Chapter 146: New Discoveries and Civilization (First Update)

Surrounded by wisps of pristine and translucent water mist, the olm slowly emerged from the lake. Its front paws rested upon the solid ice of the water's surface, and its massive head stretched forward, looking down at the four humanoid creatures cowering in terror by the shoreline.

Terror, fright, and low, whimpering cries for help escaping trembling lips—all of these signs indicated that the creatures before it possessed intelligence, differing entirely from any Purple Moon entities Ji Yi had previously encountered. Naturally, this filled Ji Yi with curiosity.

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Doro was terrified to the extreme at that moment, even harboring doubts that he would be devoured by the monster right before his eyes at any second. If time could be reversed, nothing in the world could have persuaded Doro to come out fishing with his clansmen today. But who could have foreseen that such a terrifying monster would suddenly appear in the very place where all his people scraped together a meager existence?

Watching the monster draw closer, Doro desperately screamed in his heart, willing himself to stand up. Yet the terror was so overwhelming that no matter how much he shouted and struggled, the limpness in his legs prevented him from mustering even the slightest scrap of strength.

"No, don't eat me, I don't want to die."

Doro cried out in panic, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. Yet regardless of his dread and screaming, the monster's colossal head continued to approach. Eventually, when the creature's head drew near the top of Doro's own, he could even feel the chilling frost of its breath.

Jolted by the freezing air, Doro froze entirely. It was not that he refused to move, but rather that his terror had reached its absolute limit. Gazing at the beast, Doro fell into total despair. He even closed his eyes, waiting for death in a state of hopeless resignation.

However, after waiting with closed eyes for quite a while, Doro realized that he was still alive and had not been eaten by the monster at all.

Amidst his fear, Doro slowly opened his eyes once more, only to discover that the monster had turned its head to look at its three companions instead. And right then, those companions of his were holding their breath just as he had—not daring to move or cry out, as if terrified that a single action might provoke the monster and lead to their consumption.

They all stared at the beast, trembling uncontrollably. Their eyes were filled with dread, yet simultaneously brimming with a desperate yearning for life, conveying a pleading expression.

Within his entire tribe, Doro was far from powerful; in fact, he was known for being quite timid. Yet beneath this cowardice lay an intelligence possessed by no one else. At that moment, Doro finally perceived how this monster differed from the other beasts in his world.

First of all, this terrifying-looking creature radiated a gentle, soothing aquatic glow—something exceedingly rare in this world. Furthermore, as the monster observed his companions, Doro detected a look of appraisal and curiosity in its eyes. It was a gaze Doro had not seen in a very long time, for nearly every creature encountered in this Purple Moon world was bloodthirsty and frenzied. Even the weakest fish in the lake were terrifying and dangerous. Yet this far more horrifying monster displayed none of that madness and peril; it did not even seem to harbor any intention of eating them.

*Why?*

Amidst his terror, a sense of confusion slowly began to take root in Doro's mind. And lingering in that confusion, Doro suddenly found himself thinking of the long-deceased former tribal elder, and of the stories the elder used to tell him when he was very young.

Doro's people were not originally beings of this terrifying world; they possessed a glorious civilization, hailing from a continent known as Saxmon. In that realm, his people referred to themselves as the Saxons and boasted a mighty nation. Back then, every single Saxon stood around two meters tall and possessed considerable strength. Some of the stronger Saxons even wielded the power to slay colossal beasts.

However, everything changed with the descent of the Purple Moon. The emergence of the Purple Moon destroyed the Saxon nation and shattered their entire world. The surviving Saxons were thus cast into the Dark Age. Their world was devoured, and all Saxons were dragged into this current Purple Moon realm.

For the continuation of the Saxon race, countless powerhouses perished during the Dark Age, sealing their decline as an inevitable fate. Down to the present day, due to the radiation of the Purple Moon and the consumption of too many Purple Moon organisms, the Saxons had gradually mutated over generations into the ugly and feeble race they were now.

In his childhood, Doro had truly envied the world of the Saxons as described by the elder, and had taken it as his goal to protect his people, restore Saxon civilization, and grow strong. Yet until he grew up, Doro never achieved that goal. Moreover, as he matured, blow after blow made him acutely understand the cruelty of reality—because in the world of the Purple Moon, gaining power came with a price, and that price was the complete loss of one's sanity to become a terrifying monster. Even the heirloom holy stones were powerless to restore clarity to tribe members who had been assimilated and polluted by the Purple Moon.

