Capítulo 1207: Chapter 47: New Hope
The Master of Dreams has yet to sink into his eternal slumber.
He was aware of Lu Li’s arrival, aware of the purpose of their journey.
“There is nothing to be done.”
The Eternal Dreamer, bathed in the starlight by the window, still replied in this way.
“Not even you have a solution…” the twisted figure murmured.
“Because only in this way will there not be a bad ending…” The Eternal Dreamer spoke in a weathered voice: “I have seen each star as a world… I have seen the rivers formed by stars fragile as sand in a storm… I have seen vast worlds as part of something called a game… I have seen the terrifying power of science reaching its end just by us taking a step… I have seen how one fall could wither a world… Survival and destruction lie in our every decision. Perhaps it’s about stepping with your left foot when you go out, perhaps it’s about going to sleep a little later, perhaps it’s about the butterfly flapping its wings gently…”
He who glimpses the long river of time is the one who balances all.
When Lu Li heard him speak of science, his eyes flickered: “Do you still remember those technological designs?”
“I do not know… even if I did, I would say nothing.”
The Eternal Dreamer’s voice gradually became like a sleep talk, sinking into dreams.
“Fate has already marked the price for everything, and we cannot afford the cost of owning them…”
…
They left the Vine Church.
“Prophets are always like this.”
The words of the Eternal Dreamer reminded the Mother of the Marsh of the prophet and astrologer from the old Duchy: “Ambiguous prophecies, declaring the future should not be changed.”
“What did he mean by fate and cost in the end…” the twisted figure asked.
The Mother of the Marsh lowered her eyes to Lu Li: “Lu Li knows how to explain it.”
“A child suddenly acquiring wealth will buy beloved toys, a young person will spend lavishly, a middle-aged person will invest in property,” Lu Li said.
“I still don’t understand…”
Lu Li’s explanation failed to help the twisted figure comprehend these words.
“He equates science to wealth… Therefore, science that does not belong to us, that comes unexpectedly, will, like wealth, cause us to lose our true selves, leading us into an inevitable abyss…” the Mother of the Marsh answered.
It simply transforms from one disaster to another.
“Could things get worse than this?” the twisted figure whispered.
No one could answer Him.
Lu Li returned to the cabin to rest for the night. The next morning, the Mother of the Marsh’s maid delivered his coat, already pressed.
Putting on the coat, Lu Li sat in the wooden chair in the cool morning light, handling the day’s camp affairs.
During this time, Valendo arrived at Lake Heart Island with the drafted laws.
Many laws were quite crude, with as many regulations as there were laws, such as requiring residents with low sanity value to become believers, prohibiting theft, robbery, and fighting. As previously stated, Agate Lake Camp did not need excessive, intricate laws.
Because no one could afford the cost of making mistakes—being expelled from the Land of Light.
That despair was worse than death to them.
“Mr. Luli… I also want to become an Exorcist.” Valendo hesitantly said, standing by the desk.
“Did you fail the Mysticology test?”
“I didn’t get the chance to participate…”
Valendo slightly revised his words; he originally hoped to serve as an assistant beside Lu Li as he had with Matthias, but ten days of camp life made him realize the camp didn’t need that, and neither did Lu Li.
Lu Li said, “The Mysticology test is held weekly, and if you pass, you will become a reserve Apprentice Exorcist.”
Porter and the other nine, being the first batch, had already removed the reserve title. As long as they passed the test with Hades, they would become formal Exorcists.
“I understand, is there any issue with the draft?”
“Remove the rule ‘Prohibit approaching Agate Lake’.”
Lu Li understood the people’s idea of making Agate Lake a Sacred Land but found it unnecessary.
“Should it be prohibited at this stage? They might pollute Agate Lake.”
Valendo inquired, out of some form of reverence, he and the new residents behind him did not want people to defile Agate Lake.
“Agate Lake is dirtier than you imagine,” Lu Li said.
Even prohibiting residents from approaching Agate Lake was protecting them.
The clearing and fishing of the Twisted Cultists had never stopped, but decades of accumulated filth couldn’t be cleaned up in a few weeks. At least another month or two was needed to fish out the sources of hatred and pollution such as “excrement,” “impurities,” and “corpses,” followed by the arrival of the rainy season to dilute Agate Lake into purity again.
Merchant Anthony arrived before Valendo left, bringing today’s newspapers from Vena Refuge and the Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company.
This odd Earth Dwellers tribe was more suited to this role than merchants—they were quite adept at finding business opportunities.
Hades should be able to find many common topics with them.
“Do we also need to establish a newspaper office?”
Looking at the newspaper headline titled [Apprentice Exorcists Undergoing Training], Valendo asked.
“Not for now.”
The more than four hundred residents didn’t necessitate establishing a newspaper office, nor should they waste their precious population on it. After all, the Land of Light and Vena Ice-Free Port communicated with each other, and any news could be spread from the newspaper office solely of Vena Refuge.
It also increased the value of Vena Refuge in the Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company—indeed, many oddities liked reading news about the Land of Light.
Though the purpose was unknown.
Valendo departed from Lake Heart Island, Lu Li finished his affairs and flipped through today’s newspaper.
The establishment of Exorcists brought hope and expectation to the people, covering up the pain brought by death and disappearance.
At least the pessimistic tone Matthias expressed in his letters wasn’t evident in the newspapers.
The Earth Dwellers’ Trading Company’s newspapers were primarily about the Old Sewers and Spirit Town, while seeing powerful oddities or leaders of oddities dynamically appear in the newspapers was always novel, as if they were a group of oddities wearing human skins.
In the morning, Andrea’s whistle echoed from the bay, carrying five Banyan Tree Guardians and the Twisted Jungle into port.
The Mother of the Marsh and the twisted figure arrived at Lake Heart Island, as She would lead her believers aboard Andrea to sail far to Vena Ice-Free Port, where they would take over warships and cannons while accommodating the seventh batch of migrating residents.
The residents were ready to build huts for the new arrivals, which would also be the last batch of huts.
It could be expected that the seventh batch of migrating residents would not number fewer than two hundred, and would also be the last batch of residents for Agate Lake Camp—
Because the camp would expand into the city ruins, and residents would gradually move into the cleared Old Belfast.
Lu Li planned to travel with the twisted figure, but was rejected by the two deities: the camp no longer required all affairs to be personally attended to by Lu Li.
Defending against external enemies should be left to the generals, not the King.
“The Land of Light will not be destroyed because I exist or not.”
The identity of an Exorcist was greater than its actual utility, and also…
Lu Li’s gaze went beyond Agate Lake, bathed in a pale golden glow, toward the thriving camp on the opposite shore.
“As for hope, they already have a substitute.”