Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 584 A brief rest (Part )
"You saw it, right? The 'Blood Dragon Summoning Ceremony' of the Dedication Group." Anthony patted Dak's shoulder heavily, glanced at Dak who was in a semi-dizzy state, and said with a hearty smile:

"In every room of this strategic group's requisitioned camp, there is a mildly hallucinogenic 'Devotion Group Magic Emblem' hanging. Don't worry, it is harmless and it is difficult to subtly influence you through such a horrific image."

"So... I was indeed hallucinating just now, right?" Dark wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck, breathed a sigh of relief, shifted his gaze to the side, and asked with lingering fear.

The sage of Khitanris once said: "The body relies on consciousness to exist. When consciousness disappears, the body will suffer irreversible damage. This is the nature given to humans by the Creator, and it is also the inherent law of existence of this planet."

Dark knew that he had already suffered two "non-fatal" hallucinations in the short two days from the time the train entered the ruins of the Custard Lake to the old site of the city of Hoptov. He was afraid that he would have to experience several more "hallucinogenic events" when he arrived at the Transnebua Mountains where Nebrius disappeared.

If one is in a state of hallucination for a long time, no matter how high his mental power is, it will be exhausted one day. By then, even if Dak wants to maintain his human form, he will feel powerless. His mental power will return to zero, which means that his body will return to the rock-like "alien monster" form again.

Anthony seemed to have read Duck's inner confusion through his expression and actions. He sat casually and relaxedly on a sofa left by the senior members of the dedication group, crossed his legs, and further explained:

"From what I know, the Devotion Group is not an organization established after the New Era. At least in the middle and late Steam Era, almost 700 years ago, there were records of them cooperating with the Aventre resistance. Their leaders have always been [Devotion Group] recognized by the Sequence Card."

"In that case, the Dedication Group... um... originated from the 'Resistors'? I remember that at that time, the Old Empire completely controlled Aventre and turned the surrendered regime headed by Rex III into a vassal." Dark took a quick glance at the "Dedication Group's Magic Emblem" and guessed.

"That should be it." Anthony said without comment:
"I only remember that their leader, Blood Offering, cooperated with the nobles of Nebusk whose interests were damaged and launched a resistance movement called 'Dawn of the East'. The assassinations, riots and uprisings against the army of the Old Empire lasted for a hundred years. Some people speculated that even the Lord of Darkness and the Dragon Clan were deeply involved."

"They did succeed," said Dak, recalling the historical knowledge that Wolfya had told him.

"Of course, but..." Anthony frowned, sighed lightly, then clenched his fist and smashed it on the newly replaced pure steel square table, leaving a conspicuous dent mark.

After several seconds, he snorted and continued:

"The people in the Dedication Group are not good people. They were not good people in the past and they are not good people now. After the success of 'Eastern Dawn', they supported the youngest son of Rex III to ascend the throne of the empire, but they killed all the people related to the churches of various countries. Including the immortals and servants of the Qidan Religion of Taoism, my homeland.

"They believe that the Creator, after seven epochs, exhausted his magical power in order to build the universe and the planets, and died. That is why the gods gradually lost people's 'faith' and 'divinity' as the epochs changed. The Goddess of Light had already fallen, and the seven first-order gods had already been suppressed by Deepser to the west of the Endless Ice Ocean. Therefore, there are never-ending storms that prevent explorers from going to the conceptual new continent."

"Is this the teaching of the Dedication Group?" Dak asked curiously, looking at Anthony.

For a moment, Anthony's face began to blur rapidly, like a wax figure standing under the scorching sun, and began to melt and rot, emitting a strong and pungent smell.

But in just a moment, everything in front of Dak became clear again, as if all the strange visions had never happened.

"Of course." Anthony further narrated:

"On the surface, they do not believe in any gods and call themselves 'Forsaken Gods'. They believe that after the death of the Creator, the universe will fall into the Shiko state after the fall of Ikpande's power. To use the words of Cruzde's group of scientists who obey Ivan XXII, it is a transition from great expansion to great collapse."

"It does sound like physics. Were the Devotion Group pragmatists in the beginning? Or were they actually scientists in the guise of magic?" Dak speculated. He looked at the "Devotion Group's Magic Emblem" again. It seemed that the strange aura emitted by the pitch-black circular emblem with the "Dragon Worship" image carved on it had diminished a little. The uneasiness of death that lingered in his heart also "calmed down".

