As they were talking, the several Revelators who were searching for clues in the room came out.
The leading Revelator held a small glass bottle in his hand. At the bottom of the glass bottle was a thin layer of light blue solution. Clearly, this was an empty potion bottle.
Behind him, another Revelator was talking to Eric, patting Eric’s shoulder, looking like he was encouraging him.
Siles thought to himself, Did Eric find this glass bottle?
“The newcomer you brought has good qualities,” the Revelator walking in front said to Carol. “He found this potion bottle.”
Siles’s guess was verified, and he felt gratified for Eric’s smooth start.
Eric also happened to look towards him, revealing a grateful smile—if Siles hadn’t reminded him to pay attention to details, and mentioned during his conversation with Carol that the watchman might be a Revelator, then he couldn’t possibly have discovered this potion bottle so quickly.
“So, this watchman is a Revelator.” Clarissa Bernie from the Second Corridor muttered to herself. “He stole that collection item to perform a ritual, but he was already taken away by the police; yet his granddaughter and the collection item disappeared…”
“…He has a helper. Since he himself is in the police station, he didn’t have the opportunity to perform the ritual, so he needed a helper.” A Revelator said, “No, it should be said that he intentionally stood out to attract the police’s attention specifically to cover for that helper.”
“Makes sense. He offered no resistance when the police came knocking and confessed directly. His plan from the start was for this helper to perform the ritual, rather than himself?”
“Why go through all that trouble? He could have stolen the Time Trace, performed the ritual, and then secretly returned it… why not do that? Why confess?”
“Perhaps his ability wasn’t enough to replicate that ritual, and he had to borrow the helper’s power. Thus, he chose to steal the collection item, while the helper was the one to cast the ritual. They had a clear division of labor?”
“…Or rather, it was that Revelator who commissioned him to steal, and the reward was curing his granddaughter?”
With a few words, the several Revelators sketched out the outline of the entire incident.
After confirming that this watchman was a Revelator, or at least connected to Revelators, the face of this incident became much clearer—because there was a definite principle: after stealing the Time Trace, the watchman definitely intended to perform a ritual.
Then this helper…
Clarissa hesitated for a moment, and said, “A doctor?”
A doctor. This was a possibility, and also one that was easy to think of.
The watchman’s granddaughter fell seriously ill; the watchman must have sought medical help everywhere, and in this process, he might have come into contact with a doctor. Or perhaps, he already knew a doctor, maybe because he was already old and sickly. And that person gave him this suggestion.
The Time Trace they were currently searching for and the ritual that was ultimately going to be used must also be to cure the watchman’s granddaughter; otherwise, why would the watchman run around so much? A Time Trace and ritual related to medical treatment naturally established a connection with a doctor.
Furthermore, if the identity wasn’t a doctor, the watchman might not have felt so at ease handing his granddaughter over to the other party. The profession of a doctor naturally engendered trust.
…A doctor. Siles thought. At this moment, he couldn’t help but think of Chester Fitzroy, that role-playing game character.
This school doctor at Lamifa University hid a secret; and he lived in the West City.
“Perhaps not a doctor in the open,” one Revelator said thusly. “Might be an underground clinic or something like that.”
“That is also a direction.”
They were discussing.
Suddenly, a clamor of noise came from downstairs, mixed with the sounds of several people arguing.
Upon hearing that sound, Carol’s expression changed, and he said hastily, “Come quickly.”
Subsequently, he rushed downstairs.
Siles and Eric followed closely behind. Seeing the situation, the Revelators of the Second Corridor knew that the ones in trouble might be the other newly initiated Revelators, and also hurriedly chased after them.
When assigning tasks just now, they split into three groups; one of the groups consisted of Mrs. Fuller, Angela, Darrell, along with another Revelator from the Second Corridor, who were responsible for talking with the watchman’s neighbors.
They had already finished talking with all the neighbors on this third floor, and then went to the second floor. The noisy sounds just now precisely came from the second floor.
When the few of them went to the second floor to look, they found a crowd of people standing tightly packed in the second-floor corridor. Among them were their several companions, but the vast majority were strangers, including several tall, big, and burly strongmen.
Siles saw at a glance that the situation was not right, so he reached his right hand into his pocket and took out Leaf Number One. He quietly approached and listened in.
