Chapter 140: The Earthâs Wastelands (13)
Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma
When they got out of the âLocker Roomâ, it wasnât the residential area yet, but instead another spacious place that looked like the platform of a train station. Pillars in this section looked almost the same with the previous section they had crossed. It was assumed that these two sections were being constructed on two different levels, but with an identical structure just like images in mirror.
In this place, the air surrounding could help ordinary people like Hank breathe normally.
They crossed through another meandering tunnel to reach a spacious yard: all of a sudden, the three of them had finally entered the Deity Guarded Village.
To the two players, the sight in front of their eyes was really marvelous. The warm orange light shone down from the sky. When they looked up, they could see layers upon layers of vegetation just like clusters of cloud forming the sky there. From this height, they could estimate that the clearance here was the distance between the bottom and the upper edge of the canyon. The sunlight looked like it didn't pierce through the gaps between the vegetation layers, but it was actually filtered by the floras here before penetrating the place. These layers of plants were like the ozone layer that only the Deity Guarded Village had. Of course, what they were watching at this moment wasnât just a work of nature. Through hundreds of years, the vegetation layers here had been improved many times. As this protection layer was the vessel of the whole village, it must be absolutely safe and stable.
Moving forward, they then saw clean and neat roads together with unceasing short, small, and stereotyped buildings. There werenât many pedestrians on the street, and their clothes were all the same. Males wore the same type of costumes with Hankâs, and the female clothes werenât much different, but they came with brighter colors.
At present, Feng Bujue and Wild Trace Sword Shadow had put off their helmets and left them in the locker room. They tried to tie the collar of the protection suit and shove them inwards to ensure that the costumes they were wearing wouldn't be exposed. Even so, they were still eye-catching.
A typical example: two grade-5 students come to a grade-1 classroom, they donât wear the same uniform with grade-1 students, and they look much taller⊠Anyway, they were still wearing uniforms, not looking like Conan (1) when he comes to school. So, the villagers just glared at them with weird looks, didnât shriek in panic or try to attack them with their hoes.
"The guy who designed this city doesnât have a good taste. Even robots donât want to live in a place like this," commented Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"Ha, ha... What type do you believe it is?" asked Feng Bujue.
"When he mentioned âvillageâ, I thought it would be some place like the âShireâ (2), said Wild Trace Sword Shadow. "I didn't expect to see this⊠This really looks like a slum that got formatted." He beamed a faint smile. "The true slum looks even better than this. At least, the architecture and the people haveâŠ"Momentarily, he didn't know which words to use.
"Individuality," Feng Bujue added.
"Yeah, individuality," Wild Trace Sword Shadow said. "Look at those guys. Same houses, same clothing, same tools⊠Honestly, arenât you afraid of getting lost?" he turned around and asked Hank.
"The streets are all numbered, easy to locate," answered Hank.
Wild Trace Sword Shadow shook his head and sighed. "Alright."
"At least, they are free to choose their own hairstyle as their leader doesn't make them shave their heads and only let the officers have hair, etc.," said Feng Bujue.
"The Housen Academy (3) sent a congratulatory telegramâŠ" Wild Trace Sword Shadow got it, giving him a joke back.
The three of them then walked for a while before bumping into two street patrols. These two were wearing the same colored uniform with badges accompanied with boots. The weapons they were holding were an Anti-Gravity Launching Device and a metal shield.
"Stop," one of the two called out for them.
Feng Bujueâs team stopped, waiting for the others to come and investigate. Wild Trace Sword Shadow didn't look scared at all; he was looking at the others with neither servile nor overbearing countenance. He stood there in silence while Hank felt nervous and tense, not daring to speak up.
"Why are you still wearing protection suit and entering the village?" asked the patrol.
"Oh, sir, our clothes are broken."
"Broken?" the other glared at Feng Bujue suspiciously. "Your clothes should have been put in the locker, how could they be broken?"
"Sir, we were careless and got caught at the metal gate of the filter," answered Feng Bujue.
"Ah..." the other was skeptical. Seconds later, he spoke up again, "Then you should hurry to ask for a new set at the supply room."
"Understood, thanks for your concern, sir!" answered Feng Bujue.
The two patrols exchanged looks, shrugged then left.
"Your attitude⊠Iâve seen a lot of time in the local TV play. Feels like when the underground messenger meet a soldier from the national protection armyâŠ" Wild Trace Sword Shadow laughed.
"Itâs okay if it works," Feng Bujue answered.
