Chapter 3

"You've come." Jon did not turn his head, continuing to gaze at the distant, lush forest.

Hearing such familiar words, Angel suddenly remembered the conversation he had with his brother earlier, and couldn't help but smile lightly.

"Yep, I'm here." As Angel spoke, he pointed to the ointment on the table with a gesture to the mute servant. The mute servant waved his hand at Angel.

Angel sighed helplessly, picked up the ointment, and sat down next to Jon.

"Master, you haven't followed the doctor's advice again." Angel unscrewed the glass bottle and applied the thick green ointment bit by bit to Jon's already somewhat emaciated limbs.

"It doesn't matter whether I apply it or not." Jon's eyes carried a hint of nostalgia and sorrow: "I'm about to die, and 'it' won't let me live any longer."

"Who is 'it'?" Angel suddenly became alert and looked around: "Is it your enemy?"

Jon took a long time before shaking his head. "No enemies. My enemies are in another time."

Hearing that his master was talking about "another time," Angel instinctively gestured for the mute servant to leave. Even though the mute servant couldn't speak, to be on the safe side, whenever the master talked about "past events," Angel would have the mute servant leave.

Speaking of his master's origin, Angel still found it hard to believe.

Jon came from another world, or rather, another planet. Due to an accident, Jon traveled from his homeland to this unfamiliar land.

After Jon arrived, he was saved by Angel's father, and thus the subsequent events unfolded.

Angel originally didn't believe in the "穿越" (穿越 means "穿越" in Chinese, which can be translated as "time travel" or "dimensional travel") theory, but as Jon taught him more and more knowledge, building his understanding of the microscopic and macroscopic worlds, Angel had no choice but to believe. The knowledge Jon taught him, though only conceptual and lacking practical application, was already so valuable that the data Angel calculated himself proved how precious it was, far exceeding the current educational level of the Golden Sparrow Empire.

Even if Angel still had some doubts in his heart, he had largely come to believe it.

Only after hearing the door close and the sound of the mute servant's footsteps descending the stairs did Angel ask softly: "Then... who is the 'it' you mentioned, Master?"

Jon was silent for a long time before asking Angel a question that didn't quite make sense.

"Do you believe the world has consciousness?"

Angel was taken aback by this sudden question and, after a moment of thought, cautiously replied: "Are you talking about the Gaia consciousness?"

The concept of Gaia consciousness did not exist in the Golden Sparrow Empire, nor in this world. The idea of Gaia consciousness was something Jon had told him, and at the time, Angel had only considered it a myth from another world. He didn't expect Jon to suddenly ask about it now.

"Something like that." Jon nodded slightly: "In the past, I was a firm believer in science. Even though some people said that the end of science is God, I never believed it. But in this world, I increasingly feel that something is slowly changing. One of those things is related to the 'Gaia consciousness.'"

Jon's eyes gazed at the distant mountains. "My body began to show signs of inexplicable decline after I came to this world. I had my parasitic chip conduct a comprehensive examination of my body, but there were no signs of disease, meaning I am not sick."

Although Angel didn't understand what a 'parasitic chip' was, he understood Jon's words.

"Since you're not sick, why..." Angel looked at Jon, who was almost reduced to skin and bones, and his confusion grew. Jon was only in his early fifties, but his appearance would make people believe he was in his eighties or nineties.

"Why have I become like this?" Jon seemed to be talking to himself, then shook his head and laughed softly: "If you had asked me this six months ago, I wouldn't have been able to answer. But... as I approach my grave, 'it' seems to have become more at ease, and it has indirectly revealed the source of my illness to me."

"Source?" Angel looked at Jon, not understanding.

"Like the Gaia consciousness I asked you about earlier, I speculate... perhaps this world has a vast collective consciousness. It operates coldly and justly, rejecting all external souls. It is the consciousness of the world. And my illness, perhaps, is its doing." Jon turned to look at Angel: "In short, the reason my body is like this is simply because I am not from this world. It's like being unable to adapt to the environment."

...

In the grand hall, under the crystal chandeliers, two people sat on either side of a long rectangular table, with several fully armored knights standing behind each of them.

On the left was Leon Pat, the next heir to the Pat Manor, with a furrowed brow.

On the right was a middle-aged man in silver armor with a brown beard that obscured his face: Eton Morn.

Eton Morn, a baron, came from the backbone of the Golden Sparrow Empire—the Morn family, a family that had been renowned for its bravery and combat skills for hundreds of years.

Currently, a large number of Morn family's elite forces were fighting on the front lines against the Helan Kingdom. It was unclear why Baron Eton had suddenly come to Grul Town.

After a long silence, the tension between the knights on both sides grew. The Morn family, being a warrior family, quickly overpowered the knights of Pat Manor. One of the knights could not withstand the pressure and dropped his longsword, which clattered to the floor. Seeing this, Leon frowned and said:

"Forgive me, my knight is not well-versed in etiquette." Leon waved his hand, and the knights behind him immediately half-knelt in salute and took a step back. This simple action easily suppressed the high morale of the opposing knights. "Baron Eton, your sudden visit, is it about the front-line supplies?"

These days, the two countries are at war. Although the Helan Kingdom is not large, its territory is mostly islands, scattered like stars in the gaps between the Azure Sea and the Storm Sea. The Golden Sparrow Empire's naval capabilities are not strong, so they can only defend the coastline passively.

As the defense has dragged on, and the supply of fresh water is extremely scarce, the water supply for the later stages has naturally been shared by the nearby towns. Grul Town is one link in the supply chain.

The supply to the front lines is entirely borne by the Pat Manor, so while ordinary townspeople might not know about it, as the master of Pat Manor, Leon certainly did.

"These past few months, we have truly relied heavily on the support of Pat Manor. Otherwise, our vanguard camp would not have been able to hold on." Baron Eton expressed his gratitude, then changed the subject: "The supply of water is not a problem. I am here today to ask about something."

"Ask about what?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

Eton smiled, but his beard obscured his face, making it hard to see clearly. However, Leon did not see any smile in Eton's eyes.

"Does the Viscount of Pat know about the morning dew after the rain?"

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