Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 528 Death Crystal
On the way to the port following the royal caravan, Arthur and Morgan, the two cats, joined Milo's group, perching on Milo's shoulders on either side.

When Milo and the others were discussing the so-called forbidden zone seal, the cat interjected:
"Sealing? Don't you have some misunderstanding about that?"

“What do you mean?” Dillash asked.

Morgan the Little Tabby explained, "The seal refers to the inhabitants of Os-Nargai, not those poor wretches in the forbidden zone."

"What kind of statement is this?" Even Milo had never heard of such a statement before.

"Didn't Mr. Pinkerton mention this?" asked Arthur the little white cat.

“Your chiefs mostly open their mouths to yawn, not to speak,” Milo said, spreading his hands. “So, according to you, the so-called seal seals this eternal kingdom, not the forbidden zone?”

This concept is indeed very easy to confuse.

After all, normal people would be more likely to associate the word "seal" with "forbidden zone" rather than with a port city like Selefese that is open to the outside world.

The truth is, those who were sealed off were indeed the remnants of the forbidden zone, the difference being that the remnants were aware that they were under lockdown, while the people of Os-Nargai were not necessarily aware of it.

"Does that mean you can't leave Osnargay? But I haven't seen much defense around Selphis, and even the city gates and port are open for free entry and exit." Dirasha still didn't quite understand what the so-called seal meant.

"Is it that Death Crystal?" Milo asked.

“Look at the lighthouse on the sea to your left in the distance,” Morgan the tabby said, pointing to the sea with her paw. “It’s dusk now, and only in the brief twilight can you see their shadows, those crystal people emanating dark energy.”

Milo squinted at the calm sea dotted with ship lights in the distance. Behind the dappled shadows, he did see some thin, hunched figures with sharp crystalline substances hanging from their backs. Just as Little Fox Morgan had said, they all emitted a dark aura similar to black smoke, but the source of the gas was actually the crystals on their bodies.

Those hunched figures moved slowly across the lighthouse platform and spiral staircase, so slowly that they were almost unnoticed. Only someone with Milo's shadow vision could detect them immediately.

With careful observation, it is not difficult to find the shadows of these short and thin crystal people on the edge of the city, in sparsely populated areas, and even in the shadows of street corners. They make no sound and move very slowly, seemingly immersed in their "work," appearing out of place with the bustling and new surroundings.

"They are the most crucial factors in maintaining the eternal existence of Os-Nargay," explained Arthur the little white cat.
"This kingdom was indeed constructed by King Kurans using dreams when he was in the waking world, but the eternal power that keeps people young cannot be created by dreams, because that is a higher level of rules, and rules are only controlled by the gods. The eternity here is actually man-made."

“Man-made eternity?” Diracho narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Eternity was a wish that arose in the heart of King Kurans after witnessing the ultimate void behind the stars. He wanted to create a transcendent world. Perhaps it was because he had suffered the erosion of time in the conscious world and had experienced the departure of his loved ones... In any case, the reason why Os-Nargai was able to avoid the erosion of the rules of time was because of the existence of the Death Crystal. Those crystal people who wander on the edge of the border and in the shadows carried the Death Crystal. This natural substance has the effect of condensing the power of time's annihilation. They will actively absorb the aging, corruption, dullness, and pain brought by time. What they exchange for is the eternal Os-Nargai."

“The Death Crystal comes from the gods,” Milo muttered.

“Yes, that was a blessing King Kurans received in exchange for guarding the forbidden zone for the gods.” Little tabby Morgan nodded, looking at the lighthouse on the distant sea: “The forbidden zone doesn’t need to be sealed at all; what needs to be sealed is the human heart of the guardians. And ‘eternity’ is actually a means to seal the human heart. The gods don’t want the guardians of the forbidden zone to have any improper thoughts.” “It’s hard to imagine a cat saying something so profound,” Dirasha remarked.

“Kid, the two of us combined are longer than your family tree!” The little white cat Arthur glanced at Dillah Shaw.

"Let me guess, after the Death Crystal absorbs the negative effects of time, there is still some kind of limiting effect, right?" Milo muttered.

“Of course, once we accept eternity, we can never leave this country again. Once we leave, the time that was taken away will be returned to us in full from the Death Crystal. We may die from disease, old age, or other factors before the ferry even leaves the port.” Little Fox Morgan explained in detail: “Our initial purpose in choosing to settle in Osnargay was to accumulate power, until later we found that we could no longer leave this place.”

"The price of eternity is freedom?" Dirac asked.

“I’m honestly, there’s no need to force yourself to speak in such a profound way,” Milo waved his hand.

“Okay.” Dillash shrugged.

“But the Death Crystal’s function shouldn’t be that simple, right?” Milo turned to the cat and asked.

The cat nodded:

"Of course, its most important role is to maintain order on this continent, including gathering the celestial light and rainwater into the country. These resources are all plundered from the forbidden zone. You come from the forbidden zone, so you should understand what I mean."

“Of course.” Milo nodded.

This is the gods' punishment of the conquerors' descendants, and it can be considered their ultimate means of eroding the conquerors' special bloodline.

It can be understood that time's "pardon" of Os-Narguey was exchanged for even more cruel torture of the survivors within the restricted area.

In other words, the gods, using only the Death Crystal, achieved two different ways of sealing the two areas, Os-Nargai and the Forbidden Zone.

"Let me guess, is the crystal that has condensed death itself also dangerous?"

Milo could smell the stench emanating from the crystallings from afar.

You should know that what even the Shadow finds repulsive is quite deadly to ordinary living beings.

“Any living creature that gets too close to those crystal people will be cursed to death,” the cat replied.

(End of this chapter)