The Feynapotter Kingdom worshiped the Earth Mother. Because of the Earth Mother's teachings, agriculture here was extremely developed and prosperous. Combined with the vast stretches of naturally advantageous plains, the kingdom produced an abundant supply of grain every year.
The surrounding countries all purchased grain from the Feynapotter Kingdom to varying degrees.
In terms of its economy, it could not compare with the Loen Kingdom, but the people here were simple and honest, possessing a little more of the earth's steady and grounded nature than those of other countries.
At Los Harbor, when the ship docked, the first thing one saw was not a bustling and prosperous port, but a vast expanse of rice paddies along the coast, already filled with golden ears of rice.
As the sea breeze swept past, it truly created the magnificent sight of waves upon waves of rice swaying in the wind.
Within the Feynapotter Kingdom, there were quite a few research-oriented Beyonders. The difference between them and Frank was that they did not research those bizarre projects. For example, making fish produce milk, planting rice that grew fish heads, pairing mushrooms with every creature they could possibly combine with... research that sounded unreliable just from hearing about it.
They followed the teachings of the Earth Mother, advocating the joy of bountiful harvests and pursuing the most orthodox forms of research.
For example, the stretch of rice paddies along the coastline was filled with seawater rice created by Beyonders from the Church of the Earth Mother two years ago.
It only needed to absorb nutrients from seawater to allow the rice to grow vigorously.
However, there was still much room for improvement in terms of taste. It had a salty seawater flavor when eaten and required further research.
Hastur learned all of this after coming ashore, when he casually hired a guide and listened to the man ramble on about various things.
Hastur also marveled at this project. When Beyonder powers and science and technology were combined, they could indeed produce many things far beyond the current level of technology.
As the sun set, the endless rice paddies in the distance, swaying beneath the sea breeze, were dyed a rose-like color.
Hastur chose not to continue traveling. Instead, he found an inn to stay at, then took Sharon out to wander the streets and buy some local specialties.
Especially the dried fish that Ariella had been eagerly anticipating. Since he still remembered it now, he might as well buy some first. Otherwise, he might not have time to do so on the return journey.
"What do you think of this little thing? Should we buy one and use it to tease Ariella when we get back?"
"Too childish."
"Ariella is only two years old at most, isn't she?"
"Her mental age is already quite old."
"I think she'll like it."
Hastur still bought the cat teaser with a fluffy ball dangling from its end. What kitten could possibly refuse a cat teaser and catnip?
The two slowly walked along the street. Perhaps because they were far away in a foreign land, Sharon's facial expression had visibly softened, and even her manner of speaking seemed a little more human.
That was a good thing. Hastur was always worried that Sharon would take her role as a puppet too seriously and gradually lose her human emotions.
Although the loss of humanity was unavoidable after advancing to higher Sequences, at least for now, Sharon was more adorable when she still possessed her humanity.
When they passed a shop selling telescopes, Hastur went inside and bought one for Sharon, saying that she could use it when acting as a puppet in the future.
When Sharon acted as a puppet, she liked standing motionless. With a suitable telescope, she could see farther.
"..." Sharon glanced at Hastur and remained silent.
After they finished shopping, Hastur took Sharon to sample the delicacies of the Feynapotter Kingdom.
The quality of the crops grown here was extremely high, so the bread and rice here were also sweeter and more delicious than those in other countries.
...
In the City of Silver, Mr. A was similarly enjoying his dinner while supervising the upcoming ritual to the Stars.
After several rounds of discussion and confirmation, Mr. A, Colin Iliad, and several elders finally reached a consensus regarding the image of the Stars.
A black robe outlined a humanoid figure, with countless stars scattered and woven throughout its interior.
There were no distinct facial features, only a pair of eyes containing the cosmos and the starry river.
Within those eyes, countless stars were distributed and intertwined into a funnel-like shape, somewhat resembling a vortex of stars that rotated ceaselessly at every moment.
Around the outer edge of the entire statue, planets the size of fists and of various colors were deliberately arranged in orbit.
Whether viewed from afar or up close, the overall appearance carried the majesty and solemnity of a deity.
This was the final design.
With a general image established, the residents of the City of Silver worked day and night. In only three days, they completed this divine statue, which stood approximately ten meters tall.
Originally, Mr. A believed there was no need to make the statue of the Stars so enormous. However, after looking at the residents of the City of Silver, who averaged more than three meters in height, ten meters did seem like an appropriate size.
With the statue of the Stars completed, what remained were the honorific name and ritual format required to worship the Stars.
Mr. A did not know any of this. Yet when the people of the City of Silver asked him, he naturally replied, "He is the ruler of chaos and order, the origin of all rules in the cosmos. He is the One Who Returns the Stars Back into Their Position."
