Gawain has always been very interested in the huge "rebellious plan" of the ancient Gondor Empire—in a sense, this plan can no longer be described as just huge, it... can even be described as great .
This is a plan for human beings to confirm the existence of gods, and on the basis of the reality that extraordinary forces dominate the world, and actively want to fight against gods as a means to survive. All races seem to be trapped in the quagmire. Gawain has seen too much rigidity, backwardness, ignorance and decline in this era. However, some sparks of disobedience to the plan still continue in this dark chaos. Prove one thing to Gao Wen:
The human beings in this world have the factors of resistance and survival in their bones.
However, if he probes carefully and thinks carefully, Gao Wen finds that there are too many doubts in the disobedience plan—this huge plan seems to revolve around "disobedience to the gods" from the beginning to the end, although its ultimate goal seems to be to fight against the tide of demons , but is it just to keep humans alive in the tide of magic
The Gondor Empire tried to fight against the gods with such a decisive attitude. Even after the end of the demon tide and the emergence of a new country, there were still disobedient people like Ophelia continuing the research of the old empire. The focus of these research seems to be It has completely transformed into a simple analysis of the gods, fighting against the tide of magic... On the contrary, it is more like a subsidiary product of this series of plans.
And even putting aside these doubts, with Ophelia as a living disobedient, Gao Wen would inevitably want to hear those ancient secrets from this "participant". After all... Gossip is part of human nature. One, the same goes for becoming a satellite spirit.
"The rebellious plan... I thought you would at least discuss it with me after the situation was completely stable," Ofelia smiled shallowly, "The field involved in this topic cannot be explained clearly in a few words."
"Just chatting casually to satisfy my personal curiosity," Gao Wen said, "You don't have to answer my question completely. If you think there are some secrets that must be kept, then we can keep them until we both establish more secrets." After trust—after all, it’s just a casual chat.”
Ophelia was sitting on the high-backed chair next to Gawain's desk, she turned her head slightly, her cheeks seemed to be soaked in a tiny layer of holy light: "Don't worry, I'm happy to tell you about this, disobedient Never turning away fellow travelers, our cause is not invisible, save for the necessary secrecy of the public."
Gao Wen nodded: "That's good - I already know that the Rebellion Project is actually divided into many project groups, and the 'Abominable' project carried out by Kamel is actually just one of them. I'm curious that it has a total of How many projects, and which part are you specifically responsible for?"
Ophelia pondered for a while: "How many specific projects... I'm afraid I really can't tell you this. It's not that I intend to keep it secret, but... because God may hear it."
Gao Wen frowned: "God will hear?"
"I'm not sure if you can understand such abstract knowledge, I can only state what I know: there are some items... The rebels have gone too far, to the chaos between the world of mortals and the world of gods In the realm, where you know the gods, the gods know you—we have taken some safety measures to ensure that we can misdirect the gods' sight, make the gods look away during our research, but if inappropriate If the time is right to bring them up, especially through the mouth of disobedients, these misleading measures may be broken down immediately... ”
"The gods have certain conceptual qualities, so that as long as relevant knowledge is mentioned in certain specific fields, they will attract their attention?"
"...You have excellent comprehension skills." Ophelia gave Gao Wen a slightly surprised look, "This is a sincere compliment."
"After experiencing a life and death, I have more or less come into contact with some hidden knowledge," Gao Wen said casually, "Since the gods have such qualities, how on earth are you able to study those items that you can't even mention? "
"...I can't even mention this," Ophelia shook her head helplessly—this was the first time Gawain saw a helpless expression on her face, "The security measures that were set up back then are now ineffective, I have no There is a way to discuss any related topics with you in the real world. In a sense, these hidden projects have been 'stuck' on the edge of God's Domain. I'm sorry, but I haven't found a way to break the situation yet."
"...It doesn't matter, you can't force everything," Gao Wen breathed out, "Then tell me about the projects you are in charge of, and pick the ones you can talk about."
"Studying the essence of the gods and their many laws, and trying to find loopholes, this is my main task," Ophelia nodded, "In addition, I am also responsible for managing several rebellious bases, including yours. The known fortress of rebellion."
"Several bases..." Gao Wen suddenly raised his eyelids, showing surprise, "There are still many bases like the Rebel Fortress?"
"Such a dangerous plan, how can you put all the projects in one place?" Ophelia said lightly, "The rebellious fortress you know is just one of many bases. But as far as I know, the rebellious fortress is indeed It is the largest and earliest of all the bases - it is connected to the fallen place of the giant deer Amorn, where our original project began, and it is for this reason that it is entitled to be dubbed 'rebel' II Character."
Gao Wen couldn't help asking: "The other bases of disobedience..."
Ophelia's next answer temporarily dispelled all his thoughts: "In the wasteland of Gondor."
"...well," Gawain sighed, "this is a goal we can't solve for the time being."
Ofelia looked at Gao Wen: "About the rebellious plan, what else do you want to know?"
Gawain thought about it, and tapped the table in front of him lightly with his fingers: "Is the goal of rebelling against the plan just to fight against the demonic tide? In order to fight against the demonic tide, you must disobey the gods? Or put it another way...why must we fight against?" Gods, human beings can survive? Is it because only by stealing the power of the gods can people resist the demonic tide, or is it because the gods triggered the demonic tide?"
