Chapter 376 Facing the Future (The Shenlong World storyline concludes, requesting monthly votes~)

Kerber Empire, the Northern Lands, the main city of Maya.

The rain had stopped and the sky had cleared.

Golden morning light shone upon the earth, and in this city that had been destroyed and reborn, everyone felt as if they were in a dream.

—Wasn't I already dead?

Savoring the taste of death, people were bewildered by reality in the sunlight, but all confusion eventually dissipated. Parents tearfully embraced their children, the white-haired clasped the hands of the black-haired with tears in their eyes, and those who loved each other but were not together at the final moment strode out of their homes, eager to meet their loved ones.

Having experienced death, some more important things slowly surfaced from their numb lives.

Those who had tried their best to resist when facing despair, or helped others, could have a clear conscience. But those who had exposed their ugliness before dying, or even harmed others to survive, tossed and turned in their beds, suffering the strange gazes and pointing fingers of others.

This immense change could be said to have instantly altered the inherent influence between people, allowing everyone to see the true nature deep within their hearts.

—Did I really die once?

Naturally, in addition to those who rejoiced, there were also those who doubted the truth of this event—they suspected that this was just a realistic, large-scale illusion, a dream created by a certain Shenlong (divine dragon).

Whether it was the red light that had annihilated all life, or the white dragon god that had appeared in the center of the city, it was all just part of the dream.

After all, who would use a world-altering wish to revive unrelated people? Even if they wanted to revive people, shouldn't it be specific people? Why could they, the people affected by the aftermath, also enjoy this privilege?

However, this speculation was proven wrong when the residents of Maya City left the city.

Whether it was the collapsed mountain peaks in the distant Kober Mountains, or the traces of the Jormungandr serpent slithering across the northern wilderness around the city; whether it was the diverted rivers or the blasted lakes, everything proved that a fierce battle had taken place around Maya City. This could be seen from the traces of lava that were almost everywhere around the city. Professional transcendents estimated that, based on the traces and force of the lava splatter, most of Maya City would have been razed to the ground.

Maya City had indeed been destroyed once, and that was an undeniable fact.

—But who exactly was the person who made the wish?

No one knew this, because all seven dragon ball holders, whether known or unknown, had disappeared.

Moreover, for some reason, even though all the residents of Maya City had been revived, the lord of Maya had not. So some people speculated that he was also a member of the dragon ball holders.

But whether this lord had wished for the restoration of his city... even the residents of Maya City felt it was unlikely. After all, this lord had always had a bad reputation, and he would never waste a wish on such a thing.

Everything was shrouded in a mysterious haze, but who cared—after all, in the final analysis, being alive was the most important thing.

Moreover, through death, all the residents of Maya City had found their true hearts through this great terror between life and death... Yes, would they regret living such a life before dying? After truly experiencing this questioning of the heart, even the most cowardly person understood that if they wanted to change their lives and embark on the path they wanted to take, they had to take action now.

Otherwise, wouldn't they be wasting this opportunity to be resurrected from the dead?

—There were still many follow-up matters.

Although the Shenlong War seemed to have ended, in reality, it was only the beginning of a huge storm that swept across the entire world.

On the third day after the collective resurrection of the entire Maya City, the Empire's First Central Army Corps took an airship and arrived directly from the south to the Northern Lands. This unit, which had once shone brightly in the Elf War, producing many war heroes and strong individuals, was ordered by the Kerber Emperor to take over the Maya Territory, which had lost its lord. At the same time, they were also responsible for investigating the cause of this collective resurrection and investigating clues about the wish-granter, among other important tasks.

However, the imposing First Central Army Corps was completely defeated by an existence that was incredibly strong when they crossed the northern border checkpoint—although no one died, the entire army corps' structure was completely broken up. A series of 'magic winds' sent everyone in the army corps to different regions, and the two known to be the furthest apart were one found fallen near the Crystal Forest deep in the Kober Mountains, and the other blown by the magic wind to a small island in the Eastern Seas, found surviving in the wilderness, gnawing on coconuts.

"Demons, they're demons!"

"Are wild dragons all monsters?!"

"That dragon... it's a rocket! It's a rocket!"

"It's impossible to catch up, we were being played in the palm of its hand..."

"Its speed is more than three times that of our fastest aircraft!"

Without exception, all the soldiers of the First Army Corps who had experienced that battle showed symptoms of extreme panic and even extreme trauma-induced stress reaction when asked about what happened—limited to that battle, everything else about them was normal, but they never dared to board an airship again.

In any case, the complete collapse of the First Army Corps, as the Empire's trump card, did indeed cause a great decline in the imperial family's prestige.

In addition to the news that the Dragon Ball War had ended and that an unknown existence had finished making a wish, the Kerber Empire's mandate of heaven was questioned—many civilians were even secretly discussing how long this country could last and when a new overlord would take over.

