This Game Is Too Real

The next morning.

The Dolphin silently left the harbor of Jin Galun Port, just as quietly as it had arrived.

Although Dora was quite interested in staying here for a few more days to explore, she was helpless as there were too many people here.

Thanks to the media's extensive coverage, nearly everyone in Jin Galun Port knew about this guest from South Gate Two.

Including spiritual energy.

Although the Alliance never hinted at any connection between this mental power and religious beliefs, Dora still felt that surge of overwhelming enthusiasm like a tsunami.

Ever since the major evening newspapers published the relevant information, they were almost blocked everywhere they went.

Even as the group left Jin Galun Port, the port witnessed a wave of pilgrimage-like fervor that nearly caused a stampede.

"Respected... Miss Dora, my left eyelid has been twitching lately, I humbly ask you to dignify me with a divination."

"You, you can see the dead, right? Can you help me take a look at my father..."

"Master! I—I'm from the Rat Clan! I offer incense to the Rat God every day, but even after 20 years of worship, I haven't become wealthy. Can you help me see if the Rat God is still around? Or maybe... the Silver Moon Goddess is more powerful?"

"Tree of Yenshof above! Please grant me peace!"

Although most were there for the spectacle, only a small portion were genuinely "devout," yet even so, it was quite terrifying.

After all, the population scale of Jin Galun Port was there, the surging crowd nearly pushed the guards maintaining order into the sea.

The unified worshiping scene startled Dora, leaving her unsure of what to do momentarily.

Fortune-telling?

What is that?

The locals' own Tree of Yenshof?

No matter how hard she tried, all she could see was just the silhouette of a person...

The cargo submarine slowly submerged, switching to cruise mode.

It wasn't until the crowd disappeared from view that Dora, standing by the bridge's floor-to-ceiling windows, spoke with lingering concern.

"The people here are just too enthusiastic..."

Standing beside her, Night Ten joked.

"Now you've experienced what it's like to be bombarded with a million questions, haven't you?"

Dora blushed and spoke awkwardly.

"Sorry, sorry."

She really had many unknowns she wanted to understand, not intentionally causing inconvenience to others.

Including what that "ten thousand whys" exactly was, she still hadn't figured it out, just felt embarrassed to ask.

Night Ten coughed lightly and said.

"... I was just casually mentioning it, it's not to the extent that requires an apology. If you really have things you don't understand, it's better to ask."

Actually, having this experience is quite good.

Previously this fellow had too strong an idol filter towards "Ancestors," always being overly cautious towards everyone.

This mode of interaction is actually quite exhausting.

Because having an idol filter means another person's idol burden.

Not everyone is keen on enjoying this "fun."

Moreover, she should now realize that even the "heavens" where the "Ancestors" lived are not exactly the perfect paradise she imagined.

The cargo submarine sailed north along the East Coast of Poluo Province, docking at the harbor of Mammoth City.

The situation here is completely different from the cyberpunk-style mix at Jin Galun Port.

Outside the port, the city is lined with rows of concrete grid buildings with extremely high density, while the core port area is elegantly decorated, clean, and tidy churches.

The two distinct areas form a clear contrast, like a cow's head grafted onto a horse's body.

However, due to the high degree of secularization of the local new believers, and the original faith of the Mammoth Tribesmen not being deeply rooted here, more inclined towards "practicality," the two sides still coexist relatively harmoniously.

Relying on the wealth brought by immigrants from Silver Moon Bay and the local large labor force resources, this once-flooded settlement has benefited from several waves of era dividends, rising with the tide, now being one of the few industrial production bases along the Poluo Sea.

And this is considered one of the political legacies left by Laxi.

Looking at the port imprinted on the floor-to-ceiling window again, Dora curiously asked Night Ten.

"Are we at Silver Moon Bay now?"

Night Ten smiled and said.

"Almost there, this is Mammoth City, not far from Silver Moon Bay. Both here and Jin Galun Port are considered survivor settlements in Poluo Province, the port area here is somewhat similar to Silver Moon Bay. We don't plan to stop here, just take a look from afar."

Dora nodded, somewhat understanding, and said towards the window.

"The same... but I feel the atmosphere here is so heavy, is it because of famine?"

Night Ten wasn't very familiar with the situation here either, so he looked towards Han Mingyue.

The latter, due to her professional field and teaching experience around this area, had heard of the local situation.

Facing Dora's curious gaze, she pondered for a while and replied.