Carol and the other Revelators had already stepped forward, loudly asking about the situation, but everyone was clamoring. Mrs. Fuller, Angela, and Darrell were squeezed into a corner, unable to move. A burly man clenched his fists and walked toward them.
“What exactly happened?!” Carol shouted.
“They… can’t do this…” “Nothing…” “A group of people suddenly came from outside…” “Looking for something… no, looking for someone…” “What exactly is the matter…” “We don’t know either, suddenly they just…”
Everyone seemed to give their own answers, but Siles kept his attention on those several out-of-place strongmen.
Eric walked to his side.
Siles turned his head to glance at him, shaking his head to indicate he didn’t know what the situation was either. Subsequently, he stepped forward, advancing from the side of the corridor toward his companions.
He switched to a leaf with weaker wind power and gently flicked it—he discovered during his attempt yesterday that since his ritual compatibility was definitely 10, he didn’t seem to need to be that strict when performing the ritual.
When others used the [The Silent Heart] ritual, they had to try for the correct angle and strength, but Siles didn’t need to; even if he just casually flicked the leaf, the final result would definitely be a light breeze.
Thus, the people in the corridor successively felt a gust of eerie wind brushing past the back of their necks. That slight coolness was exceptionally obvious in the muggy and noisy corridor, making them suddenly stiffen in shock and uncertainty.
Siles took the opportunity to push them aside and squeeze over to Mrs. Fuller and the other two. The two ladies and a young boy had nowhere to go, facing the people surrounding them from different directions in panic. Darrell tried hard to stand firm in front of the ladies.
The Revelator from the Second Corridor who was with them was squeezed into a corner further away, unable to move.
Eric followed behind Siles. Siles noticed that Carol’s expression was serious, his lips moving as if he was saying something. But no sound was heard in his left ear.
Was it specifically directed towards Mrs. Fuller’s side? Or was he contacting the Revelators of the Second Corridor? Siles thought so.
He observed the tall and strong man who was walking towards Mrs. Fuller, feeling that the other party looked faintly familiar. He thought for a moment.
[You need to make a Spot Hidden check.]
[Spot Hidden: 30/29, Success.]
[Congratulations, there is no problem with your memory. Do you remember those muscular guards when Anthony Fenn had an accident at the Ernestine trading fair? The bulging side of that sturdy man’s waist awakened your memory. You know there’s a gun there.]
Siles suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Eric stopped as well, not knowing why.
Without turning his head, Siles reached his hand back and pushed Eric, telling him to leave here. As a waiter at Ernestine, Eric had better not appear in front of that group of guards.
Furthermore, Siles had another layer of worry in his heart. He remembered that the dice’s judgments would only appear when he encountered things related to Revelators. In other words, the intention of these guards appearing here was not simple.
The eerie wind vanished, and the surroundings began to become noisy again. But this time, some unrelated onlookers began to slowly leave. They returned to their own rooms, so gradually only the several Revelators of the History Society and those sturdy men carrying guns remained on the scene.
Eric understood Siles’s meaning, so he took this opportunity to also retreat to the corner of the second floor.
The corridor fell silent for a moment.
Carol and the Revelators from the Second Corridor were at one end of the corridor, cautiously observing the situation.
Siles stood at a position somewhat in front of them. Further ahead were those several strangers; in front of them was another Revelator from the Second Corridor, and Mrs. Fuller and the other two stood behind him. To the side, one of the strangers was ready to make a move.
The overall setup was like this. But they fell into a stalemate.
Holding the leaf in his hand—he had already switched to Leaf Number One, which was the one with the strongest wind power—Siles slightly narrowed his eyes and took this brief moment to think.
The guards of the Ernestine trading fair appeared here. This meant the watchman’s matter was indeed related to the underground gangs, and even the reason why the watchman would go steal the Time Trace was related to them.
But since the watchman had already confessed, and his granddaughter and the Time Trace had disappeared together, why would this group of guards still appear here?
Was it to prevent investigators from pointing the finger at the underground gangs? But the moment they appeared, wouldn’t that logically prove the underground gangs were involved in this matter?
No, wait. Just now amidst that clamor of noise, Siles had heard someone say this group of people appeared here to look for something, look for someone.
…Could there be a problem with the Time Trace the watchman stole?
