Mystery: When the Lost Homelanders Meet the Lost Homeland Call

"Of course not." Zhenzao answered without hesitation. "Although our relationship is not very deep, the fact that you just helped us suppress God's resurrection, as well as the ability and goodwill you have shown towards humanity, is enough for us to establish a long-term cooperation."

"Based on this, as long as you do not take the initiative to become our enemy, we have no reason to attack you."

"You are a good man, even a saint," Adam said gently.

"I got a saint card."

Lynn noticed that Zhenzao's words did not mention friendship or "thank you".

In the modern Grisha Adam mindset, action and reward are clearly separated. They remember the kindness of others, but do not measure decisions by emotions. They reciprocate through cooperation, but not out of personal affection.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony," Lynn said. "Now that the cooperation is settled, I need to talk about compensation. After all, my flurry of punches just now solved a major problem for you. Although the threat of God's resurrection hasn't been completely eliminated, it has at least been significantly delayed. I want some compensation."

Adam nodded slightly: "What do you want?"

"First, the relics of the divine war." Lynn held up one finger.

"I want control of that sea stretching from the eastern edge of the Sunia Sea to the Forsaken Land. There are vast amounts of residual divine power and various strange phenomena there, which would be invaluable to my and the White Tower's research. And I also need..."

"Zhenzao, I need you to clean up the power there so that even demigods and above can safely enter and exit, or at least be relatively safe."

Zhenzao didn't hesitate: "Okay. I will gather and seal the remaining power, so that high-sequence extraordinary beings can also move around there. But I cannot interfere with the other remnants of divine power."

"That's enough," Lynn nodded. "I don't need that place to become a park."

He then held up a second finger: "Second request. I need some extraordinary properties; I can discuss the specific list in detail. They must currently exist as sealed artifacts or properties, or originate from those condemned to death. And, I must emphasize one point."

Lynn looked into Adam and Zhenzao's eyes, his tone becoming serious:

"One must possess the characteristics of an ancient scholar."

Adam's expression didn't change noticeably, and Zhenzai merely tilted his head slightly. But Lynn noticed that the two exchanged another glance—brief, swift, and incredibly revealing.

"Yes," Adam finally spoke, his voice as calm as ever. "I possess a document of the characteristics of an ancient scholar. As part of the reward, it can be given to you."

"There's one more." Lynn held up a third finger. "I want..."

Shinzo stared at his finger hovering in the air, waiting for him to continue.

Lynn was silent for a few seconds, then lowered the finger. He changed his tone, making it more relaxed than before:

"Alright. Let's leave it at that for now. There will be many more opportunities for cooperation in the future; we don't need to recover all the favors at once."

Shinzo looked at him for a while, then suddenly smiled. The smile wasn't ostentatious; it was just a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth. But on that face that was always shrouded in shadow, it was a fairly obvious expression: "That's good news."

"That's called long-term investment," Lynn said. "Anyway, I'm not afraid you'll renege on your promise."

"Indeed." Shinzo pulled another bottle of vodka from the shadows, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and said, "With your current strength, if you really wanted to renege on your debt, you would have ways to make us pay the price. So you are fully confident in making a 'long-term investment'."

Lynn nodded.

Adam set down the half-empty Water of Life, looked at Lynn, and said calmly, "There's one more thing."

"you say."

"Strictly speaking, the Ruins of the Gods are a buffer zone between the Forsaken Lands and the Northern and Southern Continents, as well as between the Seven Gods and the True Creator. That area is not solely under our influence. If you're offering that as a reward, it's hardly worth it."

Adam's meaning was clear: given Lynn's status and strength, coupled with his friendly attitude towards humanity, he could directly claim the ruins, and both the Seven Gods and the True Creator would tacitly approve. As for the remnants of divine power, He did not believe Lynn lacked the means to clean them up.

So, isn't it a bit too much of a concession to offer this as compensation here?

"I find it too much trouble and don't want to clean it myself," Lynn said, shrugging. "Besides, I can ask for more from the special features."

"Control of a quarter of the land in the Forsaken Land, starting from the seal of the Source Castle on the east side—" the True Creator suddenly spoke, "If you need, I can transfer control of that area to you."

Lynn blinked.

The idea of ​​a true creator is quite generous; the subtext is that Lynn has been entrusted with the possibility of communicating with the Western Continent and the benefits behind it.

Although there's really nothing I can do about it, the opportunity itself is quite valuable.

"Alright," Lynn said, "It's settled then. I'll come back to collect the land deed after you've finished dealing with your current matters."