"Not exactly, there hasn't been a famine here, but they've gone through some changes. Including wars, including civil unrest, etc... In short, many have died. Also, the strict laws might be a factor; it certainly isn't as free as Jin Galun Port."

"The laws of the same province aren't the same?" Dora looked at her, puzzled, "Do they have different... chieftains?"

"Not just different chieftains, the overall societal ideology is also vastly different, just like you and the Qi People. You believe in spiritualism, the Qi People believe in materialism. Jin Galun Port... is arguably similar to us and falls under equality, at least in surface terms. And Mammoth Nation is the other end of the spectrum, favoring authoritarianism. Even if they seem closer to us, we must acknowledge this fact."

Pausing for a moment, Han Mingyue smiled slightly and continued.

"As for the laws, the differences are significant. Making a mistake at Jin Galun Port might only result in being confined, but here, you'll not only be confined but might also get spanked, okay?"

Dora shrank her neck.

"Then we'd better not go..."

She was worried about offending the locals due to unfamiliarity with the customs.

Seeing her nervousness, Han Mingyue chuckled heartily and teasingly said.

"There's no need to worry that much, as long as you behave normally, there's no need to worry about getting spanked."

"The architecture here is quite interesting, not as chaotic as Jin Galun Port."

Little Koala took a distant photo from the floor-to-ceiling window and recorded the data in the database.

Half an hour later, it spoke in an electronic voice with a trace of anticipation.

"I'm starting to get curious about what Silver Moon Bay looks like."

…

Just as Night Ten mentioned, Silver Moon Bay lay on the other side of the Jubar Mountains, not far from Mammoth. The crescent-shaped port looked like a crescent moon at night.

Similar to their arrival at Jin Galun Port, the group was warmly welcomed by the locals upon landing.

Though many had already seen the photos in the newspapers, most locals still yearned to witness the presence of the guest from South Gate Two firsthand.

Thankfully, the population here wasn't as massive as Jin Galun Port, and while the port was temporarily congested, it didn't overwhelm several streets like during their departure from Jin Galun Port.

With the prior experience at Jin Galun Port, Dora was much more composed this time, simply smiling and waving to express friendliness without showing the previous awkwardness.

A group of people boarded a special vehicle at the port heading towards the train station.

And soon after they arrived at the train station, they encountered a councilor from Silver Moon Bay's municipal council, and even a messenger sent by the king of the Camel Hump Kingdom.

Watching the group disembark at the station entrance, the messenger with a full beard opened his arms with a smile from afar and warmly greeted them, extending greetings from the Camel Hump Kingdom.

Especially when facing Night Ten, after a warm hug, he solemnly shook his hand.

"Honorable Mr. Night Ten, on behalf of the King of the Camel Hump Kingdom, I offer you the highest respect! Thank you for stopping the plan of the celestial beings and saving our fragile world."

This flattery made Night Ten feel quite comfortable.

However, he was no longer the young and reckless boy he once was; he had a much broader perspective and knowledge now.

Faced with the praise from the Camel Hump Kingdom's messenger, he merely chuckled inwardly and maintained a humble smile as he spoke.

"It wasn't just my achievement, but the result of everyone working together as one."

The messenger seemed a bit surprised, since his maturity and knowledge were different from what the information suggested, but he quickly continued the conversation.

After a few polite exchanges of compliments, he courteously laid out the royal invitation, saying,

"... May I have the honor of inviting you and your companions to visit Camel Hump City for a few days, as our Majesty wishes to host you?"

Night Ten replied with courtesy,

"Please convey our gratitude to your Majesty, but our journey has already been delayed for too long. To not disrupt the Sticky Community's agenda, we must hasten our trip to the City of Dawn… Unfortunately, we can only visit next time."

"That... is truly a pity."

The messenger showed a look of regret, but said nothing more and simply nodded respectfully,

"Please take the greetings of the survivors of the Camel Hump Kingdom to the City of Dawn. We will always be your friends, as well as friends of the South Gate Two survivors. May the Spirit of the Sand Sea be with you and wish you a safe journey to the end of the universe."

"Thank you for your blessings, I will bring them back to my homeland."

Night Ten nodded with a smile and bid farewell to the king's messenger.

After finally finishing all the socializing, the group headed into the train station's VIP waiting room.

This station is also one of the assets of the Bull Horse Group.

The entire railway in Luo Xia Province is basically completed by several collective companies of the Alliance, only operated by locally registered companies.

This, of course, includes the section in Silver Moon Bay.

