Chapter 181 The Myth Reboots?

Hearing Vivian's words, Hao Ren was immediately shocked: "Those guys are already preparing to restart the age of mythology?!"

"It's not that serious yet," Vivian waved her hand, the expression on her face finally easing a little. "The old guys are keeping them in check, and the major families are smart enough not to be so reckless. It's just some hot-headed young families and groups of young people who are gathering in secret, and they've already established several so-called 'secret societies' in such a short time, discussing what to do after the Hunters completely disappear. So far, it's just these insignificant guys… but if things continue like this, it's hard to say how many other restless fellows will be able to sit still."

"The disappearance of the Hunters is indeed an opportunity for the Others," Lily bared her teeth. "The natural enemies are gone, but they'll be at war with humans next."

Hao Ren and Vivian had discussed the prospect of the Others going to war with humans in this day and age more than once, and he was well aware that it would be a disaster for both sides, so there was no need to elaborate. He was just surprised that some of the smaller families were being so impulsive: the Hunters had only disappeared in the last half-month, and the situation was still unclear, yet some of the Others already wanted to take action. This was even more serious than after the great fading of innate animosity.

"There are always impulsive people," Vivian sighed. "Especially those who grew up in the sanctuaries after the end of the age of mythology. They've never experienced a real war, and they spend all day buried in the old papers of the age of mythology, their heads filled with the idea of reviving their family's glory. And some only know the threat of the Hunters, completely ignoring the power of humans. Some of them probably don't even know about World War II… alas, fortunately, these are just a minority."

"What are you going to do?" Hao Ren asked, looking at Vivian. "Go to the Athens Sanctuary to stabilize the situation? Or contact the major families around the world to discuss countermeasures? With your reputation, you should be able to rally a large wave of public opinion to suppress those smaller families."

Vivian thought for a moment and shook her head gently. "... Let's wait for Bai Huo to wake up, at least. We don't know anything about the Hunter situation right now, so it's not appropriate to do anything. It's ironic, too. Some of them probably think that rebuilding the age of mythology is a glorious thing that will benefit the race, but I'm trying to suppress this trend, and I might even be seen as a 'traitor' by those hotheads."

Hao Ren twitched his lips and didn't say anything. He knew that what Vivian said was true: the young Others' desire to recreate the glory days was understandable, and their supporters probably saw it as brave and honorable behavior; Vivian's efforts to prevent conflict between the Others and humans were also for their own good, but the impulsive new generation probably saw it as weak and treacherous. Ultimately, the biggest problem was that the Others lived on Earth: they didn't belong to this world.

For centuries, the Hunters had been dedicated to eliminating the supernatural races on Earth, and the human churches had been doing their best to erase the lingering effects of the age of mythology. In addition, modern natural science seized the opportunity of the magic fading to develop rapidly. These three factors combined led to modern human civilization's complete rejection of "gods, ghosts, demons, and monsters." Hundreds of years after the disappearance of magic, the Other races had completely lost the opportunity to peacefully integrate into human society. If time could be turned back to the Middle Ages, perhaps Vivian and Hao Ren could have figured out how to subtly assimilate those supernatural creatures with humans, and eventually Earth might have become a fantasy planet where magic and technology coexisted, but now, if a fantastical creature suddenly popped up, it would probably be greeted by human scalpels and petri dishes…

The heavy atmosphere in the living room didn't last long. An hour later, the data terminal suddenly popped up: "Bai Huo is about to wake up."

A large group of people immediately squeezed into the basement again. Fortunately, Hao Ren's bizarre basement was large enough to hold everyone. Hao Ren and Vivian were at the front, watching the surface of the medical pod that Bai Huo was using gradually light up. After a moment, the device made a "ding" sound, and the instruments showed that the treatment was complete.

