"You've come." Jon didn't turn his head, still staring at the distant, lush forest.
Hearing those familiar words, Anger suddenly remembered his conversation with his brother earlier and couldn't help but smile lightly.
"Yes, I've come." Anger said as he gestured to the mute servant to point at the ointment on the table. The mute servant waved his hand at Anger.
With a helpless sigh, Anger picked up the ointment and walked over to sit beside Jon.
"Professor, you didn't follow the doctor's instructions again." Anger unscrewed the glass jar and started applying the thick, green ointment to Jon's limbs, which were already beginning to show signs of atrophy.
"It doesn't matter whether I apply it or not," Jon said, his eyes carrying a hint of nostalgia and sorrow. "I'm dying. 'It' won't let me live much longer."
"Who is 'it'?" Anger immediately became cautious and glanced around. "Is it your enemy?"
Jon remained silent for quite a while before shaking his head. "I don't have any enemies. My enemies are in another world."
Upon hearing Jon mention the "other world," Anger instinctively motioned for the mute servant to leave. Even though the mute servant couldn't speak, Anger always had him leave whenever Jon spoke about "past matters," just in case.
As for Jon's origins, Anger still found it hard to believe.
Jon came from another world—or rather, another planet. Due to an accident, Jon had crossed over from his homeland to this unfamiliar land.
After Jon arrived, Anger's father had saved him, and that was how everything had unfolded.
At first, Anger didn't believe in "crossing over." But as Jon taught him more knowledge, helping him understand the micro and macro worlds, Anger couldn't help but start to believe. The knowledge Jon had taught him, though theoretical and abstract, was incredibly valuable—far beyond the educational level of the Golden Finch Empire.
Though Anger still had some doubts, he had begun to accept it.
After the mute servant left and Anger heard the footsteps descending the stairs, he quietly asked, "So… who is this 'it' you mentioned, Professor?"
Jon remained silent for a while before asking Anger a question that seemed a bit unexpected.
"Do you believe that the world has consciousness?"
Anger was momentarily stunned by the question and after thinking for a moment, he cautiously responded, "Are you referring to the Gaia Consciousness?"
The concept of Gaia Consciousness didn't exist in the Golden Finch Empire, nor was there any mention of a Mother Earth Gaia in this world. It was a concept Jon had introduced to Anger, and at first, he had treated it as just another myth from Jon's world. He never expected Jon to bring it up again now.
"Something like that," Jon nodded slightly, his gaze distant as he stared at the mountains. "I used to be a firm believer in science. Even when people said that the end of science was God, I never believed it. But since I came to this world, I've begun to feel that some things are slowly changing. And one of those things is the concept of 'Gaia Consciousness.'"
Jon's eyes were still fixed on the distant, misty mountains. "My body started deteriorating mysteriously after I arrived in this world. I had the parasitic chip fully scan my body, and it found no signs of disease. In other words, I'm not sick."
Though Anger didn't fully understand what a "parasitic chip" was, he understood what Jon was implying.
"So, if you're not sick, then why…" Anger looked at Jon, whose body had shriveled to the point where his skin clung to his bones, and his confusion only deepened. Jon was only in his early fifties, but his appearance made him seem decades older.
"Why did I become like this?" Jon murmured to himself, then shook his head and chuckled softly. "If you had asked me half a year ago, I wouldn't have been able to answer. But now, as I near death, 'it' seems to have loosened its grip. I have come to understand the origin of my condition."
"The origin?" Anger looked at Jon, still not understanding.
"Like I asked you earlier about Gaia Consciousness, I suspect… there may be a vast collective consciousness in this world. It operates coldly and impartially, rejecting all foreign souls. It is the consciousness of the world itself. And my deteriorating body? Perhaps it is its creation," Jon turned to face Anger, his expression serious. "To put it simply, the reason my body is in this state is because I'm not from this world. I'm simply not adapting well."
In the grand hall, under the crystal chandelier, two men sat at opposite sides of a long rectangular table. Behind each man stood several fully armored knights.
On the left sat Leon Pat, the heir to the Pat estate, his brow furrowed in thought.
On the right sat a middle-aged man in silver armor, his face obscured by a thick brown beard—Eaton Morn.
Eaton Morn was a Count from the Morn family, one of the pillars of the Golden Finch Empire. The Morn family had been known for their valor in battle for centuries.
Currently, many of the Morn family's elite soldiers were stationed on the front lines, fighting the Sea Lan Kingdom. It was unclear why Count Eaton had suddenly come to Gru Town.
After a long silence, the knights on both sides grew increasingly tense. As a family of warriors, the Morn knights quickly overwhelmed the Pat estate's knights with their imposing presence. One of the knights, unable to withstand the pressure, dropped his sword with a loud clang, which echoed through the room. Leon, noticing this, frowned slightly and spoke first.
"Apologies, my knight lacks manners." Leon waved his hand, and his knights immediately knelt in salute before stepping back. This simple gesture immediately defused the tension. "Count Eaton, is your sudden visit related to the supply situation on the front lines?"
Though the Sea Lan Kingdom was small, its land was mostly made up of islands scattered across the Blue Sea and Storm Sea. The Golden Finch Empire's naval capabilities weren't strong enough to fight Sea Lan, and they could only focus on coastal defense and passive resistance.
After a prolonged stalemate, and due to a lack of fresh water resources, nearby towns were called upon to supply the front lines. Gru Town was an essential part of this supply chain.
The Pat estate had been handling most of the supply work, so while the common people in the town might not know, Leon, as the lord of the estate, certainly did.
"The past few months, we've been greatly helped by the Pat estate. Otherwise, our vanguard wouldn't have made it through," Count Eaton expressed his gratitude, before shifting the subject. "The water supply isn't an issue, but I've come here today to ask you about something."
"What is it?" Leon raised an eyebrow.
Eaton smiled, but his thick beard obscured much of his expression, making it difficult to read his face. Leon didn't detect any warmth in Eaton's eyes.
"I was wondering, Lord Pat, have you ever heard of 'morning dew after the rain?'"