Neither Adam nor the Creator refuted the term "land deed." Perhaps they felt the metaphor was apt, or perhaps they felt it unnecessary to dwell on such details. The three beings sat quietly for a while in the depths of the Forsaken Land, amidst eternal darkness and the occasional flash of lightning.

Then Lynn broke the silence: "What are your plans next? Since it's a collaboration, let's discuss it."

Grisha's voice was even lower than before: "Before we get down to business, there's something I need to say first."

Lynn didn't interrupt, but simply tilted his head slightly, signaling Him to continue.

"You saw my state before." Grisha's tone held no self-pity; he was simply stating a fact.

"I was crazy for many years. During that time, the Aurora Society did a lot of things. Most of them were done in accordance with my divine will, and some were done in my name, although during that time the difference between 'me' and that person was very, very small."

Grisha's voice remained steady: "Regardless of how much of what happened was driven by God's will, or how much was due to the madness of the Aurora Society members themselves, as long as it was done in my name, I will bear the sin."

Lynn nodded. "I understand."

"As a sign of our sincere desire for long-term cooperation with you," the voice of the true Creator said, as if delivering a judgment, "I will have those who are willing to die for me kill the ungodly around them, and then commit suicide."

Lynn: "Dude, you..."

"If you are guilty, pay for it." So says the true Creator.

Adam, standing nearby, honestly said, "Your humanity is strong and sincere, so we will consider the emotional factor. We speculate that you cannot accept that your collaborator's subordinates are cultists."

"That's true, but your decisiveness still surprises me. What about the anchor if the lower-level believers are gone? And are the angels under your command going to commit suicide too?"

Angels under the True Creator: Am I going to die too?

Lynn said doubtfully, "Is the benefit I'm currently showing just to appease my feelings that I'm killing all the angels?"

"And Adam, your Twilight Hermit Society isn't exactly clean either."

"I can develop new believers in this process, and there are also some angels who rarely interfere in the human world," Zhenzao replied.

"I will change the way I intervene in the trends of the times," Adam replied.

"Alright, alright," Lynn interrupted them. "I'm not that idealistic. Grisha, keep those brainless bastards who believe you blindly. You take responsibility for their sins. I need them alive to work."

"Moral stagnation can't save people. The Aurora Society and the Twilight Hermit Society are massive organizations with roots in the population, channels at the grassroots level, and infiltration into the intelligence system. Eliminating your most fanatical and die-hard core members may indeed atone for some of your sins. But those people, if they were alive, could do much more."

After listening to this, Grisha remained silent for a few moments, then let out a very soft, almost sighing sound: "You are more pragmatic than I thought."

Lynn said, "Pragmatism is the only way to survive; the dead must make way for the living."

"I still need to test the limits of my intervention. During this time, I may not be able to offer much help in the high-level battles between the extraordinary. Now that the barrier has been weakened, I need your strength and that of your subordinates."

He sat up straight, pointed to the sky with one hand, and looked at Adam and Grisha respectively: "The Outer Gods will not let this opportunity pass by. A crack has appeared in the barrier, which is not a crack, and the existence of Leviathan has given them an opportunity to observe and learn."

"If I were any of the Outer Gods, I would use this window of opportunity to do two things: first, try to penetrate something into the Earth's interior through that channel; second, observe that Leviathan, learn what an Outer God is, and how to deal with it."

"From a certain perspective, this is a good thing. The more research they do, the more we can achieve in the future. The premise is that we are the winners."

Both the true Creator and Adam nodded solemnly.

"Let's get back to business."

Adam spoke first: "My initiation ceremony requires some assistance; the payment is negotiable."

The true Creator has neither attempted to act against Adam at this time nor made any indication of doing so.

Perhaps this is the tacit understanding between brothers.

Well, strictly speaking, it's about the tacit understanding between oneself and oneself?

"Because the barrier malfunctioned prematurely, the general trend of the era has spiraled out of control, and the ritual to become a god is incomplete. Do you need my help to stabilize the will later?" Lynn pondered.

Indeed, the barrier broke prematurely. It's unclear whether the true gods will start a divine war ahead of schedule or instead cooperate and compete to see who can establish a connection with the source matter first.

If it's the former, then it's a PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) competition; if it's the latter...

Are male and female gods charging forward?

"If that's the reason, I have a suggestion." Lynn offered a new solution: "I have a project called Virtual Universe. Would you be interested in working for me... ah, no, collaborating with me?"

"I'm currently short of screenwriters, map designers, modelers, and numerical balancers..."

"In a universe that's close to real—no, strictly speaking, this is a real universe, just smaller," Adam pondered after listening to Lynn's explanation. "But ultimately, extraordinary properties are built upon the main universe..."

