"No-rules airspace?"
"A forbidden zone that isolates the inner and outer realms prevents our battles with the enemy from affecting ordinary people. Each city's Night Watchman is equipped with three notice boards capable of casting [Unbound Void], each held by one person. Because we generally do not participate in direct combat, we are also known as 'Watchers'."
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "So, you're just a lookout."
"...If you can't speak properly, then shut up." Zhao Kongcheng rolled his eyes.
"You just said there are three ways to obtain the Forbidden Ruins, what's the last one?"
"The last type is the one bestowed by the gods, which is your situation." Zhao Kongcheng's expression turned serious. "Some gods will give a portion of their power to the humans they choose, making them their agents on earth. This kind of forbidden ruin bestowed by the gods is also called a 'divine ruin'."
"However, in return for gaining power, the agent will also receive instructions from the gods. Some are to destroy human society, some are to protect human society, and some are to help the gods find something. In short, under normal circumstances, a god has only one agent, and that agent represents the god's will."
"The dozen or so agents of the gods that have emerged so far are mostly evil agents of the gods who are trying to destroy the new order of humanity and return the world to chaos. They have created an organization called the Church of the Ancient Gods."
"There are also agents of benevolent gods, but their numbers are extremely small. As for how many agents neutral gods have, we have no idea."
Zhao Kongcheng stood up, walked to Lin Qiye, stared into his eyes, and spoke slowly and deliberately:
"Lin Qiye, what were Michael's instructions to you? Which side... do you belong to?"
Lin Qiye's eyes were full of confusion. "I don't know, He didn't say."
What Lin Qiye said was the absolute truth. Michael had only glanced at him from afar on the moon, and then he fainted. The other party really didn't say a single word!
Zhao Kongcheng frowned. "He didn't say anything? You didn't hear His voice in your heart either?"
"No, really no!"
Zhao Kongcheng scrutinized Lin Qiye suspiciously for a long time, as if trying to find signs of lying. After a while, he looked away and slowly sat down.
"Based on our speculation, Michael should belong to the neutral or benevolent camp, otherwise we would have killed you long ago. However... since He gave you the Divine Ruins, why did He not say anything?"
"What exactly does He want to do?"
Lin Qiye frowned slightly. "I don't know what He wants to do, but even if He gives me instructions, I won't do them. I don't want to get involved in this mess. At worst, I'll just give these eyes back to Him."
With that, he stood up. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Before Zhao Kongcheng could speak, he turned around and went to open the door.
"No! Wait a minute!!" Zhao Kongcheng suddenly stood up, blocking the doorway, staring into Lin Qiye's eyes. "You're leaving after you've finished asking your questions? What about me?"
"You? You can be passionate all by yourself here." Lin Qiye replied seriously.
"No, what I mean is...aren't you going to ask me who I am?" Zhao Kongcheng felt really tired talking to this kid.
"Who you are has nothing to do with me." Lin Qiye continued to open the door.
Zhao Kongcheng grabbed the doorknob and demanded, "Why do I know so much? What kind of organization is behind me? What are we doing... Aren't you curious about any of this?"
"Not curious."
"Why?"
"Following the logic of movies and novels, once I learned of your existence, I only had two choices left," Lin Qiye said, holding up two fingers. "Either join, or become someone whose secrets can never be revealed—like being killed, imprisoned, or brainwashed..."
"...Shut up your TV!" Zhao Kongcheng was speechless. "Besides, you don't even know us, how do you know joining us isn't a good choice?"
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "So, even if I know about your affairs and choose not to join, I won't be in danger?"
"Of course not! We're soldiers, at most we'll make you sign a hush money agreement. What you're saying is pure nonsense!"
"Then I can listen to it." Lin Qiye sat back down after hearing this.
Zhao Kongcheng sighed. Chatting with this kid for a few minutes felt more tiring than staking out outside all day!
