Chapter 623: A World Full of Questions

"That we have time to learn something before the next judgment."

Noah paused for a moment.

"I know one day isn’t a lot of time, but it’s better than not knowing when it might happen again."

"I more or less think the same way." Lian looked at him.

"So, what’s your plan now?"

"At first, I wanted to make sure the exit was sealed, now we need to find out what’s happening in other areas and check the Mana flow in the rest of the region."

When they entered the Land of the First Dawn that morning, the Mana flow here had been incredibly good, but on their way back, they had noticed that it was changing.

"From what I’ve heard, the changes aren’t limited to your area." Noah nodded.

"Do you know something?" Rindo looked at him.

"Some members of the Awakened Association are gathering information from different areas, I spoke with them before finding you two, apparently, the Mana flow has also changed in some of the northern springs."

Lian narrowed his eyes.

"The same change we saw."

"One group also reported that the light from some plants in the western forest had become weaker, but it’s still unclear whether it’s related to the sun."

"We need to compare the times when these changes happened." Rindo nodded.

"Exactly. If they all happened at almost the same time, there must be some connection." Noah looked at him.

Lian looked at him for a few seconds, it was a reasonable suggestion, and more importantly, Noah wasn’t trying to give a definite answer without having all the information.

He only wanted to gather the available evidence.

"That’s a good idea."

"I’m glad I could help." The young Frenchman smiled and then looked at the wall behind them.

"By the way, have they found a way out here yet?"

Rindo shook his head.

"No."

"The curtain’s structure has changed, and we have no way out for now."

"So we’re really trapped." Noah let out a short sigh, remained silent for a moment, and then looked between the two of them again.

"I don’t know how much I can help, but I can talk to the Association members and the other Chosen, maybe we can gather more information."

"That would be a great help." Lian nodded.

"So, are we working together for now?" The young Frenchman gave them a gentle smile.

"As long as we have a common goal, definitely." Rindo replied in his usual serious tone.

Noah nodded without the slightest sign of displeasure.

"That’s enough for me."

Lian looked at him for a moment.

Despite everything that had happened, Noah still had the same quality that had caught his attention at Base #3.

He could communicate with different people, but more importantly, he knew when to speak and when to simply listen.

And now, when cooperation between different groups had become important, such a personality could be very useful.

But why was he trying so hard to get close to them?

A while later, all three of them went to a section of the entrance area that the Awakened Association members were using to collect exploration reports.

Several large maps had been placed on temporary tables, and the officials were marking the locations of active groups with small markers.

In another corner, government staff were checking messages received from more distant areas.

Despite the obvious concern among the people present, the overall order of the place was still being maintained.

Lian considered this a good sign.

If the official forces lost control of themselves, the situation could turn into chaos even before the next judgment.

He walked toward one of the maps.

"How many areas have reported changes in the Mana flow so far?"

One of the officials raised his head and, after recognizing the emblem of his expedition, pointed to a section of the map.

"We have four confirmed reports, two from the northern springs, one near the western forest, and one from the southern section."

He looked at the markers, the distance between the locations was considerable.

If all these changes had happened at almost the same time, the chance that they were simply the result of local events became lower.

"Do we know the exact times?" he asked.

The man checked several reports.

"Almost at the same time the sun changed its shape, although there are a few minutes of difference between some reports."

"Then they’re connected." Lian nodded, he had already been somewhat sure about this, they just wanted to make sure their guess wasn’t wrong.

Rindo moved closer and looked at the recorded locations.

"Mark the locations of the springs too. Especially the places where white roots are present."

"White roots?" The official looked at him for a moment.

"At one of the southern springs, we noticed that some of the Mana started moving deeper into the ground after the sun awakened, we want to see whether the same thing has happened in other places." Lian explained.

The man immediately signaled to one of the staff members.

"Separate the reports related to the springs."

"So you think the Mana flow moving into the ground and that sun are connected?" Noah asked from beside the table.

The young Vorhelm looked at the map for a moment.

"It’s possible, three things happened at almost the same time, and at some point, coincidence stops making sense." He pointed at the markers one by one.

