At this point, the town mayor’s odd face also showed a touch of serene longing.
"As the Luanyan Epoch draws ever nearer," he said, "the Sea of Origin Matter cos closer to us, and the sea level keeps rising. We shall, under Dagon’s guidance, enter the embrace of our Lord, the [Slumbering God], and be reborn. Black Tide Town is the first among all of Dagon’s descendants to receive such grace. It’s all thanks to that bunch of naive outsiders. Until they ate the fish at the festival and beca offerings, they still thought we were simple, ignorant natives."
Upon hearing this good news, Niels was so excited he nearly jumped up, repeatedly asking in disbelief, "Really? Mr. Mayor, is this true? Am I also eligible for ascension? I’m not still in our Lord’s grand Dream Realm where all wishes co true, am I?"
Only after confirming the truth did he devoutly bow toward the sea. "Thank Dagon!"
In the legends of the small town, that Follower of the [Slumbering God], Dagon, was one of the mbers of the original Fortress Bridgehead Town. It was during that ascension ritual hundreds of years ago that all the adult North Bay Bayfolk designated as ’Exiles’ transford into the God’s Kin on the sa day. The minors were then led by the God’s ssengers to spread out and propagate throughout the islands and even the mainland. After intermixing with the local natives, they gradually established Black Tide Town and a series of satellite towns around Luanyun City.
The abandoned site of Fortress Bridgehead beca a forbidden zone, off-limits to the living. Even the mixed-blood descendants of the Bayfolk and the New Continent’s natives dared not step into it lightly. In legend, Dagon was one of the founders of the Deep Dive Church. Having gained great power from the Slumbering God, he had truly stepped into the Divine Domain of immortality. He is a Lesser God to the Lord, one of the Great Clan’s leaders, and the direct ancestor of all residents of Black Tide Town. The ability to "ascend" and follow by Dagon’s side, to serve the great Slumbering God, is the greatest desire rooted in the blood of all residents.
The two conversing individuals had completely failed to notice that two translucent figures had been standing beside them for a long ti. Even when the figures spoke to each other, the mayor and Niels heard nothing.
I told you this town couldn’t possibly be as normal as it appears, Byron thought. The faith in the Old Gods is no longer a secret religion here; like the Creator’s Church, it has beco an openly ruling faith. However, I know what the Kin of the Slumbering God are, but who is Dagon?
The two figures—one in a brigadier general’s uniform, heroic and tall; the other in a white dress, pretty and charming—were none other than Byron and Violet, out on an excursion in their Starlight Bodies.
Just as the mayor and the lamplighter were talking animatedly, their emotions surging, Byron and Violet had already, with the aid of [Dream Execution] and [Nightmare Covert], gradually extracted most of the information they wanted from their subconscious.
Beyond Kin and Dagon, there was also:
Lesser God? Whale Oil technology that has already started to take off in the New Continent? Offerings? Ascension?
Byron silently mulled over these keywords. It was also during this first ’eting’ that he felt the shock of the New Continent. If they hadn’t learned from their mories that Dagon’s physical form wasn’t here—apparently dealing with external enemies from the north—they might have turned and fled, leaving Hawkeye and the others to fend for themselves.
Today marked the third day since their departure from the Bantaan Archipelago. They had ticulously followed the best route drawn up from a composite of various Nautical Charts. Along the way, they cleared out quite a few ’road bandits,’ laying a solid foundation for when they themselves would beco the new ’road bandits.’ This allowed many first and second-wave exploration ships already exploring the Celestial Orbital Belt to get ahead of them. According to the Nautical Chart publicly released by the Ocean Throne, they had successfully broken through the Doldrums and the Shattered Isles, entering this as-yet-unnad new sea area. According to the Old Continent’s custom, whoever first conquered this place would earn the right to na it.
Approaching the distress coordinates provided by The Raven, Byron personally took the lead in gathering intelligence, specifically bringing Violet along. He hadn’t forgotten that Violet hadn’t triggered the killing rules even when she accidentally wandered into the Old God’s mansion, Luanyun City. It showed that after she used the blood of the octopus Warship to engrave the Curse Seal [Profane], she was already considered one of the Slumbering God’s own. She was even less likely to be exposed in such a subordinate town. This was also why Byron dared to sneak into enemy territory for the rescue. Even though he had consud a drop of Violet’s blood before departing to disguise himself thoroughly with human Shapeshifting magic... (cough)... it was still safer to bring the original.
As for The Golden Deer, it had long since engaged its sail brake, balanced against the wind, and anchored a hundred kiloters out at sea. It was concealed entirely by Jacqueline’s Shadow Robe and the National Border Lock of the First Overseas Developnt Command. A ship on the vast sea was like a needle in a haystack; even an intentional search would fail to locate it. The Barnacle Crab and the small snail they brought also had teleportation abilities. Byron could call for fire support across hundreds of kiloters at any ti if needed.
He hadn’t expected to receive such news rely by infiltrating the small town.
Thinking back on it... if I hadn’t waited for the Pirate King to draw away the local leaders’ attention and had blindly plunged in on the day I received the distress call, things could have beco quite ’amusing.’
Such luck, such luck.
"Mayor, I’ll go help with the festival."
Just as young Niels bid farewell to the mayor and ran spiritedly towards the dock, his body suddenly swayed. When he shook his head and continued to run forward, the person controlling his body had quietly changed.
Byron instantly possessed him, effortlessly taking his place, while Violet’s Starlight Body slipped into the body’s Dream Realm to hide as well.
TAP, TAP, TAP...
He ran all the way. Everywhere, town residents who had received the good news were praising the sacred na, their faces beaming with joy.
"Praise Dagon!"
"Our ancestor Dagon looks after us!"
With Byron’s dual identity as a Divine and a Follower, he could clearly see chains plunging into the void, eventually anchoring into the Spirituality of so mighty being. This turned out to be a system that bypassed the Law Network of the Old Continent. It was a direct Anchoring between the deity and believers, forming a simplified local network. While nowhere near as independent as the Golden Law, it already showed a similar rudintary form.
Their spiritual connection gave them shared senses, and they grew ever more astonished as they observed.
The Number Three Skeleton had once explained the essence of Transcendents and the divine: "Beastliness represents desire and the primal driving force of the ’id’; Divinity, on the other hand, represents morals and the collective guiding force of the ’superego.’ Yet the ’id’ and ’superego’ are both tyrants competing for control of the mind. The forr is a slave to the body; the latter consorts with human society. Wholly aligning with either one of these is too extre; neither is the true way! The Ladder of Glory, rooted in ’Divinity,’ though highly stable and safe with no side effects, is rigid, its entire path foreseeable from the start. If one remains trapped within the Church’s and the Creator’s set of rules, one is destined to halt at the mundane peak of a [Kingly Title], with no hope of true transcendence. The most correct path for a Transcendent should be through constantly touching the Silver Law or by other ans to fortify their own Anchor. Then, by delving into forbidden knowledge, to build ’sails’ for breaking out of the safe zone and riding the winds and waves. Only this combination of stillness and motion allows one’s ’sailboat’ to travel both fast and steady, ultimately reaching the Divine Domain and achieving an Immortal existence. This was also why, during the Dark Millennium, those Black Witches were deed by the Heretic Inquisition to be committing blasphemy against the gods and were hunted to their deaths."
And this "Dagon" had actually used the knowledge of the Slumbering God to achieve what countless Black Witches had aspired to: truly reaching the Divine Domain and even acquiring his own believers!
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