Chapter 498 The Sugar-Free Era
The cartographer's tone didn't seem to be describing the Asahi I knew; it was more like describing a killing machine disguised as Asahi.
No matter who the target is, they are all killed without mercy. They walk like demons in the apocalypse. The Asahi I know would never do such a thing.
I do want to take advantage of my arrival in the apocalyptic era to explore more of Asaho's past, but isn't this information a bit too explosive? "The Witch of the Gospel"—what a dark and cool nickname... No, behind this nickname lies a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. My feelings might not be very serious.
Regardless, the cartographer's description of Ma Zao is still too bizarre.
While Asaho may have values that are out of step with modern society, and she speaks of killing without any reservations and shows no mercy in battle, at the end of the day, she is still a kind and good child at heart.
She desires happiness for others, suffers from the pain of bringing misfortune to those she comes into contact with, and wants to atone for the sins of causing others' deaths in the past by saving the world. This is certainly not the kind of thought that a heartless, bloodless killer would have.
Or perhaps, the Asahi I know has been putting on an act for me all along, telling me lies? That's absolutely impossible.
I was reminded of the time distortion phenomenon in the apocalyptic era that the cartographer mentioned earlier. In this distorted apocalyptic spacetime, one might encounter another version of oneself from a different time, and this other version would mostly originate from an individual with a shattered potential, making them more evil and chaotic than their counterpart in normal time.
Therefore, it is possible that there was a Maza from a different time who wreaked havoc and killed people in the apocalypse, which led to those chilling and bloody rumors.
At the same time, the word "Gospel" in Asahi's nickname made me think of another possibility.
Asaha was once a member of Fukuinin High School, where she had a hidden past that even she herself had forgotten. Yomi, the Great Impermanence of Fukuinin, accused Asaha of being a villain who "claimed to save the world but was actually accelerating the end times"...
Perhaps the Asahi during her time at Evangelion University had a different personality from the Asahi of today. The former was the "witch of the gospel" who accelerated the end times, while the latter was the Asahi I knew well, the kind-hearted one.
After hearing the cartographer's words, Tanxiang cautiously asked a question: "Um... I know exactly what 'witch' means, but what does 'gospel' mean?"
"The Witch of the Gospel comes from an organization called 'Gospel Institute,' which is the only large human force after the apocalypse and the place where the most blessed monks gather," the cartographer replied. "If you encounter people from the Gospel Institute in the future, never get close. Just treat them as part of a strange horde walking on the apocalyptic land, and run as far away as possible."
"Why is that?" I asked, somewhat surprised.
Although the Gospel Institute is an enemy of Luo Shan, in the post-apocalyptic era, as the only large human force, they should be on the side of humanity. Moreover, Huang Quan has hinted that the Gospel Institute is an organization that saves the world; even if they are doing something bad in secret, they should at least appear to be a righteous organization on the surface.
Unexpectedly, the cartographer said seriously, "The Gospel House is an evil organization dedicated to eliminating humanity."
"The reason why the Witch of the Gospel is famous is because she is one of the top elite warriors in the Gospel Academy, and she has slaughtered countless people; and even ordinary monks in the Gospel Academy do things that are no different from those of the Witch of Karma."
"They would drag survivors like us out from under the rubble and kill us, even more viciously than many other monsters. When faced with monsters we couldn't fight, we could simply hide and avoid them; but the Evangelical monks, being human themselves, knew our survival patterns well and were much better at finding and killing us."
"There are even rumors that the apocalypse was a super disaster brought about by the organization Gospel House, and that it was all part of their plan to exterminate all of humanity..."
Is this what the Gospel House is like in the end times? This creates a stark contradiction with Huang Quan's attitude.
An organization that intends to save the world would actually commit the atrocity of slaughtering humanity... Could it be that, in the eyes of Gospelin, saving the world and saving humanity are separate concepts? Or is there some complex and hidden story behind it all?
Sandalwood then quipped, "What kind of biohazard company is this? Could it be that they accidentally developed some outrageous virus in a lab and then leaked it, causing the apocalypse?"
He really does like zombie movies.
I like it too.
"I don't know about that."
The cartographer gave a brief response at first, then looked at me and asked, "So... Zhuang Cheng, is that girl named Ma Zao really your former partner? And not some enemy?"
Sandalwood's expression changed slightly, and she looked at me as well.
After thinking it over, I asked, "Could there be some misunderstanding? I vaguely remember that Asaha was a girl with extremely bad luck. She easily attracted strange things, causing trouble for the team... Is it possible that she didn't kill anyone with her own hands, but rather that the strange things she summoned killed people?"
The cartographer glanced down at the diary, then shook his head: "At least based on what I've heard from other survivors, those she killed were all murdered by her own hands."
