Chapter 1528 - 392: The Script Beneath the Faded Star Ring

Chapter 1528: Chapter 392: The Script Beneath the Faded Star Ring

He lifted his head, once again sizing up Ah Lan.

The person before him was too clean, clothes brand new, face without a hint of hunger, and eyes full of spirit.

Even asking about "labor" was unusual.

"Where exactly... do you come from, and how did you end up... in this utterly forgotten corner?" The old man’s hoarse voice inquired.

Facing the old man’s unabashed confusion, Ah Lan knew his attire and state were out of place here and could no longer use ordinary excuses to dodge the question.

He chose to avoid directly answering the question and gently pursued the previous conversation:

"Just passing through." His gaze swept over those deathly silent shanties:

"Where have all the people gone?"

The old man’s cloudy eyes still fixed on Ah Lan, as if calculating something, his chapped lips moved a few times, almost sighing as he spoke.

Then his trembling hand weakly pointed toward a direction cloaked in yellow dust, his voice carrying a resigned despondency:

"Those who can wield a weapon and have a bit of strength left to struggle, have all gone beyond the wall."

"Wall?"

"You’re surely not from here... What else could it be? The Devouring World Beast Tide is coming soon, and the war is about to erupt."

The old man began to cough violently, took a while to calm down, then stared vacantly into the distance:

"We, the old, sick, and disabled... aren’t even qualified to be cannon fodder... can only stay here... waiting for their return."

He didn’t continue further.

Instead, a heart-wrenching, severe cough ensued.

His hunchbacked body trembled incessantly, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Ah Lan immediately stepped forward, knelt, and placed a hand on the old man’s withered shoulder.

The Eagle-Headed Demon’s Perception trait clearly revealed the life force within the old man, like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any time.

Hunger, old age, harsh environment... this body’s vitality had been thoroughly drained.

Ah Lan said no more, retrieving a Life Potion from his bag.

He unscrewed the cap, and the fresh life aura immediately wafted from the bottle, purifying the polluted air around.

He carefully moved the potion to the old man’s chapped lips.

The sudden surge of Life Energy bewildered the old man, but his survival instinct led him to instinctively part his lips slightly.

The potion flowed in slowly, showing results instantly.

The old man’s pale bluish skin began to fade at a visible speed, a faint flush surfacing on his cheeks.

The violent heaving in his chest gradually calmed, and the heart-wrenching cough ceased.

Once like a broken bellows, his breathing became steady and strong.

In mere moments, the old man’s cloudy eyes regained clarity, and Ah Lan saw the shock of disbelief in them.

He stared blankly at Ah Lan, then looked down at the noticeably younger skin on his arm, lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

This near-miraculous transformation far exceeded his limits of understanding.

He abruptly looked up at Ah Lan, his gaze now completely different, filled with reverence and confusion.

Before he could speak, Ah Lan asked again:

"What exactly happened beyond the wall? Where have they all gone?"

Feeling the surging life force within and facing Ah Lan’s unfathomable means, the old man quickly organized his words and said:

"It’s the cyclical natural disaster, happening every forty years; the celestial changes have altered, countless monsters will pour from the world’s edge cracks, flooding everything. To survive, we must fight with all we’ve got, sacrificing countless lives to push back the tide."

The old man’s response left Ah Lan confused.

This world seemed different from what Guidance described.

Logically, since the branch clan has been "incorporated" by the Mingshi Clan, they should receive protection.

How could there still be such brutally cyclic monster invasions?

As this doubt just arose in his mind, a rational hypothesis instantly formed in his head.

He realized that what Mingshi Clan needed was never a stable and continued civilization history.

What they needed was a story-driven history.

A straightforward, ripple-free Chapter cannot yield much value.

Only twists and turns provide a story.

Only disasters highlight struggles.

Only sacrifices forge heroes.

Only ups and downs construct exciting Chapters.

The cyclical natural disaster mentioned by the old man is essentially a climax, tailor-made by the Mingshi Clan for the branch clan people.

Artificially creating despair, then observing how the branch clan people resist, sacrifice, and even birth so-called "heroes" in despair, converting this grand process into the "Moon Eclipsing Chapter" in their chronicled history.

He suddenly realized why among the countless Monster World races, the Mingshi Clan "chose" the Moon Eclipse Clan.

Because the core of the Moon Eclipse Clan’s development is: to continue civilization at all costs.

This is also the core law inherited by Star 5 from the Star Network.

As long as there’s a sliver of hope, Star 5 will not let the Moon Eclipse Clan give up, and through education, inform the branch clan people of the meaning of survival.

This resilience engraved in their bones means that even facing desperate situations, the branch clan people will continuously struggle, resist, and seek hope.

This then provides the Mingshi Clan with an endless, high-quality source of dramatic conflict and twisting material.

The branch clan people living in this Independent Space are obviously kept in the dark.