Old readers must have figured out that this is the background of "Emerald," the world after Aimen left at the end of "Emerald." But I don't want too many places to make new readers—readers who haven't read "Emerald"—feel hard to read and feel excluded. I don't want that.
So I tried my best to describe it, saying that everything here has changed a lot and is completely different from before. This requires showing a geography and culture that is similar to but different from "Emerald".
For example, as I wrote before, there were already electric lights, and even telegraphs and telephones, which shows that the times had developed further than when "Emerald" ended.
These are all new things, and they are the same whether you have watched "Emerald" or not.
Part of the idea behind the presentation of Fairy Tale Town comes from such considerations. At the same time, it also has an important function of continuing history, because in the current world and with the situation in Changxia Continent, it is indeed impossible to breed a fire dragon.
——It comes from the more ancient past.
This is a continuation of the past.
——The mystery surrounding the sudden arrival of gray fog.
Also includes Qihou.
That’s what gave rise to these ideas.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to editor Suanrong for giving me the recommendation.
Really... For such a niche subject, and the transformation at that, I am deeply grateful for the support I have received.
I will continue to learn and make progress, and in this Year of the Tiger after this reincarnation, I wish everyone a happy New Year.
sequence
Ernak is a small town near Blackwood and not far from the capital.
Thanks to its geographical location, the town is small but prosperous. For old-fashioned travelers who don't like taking trains, El Nak is their only choice for a transfer station and resting place, so the transportation business in the town is very developed, with a total of three stations and two post stations.
Fair Lawrence was such a person. He was even an extreme one. He disliked and even feared trains. Strictly speaking, he was extremely cautious of all mechanical monsters that were taller than himself.
This is his nature. It has been like this since he was in school. He remembers clearly that when he was eight years old, his primary school teacher led the whole class of 22 students to see cars, but he was the only one who didn't dare to get on. The reason was that he thought "moving machinery is equivalent to monsters."
His classmates all laughed at him, and even his teacher Paulsen couldn't help frowning. After spending two hours trying to persuade him and failing, he rarely lost his temper.
You know, Paulson is the most reputable teacher in the school. He has such a good temper that he can keep smiling even if a child pees on his desk.
And that was definitely not an act, Fell knew. Because he knew very well that theoretically, the person who should have angered Paulsen the most was himself. This could be seen from the attitudes of others towards him.
According to Paulsen, Fair is a "primitivist," that is, someone who rejects the changes of new things and is tolerant of the natural, old, and inherent existence.
He had always wondered why Fair was such a person, because usually such people were older, or to put it bluntly, they were antiques that should be eliminated by the times. It was not that he had never seen such people before, but this was the first time he saw such a trait in a child. At first, he thought Fair was influenced by his family environment, but after a visit, he found that no one in the Lawrence family could instill such a concept in Fair.
So... we can only think that it is innate. That is, this is Fair's nature, he is born conservative and refuses to change.
To others, such a child was naturally very strange. After the news spread, many neighbors would whisper and talk about it when they saw Fair. They thought Fair's condition was a disease, and they also suspected the Lawrence family's family education problems.
"Mr. Lawrence seems to be a very well-educated man...How come his children are afraid to even ride in a car?"
"Yes, they all say that people who work in banks are the smartest and most avant-garde. I don't understand. Is Mr. Lawrence's face fake?"
Facing rumors and ridicule, Fair himself didn't feel anything, but his parents were the first to give up.
When he was about to turn nine, his father, Berg-Laurence, gave up his well-paid and promising job in Wien Financial Street and moved to Kain with his wife and Phil.
Kain City is not too far from Venn in a straight line, but there is a mountain range called Kacha in between, so it takes four days to reach Venn from Kain by train.
Berg-Lawrence took Fair to see many doctors, but to no avail. After talking with Fair, he realized that it was impossible to correct his son's certain ideas. In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes and getting caught up in the public opinion storm, he simply bribed a well-known clinic to issue Fair a certificate of mental illness. Whenever he encountered relevant questions, he used the symptoms to evade them.
This is a very normal and reasonable excuse.
Because people all know how many dangers are hidden in the eternal night, and there are many people everywhere who have developed mental illnesses due to witnessing terrible existences.
This made Fair's parents feel relieved. Berg Lawrence quickly found a new job with his experience in the financial business in the capital. Although the prospects were not as good as when he was in the capital, the salary was much higher.
But Fair himself was not satisfied because he did not think he was wrong.
He is not sick, he is just different from ordinary people.
