Chapter 108: The Transaction and the Night Conversation
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Although Provence was tense, he was not panicked. His supernatural ability was among the strongest in the world. As long as he did not intend to fight to the death, even a sixth-level power could not easily kill him, making him virtually invincible.
Provence unexpectedly approached the mythic giant beast and calmly said, “First meeting, honorable Archbishop, please allow a newcomer like me to offer such a humble courtesy.”
The tall Archbishop did not turn around but issued a voice full of authority: “Who... exactly are you?”
Provence replied, “We come from afar, a place very, very distant.”
The Archbishop declared decisively, “Far away? Impossible. Without the blessing of the gods, you cannot survive on this land.”
Provence recalled the murals and said, “The gods sowed the seeds of civilization upon the earth and would not abandon their children. Guided by the gods, we wandered for a long time, eventually discovering our own power and gaining the potential to save this world.”
The Archbishop’s voice echoed through the hall: “Then, warriors of the gods, what do you seek?”
Provence knelt on one knee, slyly saying, “To fight for the gods is the greatest honor, but we also believe the gods will not be stingy with us.”
The Archbishop slowly turned around, his aged face facing Provence, suddenly smiling: “The gods have not forsaken us; they have sent messengers to save this world. Welcome, warriors of the gods.”
Provence smiled as well: “It is an honor to serve the gods.”
“Faction selection complete. The war of civilizations begins. Help the chosen faction achieve ultimate victory! Hidden missions not activated.”
The dragon king behind the Archbishop trembled heavily, its lower abdomen slowly pushing out a large spherical membrane containing many white egg sacs about the size of human heads, resembling pearls.
The Archbishop reached into the membrane, lifted out an egg sac, and handed it to Provence.
The egg sac quickly hardened and dried in the air. Even with Provence’s strength, it felt somewhat heavy.
The Archbishop said, “After this battle, every warrior may gain the loyalty of a flying dragon. They possess limitless power; please treat them well.”
Provence glanced discreetly at the mission instructions and said, “Thank you for the gods’ blessing.”
The two exchanged smiles, yet beneath the surface, currents of suspicion surged; each remained constantly wary of the other.
He walked outside the church and saw teammates whose atmosphere with the dragon knights was somewhat strained. He beckoned them to behave.
The psychic Lin Zexi approached, his expression changing. He quickly re-established a mental link with Provence and asked anxiously, “Why was my mental connection severed?”
Provence said, “Plans have changed. There is a fifth-level dragon king inside. I suspect the demon clan also has fifth-level or even higher-level powerhouses, otherwise, they wouldn’t have driven humans into such dire straits.”
Lin Zexi frowned deeply: “Then this mission is extremely dangerous. We could encounter the strongest opponents of the opposing faction at any time, and even our own faction cannot be fully trusted...”
Provence smiled confidently: “The dragon king has fallen into slumber, and the demon clan surely isn’t at full strength either. Perhaps... this time we have a chance to kill...”
Unspoken was the fact that the stronger the target of the kill, the greater the historical impact, and the more source energy plundered from the miniature world, resulting in richer rewards.
This was a very tempting calculation.
Lin Zexi hesitated: “Then...”
Provence smiled: “It doesn’t matter. That Archbishop isn’t a fool. Treating unknown newcomers as enemies benefits no one. They and the demon clan are mortal enemies; recruiting us to fight the demons is what they should be doing.”
Nash laughed: “Let’s give him credit for being sensible. Casting us as heroes also helps rally public support and alleviate the mounting pressure in the city. Even if we have ill intentions, they have countless flying dragons at their disposal.”
Provence smiled: “I hope you will call this a win-win.”
The female knight Siloya seemed satisfied with the outcome and arranged for everyone to stay together in a tidy large house. After posting guards, she left.
After a detailed inspection of the residence, Ava and the other mages shook their heads at Provence: “There’s no magical surveillance device here.”
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Kant operated a simple radio wave receiver, saying, “No strange signals either... By the way, did this place really develop a technological civilization? Everything looks like the remnants after a primitive magical civilization’s collapse.”
Ran Bingqing stood by the window, gazing at the gloomy sky: “What exactly happened in this world? Why did it become like this?”
Provence thought for a moment: “Flying dragons are humanity’s only supernatural power in this world. I think this will be our breakthrough.”
Ava said, “The power of flying dragons also originates from a certain crystallization inside the demon clan’s body. I really can’t understand the relationship between humans, flying dragons, and demons.”
Provence smiled faintly: “Don’t worry, we’ll soon find out.”
At night, Li Kangshan couldn’t sleep. He stepped outside, looking up at the sky that looked the same day and night, feeling deeply confused.
Three newcomers stayed in a small room nearby. Provence had specifically told them to call if they needed anything, showing some care.
Li Kangshan heard strange noises from the large room next door and immediately turned away.
He had no interest in snooping on others’ gossip or judging their lifestyles.
But he soon regretted leaving so hastily, because he got lost.
This vast, desolate city was chaotic, with almost no landmarks. Li Kangshan found himself disoriented after just a few steps.
Suppressing his unease, he sat on a nearby pile of rubble, quietly waiting for everyone to wake and come find him.
He was always patient and tolerant, feeling little pain or loneliness.
