Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 826 The People of Gold
“I always have this feeling that the Dreamland isn’t as big as I imagined, that it’s actually quite small, even smaller than the Nanwei City I remember…”

This was Milo's reflection after crossing the South Wind Sea.

In the past six months, he has traveled from the cold plains of the north to the lost depths of the south, from high mountains to underground. This world is indeed not as vast as legend has it.

Of course, this is just an illusion.

However, this illusion would become even stronger whenever he encountered some "familiar faces" in the corners of the dream world.

...

For example, when the snake ship rounded a port in the southwest of the mainland, it heard stories at sea about a "new god" saving the world.

Milo sensed Imnar's presence from afar, but he didn't want to waste any more time on this guy. Although the agreed-upon three-month deadline had long passed, and he didn't know how this guy had managed to fool Pagon, none of that mattered. All his years of experience had taught Milo that he would never get anywhere with a stubborn leech like Imnar, so let him do whatever he wanted.

So Milo refused the pilgrimage invitation from the Kem fishing boat and continued on his way to the Golden Kingdom. If the journey went smoothly, he might be able to check on what kind of trouble this guy was up to in the Kem Kingdom on his return trip.

...

……

The snake boat traveled for many days along the coastal route of the western continent.

They had seen the Impran hills, which were stacked like building blocks, the ancient ruins of the Uba Dam, and the spectacular sight of a giant sea monster carrying the wreckage of a ship at sea. It is said that there is a sad and moving story between the sea monster with the elephant-like trunk and the ship wreckage on its back.

...

The deeper one goes into the western sea, the larger and clearer the moon becomes at night.

It was even more beautiful than the fake full moon that the three goddesses had concocted in the Southern Lands.

Legend has it that the western part of the world is the closest place to the moon, and lucky travelers may even find land bordering the moon and enter that completely new world.

Yes, and then I was captured by the Moon Beast and enslaved.

...

Unlike the full moon illusion of the Three Goddesses, the western sky only has a radiant moon, without any stars.

Legend has it that before the Golden Tree established its divine position, during the dark ages of blood and fire, it led its disciples in the west to fight against demons from the underworld and malice from the stars.

The blades of law and the Golden Knights throughout history have forged the divine status of the Golden Tree and the Golden Kingdom of today with their blood and flesh.

The moonlight obscured the stars, seemingly confirming the outcome of their struggle against the stars back then.

But if you look closely, you can still see the faint twinkling of stars through the dappled shadows of the clouds...

Moon, trees, stars, blood…

Milo had seen these elements countless times in the Golden Law Church of the Awake World.

Blood of the Old Gods, Star Clock Tower, Lunar Revelation…

The hunter organization, which evolved from the Monsis school which shares the same roots as the church, also mentions the element of the moon in its maxims—"Even in the long night, I can still see the moonlight."

...

"I think we should be very close to the Golden Kingdom."

Milo sat at the bow of the boat, already able to sense the distinct and massive presence of the crowd.

The snake boat continued its journey for half a day, and by then, in the dappled night sky, one could see the faint outline of where the golden tree had once stood.

The glorious past of the Golden Kingdom is gone; their gods have departed, leaving only the cold moonlight and the distant prying eyes of the stars.

Even so, the golden people remained steadfastly clustered at the foot of the Golden Law Temple.

The reason why a deity is a deity is that His achievements and greatness do not need to be recorded in the Muta Inscriptions, nor do they need His face to be carved on the cliffs like on Oriba Island. Just look at the faces of the believers at the bottom of society and you will understand.

Even in the years since the gods departed, the power of faith in the Golden Kingdom has never wavered or been severed.

...

Peaceful, steadfast, and full of hope.

These are the qualities that Milo sensed from the golden people when he entered the Golden Kingdom.

It was also the only time he couldn't deny that this was what a country with a god in charge should look like. Even if the people living here couldn't enjoy the abundant resources and eternal blessings of Os-Nargay, they also had less deception and emptiness, and more of a rare simplicity.

The people of Gold are not as noble and arrogant as the "gold" in their name suggests.

In fact, the believers and subjects at the bottom of society were no different from the ordinary people in the conscious world that Milo remembered. They were dutiful and hardworking, and served their superiors devoutly in their short lives.