And he didn't want to leave Wayne very much. After all, it was the place where his childhood memories were placed, and they had spent a lot of good times there before his grandfather passed away.
He begged Berglawrence not to sell the house in Wayne, on the grounds that at least he could return to his hometown when he grew up, and the apple tree planted by his grandfather in the yard also needed him to go back from time to time to take care of it.
The Lawrence family was in good financial condition and had enough money to sell a house, so Berg Lawrence agreed to Fair's request after careful consideration, but he made one additional request.
"I'm glad that you still remember your grandfather's kindness. This means that you have a kind heart and can at least be a good person in the future. But if you want to survive in this society, these are not enough. Compared with other children, you lack the most important thing, which is courage."
He believed that the reason why Fair had a natural fear of most mechanical creations was because he was too timid, although he was also wondering why this was the case - he had confirmed with Fair that Fair had never seen any "dirty things".
"So what do you want me to do, father?"
"It's very simple. I legally transfer the house to you. You have to spend some time there every year to take care of it - alone, starting when you are 15 - including the apple tree and grandfather's grave. This is the price you have to pay to keep them."
His father thought that doing so would help Fair develop his courage and perseverance, and Fair understood.
In fact, this is indeed effective. Over the years, he has been traveling back and forth between Kain and Wayne, and he did not always ride in a horse-drawn carriage. Sometimes, heavy snow blocked the mountains and even the roads collapsed. He had to overcome his fear and take the rescue car with other passengers.
Although he always insisted on taking the smallest one, it was already a huge improvement.
To this day, the 23-year-old Phil Lawrence can ride on buses that are dozens of times taller than himself without changing his expression. As long as he can suppress the trembling and nausea that permeates his soul, he feels that he can sit anywhere without moving.
I feel sick after getting off the bus. So sick that I want to vomit.
"Ugh——" Standing on the side of the road, he bent over and tumbled again.
"Oh, this guest!" The owner of Sina's House, a middle-aged man with a big belly, rushed up immediately after seeing this scene, supported Fair, and rubbed his back hard.
"Well, is it because the road is too bumpy? Or is it because our driver's driving skills are too bad... Goddess, this is the first time I've seen someone get so carsick."
"I... I'm not carsick..." Fair raised a hand to explain.
"If it's not motion sickness, what else could it be?" The middle-aged man smiled and said, "I understand." "It can't be that he has the same problem as women. Is he about to give birth?"
"This couple... haha... is disrespectful..."
"Okay, okay...no respect...Old Sig is a rough man, don't bother with me. Come on, customer, come to the store, I guarantee that a cup of hot soup will make you recover!"
Perhaps because he was too weak, or perhaps because he was moved by the hot soup described by the middle-aged man, Fair was finally carried by him into Xina's House. After rinsing his mouth, he sat around a round table with a table of tourists, waiting for the store to prepare wine and food.
"Here, young gentleman, this is for you!"
The man who called himself Old Sig came back quickly, holding a beer glass that was twice as big as his fist. The glass was filled not with alcohol but a thick liquid that was light green and a little milky white.
“…” As he put the cup down in front of him, Fair felt his stomach churning again.
What exactly is this?
Such a suspicious color, is this thing really drinkable...
"If I were you, I would thank him immediately." A bearded man came up and reminded Fair while staring at the cup with his green eyes.
"Mutton, beef, fish... mixed with boiled potatoes. This is one of the most famous delicacies in Elnak: three-fresh bean soup! Even if ordinary people pay a lot of money, they can't eat it every time they come here!"
"That's because the snow clam is sometimes out of stock!" Old Sig waved his hand quickly, "After all, this kind of fish is not produced in the Northeast... Most of the original places of origin go directly to Wayne via the railway tracks. If you want to catch good stuff, you have to go to the station to keep an eye on it! But I guarantee that in most cases there are some... We never lack food!"
Fair leaned forward and sniffed it.
It's really fragrant.
A mixture of meaty aroma, potato aroma, and a light milky aroma. It was a mild and mellow smell, and just by feeling the heat coming towards him, his discomfort was much better.
"There shouldn't be any mutton in here," he said suddenly. "There's no smell of mutton. I can smell it."
"You understand very well, young man." Old Sig exclaimed.
"Indeed, I saw that you were feeling nauseous, and I was worried that something too delicious would have the opposite effect, so I specifically asked them to replace it with chicken... How is it? Do you want to try it?"
Fair responded directly with action: he picked up the slightly hot cup, blew on it, and drank it all in one gulp.
"it is good!"
A dozen passengers sitting around the round table immediately applauded, as if what he was drinking was not broth but real liquor.
