Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 377 Bringing the boat to shore

The black cat said she didn't like eating people, especially a group of soulless "puppets," as it was no different from gnawing on wood. She preferred to watch life get lost in the darkness—for most species, darkness is their enemy.

Ethan interrupted the little girl's sinister laugh, reminding her that she was now a video creator with tens of thousands of followers. This trick worked wonders; the black cat on the table immediately became much more subdued, and she put on an innocent and harmless appearance.

It turns out that even for elemental spirits, maintaining a certain image can effectively regulate their behavior.

With a deafening roar, the space outside the window distorted, as if the entire city had been annihilated. The next second, the view outside the window was replaced by a vast starry sky. Space warp technology was being demonstrated on the starship. In this timeline, Mr. Ethan, a doctoral student at Mochi Tech, made a great contribution to the scientific world.

Now, he plans to go for a walk inside the cabin.

"I will go with you."

Winter changed into a proper white dress, faced the mirror and put on those sparkling jewelry. In addition to the "Heartbeat Kitchen: Cooking Works More Than Confessions" series, she also collected many videos on dressing up, which opened the door to a new world for her.

She had to admit that the city, which was on the verge of destruction, still had many redeeming qualities, which was perhaps the benefit of peace, giving people enough time to go further and further in the entertainment industry.

Upon hearing this, the black cat on the table darted toward Ethan without a word. She tried to imitate Winter's usual behavior, climbing up Ethan's shoulder along his arm, but Winter intercepted her in mid-air with quick eyes and hands. Then, Winter firmly restrained her upper body with his arms and fixed her to Winter's chest.

After struggling to no avail, the black cat could only let out a distressed "meow".

Failed!
Xiao An deeply reflected on the strategy, and decided that if she encountered this situation again, she should transform back into human form—this Frost Winter, relying on its greater strength in human form, intercepted her.

If it weren't for the constant flow of people in the cabin, she would have loved to transform right there in Winter's arms and explode right then and there.

The most likely outcome would be that both of them lose their balance and fall to the ground together. As a popular internet celebrity with over 10,000 followers, she would never tolerate such a thing happening. On the other hand, Lin Dong, a woman with no followers, is much more assertive in her actions.

The black cat's eyes darted around, and at that moment she realized the downsides of being too famous.

Ethan paid no attention to the cats' scheming. He greeted the passing crew members with a smile. This area was staffed directly by the Democratic Council, and most of them were elites of high society. They wore appropriate clothes and maintained a seemingly unchanging, hypocritical smile on their faces, making it impossible for anyone to see through their thoughts.

Ethan suddenly realized something and asked the black cat in Winter's arms, "What are they all thinking?"

He felt that this was the real opportunity for mind-reading to be used, rather than trying to figure out what learning materials he had saved in his bookmarks.

"I haven't thought about anything."

The black cat listened intently for a while, then said, "They are all very pure."

Humans who are true to their word are rare, and even Ethan is no exception. However, most people on this starship are truly true to their word. Although they dress like hypocritical upper-class elites and every word they say seems to hide a hundred ulterior motives, in reality, their thoughts are very pure.

They simply exchanged their identity information, which was the first step in social interaction.

Ethan understood.

This must be one of the side effects of losing one's soul.

Ethan even wondered whether the humans who were chatting with each other gathered here out of free will or were driven by some kind of program or setting. Just like common sense dictates that on the first day of boarding a ship, people should get to know each other, so they left their rooms and meticulously carried out the "program" settings.

Ethan listened carefully for a moment, but judging from their manner of conversation, they were incredibly close to real humans. There were no rigid platitudes or the stiff speaking patterns of AI. They talked about their professions, families, and the various interesting things they had recently encountered. If it weren't for mind-reading abilities, no one would have guessed that their minds were empty.

Clearly, they were unaware of the starship's fate.

In Mr. Mediterranean's story, it got lost deep inside the black hole.

His grandfather made a final phone call, trying to tell his family what had happened on the ship: the crew had gone mad, including his grandfather himself; perhaps they were still alive, or perhaps they had been twisted into monsters by darkness.

Ethan moved through the crowd, the fate of the starship contrasting sharply with the lively atmosphere inside the cabin.

Ultimately, the starship that carried the hopes of the people of the City of Truth neither reached the Empire nor returned to its homeland.

A short while later, Ethan suddenly stopped.

