Early the next morning.
The Dolphin quietly slipped out of Golden Gallon Port, departing just as silently as it had arrived.
Although Dora was quite interested in lingering for a few more days, there were simply too many people. After heavy sensationalization by the media, nearly everyone in Golden Gallon Port had learned of this guest from Alpha Centauri—including her psionics.
Even though the Alliance had never suggested this mental power had any connection to religion, Dora still felt an enthusiasm surging like a tsunami. Ever since the major evening papers published the story, they had been mobbed almost everywhere they went. When the group finally left Golden Gallon Port, a pilgrimage-like spectacle had even erupted at the harbor, nearly triggering a stampede.
"Respected... Lady Dora! My left eyelid has been twitching constantly lately! Please condescend to divine my fortune!"
"Y-You can see the dead, right? Could you please look and see how my father is doing..."
"My lady! I-I'm of the Rat Clan! I burn incense to the Rat God every day, but after praying for twenty years, I still haven't gotten rich! Could you check if the Rat God is even still around? Or... is the Silver Moon Goddess more powerful?"
"By the Tree of Ein Sof! Grant me peace!"
Although most people were merely spectating and only a small fraction were genuinely "devout," it had still been terrifying enough. Given Golden Gallon Port's massive population, the surging sea of people had almost shoved the guards keeping order straight into the sea.
The sight of the multitude unified in worship had frightened Dora, leaving her at a loss as to what to do.
Divine fortunes? What was that? Was it the locals' own Tree of Ein Sof? Yet no matter how hard she tried, all she ever saw was a person's shadow...
The cargo submarine slowly submerged, engaging cruise mode.
Only when the crowd disappeared from sight did Dora, standing before the observation window on the bridge, speak with lingering fear.
"The people here are far too enthusiastic..."
Standing beside her, Ye Shi teased, "Now you know what it feels like to be treated like an encyclopedia with a hundred thousand questions, eh?"
Blushing in embarrassment, Dora murmured, "S-Sorry."
She truly had many things she didn't know and wanted to understand; she had never intended to cause trouble for anyone. Even what that "*One Hundred Thousand Whys*" actually meant was something she still hadn't figured out, but she felt too shy to ask.
Ye Shi cleared his throat. "...I was just joking. There's no need to apologize. If there really is something you don't understand, it's better to ask."
In truth, this experience was good for her. Before, she had looked at the "Primogenitors" through rose-tinted idol glasses, acting timid and walking on eggshells around everyone. That dynamic was exhausting. One person putting you on a pedestal meant the other had to carry the burden of an idol. Not everyone enjoyed that kind of "fun."
Besides, she had probably realized by now that even the "heavens" where the Primogenitors lived were not the flawless paradise she had envisioned.
The cargo submarine sailed north along the eastern coast of Brahma Province and docked in the harbor of Mammoth City.
The scene here was entirely different from Golden Gallon Port's cyberpunk hodgepodge. Beyond the port, the city was filled with rows of ultra-dense concrete grid-apartments, while the core port area featured elegantly decorated, spotless churches. The two distinct areas formed a stark, jarring contrast—like the head of an ox grafted onto the body of a horse.
However, because the local Protestants were quite secularized, and the indigenous Mammoth Clan folk's own faith wasn't deeply entrenched—leaning more toward practical utility—the two sides got along reasonably well.
Relying on the vast wealth brought by immigrants from Silver Moon Bay and the massive pool of local labor, this settlement—once submerged in floods—had rebuilt from ruin. Riding several waves of historical opportunity, it had flourished into one of the few production bases with real heavy-industrial foundations along the coast of the Polo Sea. And this was also one of the political legacies left behind by Laxi.
Looking at the port reflected anew against the observation glass, Dora turned curiously to Ye Shi. "Have we arrived at Silver Moon Bay?"
Ye Shi smiled. "Almost. This is Mammoth City, not far from Silver Moon Bay. Both this place and Golden Gallon Port count as survivor settlements in Brahma Province, and the port area here is similar to Silver Moon Bay. We don't plan to dock here; looking from a distance is enough."
Dora nodded, half-understanding, and looked out the window. "Similar...? But I somehow feel the atmosphere here is so heavy. Is it because of a famine?"
Ye Shi didn't know much about the local situation, so he looked toward Han Mingyue. Owing to her academic field and the fact that one of her students had taught in the region, the latter had heard a fair bit about the local conditions.
Meeting Dora's curious gaze, Han Mingyue pondered for a moment before speaking. "No, there isn't a famine here. But they have gone through quite a few upheavals—wars, civil strife, and so forth... In short, a lot of people died. Strict laws might also be a factor; it's certainly not as free here as Golden Gallon Port."