Hankâs face was suspicious. "Itâs weird⊠Why did they believe that the clothes would be clamped by the metal gate in the tunnel? We got filtered before changing. It should be the protection suit that got stuck in this case to be correct."
"True. But how could they know that?" said Feng Bujue."They arenât Scavengers though."
"Ah, right! The patrol members havenât left the village ever since," Hank spoke when he suddenly realized the fact.
"Youâve thought about this kind of stuff too?" Wild Trace Sword Shadow intervened.
"In a class that is clear and indescribable, all those officers canât participate in the social system. Besides the higher-level personnel, the group that survives at the lowest echelon canât know in details the tasks of the other groups," said Feng Bujue. "Itâs impossible for Scavengers to know what kind of food in the pantry room of the patrol or the supplying members. The patrols also don't know the process of using the locker room of the Scavengers. So, Iâve just made up an excuse, will they be able to take out a phone and google the detailed procedure when the Scavengers return to the village?"
"Yeah⊠due to the censor function, please allow me to use the word âcunningâ to praise you," said Wild Trace Sword Shadow, but in fact, the word his heart wanted to use was âdespicableâ.
"Good then. See, Hank? Nothing to be worried about. We can handle it," Feng Bujue talked to Hank. "Now, before you report back to your superior, give us a tour around the village."
"In accordance with the provisions⊠after Scavengers Squad return to the village, we have toâ" Naturally, Feng Bujue would interrupt Hank.
"Youâve brought two outlanders to the village, what kind of provisions do you care about?" Feng Bujue said, "If you are going to report back now, we canât follow you because your manager will know that we are not the Scavengers. We also donât have time to wait for you to come back from reporting and then take action again. What if you sell us down the river or you make a mistake? Then the situation that no one wants will occur⊠A battle.
"In addition, youâve brought âoutlandersâ to the village; itâs no doubt the death penalty. I think your manager will not consider whether you are threatened or not and maybe he wonât listen to your explanation⊠So, if you plan to run away from us and report to the patrols sneakily, it will lead to the death of your fellows. And you, you will not escape your death at the end."
After seeing Hankâs complexion change, Feng Bujue knew he successfully bought the man again. "Your best choice is to act as what Iâve said. First, you are not going to meet your manager, but instead bring us to see the village. After weâre done with the sightseeing, we will leave the village in silence and then you can go and report. At that time, at most, you are just a little bit late, no serious consequences. No one gets hurt, and no one knows we used to be here."
"It doesn't sound like that at the beginning⊠You didnât say thatâŠ" answered Hank confusedly. He seemed a little bit helpless.
"So, how do you think things would develop?" Feng Bujue smiled. "Plans should always catch up with the changes."
As things had escalated to this point, Hank was considered boarding himself on the pirate ship. Just like what Feng Bujue said, everyone has a weakness. Once his weakness was grabbed, he would betray his own principles.
At the beginning, Hank just didnât want to get killed, and then, he didnât want to see his fellows in the village get killed. But now, both of the threats were put on his shoulders. To him, the only solution now was to cooperate with the two âoutlandersâ in the hope that they would leave in peace and no one would find out about that.
Of course, his thought was so simple and naïve. If he had dug it further, he would have understood that even if Feng Bujue and Wild Trace Sword Shadow would leave sneakily at the end just like the time they slyly came, or even if they just left while swinging their sleeves and taking no life, this would still be exposed⊠When they had entered the village, they had already reported their names. Javie and Joy were now considered alive and returned the village. How could two living people disappear into thin air like that? Thus, after several days, Hank would still be busted. At that time, if he couldn't explain clearly, it would be judged as a felony. If he explained clearly, he would be dead for sure.
The deepest area inside the Deity Guarded Village was situated a place called the âShrineâ.
Although it was called shrine, it didnât have a bit of relationship with a temple. It was built on the relics of half an interstellar spaceship.
In the village, there was only the Cobains who had the right to enter the shrine, and the place was no different from their own palace.
For years, the Cobains had considered themselves the spokesman of God who could transmit the âGodâs ordersâ. Of course, this âGodâ wasnât related a bit to Christianity as it was just a term in vocabulary which represented the will of the Cobains that helped them fabricate anything.
If they wanted to kill someone, they would say that God wanted to kill that one. If they wanted to kill a group of people, they would say that the others were a group of heathens. If they wanted everyone to submit to them, they would speak by the name of God. When they wanted othersâ properties or wives and daughters, they could always make up the same reason.
In short, the Cobains was equivalent to Godâs order. The one who went against them was defying God, without any regards of lives of other fellows in the village.