Siles thought with a headache, Doesn’t that make it even more complicated? Did that doctor’s ritual fail?
…Right, the doctor! Speaking of doctors, if the doctor belonged to the underground gangs, then to what extent was Chester Fitzroy’s secret related to the underground gangs?
Previously, Siles thought the Apostates were able to learn of Chester’s existence from the underground gangs because of Anthony’s whistleblowing; but perhaps, the underground gangs were already keeping an eye on Chester in the first place?
Doctors. He thought. There existed a… or a group of, mysterious doctors in the West City. Some of them might be related to Revelators, some might not.
Could Chester be a Revelator?
If he was a Revelator, the matter of him treating Anthony Fenn’s wound before… didn’t seem that simple either? What “greater risk” did he actually eliminate?
But he remembered, didn’t the West City have Hume’s Pharmacy? That was a pharmacy operated by the Church of the Past; that was where ordinary people in the West City went to see a doctor and buy medicine.
Siles’s thoughts wandered off for a moment, and then he immediately pulled himself back, focusing on the scene before him.
Carol was equally focused on staring at those strangers. He said cautiously, “What are you looking for?”
Clearly, he had also noticed what someone had said just now.
But no one answered this question. One of the strangers directly pulled out a gun, the muzzle pointing at Carol, silently creating an atmosphere of threat and forcing them back.
Finally, one of the strangers said, “Leave this place!”
“What happened?” Carol frowned.
He still hadn’t figured out what this was all about. The watchman stole the Time Trace, a doctor was treating his granddaughter… and then, a group of strangers rushed in here holding guns?
What the hell was going on?!
Seeing that Carol and the others were unmoved, a ruthless glint flashed in that man’s eyes, and his finger directly pulled the trigger.
Almost without thinking, Siles flicked the leaf in his hand, and a gust of fierce wind blew towards the person who made the move. At the same time the gunshot rang out, the fierce wind also blinded his eyes. He let out an unexpected cry of astonishment, his hand moved in panic, and the bullet went astray.
The other strangers also looked over in astonishment, not understanding what happened for a moment.
In this split second, Carol and the other Revelators of the Second Corridor also made their moves. They each took something out from their coats; some had a knife, some a bundle of rope, as well as bizarre photographs, a corner of a sculpture, and so on.
The several of them each showed their special abilities, and in a short while, they successively subdued the strangers. The police officers who heard the gunshot also came to the second floor and handcuffed this group of people.
“What’s going on?!” one of the police officers said in confusion, shock, and anger.
“You guys came for Anselm Norrison’s matter?” Carol looked deeply at the man who fired the gun; this was the most serious and grave Carol that Siles had ever seen.
Anselm Norrison was that watchman.
That man looked calmly at Carol, seemingly not worried at all about his future encounter.
Carol sighed and said, “Take them away.”
Siles suddenly said, “Aren’t you going to search their belongings?”
Carol froze for a moment, gave Siles an approving look, and then together with the other Revelators from the Second Corridor, personally searched out the things on these few people.
Under their loose overcoats were hidden guns, clubs, blades, and other deadly weapons. Furthermore, there was also a small, copper-cast flower. Siles took several looks before confirming it was a crocus.
…A crocus? Siles frowned slightly.
Carol carefully picked up that copper-cast flower, and then said, “This is that stolen collection item.” He looked obscurely at the other Revelators, not stating it explicitly, but everyone knew what he meant—this was that stolen Time Trace.
A copper-cast flower.
It had a rust-yellow metallic exterior, but looked lifelike. The lost item was found by a lucky coincidence, but none of their expressions could be called relaxed.
The expressions of that group of strangers finally changed; they glared viciously at this group of people. Carol waved his hand, telling the police to take these people away. Subsequently, as if talking to himself, he said, “A crocus?”
Angela looked left and right, as if finally sobering up from her lingering shock. She couldn’t help but say, “If I remember correctly, the crocus is the symbol of Pesonari, right?”
Pesonari. The God of Reproduction and Life, the fresh flowers blooming in spring.
Reproduction, life. Judging from His divine domain, it wasn’t surprising for Him to be connected with doctors, medical treatment, and the like; this was indeed a part of His believers.
But they were all Revelators. They all also knew of the existence of Old God followers.
