Chapter 464: Bizarre siege beast

On the top of Mount Arret, there seems to be scattered snow all year round. Occasionally, I don’t know where a strange wind blows from. Without psychological preparation, it is likely to be blown into the air in an instant. Drop a dog to eat shit. Net m
Because of the long-term permafrost, the ground is covered with a thin, but extremely hard layer of ice.The ice layer is crystal clear, and even the brown stone mud below can be seen, covered with a thin layer of snow , So it won't slip much and won't affect the battle.
　　　　 The sky was also covered by a thick cloud layer that seemed to be within reach. Even if a hint of snow-white sunlight blew out from time to time, it could not make people feel a little warm.
This is what I saw after I came to the frozen plateau for more than a day. The pure white snow, the cold cold wind, and the foot on the snow.The sound of the rusty snow is quite messy. Flowers gradually become charming eyes, only Asakusa can be beautiful without horseshoes.
　　　　\"……"
No one should be able to see, I am talking about it, this ghost weather, I would rather stay in the hot and humid tropical rain forest, soaked in sweat every day, it is better than staying in this ghost place, I don’t know me Are you most afraid of cold?
He hugged his arms tremblingly, and behind him had left a long string of clear white footprints, hard ground, and extremely cold temperatures, which made the speed of the poisonous flower vines a lot slower, usually a lazy, The appearance of hibernation is about to be hungry, and when you eat monsters, you will show the corresponding positive.
Gradually, the hard layer of ice on the ground became thinner, and even disappeared. The dark brown was frozen and the mud surface was exposed like a wooden board.I gradually became cautious and cautious.This situation, I am afraid that even a fool can guess. This is probably-I have gradually approached the battle area, because the fierce battle between the adventure and the monsters, that is, the stiff ice layer on the ground that has not been known for thousands of years has also melted and disintegrated.
It's not that I didn't encounter monsters in the front, but they are all a small team of demon goblins.The number is less than double digits.Each time I don't have to shoot, I give the poisonous flower vine grunt as the volume becomes larger and the appetite becomes huge. Swallowed several times.
　　　　 The tank is thick at maximum. The body can rush into the highly poisonous flower vine hundreds of meters high. The big, jagged, jagged mouth. Let me not doubt. Even an elephant can be tolerated. Deal with these small demon goblins. The probability of engulfing is higher than 50%. Try a few more times. Find the angle. Can always swallow the ground.
　　　　And. After the fusion of highly poisonous flower vines and corpse vines. Every poisoned flower vine devours a monster. You can turn the energy inside into vitality. Flow to my master. I experimented a little bit. The greater the energy, the greater the strength. Big size) monster. The more it can be turned into the vitality of the earth. And devour a demon goblin. Can be within ten seconds. Help me add some life. At the end is a super blood machine.
　　　　 Compare with other druid corpse vines. I'm showing where the BT is. The highly poisonous flower vine itself has the ability to devour. So when it merges with the ghoul vine. The devour ability will devour the corpse with the corpse vine. The ability to transform energy into vitality is fused together.
　　　　 Ordinary corpse-eating vines can only devour corpses. Even in the future. Gallon's fusion of the magic circle became popular. Other Druid poisonous flower vines and corpse vines merge. The same can only be devoured. It can be seen from the research on the Necromancer's corpse explosion. Life energy left in the corpse. Less than one tenth. therefore. Can directly devour the highly poisonous flower vine. The amount of swallowed into life points. It's much bigger.
　　　　The snow on the ground gradually decreases. Dark brown on hard soil. Gradually, some traces of artificial ground such as slate remained. Through the finely snow. From afar. The blurry outline in the distance appeared in my eyes.
　　　　An ancient city... to be precise. Ruins of an ancient city!
It is said that there was a great tribe who lived here with the barbarians before the invasion of a long time ago, and their ancestors all took the responsibility of protecting the stone temple of the world. On the mountain, living with the barbarians and the orcs, this tribe once flourished. At its peak, it once reached hundreds of millions of people, and its strength was strong. Even the proud barbarians had to admit that they were slightly inferior.
These endless ruins of the ancient city are the places of life established by these once prosperous tribes.Unfortunately, when the army is under pressure, these tribes who have been brainwashed by their ancestors for generations have the extreme vowing to protect the will of the world's stone temple. Residents, unlike other races, refused to retreat into a corner, and concentrated their efforts to resist the offensive of the Hell Army. Instead, they madly attacked and repulsed all enemies who tried to touch the world's stone temple.
