Chapter 18: 18. Chapter 18: Origins and Causes (First update, requesting recommendation votes)

Chapter 18: Origin and Reasons (First update, requesting recommendation votes)

Hearing Klein's question, Dunn glanced at the corridor leading to the "Channes Gate" outside the window, took out his pipe, packed it with tobacco and mint leaves, held it to his nose, took a deep sniff, and remarked with a slightly drifting voice

"Only at home can I enjoy the wonderful blend of tobacco and mint leaves without restraint... Klein, you know the creation myth, don't you?"

"Of course. When I was being enlightened at the Church's Sunday school, I learned words through the *Revelations of the Night*. Both the chapters 'The Book of Wisdom' and 'The Saint's Epistles' mention the creation myth," Klein said, slowing his speech as he recalled the fragmented memories of the original owner. "The Creator awoke from chaos, broke the darkness, and created the first ray of light, while He himself completely merged into the universe, becoming all things. His body became the earth and the stars; one of His eyes became the sun, and the other became the crimson moon; parts of His blood surged to become the oceans and rivers, nourishing and nurturing life..."

At this point, Klein paused involuntarily, partly because the subsequent memories were blurry, and partly because this creation myth bore a resemblance to the Pangu myth of the food-loving nation...

The imaginations of people from different worlds seemed to share commonalities when it came to myths and legends!

Seeing that Klein had encountered a "difficult problem," Dunn smiled and helped him supplement it

"His lungs evolved into elves; His heart evolved into giants; His liver evolved into treants; His head evolved into dragons; His kidneys evolved into feathered serpents; His hair evolved into phoenixes; His ears evolved into demon wolves; His mouth and teeth evolved into exotic species; His remaining bodily fluids evolved into sea monsters, the essence of which was the Naga; His stomach, His small and large intestines, and the evil parts of His body evolved into demons, evil spirits, and various unknown evil existences; His spirit transformed into the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom..."

"Humanity was born from His wisdom. This was the First Epoch, the Chaos Era," Klein finished the last sentence, feeling both amused and absurd in his heart.

As a keyboard folklorist, this was his first time encountering a "prepared" creation myth so detailed—so detailed that it specifically and minutely listed which part of the Creator every notable race had evolved from.

It was truly like sitting in rows to eat fruit...

Moreover, it wasn't just the scriptures of the Evernight Goddess that said this; the churches of the Lord of Storms and the God of Steam and Machinery had similar descriptions, without separately elevating themselves while belittling other deities...

This either meant that the creation myth was an actual fact, or it vaguely hinted that the major churches had reached a consensus through long struggles and compromises before prehistory, before the Fifth Epoch...

Thinking of this, Klein suddenly had another question and frowned slightly

"I feel there's a problem here. Why did the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom be born directly from the Creator's spirit, but the Goddess was not?"

In the prehistorical records of the *Revelations of the Night*, the Evernight Goddess did not awaken until the end of the Second Epoch. Along with the Lord of Storms and the Eternal Blazing Sun, she protected and helped humanity through the Great Cataclysm, also known as the Third Epoch, the "Cataclysm Era."

The Mother Earth and the God of War also appeared during the same period, while the "God of Steam and Machinery," originally named the "God of Craftsmen," was not born until the Fourth Epoch.

In this way, the hierarchy among the gods seemed self-evident.

Who was more ancient and more orthodox was incredibly clear!

This also caused a certain amount of trouble among the believers of the Evernight Goddess.

Dunn Smith held his pipe with his other hand and, instead of answering, asked a question

"Recite the Goddess's full honorable name for me."

Klein suddenly felt as if he had stabbed himself; he hurriedly racked his brains, trying his best to recall

"She is the Evernight Goddess, more sublime than the starry sky and more ancient than eternity; She is also the Lord of Crimson, the Mother of Secrecy, the Queen of Misfortune and Fear, and the Lord of Sleep and Silence."

Fortunately, fortunately, Klein's mother had been a devout believer of the Evernight Goddess. When she was alive, she would recite it every evening and during meals. Even though the original owner's memories were fragmented, they were not entirely lost.

"What does the Lord of Crimson symbolize?" Dunn asked in a guiding tone.

"The crimson moon." As soon as Klein finished speaking, he seemed to understand.

"And which part of the Creator did that crimson moon evolve from?" Dunn asked with a smile.

"A single eye!" Klein and the other man shared a smile.

This was not at all inferior to the prestige of the Lord of Storms and the others, who were formed by the Creator's spirit splitting into three!

As for the churches of Mother Earth and the God of War, they likely had similar sayings. It was only that the "birth" of the God of Steam and Machinery was too late to find a reason—their church had always been in a weak position for the previous thousand-plus years, only truly standing alongside the others after the invention of the steam engine allowed them to seize the initiative.

Dunn rubbed his pipe and said

"Humans were born from the Creator's wisdom, so they possess extraordinarily clever heads but lack other miraculous abilities. However, from the creation myth, we can derive a simple and clear conclusion: all things originate from the same source."

"Originate from the same source..." Klein repeated the last few words.

"Based on this conclusion, humans, who fought against giants, demons, exotic species, and others under the protection of the gods, gradually figured out a way to obtain Beyonder powers. That is to use the corresponding parts of evil spirits, dragons, monsters, or magical trees, flowers, or crystals, combined with other materials, to concoct potions, and then consume them to absorb and master different abilities. This is common knowledge among all mysticism pathways."