Previously, the police had said Anselm Norrison looked mad and crazy, making them suspect whether this watchman had been polluted by the Old Gods. And the appearance of this copper-cast flower seemed to have verified their view to a certain extent.
Another Old God appeared. And His believers also seemed to be active in the dark. Siles thought. Moreover, they were also entangled with the underground gangs of the West City.
This matter was somewhat unsettling.
Carol took a deep breath and handed that copper-cast flower to Clarissa. Subsequently, he said, “Today’s operation can pretty much end here. What comes next is interrogating that group of guys, and returning the item to its rightful owner.”
Darrell subconsciously said, “That’s it?”
Carol looked at Darrell and laughed. “Don’t you think today’s matter was thrilling enough?” The man who had faced the muzzle of a gun shrugged, “I also have to thank Siles for saving my life.”
Siles froze slightly, then gently shook his head.
“You did very well,” Carol said. “You have mastered the power, so do not be timid to use the power when the time comes.”
Darrell pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded. Angela also looked like she was pondering something. Mrs. Fuller looked at the end of the corridor, her eyes flickering, not knowing what she was thinking.
A moment later, Eric walked over as well.
He said in a subtle tone, “Those are…” He looked at Siles, and seeing Siles had no reaction, he continued, “Those are the guards of Ernestine.”
Carol looked a bit puzzled.
“Ernestine is a tavern in the West City,” Eric said. “It has some connections with the underground gangs. Recently, the underground gangs… because the Archduke intends to develop the Withered Wasteland, are acquiring power and support through various channels… including the power of Revelators.”
Carol’s expression changed, and he asked seriously, “Are you sure?”
“I am sure,” Eric said.
“We all know about this,” Angela couldn’t help but say.
Carol looked at them suspiciously. “All?”
Angela and Darrell then chimed in one after another, recounting what happened at the final moments of the underground trading fair on Wednesday. Carol’s expression changed multiple times, finally settling into one of being both amused and exasperated.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier!”
“We just didn’t find the opportunity,” Angela muttered. “We were discussing this matter when the carriage was heading towards the West City, but you weren’t on our carriage.”
Carol shook his head and laughed bitterly in helplessness.
Siles acutely sensed that this matter might not be as simple as just the underground gangs, otherwise Carol wouldn’t reveal such an expression. He asked, “Carol, what’s wrong?”
Carol hesitated for a moment, looked at the Revelators from the Second Corridor, and seeing them acting as if nothing happened and pretending not to have heard, said, “Fine, there’s no harm in telling you guys.
“It’s said the underground gangs of the West City are supported by a big shot from the East City—and that big shot is highly likely a Revelator too. So there might also be…”
He gave a look, not continuing his sentence.
Siles exchanged slightly strange glances with his companions.
He thought, A Revelator? A big shot? Then that might just be a higher-up of the History Society, or a noble of the Duchy of Konst? Or a combination of both?
Thus, their gazes slowly landed on Angela Clayton.
Angela blinked her eyes, indicating that this matter could be discussed later.
Carol pretended not to see—after all, he knew Angela’s identity. He coughed and said, “Since that’s the case, we can go back. Wait and see what happens.”
He left the second-floor corridor first and walked downstairs. The few of them successively followed behind him and left. Siles walked together with his companions. He heard Eric mutter a sentence, “I hope the watchman’s granddaughter is alright.”
Siles thought to himself, Indeed.
The calculations of big shots and the internal strife of small fries were all common occurrences. But not many people truly cared when a young, tender life was accidentally dragged into it.
They naturally didn’t know whether that young girl had participated in the process of this theft incident in some form. However, perhaps they would never know.
Leaving the apartment building where the watchman lived, they split into two groups again, got into the carriages, and headed back. This time Carol came to their carriage and carefully inquired about the whole story of the incident at the trading fair on Wednesday. Finally, upon arriving at the History Society, he left thoughtfully.
Angela said, “I’m sure there will be a follow-up to this.”
“Absolutely.” Darrell looked a bit excited and thrilled, and also a bit uneasy and nervous. “Can we participate in it?”
Mrs. Fuller said somewhat helplessly, “This is very dangerous, Darrell. Pay attention to safety.”
