Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 439 - 409 Eve 2

Chapter 439: 409 Eve 2

Fortunately, I haven’t done many embarrassing things in front of outsiders in the past that would lead to ridicule, at least nothing serious enough to trouble me to this day. Although people often mocked my unrealistic fantasies about supernatural matters from childhood to adulthood, I was never particularly bothered by it.

And those believers investigating me stopped short, at least without affecting the daily lives of people connected to me. After all, going too far would truly invite "divine punishment"—which is my curse.

In private conversations with Lu Chan, he once asked me about my attitude toward such matters. I have a reflexive resistance, but in the end, I chose to let it flow. Forbidding others to investigate one’s past always seemed a bit cowardly and inferior. I’m just temporarily unaccustomed to exposing myself to many people’s eyes.

"This is probably the price of becoming a public figure." Lu Chan said.

He is now assisting Mr. Zhu with his work. Regarding work ability, he actually exceeds Mr. Zhu by a lot. "Possibility Avatars" not only have made him a universal player but also enable him to perform the work of multiple people alone.

The problem is that he has a poor reputation in both Governance Ideology and Extraordinaryism, and few are willing to trust this "slave of three families," nor does he attempt to cleanse his stigma. Actually, if he were to unleash his full power, perhaps even with an infamous title, he could accelerate the cultivation progress of the believers’ forces many times over. However, he seems to want to avoid overshadowing others, honestly working as a helper.

"I feel like I’ve become less of a God and more of an idol star, with some believers being overzealous fans." I said.

"It’s not surprising that you would make such an association. The original meaning of ’idol’ is partially imbued with religious connotations." Lu Chan said, "’Idol’ is a human figure made of wood or clay, and ’image’ is an item modeled after a person or thing. Therefore, the original meaning of the word ’idol’ refers to a sculpture made of wood or clay, crafted according to a certain image.

"And in ancient times, idols were always combined with religious beliefs. People would use idols to simulate the imagined appearance of gods, and then kneel and worship them. This is what is called ’idolatry.’

"When I previously compared your believers to fans, it wasn’t a random analogy. Some young people today are fanatically pursuing idol stars, treating them like Gods, and even forming dedicated support groups. This behavior actually has many similarities to ancient idol worship, and in a sense, can be called a ’modern religion.’"

He paused and continued, "If you really don’t want others to investigate you, it is possible to stop them. You don’t need to act, nor do we; you only have to desire it strongly in your heart. The thought of the Impermanence can not only affect nature but also the people around you.

"Based on recent investigations, after the barrier between the abnormal world and the commonsense world was lifted, the thought of the Impermanence could even directly impact society as a whole, causing trends that align with Impermanence’s ideas to appear out of nowhere. For example, if an inherently evil Impermanence increases, the crime rate across society would rise sharply, and criminal aesthetics would become rampant.

"The reason why there is so little information related to King Zhuanlun is probably because he utilized this ability. As long as you wish, all attempts to investigate your life would be voluntarily or involuntarily abandoned, whether it’s people from Luo Mountain or those from the commonsense world. If someone forcibly continued to investigate, they would encounter various disasters as if death itself had come."

"It’s unnecessary." I said, "I never cared about others probing into what I did before. It’s just that there are so many people this time that I’m not quite used to it. In any case, if I were to have enemies in the future, they might try to understand me by various means. I can’t forbid everyone from knowing about me and only spare my enemies, can I?

"King Zhuanlun had his reasons for choosing such a method, but I won’t hide like him. Anyone can know who Zhuang Cheng is; I only have to openly face their gaze."

"That’s the righteous path." Lu Chan said with a smile and a nod.

The matter of the believers ends here, and something else might need to be spoken about next.

This happened on the third day when Luo Mountain was to hold a collective ceremonial burial service in the cemetery for the dozens of demon hunters who died in the battle at the main base of the Human Bureau.

The destruction of the Human Bureau means Luo Mountain removed a threat, significant from the demon hunters’ perspective, so those who sacrificed in such a battle received high-standard burial treatment. Although they were all subordinates of Ming Zhuo, which means demon hunters of Extraordinaryism, ultimately, both Extraordinaryists and Governance Realists are members of Luo Mountain, and Governance Ideology emphasizes unity and worldliness. Thus, both Fa Zheng and Jian Feixian attended the burial ceremony.

As the nominal Impermanence of the Governance Camp, I naturally also attended in the absence of any other pressing matters. For the dead, especially those who fought on the same battlefield as I, I still maintain basic respect.