"... Seriously, can't that sound effect be changed?" Vivian couldn't help but sigh after hearing the "ding." "Every time, I think the thing inside is cooked…"

Hao Ren chuckled awkwardly and stepped forward to open the medical pod. Bai Huo was lying quietly inside with her eyes closed. The Hunter girl's face was still pale, but it had regained a little color, and the visible wounds on her body had healed. After the pod was opened, her eyelids twitched a few times, and she slowly opened them. The first thing she saw was Hao Ren's big face.

Bai Huo let out a suppressed gasp, then suddenly sat up—according to the popular trope, she should have kissed Hao Ren at this point, but this kind of thing was destined to be difficult to happen in reality—the Hunter girl hit Hao Ren's nose with her forehead, making a loud bang that could be heard even on the second floor…

"What the…" Hao Ren was knocked backwards by the impact, and his eyes were watering from the pain, but he couldn't curse. He could only rub his nose and sniff. "Ouch… you're awake… ouch…"

"Where am I…" Bai Huo rubbed her forehead. She was still a little confused after waking up from the medical pod, but thanks to the impact just now, she quickly came to her senses. She immediately saw Vivian next to her. "Countess! Great, it seems everything's alright…"

"Wait, wait, let me ask first," Hao Ren rushed in front of Bai Huo. "Did something happen inside the Hunter organization?"

Bai Huo first looked around. She saw that this seemed to be an ordinary residential bedroom (where Vivian lived), but there were many strange devices around. Then, she confirmed the people around her. Finally, she confirmed that she was in a relatively safe place, and then she nodded: "The Hunters… are at war with each other."

"Civil war?!"

It wasn't just Hao Ren; almost everyone exclaimed in unison.

"I guess it's a civil war," Bai Huo nodded with a bitter smile, feeling that this question was difficult to explain in a few words. "The Thirteen Saints and the Council of Elders started the war first. No Hunter from top to bottom was spared; they were all dragged in."

"The Saints and the Council of Elders?" Vivian frowned, obviously knowing a little about these two titles. "Aren't they the leaders of the Hunters? They're fighting among themselves? Or…"

Bai Huo was about to speak, but she coughed violently. Nangong Wuyue, seeing this, quickly conjured a small water ball and handed it to her: "Drink some water first, take your time. This place is safe."

Bai Huo took Wuyue's water ball and paused, seemingly hesitating how to "drink" it. Then, she bit into it like an apple, took two bites, calmed down, and slowly said: "Things started to go wrong after my mentor and I returned from the Ankh-Taros Secret Realm."

Ankh-Taros Secret Realm—the home built by the descendants of the Tanagoth on Earth. Hao Ren and his party had recovered the second golden disc from the depths of the Ankh-Taros Secret Realm, and they had understood the root of the "Sin of Godblood" and the phenomenon of innate animosity from the disc. Hasse had been there at the time, and the old Hunter had said that he would find a way to explain the truth about innate animosity to the Hunter Council of Elders after returning, but now it seemed that something had happened to him as a result?

Bai Huo nodded lightly: "He met with the Saints three times. The first time was normal. The Saints listened to his report in detail. The atmosphere seemed to change during the second time. My mentor looked very bad when he came back, saying that the Saints didn't pay any attention to this important information. The third time… he never came back."

"He was arrested?" Vivian looked into Bai Huo's eyes. "And then the Saint Order started to deal with you?"

"After my mentor was arrested, the Council of Elders immediately ordered the eradication of all battle groups under Elder Hasse, and only the next day, the scale of their attack expanded several times, and they ordered the arrest of all elders closely related to my mentor. The first one taken away was Elder Andaher… it was a complete mess."

Hao Ren and Vivian were dumbfounded. After a long time, they said in unison: "Are they going crazy?"

"What's more frightening than madness is that they're very clear-headed," Bai Huo shook her head with a bitter smile. "They just suddenly had a drastic change in temperament, and the entire Council of Elders changed along with them."

"So the sudden disappearance of the Hunters is because they all ran back home to fight…" Hao Ren stroked his chin. "So what's the situation now?"

He looked at Bai Huo after just saying that, and waved his hand: "Never mind, I can tell the situation isn't good without you telling me."