Chapter 1105: 92. Stepping Toward the Light

It was a wall.

A wall built from boundless white fog.

Its height was at least several hundred meters, perhaps even a thousand, because even from this distance, Muen had to lift his head to see the top where that white met the clear blue.

As for its width, that was even harder to measure. Whether Muen turned his head left or right, he could not see the end of that wall. It seemed that somewhere on the other side, beyond what he could see, this wall had already joined together again, enclosing this entire region within it.

As for its thickness...

"Mr. Muen, do you know what Pioneer means?"

"I know the words, but the meaning here..."

"To pioneer unknown land, to search for the exit that must exist... That unknown land is there."

Marcie reached out and pointed toward the distance.

Toward that Fog Wall.

It was only a wall built from a vast expanse of white fog. It did not possess any defensive power. Anyone could walk into it.

But as long as the range of such a Fog Wall was wide enough, it was more terrifying than a true high wall.

Therefore, from what Marcie had just said, one could tell that what blocked the people here was not actually some wall.

It was the unknown built from fog.

"Unknown land..."

Muen’s gaze flickered. "In other words, the so-called pioneers are the people who enter that wall and search for a road out? You’ve wanted to leave this place all along, but you’ve been blocked by this fog?"

So the evil believers had wanted to get rid of him so badly because he was an outsider, and might know a passage leading outside? And to the evil believers, even to the Goddess of Night, the people here absolutely could not be allowed to escape?

"That’s exactly it."

Marcie continued, "Mr. Muen has actually already seen it, haven’t you? This Annabawei has long since been pushed to the edge of destruction by the long night."

"I suppose... I have."

Muen’s gaze landed on the city-state not far away.

That Rabuya City, whose name had thundered even in his ears.

From Marcie and Grandma Meg’s previous descriptions, Muen had thought it would be an extraordinary city-state, full of adventure, openness, and crowded streams of people. It would be like a work of art, displaying every most genuine aspect of this Annabawei.

But after actually seeing that city-state, Muen could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

How was that a city?

It was only a village-town with a wall carelessly built around its outer edge.

Low houses were scattered here and there. A foul-smelling river flowed between the buildings. The roads had clearly never been properly repaired, full of pits and puddles... There were not even any carriages here, which relied heavily on road conditions.

Of course. When people were nearly starving to death, how would they have spare strength to raise livestock?

"Rabuya City is already the largest settlement in this region. If you really come from outside, Mr. Muen, you must think this place is crowded and pitiful."

Marcie said softly, "There’s no helping it. After that first complete darkness, we spent a full two hundred years rebuilding order and adapting to the dark. But even now, the population is far less than one third of what it was before the disaster, and the total number is still constantly decreasing, because food and every kind of material are all visibly declining in production. Even the warmstone mine outside our village, the one used for heating, is already on the verge of depletion."

"Under these circumstances, no major conflict has actually broken out among you?" Muen asked in surprise.

Materials dwindling. Order collapsing.

That was practically the finest breeding ground for chaos and conflict. Yet from Marcie’s words, and from everything Muen had seen and heard along the way, there was actually no trend in that direction at all?

"Conflict? I suppose there is some. But the night often cuts off most people’s contact with one another. And everyone knows that if things keep going on this way, the people here will sooner or later face destruction.

"So, compared to conflict, we chose another path."

"To try every possible method to leave this place?"

"Yes. After basic order stabilized, the City-State United Pioneering Association was founded. The United Pioneering Association spent several decades establishing the current pioneer system, and that was entirely based on the idea Lord Alan left behind. He once told us that only by successfully crossing this vast Fog Wall would the people here have a way to live. In fact, Lord Alan himself was the first person to step into it and explore, so later, he was also called Pioneer Number One."

"Did he come back?"

"No."

Marcie held the record book in both hands, her expression sorrowful. "Back then, the identity code system we have now, which can locate people, had not yet been developed. So we have no idea whether Lord Alan ever walked out of the fog. All we know is that the last words he left behind still told us to continue moving forward into the fog.

"As long as we keep moving forward, one day we’ll find the exit... That was probably what he thought."

"I see... He was truly great."

Muen could not help sighing.

Humans were always like this. The more prosperous and developed they became, the more they brought destruction upon themselves.

And the more desperate the situation, the more they could burst out with astonishing strength, and give birth to astonishing people.

For instance, this Alan Aisger.

—When everyone was trapped in a desperate situation, whether it was the first person to draw a sword and resist, or the first person to set out toward the unknown, both required unimaginable courage.

One could say he had pulled the people here back from the brink of extinction by his strength alone.

"Speaking of which, is this Fog Wall also a method of the Goddess of Night? How ruthless. Night and a wall. She really meant to trap you all here until you died..."

"No."

Unexpectedly, Marcie shook her head and denied Muen’s guess.

"This Fog Wall is not the disaster brought down by the Goddess of Night."

"Hm?"

Muen frowned in confusion.

"Although the calendar we use now is the Fog Calendar, and it began from the day Lord Alan entered this fog, this fog did not appear only four hundred-some years ago. That calendar was only meant to symbolize our determination to launch an assault on the fog."

