Chapter Sixty-Three
"You might be disappointed to hear this, but I don't have many memories of that city, and I've never even been inside the inner city. Besides, that was several years ago." Ghost Duke shrugged, somewhat embarrassed, indicating that he didn't have much to say.
His memories, after this period of life, had roughly come to a conclusion: he didn't have any particularly memorable experiences in this world.
However, he remembered all the memories of his original world, and remembered them clearly.
Only then could he realize his previous delusion—why he mistakenly believed he could thrive in this other world. He knew nothing; he was originally just a student wasting his time in university. He got into a mediocre university through art, and his nightly sleepless nights had weakened his body.
Everything here is completely different from what I originally knew; all that so-called knowledge is utterly useless here.
That was also why he went to Nidra; he felt it was a city that had developed through machinery, and he came from a very futuristic, technological society. Ghost Duke naturally assumed he might be able to make something of himself there.
In the end, he left before even finishing his apprenticeship, for too many reasons. From being unable to bear the heat of the steamer to being exhausted from the long hours, and the knowledge he simply couldn't learn.
"Is that so?" Lady didn't get the information she wanted, and lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought.
This made Ghost Duke feel a little embarrassed that he couldn't even play this role, and he wanted to find something to talk about. After all, opportunities to talk to such a beautiful girl are rare, and having a good chat before the unexpected happens is the best way to make the most of this little bit of luck.
"Your name is very nice. Who gave you that name?" Ghost Duke wanted to start the conversation with such a small question.
"Father."
"Where is your father? Will I be able to see him when I go to that city?"
"Dead."
How to kill a conversation in two sentences.
Ghost Duke stammered, unsure how to continue. He could only rub his forehead, recalling the anime he used to watch, and wondering how he would chat with other girls in this alternate world.
However, he soon realized that he hadn't grasped the essence of it, and then smiled helplessly.
"What are you laughing at?" Lady asked, a little confused. It was quite startling to hear a man sitting next to her suddenly chuckle like that.
"I'm laughing at myself for not being the protagonist but fantasizing about being treated like one." Ghost Duke realized he should stop his meaningless laughter, since everyone around him was asleep. His laughter had at least woken up Karl, who was glaring at him fiercely.
Most people wouldn't pursue this further after asking, since the question seems rather cryptic.
What is a protagonist?
Just as Ghost Duke was about to leave to find a place to sleep, Lady suddenly spoke.
“You should at least have read the novel, right? That’s the gist of it.” Ghost Duke paused and said, “Every story has a protagonist. Everything revolves around him, and everything is like a thread that’s tied together. Even if he encounters setbacks, he will always move forward at the core. And in the end, he can change or do many things that others don’t acknowledge.”
Lady paused for a moment, then hesitated before asking, "Are you the main character?"
"Me? Probably not. After all, I've been here for hundreds of years, and all I've done is suffer. I haven't accumulated anything. So I'm definitely not the protagonist." Ghost Duke looked at Lady and said very seriously, "Do you want to live?"
"I want to," Lady muttered softly.
“Then go find the protagonist and become close to him. That way you’ll at least be a supporting female character or… well, you’re so pretty, you might even be the female lead.” Ghost Duke said, then rested his head on his hand and smiled helplessly. “That way you can survive. Unless the person who wrote this story is mentally unstable, you’ll definitely be fine.”
"Write?"
“Sorry, that’s just my habitual way of addressing you.” Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment, then said, “I used to write novels for a while, and one day I suddenly had a strange thought. Could everything I’ve experienced be a book written by some being we can’t reach? That guy might be sitting in front of his computer right now, with coffee next to him, typing away. A few simple words could decide our fate.”
Suddenly, he clutched his head, his expression turning ferocious:
"Even what I'm saying and doing right now might just be a fragment that came to mind on a whim. Ha! It's ironic that even if I give it my all, it's just a fragment or idea that someone else had during lunch. And right now, if he didn't have this idea, I wouldn't even be able to die."
Then he stepped out of the carriage, feeling he had said enough. He wanted to go outside to clear his head. If he remembered correctly, there was a beast-eared girl outside named Deedri? She was quite beautiful, with a stunning figure. She seemed more interesting to talk to than this guy, so he decided to go out and chat with her to make his evening a little more interesting.
Lady stared at the closed door, still processing the information that had just happened.
"Why did you bring that guy along? He's a madman," Karl said, somewhat annoyed. He hadn't been able to sleep because of the noise, and he had used his holy magic to shield Lori's hearing so she could sleep better.
“That guy might be a demon.” Ark, who was not far away, said hesitantly, “After all, his ability is extremely strange. Even without any magic, he can regenerate without limit. And from what I’ve been asking around these past few days, I’ve gathered that even if he’s sealed or his whole body is torn apart and sent into another dimension, he will be completely recovered after waking up, and he’ll even be wearing clothes that he got from somewhere. And not much time has passed.”
"A bizarre and disgusting ability," Karl commented. "Are there many such monstrous things in this world?"
“Not many, but if you come with us, I reckon you’ll see all these strange things.” Yak said helplessly, “Anyway, I’ve seen plenty of demons and monsters. I even know the Demon King. That guy said he’d definitely help if I ever needed anything.”
At this point, Yak's frozen expression began to thaw, as if he were talking about something very happy.
This guy only seems happy when talking about his past, like a ghost living in the past. He should be in the underworld, but he's wandering the mortal world now.
Carl looked at the guy but didn't say anything more.
