I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 805 - 805 Curiosity

Chapter 805: Curiosity Chapter 805: Curiosity A He Dao without pollution or the Divine Sakura and Pure Fire was unimaginable for Lu Ban.

Every Foreign Domain he had visited thus far had been more or less affected by pollution. It seemed that the dominator of the Silent Lands showed little interest in those domains not yet severely tainted. Presumably, there was no need to dispatch the Chosen by the Gods to change a domain that had not manifested anomalies.

Therefore, the fact that Lu Ban and Shia had come to this unpolluted He Dao must mean that something needed to be changed or prevented.

“Our task this time is to witness a budding,” mused Lu Ban, “and since there is no Divine Sakura on He Dao yet, it seems our goal is to bear witness to the budding of the Divine Sakura. The appearance of the Divine Sakura indicates that this world has already been intruded upon by pollution…”

After a moment’s thought, Lu Ban quickly reached a conclusion.

It was likely that their journey would also bear witness to the birth of pollution.

This mission was not one of confrontation; either the Silent Lands didn’t know the source of the pollution, or the pollution here wasn’t created by the prompting of the other Divine Beings to their respective Chosen.

The first possibility didn’t seem plausible. The pollution here clearly wasn’t beyond the level of the Ancient Overlord, and as the master of many Foreign Domains and the Supreme God, the Silence should certainly understand these matters.

The latter possibility, however, was intriguing.

Because Lu Ban and Shia’s task was to witness a budding rather than to prevent the appearance of pollution in this world, it indicated that the emergence of pollution was inevitable, even beyond the capacity of the being from the Silent Lands to prevent.

“Perhaps there have already been some power struggles here before us,” suggested Shia, swiftly grasping the rationale behind their mission.

“The gaze and direct interference of those great beings could lead to the stagnation of a Foreign Domain’s history. It’s likely that before our mission commenced, different powers had visited and clashed many times, and the victor left behind pollution that was observed by those great beings beyond time and space, solidifying that particular chapter of history.”

In a way, their task this time was to compensate for past failures.

Since Lu Ban had been to He Dao before, the budding of the Divine Sakura was already inevitable. The only difference lay in which of the Chosen would witness it.

And because Shia had encountered Du Danping from the Wasteland, who told Lu Ban that their mission might face danger, the success of their current task remained uncertain.

“How will the ship move forward once we reach the Windless Belt if it relies on wind power?”

She glimpsed again at the sails and the energetic Captain Zhang Zheng, who was busily consulting an old parchment map.

“Perhaps we could have a chat with Ah Xiang; he seems a bit more normal.”

Lu Ban pointed to Ah Xiang, who was sitting on a crate nearby, flipping through his own notes.

“Normal?”

Shia looked at Lu Ban curiously.

The word seemed slightly incongruent coming from him.

But it was a reasonable suggestion.

Captain Zhang Zheng was clearly lost in fantasies, a daydreamer hoping to strike it rich with treasure, and attempting direct communication with him would likely only yield irrelevant fantasies and unreliable rumors.

It was better to inquire with the scholarly-looking Ah Xiang.

Approaching the scholar, Shia made no sound but instead watched his notes for a while.

Ah Xiang was writing on a thread-bound notebook with a fine brush. His notes, focused on the habits of a certain fish species, were neatly formatted and comprehensive, befitting a researcher who had been systematically educated.

“Your notes are quite good,” commented Shia.

Her voice caught Ah Xiang’s attention, and he quickly sat up straight while subconsciously covering his notebook.

“It’s just a personal hobby,” he said modestly.

“You have an interest in studying fish?”

Shia, being a top student from Gray Tower Academy, was naturally interested in research and became curious upon seeing Ah Xiang’s notes.

“To be precise, it’s the ecological system of this vast sea.”

When the conversation shifted to his area of expertise, Ah Xiang’s shyness faded, and he began to speak with enthusiasm.

“We have lived alongside this sea for thousands of years; since ancient times, our ancestors have resided by the shore, developing civilizations dependent on its bounty. Yet our understanding of this realm is minimal. The storms and lightning, the tides and waves, and the sea life—all of them mysteries to us. So, I want to understand it.”

“Curiosity,” summarized Shia simply.

“Exactly. I’ve seen many elderly who’ve lived by the sea all their lives, venturing into the ocean to fish since their youth, gaining a wealth of expertise. Yet they only revere the sea, afraid to understand it, even believing that attempting to comprehend the sea is sinful. I disagree.”

Ah Xiang set his notebook aside to let the ink dry in the sea breeze, then continued.

“Thousands of years ago, humans could only fish with crude wooden sticks on the beach or rely on a school of fish brought in by a typhoon. But now, we can build ships that sail through storms, venture into the open ocean and weave through tempests. I believe, one day, we will unveil the secrets of this sea.”

Shia remained silent.

It wasn’t that she thought Ah Xiang was wrong; such aspirations appear at every stage of civilization. Indeed, it is this curiosity and desire to conquer the unknown that drives civilization forward from barbarism to modernity.

But in a Foreign Domain, knowledge equals pollution. Human advancement would inevitably spread contamination. People like Ah Xiang could either become heroes who alter the course of civilization or fall as sinners leading to its destruction.

Considering the future of He Dao, Ah Xiang’s dream had not been realized, and it’s even possible that someday he would perish in the very sea he sought to understand.

“What’s wrong, Miss Shia? Do you think I’m mistaken?” asked Ah Xiang as he noticed her lack of response, growing uneasy once more, wondering if he’d become too forward—after all, it’s a rarity to have such bizarre conversations with such a beautiful woman, surely too old-fashioned.

He sometimes envied his good friend Zhang Zheng, who was quite popular with women on the shore, charming all kinds—so long as he didn’t bring up his treasure.

“You speak well, and now a question arises.”

Lu Ban interjected at that moment, picking up the notebook with the drying ink and looking at the fish drawing.

“Is this fish tasty?”

“Ah?”

Ah Xiang was taken aback.