At the beginning, they did rely on their strong strength to prevent Hell from stepping into the Leichi, but the tribe's population was limited, and the Hell Army seemed to be endless.After a while, they were in trouble, especially the three major parties. Demon God, Mephisto, Diapolo and Barr appeared to be a thousand miles away.
　　　　 At this time, the leaders of the tribe suddenly woke up, but it was too late, the former prosperous city has been turned into ruins, and the clan who once spread across every corner of the entire Arret Mountains, leaving only tens of thousands of warriors to spread their breath.
In order to save the last blood of the tribe and strive to retake the World Stone Temple one day, they resolutely made a decision to let themselves be killed by the world, dead ancestors, and even their own humiliation-give up glory, give up dignity, give up the world The Temple of Stones brings the world's stones to Harrogas and is dependent on the protection of the barbarians.
The tribal leader who gave up everything in order to leave a glimmer of hope that one day the descendants of the tribe can drive out of the world's stone temple and rediscover their own glory and dignity. I was relieved by this decision.
Recalling the introduction of these ancient city ruins in Kane's book, I can't help but sigh sadly, if the leader of the tribe can wake up early, how good should it be, maybe now in this world, there can be another powerful race and Hell confrontation.
Thinking of this land, where there was blood flowing from hundreds of millions of people, and hundreds of millions of corpses fell, I felt a creepy horror.I suddenly felt the opposite wind blowing, making my nose freezing and paralyzing with cold wind, and also brought a heavy blood taste.
Over the ancient city, there seem to be countless black oppressive souls, replacing the dark clouds in the sky, constantly roaming howling, anger, remorse, unwillingness, that strong negative emotion, straight to drive madness, and stepped on the land , It is the accumulation of thick corpses a few meters high.
However, the current landlords of these ancient cities did not allow me much time to associate the scene of the old bloodshed and the injustice, dozens of demon goblins, and an evolutionary body of the demon goblin mixed in the middle-the earthy demon Myself.
Demons are much stronger than demons, because they have one more skill than the demons. [Hellfire] However, these little guys are not very proficient in their new land skills, and the casting speed is extremely slow. When it comes to its own shortcomings, after thinking about it, the brain, which is no taller than the monkey, finally found a way.As long as it jumps on the back of the monster or on the closed tower, it will not be safe.
　　　　Is the cast of the clothes taken?
　　　　 Over time, such a concept is deeply ingrained in the heart of the devil, and it can only be cast on the back of the monster or on the closed tower before the fire of will be cast. [m]
Of course, the so-called monster will naturally be on the back of the monster.Look, the two behemoths behind these little guys are covered with layers of fine iron armor, airtight, head, shoulders, and even It is the back of the hand, which has thick and sharp chamfers, a huge body, heavy steps, closed heavy armor, and sharp chamfer weapons. All these characteristics make people think of one thing at a glance. .
　　　　Siege weapon!
That's right, their terrestrial body name is called the siege beast. They can break the solid wall gate built by the tribe in the past. They are indispensable, but these guys have no brains, chaos and chaos all day long, probably even in war. , And I don’t even know it, so I combined with the cunning demon, and then embarrassedly hooked up, and the siege beast put a box on his back to provide the demon with a fire standing on it, and these stupid monsters, Can also use the devil's wisdom to better fight the adventure.
I estimate that the reason why the ice on the ground shattered and shattered, it was inseparable from these active demons, wandering around with the siege beast, you see the tens of tons of siege beast’s huge body and iron armor Stepping on the ground buzzing, what ice layer can bear the weight of these guys?
Dozens of demon goblins and demons appeared to me alone. "Single order" seemed to be excited immediately, but their vigilance was not strong. Even so, there was still no direct transmission of enemies to encircle me. Instead, they were surrounded by two siege beasts, waiting for their footsteps, and continually turned to me to provoke their faces, and hoped that I could come to the door automatically.
As you wished, I laughed and hurried up with the crystal sword. The demons took a look at it and were immediately excited. The adventures before were always carefully separated from the attack of the siege beast. Beyond the scope, strike them and make the powerful siege beast and the devil myself useless. This is great. Another silly adventure of ordering is automatically sent to the door.