The atmosphere was completely relaxed. As Old Sig brought in the food and wine, the group of people ate and drank with abandon, and soon they began to address each other as brothers.
Feier didn't drink, no matter how much he was persuaded. He was one of the few people who could remain calm. After eating a little, he began to observe quietly, trying to learn from his father's eyesight and judge what they were doing.
This was a group of travelers from all over the world. They were temporarily staying at the inn called Xina's House. Most of them were small merchants and hunters who did their own business. They did not have the transportation channels of large companies, and they were reluctant to spend money to rent train carriages. That was why they squeezed into a truck with him, and each of them was dragging at least four boxes.
First, there was the bearded man on his left, the guy who had just coveted the cup of broth. Fair stared at him for a long time, and judging from the worn cotton jacket he wore and his dirty, faintly smelly beard, he should be a fur trader or hunter.
This place is very close to Wayne, but among those who do business on this route, few people pay as little attention to personal hygiene as he does. Only hunters and fur traders who have to stay in the mountains for years would be so unkempt.
Since he was not carrying any large firearms and did not have a hunting bag around his waist, he was more likely a fur trader.
Then came the gloomy middle-aged man on his right.
He hadn't said a word or drunk any wine since he sat in this position. Fair guessed that he was either a smuggler or was doing something darker than smuggling.
"Hey!" The bearded man on the left suddenly came up to him. "My name is Tasme, Tasme-Bissen. I'm a fur puller. What's your name, young man?"
"Phil," Phil answered immediately, "Phil Lawrence."
"What a great name!" A group of people immediately praised, "It sounds like a city person's name! Why are you walking this road alone at such a young age?"
They didn't understand, because Phil didn't even have a suitcase. He only brought a shoulder bag and a hat, and compared with the others, he looked like a tourist.
No - he was more leisurely than the tourists. Tourists at least had to bring a change of clothes, but he didn't even prepare these things.
"This is a test from my family..." Unable to withstand the enthusiasm of these people, Fair could only vaguely tell a little about the story of the old house, grandfather, and apple tree.
This won him unanimous praise from everyone at the table, and they all raised their glasses to toast him. He was infected by the atmosphere and was forced to drink a little as well.
After eating and drinking, Fair, who was a little drunk, was helped to the bedroom by old Sig. After he repeatedly explained that he had no other needs, he finally regained a peaceful environment.
“Too enthusiastic…”
He leaned back on the bed, feeling his cheeks getting slightly warm from the alcohol, and let out a breath.
He was a conservative man, and if the hotel where he had stayed in Elnak for many years had not gone bankrupt, he would not have considered changing places.
But it seems like it’s nice to try a change every now and then.
He recalled the hospitality he had received since he got off the bus, and remembered that Sig whispered to him when he left not to worry about money, as all the services at Sina's House were priced below average. The corners of his mouth curled up again unconsciously.
What a lovely group of people.
He sighed.
If only I could be like normal people.
In a daze, Fair gradually fell into sleep.
He had a very strange dream. In the dream, he saw countless black metal locomotives standing around him, which were taller than three of him stacked vertically.
It's like being in the middle of nowhere, like a train graveyard.
Such dreams are not very harmful to ordinary people. At most, they feel weird, but they will not have any symptoms.
But for Fair, this was the most terrifying scene he had ever seen.
He held his head and ran around like a headless fly.
He rushed from one locomotive to another, getting frightened all the time and turning around and running away all the time.
The shadow of fear grows in the heart, like ink spreading in a clean pond.
Gradually, Fair felt that the scene he saw seemed to be changing.
Those car heads, those mechanical creations made up of various metal parts and pipes, seemed to be moving.
The parts were softening, becoming living things with flesh and blood. He saw them tangled together, one moment like endless roots, the next like countless naked people hugging each other tightly.
He was so scared that he wanted to scream, to wake up and escape from this terrible nightmare.
But he could never get what he wanted and was forced to repeat this cycle.
He could clearly feel his willpower rapidly weakening, and at this moment, he suddenly realized why he was afraid of these mechanical creations - the reason was that he had seen it before, when he was very, very young... when he couldn't even remember clearly and had no impression of it, he had seen the same scene as now.
Machinery became flesh.
The flesh turned into tentacles.
The tentacles turned into roots.
Endless tree roots penetrate into the earth, like blood vessels absorbing nutrients from the soil.
Then everything began to dry up.
Cities, rivers, forests... life.
Everything is drying up, everything is being destroyed.
When he mustered up his last bit of courage and looked at the world through his fingers again, all he saw was desolation.