"You mean... you were trapped here long before that?"

"Trapped here... I don’t think that really counts. Although I don’t know much about that era either, according to the scattered fragments that have been passed down, before the Goddess of Night suddenly went mad, the purpose of this wall should have been to protect us."

"Protect?"

That unexpected answer made Muen subconsciously narrow his eyes. He carefully studied the Fog Wall again.

When put that way, it did seem possible. The purpose of a wall was not only to imprison what lay inside. Many times, it existed to isolate attacks and harm from outside.

"Who were your enemies? What kind of thing required building something like this for protection?"

"That, I don’t know. Those things are too long ago. But according to legend, it was because the outside world underwent a terrible disaster. Our ancestors followed the Goddess of Night and migrated to this borderland in order to escape that disaster. And that Fog Wall was built precisely to prevent that disaster from spreading here."

"..."

Disaster?

Migration?

A flash of inspiration crossed Muen’s mind. Within his own understanding, in that distant past, there happened to be one event that could correspond to this disaster.

—The age of great chaos triggered by the descent of the First Evil God!

"In that case..."

A timeline began to appear in Muen’s mind.

More than a thousand years ago, the ancestors of the people here had followed that Goddess of Night here to avoid the age of great chaos, and had built that Fog Wall at the same time.

More than four hundred years ago, the Goddess of Night went mad, perhaps due to pollution, and began unleashing disaster across Annabawei. Thus, the Fog Wall that had originally protected this place became a fence that sealed it to death.

More than one hundred years ago, humanity, which had gradually caught its breath, began following in the footsteps of Alan, the first Pioneer, established the pioneer system, and continued exploring that Fog Wall without interruption.

And then... there was now.

Although despair still stood ahead like this Fog Wall, exploration and resistance had never stopped.

"What a long history of struggle," Muen could not help sighing again.

The people here had shown astonishing resilience and determination in the face of disaster. Just like the word "pioneer" itself, they were clearly trapped in despair, yet they could still make one feel hope.

"Yes, very long. After all, a wall like this is blocking us."

Marcie’s voice trembled slightly.

Her clear eyes were now reflecting the existence of that Fog Wall. To her, becoming a Pioneer, entering the fog to explore a way out, and searching for a bright future for the humans here was a goal she had long since set her mind on. It was the far shore she should have bravely headed toward.

But at this very moment, standing here and staring at that enormous, towering, unimaginable Fog Wall, she felt fear from the bottom of her heart.

She was afraid.

Afraid of that wall.

Afraid of that unknown fog.

Of course. Who would not be afraid?

To that Fog Wall, she, and everyone here, were all so tiny.

But...

"Mr. Muen, can you tell me what the outside is like now? Are those dangerous disasters that were enough to destroy us still there?"

Marcie turned her head to look at Muen, her gaze expectant and frightened. It seemed she had been brewing this question for a very long time, but because of some cowardice, had only now finally asked it.

"...They are."

Muen answered truthfully. "The disaster from a thousand years ago has still not been completely resolved. One day, it will make its return."

"Then..."

"But at least right now, the outside world is still bathed in sunlight."

Muen looked into Marcie’s eyes and said, word by word, solemnly, "That much, I can promise you."

"..."

The gloom and fear in those eyes rapidly faded, like mist suddenly scattered by a passing breeze.

This girl, who had fallen into dejection because of her own explanation just now, seemed at this moment to regain hope because of that simple sentence.

"Then... Lord Alan’s guidance really was correct. Our efforts over the past hundred years really were correct. And my leaving home to become a Pioneer really was correct too?"

"I can’t answer that question with certainty. After all, I don’t understand that Fog Wall. I don’t know whether it’s a dead end."

Muen shook his head.

Through this long night and long conversation, he had finally gained a systematic understanding of this place called Annabawei.

He had even come to certain guesses about his own goal after somehow inexplicably arriving here.

But for some reason, he still felt a few dark clouds floating over his heart, lingering and refusing to disperse.

"It’s not!"

Marcie spread both arms, her expression excited.

Although she was the one who had spent the first half of her life trapped here, she began actively comforting Muen.

"There are no dead ends in this world! Didn’t Lord Alan already tell us that? Even a disaster like the one the Goddess of Night unleashed could be reversed, so what could possibly be impossible to solve?

"We’ll definitely find a way out. Definitely!"

Marcie pointed toward that Fog Wall, with not the slightest trace of fear remaining on her face. Perhaps four hundred years ago, Alan, the first Pioneer, had also been like this, drawing his sword at that seemingly impassable natural moat.

Courage was the hymn that belonged to humanity.

It was also the strongest weapon in the face of disaster.

As always.

"That’s true."

Muen smiled along with her.

"If something like destiny truly exists in this world... then a guy like me, who has always been hated by fate, would probably have died long ago."

"Right? That’s why I say you outsiders are all pampered."

Without anyone noticing, Marcie’s attitude toward Muen had once again become arrogant. "That wall is right there. Are there any other options? We charge in and that’s that! Follow me. Target: Rabuya City. Become a true Pioneer!"

After an exhausting night, Marcie did not rest for long.

She strode forward...

Toward the light in her heart.