Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 303 The End of the Historian

"Argos, what have we overlooked?"

The giant, upside-down shadow in the mirror seemed to be deep in thought.

Logically speaking, they should be mortal enemies. When the Scarlet Queen's rule encountered problems, she immediately launched a plan to overthrow the world.

They were very close, almost like light and shadow, so He knew of the defeat of the Golden King and that the one who defeated the Golden King had come to this plane.

This was the perfect opportunity for Him to take revenge on the Scarlet Queen. Yet, at this very moment, when His enemy was at his weakest, He began to listen to her words and even tried his best to find the answers to the questions.

Because He gradually realized that this problem might also be extremely important to Him.

He therefore left his fellow beings and ventured into the unknown, but later events distracted him and caused him to overlook many things.

"You've always believed that I imprisoned you and used your energy to reshape the world..."

The red-haired girl whispered softly.

The Crimson Queen became the ruler of the plane, rewriting the rules of the world and turning it into the utopia she imagined. The price was that everyone living in the utopia lost the opportunity to know the truth, and false illusions became reality in their eyes. All of this depended on the power of the Crimson Queen.

If the Scarlet Queen were to lose her power or die, the utopia she created would perish even faster.

According to the guild's prediction, after the collapse of the rules, this plane is very likely to become an extremely dangerous dead zone.

The red-haired girl walked to the bookshelf next to her bedside table, took out a long-forgotten parchment book, which had no words on it but was filled with strong energy fluctuations. She opened the title page, and information about her immediately appeared on it.

'Crimson', Territory: Canopy; Civilization: Summoner; Faith: Argos.

This is her "adventure book".

Unlike most guild members, there is no information on the number of tasks completed, guild points, or ratings; the name of the Crimson Queen speaks for itself.

A slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Then let me tell you another secret that only 'we' know."

The mysterious "ancient people," and their "ancient technology" unknown even to the Old Gods—when she extended the parchment towards the mirror, the wriggling hose almost instantly took the parchment and pulled it into the world within the mirror.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The energy fluctuations emanating from the giant, upside-down shadow in the mirror grew stronger and stronger, causing the entire mirror to crack. The red-haired girl simply used her index finger to gently smooth the cracks in the mirror, restoring it to its original state.

This action also took a huge toll on her. The glass cut the skin of her index finger, and a drop of blood emitting a dark red light slid down the mirror surface. Before it hit the ground, it solidified and then turned into a blooming red lotus the moment it touched the ground.

She was very patient and waited until Argos calmed down.

The commotion in the mirror world has ceased.

“I don’t have the power you imagine. Neither of us does. To be more precise, we didn’t create, but rather discovered some little-known things. Isn’t that why you left them in the first place?”

As an ancient god, Argos is a being that transcends all things.

"You once stood at the pinnacle of life, until... you discovered an existence that even you could not comprehend."

Ultimately, according to Scarlet, this is a common characteristic of every intelligent life form.

In most of the planes known to the guild, humanity attributes its birth to the existence of the Old Gods. However, some planes with exceptionally rapid technological and cultural development have already proposed the rudiments of the theory of evolution, beginning the path of transformation from divinity to humanity. In those books, researchers for the first time understood "gods" as certain life forms with immense energy, essentially no different from humans or monsters.

"Then, who created you?"

Argos, with these questions in mind, left his kind.

Because at that time, their kind were still immersed in the lively stage play, believing themselves to be the only existence that transcended all things.

Argos was the first among the Old Gods to propose the theory of evolution, and he was destined to be the one who did not conform.

For the "ancient people" who had grasped the secret, the answer was already obvious.

Like all beings in different planes, the Old Gods were born from a string of code. The code endowed them with supreme power, as well as their names. Even the name "Argos" was just a name that a copywriter, drinking coffee and enjoying the air conditioning, came up with on a whim one afternoon.

Perhaps their existence is not as important as they imagine.

Scarlet felt this was probably the first effective communication she had with Argos since becoming "the ruler," and it was a good start.

After all, this is a world that emphasizes the bond between summoners and their partners, so as the supreme ruler of this world, her partners should be worthy of her status.

"Argos, have you never had this question before?"

Crimson placed her palm on the mirror, the stinging sensation causing her to slowly close her eyes. More and more blood flowed down, turning the wooden cabin floor into a flower field. "Perhaps, the truth you firmly believe in is false, or perhaps you've simply jumped from one false world to another."

"Hmm? You're asking about my purpose?"

"Just like you, I also want to find the real answer."

As she spoke, red blood mingled with pale blue energy, and the wound on her palm was stitched up by the metallic patterns. She gazed at the giant shadow hanging upside down in the mirror, her eyes captivating. "Omnipotent Argos, let us find the truth together."

........................

Meanwhile, Ethan and his team made new progress in their exploration.

"What is this?"

Rowena made no attempt to hide her disappointment, flapping her wings and circling the "Great Treasure" on the stone platform.

The fanatical robots, the mechanical plague, the lakeside cabin, and the road extending from the frozen lake, plus the tomb-like building at the end of the road—all these elements were perfect for a treasure hunt. She almost thought the bottom of the tomb was piled high with gold, but after all that buildup, the treasure turned out to be disappointing.

It was a stack of white paper, made of a different material than parchment, and the writing on it didn't look like it was written with a quill pen; it was ancient writing that was completely incomprehensible.

Civilization: Canopy Haven (Scrapped Draft)

Rowena searched the surroundings again, and after confirming that there were no more hidden treasures, she immediately felt deflated.

