The main facilities inside fortresses were entertainnt venues, designed for the non-gaming players who entered Ethereal.
Not everyone enjoyed combat, and not everyone was drawn to the monotony of crafting professions.
The vast majority were busy people who couldn't travel for leisure in real life.
This place existed to fulfill their spiritual needs.
Ethan turned and left Comrce Hall. It wasn't even ten o'clock in the evening yet, still far from three in the morning. He decided to try his luck at the Town Hall next door and see if City Lord Gregor was there. If not, he'd simply have to wait until the appointed ti.
"Morzan, what kind of entity is City Lord Gregor exactly?" he asked silently in his mind.
He wasn't sure if Morzan could hear him—but asked anyway. After all, Morzan had to know sothing about Gregor's anomalous nature.
Sure enough, after a mont, Morzan's voice answered, "Rember the guy who threw you into the Underworld?"
"Huh? Is it him?" Ethan was startled.
"Not him. But probably a similar entity," Morzan replied.
"Then... what is he?" Ethan pressed further.
"You'll find out later," Morzan said, using that sa vague word again: later.
"Damn it…" Ethan muttered under his breath. "Fine, don't tell . I'll ask him myself."
He was, of course, referring to the City Lord of Harmony City—Gregor Darnell.
"Oh..." Morzan responded with a single, aningful syllable that made Ethan wonder if he'd even get the chance to et that strange City Lord again. It seed uncertain. Would Morzan interfere sohow?
Just as he was about to follow up with another question, he turned a corner—and ca face to face with soone dressed almost identically to himself.
A black cloak covered the figure entirely, and the hood was pulled so far forward that only half an eye was visible beneath it.
Ethan stopped in his tracks. The other person halted at the sa mont.
They stood like that for several seconds, motionless.
"City Lord Gregor?" Ethan tentatively lifted his own hood as he spoke.
The figure slightly raised his hood in response. Ethan saw half his face—it really was City Lord Gregor.
He said nothing, just lowered his hood again and made a subtle gesture for Ethan to follow.
Ethan's heart skipped a beat. There was no doubt—it was him.
The strange City Lord Gregor walked through several alleys, with Ethan trailing naturally behind. After winding through a series of shadowy passages, they finally arrived at the Slums of Harmony City.
To Ethan's surprise, the Slums were actually quite large—far more than just the single street visible from outside. Everyone living here was an NPC, dressed plainly. Ethan couldn't understand why such an area even existed in Ethereal.
As they moved through the slums, many children who saw Gregor would shout, "Gregor's here! Gregor's here!"
A group of children would gather around him with affection, and Gregor would pull snacks from his pockets, handing them out one by one.
Eventually, they arrived at a basent. City Lord Gregor Darnell lifted his hood.
Ethan, already astonished by everything up to this point, was even more stunned by what happened next.
Whoosh...
A stream of cyan, wave-like light erupted from Gregor's forehead. The light gathered in front of him and, like a 3D printer building from the feet up, slowly ford a strange little girl.
She had horns on her head and a tail trailing behind her.
"Ethan…"
Her voice sounded like that of a two- or three-year-old child—soft, with a babbling cadence.
As she spoke, Gregor collapsed behind her.
Ethan then heard snoring.
But when Gregor fell, his head hit the corner of a nearby table. A large bump visibly ford.
Ethan winced, feeling the pain secondhand.
"Who are you?" he asked. Having seen plenty of strange things by now, her appearance didn't shock him.
"First, answer this—are you a Cycler?" she asked with an odd sense of authority, despite her small size.
Cycler? Ethan's mind raced. Does she know I've been reborn?
"Forget it if you won't tell !" she said, frustrated.
Naturally, Ethan didn't answer. That was his biggest secret—he wasn't going to reveal it to soone he'd just t.
Without a word, he turned to leave.
The dragon child panicked and quickly stepped in front of him. "Don't go! I'll tell you first—I'm a Reborn too!"
At that, Ethan paused and looked down at her. She barely reached his chest.
He asked skeptically, "You're a Cycler. What's that got to do with ?"
"Because you're a Cycler too!" she declared with complete certainty.
Ethan sneered. "Just because you say I am, that makes it true? Based on what?"
"Based on the fact that you can enter this area!" she said firmly.
"Entering this area has…"
Ethan trailed off.
She was right. In his previous life, when he had wandered into this part of the city, the system had notified him that he'd discovered the Slums—but when he got within a certain range, he'd hit an invisible barrier that wouldn't let him go further.
He hadn't thought much of it at the ti. Most gas had such inaccessible areas ant purely for background. You could see them, but couldn't enter—they were just projected illusions.
But now, he'd made it deep inside. Even entered the basent.
Could it be that only those she called "Cyclers" were able to get in?
His thoughts flickered, and he was about to speak when the dragon child—clearly reading him—said, "Just as you're thinking, only Cyclers can enter here. Every living being you see in this area is a Cycler.
Including the cats, dogs, chickens, and pigs!"
Ethan's mind reeled. 'Holy shit.'
The dragon child continued without pause.
"They don't even know they're already dead.
There's a saying here that divine beings saved them—allowed them to survive here. But the outside world has been destroyed. If they tried to leave, they'd die.
Of course, even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't!"
She fell silent and stared up at him with wide eyes.
Ethan was dumbfounded. So many Reborn? The situation was far beyond anything he'd expected.
"She's wrong. The people here aren't Cyclers," Morzan's voice appeared, tinged with resignation.
"Then what are they?" Ethan asked quickly.
Morzan was silent for a beat, then answered slowly, "For every so-called Cycler here, there's an NPC in the city—what you call them. What do you think they are?"
"Then what about the other main cities and villages…"
Ethan's mind reeled again. A strange and terrifying conjecture began to form.
Just as the thought struck him, the dragon child suddenly urged, "Say sothing!"
Ethan looked at her, montarily lost for words. He wasn't even sure what she wanted from him.
"Call your Second Avatar over!" Morzan suddenly said.
Ethan tensed. "What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry, I won't harm her. I just want to talk. This little creature isn't ordinary—she might be a great help to you."
Ethan considered for a mont, then clicked the button to summon his Second Avatar.
The mont the Second Avatar appeared, the dragon child gave a start—and looked like she was about to leap onto Gregor's body.
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