"What they mean by 'abandoning God' is that they no longer serve the rare gods as humble people, nor sacrifice their lives and magic to these 'false gods' who have never helped mankind. Instead, they actively communicate with the gods as equals and strive for cooperation." Anthony explained with a serious face.

"Do they have this ability? Or did humans in the Steam Age generally have this kind of... this kind of thought that transcends everything?" asked Dak.

"This is very complicated and cannot be explained in just one or two sentences. If we can thoroughly study this topic, it will not be a problem to publish a few papers in the academic journals of Vasily University in Binglin City. By the way, my ancestors were scientists, and our Fengjian family once improved wind power equipment for the Cruzde Empire." Anthony said with a proud look on his face, puffing out his chest and raising his head:
"However, once we meet the guys from the Dedication Group, we will naturally be able to figure out their true purpose. In general, after they took control of Aventre, they may have chosen to cooperate with the Lord of Darkness, hoping that this god, who is second only to the Creator, will return to the world as a 'giant'.

"Unfortunately, extreme doctrines have led to extreme thoughts, which in turn have led to extreme behavior. The army controlled by the Devotion Group using special 'mind manipulation' methods soon suffered a rout in the three battles of Naibsk, Moonfall, and North Border. The blizzards, sandstorms, and hurricanes they created were destroyed by the ancient artifacts of the Three Kingdoms: the Ice-Song Pestle, the Eternal Sun Compass, and the Extreme Flame Core.

"After the 'blood offering' committed suicide, the members of the offering group were hunted down in large numbers. Even the 'messenger body' of the Lord of Darkness was chopped into pieces by the angry Khitanris soldiers."

"So, the Dedication Group's doctrines that transcended the limitations of people's thinking at the time led to extreme behavior, and the irrational military deployment of attacking from all sides brought them a catastrophe," commented Dark.

"So, do you think that the Dedication Group's behavior of 'abandoning God' is right?" Anthony asked in a very serious tone.

Dak looked up at Anthony's eyes. It was obvious that the pair of dark eyes that only standard Khitanris possessed revealed a rare kind of "piety" and determination. However, Dak, who had experienced life and death many times, did not have the cowardice of those who lived a life of compromise and fear of death and pinned their lives and future on illusions.

"Perhaps after experiencing seven epochs, the dragon war, and the 'Heartless Virus', the magic power has been greatly depleted, and filth and extraordinary things are spreading rampantly. The gods have long forgotten the existence of their believers. Wolfya told me that the gods exist because of faith. The loss of memory and the past has made them no longer have the power to break through the realm of God." Dark stared at Anthony's eyes with a serious face and answered:

"At least after the middle of the human era, there are not many records of gods coming. Apart from the poor old farmer who had his arm taken away and sacrificed to the fire, only Light and I have seen the so-called gods."

"Which god have you seen?" Anthony's breathing began to quicken slightly, and a complex emotion of excitement and fear rose in his heart.

"The Daughter of Jiyuan and the Lord of Yongchi." Dak replied calmly.

It was as if an invisible, morbid, dark aura belonging to a monster was quietly permeating the room where the increasingly morbid members of the Dedicated Group had lived. Anthony felt a chill down his spine, and an invisible fear began to wrap around his strong and tall body like a vine.

"You... have seen these two gods? But I heard that the divine realms where they live, the Silent Highlands and the Red Fantasy Ruins have been completely abandoned. In other words, they are dead, is that right?" Anthony looked at Dark as if he was looking at a real monster with bared fangs and claws.

"It was Light who killed him. He was the so-called evil god 'Echo', 'Daughter of the Mechanical Element'... just a god created by the old empire. As for Pramini's representative, 'Lord of the Eternal Red', his soul had long been riddled with holes, and he was barely surviving under the erosion of the 'Ancient Power'." Dark took a few steps forward, walked in front of Anthony, looked up at his horrified face, and continued to answer word by word, steadily and forcefully:
"If death were not approaching, the gods would still remain high above and look down upon all living beings. They have almost never responded to people's prayers. Except for a few, they are unwilling to descend to the human world and associate with 'inferior' people.

“Since no one has ever seen them, they do not exist; only when they appear in my eyes do they truly exist.”

"I really should..." Anthony swallowed his saliva, turned around, took a few deep breaths, and smiled helplessly:
"Let's meet the Lost Ones of the Devotion Group. You two should have a lot in common. I guess the Hoptov Strategic Group won't let our adventurers stay for too long. In less than three days, we'll have to take a car into the Outer Nebuya Mountains."