That is why even before the group disembarked the ship, the Alliance had already coordinated everything by temporarily closing the VIP lounge.

After all, there was quite a crowd here, and it wouldn't be good if any commotion or accident occurred.

Sitting in the lounge, Dora eagerly looked at Night Ten and asked,

"Why the Spirit of the Sand Sea? Don't the locals believe in the Silver Moon Goddess?"

"That involves the uniqueness of the local area."

Glancing at the crowded platform outside the lounge window, Night Ten recalled the information from the official setting collection and casually continued,

"The locals originally also believed in the Spirit of the Sand Sea, including the apocalyptic belief and the nostalgia for the desert. However, as time passed, the apocalypse never came, and the coastal area of Luo Xia Province remained lush even without relying on the pre-war Oasis System, rendering the old beliefs outdated."

"As a result, some people, dissatisfied with feudal rituals, made some secular adaptations to the beliefs, combining the inexplicable parts with the needs of real life after gaining some power."

"For example, one no longer needs to live in the desert generation after generation; carrying a bit of homeland sand in your pocket is the same. Or believers born outside Luo Xia Province don't even need the sand; attending services once a week suffices, and even charity work can replace worship."

Speaking of which, that last creed was added by members of the Alliance.

Night Ten remembered that it initially happened because a player with cat ears was seen by locals as an incarnation of the Silver Moon Goddess. Later, her and her three partners' active presence in the area added several pages of content encouraging good deeds to the legend of the Silver Moon Goddess.

Since then, believers of the Silver Moon Sect gained another line of work.

Not only do they do business and build churches, but they also gradually began engaging in disaster relief, literacy education, and knowledge dissemination.

This even includes the pastor named Melgio, whom they heard about at Jinjaron Harbor, who is a faithful practitioner of this doctrine.

In some sense, this can also be considered "Passing the Torch."

"I see..." Dora pondered and then suddenly said, "Does this mean that, given enough time, our theory of the 'Tree of Yenshof' will change as well?"

"Something like that," Night Ten casually replied, "as long as your society does not reject the birth of new things… Haven't you noticed? I seem to have mentioned to you before that your belief in the Tree of Yenshof was originally improved based on our 'dimensional theory.'"

The Tree of Yenshof was first discovered by the crew of the Twin Stars. At that time, Gaia's people were not yet differentiated into Forest People and Chuu'jin and lived scattered in the woods like a primitive tribe, completely uncivilized.

The crew of the Twin Stars imparted their discovery to Gaia's people, in essence enlightening them.

However, the latter couldn't comprehend concepts like ecological support systems and higher-dimensional worlds, so they explained higher-dimensional beings as deities using their wisdom.

This was quite an intelligent approach, and the Forest People who thought of this method can be considered geniuses.

However, Tunnan's subsequent cleverness seemed a bit ridiculous, but that's another topic entirely.

After hearing his answer, Dora seemed to understand some things and finally let go of certain matters.

Before this journey, she actually harbored the idea of persuading the Ancestors to bring her tribe into the Ancestors' world.

Or rather—

Let the Ancestors descend on that backward and primitive planet, leading them to glorious evolution.

But now, she finally let go of that slightly naive obsession.

Perhaps the Ancestors are right.

Maintaining a certain distance is the greatest benevolence.

Even if someone takes them to the sky, it does not mean that her tribe can ascend to paradise.

That is a completely different concept than bringing one or two people away. They, having completely shed the constraints of gravity, will face unprecedented problems on a civilizational scale.

And those more complex and difficult issues are likely ones they, who haven't learned to walk, could never solve…

Unless they completely abandon their civilization.

...

The train arrived at the station.

The group was about to board the train.

And at that moment, they encountered a "weirdo" on the platform in front of the train.

His face was wrapped in white cloth strips, and he was wrapped head to toe like a mummy.

Even in a place like Silver Moon Bay, this outfit was considered avant-garde.

However, surprisingly, the locals did not throw strange looks at him; instead, their eyes showed a hint of respect.

And this respect even surpassed that directed at the king's messenger.

This person stared intently at Dora.

And once noticing his gaze, she returned a curious look.

Night Ten initially did not notice his presence.

He only realized it when he saw Dora greeting someone in the crowd and followed her gaze to discover the peculiar fellow.

How did someone dressed like that get through security?

He wondered internally, trying to figure out the person's background, when that individual began to unwrap the bandages from his face.

Seeing the cratered, soul-deep ugly face, Night Ten was first stunned by the hideousness, then instantly recognized him.

"... Pigeon?!"