"Laws in the same province can be different?" Dora looked at her, puzzled. "Do they have different... chieftains?"
"Not just different chieftains—the overall social ideologies are worlds apart, just like you and the Qiu people. You believe in spiritualism, while the Qiu believe in materialism. Golden Gallon Port... for now, let's say they lean toward egalitarianism like us, at least on the surface. But Mammoth State sits at the other end of the scale, leaning toward authoritarianism. Even if they appear closer to us, we have to recognize that."
At this point, Han Mingyue paused and curved her lips into a smile. "As for the law, the differences are huge. If you commit an offense in Golden Gallon Port, the worst you'll get is time in solitary confinement. But here, not only will you be locked up, you might get flogged on your rear."
Dora drew her neck back. "Then let's not go there..."
She worried she might offend them by not understanding their customs.
Seeing how nervous she was, Han Mingyue burst out laughing and teased, "No need to worry that much. As long as you behave like a normal person, you won't have to fear getting spanked."
"The architecture here is rather interesting—not nearly as chaotic as Golden Gallon Port." Little Koala snapped a photo from afar before the observation window and logged the data into its database. After listening for half an hour, it said in a synthesized voice tinged with anticipation, "I'm starting to get curious about what Silver Moon Bay looks like."
...
Just as Ye Shi said, Silver Moon Bay lay on the other side of the Zhuobar Mountains, not far from Mammoth City. The crescent-shaped port curved like a new moon in the night sky.
Just as at Golden Gallon Port, the moment the group came ashore, they were warmly welcomed by the locals. Although many had seen photographs in the newspapers, the vast majority still yearned to catch a glimpse of this guest from Alpha Centauri in person.
Fortunately, the population base here was not nearly as immense as Golden Gallon Port's. Though the harbor was congested for a time, it did not paralyze traffic across multiple streets like when they departed Golden Gallon Port.
Having experienced what happened in Golden Gallon Port, Dora was much calmer this time. She merely smiled and waved warmly to the crowd, showing none of her earlier awkwardness.
The party boarded a designated vehicle at the port bound for the train station. Not long after arriving, they encountered councilors from the Silver Moon Bay City Council, and even an envoy sent by the King of the Camel Hump Kingdom.
Watching the group step out in front of the station entrance, the full-bearded envoy spread his arms with a wide smile from afar, enthusiastically striding over to extend the greetings of the Camel Hump Kingdom. Facing Ye Shi in particular, after a hearty hug, he grasped his hand solemnly.
"Respected Mr. Ye Shi, on behalf of the King of the Camel Hump Kingdom, I extend to you our highest respects! Thank you for thwarting the plot of the Celestials and saving our tottering world."
This flattery felt quite pleasant to Ye Shi. Still, he was no longer the brash kid of the past; his perspective and worldly wisdom were far greater now. Facing the envoy's praise, he merely gloated a bit inside while keeping a modest smile on his face. "The credit doesn't belong to me alone. It's an achievement won by everyone uniting together."
Seeming slightly surprised that his maturity didn't quite match the intelligence reports, the envoy looked taken aback for a second before smoothly picking up the conversation. After a few more pleasantries, he politely laid out the royal invitation. "...I wonder if we might have the honor of inviting you and your fellow guests to Camel Hump City? His Majesty wishes to host you for a few days."
Ye Shi replied with polite courtesy, "Please convey to His Majesty that we appreciate his kindness from the bottom of our hearts, but our journey has already been delayed too much on the road. In order not to miss the Mutual Aid Community's agenda, we must hurry to Dawn City... I'm afraid our visit will have to wait until next time."
"That is... truly a pity." The envoy wore a look of regret, but pressed no further, merely nodding respectfully. "Please convey the greetings of the survivors of the Camel Hump Kingdom to Dawn City. We will always be your friends, and the friends of the survivors of Alpha Centauri. May the Spirit of the Sand Sea be with you, and may your journey be safe and peaceful to the ends of the universe."
"Thank you for your blessing. I will bring it back to my home," Ye Shi smiled and nodded, parting ways with the royal envoy.
Having finally dealt with all the social pleasantries, the group made their way to the station's VIP waiting room.
This station counted as one of the Niuma Group's assets. Virtually all railroads in Sunset Province had been built by several collectively held Alliance enterprises, merely handed over to locally registered companies for operation. Naturally, this included the section in Silver Moon Bay. Because of this, long before the group disembarked from the submarine, the Alliance had already coordinated the arrangements and temporarily sealed off the VIP lounge. After all, foot traffic was heavy here, and a commotion or incident could easily arise.