Originally, the ceremony should have been presided over by Ming Zhuo, but Ming Zhuo seemed too lazy to attend, so Gua Tianshi kindly substituted. Old Fist God and Liu Shuying also did not participate, and King Zhuanlun certainly wasn’t there either.

Unexpectedly, even though Divine Light was just as indifferent to the deceased as Ming Zhuo, he actually attended this time.

Perhaps because Luo Mountain was once located in the afterlife world and has a culture that particularly emphasizes death and funerals, the cemetery at Luo Mountain Headquarters is quite large. If Luo Mountain Headquarters were likened to a circle, this cemetery would be another nearly equal-sized circle. The two circles partially overlap, with the cemetery tightly adjoining the central area of Luo Mountain Headquarters.

Scattered throughout the cemetery are black stone pillars about a person’s height, each being a gravestone, and beneath them are buried the ashes of demon hunters. Some demon hunters left no remains in battle, so their belongings are placed underneath instead, serving as a cenotaph.

Unlike the independent reality space with Dr. Silver Mask last time, the independent reality space where the Human Bureau’s main base was located did not return any material to reality after its destruction. Perhaps originally thinking, "If this place is also captured, we perish together," though they did not succeed, it engulfed the remains of the dead. Therefore, most of this sacrifice didn’t bring back any remains, only cenotaphs could be established.

During the burial ceremony, the collective placements of Governance Ideology and Extraordinaryism were also distinctly separated. Weichi attended the ceremony as well, and before it began, he came to my side, glanced at Divine Light in the distance, and then said quietly, "I didn’t expect Divine Light to change his ways and attend a funeral ceremony."

I was somewhat surprised when I saw Weichi coming over before remembering that although he has recently been hanging around with Divine Light, he is still a member of Governance Ideology.

"Does he usually not participate?" I asked.

"Divine Light despises the weak and mortals. Overwhelm any demon, they’re no different from weak commoners in his eyes. All he thinks about is getting stronger." Weichi said, "He asked the Master of Divine Seal last time how to open the third and fourth doors, as even after becoming Impermanence, he has not given up his obsession with becoming stronger. For him, getting stronger is everything because only the strong deserve respect. These two words have arguably defined his life so far."

That’s probably why he can’t accept a potentially mortal Master of Divine Seal being above him.

I want to become stronger too, but that’s not my core obsession, and I may not fully understand Divine Light.

And according to Old Fist God, if Divine Light wants to continue to get stronger, wouldn’t it only be possible by letting go of the desire to "get stronger"?

"Moreover, although Divine Light is an Extraordinaryist, he actually has no interest in Extraordinaryism or its collective camp. He said this himself." Weichi said, "His character is more inclined to be a loner, merely siding with Extraordinaryism because the world it depicts is more convenient for him compared to the one depicted by Fa Zheng."

That suggests when I first met Gua Tianshi, though Gua Tianshi mentioned both Ming Zhuo and Gua Tianshi want to treat mortals as resource consumables of Extraordinaryism, he never brought up Divine Light’s name.

"I heard that Luo Mountain Headquarters was once located in a Different Space... Has this cemetery been here since the beginning?" I asked.

"No, that Different Space was shattered due to the battle between Xuanming, Fu Hongchen, and Ming Zhuo, but the cemetery’s portion did not shatter. Later, I was responsible for transferring it here completely." Weichi shook his head.

"You?" I thought for a moment and asked, "Then you should know what is there, right?"

Weichi followed my gaze to look over there. In the center of the cemetery, kilometers away, there are dozens of black towers standing on the ground.

"Those are the gravestones of the Impermanence." Weichi said, "’Gravestones’ might not be entirely accurate. Generally, Impermanence doesn’t die of old age, and not many die tragically. Most are missing, which is becoming the Lost Great Impermanence.

"Of course, being lost doesn’t mean death; those ancient Lost Great Impermanence may still be alive somewhere, only we can no longer observe them physically. Just as the commonsense world defines long-missing individuals as deceased, Luo Mountain has similar rules. A connection that can never be made again is the same as death."

I nodded, "Makes sense... But speaking of Lost Great Impermanence, I have a question I want to ask you, and I don’t know if you can answer."

"What question?" Weichi asked.

"Generally speaking, Impermanence has various means to make connections in the abnormal world, and establishing a believers’ force is just one way of anchoring themselves. And the longer they live, the more connections they should make... If that’s the case, why are there so many Lost Great Impermanence?" I asked.

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