Of course, building lies on religions, they couldn't rule for that long. What the Cobains had in their hands was âKnowledgeâ, the information that was left in the interstellar spaceship, which they had exclusively possessed. They just shared a little of the knowledge to the ones who would benefit them (the consecrators in the village). Thus, when they wanted to show off, they could always reveal a little âmiracleâ to scare and convince the ignorant villagers.
This was also the reason why fellows at the bottom echelon of the Deity Guarded Village knew nothing about biology, medicine, and astronomy.
Biology makes people skeptical about the Creator; medicine helps people recognize death; and astronomy will break numerous lies from religions, shattering peopleâs imagination.
Knowledge changes fate. Science changes life.
But the Cobains didn't want to witness the change of fate. Any dictator or interest group wouldn't want to see their favorable conditions change. Thus, they had to know âControlâ.
The so-called hardship on ruling fellows came from their wisdom. The obscurantist policy carried out in the Deity Guarded Village was quite brilliant. The Cobains didnât strictly restrict the villagers from approaching knowledge as they let them learn a small part of it, for instance, farming, melting metal, architect, etc. At the same time, they used religion to brainwash the villagers, making them believe in the existence of God which kept them from crossing the line.
Consequently, they had a unique yet odd civilization.
York Cobain was the current âSon of Godâ in the Deity Guarded Village. It could be said that he was the head, the chief, the mayor, the president or even the king⊠of the village.
His ancestors were greedy, sinister and yet far-sighted. After they had seized the power, taking the spaceship, they had created this governance method, creating the presently perfect situation for him today.
After Feng Bujue had a brief convo with Hank, he understood the social system of the Deity Guarded Village; thus, he was certain that what this plot had was the science fiction setting. Whatâs the âSon of Godâ 1000 years ago? Many people had played this cheap trick. Until the 20th century, even the dictators didn't feel like pulling themselves together with deities. At most, they were just self-proclaimed generals without fighting any battles, or doctors without writing any thesis. Well, self-proclaiming to be the adoptee, biological child or the second child of God, anyone who was well-educated and had a certain IQ wouldn't do that.
When Hank was bringing along the two uninvited visitors deeper into the village, it was the time Cobain had his afternoon tea.
Cobainâs time was passing by regularly. Three full meals and two banquets per day, plus the afternoon tea and some snacks. He went to bed at nine. Basically, every night he got a different lady to keep him company.
Some may feel itâs weird that there were thousands of people in this village, how could he get things done to that point? Is it true that all the women in the village had slept with him?
In fact, they could say so. He had laid his eyes on any beautiful women in this village, why is that? This had to turn back to the e8th century when the European aristocracies conducted something called âthe Virginsâ rightsâ, also called âthe first nightâs rightâ, in which the night before the wedding, the tenantâs daughter had to come to the local nobility so as they could âtasteâ her first. In the Deity Guarded Village, this corrupt practice resurrected like a flame burning again from the ashes. However, it wasnât very explicit like that. First of all, they brought the girl to the Shrine to receive the âbaptismâ by the Son of God. The time she stayed there would be long or short. To some he didnât feel satisfied, they would be brought out soon, but he would keep some others for several days.
The Cobains had practiced this for years, leading to another problem, in which their children and grandchildren had filled the whole village. Usually, the house master would choose the one he favored the most to be his wife. As a result, there was only one Son of God, and his siblings would become the members of the family. And, the second generation would be degraded to be the consecrators.
However, in fact, it wasnât clear that in this village, how many people were related to Cobains.
During hundreds of years, the close related relationship was inevitable. Although there were some special cases, statistically speaking, the phenomenon where the genes of their offspring getting worse became more common. Athletic ability, physical build, mental retardation, congenital diseases, etc., were all the situations they couldn't reverse. In addition, the medicine in the village was really poor, and there were few doctors staying in the shrine. The ultimate consequence was that the villagers all had small and short build, also silly and naive. At the same time, the population of the village couldn't grow since the mortality rate from sickness was relatively high.
The Deity Guarded Villageâs decline and extermination would come sooner or later; it was just a matter of time.
However, this matter could take a turn for the better since a guy called Feng Bujue had entered the village todayâŠ
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(1) Case Closed, also known as Detective Conan (ćæąć”ăłăăłÂ Meitantei Konan), is an ongoing Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama.
(2) The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth.
(3) The Housen Academy, originated from the famous Japanese manga and series 'Crows Zero'. The school which is under control by the Housen Killer Corps, whose rules stated: Aside from the leaders, everyone shaves their heads.