Within the cruise ship cabin, Farosa was digesting the news about Zanges that she’d just found out.
"Someone from Renwang Security mentioned something about the ’Dream of Golden Township,’ which surprised me, as people in the Northern Archipelago have been having related dreams too," Farosa told Xu Yang.
"How come?" Xu Yang was curious.
"Do you remember the involvement of someone inside the Nestor Research Department in the trafficking of human body parts? I killed many Witches, took out a lot of people, how did I determine the standard? In fact, I could hear the Witches’ inner voices, hearing some lament, ’Had it not been for that dream of Golden Township, I wouldn’t have done this’," Farosa narrated.
The dream of Golden Township.
According to retrospective investigations on some of the Witches, these Witches, along with other human employees, all dreamed of a land abundant with gold during a specific timespan.
Awaking from the dreams, they were still obsessed with wealth, resulting in their personalities becoming exceptionally greedy.
At the time, they were also contacted by foreign forces, they brazenly took the risk, stepping onto the no-return path of profit-driven malfeasance, seeking personal gain within Nestor Corporation.
"We conducted investigations on those involved in the anti-Witch faction’s actions; many of them also mentioned keywords related to ’gold.’ Back then, there were no leads, but hearing what you said, it’s likely that they too had dreams about gold," Xu Yang mused.
"The foreign forces should be the Seven Seals; they are covertly supporting and spreading these golden dreams, implanting direct fantasies of wealth into the employees’ and citizens’ minds, making them rush for quick success and act impulsively," Farosa analyzed slowly.
"Not just the Northern Archipelago, I’m afraid they have been spreading these golden dreams worldwide, this way they can attract people from all walks of life to Hot Tree Continent, and even developed Zanges, this city of sin—it was just an ordinary little port last year. Seems like they are using this method to manipulate the profit-seeking hearts of people worldwide, huh?" Xu Yang felt the haunting depth of the conspiracy behind him.
"Similar incidents also happened in the Middle Ages; a devout Church pastor became extremely greedy after having a dream about the Golden Township, fond of accumulating wealth, acknowledging no kin, and committed countless sinful deeds in secret. His grave was made entirely of gold and was soon excavated. Thus, the influence of the Golden Township is indeed longstanding; who would have thought it would reemerge in this form in modern times," Farosa spoke of the past.
"Dreams of gold and wealth... Zanges of the Golden Township... I’m afraid the Seven Seals have a scheme in Zanges," Xu Yang realized how difficult it would be to contend with the Seven Seals, an organization with global reach.
They could mobilize resources all over the world, employing a myriad of methods.
"And I remember one of Yan Duo’s brothers was the Golden Giant God. According to legend, it was a giant made entirely of gold that fell from the sky, landing in the ’Land of Raging Rain and Yellow Sand,’ right in Hot Tree Continent," Farosa said mysteriously.
"Then we should take a trip to Hot Tree Continent, to this city of sin, Zanges, and see what conspiracy they have," Xu Yang nodded.
Countless clues, both overt and covert, point to Hot Tree Continent.
This continent has long been synonymous with disease and scorching heat, but with the advent of the Frost Era, the land of extreme heat turned into a mild climate, which became more suitable for human habitation.
Humans originally moved from the equator toward the poles, but as the circumstances dictated, they are now returning to the equator.
"And those damn ’anti-Witch faction,’" Farosa said bitterly, "Did they all have the ’golden dream’? Most of them didn’t, right? On what grounds do they hold such enmity towards Witches?"
"Firstly, from a social structure standpoint, humans and Witches have always been the most familiar yet estranged symbiotic groups. Witches’ social circles mainly consist of other Witches, rarely interacting with humans proactively; most of them keep to themselves, so the two sides have always been unfamiliar, merely two groups living in the same world," Xu Yang said.
"Indeed..." Farosa pondered.
All friends of Witches are basically Witches.
For example, within the Witch Division, the Witches’ friends are all Witches that know each other; there’s no presence of ordinary humans.
Even someone known like Kojima Kanako wouldn’t join the group of Witches, not fitting in.
Humans and Witches, though seemingly living in the same world, in reality, their life trajectories are almost parallel.
The only exception is romance.
Witches naturally have romantic needs, so Witches who can afford it will look for a man to start a family with, but they won’t bear children—it’s just for fun. General Witches get "bored" after interacting with men for ten or twenty years and then find the next man.
"So, humans still hold a certain strangeness and even hostility toward Witches. They hope that Nestor Corporation can properly manage these Witches who act as ’superweapons,’ just like the NCER Nuclear Arsenal. So from the ordinary person’s perspective, it’s like waking up, going to work, and finding a huge crater blown in the suburbs of Shangjing, like having a nuclear explosion right at their doorstep. Could they remain indifferent?" Xu Yang explained to Farosa.
"They used to be ?" Farosa sneered, "They were ants before!"
"Before, they wouldn’t come together because they were afraid to speak up or act up; they had no Power. But now that we’ve introduced a new social landscape, their actions, their voices are part of the normal order, and frankly, this is how it should be! It’s only right that they have the ability to speak out, to come before you and loudly say ’stop creating craters in the world’," Xu Yang affirmed slowly.