This is exactly the question that Gao Wen has been thinking about recently: What is the original reason and motivation for the disobedient to fight against the gods
As a former atheist, coupled with the thinking habits of his previous life, he didn't think there was anything wrong with the plan when he first knew about it. In his opinion, it can be said that mortals try to break free from the shackles of gods "Inherently correct": Pursue freedom, overthrow demons and monsters, gods oppress the world, isn't that what it is
But the longer he lived in this world, the more he felt the contradiction from the local people's worldview:
What is the relationship between gods and mortals? They do control the source of divine power, control the beliefs of mortals, and may even create a "spiritual seal" to ensure mortals' belief in themselves, but other than that, they have really intervened in the operation of the mortal world what
The church acts as the guardian of the gods—this is one of the rules of the mortal world. In other words, in fact, those priest groups composed of mortals are the real exploiters and oppressors, and even the interpreters of theocracy. After taking over the Church of the Holy Light, this was also confirmed: Although there are such things as oracles, the number of times the gods actually issued oracles is pitifully small. Apart from the connection in the field of divine arts, they can be said to be completely free from Outside of this world, the ones who really do things are only the priests...
Of course, Gao Wen still has full fear and even hostility towards the gods, but this is determined by his personal experience and worldview.
And what about everyone else? What about the natives who were born and raised in this world? What about the rebels of old
The disobedient initially decided to fight against the gods, and there must be a more impetus reason—according to the information revealed by Ophelia, the disobedient plan can be said to be against the gods in all aspects, not only stealing their power, but also researching Their essence, looking for their coordinates, looking for their weaknesses, and going one step further... They certainly don't mind killing those gods.
If it's just for mortals to survive in the demon tide, they don't have to do this step. The reason why they do this must be a deeper reason, such as...
The existence of gods to mortals is itself an "absolute threat".
Regarding this point, Kamel, who is only a senior researcher and team leader, cannot give Gawain an answer, but Ophelia Norton, who is a member of the royal family of the old empire and a senior manager of the rebellious plan, must know something .
Gawain's question may have really hit the point, Ophelia's expression was faintly solemn, and after a long time of pondering, she quietly opened her mouth:
"As long as gods exist, human beings will be destroyed one day."
Gao Wen frowned: "... So they really caused the demon tide?"
"On the contrary, the gods have never triggered a demon tide, even according to our research, in the ancient lost civilizations—do you know the ancient lost civilizations?"
Gao Wen nodded: "I have been in contact with the Dragon Clan and know some things about ancient civilizations. It seems that you know this too."
"Then it's easy to communicate—according to our research, ancient civilizations also encountered demonic tides, and some of them survived disasters, and not all of these civilizations that survived disasters relied on their own strength..."
"You mean..." Gao Wen stopped tapping on the table suddenly, his eyes were serious, "God helped?"
"It's not just a helping hand - the darker it is, the more dazzling the light is, the more severe the disasters encountered by mortals, the more gods will spare no effort to protect mortals, there is evidence that in ancient times, there may even be gods who came directly to the world to help mortals Resisting the tide of evil, although not every time the civilization survives, the gods have indeed done so."
Gao Wen thought for a while: "... Is the news reliable?"
"We have no way to determine the ancient things, but we have more than one clue, including the knowledge revealed by some ancient races, as well as some ancient relics we unearthed in the central part of the mainland," Ophelia said unhurriedly, "The tide of magic is not caused by the gods, but the latter will show up to help humans resist the tide of magic. As a pioneer, you should also know that in the pioneering era, there were many priests who were active on the front line as important combat forces of the pioneering army. Doesn’t the magic in the hands of these priests come from the gods they believe in?”
Gao Wen couldn't help thinking about the conspiracy: "What if it was the gods who triggered the demon tide and increased their faith by sending miracles from the sky?"
"Is it possible to increase the number of believers by reducing the population by more than 70%? After the demon tide, the number of believers in all churches has dropped by more than half, and many beliefs have been cut off directly. Destroyed civilization... From this point of view, I don't think your guess is valid."
"Well, this seems to be too much a conspiracy theory," Gao Wen also realized that his guess was ill-considered, "If that's the case, what is the reason for you to fight against the gods?"
Ofelia took a deep breath, and said seriously: "In ancient times, more than one civilization survived the demonic tide—but those civilizations that survived, where are they now?"
During the short two or three seconds of silence, a concept that Melita Purnia once said to himself popped up in Gao Wen's mind——
black trap.
"Is it God who finally destroyed those survivors?"
Ophelia nodded slowly: "I'm afraid so."
Gao Wen was stunned, and suddenly spread his hands with a strange expression: "... Is God all schizophrenic?"
"We don't know why—and we didn't find any clues or evidence in the first place to support the 'gods destroying the world', we just found records of gods protecting humans during the evil tide, and all civilizations that survived the evil tide eventually died. extinct fact.
"We didn't know what destroyed those survivors at the beginning, until in the process of adjusting the magic flow of the Deep Blue Well, we accidentally opened a wrong rift, which connected the 'Boundary of God's Domain', and in that distorted and In the brilliant rift, for the first time, we witnessed a little phantom of the kingdom of the gods...
"At that time, the royal family of Gondor organized a secret exploration team, which was composed of the most powerful priests and scholars. The purpose of this team was actually very simple, just to take a look across the crack. Pay tribute to thank them for their shelter on earth - the team will neither really enter the kingdom of God, nor do any offensive actions.
"However, when the act of 'crossing the border' happened, the situation got out of control. Extreme chaos and crazy malice emanated from the cracks. The glorious image of heaven instantly turned into the most terrifying nightmare image. The distorted 'knowledge' that is mind-crushing and the 'truth' that cannot be comprehended by the human mind, the team that crossed the rift was almost wiped out instantly, only two half-crazy legendary strongmen returned to the world with a sigh of relief, and they left only Two sentences:
"They will destroy us.
"It's a countdown."
Ophelia stopped and looked at Gao Wen quietly. After more than ten seconds of silence, she broke the silence softly:
"These two sentences are the beginning of the rebellious plan."