As fellow inmates, Silver Wolf asked Sampo about the reason he was locked up.
You don't ask, you don't know. But when you ask, it's a shock.
Sampo's crime was: [Unauthorized use of air resources, performing unsanctioned comedy acts; defiling the statue of the Aeon of Eternity under the Church's watch, standing side by side with THEM to steal THEIR air, and rejecting THEIR blessing.]
"Good grief, you're something else, mate. To mock their boss right in front of their underlings? That's some serious skill, partner."
"Huh?" Sampo's face was a canvas of question marks. "Care to take another look at my charges?"
Stealing the air around the Eternity statue? Come on, old Sampo's not that guilty…
All he wanted was to plant a bomb under the statue, blow it sky-high, and pin the blame on some other faction.
He had the whole plan laid out, even spent ten days on this planet for it!
And the result? Ten days of zero progress… The locals here couldn't go three sentences without mentioning the Aeon of Eternity. Any longer, and Sampo would've been assimilated.
A place drowning in decadence should've been ripe with fun. The more you indulge in the joys of human dignity, the more refined the pleasure!
That was Sampo's unique take on Elation's aesthetics, a perspective that held true across countless planets.
But here? Here, it was nowhere to be found! No decadence, no difference from any ordinary town. With all their pristine water resources… the credits they earned didn't go to improving the locals' lives. No, it all went into refurbishing the Aeon of Eternity's statue.
In their eyes, there wasn't a speck of greed for wealth. All Sampo saw was their fervent love for the Aeon of Eternity.
Back in school, his homeroom teacher said to nod and greet other teachers—standard stuff.
But this Church? Whether it was the vegetable-selling auntie or the soap merchant, their first reaction to a stranger wasn't a greeting. No, they'd get right in your face and ask if you wanted to join the Church.
They were just ordinary folks with no strength to bind a chicken, yet Sampo could feel the pure, unyielding faith radiating from them.
Among all the followers of Elation, the Mask of Fools had the most radical ideology. They'd stop at nothing for a good laugh, often turning every place they visited upside down.
To Sampo, the Church was just as bad as the Mask of Fools, especially when it came to dealing with followers of Destruction.
The Mask of Fools might whip out The Fool's Play to mock them in their face, but the Church's leaders and priests? They wouldn't bother with that. They'd just throw hands, descending into complete madness!
One second, they're all smiles and laughs. The next, they find out you're a little punk of Destruction, and they might just slap you. Whether they could win the fight was another matter.
"Sister, the Church folks are a bunch of lunatics. Just keep that in mind, and you're good."
Sampo kept squirming, his hands and feet bound by wooden ropes.
Funny thing is, he spent ten days undercover without a hitch. But when he was ready to leave, having found no fun, some guy nabbed him. Utterly ridiculous.
"So… today marks your thirtieth day here?"
Sampo nodded. A whole month locked up! He'd reached out to his tavern buddies, and not one came to his rescue.
Especially those two ladies, surnamed Han and Zhong. The moment they got his distress signal, their first move was to mock him!
"Running a dungeon and facing a high-level BOSS, giving it your all but still coming up short—I know that feeling all too well."
That was Silver Wolf's situation now. No matter how skilled she was, she couldn't take on an Emanator, especially not one of Eternity.
One Adrian, a follower of Eternity, was already more than she could handle. She didn't even want to think about how strong an Emanator must be.
Hmm, maybe she could send a message to Adrian… ask for a little help?
"Hey, Miss Hunter, I've spilled all this to you. How about teaming up with old Sampo to break out of this joint?"
Silver Wolf, about to contact Adrian, paused and looked up at Sampo.
Co-op dungeon run, huh? A path she hadn't considered. Worth a shot.
"Don't underestimate me. After being locked up this long… I've already drafted a brand-new jailbreak plan in my head. Just need a partner to pull it off."
"Interesting. Teaming up with the Mask of Fools… that's a first for me."
Kafka once said that anything outside the Script was fair game for improvisation. Silver Wolf's trip to the Church wasn't even in the Script, so it hardly mattered.
She wasn't new to two-player games. "Let's be clear: I'll carry, but I'm not guaranteeing a win."
…
Her thoughts snapped back to the present. Silver Wolf trailed behind Adrian. She hadn't expected Sampo to get himself locked up again. Reluctantly, she spared him a second of pity.
The only reason Silver Wolf went to the Church was because of Adrian. When they were kids, he'd mentioned in passing that the Church was a great spot for soaking in hot springs.
She believed him, and yeah, she got her hot spring soak. But the next day, while visiting the Aeon of Eternity's statue, she got nabbed.
"Speaking of which, how's your relationship with the Church?"
Adrian wasn't part of the Church—that much was obvious. Silver Wolf never heard him mention Eternity every three sentences.
"Hmm… let me think. It's pretty good." That was Adrian's most honest answer, speaking as a follower of Eternity.
"Family doesn't keep secrets. As long as you believe in the Aeon of Eternity, no matter where you go, no matter which corner of the galaxy you're in… the Church's doors are always open to you. You'll always find a safe haven there."
"That sounds familiar, like something Kafka would say. Looks like you've got the makings of a Stellaron Core Hunter!"
Adrian smiled without a word. He wasn't as aloof as Qlipoth. Eternity answers all questions, grants all requests!
Unlike the Erudition, too. Herta burned through an entire space station's processing power just to ask THEM a question. Adrian? He didn't need to pay such a price.
Sigh~ Aeons as approachable as him were rare these days. Aside from Akivili, look at his peers—what a bunch.
A lunatic obsessed with destroying everything, a cold wall-building god, and the messy love-hate drama between a doctor and their troublesome patient…
Sure, Adrian wasn't exactly a saint, but compared to that lot, he felt downright normal.
Silver Wolf recalled one of the Church's doctrines: No matter your sins, the Aeon of Eternity will forgive you. THEY embrace all… except, of course, the scum of Destruction.
Don't blame yourself—THEY will absolve everything… You can pin all the blame on the followers of Destruction, those vile agents of ruin!
If you encounter a wretched follower of Destruction, don't be afraid. Give them a warm welcome.
After all… dogs are humanity's best friends. Don't let prejudice strip away our truest nature.
Or, you could pick up a wooden hammer and gently tap their sleeping souls awake!
Oh, lost traveler! Praise Eternity!
"No, no, I almost got assimilated!" Silver Wolf snapped out of it, banishing all thoughts of Eternity from her mind.
The terror of the Church lingered. Even long after, when you thought back, it still sent shivers down your spine, as if it happened just yesterday.
Unforgettable. Truly unforgettable.