A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 269: Chapter 216: Just This? _1

Lani’s purpose can be traced back to the beginning of this world.

As per what Mistelina had earlier discussed, the initial part doesn’t surprise much. At that time, this underground world was enveloped in flames, where all life merged as one. Then — the Golden Tree appeared, separating the flame, and subsequently various types of life were born into this world.

However, from this point, Lani’s narration completely deviates from what Mistelina described.

According to Mistelina, the Golden Tree was born from the furnace flames, a deity protecting this land, hence they revered it as the “Mother of the Earth”.

Yet, Lani told Duanmu Huai that this wasn’t merely a coincidence. In fact, the emergence of life from the furnace was caused by an external force.

They call it the — Supreme Will.

According to Lani, initially, the Supreme Will sent a meteor made of gold and a wild beast to the Borderland, accompanied by a representative of the Supreme Will — a finger.

The golden meteor brought the Golden Tree. It differentiated the chaotic life furnace, transforming it into a world of order and life. Lives that once were one within the flames were separated by order. Then, as Mistelina described, the barren land was covered by grasslands, the radiant rivers of magma became clear streams. Life divided and was born therein, bringing a new order and era to the Borderland.

However, where there are people, there are struggles.

After the separation of life, inevitably, tribal concepts and faith based on race arose. For example, the Spirit Rat Faith, believed by Melfy’s Spirit Rat Tribe, or Mistelina’s Forest Sect, the Stars and Full Moon Sect deep underground, the sect that worships the storm and the dragon… and many others.

Then, the Golden Tree became unhappy.@@novelbin@@

Well, although Lani’s explanation was a bit vague, Duanmu Huai understood the intention of the Supreme Will.

I work hard to cultivate a piece of wasteland, yet you bastards go out and declare yourselves kings? So, I’m just a charity for good deeds?

Thus, on how to deal with these “rebels”, the Supreme Will internally divided into two factions.

One faction claimed that these ingrates were never to be trusted and that they should just return to the life furnace!

Just like fixing a computer, when in doubt, formatting and reinstalling is indeed the quickest solution.

The other faction thought this was too weak and that they should show them the power of the Supreme Will!

As a result, the two factions had an internal brawl. The radical faction advocating for formatting was defeated and sealed beneath the Royal City. Whereas the remaining two fingers triumphed, gaining control of the Golden Tree Law of the Borderland.

Afterward, just as Mistelina described, the Golden Clan began to attack other tribes. Although Mistelina didn’t understand why, according to Lani, it was simply the Supreme Will reclaiming orthodoxy.

The Golden Law of that time was indeed unparalleled, granting infinite blessings to the faithful — this is why the Golden Clan could dominate the Borderland. After all, the gods of other tribes either were extinct or powerless, while here there’s a god granting every request… No one can keep their composure against such a foe.

Therefore, representing the Supreme Will, the Golden Clan defeated the giants, defeated the ancient dragons, defeated all the tribes and sects that dared to confront them. They established the supreme Golden Law in the Borderland.

However, this didn’t cheer the Golden Clan, especially Queen Marika — in fact, the more victories the Golden Clan accounted for, the more it proved the invincibility of the Supreme Will. This meant that their clan would, generation after generation, forever be the representative of the Supreme Will.

Well, in nice terms, they are representatives. But badly put, they’re slaves.

All benefits the Golden Clan received were due to the Golden Law, which was established by the Supreme Will and outlines the origin of everything in the Borderland. The Golden Clan might look strong, prosperous, and flourishing in the eyes of other races. However, in reality, the queen knew very well that they were just chess pieces in the hand of the Supreme Will. If the Supreme Will wanted them to live, they would live. If it wanted them to die, they would die.

This was already a known fact, almost all demi-human successors like Lani have a so-called “shadow” of their own. Though it seems that the shadow is a subordinate dedicated to them, the minute they break a rule or the Golden Law, their “shadow” would kill them.

Clearly, the Supreme Will anticipated that there might be rebels among the Golden Clan, thus it had this trick up its sleeve.

No wonder Lani sought Duanmu Huai to help with such a crucial task, rather than relying on her subordinates. After all, Lani was afraid that she might be backstabbed by her loyal subordinates at some point…

Thus, Queen Marika started her rebellious path against the Supreme Will.

To confront the Supreme Will, she first needed to destroy the Golden Law, so as to weaken the influence and control of the Supreme Will over the Borderland. For this purpose, Marika and Lani joined forces and stole a part of the Rune of Death from the Black Sword Marikas — when the Golden Law was created, the Rune of Death was separated by the Supreme Will. Clearly, if one wants to destroy the Golden Law, the existence of the Rune of Death is necessary.

Then Lani, using her magic, channeled the power of the Rune of Death into the Black Blade.

The task was handed to Lani instead of Queen Marika due to a clear reason.

Lani used magic from the full moon, while Marika was the spokesperson for the Golden Law. If the latter would have done this task, it would have been like a clear confession — there’d be no map left, and the dagger would be directly in front of the Supreme Will’s nose. Unless it was blind, it would be tantamount to startling the snake in the grass.