The overreacting imperial family immediately issued an extremely harsh 'Speech Law' to prohibit civilians from discussing anything related to the Dragon Balls... But based on the Kerber Empire's near-zero control over the grassroots, this law was about as effective as not promulgating it at all, and it greatly undermined the public's remaining trust and respect for the imperial family.

—The world was being changed.

A series of events caused various social problems, which had been suppressed by the imperial family's military force and the war dividends gained from defeating the elves, to begin to emerge one by one. In the western region, an underground organization called the 'Innovation Society' was developing vigorously, absorbing a large number of like-minded people and beginning to exert substantive control and construction in the empire's peripheral areas and other places where official control was weak.

Similar things were happening throughout the entire empire.

The prelude to a chaotic world was gradually emerging.

Amidst these big news stories, no one noticed some small news—for example, the Poin Workshop, which was known for its artificial human technology, was attacked, its headquarters were raided, and although no one was injured, the workshop's data from the past two years was destroyed, with a large amount of information and data missing.

And behind all of this, in reality, there was a figure acting in the shadows.

"Well, that's about it. I'm leaving, Aura."

On the eastern coast of the Kerber Empire, at the top of a small mountain by the sea, there was a simple stone house.

Outside the house, Su Zhou sat on the grass, gazing at the world's azure sea, enjoying the refreshing sea breeze, and casually said to the white-haired girl beside him: "As the instigator of the summoning, the lord of Maya was not resurrected, and the production data of the Poin Workshop was also destroyed by me. From now on, no one will know that there is an artificial human named 'Aura' in this world."

"No one can know your past, no one."

"...Mm, thank you, Teacher."

The girl, who was sitting quietly beside her teacher, watching the sea together, did not seem disappointed by the news that Su Zhou was leaving.

The Dragon Ball War had ended, the wish had been made, and the seven Dragon Balls representing the sun, moon, stars, and the four extremes of the earth had all dissipated. They would be re-condensed in the future and obtained by other destined people.

And without the support of the Dragon Balls' magic, relying solely on Aura's magic, it was impossible to maintain Su Zhou's stay in this world for much longer—now, it had reached the limit. Su Zhou couldn't even summon his true body here; he could only act in a human body.

So, it was time to say goodbye.

At this time, Aura was wearing a white dress, looking like an ordinary seaside girl. She nodded seriously: "I won't let down everything you've done for me. I'll live well."

"Living well isn't enough. You have to live happily and comfortably."

So saying, Su Zhou stood up. He had already taken out the Celestial Scale and activated it directly, causing a small time-space sphere to appear in front of him. The youth turned his head, took one last look at his newly accepted student, smiled, and gave a thumbs up in encouragement: "If you feel unhappy, just cause a ruckus in this world. As long as you need it, you can call my name."

"At that time, I will descend and come as promised."

"Mm... I understand, Teacher."

The girl also stood up, the hem of her dress fluttering in the wind. She and Su Zhou waved to each other, and for the first time, she smiled and said, "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye."

Laughing heartily, Su Zhou simply touched the time-space sphere and disappeared into the other side of time and space.

Aura stared at the place that was now empty, only lowering her eyes slightly.

The girl, who already possessed dragon blood and a lifespan of more than just a few years, was very calm.

"Life is still long."

Turning her head to look at the endless sea, she gazed at the layers of waves crashing against the reefs, calmly thinking in her heart: "It's time for me to embark on my own path."

"No need to be sad, Miss Aura. Didn't Mr. Zhuzhou leave you that 'Sacred Relic'? If you really want to meet, just summon him."

Just then, a rather gentle female voice rang out from behind Aura.

Along with this voice, a translucent shadow appeared behind the girl. It was a lady with messy long hair and a robe.

The soul of the wandering mage Evelyn seemed a little impatient at this time. She first seemed to comfort Aura maturely, and then exposed her true purpose: "Speaking of which, Mr. Zhuzhou left that 'Code of Scientific Thinking and Common Sense'. Can you let me continue reading it? Yes, it's one of the books Mr. Zhuzhou left for you..."

"I'm not sad."

In response, Aura shook her head very seriously and retorted: "And now is not the time to read. There are eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds left for seaside relaxation time. Studying will have to wait until after dinner."

"You're not an artificial human anymore, so don't be so rigid~"

Evelyn almost grabbed Aura's hand and shouted, "Good sister," but even she couldn't bring herself to call a child who wasn't even a month old "sister": "We're going to be together for so long in the future. Please be accommodating."

"Don't be so persistent."

But soon, Evelyn's soul was pulled down by another translucent hand, and the middle-aged man's cold voice rang out: "Ms. Aura is the hope for our resurrection, or rather, the realization of our life goals. According to the contract made with the Shenlong Zhuzhou under the Ancestor, we are all tools to assist and teach her. Don't do anything unnecessary or rude."