"In 1922, after our exploration team discovered the first mythical creature, the Chaos Dragon Leviathan, the Great Xia leadership urgently established a military organization to be ready to deal with the invasion of mythical creatures at any time. It was called the 139 Special Creature Response Group."
"At that time, our technology was relatively backward, and we knew nothing about the world around us, so the so-called special biological response team was just a sham and not very useful at all."
"As time went by, we observed more and more mythical creatures, tried to establish contact with some of them, and also discovered the secrets of the Forbidden Ruins, and began training special combat talents."
"As we uncovered more and more owners of forbidden ruins, we realized that due to the randomness of their appearance, it was impossible to include everyone in the military's scope. Therefore, the 139 Special Biological Response Team gradually transformed into a special form that was half military and half civilian."
"We will now call this special organization... the 'Night Watch'."
Lin Qiye seemed to understand something. "So, your existence is to protect the Great Xia from the invasion of those evil gods?"
"To be precise, it refers to all mythical creatures."
"Is there a difference?"
"Of course, as I said before, the appearance of mythical creatures is random and has nothing to do with their strength. Therefore, the mythical creatures that descend are not only the powerful gods that people are familiar with, but also some weak creatures that only exist in rural legends or short stories. The Ghost-Face you encountered last night is one of the rural horror legends."
"These mythical creatures, which do not possess world-destroying power but can still impact human society, are collectively referred to as 'mysteries'."
"I see." Lin Qiye nodded. No wonder the creature he encountered last night sounded familiar; it turned out it originated from a rural story.
"So, we are soldiers too, soldiers who protect our country! Our existence is to prevent the people of Great Xia from suffering. Isn't that noble? Isn't that cool?!" Zhao Kongcheng earnestly persuaded.
"Very noble, very handsome, I respect you very much, really." Lin Qiye's expression became serious. He was not joking. You could really see a deep respect in his eyes.
A smile gradually appeared on Zhao Kongcheng's face, "Then you..."
"I'm not going."
"..." Zhao Kongcheng's smile froze instantly. "Why?!"
"I can't leave." Lin Qiye's eyes were full of seriousness. "I still have a lot to do..."
"What could be more important than defending our country?!"
"I have an aunt and a cousin and a bratty little sister." Lin Qiye looked out the window, his expression very calm. "My aunt isn't very old, but she's worked day and night at the factory for ten years straight, for A-Jin and me, this useless person. Now her health is failing..."
"She's a very stubborn person. Even though she was rubbing her neck on the living room stool until tears were streaming down her face, she still insisted that she was doing yoga, which was good for her health..."
"I was sitting right across from her, and she thought I couldn't see her."
"She lives too cautiously, and it's too tiring for her."
"My cousin is very smart and filial, but unfortunately... he's still too young to support the family."
"My little sister didn't have a happy childhood; we grew up without parents, and I was even committed to a psychiatric hospital when I was young."
"Xiao Chen cried so much that she severely damaged her eyes, nearly to the point of blindness; as we grew up together after left the asylum, she constantly stayed by my side to protect me from being bullied. Once she was a little older, she began working while attending school to help support the family."
"Despite the hardships, she remained incredibly kind-hearted; she scrimped and saved to the point of becoming painfully thin, and wouldn't even tell anyone about her broken glasses—yet she still cherished everyone around her, as well as the small animals."
Lin Qiye smiled as he recalled the times Xi Chen would feed the neighborhood strays with her leftover lunch; whenever she was caught, she would act grumpy and deny it, yet her face would always flush with embarrassment.
"I still have a lot to do."
"I want to earn money to support my family. I want to buy a big house for my aunt and cousin, for my sibling. I want to make sure my aunt never has to go back to that shady factory to suffer again!"
"I want to support my cousin through university so that he and my aunt can live a good life! I want to spoiled my sister and make her have a happy life!"
"For the past ten years, they have never abandoned me, this burden. Now that I'm finally better, how can I abandon them?"
"You are noble and great. If conditions permit, I might join you..."
"But right now, all I want is to stay by their side and be there for them..."
"Protect this home."