, relying on his keen senses, almost immediately noticed a mental force trying to break through his body and invade his brain.

Unfortunately, as soon as it came into contact with his skin, that mental force disappeared without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea~

"Just you? Merely a magical item from this low-magic world, and you dare to seduce me? If you really succeeded, where would the system's face be?"

Looking at the One Ring in front of him, which was shining golden light on the inner edge of the ring, forming a string of Elvish Mordor language, Liang Yue immediately rolled his eyes.

Immediately, he threw an Observation Skill onto the thing.

......

The One Ring

A magical ring created by a native demigod-level creature from Middle-earth using Elven craftsmanship, containing most of the necromancer Sauron's magic.

It has the ability to preserve the wearer's life force and will from being lost, and can be used to control the remaining sub-rings. Only the ring's creator, Sauron, can use all of its power.

In addition, it also has the ability to seduce, communicate mentally, and make the wearer invisible.

......

"Mental communication? Is this the ability that Bilbo and Frodo had to understand animal language and spider language after putting on the ring?

Basically, it overlaps somewhat with my Language Mastery skill."

Twisting the golden ring between his fingers, Liang Yue then communicated with the system with a hint of luck.

"System, can you help me extract the magic power from this ring? Hmm~ It would be even better if it could be directly transformed into my own thing!"

"Please explore on your own, host."

"Tsk~ I knew you would say that!"

Unconsciously pursing his lips, looking at the ring between his fingers, Liang Yue hesitated slightly before putting it on his left index finger.

In an instant, Liang Yue only felt a blur in front of his eyes, a buzzing sound in his head, and his whole person seemed to enter a strange world all at once.

In his current vision, it no longer seemed to be a simple world with only material structures.

Strands of blurry and viscous substances were attached to people's bodies. Liang Yue could vaguely distinguish that it was a manifestation of the soul and spiritual power of a biological individual.

Not unique, very superficial, but also very... exquisite~

"Preliminary judgment, the reason why this ring makes people invisible is probably because it can allow the wearer to temporarily enter the soul world, which is in a state of fusion and separation with reality.

Therefore, the One Ring's invisibility ability is ineffective against the nine Ringwraiths, because they have already been transformed into undead creatures, and it is naturally ineffective against the Dark Lord Sauron.

Because Sauron himself is a necromancer who has initially mastered the research topic of the soul domain~"

"That's probably the explanation~"