Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 358 City of Truth
"Really? They were so scared they wet their pants?"

Carl had a loud voice, which immediately displeased Mrs. Vince. She tore a piece of meat from the roast turkey and stuffed it into Carl's mouth. "Keep your voice down, they can hear you!"

"Oh, please forgive me, I was just too excited. It's such a pity I couldn't see Julius one last time."

Karl had become much more restrained, and his lips were smeared with oil.

Mrs. Vince is a master chef, specializing in high-calorie dishes, and Ethan thinks she could become good friends with the other side and Miss Chloe.

This time, even the black cat, which doesn't particularly like human food, managed to pry off a piece of turkey leg.

"So, you've come here for the 'City of Truth'?"

After a hearty meal, Karl wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "That's what I admire most about you. You became a saint at such a young age, yet you've never stopped thirsting for knowledge—keep this momentum going, and one day you'll find it useful!"

"Is that book still there?"

Winter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course, I rescued all the books in the collection!"

Karl proudly declared that no one could touch their family's library, not even the Vatican. He had long ago made up his mind that he would fight them to the death if necessary.

He washed his hands, tidied himself up, and led the two of them upstairs. Opposite the bedroom was the library. He loved living here. Here, he no longer had to hide those important books underground, nor did he have to worry about being treated as a traitor who collected forbidden books.

He had ample time to read and absorb the knowledge within. He remembered the location of every book in the collection, and upon entering, he went straight to the shelf where "The City of Truth" was located.

"This is a prophetic book, a record completed by the first scholar of the empire while listening to the teachings of the God of Truth."

Carl handed the thick parchment book to Ethan, and he would explain the book's origins to everyone interested in "The City of Truth." After that, he would remain silent, as Carl did not want Ethan to be disturbed by anything else; everyone should have their own understanding and perception of knowledge.

The library was furnished with many chairs, where Professor Carl would often sit and browse his collection of books, which was his greatest pleasure in life. When Ethan sat down, Carl picked up another parchment book that he hadn't finished reading the night before, walked to the bookshelf next door, found a chair at random, and began to read it with great interest.

The first page of "The City of Truth" depicts that illusory yet special city to the reader.

Memories of Winter is not wrong; it does depict a modern city. Even from the detailed descriptions of the high-rise buildings, it is not difficult to judge that the material and technological level there is very advanced. The glass window-style architecture is exactly the same as the modern society that Ethan is familiar with.

Initially, the saint who wrote this book thought it was a dream.

It was ethereal yet incredibly real, and he entered the world of dreams every night after that.

What's even more remarkable is that these dreams are all connected. The decisions he makes in his dreams the previous night will affect his dreams the next time. Everyone he encounters in his dreams will recognize him. In their minds, when he "wakes up," he will disappear for a period of time until he falls asleep again.

But when Winter last read these words, she lost interest, perhaps because she couldn't understand the cities described in the book. Besides the cities, the book also mentioned the political structure of that world, which had a profound impact on the empire's later political system.

The City of Truth has no concept of a nation. The city's supreme ruler is an institution called the "Democratic Council," which became the prototype of the Imperial Council of Seven. In the Democratic Council, there are representatives from the seven most important fields. There is no concept of royalty or king. The Democratic Council is the one that sets all policies.

The empire struck a balance between the two, creating institutions like the Council of Seven while preserving the Henry family.

It is not difficult to see from the text in the book that the author highly admires the politics, culture and technology of the City of Truth. He believes that although the residents of the City of Truth do not have the same power as the superhumans, each of them has become an indispensable fuel for the City of Truth. He can easily name dozens of completely different jobs, and among those jobs, there are obvious differences in the content of the work.

Compared to such a detailed division of labor, the Empire's faith and beliefs appear much coarser. More importantly, since the Scarlet Plague of the Third Era, humanity's faith and beliefs have fallen apart, making it difficult for them to unite powerful superhumans and have them perform their respective duties to contribute to the kingdom.

The author highly praised the city in the dream, taking the City of Truth as the ideal direction for the development of the empire, and constantly using it as a blueprint to offer suggestions to the Henry family.

It turns out that believers in truth from any era have similar behavioral styles, and low emotional intelligence is almost a common problem among them.