"It's alright, it's free anyway, let's give it a try." Lynn extended his hand to Adam with a sincere smile. "I'll participate in the ritual cooperation, why not give the virtual universe thing a try?"

"Okay." Adam shook hands with Lynn.

The True Creator continued, "Although I don't know how you did it, I feel that my madness has simply been suppressed."

Lynn: "It's probably just another case of two abilities stepping on each other to create some kind of rational aura."

Grisha continued, "I will take advantage of God's weakened state to restore my mental state during my slumber, while simultaneously engaging in confrontation and integration, and cooperating with Adam to achieve initial integration."

"My friend, you must be careful then, what I say may not be what I actually say."

Lynn's eyes narrowed; this tactic was very similar to the Fool Sleeping situation in the second movie.

They engage in mental combat while asleep, while outwardly they engage in a bidding war for numbers.

Adam still did not choose to merge directly with the true creator. Lynn speculated that it was because if the Old Ones were created based on the visionaries, their power would be stronger during the semi-Old Ones period.

Therefore, the two gods are now preparing for a possible crisis. If a huge crisis suddenly breaks out, the true creation will merge with Adam as the master, thereby unleashing a power close to God in a short period of time.

"On this matter," Lynn began, "I have an idea."

Grisha turned his gaze from Adam to Lynn. Adam also turned his head slightly, indicating that he was listening.

"I suggest you don't rush to merge with God," Lynn said. "I'm working on a way to completely suppress the old will and merge with it without compromise."

"If you merge now, it will be very difficult to get your humanity back once it's been destroyed. You can wait and see how things go on my end."

"Alright. I will focus on suppression," Grisha agreed.

Adam nodded.

"Is there anything else?" Lynn asked them. "If not, I need to focus on dealing with Leviathan."

Adam said, "If you want to deal with the Outer Gods like the Rose School, I suggest you act as soon as possible."

"Indeed." Lynn nodded.

"The Rose School has many secret outposts in the Southern Continent, mainly used for handling the transfer of resources from the Southern Continent and various rituals. Even if we take down the smaller outposts, it will be difficult to truly cripple the Rose School itself."

"The Mother Tree of Desire will try to intercept our pursuit. But with your strength and unique abilities, you should be able to strike them before the Outer Gods can react."

Zhenzao continued, "Leviathan interfered with the barrier, and the Outer Gods who were trying to infiltrate saw this and accelerated their actions. The Rose School was one of the organizations most deeply influenced by the Outer Gods."

"The Mother Tree may take advantage of the instability of the barrier to strengthen its blessings upon them."

"And then there's the Black Emperor Roselle, a new true god completely controlled by the Outer Gods, who will accelerate the collapse of the barrier."

Lynn stood up and stretched his shoulders:

"Then I'll go deal with Russell's situation first. You two—" He looked at Grisha and then at Adam, "—use this time to recover, stabilize the Aurora Society, and while you're at it, think about whether to organize a joint missionary effort or something."

Grisel gave a low hum, a sound somewhere between laughter and rejection: "Joint missionary work? Me and him?"

"You are two sides of the same person," Lynn said matter-of-factly, "just with different personalities. Your theological systems should have been integrated anyway; it would have been much more reasonable to claim an 'omnipotent and omniscient Creator with two sides' or something like that."

Grisha glanced at Adam. Adam's expression remained unchanged. Grisha then glanced at Lynn.

"...Never mind," Grisha said. "Let's talk about it after I've recovered."

Lynn didn't insist, waving his hand, "Then I'll be going now. Take care."

He turned away, never to look back. A ghostly green flame rose from his body, burning brightly and briefly in the eternal darkness of the Forsaken Land, before he and the flames vanished together on this cursed land.

Grisha and Adam sat on the mound, watching the direction in which the green fire had disappeared. A silence followed for a while.

"Grisha," Adam began.

"Um."

He's right.

Grisha didn't ask which "yes" referred to. He simply turned his head slightly and glanced at Adam's figure sitting on the other side of the mound. The two beings, with similar faces but different auras, stared at each other for a moment in this eternal darkness, then each looked away.

The aurora viewing event definitely needs to be rearranged.

Deep within the land forsaken by God, above the enormous cross, the upside-down figure became blurred again, while below the cross, Adam's figure had vanished.

Having been beaten up and thrown into the shadows to reflect on his actions, Amon was holding a bottle of walnut-flavored milk, quietly sucking on the straw, his eyes fixed intently on the base of the cross, as if pondering some profound question.