“I know, Mrs. Fuller,” Darrell said this first, and subsequently added, “But I want to become a knight like my brother, I can’t fear advancing and fighting!”
Mrs. Fuller couldn’t help but smile.
When they returned to Room 666 and their emotions slowly calmed down, Angela and Darrell began to feel some lingering fear; after all, they had seemingly been surrounded by that group of strangers just now.
They also successively praised Siles for his timely use of the [Flowing Wind].
Mrs. Fuller, on the other hand, had been very calm the whole time.
“Why exactly did they go there?” Angela couldn’t help but ask. “And they even carried that Time Trace. Could it be that something went wrong with that ritual?”
“Perhaps so.” Mrs. Fuller nodded and said unhurriedly, “Perhaps the ritual failed, or perhaps… it produced some other effect. There are many possibilities.”
“But now they’ve been caught,” Eric said thoughtfully. “What do you think the underground gangs will choose to do? Forbearance or fury?”
“Forbearance.”
Almost everyone said so without hesitation.
Darrell blinked and silently swallowed his own answer.
Siles said, “They cannot possibly choose to confront the official authorities of the Duchy of Konst at this moment. Their goal is ultimately to seize the benefits of the Ashless Land, and the power of Revelators is just an insurance they’ve selected.”
Darrell then suddenly realized.
Mrs. Fuller sighed softly. “After the Archduke truly announces the plan, I’m afraid this kind of overt and covert struggle will become even more obvious.”
Angela blinked and said quietly, “I heard a piece of news.”
The others all looked at her.
Angela coughed, carrying a hint of not-so-obvious excitement of sharing gossip with close friends. She said, “I heard the Archduke’s plan is not only external, but also internal. He intends to carry out some reconstruction on the infrastructure of Lamifa City.”
“Infrastructure?” They looked at each other, not able to imagine what it could be.
Siles’s heart stirred, thinking of what Bertram Fenn had told him before, that developing the Ashless Land would definitely require building railways first… He thought, Railways? The city?
…Subways?
Despite arriving at this guess based on Earth’s experience, Siles did not speak his speculation out loud. They discussed for a while; some said markets, some said dining, some said education, etc., but none considered the aspect of transportation.
The discussion gradually came to an end, and the few of them opportunely bid farewell to each other and left separately.
When they left the History Society, Carol also happened to be going somewhere. They greeted Carol, and each expressed their anticipation for the experience of going to different departments on Monday.
Carol specifically pulled Siles aside and solemnly thanked him. Siles felt this was nothing; after all, he believed that even without his help, Carol wouldn’t have been hit by the bullet.
But Carol didn’t think so; he smiled and patted Siles’s shoulder.
Subsequently, he added, “Your timing to make a move was brilliant, and, that fierce wind…”
“I specifically searched for fresh leaves blown down by strong winds in advance,” Siles said. “I didn’t expect the ritual to be so successful this time.”
Of course, he couldn’t possibly expose his secret of having full ritual compatibility.
But Carol didn’t seem to suspect anything either. He just said, “You are very cautious, and also very thorough, Siles. You will have an infinitely vast world, I believe so.”
Siles shook his head somewhat embarrassedly.
Carol seemed to be in a hurry, so he didn’t continue talking to Siles. He just added one more sentence: “I think the Research Department will suit you very well. See you next week.”
“See you next week,” Siles said.
He thought, he was actually also looking forward to the work at the Research Department very much. Of course, it was equally true that he hoped it wouldn’t be that busy.
Siles took a public carriage back to Lamifa University, went to the cafeteria to eat dinner, and then returned to 6 Hayward Street. When he sat down to review everything that had happened today, he finally felt a trace of surprise at the strange combination of factors.
Clearly, they seemed to have interrupted some operations by a lucky coincidence.
Anselm Norrison wouldn’t be the first person to intentionally or unintentionally participate in the operations of the underground gangs. The underground gangs of the West City were madly seizing all the power they could strive for, including the power of Revelators.
Such a thing was clearly not happening in the West City for the first time, yet it was clearly the first time being caught by the official authorities of the Duchy of Konst.
According to Carol, there was a big shot standing behind the underground gangs of the West City—which wasn’t strange at all—and this mastermind behind the scenes clearly didn’t know that his subordinates had already attracted the attention of some people.
