In those days of Plants vs. Zombies

After a while, Lain and Karen finally arrived at the entrance to the ruins of the city-state and successfully joined Mo Chen.

"Householder, now I completely believe that the legend about the Gem Kingdom is true."

Looking at the devastated ruins of the city-state in front of him, the pod-splitting shooter marveled.

"This...isn't this right...how could it become like this..."

The little pea shooter next to him was stunned, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Is this still the beautiful and rich gem country in the story? How could it be more dilapidated than the slums of the metropolis?

For Rhine, a twelve-year-old child, it was really shocking to have his dreams shattered.

"It's a long story that the Gem Kingdom has become like this..."

Mo Chen patted the little pea shooter on the shoulder and sighed.

"Go in and take a look, and I'll tell you all about it."

There was a bit of nostalgia in his tone, as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

"everything?"

"Well, the answer to why the Gem Kingdom has become what it is now is also an extremely dark answer for Gem Plant Spirits."

Karen was a little curious about Mo Chen's tone, but he still chose to listen quietly.

Rhine on the side was already ready to make a move and couldn't wait to get the answer.

······

Once upon a time, the Gem Country was so rich and prosperous.

The king is wise, the knights are brave, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and their lives are happy.

To use a Long'an idiom to describe it, it is "a fairyland on earth, a paradise on earth".

But they didn't do anything wrong, but they paid a heavy price for it.

When outsiders record everything and let more people know about the existence of the Gem Kingdom.

More and more outsiders are arriving in the Gem Country and are warmly welcomed by the indigenous people, namely the Gem Plant Spirits.

But the evil of desire will eventually overwhelm the good of human nature.

He stepped hard under his feet, and then completely crushed it, leaving only residue on the ground.

No longer needing to cover up, tear off that fig leaf and release the utter evil.

When the empire's top leaders noticed the existence of the Gem Kingdom, they did not hesitate to send an expeditionary force to this land on the other side of the ocean.

The purpose is to "raise military expenditures", but in fact, he wants to plunder everything in the Gem Country.

A group of greedy and evil treasure hunters will do whatever it takes to get wealth. They collude with the Imperial Expeditionary Force and jointly focus on the huge piece of fat in the Gem Country.

It's not enough to just snatch gem veins and ready-made gems, they even set their sights on gem planting.

Gemstone skin has the same texture and brilliance as real gemstones.

In this way, the gemstone spirit plant itself is also regarded as a commodity on the black market.

As long as you peel off the skin alive with a knife blade, you can get a piece of exquisite gem fur, which can be sold for a large amount of world points after tanning.

For these evil people, why not?

Just having countless gems, just warmly receiving visitors from the outside world, just being willing to believe in others...

"Every man is innocent, but he is guilty of carrying a jade." This is exactly what is said.

The brutal massacre swept across the entire Gem Kingdom. For the innocent Gem Plant Spirits, this was a catastrophe, a catastrophe that happened suddenly and they were powerless to do anything about.

The result is obvious. The Gem Country has been forgotten by the world, the Gem City has been reduced to ruins, and the Gem Plant Spirits in the modern world are almost extinct.

In fact, long before the arrival of the Imperial Expeditionary Force and the evil treasure hunters, there were gemstone souls who left the Gemstone Kingdom and disappeared for no apparent reason.

Even though the king of the Gem Kingdom protested to the outside world several times, all he got was a blank piece of paper.

sovereignty? dignity? Weakness is the original sin.

Let me borrow a classic quote to describe the experience of the Gem Kingdom, which comes from the current Chief Long An.

"Dignity lies only on the edge of the sword, and truth lies only within the range."

······

"I originally thought that what you said was just a story, but it turned out that what you said was not false, but the truth."

The pod-splitting shooter stood in front of a gem sculpture that seemed to be carved into a human form and spoke slowly.

"So, did Karen see it?"

Mo Chen chuckled, walked quickly to Karen, and observed the gem sculpture in front of him with him.

"Householder, third brother, what are you talking about?"

The little pea shooter was confused, not knowing what the owner of the house and his brother were communicating.

He also walked to the gem sculpture and observed it carefully.

"Hmm... He seems to be wearing a military helmet... Wearing a military uniform... An armed belt... Carrying an automatic assault rifle... This outfit looks so familiar..."

Rhine murmured to himself, then suddenly reacted.

"This... this, this, this... isn't this the zombie soldier of the empire?"

The little Pea Shooter looked shocked. He turned to look at Mo Chen and the Pod Shooter, and found that their faces had a look of normality.

"Ah, I understand, these humanoid gem sculptures are the Imperial Expeditionary Force back then!"

Rhine completely understood, and his little head finally figured everything out.

"Not only the Imperial Expeditionary Force, but also the original group of treasure hunters."

Mo Chen pointed at a certain gem sculpture not far away with a calm expression.

"Bejeweled...that's it."

After listening to Mo Chen's narration, although he didn't know how the owner of his house knew it, following this line of thinking, Karen also knew what "Bejeweled" was.

Back then, apart from the Gem Knights, the only method used by the Gem Kingdom to resist invasion was Bejeweled.

Gem spirit planting can use the power of gems to display unique abilities.

Bejeweled is a use of the power of gems developed by the Gem Nation.

The king of the gem kingdom resonated with a certain gem at the cost of his own life, and thus successfully performed Bejeweled.

The success of Bejeweled has turned everything in the Gem Kingdom into gems. The closer you get to the palace, the more serious the degree of gem transformation becomes.

This was true for the Imperial Expeditionary Force and the Evil Treasure Hunters, who were all turned into pieces of gemstones and exist to this day.

At the same time, Bejeweled has also transformed the gem kingdom into a secret realm, trapping all intruders among countless gems.

And the gem used by the king naturally became the secret core of this secret realm.

Every secret realm has a secret realm core. As long as you find the secret realm core in the secret realm, you can take the entire secret realm as your own.

The core of the secret realm of "Bejeweled" is naturally the gem used by the king.

Combined with the sign outside the store, Mo Chen was very convinced that the big blue diamond was the core of the secret realm.

As long as you find it, you can leave the secret realm and find your separated companions along the way.

"So, homeowner, is our current goal to find the core of the secret realm?"

"Yes, the first goal is to find the core of the secret realm. Of course, it would be great if there are other gains, such as a secret realm map or something."

Mo Chen gave instructions to the little pea shooter and the split pod shooter, and the three of them immediately split up and started rummaging through the ruins of the city.