Chapter 2203: History
"You're not a believer, and you've only been in this district for a few days. What do you know about the Goddess?" The female player scoffed at his words. "It's only because you're a Mental Super Evolver that you can withstand this mental pressure."
"So you do know that," Xu Huo said with a light laugh.
The female player realized what he meant a moment later, her expression turning cold, and she stopped talking to him.
Ordinary believers aside, the players in this district were quite contradictory. They understood the rules of the game and knew that the "Goddess" was essentially an Instance Boss, yet they still believed in the existence of the "God" and took pride in it—as if they weren't trying to use this Instance to control the locals and deal with Outer Zone Players. It was truly baffling.
Xu Huo stood in the center of the hall where the Goddess statue was placed, staring at the wall behind it. The wall, covered with eye patterns and graffiti-like markings, seemed to slowly come alive under his prolonged gaze.
As before, the patterns initially flowed slowly like a tangle of snakes. As some parts sped up and others slowed down, the wall developed differences, gradually forming into whirlpools.
Staring at the whirlpools for too long, each single vortex seemed to become a passageway. Delving deeper into the passage, changes in light and shadow appeared in the darkness. Shadows emerged from these lights and shadows, resembling people passing by or moving paintings.
This caused a division within the temple.
She painted, and the Goddess's followers also painted. Gradually, the patterns became complex and ugly, but the Goddess seemed to truly come alive.
It was as if some images were flashing by.
Soon the scene shifted, and that figure appeared before a very small temple. The temple had little incense, but a small fruit was placed in front of it. She picked it up and ate it.
Soon, the girl in the image grew up, gradually transitioning from youth to middle age. The things in the cave increased, and the mutated things in the forest also increased. The world began to change. Continuous great fires forced the now middle-aged, lame girl to flee. After escaping, what she saw was scorched earth and corpses.
The temple's attempt had failed.
It was only then that the woman learned her country was nearly destroyed. Most of the remaining people were deformed like her. Due to the morbid curiosity of those who attacked them, they were locked in an underground city, and thus survived.
More and more players appeared in this country, and they grew stronger. More people survived, more people stayed, and more normal people appeared in the district. The temple gradually discovered that the normal children born to Outer Zone people were healthier, lived longer, and were more suited to entering the game to fight.
The wild fruits were quickly knocked over, and even the temple was smashed. The bullies who tormented the girl had grown up a lot. They pulled down the girl's pants and pointed at her lower body, mocking her.
However, the players still found ways to improve everyone's physical fitness, thus giving rise to the powerful "hermaphrodites" who possessed "both male and female characteristics."
These images repeated several times. The lame girl gradually grew a bit taller. Then she placed a few wild fruits she had found in front of the temple as offerings, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, as if praying for something.
The one who tried to kill her lay on the ground. The killers also gradually lay on the ground. The woman was surrounded by corpses, but the few remaining of her kind survived.
The woman was regarded as a strong person and a savior, revered by the survivors.
Most parts of the image were covered in shadows, and Xu Huo couldn't clearly see what the girl's body looked like. But then the girl picked up a stone from the temple and smashed one of the people to death. The others scattered, and the girl hugged the broken statue and fled.
The images that followed were mostly of trees, flowers, and a cave. The cave had a simple bed and coverings. The broken statue was patched up with mud and re-enshrined in a corner of the cave.
As his staring time increased, he also felt the pressure. Fortunately, he had recovered well these past few days, so it wasn't as strenuous as at the beginning. He just felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded, and his vision gradually became blurry. But soon, he managed to capture something within this blur.
Someone caught up to them. A few players were still resisting, but the woman who couldn't run fast was nearing death. She tightly hugged the statue that had accompanied her, waiting for death to come. But the person approaching her suddenly clutched their head and knelt on the ground, writhing in pain before blood flowed from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
A brief conflict erupted inside the temple. In the end, they selected several children with Outer Zone bloodlines to raise. The growth process went well, but when they entered the game and visited other districts, their attitude towards the hermaphrodites changed upon returning. Some even invited companions who committed acts of abducting ordinary people.
At first, it was a lame, thin figure running. Then several figures caught up and beat her. Then the figures of the attackers disappeared. The lame figure struggled to get up, stuffing the dirt-covered food she had picked up from the ground into her mouth. In this silent image, one could almost hear the sound of grit scraping against teeth.
Next, the images began to accelerate. The woman, aided by the statue, became the undisputed leader. Because more hermaphrodites survived, they became the backbone of this country, starting to rebuild the nation and reproduce. However, due to genetic issues, not many healthy offspring could be born.
As the population grew, the Divine Envoy still adopted the previous government system, but the government personnel only handled ordinary affairs, while important decisions were made by the temple.
Some wanted to use Outer Zone people to improve the genes of the locals and escape the fate of short lifespans. But others believed that those with half Outer Zone blood would never truly cherish the "hermaphrodites." The hermaphrodites were the cornerstone of the nation's reconstruction, and their offspring still had a certain probability of being hermaphrodites. Once normal people increased in number, the hermaphrodites would once again become targets of discrimination due to their small numbers and weak bodies.
The woman left no descendants. Her only wish was to find more people to worship her god. Thus, the first crude temple was born. Because the statue's eyes were broken, the woman painted many eyes in the temple. Because the statue's hands and feet were broken, the woman painted countless hands and feet like vines and branches in the temple.
People were killing, people were fleeing. Then she also became one of the fugitives, struggling with a group of the old, weak, sick, and disabled to escape the sea of fire and their pursuers.
The previous few times, Xu Huo hadn't persisted long enough to see the images clearly. Today, he wanted to try.
Later, the woman died, and the Goddess became the Goddess in the Instance. To protect this country, the believers spontaneously selected a Divine Envoy. The Divine Envoy learned from the Goddess how to avoid the Instance and informed the believers.
At this point, the country's operating system was basically formed.
The era dominated by "hermaphrodites" in this country continued.
The temple did not attempt to kill the normal people born in this district. They only required them to undergo temple training during their childhood. There were also conflicts with Outer Zone people, but the temple resolved them all.
Just as Xu Huo's eyeballs felt a splitting pain, the image suddenly focused on a Holy Maiden.