Chapter 1981: Fishing and the World Tombstone

When in Coldwater Port, Xia De's luck was not bad. Among the antiques brought out by Mr. Edmond, the keeper of the old lighthouse, an item meeting the requirements was finally discovered.

It was a black, shriveled apple core. If thrown on the side of the road, I'm afraid even the children picking up trash wouldn't even look at it. But this was indeed an antique passed down from the Fifth Era, related to the love story "Love of the Green Apple." It is said that this apple core is the final appearance of the plump fruit that symbolized the love of the story's protagonists after their love failed.

"Another story with a tragic ending. I don't like this."

While speaking, Xia De was accompanying Mr. Edmond fishing under the sea cliff. Of course, he wouldn't fish, but it was easy to learn how to hook bait and cast the rod.

"But tragedy also has the charm of tragedy. Blindly pursuing comedy is actually not a good thing."

The old folklore scholar said, sitting on a small stool with Xia De, looking at the vast sea in the distance. In the clear late spring and early summer, the seascape of Coldwater Port was exceptionally charming. Listening to the sound of the waves and sitting for a while in such a basically deserted place was also a good choice to relax.

"Have you heard about the Battle of Green Lake?"

Xia De asked. The old man, who had guessed Xia De's connection to the "God-Awakener" since the Coldwater Port incident, nodded slowly:

"I know. Natalie has already passed the news to the Hermit Society. What we care more about is not who the Chosen of Space is, but what Natalie saw—that terrible labyrinth that the God-Awakener almost used."

He held the fishing rod and looked at the float:

"The generally accepted view now is that the God-Awakener's most proficient powers are the Moon and the Fairy Tale labyrinth. I won't even mention his use of moonlight; people have always suspected he is a priest of some ancient moon god. His use of the labyrinth can be called one of the strongest in our era. But that one he only showed half of, a labyrinth that seemed like even he couldn't control, no matter how you look at it, it has nothing to do with fairy tales."

"Yes, it's related to the apocalypse. At that time, the ring mages on the island, as long as they had touched the sky full of yellow sand and seen the city submerged by yellow sand, should all be able to feel that power representing the end."

Even for Xia De himself, thinking about it now still makes him feel a lingering fear. The labyrinth formed automatically. If he hadn't had the extremely strong willpower to force it "back in," I'm afraid he wouldn't have the time to fish leisurely here now.

The cat was resting peacefully on Xia De's lap at this time. Xia De was looking forward to how it would react if he really caught a fish.

"The apocalypse... although we have been preparing, when it really comes to this moment, we will still be confused and anxious."

The old man stared at the water surface:

"The appearance of the God-Awakener's labyrinth means that he or she is clearly more aware of the arrival of the apocalypse than anyone else. He may have seen the future, or used other ways to foresee what is about to happen. But since the apocalypse can already be glimpsed by people in the material world, it means it is really not far away."

The float shook, and the old man immediately lifted the fishing rod. Xia De let the cat lie on the stool, picked up the net himself, and helped him transfer the fish into the bucket:

"What does the Prophets Society say? The prophets cannot be ignorant of this."

"They have long been preparing for this, but no one knows what exactly they have prepared. Don't think about the prophets' affairs. Perhaps at the most dangerous moment in the future, they will suddenly bring out very powerful means and then tell everyone: 'Look, we were actually preparing for this long ago.'"

Xia De laughed:

"That is very consistent with my understanding of those diviners. Then what about the Church? They had so many people on the island at that time, they should have understood the meaning of the God-Awakener's labyrinth, right?"

"Yes, the apocalypse is coming, and the Church of the Five Gods bears the greatest pressure. They lead the balance between the mundane and the supernatural in the material world; enjoying power means bearing responsibility. It is said that those clergy have already begun to pray to the gods for guidance. As for what exactly to do, I'm afraid we have to wait until the oracle comes down."

After all, this is a world where true gods exist. It is natural to seek help from gods when encountering such trouble. However, since it has been determined that the world's march toward destruction is not man-made, but just because there is a beginning, there is an end, then the true gods probably can't do anything either.

Xia De nodded, looking at his motionless float:

"What is the Light-Guiding Hermit Society going to do?"

"Same as before, continue to collect civilization creations, knowledge books, and other things that represent our civilization. Prepare shelters, raise food, fuel, and large quantities of daily necessities, and prepare to survive in the most difficult environment. We plan to put these in Tobesk. You should have seen where that city, which almost became a ruin, was at that time."

"Yes, Tobesk."