At that moment, a clatter of metal sounded beside him. Li Kangshan looked back in puzzlement and bitterly smiled: “Still mad about what happened during the day?”
The source of the sound was the armor of the female knight Siloya.
She was not as aggressive as before, sitting a little distance away, her golden eyes flashing with a mysterious light in the dimness.
She gently asked, “What was the place you came from like?”
Li Kangshan was unsure how to answer. Suddenly realizing the significance behind the question, Siloya continued speaking on her own.
“It must be a warm, prosperous place. At least there, you have such soft cloth and can grow strong and healthy like you.”
Whether it was Li Kangshan’s trio or Provence’s group, their clothing was made of silk or nylon, common in modern society. But primitive coarse hemp cloth in ancient times was so rough it was unbearable even for wiping.
In a low-productivity era, even casual modern clothes would be more precious than gold or gems.
The people here had never seen sunlight in their lives, were sallow and emaciated, with coarse skin, and their average lifespan was definitely under forty.
Compared to them, Li Kangshan’s group were practically a different species from another world.
Though this was indeed the truth.
Li Kangshan detected a numb sort of envy in her tone and was speechless. It seemed whatever he said would only come off as the presumptuousness of an outsider, causing great harm to the people here.
Contrast breeds pain. For those who have never seen light, a world full of color in itself is an almost fatal shock.
Siloya seemed to have endured much and continued: “Since birth, I’ve only known battle. Every person who resonates with a dragon egg automatically becomes a knight, receiving the best education, best food, best clothes, and shelter. Unlike commoners, who struggle their whole lives for survival...”
Her voice lowered: “...and don’t have to sacrifice their bodies to maintain population when they come of age.”
Li Kangshan sighed, feeling he had to say something. It wasn’t right to just listen to a woman pour out her heart.
He said, “We also have such people. They live deep in the mountains, a journey of days and nights just to get there. Their ancestors were born, lived, and died in those mountains. They never even thought of leaving.”
Siloya looked at him, seemingly unable to understand what was wrong with such a life.
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Li Kangshan felt a profound divide and smiled bitterly: “Yes, exactly that feeling. They have never seen the outside world, so they cannot imagine such a life. They only know their own patch of land, only think about what to eat next or when the next rain will fall. Such a place...”
He was silent for a while, then said, “...there is no law, no concept of good or evil. But none of this is absolutely unchangeable.”
Li Kangshan seemed to lose momentum and ended the topic abruptly. He asked, “You said every knight is chosen by a dragon egg? What does that mean?”
Siloya said, “When the dragon egg chooses you, it calls to you, automatically hatches, and forms a lifelong pact with you, sharing power and life.”
Li Kangshan repeated, “Sharing power and life?”
He murmured, “Is it symbiosis? No... If it’s symbiosis, what do humans give flying dragons? Why do flying dragons have to choose humans?”
Siloya said, “Flying dragons are the gods’ last gift to us. Only with them do we have a chance to defeat the demon clan and reclaim the land and sunlight!”
Li Kangshan felt the answer was too perfunctory and quickly moved to another topic, asking, “You said the demon clan polluted this world. How exactly did they do that?”
Siloya pulled a purple crystal from a small pouch on her belt and said, “This. The demon clan brought it to the surface and used its power to poison all life and water sources. Only in this god-given land is the pollution’s power blocked.”
Li Kangshan took the crystal, murmuring in puzzlement, “Is it radiation? Radiation destroyed all life? But how could the demon clan have such a thing? And why do flying dragons like to consume it?”
He then asked, “What about the sun? Why has it disappeared?”
Siloya said, “Of course because the demon clan took it away.”
Li Kangshan was speechless, feeling it would be difficult to explain to someone with barely a kindergarten-level education how enormous the sun really is and that a mere demon clan could not affect it.
Siloya said, “You’ve asked so much and still haven’t answered my first question.”
Li Kangshan considered carefully, “It’s hard to describe to you... Where I come from, we believe in gods, but more often we rely on our understanding of the world to reshape the environment.”
Siloya asked in confusion, “Reshape the environment? What does that mean?”
Li Kangshan said, “It’s like nailing wooden boards over holes in a house, only on a larger scale and with finer precision.”
Siloya blinked, still not understanding.
Li Kangshan said, “For example, the crescent slash you use on the battlefield—you use it purely as a weapon, but what if you used it to build something? If there’s a way to store that power, could it be used to turn gears, compress, or transform to unleash even greater strength? That’s one way to reshape the environment.”
Siloya clasped her hands, then opened them, producing a golden energy orb about the size of a ping-pong ball, containing power meant solely for destruction.
She murmured, “I’ve never thought like that. The gods gave us flying dragons, and flying dragons gave us fighting spirit. Naturally, that power should be used to fight the demon clan...”
Li Kangshan felt he had spoken too frankly. If the female knight were a bit more rigid, she might think he was blaspheming.
He suddenly became nervous, stood up, and said, “Ah, um, could you escort me back to where I’m staying? I got lost.”
Siloya nodded and silently led the way without speaking.
Soon, Li Kangshan returned to his original small room. Inside, Xu Xiaoke’s thunderous snoring was heard; it was this very snoring that had driven him out earlier.
He greeted Siloya as a farewell. After lying down on the cold stone bed, he suddenly remembered something.
Where was Klein?