Finally, He spoke to the cross: "Father."

Amon seemed to have no expectation of a response, and after standing quietly for a while, he prepared to turn and leave.

The shadow suddenly shifted, and a voice rang out: "Go back. Learn from this next time. A thief's instinct isn't for stealing your friends."

Amon shuddered, immediately averting his gaze and quietly retreating into the darkness. The straw of the walnut-flavored milk made one last faint hissing sound in his mouth, then disappeared.

-

When Lynn emerged from the Forsaken Land, it was dusk on the sea. He stood high in the sky and looked down; the waves of the Sunia Sea stretched out like a shimmering, golden-red ribbon in the sunset. In the distance, a merchant ship was sailing westward, its sails billowing in the wind, gleaming softly white in the sunlight.

He wasn't in a hurry to find the White Tower. Leviathan's calculations in the astral plane still needed time, and the subsequent development of the virtual universe was progressing as planned. It was uncertain how Rosell would handle the situation.

He needed to organize the information he had just obtained in the Forsaken Land.

He hovered high in the air for a while, then chose a reef close to the land and landed.

The reef wasn't large, about three or four meters square, its surface covered with dried barnacle shells and sea salt crystals. Lynn sat down on the reef, facing the sea, letting the sea breeze blow directly on his face. The salty, damp wind made him feel more awake, like an external cooling effect on his consciousness.

He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling his conversation with Grisha and Adam.

Grisha's condition was better than he had expected. After God's will was severely damaged, He recovered quickly, but it had a sense of a final burst of energy before His death, and hopefully He could stabilize into a normal state.

Lynn began to think about the remnants of the war of gods again. He had thought about the church being God's instrument before, but this was especially evident in the issues of the remnants of the war of gods and the land abandoned by God.

The church has been searching for the Forsaken Land for millennia. For thousands of years, the church has invested considerable human and material resources, but has never succeeded. And those who truly know where the Forsaken Land is—the seven true gods—have never revealed any information to their church.

Lynn guessed that the Seven Gods didn't want the Church to find the Forsaken Land because:

Unlike the Primal Witch and the Hidden Sage, who lack large bases, the True Creator possesses the entire Forsaken Land. If the Church finds the Forsaken Land, a religious war engulfing the entire continent will be almost inevitable.

The followers of the seven true gods will wage a holy war that will last for hundreds of years on this cursed land, and the result of this war will only make it easier for the outer gods to infiltrate and for the barriers to collapse.

Of course, the more fundamental reason is that the Seven Gods are a loose alliance.

Gods that are not adjacent to each other do not want to fight each other, as the benefits are generally less than the risks. However, the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom may fight each other first.

The situation Lynn is in now is that the Seven Gods have tacitly approved of Lynn's guild reforms at Tingen Wharf, because they are unwilling to confront a powerful stranger.

"This is Sequence Zero," Lynn murmured with a sigh.

-

Meanwhile, after finishing his barbecue, Klein was strolling in the dock area when he saw a small house marked by a wooden sign in a corner of the newly cleared plaza.

The small hut was located in the southeast corner of the square. Its exterior walls were made of rough wooden planks painted a light gray, and it had a small window with glass panes. Dim yellow light shone through the window, as if someone was working inside.

The wooden sign reads "Life and Future Planning Office," with a smaller line below: "Fortune Telling, Consultation, Life Guidance. Reasonable Fees. Appointments Welcome."

The sign looked exactly like Lynn's handwriting. Klein could even clearly picture the smile on Lynn's face as he wrote those words.

Klein approached and saw a handwritten price list hanging in the window:

Simple fortune telling: 3 pence

Detailed Divination: 10 Sule

Life planning consultation: Price negotiable.

"First experience free (tonight only)"

Klein stared at the line "First experience free" for a long time, his lips moving slightly.

"Since it's free, why not give it a try?" thought the God of Poverty.

He reached out and pushed open the slightly ajar wooden door.

Behind the door was a very clean little room. There was a table, two chairs, a gas lamp, an old tarot deck, a pendulum, and a few things that looked like handwritten copies on the table. The walls were completely undecorated, without even a painting or a map.

A man sat behind the table. He was dressed in a simple dark coat and looked quite young. His Asian features appeared somewhat soft in the dim light. He was fiddling with a crystal pendulum in his hand. Hearing the door open, he looked up, met Klein's gaze, and gave him a very friendly smile.

"Welcome to the Life and Future Planning Department," Lynn said, his tone as natural as if he'd been working there for ten years. "Your first experience tonight is free. Want to give it a try?"

"I knew it was you." Klein covered his face.