He spotted two familiar figures in the group of people chatting. One of them looked to be in his sixties, with a distinctive Mediterranean hairstyle. His eyes were bright and his features were much more austere than Mr. Mediterranean's. The woman who was judging him also noticed Ethan and Winter and waved to them from a distance.

“This is Mr. Duya, a shipwright on the Pioneer,” Zhuang Xiao introduced them. “This is Mr. Ethan and his wife.”

“I’ve heard of you.” Du Ya’s eyes lit up. “A top student from Mochi Engineering, one of the founders of space warp technology… I never imagined you were so young!”

Ethan knew that the time flow in the "dream" was abnormal. This was the sixth day of the "dream's" existence, but from the perspective of time, several months or even a year or two had likely passed since he said goodbye to the three professors. He could not determine the exact time because the three professors' research on space warp technology was not recorded in the book "City of Truth".

The early philosophers of the Truth Society were unaware of the existence of the Western Suburbs Research Institute and the large shelter hidden beneath the city.

Du Ya took the initiative to share his life experiences with the two of them.

He worked in the aerospace sector in his early years, and was later transferred to the Consensus Obelisk due to his outstanding technical skills. On the day the decision was made to deploy the starship, he responded to the call of the Democratic Parliament and took the initiative to devote himself to this great cause.

During their conversation, the group arrived at the restaurant, led by Zhuang Xiao.

The upscale and luxurious decor perfectly matched the status of the people in this area. The prices on the menu made Lin Dong frown. Ever since she started teaching herself to cook, she and Xiao An had been buying the ingredients every day. Seeing those not-so-expensive ingredients suddenly increase in price dozens of times was quite a shock to her.

“Speaking of which, I have a grandson who is a bit younger than you. He is about to start junior high school. I have always wanted to send him to a place like Mochi Polytechnic to study.”

Duya's manner of speaking was closer to that of the department head implanted in his memory. Ethan guessed that Duya was likely the prototype of that Mediterranean leader, but due to the change in his status, he became much more polite and talkative, and after they got to know each other, he talked about his family.

With a harmonious family, he fulfilled his wish of having a grandson in his sixties.

"It's a pity that the child isn't cut out for studying. His grades in class have always been mediocre, and he's not really interested in it."

The seemingly ordinary conversation made the atmosphere at the dinner table much more serious.

Zhuang Xiao's expression also became somewhat unnatural. They all knew that the grandson Du Ya mentioned was Du Li, who had been found dead in his apartment by the neighbors two days ago.

Just when Ethan thought that Duya would, like most elders, hope that he would share some learning methods and experiences with the child that would actually be of no use, the little old man changed the subject and chuckled, "But not everything in this world goes as planned. I've come to terms with it. If he's not cut out for studying or working, it's good for him to live a happy life as an ordinary person. Although that kid doesn't like studying much, there's nothing wrong with his personality. When he grows up, he won't be unable to find a job, will he?"

Ethan and Zhuang Xiao looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

Zhuang Xiao ordered a bottle of high-end red wine, and Du Ya, engrossed in conversation, downed two glasses of the wine as if it were a beverage.

Duya was very excited today, completely immersed in his wonderful vision of the future, just like everyone else on the starship. According to Ethan's observation, they did not know the true purpose of the starship, or the reason why the soldiers stationed in other cabins boarded the ship.

An unprecedented friendly exchange ensued, with them firmly believing in the decisions of the democratic parliament and considering themselves pioneers in territorial expansion.

"Once trade between the two places is opened up, countless new opportunities will emerge. If that kid is lucky enough to catch up with the times, he might just be able to make a name for himself."

Duya had been actively inquiring about the "Empire," trying his best to understand these new things. "Mysticism, Taoist beliefs—you young people are much more astute than I am. These paths might become mainstream in the future."

Time passed by second by second, and before we knew it, it was late at night.

The conversation was interrupted by gasps of amazement from the restaurant patrons, which drew even more people to the window.

They saw strange celestial phenomena among the stars.

At first it looked like a crack, but as the starship drew closer, the crack slowly opened up toward them, revealing an internal vortex-like structure.

The magnificent black vortex heralded the approaching nightmare.

In Mr. Mediterranean's story, the starship failed to escape the pull of the black hole, and after that, there was pitch-black darkness.

People discussed the black vortex, observing this cosmic wonder with pure admiration, knowing nothing about the future.

Until the captain gave orders to all his crew.

At that moment, his eyes were bathed in a holy white light.

"Move the boat alongside."

(End of this chapter)