Dunn did not provide too much description, only introducing briefly, "In this process, our ancestors discovered through painful lessons that if one directly consumes high-sequence, extraordinary potions, it is very easy to meet a tragic end. There are only three possible outcomes."

"Which three?" Klein asked curiously.

"First, mental death and physical collapse, where every piece of flesh turns into a terrifying monster; second, being instantly transformed by the power contained in the potion, becoming cold, sensitive, irritable, cruel, and indifferent to everything; third..." Dunn put down his pipe, picked up the porcelain cup beside him, took a sip, and said, "Fermer coffee from the Pars Valley is very bitter but also very fragrant, with a great aftertaste. Would you like a cup?"

"I prefer the highland coffee from Fenepot, though of course, I've only had it a few times at the Welch family's," Klein politely declined. "What is the third?"

"Mental derangement, going mad on the spot, becoming more demonic than a demon. That is called losing control." Dunn placed emphasis on the words "losing control."

Before Klein could speak, he set down the coffee cup and continued

"Through long experiments and exploration, combined with the emergence of the 'Blasphemy Slate,' humanity finally perfected the potion system, forming several sequence chains that increase step-by-step with stable growth. The lower the sequence number, the higher the potion grade. To this day, each of the seven major churches controls at least one complete sequence, in addition to several 'pathways' collected over hundreds or thousands of years that are not quite complete."

"The Blasphemy Slate?" Klein keenly captured the term.

In the "聚会" (Gathering), the "Hanged Man" had also mentioned it!

According to the "Hanged Man," the Blasphemy Slate was the most crucial factor in the formation and completion of the potion system!

This was somewhat different from what Dunn had just said.

"It is something created by some evil gods. As for exactly which era it appeared in, what it recorded, or what makes it special, I am not too clear. If you find any clues, you must report to me immediately; it has the highest response priority," Dunn explained vaguely. "I just mentioned one type of losing control; now I will explain the remaining four."

"Mhm." Klein pushed the question of the "Blasphemy Slate" to the back of his mind and listened intently.

"Although humans only have clever heads and no other Beyonder abilities, this is not absolute. There are always some lucky ones, or rather, unlucky ones, who are born with high spirituality—that is, the ability to sense the spirit. They can hear sounds others cannot, see things others cannot, and possess partial Beyonder characteristics."

As Dunn spoke, he looked around the empty room, making Klein feel a chill run down his spine. "In other words, they are equivalent to half a Sequence 9 Beyonder, possessing fixed characteristics. Er, Sequence 9 is the lowest grade in the 'chain'... In short, they can only choose the corresponding, fixed sequence pathways. If they consume other potions, they will suffer slight mental abnormalities, severe loss of control, or, in the worst cases, direct death."

"I understand," Klein nodded slowly.

"The third type of losing control is similar to the second. Once you have chosen a sequence chain, you can only walk along that 'pathway' and can never turn back. If you consume a potion from another 'pathway' that has a suitable sequence, although there is a high probability of obtaining fused, strange, or distorted abilities, it is almost certain that you will be in a state of semi-madness—either sensitive and irritable, or cruel and bloodthirsty, or silent and melancholic."

"And such an opportunity only comes once. After that, whether you consume a potion from your original 'pathway' or a potion from your current sequence, the only result is losing control. It just depends on whether it is mental death, physical collapse into a monster, or evolution into an evil spirit." As Dunn spoke, he picked up his coffee cup and took another sip.

Feeling somewhat terrified, Klein remained silent for a few seconds before asking

"What about the fourth type of losing control?"

"The fourth, haha, that is actually one of the most common problems. When we consume potions, we obtain abilities that originally belonged to Beyonder species. This is an unnatural evolution, and to varying degrees, we will be affected by residual mental influences. Perhaps there are no outward symptoms for outsiders to detect, but there is certainly something lurking within. Before one has completely mastered the Beyonder power brought by the potion and excluded those subtle traces, rashly consuming a corresponding potion of a higher sequence will lead to the accumulation of madness and the accumulation of losing control..." Dunn suddenly fell silent.

After a moment of pause, he sighed, "Our internal regulations within the Nighthawks dictate that even if a member achieves great merit, they must have consumed their previous potion for three years and passed the corresponding examination before they can be promoted. But even so, many people lose control every year because of this."

*That is truly terrifying...* Klein took a breath and said

"Then what about the last one?"

The corners of Dunn's mouth curled up, but there was no smile

"The fifth is also a common cause of losing control. For a Beyonder, spirituality is increased to varying degrees; the lower the sequence number, the greater the increase. Consequently, one can hear sounds others cannot, see things others cannot, and encounter things others do not. One is constantly subjected to the temptation of the mysterious and the delusions of the illusory. Once there is any other kind of stimulus or the emergence of greedy desires, one will step-by-step walk toward losing control."

As he spoke, Dunn turned to look straight ahead, his gray eyes reflecting Klein's silhouette.

His tone became desolate as he said

"The founder of the modern Nighthawks system, Archbishop Channes, once said:"

"We are guardians, but we are also a group of wretches who are constantly fighting against danger and madness."

PS: 2/7, requesting recommendation votes~!

(End of Chapter)