Chapter 177: Chapter 181: History, Pollution, and Black Sun
“On the ‘Pillar of Eras,’ a line of text suddenly appeared—about a City-State unknown to all, a battle unknown to all, a failure and sacrifice unknown to all—a piece of history that existed in no one’s memory, leaving behind only the faintest imprint after its demise.
And even this exceedingly brief sentence, I’m afraid, was conveyed to the real world at the cost of countless lives of the Fire Transmitters.
After hearing Morris’s words, Duncan briefly fell into a baffled silence before plunging into deep thought.
Church of the Fire Transmitters… He knew the general situation of the sect.
After learning that there was a “Faith of the Four Gods” in this world, he became deeply interested in these gods who had a tremendous influence on the workings of the mortal realm. Morris had previously sent him a book that contained much information about the Church of the Four Gods, so he had come to understand the churches of the four major gods, among which he thought the Fire Transmitters were the most unique.
The core belief of the Fire Transmitters, or perhaps their ‘faith,’ differed starkly from those of the other three gods. The concepts of storm, wisdom, and death followed by the other three god’s believers were relatively easier to comprehend, whereas what the Fire Transmitters followed was ‘history,’ a more elusive matter.
History is the memory of civilization, passed down through the ages like a torch—this was the core of the Fire Transmitters’ faith. They believed that civilization began with ‘fire’ and that ‘fire’ symbolizes its continuation to this day. Countless threats in the world attempt to disrupt or distort the transmission of this torch, and combating these threats to ensure the stable continuation of civilization’s torch was their mission.
The Fire Transmitters followed and worshipped the ‘Ever-Burning Torch’ Tarrikin, a giant who stood at the beginning of civilization. It was said that He retained and guarded the first bonfire ignited by mortals, incorporating this bonfire as part of His own body. He discerned the correct history from the leaps and branches of flames and engraved it onto His own body. As civilization progressed, this giant grew ever larger. Once He reached His limit, the civilization of mortal men would achieve true safety, with no one able to threaten the correct continuation of history, not even the Subspace.
This was the original text in the book that Morris had brought, and it was also the most important passage in the ‘Scripture of the Torch’ held by the Fire Transmitters.
To Duncan, the last part of these descriptions seemed like just wishful thinking by the believers, a pie in the sky drawn by the church, whose credibility was questionable. However, the descriptions of ‘Fire Transmitters guarding history’ were likely true.
History can be corrupted, and naturally, it can be protected, and vice versa.
“…So they’ve done this once before…” Duncan suddenly muttered thoughtfully.
“What did you say?” Morris, who hadn’t caught on in time, asked, “They’ve done it once before? What do you mean…”
“It’s nothing, just talking to myself,” Duncan shook his head slightly, looking very seriously at the elderly man before him, “The intelligence you’ve brought is extremely important.”
“The intelligence I brought?” Morris was a bit confused, “Do you mean the third record I mentioned? The one that appeared on the Fire Transmitters’ Pillar of Eras?”
Duncan nodded slightly, then suddenly frowned again, “But there’s something I’m curious about. Does the Black Sun have the authority to corrupt history?”
“This…” Morris hesitated, clearly, this was somewhat beyond his expertise as a ‘history specialist,’ “I’m not very clear about the authority issue of the Black Sun. Probably only those experts who specialize in combating the Evil God would know. But as far as I know, theoretically, the Black Sun shouldn’t have this ability…”
Duncan nodded thoughtfully, while Morris looked somewhat uneasily at the man before him, who seemed to be contemplating as the ‘Subspace Shadow.’
‘Mr. Duncan’ had been very polite and patient all along, discussing academic issues with him, asking questions and thinking from time to time, just like the last time he visited the antique shop. However, the visions and noises that occasionally appeared in Morris’s mind still continuously reminded him, making him realize that he was walking on the edge of the Abyss.
‘Mr. Duncan’ seemed to have developed an interest in the Fire Transmitters, in the ‘corruption and protection of history.’ Why was that? Was this being, who possibly hailed from Subspace, planning something? Was God of Wisdom Rahm asking him to stay in contact with them to gather information on this matter? What was the relationship between this Subspace Shadow and the God of Wisdom? Could it be some kind of opposition?
