The sound of waves echoed by the seaside.

Four hundred years ago and four hundred years later, there seemed to be no difference.

The sun, the stars, the tides, the sound of the wind had been the same for thousands of years, never changing, or perhaps they had changed from the very beginning, only that human life and history were too brief to notice.

"Lately, I've actually been thinking sometimes."

On the deck of the speedboat, a bearded old man sitting in a folding chair, looking at the moon reflected in the sea, suddenly began to speak, "If the predecessors hadn't done so much, if the construction of the Heavenly Origin Tower had been successful, confining the Superior within a cage of order, had really hit the jackpot, I wonder if the world would be a better place than it is now."

"Are you going mad again?"

Between the rocks and the beach, the somewhat aged White Owl dragged a heavy iron box with effort, grinding her teeth as she climbed up, "Lend a hand, use some strength, how come after all these years, you still have no sense? Whom am I working myself to death for, bringing all these packages back?"

"Ah, hard work, hard work."

The old man grinned and pulled her up along with the box, "Isn't it because I see you toiling away, filled with emotion?"

"Emotion my ass!"

White Owl took her hat off and unceremoniously occupied his seat, "The mighty Commander of Nirvana, going on and on about 'what ifs', 'maybes', 'possibilities', and other such nonsense. You're lost in fantasy all day; why don't you find a Heavenly Person with a Mirror to conjure you a dream and sleep yourself to death."

"Dreams are not as bizarre as reality, are they?"

The Commander leaned against the ship's rail, casually sitting on the iron box, which made White Owl's eyelids twitch violently. Before she could scold him, he spoke, "You see, out of the thousands of years of rule by the Eternal Empire, there weren't many incompetent Emperors. Most of the Emperors, compared to today's politicians, were still more empathetic; not to mention, there were many Emperors who could be called wise and valiant by even the highest standards."

"I'm not clear on it, I don't understand, I'm not interested," said White Owl coldly. "Why do you talk history with an illiterate?"

"Did you know, two thousand years ago, 'ignorance' was actually a disease?" The Commander's interest piqued even more.

"What are you talking about?"

White Owl glared, "Are you mocking me again?"

"No, literally, it was a disease,"

the Commander calmly replied, "An incurable epidemic, a virus spread through books and records, which once contracted, would eat away all knowledge and understanding, making a person agitated and blindly obedient, instinctively chasing the crowd, infecting more people."

"It wasn't just the ignorance plague; that was just after the end of the Chaos Era, with all sorts of bizarre things happening.

In older times, there were even impostors, indistinguishable by scholars and doctors, shapeshifters mingling within humans. They were reflections that had escaped from the Mirror, devouring their originals, running wild in the world of men with their faces, causing great turmoil."

"There was a fruit that made those who ate it grow young and become immortal, but the price was that their lifespan would be shouldered by a random other person in the world."

"Some creatures, once seen by human eyes, would cause the observer's soul to shatter and die from perception overload. They lived in the clouds, shifting with the storms, preying on living beings. So much so, that all animals dared not raise their heads to look at the sky."

"Compared to the present, that era was like myths and ghost stories. There were things so exaggerated that they would be laughed at if mentioned now. Like, for instance, a worm capable of swallowing an entire city, making all people grow old and die in an illusion within its belly. A giant snake that grew twice in size each day, until it could encircle the whole continent..."

Crack!

Flames leaped, lighting the pipe. White Owl glanced at his high-spirited demeanor, unimpressed, "If it's so amazing, why can't we see them now?"

"Of course, because they've all been exterminated."

The Commander chuckled, his smile cold, "All of them."

"The ignorance plague and all related books, all burnt to ashes. The world inside the Mirror and its reflections, utterly destroyed, their ashes sprinkled, never to revive. The fruit of eternal life, completely eradicated from existence, henceforth unable to materialize in reality. The storm monsters, along with the storms themselves, completely vaporized from within the Thunderbolt.

The huge worm was eaten by an even larger dragon, the giant snake, under the hunt of the Heavenly People, turned to dry bones, which after sinking to the seabed, formed a mountain range that encircles the whole world; the former Hai Province is where its tail connected; its full name is actually... the Serpent that Entered the Sea Province.

All those threats to humanity were, under the commands of Emperors, by decree or royal expedition, all eradicated, obliterated, with no remains."

Even in the final days of the Eternal Empire, the last Emperor was still considered a vigorous and ambitious ruler, yet with only his strength, he couldn't resist the general trend, finally meeting his destiny as he fell along with the Heavenly Origin Tower."

"..."

White Owl was stunned, at a loss, "Is it... that bizarre? Why then did Mo rebel in the first place?"

"Because an Emperor is an Emperor,"

the Commander said plainly, "No matter how kind or compassionate, the moment someone takes that seat, the world is doomed to suffer."

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