The old man nodded, cast the fishing rod again, and watched with Xia De as the fishing line was thrown far away and fell back to the same position. Ripples spread, but soon disappeared:

"In the worst case, even if everyone dies, wait until the end is over, the new beginning begins, the people of the next world... or other strange things, if they are lucky, can also see the light of civilization left by us in the old world. If everything in the world goes to the end, those things still exist. There is a beginning, there is an end; there is an end, there is a next beginning."

"All mortals must die, all things must end; in the darkness after the end, will new light be born again?"

Xia De asked the old man, and Mr. Edmond smiled and said:

"That's probably it, but I haven't seen the apocalypse either. Even if new light appears again, but we who have left with the old world, what can we know? That is too far away, really too far away. We can only do things in our own era. Don't hope that if we can really see the brand new light, that has no meaning."

"But what the Light-Guiding Hermit Society is doing is truly remarkable, at least leaving a tombstone for this world."

"Someone should always do something in this era. The information Natalie sent included what the traitor of the Prophets Society did. Judging from the information exchanged between the God-Awakener and the Church, he is actually a remarkable person too. Since the world is going to the end, leave here before the end of the world... He is also doing what he can, but his path has been proven to be impassable."

Xia De nodded and stroked the cat that was sleeping sweetly.

He believed that Mr. Edmond, like Miss Danister, had roughly guessed that he was the God-Awakener... Miss Danister should have completely confirmed it. After all, every time a Chosen appeared in a region, Xia De would come to Mr. Edmond to ask for information on folklore before the incident broke out.

Perhaps he used to think Xia De was a student of the God-Awakener, but he should have already denied this idea in his own way.

But just like Miss Danister, Mr. Edmond did not ask Xia De what his relationship with the "God-Awakener" was. Miss Danister probably didn't want to destroy the simple teacher-student relationship between the two, because she cared about this relationship very much due to her teacher's disappearance; Mr. Edmond probably thought that even if he knew Xia De was the God-Awakener, it wouldn't make any sense.

The Light-Guiding Hermit Society and the God-Awakener are not in a hostile relationship, nor do they have much interest interaction, so maintaining the status quo is very good.

Xia De chatted with Mr. Edmond for a whole afternoon and learned that the news of the apocalypse was still fermenting. Not everyone believes this, and of course, this matter cannot be announced casually.

Fortunately, the various disasters in the world are just beginning, and the order of civilization is still quite stable. They still have time, although the time may not be much, but they do have time.

As for the fishing, until he was ready to carry the bucket back to the old lighthouse on the cliff, Xia De hadn't caught a single fish.

He didn't care much at first, but the cat, after waking up, walked to the bucket and took a look, then looked up at Xia De.

At that moment, even though Little Mia didn't show any emotion, the Outlander felt he was being mocked.

【Your illusion.】

So, Xia De, feeling his self-esteem hit, raised his hand and threw a thunder spear toward the distant sea, then successfully blew up several fish in the shallow water.

"Oh, you disturbed the school of fish like this, and I won't be able to fish well in the future! It's normal not to catch fish, young man, don't have such a bad temper."

The old folklore scholar complained to Xia De, and then fished up those fish with Xia De.

As for the 【Hope Diamond】, Xia De also entrusted Mr. Edmond to help find it. But whether it can be found is another matter. The many prophets of the Prophets Society, having already obtained the information, have not yet found any further news about the 【Fate Pedestal】.

From Coldwater Port, he obtained the "shriveled apple core" from the love story "Love of the Green Apple"; from Huntington City, he obtained the "King Chess Piece" from the horror story "Hartlane's Revenge"; from Randall Valley, he obtained the white mask from the love story "The Masked Duchess"; from Green Lake, he obtained the blood-stained dagger from the fairy tale "The Clown and the Swan."

The Tobesk region has not yet found an antique that meets the conditions, but the search in Mid-Hill Fort went much smoother.

Because, on Friday, Grandma Cassandra and her party had already returned there.

It wasn't that Xia De took the initiative to ask Grandma Cassandra for help, but early Friday morning, Xia De, who was still in his dreams, was awakened by the cat's "Meow~" sound.

Although he couldn't understand the cat language of Little Mia, he could fully hear the cat's emotions from the meowing. Opening his eyes, he indeed saw Little Mia squatting by the pillow, looking up at the ceiling in the dim bedroom with an unhappy face.

Xia De also looked up, and then saw two fluttering red butterflies dancing and crossing each other constantly. ===== CHAPTER 1982 =====