Seated in the waiting room, Dora couldn't wait to ask Ye Shi, "Why the Spirit of the Sand Sea? Don't the locals believe in the Silver Moon Goddess?"
"That touches on the unique background of this place." Looking out the window at the bustling platform, Ye Shi recalled information from the official website's lore compendium and said in a conversational tone, "Originally, the locals also worshipped the Spirit of the Sand Sea, including its apocalyptic prophecies and sentimental attachment to the desert homeland. But as time went on, the apocalypse never came, and the coastal corner of Sunset Province remained verdant and lush even without relying on the pre-war Oasis System. Naturally, the old narrative became obsolete.
"So, certain people dissatisfied with feudal ritual and dogma gained enough power and made secularized reforms to parts of the faith that were hard to explain, tailoring them to practical life.
"For example, you didn't have to live in the desert generation after generation—carrying a pouch of sand from your homeland in your pocket worked just as well. Or, for believers born outside Sunset Province, even the sand wasn't necessary; just attending service once a week was enough, and doing charity could even replace service."
Come to think of it, that last tenet had actually been added by the Alliance's players. Ye Shi remembered that it had all started when a cat-eared player was regarded by local believers as an incarnation of the Silver Moon Goddess. Later, due to the vibrant exploits of her and her three companions in the region, several pages urging people to do good deeds were appended to the legends of the Silver Moon Goddess.
In short, from then on, followers of the Silver Moon faith took on another mission. Beyond trading and building churches, they gradually began providing relief to refugees, teaching literacy, disseminating knowledge, and the like. That included the priest named Melchior they had heard about back in Golden Gallon Port, who was a faithful practitioner of this doctrine.
In a sense, this could be seen as "passing the torch."
"I see..." Dora nodded thoughtfully, then said, "In that case, given enough time, will new changes also appear in our doctrine regarding the 'Tree of Ein Sof'?"
"Pretty much," Ye Shi said casually. "As long as your society doesn't reject the birth of new things... Actually, haven't you noticed? I think I mentioned to you before that your faith in the Tree of Ein Sof was itself an adaptation based on our 'dimensional theory.'"
The Tree of Ein Sof was first discovered by the crew of the Gemini. Back then, the Gaians were not divided into Forest folk and Qiu people; they lived scattered across the forests like primitive tribes, in a state of utter uncivilization. After passing their discoveries on to the Gaians, the crew of the Gemini essentially enlightened them. However, unable to comprehend concepts like ecological maintenance systems and higher-dimensional worlds, the Gaians used their own wisdom to interpret higher-dimensional entities as gods.
It was actually a clever solution; the Forest person who came up with it could well be called a genius. It was just that Tun Nan's later pretentious cleverness was rather ridiculous, but that was another topic.
Listening to his explanation, Dora seemed to grasp something and finally let go of certain fixations. Before this journey, she had harbored the ambition of persuading the "Primogenitors," hoping to bring her people into the Primogenitors' world. Or rather—to have the Primogenitors descend upon that backward, unenlightened planet, leading its inhabitants to achieve a glorious evolution.
Now, however, she had completely abandoned that naive obsession.
Perhaps the Primogenitors were right. Maintaining a certain distance was the greatest kindness. Even if someone pulled them up into the sky, it didn't mean her people could ascend to heaven. That was an entirely different concept from taking one or two individuals away; once freed from gravity's tether, their entire civilization would face problems they had never encountered before. And those vastly harder, more complex problems were very likely insurmountable for people who hadn't even learned to walk yet... Unless they completely abandoned their own civilization.
...
The train arrived at the station. The group was getting ready to board.
Just then, they encountered an "eccentric" on the platform in front of the train.
White strips of cloth were wrapped around his face, enveloping him like a mummy. Even in a place like Silver Moon Bay, such attire was avant-garde. Yet surprisingly, the locals didn't cast strange glances at him. If anything, their gazes carried a degree of respect. That respect even exceeded what they showed the king's envoy.
The man stared unblinkingly at Dora. Having noticed his gaze, she also looked back at him with curiosity.
Ye Shi didn't notice him at first. Only when he saw Dora greeting someone in the crowd did he follow her gaze and spot the strange fellow.
*How did someone dressed like that pass through security?* he wondered. Just as he was pondering the man's identity, he saw the man reach up and unwind the bandages from his face.
Seeing that pitted, pockmarked face—hideous to the depths of the soul—Ye Shi was momentarily stunned by the sheer ugliness before recognizing him at once.
"...White Dove?!"
Chapter 1035