"Never mind." He closed the diary. "Anyway, you've already forgotten the past. Whether the witch of the Gospel was your former partner or enemy... or even whether you were a monk at the Gospel Institute in the past, these questions have nothing to do with you now."
"Memories washed away by madness can never be retrieved. Your past self is dead and can never be brought back. Now, you are just an ordinary survivor, struggling to survive alongside us."
Sandalwood exclaimed in surprise, "Ah... just like that?"
“Otherwise?” the cartographer said matter-of-factly.
The nerves of post-apocalyptic survivors are really thick-skinned.
Since the cartographer didn't mind, I stopped thinking about how to respond and shifted my attention to the wandering spirit, trying to find out clues about the small bowl from him.
Unfortunately, even I couldn't find a solution for this man who seemed to have completely lost even the most basic ability to speak. One thing I could vaguely observe was that the wandering soul possessed a soul strength at the level of a sage. I consulted the cartographer, who nodded, saying that the wandering soul, as a former comrade-in-arms, possessed power no less than his own. If only the wandering soul were an ordinary survivor, then even the half-destroyed replica of the Moon in the Water wouldn't be of any use.
I tried repeatedly to provoke the wandering spirit, but it was like a wild beast, giving only irrational reactions, and it kept glaring at Tanxiang, this easy target, making Tanxiang panic.
After a moment, I came to a conclusion. To get the wandering spirit to speak, I still had to rely on the power of words.
While I am currently unable to use the power of words, once I complete the analysis and adaptation to the order of the post-apocalyptic spacetime, even if it is only a part of it, I will be able to use the power of words and force such a high-ranking character to give a proper answer.
This won't take long; it can be done today.
It's a bit strange to say "within today" in a place where there is no sunrise or sunset.
Just then, the faint aroma of food wafted from downstairs, and the cartographer's stomach rumbled awkwardly.
“…Then let’s have a meal together first,” the cartographer suggested. “In ancient times, it seems that there was a practice of swearing an oath of blood when forming alliances. We don’t need to go through those formalities here. Just sit down and have a proper meal together, and that will be the ceremony for forming an alliance.”
Although I don't need to eat, I went along with this ritualistic need. We went downstairs and ate together. We ate canned food stewed in a hot pot pot; the taste wasn't particularly good, but given our current circumstances, we couldn't expect too much.
The boy I'd seen earlier, and the girl who'd screamed incoherently, were now sitting around the table. The girl had returned to her blank, expressionless state; at least she knew she was supposed to eat, mechanically moving her chopsticks and bowl, and she no longer reacted with the same fear she'd shown earlier.
The illustrator placed several candles on the dining table for lighting. Unlike when facing my flame, the girl showed no interest in the candle flames.
Assuming the "flame-manipulating monster" that attacked and massacred the girl's group in the past was the Great Demon of Calamity, why would she connect my flames with the Great Demon of Calamity's flames? This is the question that came to my mind.
Although I had previously wondered if the Great Demon of Calamity might be me from the apocalypse, according to Asahi and Kobo, the Great Demon of Calamity is a monster whose body is wrapped in black flames, while my previous fireballs were not black.
Or did I make a mistake in the premise that the "strange thing that manipulates fire" is not the Great Demon of Calamity?
I then noticed that there was also a can of tomato sauce on the table, but for some reason, the tomato sauce only tasted sour and didn't seem spoiled. Sandalwood seemed a little puzzled as well and raised a question.
“After the apocalypse, sweetness disappeared from our world,” the cartographer replied.
"What do you mean the sweetness has disappeared?" Sandalwood was stunned.
“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” the cartographer said. “Some survivors still remember what ‘sweet’ tastes like, but they can’t taste sweetness from any substance. Even if you ask me why this happened, I can’t answer that.”
"One theory is that in the past, 'sweetness' was considered a taste closely linked to happiness, but after the end of the world, the concept of 'happiness' disappeared, and therefore sweetness also disappeared from the world."
"At least you can find canned tomato sauce. It is said that in the past there was a condiment called white sugar, which seemed to be common in the kitchens of every household, but I have never heard of anyone collecting such an item in the ruins."
"The only substance that comes close to sweetness that we can access now is fresh blood. Mad demons crave the sweet and pungent taste of blood, perhaps because it gives them a sense of happiness."
Sandalwood muttered to itself, "This is not scientific..."
I had a similar thought.
But the next moment, I remembered the egg and milk pastry that Ma Zao had made for me in the past.
Soufflé is a dessert that requires a lot of white sugar. Asa once made it for me after I fought against the succulent. She said at the time that she "for some reason remembered how to make this dessert," but in a post-apocalyptic era where white sugar and sweetness did not exist, where did she learn how to make soufflé?
Ultimately, does the concept of "dessert" really exist in this era?
(End of this chapter)
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