A great flood washes away the Dragon King’s Temple. The Earthling couldn’t help but think.
The appearance of the copper-cast flower was another unexpected matter.
If that truly symbolized the God of Reproduction and Life, then it was what the Old God followers called the “Shed Skin of a God”. The watchman had probably come into contact with this thing, which was why the situation of madness and craziness occurred.
It was hard to say whether that was spiritual pollution or spiritual devitalization. After all, Siles had never actually seen Anselm Norrison, and that copper-cast flower hadn’t shown any abnormalities.
Then, the question was, behind Anselm’s act of stealing the copper-cast flower, did the person instructing him to do so tell him to steal at random, or specifically instruct him to steal this copper-cast flower?
If it was the former, then perhaps behind Anselm was not a doctor or a Revelator, but a task he received from the underground gang.
Similar to Anthony Fenn who wanted to join the gang, Anselm also received a task—for example, to collect some antiques, or things that looked like they had a lot of heritage.
The appearance of these tasks was because the underground gangs were collecting Time Traces. They might offer some rewards, such as money. And Anselm, whose granddaughter was sick, happened to need money.
Thus, Anselm thought of the museum where he once served; subsequently, utilizing his identity, he successfully stole a copper-cast flower from it—Anselm might have just randomly picked one from the collection.
He knew that stealing was bad, so he had his granddaughter take the copper-cast flower to the underground gang to claim the bounty, while he stayed at home, waiting for the police to come knocking, buying time for his granddaughter.
But the underground gang would definitely attempt to use this copper-cast flower, researching its traits and rituals.
During this process, an accident might have occurred in the experiment. Thus, after questioning Anselm’s granddaughter, the underground gang had to send people here to find Anselm to ask about the origin of this copper-cast flower.
This was one of Siles’s deductions regarding this incident.
Of course, there were still many dubious points in this; for instance, where was Anselm’s granddaughter now? What illness did she exactly have? What on earth did the Revelators of the underground gangs do with this copper-cast flower?
If a massive accident truly occurred, why would they let these guards come over directly carrying the copper-cast flower?
Moreover, if Anselm only came into contact with the copper-cast flower for a very brief time, and his manifestation of madness was already so obvious, then his granddaughter clearly came into contact with it for a longer time—what was his granddaughter’s state now?
Siles stood by the bedroom window, silently staring at the scenery outside, his train of thought turning to another possibility.
And the result and signs shown by that possibility were even worse.
That is, some followers of Pesonari had long known that that private museum had Pesonari’s “Shed Skin”, and so specifically used Anselm Norrison, this former museum watchman, to have him steal this Shed Skin.
This possibility brought more problems.
This could mean that the underground gangs of the West City were mixed up with certain Old God followers. While this wasn’t considered rare either, there was after all a big shot from the East City standing behind the underground gangs.
Those seemingly glamorous big shots getting involved with Old God followers, and those gangs who inherently lived underground and couldn’t see the light of day getting involved with Old God followers—the difference between the two was worlds apart.
This brought up a problem: if this connection truly existed, did that big shot know about it or not? Was it tacit consent, indulgence, or… was he himself a believer of Pesonari?
This matter could be big or small, entirely depending on what Anselm Norrison could confess later.
However, if he was truly subjected to some kind of spiritual pollution, and had become a follower of Pesonari himself… then it was hard to say.
Siles shook his head, pulling his thoughts back.
Since this matter was originally something the Second Corridor needed to investigate, let the Second Corridor investigate it. He could totally hear the latest progress from Eric; baselessly speculating here wouldn’t lead to anything anyway.
He quickly shifted his thoughts to other matters.
This was August 13th, Saturday. Tomorrow would be a relatively free day. He decided to go out to buy some daily necessities, autumn and winter clothes, as well as the potted plants for the office that he had been longing for.
This night, Siles continued to read that book Shadows Over the Empire gifted by Carol previously.
The history of the Empire Era was always full of an epic feel. Although the Divine Birth Era and the Belief Era were even more ancient and long, and more filled with a mythological aura, the trials and tribulations after humans established empires could always stir up more feelings and melancholy.
The empire with the largest territory and the most far-reaching influence in the history of this world was named August.