　　　　Isn't there any conspiracy, a little clever demon seeing the other party's abnormal behavior even flashed such thoughts in his mind.
Under my automatic approach, the two sides quickly entered each other's remote attack range.These little guys are not polite at all.It is the friendship of the landlord that threw twenty or thirty energy hammers, warm The flames made me, a guest coming from the ice and snow, feel the other party's exceptional enthusiasm and warmth.
　　　　 forcibly accepted these attacks. Although my body hurts a bit, I really don’t want to say that I just wanted a cup of hot tea in a cold day. I was frozen for a long time. Some of my stiff body came warm immediately. Should I thank them?
The poisonous flower vines with some hungry stomachs, lurking under their feet without waiting for my order, swallowed out, swallowed one in one bite, and chewed in the mouth in all the demon fairies and sluggish expressions. After a while to promote digestion, and then swept away, and I just suffered a few dozen hit points of flame energy and a drop of health, but also replenishment due to the devouring of poisonous flower vines.
　　　　 So no matter what game, vampire skills are generally very useful...
These demons seem to realize that the enemies in front of them are not simple, let alone the enemies \"single order" that they arbitrarily imagined, but it is too late, as the so-called courtesy exchanges, the master warmed me up, as Guests also have to present their gifts with both hands.
Two palms controlled a condensed four-fold fire storm, and pressed down into the underground void, dozens of subdivided fist thick fire pillars suddenly burst out, and suddenly there were more than twenty demon goblins and myself turned to ashes. Most of them are lost.
Due to my control, most of these fire pillars fell on the demon myself, so the original mixed team suddenly became a full-color oil-green demon goblin, oh, and two demon myself teleported to the back of the siege beast. Fortunately, escaped a difficult situation.
　　　　 The remaining demon goblin suddenly ran into horror and hid behind the siege beast land. These poor siege beasts are probably still complacent for finding some smart ally for themselves, but the other party uses it as a mount and a shield.
These siege beasts are terrific. If they are not ignorant, they are certainly not much weaker than Barr's King of the Reaper, and the skills they master are also very siege features. They are the third-order skills of the Paladin. Assault], so adventures generally don't dare to get too close, especially when they are demonized when they are stationed.
Think about it, if you enter the assault range of the siege beast land and be slammed by their tens of tons of body, I am afraid that even the barbarians will be dizzy and dizzy.At this time, the devil on the back of the siege beast will not let go After a chance, a big pass of fire spewed down, and a lot of an inadvertent adventure was the death of the two monsters in close coordination.
Although the siege beasts are extremely powerful, it is not difficult to deal with them.As long as they are outside of their attack range, they can use long-range attacks.Anyway, these bulky guys are slow to move, and there is no pain.It is estimated to be dead, and death is inexplicable. The only trouble is that the demons around them can also attack remotely, and the defense of the siege beast is also amazingly high. Amazon’s ordinary arrows shoot at their thick armor, and they can only cross a white mark.
Naturally, I would not taste the tens of tons of giant hammer. I estimated the approximate assault range of the siege beast, then I stopped and shot with a guide arrow without any hassle. This dark gold bow is just good. Arrows come with the ability to guide arrows, which is not inferior to the lower-level artifacts, but if used for a long time, it does not help the practice of bow surgery, and it is easy to form a psychological dependence, if not to deal with these difficult demon goblins, I am not really willing to use it.
These demon goblins were chased by the guide arrows in the sky, and they felt like a mouse being stared at by several hungry cats.No matter how they jumped, they were inevitably hit by the guide arrows and turned into a pool of ashes. More than ten demon goblins also followed in the footsteps, leaving only two siege beasts, and standing on their backs, scared with fear, barely doing the dying struggle of the devil myself.
Slowly retreating with no technology at all, dragging two siege beasts with a kite flow, and soon these two siege beasts also fell down.When they died, their bare eyes still revealed daze and Numbness does not seem to have any sense of pain or even death. The existence of this monster is really sad.
The remaining two demons have nothing to jump on, one of them, the sloppy jumped from the back of the fallen siege beast, and before the foot fell to the ground, he was swallowed by the violently poisonous flower vine that sprang up suddenly. One was also bombarded by a fixed-point volcano that I remembered, leaving no residue left.