The task and the reward were extremely disproportionate. The crazed robot didn't drop any equipment after being defeated, and the mechanical mist-weaver antelope, now without its commander, found an open space and lay down, seemingly asleep, after the ice melted. "This stuff is worth far more than gold."

Ethan began to peruse the documents.

The font printed on A4 paper should theoretically be a product that could never exist in this era.

"Where is it valuable?"

Upon hearing Ethan's words, Rowena perked up again, "Could this be some kind of incredibly powerful magic scroll?"

"This is a design draft."

"Design draft?"

"This explains the origin of this plane."

"Oh, I see." Rowena suddenly realized, "You mean something like church scriptures."

The Church of Life has repeatedly attempted to tell the people of the Empire about the origins of this world through its sacred texts. The core of this work is to minimize the contributions of the Knight Lords in the War of the Old Gods, conceal parts of His history of establishing the Academy, and sing praises to the Goddess of Life, so that the Church of Life can hold the sole voice in the Empire in the realm of faith.

Ethan did not answer immediately.

In the instant he picked up the discarded manuscript, he saw even more.

It was still that familiar office, but the atmosphere was somewhat tense.

After what seemed like an eternity, someone finally broke the silence, "Oh no, it's been rejected! It's been rejected!"

The speaker was the female colleague who had previously claimed to have had more than a dozen relationships, but her face was still hidden behind the desk partition. However, Ethan could imagine her slumped dejectedly in her office chair.

"I put so much thought and effort into this design, and it was rejected with just a casual remark, saying it didn't fit the project's worldview! The ancient god Argos, and the summoner civilization derived from his power, how is it not in line with the worldview?"

Here, milk tea.

The person who responded to her was Ethan's long-haired female colleague with straight black hair, whom he had met once before in the lake's reflection. Their desks were next to each other, and she seemed to be very skilled at smoothing hair. After taking the milk tea, the complaints indeed quieted down a lot.

"If you ask me, you've been smuggling in too many side jobs."

Before long, someone else said, "The battle won't lead to death, but rather you'll just suddenly go black and be sent to a nearby aid station? That certainly doesn't fit the project's tone."

"It can all be explained by the world-building. I even designed it based on Argos's belief system, and even set up the artifacts and class divisions... Not everyone is keen on fighting and killing. For people like me, it would be best to live in such a quiet and peaceful world."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. The person in charge is a fighter."

"That bald guy—!"

"Shh, keep your voice down! If he hears you, you're in big trouble!"

A typical work meeting, the brief low atmosphere was quickly resolved by the colleagues' few words of mediation. The complaining female colleague paused briefly, then said apologetically to him, "Sorry, Lao Sen, for wasting so much of your time, but I really think your design for Fogwood County is quite good. Maybe we're kindred spirits."

"No, you are not."

The voice of the female colleague with long, straight black hair suddenly turned cold, "Don't you dare continue to ruin his life!"

……

The conversation ended there.

The moment he came to his senses, he met the cat's curious eyes. The cat's face was very close, and her white fur brushed against his face. One of her paws gently rested on Ethan's forehead, and he felt the soft touch of her paw pad.

"What did you think of?"

As Ethan looked through the documents, she leaned on his shoulder and looked along with him.

The design drafts were all in ancient script, but she had mastered the language on her own without a teacher. This was a new skill she suddenly acquired after glimpsing the reflection in the lake.

These ancient texts were simply describing the unique environmental structure and power system of this plane, and they even mentioned Argos. However, to Winter, they were all tedious and boring explanations. She couldn't understand why Ethan was reading them with such interest, even becoming so engrossed that he ignored the chattering Rowena and didn't answer several of her questions.

"I remembered some funny things."

Ethan found it difficult to give a specific explanation. First of all, it would take a while for Winter and Rowena to understand the concepts of "office," "project," and "milk tea." But this time, the memory was much clearer than the reflection in the lake. Although they looked different and had different identities, their way of getting along was almost exactly the same as Winter and Rowena's.

Ethan doesn't believe it's a coincidence.

Not long ago, Ethan thought that Rowena was a companion created by "Future Winter" because she was too lonely, but now it seems that Rowena also plays a significant role in this project.

However, this still does not align with his understanding.

According to the conversation he remembered, this design draft had obviously been rejected. Even the title of the document was marked "discarded". This meant that the research institute would no longer invest any funds or research and development resources in the contents of this document. If the world he was in at this moment was the final result of the project, then why would a discarded design form a real plane?

At least in Ethan's understanding, any project, from discussion to implementation, requires tremendous effort, especially something that goes beyond the existing scientific framework.

Participants in the project can design a deity, granting it the power to grant any wish with a snap of its fingers. However, turning the idea into reality requires countless rounds of programming and debugging.

Then, an idea gradually surfaced in Ethan's mind.

The reason he traveled to this place and then lost his memories of the project...

Could it be because he, as one of the project's developers, outwardly complied with the orders but inwardly defied them, producing all the design drafts that had been rejected by his superiors, ultimately turning them into a mountain of excrement? After the truth came out, he was persecuted by the unscrupulous company in the King of Gold's memories, which is why he finally appeared in this world?
If we assume that the Old Gods and their empire are "primary planes," then these primary planes, which people may never discover and which are arranged in a highly fragmented way, really do feel a bit like a mountain of excrement.

Once Ethan entered this line of thinking, the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

"What's the fun?"

Seeing that Ethan had fallen silent again, the cat gently cupped Ethan's face with its two paws, making him look at it.

"To put it simply..."

Ethan prepared his words, "This should also be considered a consequence of the discovery of the history of childbirth."

(End of this chapter)