Was he now participating in the machinations of gods? Was he acting as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the God of Wisdom spying on his opponents?”
Chaotic thoughts ebbed and surged in Morris’s mind, and he became increasingly cautious. Upon realizing the “role” he might take on, he even developed a sense of mission, feeling as if Rahm stood right behind him, observing “Mr. Duncan” through his eyes.
Meanwhile, as the old man was lost in thoughts, Duncan finally ended his contemplation. He suddenly looked up, half curious and half wistful, and muttered, “It’s incredible that those ‘Sun Heretics’ have caused so much trouble and still thrive to this day… Have the normal folks in every City-State never thought of completely exterminating these lunatics?”
“Exterminating an Evil God Cult is not so easy,” Morris awoke from his reflections, shaking his head subconsciously, “The heretics’ beliefs seep in like mercury, infiltrating everywhere. No matter how many you eliminate, there will always be new ones emerging. Ultimately, this is because their ‘deity’ behind them is still active—while the corresponding Evil God still exists, the corruption and infiltration into mortals will never cease. You should know, even if every adult in a City-State dies, leaving only the purest newborns, among those newborns, there will naturally arise minds that have been bewitched…”
Morris spoke and shook his head, “Some people just live their lives normally, being honest and diligent for most of their lives, but because of a moment of weakness in some failure, a flicker of fear in some terror, or having seen or heard something they shouldn’t have, they can become heretics overnight, filling their minds with forbidden knowledge, donning black robes, becoming followers of the Evil God. How can we ever completely clean up such heretical corruption?”
At this, the old man glanced at Duncan involuntarily, his gaze turning a bit peculiar.
Duncan looked puzzled, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Forgive my impudence,” Morris took a deep breath and mustered his courage, “but you should be quite familiar with this kind of corruption among mortals, right?”
Duncan didn’t catch on at first, it took him two seconds to realize what Morris meant, then he looked helpless, “I don’t engage in that—I’m usually very law-abiding, and when I see heretics, I immediately report them to the nearest sheriff.”
Morris: “…?”
The old gentleman clearly had a lot to say but dared not utter a word.
Feeling the topic was off-track, Duncan quickly waved his hand before Morris could speak, “I understand what you mean, that the followers of the Evil God are just ‘manifestations’, the biggest issue is the ‘Evil God’ itself can’t be eliminated, so their corruption keeps spawning new generations of cultists like a lingering poison, and the guardians can fight for ten thousand years but can’t clean them up… But is the influence of the Black Sun really that strong? I’ve seen that unfortunate being, He’s nearly dead, can barely interact with the mortal realm, even speaking to me requires borrowing light to revive, and yet He still contaminates the mortal world?”
Morris’s mouth twitched involuntarily, “The state of the Black Sun might be bad in your eyes, but we… are just fragile mortals…”
Duncan felt an indescribable strangeness in his heart and wanted to say to the old man on the spot, “I am also a human, what part of me doesn’t look human?” but considering the old man’s health, he awkwardly held back.
As Morris subconsciously voiced his thoughts then suddenly seemed to remember something, pausing briefly before adding, “However, your doubts might point towards a key issue. If the state of the Black Sun is as bad as you say, His contamination of the mortal world indeed shouldn’t be this strong, at least not to the extent of making Sun Heretics so troublesome… Perhaps this all relates to those beings called ‘Scions of the Sun.’”
“Scions of the Sun…” Duncan murmured thoughtfully, his mind involuntarily recalling the tall, thin dark figure that had appeared in Sherry’s Dreamscape.
Although he had no solid evidence, he always felt that creature was probably connected to the legendary “Scions of the Sun.”
The Black Sun was already in decline, no longer able to illuminate this world, yet the influence of the Black Sun’s scions continued, perpetuating the Black Sun’s influence, making the Sun Cultists indestructible, their threat ever growing.
But there remained an unresolved question:
The Black Sun did not have the capacity to contaminate history, and certainly His scions couldn’t either.
However, early in the new City-State history, from messages from the forgotten City-State “Wilhelm,” it was said that “the Black Sun descended from history,” and now Plunder City-State also showed signs of historical contamination, what was going on?
Could it be… that someone was “helping” the Black Sun revive from history?