The two siege beasts were generous and contributed a Gothic armor with a groove, hum, unfortunately, there is only one, it can't be combined into any rune language at all, but it should be content, after all, they are just Ordinary monsters, the probability of blasting equipment is less than one-thousandth, not to mention the groove equipment.
　　　　 As for dozens of other demon goblins and myself, let alone say, I now,
　　　　 monsters have a low explosion rate. About this point, I have jumped from the desert of Rugaoin in the camp, the dwarves of Kurast, and the flesh and beasts of the Demon Fortress. I have fully experienced it.
On the way, several waves of demons were encountered, but they did not have siege beasts. The siege beasts are rare breeds. If every squad is equipped with siege beasts, the adventurous steps will become impossible.
In addition, there are old acquaintances in the hills [servants], but they have not seen their partner [The Giant Hammer], probably because of the ruined terrain here, it is not suitable for the long-range attack monsters such as the Giant Hammer. Right.
　　　　 Stopped for more than an hour, and I finally came to the edge of the ruins of the ancient city. Before waiting to look at this once magnificent ancient city, three huge energy fell from the sky.
　　　　OMG is a catapult!
　　　　 I quickly shone, and at the next moment, a toxin ball full of toxins, a giant fireball no less powerful than the mage's meteorites, and a frozen giant ball shrouded in white gas, exploded in the same place.
　　　　D, dare to come to the shade? I got up from the ground, patted the dark brown hard soil on my body, and suddenly rushed to the crown, directly skipped the waste wall more than one meter high in front, entered the ruin zone, and searched around.
However, let's not talk about the obstacles that hinder the sight of the wall, that is, the few trebuchets that just attacked me, or they may be separated by thousands of kilometers.If you want to find out in a moment, it is simply impossible. , I can only walk carefully in the ruins, while killing the wandering enemies inside, while looking around for the location of the catapult.
The demons in the ruins are particularly annoying.They not only use the terrain of the ruins, play hide-and-seek, they even build closed towers inside, jump up, and the violent fire spews out immediately, sometimes a small area stands at the same time. Five or six closed towers, the fire of spewing out of it is overwhelming, making people think that they are in the sea of ​​fire purgatory.
Most of the adventures will not choose to walk in the ruins, but bypass the ruins from the edge. Only the elite team who have confidence in themselves will be on a whim and enter the challenge, so the monsters here are particularly dense. I'm terrified.
Of course, I entered it not to lose to other elite teams or to challenge myself.Although I have been working hard to exercise myself, I have not masochism to this extent, but because of the return of spies. Those barbarians who have been taken away have disappeared into the frozen highlands. It is very likely that they will be imprisoned in this area. If it is best to imprison people, it is of course this ruin.
　　　　 While I was thinking about the ground, I solved a group of servants, and suddenly an extremely secret figure appeared in the corner of my eyes. I was crouching close to the wall, and I was less than five meters away from myself.
This figure is extremely disgusting, the lower body is similar to the servant, but when you look at it again, it will make you sick.The upper body is completely a congested tumor, no head, no hands, and irregular blood red like a bulging shape Balloons, flesh and bones inside are vaguely visible.
Seeing such a strange monster, I instantly remembered its name in my mind-fanatical servants, these guys, were transformed from a group of servants who were dead to Barr, after being transformed, to put it simply, it is actually a human flesh Bombs, playing is to explode.
Hey? Explode? ! !
The brain filled with flashes of knowledge reacted in an instant, but it was too late. This fanatical servant, as if he already knew that I had seen through its identity, suddenly accelerated the speed, and at the same time the tumor of the upper body was fierce. The ground swelled, and it didn't arrive in half a second. It had already crossed the short distance between us, and at the same time the upper body swelled to the extreme.
　　　　\"Bang"
A violent explosion, mixed with a large number of blood clots and bones flew out of the mad faith servant demon, just like a grenade mixed with shrapnel, bursting around it, the strong blast air even even tens of meters of snow Swept away.
　　　　\"……"
　　　　 This time, my head is inside a straight mud wall...
The ruins of the entire ancient city are like a boundless labyrinth, which is the most headache for my road idiot, but it is also an untargeted search anyway, maybe I was hit by a road cat blind cat, my dead cat, and found those What about barbarians? I heard that there are also two coming from the Second World. I don’t know where they are now? Is there any chance to meet?