After saying this, Mr. A himself froze.
He clearly knew nothing about the Stars, yet this information seemed to have been branded into the deepest recesses of his mind, only to suddenly surface at this particular moment.
His expression changed. Finding an excuse, he left first, while Elder Lovia, who had been closely watching his movements, followed after him.
She was not afraid of being discovered by Mr. A and openly followed behind him. Only when Mr. A arrived at the door to his room did he turn around and coldly look at Lovia.
"I have no intention of doing anything to the City of Silver. Even if you keep following me, it's useless."
"I'm simply curious. In your heart right now, which carries more weight: your faith in the Stars or your faith in the Lord?" Lovia's bright and piercing gaze seemed to follow Mr. A's eyes straight into the struggle deep within his heart.
"When I asked that question just now, which one did you think of first?"
Lovia's light and casual words instantly caused Mr. A's expression to change drastically. With a gloomy face, he pushed open his door and then slammed it shut.
"One who has abandoned his faith."
A trace of mockery appeared at the corner of Lovia's lips, as if she had seen her former self in Mr. A.
A faith caught in struggle.
Another day passed, and the City of Silver had finished preparing all the items needed for the ritual.
According to Mr. A's description, the Stars preferred things of extremely high purity, such as gold, diamonds, and other precious items of exceptional purity, as well as foods that leaned toward the sweet side.
For this reason, the City of Silver gathered the gold, diamonds, and other precious materials within the city, forging the gold into a golden crown and the diamonds into a spherical diamond planet.
As for the sweet foods, Colin assigned that task to Derrick.
He knew that Derrick could pray to a mysterious existence known as The Fool and could also conduct certain transactions with other people through The Fool's divine kingdom.
After accepting the task, Derrick chose to make a transaction with Miss Justice.
She was universally acknowledged by the members of the Tarot Club as being wealthy. She was surely particular about food as well, so she should easily be able to satisfy his needs.
When Audrey received Little Sun's transaction request from Mr. Fool, she was momentarily stunned.
She had once fed Mr. World, and now she needed to use delicious food to feed Little Sun. Why did she feel as though she had somehow become the nanny of the Tarot Club?
Nevertheless, she readily agreed to Little Sun's transaction request and told him that he did not need to pay anything in return.
Miss Justice really is a good person.
Derrick was extremely grateful.
About half an hour later, a huge pile of sweet foods was delivered before him through Mr. Fool's divine kingdom.
There were three large jars of white sugar, two large cakes, a pile of small cakes, ice cream, sweet soup, and all kinds of pastries.
Derrick stared in astonishment and couldn't help swallowing. He had never tasted so many delicious foods before.
Just smelling their fragrance was enough to make him unbearably tempted. There was no need to taste them to know that these foods had to be delicious.
Unfortunately, these were offerings for the Stars. He did not dare sneak a bite.
Before long, Chief Colin secretly sent people to take the food away so that too many people would not discover what was special about Derrick.
Derrick could only watch longingly as the food was carried away, hoping that after the ritual, the Chief would give him a larger share of the offerings.
Once everything was ready, bolts of lightning streaked across the sky of the dim and lightless world, tearing open cracks of light.
Led by Chief Colin, the residents of the City of Silver arrived at the central square. Mr. A stood at the lower right side of the divine statue, taking on the role of priest.
Originally, the City of Silver had its own priests specifically responsible for rituals. However, the residents unanimously believed that this ritual to the Stars should be conducted by Mr. A, who was a divine envoy.
Mr. A could only bite the bullet and accept the responsibility. He first recited the honorific name of the Stars three times before beginning the ritual.
Mr. A knelt on the ground, facing the divine statue, and solemnly and earnestly recited:
"O Supreme Existence who roams the sea of stars."
"You are the ruler who governs the movement of the stars;"
"You are the One Who Returns the Stars Back into Their Position."
"Your faithful servant beseeches Your gaze;"
"Beseeches You to accept his offerings;"
"Beseeches You to open the gates of Your kingdom."
As Mr. A's devout prayers rang out, his voice seemed, at that instant, to overwhelm even the furious roar of thunder in the sky.
The echoes of prayer rose from the City of Silver toward the skies, reaching ever deeper until they arrived at the cosmos.
A familiar starry sky slowly manifested in the depths of the skies amid the prayers, forming a gateway around which countless stars revolved and rotated.
It was a gate leading to the cosmos.
The residents of the City of Silver followed Mr. A and knelt on the ground, praying that the Stars would accept their ritual and grant them a measure of protection, allowing them to leave this dark world.
Voice after voice of prayer continuously drifted upward and disappeared into the gateway of stars.
Tonight, the light of the Stars shone brighter and more brilliantly than ever.