"The sun changed from its previous state, the outer curtain turned into a wall, and the energy flow in some parts of the land changed."

Noah moved his gaze across the map, and Lian continued.

"If all three are parts of a larger structure, maybe by examining one of them, we can learn something about the other two."

"But we still don’t know where the flows begin or where they lead." Rindo nodded.

"That’s right."

"That’s why it’s only a theory for now." Lian raised his head.

If the movement of the Mana flow downward and into the ground was truly connected to the sun’s awakening, then understanding this structure might help them.

Especially when he considered that the Hollow Sun possessed power that none of them yet knew how to fight against.

Afterward, Rindo gave the officials the details about Amélie’s trial.

When he explained the three accusations that had been announced, several people exchanged surprised looks, and one of the researchers asked.

"The domain of the condemned?"

"Those were the exact words it used."

The man thought for a moment.

"As far as I know, no area with that name has been recorded on any official map."

"We hadn’t heard anything about it either." Lian nodded, there was another point, but he did not mention it yet because he had no evidence to support it.

However, he thought that the domain of the condemned might refer to the Land of the First Dawn.

But if that was the case, a question came to mind, why did it call this place the domain of the condemned? ℴ𝒗ⅇ𝑙.

The researcher looked at the report again.

"And the third accusation... property belonging to the Mother?"

This time, even some of the other staff members turned toward them.

Noah frowned slightly.

"The Mother? Does that mean it’s someone’s name?"

"We don’t know." Lian answered again.

"Maybe it means the owner of this land."

"It’s possible, but we have nothing to confirm it yet."

The young Frenchman thought about this for a few seconds before looking at the sun.

"If it’s really a judge, there must be some rules, but we don’t even know what those rules are."

"And until we learn the rules, we can’t predict who will be chosen next." Rindo replied in a serious tone.

A brief silence followed, this was a worrying matter for everyone present.

Each of them had gathered resources or examined structures during their time in the Land of the First Dawn.

If collecting plants, entering unknown areas, or interfering with ancient relics counted as crimes, then a large number of them might be at risk of being condemned.

But it was still unclear what order the sun followed when choosing people.

"For now, it’s better to assume that no one is exempt from judgment, at least until we prove otherwise." Lian said after a few moments.

One of the officials nodded.

"We’ll pass the necessary warning to the exploration groups."

The young Vorhelm looked at the map again, this decision would not remove the danger, but at least it could stop more people from approaching unknown structures without a good reason.

It would be better not to touch the treasures in this land from now on, at least if they didn’t want to die.

After the initial investigation ended, the three of them left the temporary building, and the golden light was still shining across a large part of the plain.

However, the black pupil of the Hollow Sun was still clearly visible even from this distance.

Noah looked at the sky for a moment.

"I’m still not used to seeing that thing above our heads."

"I don’t think anyone will get used to it anytime soon." Lian gave him a brief glance.

The young Frenchman gave a very slight smile, but he soon became serious again.

"Well, what should we do now?"

Rindo opened the map.

"The officials are gathering reports from more distant areas, I want to compare the Mana flow information with the current situation, if the changes continue, and I also want to see whether there’s another way out."

Lian nodded.

"Good."

Then he looked toward the southern part of the plain.

"I want to examine one of the Mana flows near the curtain, I still don’t know how the wall and the underground flows are connected."

"Then what about me?" Noah asked.

Lian looked at him for a moment.

"You have better connections with the other Chosen, try to find out how they’re doing, especially those who haven’t returned from more distant areas yet."

"Okay, but I think it’s better if we don’t get too far away from each other for now." The young Frenchman nodded and added.

"Because we still don’t know what has changed, and if something like Amélie’s trial starts again, maybe we can at least warn each other and perhaps find a way to stop it."

Lian thought for a few seconds.

It was a reasonable suggestion.

Although he could handle many ordinary dangers on his own, having several people with different abilities could be useful when facing an unknown structure.

Especially now that only one day remained until the next judgment, and even he was helpless against the power of that sun.