As I walked along the broken street, I wandered around. As soon as I saw the closed house, I would break in and search for it. Unfortunately, the missing barbarian did not find it, but some demon hidden in the house, servant The demon even believed that the servants found a whole lot.
Five days have passed unknowingly, and the date is getting closer and closer, but I have not found a clue. I can only wander around like a headless fly, wanting to live in a place that can accommodate millions of people. Ruins, how easy is it to find those barbarians whose lives and deaths are uncertain? Although it may be rude to think this way, what if the barbarians have all hung up? It's okay to run in vain for yourself. It's right to practice, but the barbarians in other places will react, which is worth considering.
On this day, I was still looking blindly in the ruins.Suddenly there was a screaming fighting sound across the face.Listen carefully.The two sides are not like human beings.It must be a battle between monsters.I don't find it strange. I plan to gather up to watch it and take advantage of a fisherman. This is the only fun I can find in this ruin.
　　　　I miss you when I was by my side, Alice.
　　　　 While my feelings of madness rushed, I turned left and right, approaching in the direction of the fighting sound. Soon, I saw a very happy scene. On the road full of gravel bricks, a heavy siege beast, spreading its thighs and running desperately, and behind it, dozens of demons and two siege beasts, desperately chasing, If it weren’t for the devil’s fear of the strength of the siege beast, he didn’t dare to teleport forward to stop it, and he could only throw a flame hammer far behind in the back. I’m afraid the chase is over.
　　　　Do you have a homophobia? This is a strange thing.On the way, I have seen more brutal battles between the combination of servants + mad faith servants and demons + siege beasts, but the fight between each other is the first time I saw it. It seems that this battle has come to an end, and it's time to pick up the fisherman's own benefit.
　　　　 However, I soon found something wrong. First, why did the chasing soldiers in the back have no scars at all? In theory, even if the team on the siege beast's side is weak, no matter how weak the team is, it is impossible to be defeated by the other party. Besides, with the siege monster monster squad, the strength will never be weak.
My first reaction was a trap. The other party specifically lured myself into a trap laid by a fisherman, and then laughed at myself. How could these monsters think of this kind of profound strategy, if they are placed in the third world and encounter this situation, suspicious. It's almost the same.
What surprised me the most was the performance of the siege beast that was chased. In my eyes, the siege beast has always been a sad monster. They have no thought, no wisdom, and even the soul is incomplete. , All day long chaotic and alive, there is a perfect and powerful body and mobility,
　　　　Wood makes no difference, I once thought that God had turned into siege beasts in order to punish some people.
In front of the third eye, this siege beast surprised me.First, its eyes are not as numb and muddy as other siege beasts, but it is as flexible as a demon, and more eye-catching, facing the flame hammer of the devil behind it. However, it will consciously use ruined buildings to block or dodge.
Although with its bulky body, this meaningless behavior can not avoid many attacks, but will make the chaser behind him closer, but at least it shows that it is different from other siege beasts. A wise siege beast.
　　　　Vegetable siege beast, even possessing wisdom? This is no different from telling me that flowers and trees are fine. I was surprised to see this siege beast. Even when it rushed towards its side with chasing soldiers, I forgot to hide and watch the show.
　　　　 The siege beast saw an adventure standing in front, eyes hidden in the armor, a panic flashed, but to measure the strength of the front and back, still rushed forward.
At this time, I also came back to God, and it was too late to hide, whether it was the siege beast being chased or the chasing soldiers behind, I should have already existed, so, I Just stand still curiously and see what happens to the siege beast rushing head-on.
If it is an ordinary siege beast, it will definitely attack itself immediately, no, if it is just an ordinary siege beast, then it will not escape at all, but will unknowingly fight against the soldiers. At the last moment, I only now realized that the most uncoordinated element of this scene before me, the siege beast would escape!
Sure enough, this siege beast is just like what I imagined, it is not an ordinary thing, it just stays vigilant and takes a heavy step past me, after I continued the group of magic fortresses, I was again ignored by monsters Treatment, and those chasing soldiers seemed to treat me like air, whizzing past me.
　　　　 Strange thing, I stood in the middle of the road by the ruthless coldness, a wind blowing through the snow, and suddenly the second monk was puzzled-which one is it?