As Ethan had predicted, after the author once again expressed his disdain for royal power to Henry I, the first king of the empire could no longer tolerate his remarks and strictly forbade any proposals concerning the City of Truth.

That signaled the Truth Society's withdrawal from politics and its shift towards the field of education.

Henry I did not believe he needed anyone to guide him on how to build an ideal kingdom; what he needed were followers of the God of Truth who could do their job well—that is, to serve in the courts and adjudicate the cases at their disposal.

Since then, the author has become increasingly obsessed with dreams.

In his eyes, the rulers of the City of Truth were the embodiment of wisdom and reason; he even once believed that it was the template left to them by the God of Truth himself. Faced with the lavish hospitality of the Democratic Parliament, he naturally spoke frankly and without reservation.

He spoke of the rising empire of the Sixth Age, their faith, the glorious deeds of the Righteous Gods and the Middle Gods, and... the evil gods who were still secretly watching their world, ready to make a comeback at any moment.

The author also obtained the intelligence he desired from the Democratic Parliament, which included the trajectory of the times, the several wars that swept the world, and the humanity that reunited after the Third War. They learned from their painful experiences and summarized the lessons of the past before finally establishing this ideal nation.

However, the gates of the City of Truth were open only to him.

The author tried countless ways to get Henry I to accompany him so that he could witness the city's charm, see it illuminated by lights at night, a city free of strife, where people could truly understand one another. However, all his efforts failed.

In fact, even members of the Democratic Parliament could not explain why he was there; they suggested it was a special form of synesthesia.

The arrival of the writer confirmed another hypothesis of the City of Truth's inhabitants—that other civilizations and life existed in places unknown to them.

So in the latter half of the book, a new plan between the author and the democratic parliament unfolds.

The Democratic Parliament established a new institution, bringing together top researchers to explore other planes. Both sides are eager to break down the barriers between planes and deepen their friendship.

The author describes himself as a diplomatic ambassador, saying he will personally welcome the starships of the City of Truth when they arrive over the Empire.

However, the beautiful vision shared by both sides ultimately failed to materialize.

They seemed to have fallen at the last step before victory. During the author's final visit, the research department made a breakthrough. Based on the information he provided, the residents of the City of Truth discovered the signals he had sent out by the Empire, which, in the words of the Democratic Council, "were like a lighthouse in the darkness, guiding their way."

Both sides believe that it won't be long before their meetings are no longer confined to dreams.

They would visit the empire and meet in person with the then-aging Henry I.

The Democratic Council made many wonderful promises to him, but after that, he was never able to go to the City of Truth again. When the author awoke in the final installment, he witnessed the launch of the starship from the City of Truth. He was thrilled and made full preparations the moment he woke up.

But victory never came.

Until the very end, the authors did not know where the starship that carried their hopes had gone.

However, Ethan frowned after finishing the book. It was a story full of doubts. With the author's one-sided narrative, it seemed like a beautiful fairy tale, perhaps only found in some space comedies where the details didn't need to be examined closely.

He didn't believe in the "ideal state" described in books.

As long as resource allocation issues persist and people fully understand each other, a world without conflict will not exist.

Moreover, the author never went outside the City of Truth. According to the Democratic Parliament, after the Third War, most of the world's cities were destroyed in bombings, and this city became humanity's last stronghold.

And at the end of the book, the most incredible thing happened.

According to the author's description, the technological level of the City of Truth is basically on par with the modern society in Ethan's memory. So why did the residents of the City of Truth unlock inter-galactic level travel in less than ten years after the establishment of the research department, and even create starships, which exist only in science fiction stories?

According to the author, it was a "flying object comparable to a small city in the empire."

This story presents a stark sense of dissonance to modern readers, but it was perfectly suited to the writer who lived in a backward era.

He never doubted the motives of the Democratic Parliament, and until the very end he remained convinced that it would be a friendly exchange that transcended time.

The author died peacefully in the capital, taking his endless regrets to his grave.

But Ethan had a different opinion.

He didn't know what the starship had encountered during its voyage, but...

Fortunately, they did not come to the Empire.

(End of this chapter)