Having been fortunate enough to witness firsthand the scene of a clansman transforming into a mighty monster that slaughtered half the village's population before fleeing into the Black Forest, Doro had grown increasingly timid, living cautiously right up to the present day.

Even so, Doro had never stopped searching for ways to make his tribe strong. On numerous occasions, he risked danger to visit the ruins left behind in this world by the ancient Saxons, as spoken of by the village chief. There, Doro experienced the most perilous journey of his life. Though the ruins were only a half-hour's walk from the village, once outside the Black Forest, stripped of the protection of the village's holy stone—which Purple Moon entities loathed—Doro finally understood true terror. He beheld countless bizarre and horrifying creatures, and even caught glimpses from afar of monsters hundreds of times larger than himself.

Yet he was fortunate enough to successfully find some historical records carved on stone slabs in the deepest ruins. On those weathered slabs, Doro saw countless records. They detailed the repeated perils faced by the Saxons in their struggle for survival, as well as the names of the numerous clansmen who sacrificed themselves for the continuation of the race.

Though the inscriptions were exceedingly brief, Doro knew that every single phrase on those slabs deeply captured the blood, tears, and harrowing struggle of the Saxons when they were first dragged into this world. These records filled Doro with profound sorrow, yet alongside that sorrow came a trace of despair, for the records noted that the ancient, formidable clansmen owed their strength entirely to the elixirs and magical artifacts of the former Saxmon continent. By now, however, all those potions and items had long been swept away by the passage of time, relegated entirely to history.

Consumed by despair over this discovery, Doro had returned to the village, truly beginning a decadent and listless life.

Yet during this period, Doro still clung to a shred of hope. According to the inscriptions on the stone slabs, every hundred years, a bizarre phenomenon would occur in the Purple Moon world—a phenomenon born of the Purple Moon devouring and destroying other worlds. An illusory domain would randomly appear somewhere within the Purple Moon world. At first, the domain would be tiny, displaying the scenery of the world the Purple Moon was currently invading. Then, as the domain expanded and gradually transformed from illusion to reality, a door would manifest within it—a doorway leading directly to the world being invaded by the Purple Moon.

At the very dawn of the millennium, the Saxon clan had still possessed considerable strength and had been fortunate enough to discover two domains, successfully entering them to smuggle themselves into other worlds. On those two occasions, the Saxons attempted to communicate with the life forms of those worlds, issuing warnings while actively engaging in self-rescue efforts alongside them. Regrettably, those worlds were ultimately destroyed nonetheless.

*There are great terrors in the Purple Moon world.*

That was the only sentence the stone slab mentioned before the remaining text cut off, for that single stone slab was the only one with clear, intact lettering. Yet even this sparse information gave Doro a sliver of hope. Even if he could not save his tribe or rescue the invaded worlds, Doro longed to witness just once what the sunlight described by the elder looked like, and what a normal world appeared to be.

*Flowers blooming and birds singing?*

What was that? Doro had never seen it, nor could he imagine it. Yet despite his inability to picture it, Doro still held onto his greatest expectations, trying his best to imagine a normal world as magnificent as possible.

Thus, Doro had lived on, sustained by this anticipation.

However, as the years drifted by, just as Doro was about to complete the greater part of his life's journey, this lingering hope was gradually eroded and forgotten under the cruelty of reality. Indeed, had it not been for the sudden appearance of the olm, Doro would never have been able to recall all those memories of aspirations and dreams he had cherished over twenty years ago.

A millennium of time was truly too long. Fewer than ten individuals among the entire Saxon tribe could still write words today. In this perilous world, literacy and writing? What use were they? Could they possibly be more practical than honest fishing to fill one's belly?

Everyone had long since forgotten their own civilization, forgotten everything. In a daze, they all struggled desperately simply to survive.

Yet now, at this very moment, looking at the massive form of the olm—with fully half its body emerging from the lake—and bathing in its translucent radiance, Doro involuntarily slipped into a brief trance.

"Yes, it must be so, it must be so!"

"The Purple Moon's domain has appeared, and it is right here in the lake."

"It is a creature from another world, and it possesses intelligence. All of this is real!"

Doro muttered aloud, a fanatical and excited expression suddenly taking over his face. All the memories of his youth rushed back into his mind, and a light of hope, unseen for a very long time, ignited in his eyes.

And right as Doro let out that sudden, excited cry, the olm's gaze instantly shifted away from the others and landed directly upon him.

At that exact same moment, a voice suddenly echoed deep within Doro's mind.