Unanimous Agreement

"Backwardness and advanced technology coexist; a great civilization can only be remembered through paper; religious faith controls everything, and civilization is built upon ruins..." Igola said calmly, "This country is probably in a post-apocalyptic era." "Shouldn't this country be protected by a god as well?" Harvey asked, somewhat puzzled. "Would a god stand by and watch an apocalypse arrive?" "They would..." Yaxiu said with absolute certainty. "If not for so many unexpected turns of events, the Gospel Country would certainly have lost the Gospel system by now and entered its countdown to doom... To a god, an apocalypse is merely an 'interlude' lasting a century or two. Civilization will revive sooner or later, just like how someone tending flowers knows they will blossom again after withering, so naturally they wouldn't care much." "Someone who has seen an angel really speaks with confidence when it comes to grand narratives, almost as if you've lived for centuries yourself," Igola mocked Yaxiu, then continued, "And precisely because of this, perhaps we don't need to flee the Four Pillar Cult." "Why?" Yaxiu paused. "Do you think people after an apocalypse are particularly kind?" "I think people after an apocalypse will be particularly greedy." The swindler broke into a smile. "Oh, the social climate here is so much better than in Gospel—boundless greed, no more rules, no oversight, only profit! Although it's a bit desolate here, isn't it far better suited for hunting than a big city? "Furthermore, we hold the bait they crave—advanced knowledge from other countries!" Yaxiu patted the invincible padding, struggling to hold back the sarcasm in his voice. "We're advanced?" "Without question, the great civilization that once existed here—perhaps that Fire Cat Divine Era—was far more advanced than both the Blood Moon and Gospel. But precisely because of that, it resulted in such an immense civilizational fault line," Igola said. "The people here are like One-Wing Sorcerers who got their hands on Four-Wing sorcery spirits. They have no way to learn or decipher any tech trees from them at all, so they can only borrow the power of Four-Wing sorcery spirits in the crudest fashion—like having beasts of burden pull maglev trains, or using padding from a psychiatric ward as armor. "And for resources they can't scavenge from ruins, their technological level is virtually stuck in the dawn of civilization—they can't even mass-produce restraints to bind sorcerers!" Yaxiu and Harvey were taken aback, only now realizing that this was the first time they had been captured without having their sorcery power restricted—a treatment virtually unimaginable in the Blood Moon or Gospel. Thinking carefully about it, restricting sorcery power was actually a severe test of a civilization's foundation. Because sorcery power was formless, implements that bound it had to be crafted personally by creation sorcerers, which implied a well-developed sorcerer cultivation system and an advanced manufacturing industry. In a post-apocalyptic era, most factions naturally struggled to fulfill these two conditions. Those "manufactured products" taken for granted in stable societies might well be rare, scarce treasures here. "No wonder that person kept asking me about daily life details in Gospel..." Yaxiu murmured. "Even if we don't know specific technical data, simply describing the evolution of technologies would be of immense help to the people here," Igola said. "They're like sorcerers who inherited a Four-Wing legacy while currently being only at One-Wing or Two Wings. As long as we paint a picture of the scenery at Three Wings so they don't wander down the wrong path, they can inherit that great legacy much faster. "Therefore, there is room for cooperation between us and them—or rather, between us and that woman who defeated Yaxiu. She understands our value. "Since they haven't restricted our sorcery power, we might as well wait for a turn of events before resisting. Until then, we can seek opportunities for cooperation as much as possible. After all, this is a new world. The best way to integrate here is to join one of the factions, just like when we joined Funeral. "More importantly," Igola paused, "Harvey and I are both Three-Wing Sorcerers, but we haven't constructed our Sanctuaries yet. If we can buy enough time, we'll have a much better chance of protecting you and getting out—" "Ah, actually, I'm already a Sanctuary Sorcerer too," Yaxiu said. "Though just like you guys, I haven't constructed a Sanctuary yet either." It took Igola and Harvey several minutes to accept that Yaxiu had ascended to the Distant Sky Realm without any "cheats." But looking at their expressions, Yaxiu had the distinct feeling they might shove his head into a toilet bowl to drink water while he was asleep. Yaxiu hastily changed the subject: "So, are we really going to cooperate with the Four Pillar Cult?" "Why not?" Igola tilted his head slightly. "Compared to the Calamitous Fire Temple, aren't we much more familiar with the Four Pillar Cult?" Yaxiu understood that everything Igola said made sense. Since someone in the Four Pillar Cult wanted to cooperate with them, seizing this opportunity to understand the world was the best choice. Even if they had no desire to cooperate, they could stall for time and play along until all three of them constructed their Sanctuaries into tactical weapons, at which point fighting their way out of the Four Pillar Cult would be child's play. Harvey didn't care about the Four Pillar Cult in the slightest; he wouldn't feel much reluctance even working with abyssal