The August Empire was established in the second millennium of the Empire Era; its prosperity, decline, resurgence, and destruction lasted for nearly a thousand years. Compared to now, that was as long as the Age of Silence and the Era of Mist combined.
The August Empire could, to a certain extent, especially in the fields of culture and art, be compared to the Greco-Roman civilization on Earth. Its fashion continued to this day, and many people who venerated antiquity still believed that the August Empire was the greatest nation to date.
This empire once occupied one-third of the territory of the Fisher world. Siles felt a massive sense of incredulity towards this territorial area.
Because of the existence of gods, the process of the Age of Discovery in this world was very rapid. Humanity didn’t go astray. As early as the Belief Era, there were already human believers, such as the ascetics who believed in Brancani, using their lifelong footsteps to measure the entire world.
Precisely because of this, one-third of the territory of the entire Fisher world, and this was only the land area—such a massive empire truly sounded incredible.
Naturally, behind this empire also stood several gods.
Among them were Pesonari, the God of Reproduction and Life, Thaddeus, the God of Death and Disaster, and Trisli the God of High Mountains and Rivers.
These were the three gods who had the most profound impact on the August Empire. This made the residents of August love life, love nature, revere death, and their attitude towards death leaned towards falling leaves returning to their roots, rather than endless darkness.
August should be the empire in history that believed most in the existence of “destiny”. In other words, they believed “life and death are determined by fate”.
The residents of August were long-lived, peaceful, and disliked disputes. But precisely because the two gods of life and death both stood behind them, their warriors were also the most formidable and resilient existences on the battlefield.
This might also corroborate why the August Empire had such a long lifespan and occupied such vast territory.
Furthermore, the existence of Trisli, the God of High Mountains and Rivers, made some subjects of August obsessed with landscapes and nature. They discovered precious ores in different parts of their territory, which made August’s economy extremely prosperous.
Siles read one of the paragraphs with great interest.
“…The August Empire was so prosperous and lasted for a thousand years, so why did it ultimately disintegrate? This was inextricably linked to the contradiction between Pesonari and Thaddeus.
“One life and one death, They sheltered August for a thousand years. However, They were always opposites of each other. Despite the existence of Trisli, Trisli could not contend with these two symbols of life and death.
“Thus in the end, different believers occupied different territories. August was divided into two, and the two became thorns in each other’s eyes and flesh; both sides wished to kill the other and be done with it.”
Pesonari symbolized life, Thaddeus symbolized death. After August split, the two gods and their believers began a vigorous hostility and war that lasted for a century, with heavy casualties on both sides.
But no one knew why these two gods were able to get along harmoniously for the previous thousand years.
Siles couldn’t help but marvel at some of the eeriness of this world.
Rather than saying the empires of the Empire Era were human empires, it was better to say they were kingdoms of gods, wars of gods.
A human empire would completely fall because of differences in faith; two empires born of the same root would head towards opposition and war because of differences in faith.
In the Age of Silence, the gods fell one after another. The human empires established after this point in time actually had a bit less divinity and a bit more worldly color.
However, to this day, the believers of those fallen gods still unwillingly attempted to awaken the gods they believed in.
Siles thought of what Grenfield had told him before—the power of the gods still retained a certain activity.
Siles couldn’t help but take a deep breath, and then a subtle thought arose: could those believers truly resurrect something? Or awaken something?
Whatever awakened would definitely not be what the Old God followers wanted. But it would certainly produce something.
Furthermore, why did those gods fall? Why did Antinam appear after They fell? Why was this world shrouded in fog? And why was the fog slowly disappearing?
After arriving in this world, Siles had produced many, many doubts about this world. Through the role-playing game’s script, he roughly understood the outline of this world; through the original body’s memory, he also roughly understood the internal colors and rules of this world.
Yet, he was curious about the secrets of this world.
He vainly attempted to pry into the core of this world.
He could succeed. Moreover, he would personally push open the door to that new world. He would find a future for this world.
…Unknowingly, Siles fell asleep. In his dream, he seemed to have dreamt of something, and so he woke up with a start in an instant. He froze on the sofa for a moment, then closed the book.
He went to the bathroom and washed his face, then stared intently at the black-haired young man in the mirror.
He Jiayin. He silently recited his own name.
At that moment, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have—at least, already pried into a part of the world’s secrets.