Pulled away by Mikhail, the soul of the Dragon Ball summoner Evelyn returned to a cyan-purple gem on Aura's neck with a sigh.

Aura was already used to this.

Because this was precisely one of the wishes that Su Zhou had made to the Ancestor.

In the final analysis, the Shenlong Zhuzhou was a visitor from another world, and his knowledge of this world was not complete. And his summoner, Aura, was also an artificial human who knew nothing and was a blank slate.

Neither of them was a good choice to transform the world, and neither had the motivation to change the world—but conversely, the souls of the other Dragon Ball summoners had extremely strong motivations.

Although their paths were mostly incorrect and very extreme, they were not unusable after their defeat, especially since their extremism and incorrectness were largely because they were exploring on their own, without organization or precedent. Su Zhou, as a visitor from another world, could give them a lot of 'experience' and 'examples' to learn from, allowing them to embark on a relatively correct path.

Naturally, not absolutely correct—even the Zheng Nation on Earth had not reached the world of Great Harmony yet. Su Zhou was very clear about this. But even so, it was much better than the Kerber Empire in the feudal era.

In short, under the constraints of the Ancestor's contract, Su Zhou believed that these Dragon Ball holders, who had their own firm and different positions and had extremely rich experience in related fields, could become roles to lead Aura's growth.

And in contrast, they could also obtain the right to indirectly change the world through Aura.

As someone with a deep understanding of magic, and most importantly, extremely rich theoretical experience, Evelyn was responsible for teaching Aura magic. And among the books left by Su Zhou through the Ancestor, she was most interested in the 'Code of Scientific Thinking and Common Sense'.

Mikhail, as the Empire's strongest bounty hunter and professional soldier, was responsible for teaching Aura combat skills. He preferred to read a book called 'Utopia - A Complete System of Government', which expounded the national social structure, fantasized about and denied the existence of utopia, but proposed an advanced socialist book.

And the Second Prince Kumoer, after making the contract, rarely spoke. This former member of the royal family was responsible for teaching Aura how to conduct herself and political experience. He liked to read 'National Will' and 'Declaration'. He often looked at them with both admiration and frowning, seeming to feel uncomfortable with the social system without an emperor.

But in the end, he still sighed.

The priest Vicar was responsible for teaching Aura related divine magic knowledge. The books he liked to read were 'International Social Structure' and 'Social Biology'. Like Kumoer, he often frowned when reading them, and even cursed in a low voice—but even so, he would still finish reading them seriously and write notes in the spirit world.

As for Matvey... he was beaten up by everyone and was still locked in the small dark room, not knowing when he would be released.

However, in the contract set by Su Zhou, he was responsible for teaching Aura all the mysterious knowledge related to Shenlong, after all, Matvey was a genius who almost became a god, and it would be a waste not to learn this knowledge.

And in Matvey's brief appearance, he favored the book 'Morality and Ethics in Modern Society—Morality and Human Nature'. Although he hadn't even read it for a few minutes before he went into the dark room.

As for the youngest hunter boy, Finn, besides Aura... he wasn't responsible for anything. This child from the mountains was now learning elementary school mathematics and had to do exercises every day, looking very happy.

Six different souls resided in the crystal on Aura's chest. Their appearance or departure required Aura's consent, and in the Ancestor's contract, they would all be responsible for helping Aura change this world.

As for what the results of this change would be... according to the Ancestor Dragon, that was 'precisely because we don't know, that it is good'.

Eleven minutes later, Aura, having finished her rest time, turned her head, no longer staring at the sparkling sea, and prepared to return to the stone hut to start preparing for her studies.

However, when her gaze swept over the place where Su Zhou had left before, her gaze still lingered for a moment.

—Still, there was that feeling.

That kind of inexplicable chill clung to her spine, making her tremble, making her shiver, making her body feel cold from the depths.

That was an emotion called 'fear', fear of the future, fear of the unknown.

But...

"I have learned to face the fear of the unknown, and at the same time, I have learned the courage to face the future."

Turning her head decisively, the girl took a step and walked towards the hut: "Thank you, Teacher."

"Now, after leaving you, I will personally observe this world."

"And then, I will think about how to change it."

—Outside the world.

The Creation Dragon, who surrounded the world, took another look at the world in his arms before falling into slumber.

[They are all, good children.]

Thinking so, He smiled gently and then closed his eyes.

The story of the Shenlong World has come to a temporary end.

However, Su Zhou, who intended to return to Earth through the Celestial Scale, encountered some troubles in the void that were barely within expectations.

"Yala, you said there wouldn't be any trouble?!"

"Silly child, did you believe me just because I said it? Where's your spirit of arguing? You need to get used to questioning me more."

New week, requesting monthly votes and recommendations~