monsters. As for Igola, he practically viewed the Four Pillar Cult as his secondary ambition; after all, the Weaving Ceremony had prophesied he would become the cult's leader, "Rust Raven." Igola naturally wanted to gain some managerial experience here, or perhaps even turn the tables and usurp the Four Pillar Cult. Yaxiu had noticed long ago that Igola didn't care much for material wealth. What he pursued was the pleasure of pulling off high-difficulty scams, especially the madness of dancing on the line between life and death, which stimulated the swindler's pituitary gland the most. A social environment like this post-apocalyptic era was practically a giant playground for him. Harvey was similar; what he craved was a curtain call. In stable societies like the Blood Moon and Gospel, he could only get such opportunities through breaking laws and committing crimes, but here, he might conclude his sorcerer manual at any second. In this psychiatric ward, except for himself, not a single person had been wrongly locked up. Though the other two probably thought the exact same thing about themselves. Yet Yaxiu himself had no desire to get involved with the Four Pillar Cult. Whether it was Heath or Everlasting Presence, both had caused him far too much trouble. He had even developed the conviction that getting close to the Four Pillar Cult would only bring misfortune. If possible, he still wanted to stay far away from these people as quickly as he could, even if it meant collecting cardboard boxes to sleep under an overpass. However, compared to Igola's well-thought-out reasoning, this "cowardly" excuse was impossible to voice. Besides, Yaxiu had to consider the feelings of the two of them. Previously, they had always accommodated him; now it was his turn to accommodate them. Yaxiu took a deep breath to calm his unease, sat down against the padding, and twisted the Gospel Ring. No reaction. Sure enough, having left the range of the Gospel God, he could no longer summon the Book of Gospel. This ring was useless now... Even thinking so, Yaxiu didn't take it off; he treated it as a souvenir brought from Gospel. Then what souvenir had he taken from the Blood Moon? Igola and Harvey? Lost in his wandering thoughts, Yaxiu summoned *Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook*. Without the enhancement of the Book of Gospel, the game interface's graphics had dropped back down to door-lock camera quality. Unless he could find better audiovisual equipment here, he wouldn't be able to appreciate high-definition pretty pictures of the Sword Princess. After claiming the daily check-in origin crystals, Yaxiu looked at "Operator Search." Since he could only wait, might as well pull some cards! "'For a Pure Blue World' Limited Search (Customer Appreciation Event for 10 Weeks Since Launch)" "Drop rate up for limited operators: 'Youlanweise,' 'Purple Resentment Shadow Consort,' 'Blood-Concealed Empress' ↑↑" "Drop rate up for limited outfits: 'Christmas Gift · Sword Princess,' 'Moon Star Swimsuit · Sword Princess,' 'Empress in the Rain · Witch,' 'Christmas Gift · Witch' ↑↑" "Ends July 10, 00:00" Ten weeks? Yaxiu did the math and realized it really had been ten weeks since his transmigration. Still, this event was utterly ridiculous: wasn't customer appreciation supposed to give away origin crystals and characters, instead of just tossing out another limited gacha banner?! Who exactly is appreciating whom here?! Neither the operator "Bewitching Girl" nor the outfit "Bridal Sword Princess" from the previous search event appeared this time. In their place were three new operators and outfits for the Sword Princess and Witch—thank Aurora, an outfit for the Observer of the End didn't show up this time. But this Christmas Gift... Yaxiu's mouth twitched. There was no Christmas here; wasn't this outfit completely lore-breaking?! Wait, did this world have wedding brides? Oh, never mind then. As before, outfits had no previews, so Yaxiu was very curious: would the operator be giving a Christmas gift, or dressing herself up as the Christmas gift? Moon Star Swimsuit and Empress in the Rain seemed nice as well. As long as there were no outfits for the Observer in the gacha pool, any pull would be a win for Yaxiu! Another thing of note was... Yaxiu looked at the limited operator "Youlanweise," feeling a bit puzzled. All the other operators went by codenames, so why was she appearing directly under a real name? Could she be some main storyline character? "Here." Yaxiu and Harvey caught the chocolate bars Igola tossed over, tore open the wrappers, and took a bite to replenish some calories. While eating, Harvey suddenly said, "Alice says she doesn't really like staying in the Four Pillar Cult." *Your Alice is still in a coffin, the coffin is still inside a spatial card, and the spatial card is in your pocket. How on earth are you communicating with Alice through three thick barriers...?* Igola took a gentle bite, snapping a piece off with a crack, and spoke as he ate, "No matter the country, dead people don't get voting rights. "However," he paused, "we don't strictly have to cooperate with the Four Pillar Cult either. "As long as there's a chance to leave this room, we'll find a way to escape the Four Pillar Cult and look for another faction with a better reputation to work with. That's also a fine option... What do you think?" Noticing both Igola and Harvey looking at him, Yaxiu blinked, rolled the chocolate's sweetness down into his stomach with his tongue, and nodded firmly. "I want to leave as soon as possible." "Unanimous agreement." Igola's tone was breezy. "Then it's settled."