The more a soul suffers, the deeper it kneels before the gods; this is an eternal truth.

It is now difficult to discern what the civilization on this land was like before the arrival of the Golden Tree, but what is most precious is that it preserved that purity and simplicity.

The people here rarely show hostility towards outsiders.

...

The land of gold is vast.

All races that once suffered in darkness are now people of gold.

The scene that Milo had envisioned—being surrounded by the Knights as soon as he landed—did not occur.

This is just a small village located on the edge of the country. An ancient stone monument stands on the shore at the entrance of the village.

The inscription on it is densely covered with people's names.

Furthermore, there was no other explanation. In fact, all the places on the stone tablet that could be inscribed were already filled with names, leaving no extra space for writing any further explanation.

Milo initially did not understand what the stone tablet and its inscription represented.

He even wondered why there was a stone tablet covered with people's names instead of a sculpture of a golden tree at the entrance to the village of the Golden People.

It wasn't until he entered the village and saw several children playing games that Milo realized what was happening.

The children were all "fully armed".

In reality, it's about putting a water ladle upside down on your head as a helmet, tying an adult's worn-out shoe insole to your shoulders as shoulder armor, and finding a tree branch that perfectly resembles the shape of a sword.

He shouted:

"I am Enya!"

"Then I am Knight Commander Finlay!"

"I am the strongest blade, Isa Kyle!"

"No way! This time I have to be Isha. It's always you!"

...

The children were "fighting" with clanging and banging.

Milo finally realized that the names they were calling out were all on the stone tablet at the village entrance.

The stone tablet originally recorded the names of the swords of law and members of the Golden Knights throughout history.

...

Milo and Rebecca entered the village.

The children at the village entrance only glanced at them curiously before continuing their battle against the evil spirits from beyond the borders.

Not only the children, but the villagers were also very friendly, not in an overly enthusiastic way, but in a relatively peaceful and casual manner.

For example, when Milo pushed open the door to the village's only tavern, the tavern owner calmly took out the only type of rum in the tavern, poured two glasses, and pushed them in front of the two strangers.

...

Milo didn't stand on ceremony either.

He went straight to the question that had puzzled him earlier.

Why are there no sculptures of golden trees in the Golden Kingdom?

"Sculpture," the shopkeeper muttered slowly, wiping the table lazily.
"Isn't it those things we can't see that need sculptures to commemorate them?"

“Indeed.” Milo smiled with relief.

Sculptures are only needed by believers who cannot see the gods. For the Golden People, in the past they only needed to raise their heads to see the figure of the gods and feel their glory.

There is absolutely no need to build any more sculptures for the Golden Tree.

Only those who died to end the Dark Ages will never be seen by them.

That's why a monument was erected to commemorate the sharp blades of law and the golden knights throughout history.

...

After taking a sip from his glass, Milo was about to ask Rebecca for her opinion on the wine brewed under the moonlight.

Rebecca glanced at the spicy-sweet drink in her glass, then looked up at the pub owner and said:
"Change it to orange juice."

...

"-_-?"

The owner, with a rag slung over his shoulder in one hand and the bar counter under his other, stared blankly for a moment before finally speaking:

"You must have some misunderstanding about the tavern, right?"

But Rebecca seemed not to understand what her boss meant, her eyes fixed on him without wavering.

After a two-minute standoff, the owner sighed, took a crumpled orange from the kitchen, and placed it in front of Rebecca, indicating that he had done his best to provide service.

Milo took the glass of wine that Rebecca didn't want and drank it too.

At this moment, the boss finally finished slowly wiping the water stains off the bar, leisurely lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and asked Milo:
“You know, after the golden afterglow faded, very few travelers from the outside world came here on pilgrimage. Many people say that we have been abandoned by the Golden Tree.”

"Abandon it? The temple is still there, isn't it?" Milo retorted dismissively.

"I advise you to take advantage of the calm now and head home. The future of the Golden Land is not going to be peaceful. Of course, if you have any other secrets, then just pretend I didn't say anything." The boss had probably drunk quite a bit on his own, as his words were somewhat incoherent.

"What's wrong with things?"

(End of this chapter)