He had long known how unsafe the world was. It was astonishing that the world was so peaceful now; there were far too many monsters and demons in the world. If it weren't for the Church's supreme military power suppressing them, the world would probably be in chaos by now.
"Get some rest. We'll be entering the Chaotic Region in a few hours," Ark suddenly said. "We're lucky this time; at least there are no volcanoes overhead. The environment is relatively safe, and we'll get through quickly in half a day. There will be a lot of disgusting monsters inside because of the chaos."
“I can help deal with the monsters,” Carlton said after a pause. “You just need to make sure we don’t get boiled by the lava because of the change in gravity.”
"The monsters are the biggest problem, but for us, they've become negligible." Ark shrugged. "If nothing unexpected happens, we should be fine. Let me explain the order of abandonment first."
"What does that mean?" Carl felt uncomfortable hearing that word.
“I’ve said I’ve abandoned friends because I couldn’t take them with me in my natural rage. Deedley knows that the abandoned child hasn’t woken up yet. Right now, the only ones who are awake and unaware are you, Lady, and Lori in your arms.” Ark said frankly, “I will make a list when I’m about to enter this area, and decide what to abandon and when to abandon it based on priority.”
Carl frowned. Sure enough, he still didn't like the guy's tone of voice; the overtly pragmatic manner made him uncomfortable. But he had to admit that there was nothing wrong with his approach.
“First and foremost, the most important thing is the wagon we’re staying in,” Yak said. “No doubt about it, right? If even one wagon can’t survive, then there’s absolutely no way we can get out of here alive. So we have to leave one wagon behind, which is this one. I’ll start loading some things here later; I’ll only put the most important things here. Goods and such can be left in the wagons behind, where they can be abandoned first.”
Carl nodded; at least he hadn't heard anyone say that the goods were more important than the people, which gave him a slight sense of relief.
"The order of discarding the living is: first the little spider, then me, and then you." Ark pointed. "Is that alright?"
This stunned Karl, and before he could even ask a question, he saw Ark make a gesture as if he were explaining himself.
“Little Spider is a monster living in the Chaotic Region. Even if he was abandoned here by accident, I believe he can survive. The same goes for me. And you are a saint. As a high-ranking priest, you have a better chance of survival than others.” Ark didn’t pause: “Then there’s Ghost Lord. He can definitely survive, but based on his characteristics, he can be resurrected even with only a part of him. The ones who cannot be abandoned are Denos, Deedri, the abandoned pawn, and Lady. Without the protection of the carriage, they cannot survive.”
"Where are our coffins?" Suddenly, Ark heard someone call his name from behind. He turned around and saw the black cat staring at him. The spider legs behind him stretched out beside his body, making it look like a demon ready to devour its prey.
“That thing is too heavy,” Ark replied truthfully.
"If we have to abandon it, Gray and I will go with it. That coffin is more important than our existence."
“No problem, then if necessary, I'll trouble you to sacrifice yourselves.” Ark said calmly, showing no other emotions whatsoever.
"Thanks."
The monster simply said this and then disappeared back into the carriage. Although it was unclear when the creature had arrived on the carriage, it seemed it had at least heard the entire conversation, saving Ark the trouble of explaining it to him.
“What about Lori?” Carl noticed that he hadn’t said anything about the child.
But he was met with silence. After a while, Yak looked at him seriously.
“Whether she wants to live or not is entirely up to her. If this child doesn't want to die, she can survive even if she enters a death trap. But if she wants to die, even if we protect her here, she will still die in various disasters later. You can't protect her forever, and when she's willing to hurt others to survive, you'll be responsible for killing her.” Ark said, pressing his fingers to his temples. He always felt like a bad person when he talked about things like this: “It's a bit of a mouthful, but you get what I mean?”
Karl nodded, then remained silent. Ark was right; he should get a good night's sleep to prepare for the wonders to come.
"Wow, it's still as spectacular as ever, no matter how many times I see it." Ghost Duke's shout suddenly came from outside. He was standing on the roof of the carriage, blood streaming down his head—a gust of wind had blown a rock into his head, leaving a large chunk of blood, and his entire head was now red.
But he didn't care at all, and instead shouted loudly at the landscape in front of him to relieve the pressure it brought.
It was an extremely cold yet hot place, and now we can see the vast expanse of white snow, as if we are about to enter the snow-covered area.
Beneath the white snow, magma erupted. It flowed directly onto the snow, neither melting nor freezing. Intertwined, it coalesced into a long, narrow, hole-like spectacle in the sky—a manifestation of aberrant gravity; approaching it would undoubtedly result in being absorbed into it. And whether one touched the snow or the magma, the consequences were unpleasant.
The same things were everywhere in front of me: floating flat ground with nothing below, and suddenly shattered snow and lava floating in the air.
Here, it's hard to even tell where you are. You'll often suddenly feel a sense of weightlessness, and what was once flat ground will suddenly become a sheer cliff. You might fall towards the sky, or you might fall towards gushing lava.
Yak took out simple oxygen cylinders from the carriage and began distributing them; everyone started wrapping themselves in thick clothes.
Because the air temperature here is extremely low, inhaling it would cause shock. To cope with such situations, an oxygen mask containing heated materials and concentrated air is needed.
There are also hemp ropes; now everyone needs to be secured to the carriage. These preparations are better than nothing, but they only give people the illusion that they are prepared.
The so-called forbidden zone of life is exactly what it sounds like. Living things should not come here, and anyone who comes here must be prepared not to return.
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