After coming back to God, I quickly followed, curiously observing this weird chase. After a while, the siege beast that was chased was already in jeopardy. Although it is famous for its rough skin, but no matter what , Can't stand more than 20 demons behind him bombing alternately.
Soon, the heavy iron armor behind it became scorched black, his sizzling smoke above him, and the heavier pace he staggered. City Beast is more gratifying than killing ten adventure teams.
　　　　Save the life of this siege beast, I soon had a decision, and a wall of fire was blocked between the two.
Suddenly I saw a wall of fire between myself and the prey, watching the disappearance of the prey, the devil was rolling straight, and I looked at my casting spell with an exposed figure.I thought they would definitely kill them. They grieved in their hearts, but unexpectedly, they just looked at me with their teeth clenched, and even commanded the two siege beasts to pass through the fire wall, and they also moved to the other side, intending to carry out the chase.
　　　　 Did the siege beast destroy their old nest? How much resentment actually makes the devil abandon my adventure of a natural enemy standing up to block their way, and go after an own ally.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but be curious. I no longer kept my hands and rushed up. A lava rock exploded and wiped out more than half of the more than 20 demons that were caught by surprise. Then, the remaining few, and two siege The beast also turned to ashes under my ruthless attack.
Next... I set my eyes on the siege beast, but it was surprising that it did not take the opportunity to escape. Instead, it leaned against the wall and looked at me, revealing vigilance and a trace of vagueness. Imperceptible pleading.
　　　　 Seeing this, although the assault skills of the body that weighed dozens of tons were bursting out, but still had a curiosity in his heart, he slowly approached it.
　　　　\"呱啊呱啊—"
When approaching the distance of about ten meters, this huge body, like a squirrel forced to an alley, showing vigilance and fear of the siege beast, immediately waving two giant arms, shouting at me. It seems to be saying that if you get closer, don’t blame me for being rude.
　　　　 I slightly walked and laughed, at least, it did not immediately use the assault skills to attack me, which means that things have changed.
　　　　 At the same time, I also vaguely perceive the identity of this siege beast. There seems to be such a record in the strange and strange things in the remote corner of Kane's book.
In the first world of Haobo, anything that transcends common sense can happen, even the monster projection. According to rumors, these innumerable monster projections have a probability of less than 1 in 10 million. Breaking away from the projected identity, he possesses a certain soul and wisdom.
Although the probability is less than one in ten million, but the number of monsters is large, and after thousands of years, there should always be a small part, some people are so like, but in fact, this is just anecdotal, these mutant monsters once Out of the scope of projection, you have a completely different identity. Those former kinders, I don’t know whether it is for jealousy or other reasons, they have very strong hostility to the mutated kinders, and even stronger than their natural enemy adventure. Therefore, it is only now that those chasing soldiers gave up this natural enemy in order to chase down the siege beast.
　　　　 is not just the same kind, other monster projections are also strongly hostile to mutant monster projections. Although these monsters have mutated and possessed preliminary intelligence, but their strength has not improved much, how can they get rid of the astronomical net of surrounding monster projections? Therefore, the newly born mutant monsters will be slaughtered, and even Kane, who traveled throughout the first world when he was young, has no definitive evidence to prove their existence, and this news is included in the category of [Legend] ~EbookFREE.me~ This siege beast in front of him is probably just a short time after the mutation. Those demons and siege beasts who hunted it should be their partners at the previous moment. The monster mutated and happened to be encountered by himself. Then, how much should this probability be multiplied by the number 1/10 million? It's really a big personality, but I don't know yet whether it is my negative aura, or the flashing positive aura.
　　　　\"Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you."
　　　　 has preliminary intelligence, and should be able to barely understand my words. I used the most harmless smile of human beings and animals, staying on the edge of the siege beast's realm, reaching out to it, trying to prove that I am not hostile.
Probably really able to understand people's words, or more sensitive to the breath.I noticed that there was no murderous body in me.This siege beast revealed a vigilant gaze, and gradually calmed down.The two giant arms no longer waved, but Quietly, he looked at me timidly.
　　　　 is faster than I expected, do we still have a trainer aura?
　　　　
　　　　 There are more than 600 points rewards, everyone does not reward, Xiaoqi nowhere to sneer and laugh)!
(www..langlang book)