The Full Moon Magic used by Lani doesn’t stem from the Golden Law and wouldn’t draw the Supreme Will’s attention.

Next comes the Night of Conspiracy, where Gedwin is killed by the Black Blade.

This led to an irreparable BUG in the Golden Law.

According to the Golden Law, demi-humans cannot die, only mortals return to the Golden Tree after death.

However, if the Rune of Death wants to kill someone, that person is sure to die. There is no chance of survival.

So in the process of this program’s operation, death and life form a contradictory loop, ultimately leading to a BUG.

That is, Gedwin’s soul was killed, but his body survived.

This BUG led to a conflict in the Golden Law. The originally “perfect” Golden Law fell into chaos. If the Golden Law is compared to a machine that runs precisely without stopping, then Gedwin’s death is like throwing a stone into the gears of this machine, clogging it entirely and causing malfunctions throughout.

Seizing this opportunity, Marika personally took action and shattered the Golden Law.

However, Marika’s plan was not completely successful.

Lani was unclear about what Marika encountered after breaking down the Law as afterward, the entire Golden Tree was sealed off entirely. The Golden Clan, now devoid of their king, were desperately seeking to elect a new king.

Originally, as per the succession line, Gerrick should ascend to the throne, given Gedwin’s death.

But this guy… well…no one would likely accept his leadership.

So, the War of Shattered Laws began. The other children fought fiercely for the throne. Gerrick, who had planned to seize the opportunity to become King Elden, was driven out of the Royal City. He fled to Stonewell, to hide and plot his ventures.

But for the War of Shattered Laws, Lani didn’t care in the least.

Regardless of who won the war, they would still repair the Golden Law and become slaves to the Supreme Will. Now, with Marika’s whereabouts unknown and highly likely to have fallen in the struggle against the Supreme Will, Lani had to solve this issue herself.

Lani’s plan was simple; she needed to kill her own so-called ‘fingers’- every deity with the right of succession to the throne had ‘finger’ protection. However, this was also their shackle. If Lani wanted to break free and regain her freedom, she needed to kill her own ‘fingers’.

However, the ‘fingers’ represented the Supreme Will, and ordinary people couldn’t kill them at all. The Rune of Death might do the trick, but even Lani couldn’t directly use the power of the Rune of Death. Fortunately, she learned that the Dark Night Clan in the Underground Eternal City once created a weapon for slaying gods- which was the small knife that Duanmu Huai brought back to Lani.

By using this knife, Lani could eliminate and kill the ‘fingers’, severing the Supreme Will’s obsessive observation over her. Then, she could go to the Royal City, use her own power, and shape a new Law to replace the Golden Law, permanently cutting off the Supreme Will’s interference in the Borderland.

“…This is my plan.”

After casually explaining her ideas, Lani peered at Duanmu Huai, who was rubbing his chin.

“So your idea is to permanently cut off the Supreme Will’s interference in the Borderlands? So what will happen to the Borderlands afterwards?”

“They will begin anew in an era without the constraint of the Golden Law and interference from the Supreme Will.”

As she spoke, Lani glanced at Melfy– who was completely baffled by Lani’s string of revelations.

“I know about the existence of the Forest Clan. Maybe, under their construction, the Borderlands will flourish differently than during the era of the Golden Law.”

“And what about you?”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai curiously looked at Lani, who raised her head and looked out of the window.

“I plan to leave here and head towards the land where the stars reside… Here, we only have deceptive starlight. I want to witness with my own eyes what the real land of stars looks like. It may not be easy, but… I won’t give up that easily.”

“Oh, is that all!”

However, upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai slapped his thigh.

“No problem, leave it to me!”

“…???”

A puzzled Lani frowned at Duanmu Huai’s relaxed demeanor.

“Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s the world where the Supreme Will resides, the eternal land of stars and the full moon, even I’m not certain…”

“Ah, I know what you want to say, you want to go to the starry sky, right? In that case, no problem, just leave it to me.”

Duanmu Huai patted his chest, letting out a long sigh.

He had thought Lani would present him with a difficult problem, but… that’s it?

Well, that’s a relief.

Other than that, for Duanmu Huai, this was as simple as eating and drinking!

As for cutting off the Supreme Will, Duanmu Huai wouldn’t object. After all, this Supreme Will didn’t seem as benign as the Heaven the Cathedral Church Group worshipped. Rather than having this world fall into his hands and then being tricked by it, it’d be better to solve it once and for all!

“…Are you sure you understand what I’m saying?”

Lani stared at Duanmu Huai in doubt, her eyes filled with confusion. It’s no wonder, the starry sky, for her, is nearly unattainable. But this man in front of her… where did he get the confidence to declare that as long as it’s left to him, it’s possible?

“Of course, I understand you very well, so…”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai reached out to Lani.

“Is the deal confirmed?”

“…”

Looking at Duanmu Huai’s outstretched hand, Lani took a moment to respond, eventually stretching out her hand to give a light handshake.

“I hope you won’t disappoint me, provoking the wrath of Witch Lani is a severe crime.”