Eve's heartfelt words, tinged with a faint sadness and yearning, inexplicably reminded Lin Gui of the very beginning.
He remembered how Theia had also sat by his side like this, laying bare her loneliness from being exiled and her deep yearning for Avalon.
And then, she had "kidnapped" him onto this long journey, bringing him all the way to this tiny city-state.
Listening to Eve, a faint spark of anticipation had actually risen in Lin Gui's heart.
He had thought it might trigger a long-term quest to "help Eve break free from the shackles of the Hall of Heroic Spirits."
But in the end... there was absolutely no response.
This was probably because her wish had little to do with the Messenger System's core objective of "conveying thoughts."
Looking back at the quests he had triggered so far: delivering letters, delivering bones, delivering a white-haired elf...
Indeed, they all revolved around "delivering."
To fulfill Eve's wish, surely he couldn't be expected to "deliver" the divine artifact known as the Hall of Heroic Spirits from the sky city all the way to the Netherworld Sea, could he?
Lin Gui had read about the Hall of Heroic Spirits in the library of the City of a Thousand Towers.
Scholars back then had also researched how to break its soul-binding.
Their ultimate conclusion was to discard it in the deepest part of the underground, which was the polar opposite of the sky city—the Netherworld Sea.
By relying on the vast, boundless soul power of the Netherworld Sea, they could isolate the Hall of Heroic Spirits' shackle on the host's soul.
Having been repeatedly debated and verified by numerous famous scholars, this method... was theoretically feasible.
Lin Gui silently turned this concept over in his mind a few times.
He waited quietly, hoping to hear a familiar notification sound.
After a long silence, the system's flat, almost exasperated voice echoed in his mind:
【Host, the triggering of all quests is based on your current strength and capabilities.】
【Delivering the Hall of Heroic Spirits to the Netherworld Sea...】
【This objective far exceeds the boundaries of your capabilities.】
【Those two places are domains that even Legendary experts cannot set foot in.】
【Therefore, please cease these meaningless mental deliberations.】
Lin Gui shrugged in his mind.
Fair enough.
At least he now knew that, theoretically, this matter could trigger a quest.
Honestly, even if it couldn't trigger a quest...
As long as there was an opportunity in the future, he would still try to help Eve break free from that shackle.
If only for the sake of her acting as his "power bank" throughout their journey and supporting his consumption countless times with Mana Restoration, Lin Gui would definitely repay her.
Although Eve spoke of it as an absolute certainty, Lin Gui still held a great deal of hope before truly understanding the full picture of that divine artifact.
After all, perhaps influenced by his hometown's mindset of "anything is possible"... he could always find overlooked blind spots and flaws in the so-called "common sense" or "established conclusions" of the Akara Continent.
For instance, the theory that "the weak cannot cross" a Forbidden Zone.
Or the second method of crossing the Wall of Sighs.
Even the principle behind the creation of the Shroud of the Gloomy Night.
They were all based on common knowledge of light and shadow interaction and energy concealment on the Akara Continent.
But all of that was a matter for the future.
Looking at Eve, whose expression was slightly downcast beside him, Lin Gui did not offer words of comfort, nor did he make any empty promises.
He simply retracted his gaze quietly.
He believed that it wouldn't be long before he took the initiative to seek them out.
Because...
He recalled the records he had looked up in the library of the Carter Royal Capital.
About how the Holy Church of Light had used a single sheet of "indulgences" to ignite the fuse of the Spark Revolution.
About how they had used the Pope's veto power in the Alliance Council to completely erase the hard-won legal status of the revolution, indirectly causing the subsequent suffering and slaughter of millions of lives.
Back then, looking at those carefully embellished words that twisted the atrocities into "feats of purification," Lin Gui had not felt angry.
Too much darkness and decay had long since made him numb.
He had merely silently recorded each of those debts, waiting for the future to settle them all at once.
Recalling the prophecy Eve had told him on the North Wind caravan's Wheelless Train about "killing her," Lin Gui sneered in his heart.
Snapping back from his chaotic thoughts, he realized that the group of mischievous kids had somehow strayed out of the safe zone he had designated and were starting to cause trouble with his magic.
A half-demon boy was quietly floating up, pulling on the beard of an old dwarf dozing by the roadside.
Several little gnomes were working together to grab a basket of potatoes, tossing them back and forth like jugglers.
Most ridiculous of all were a few adults who had sneaked in, seemingly trying to peek at a young wife bathing?
Speechless, Lin Gui raised his hand and lightly pressed down through the air.
Levitation was instantly canceled.
The old dwarf's beard fell back onto his chest, the potato basket crashed to the ground with a thud, and the few adults landed flat on their backsides.
“Aww—!”
A wave of disappointed groans swept across the open space.
The children and adults all looked at Lin Gui in unison, their faces filled with a desire for more.
Just then—
A swift, silver-white figure leaped gracefully from a distant rooftop.
With a few bounds, she landed steadily in front of Lin Gui and Eve.
It was Theia.
A brilliant, unhideable joy rippled across her face.
“Lin Gui! Eve!”
Her eyes were shining, and her voice was filled with excitement.
“Come quick! I have great news to tell you!”
Without waiting for their reaction, she grabbed each of them by the wrist and dragged them toward the center of the city.
“What's wrong?” Lin Gui asked, letting her pull him along.
Theia's steps were light, almost skipping.
She let go of their hands and pointed at her chest—
where a small, metallic badge had appeared at some point.
The design was simple, yet it exuded a solemn sense of belonging.
“Just now!”
She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady, but she couldn't suppress her excitement.
“Under the witness of Lord Morpheus—”
“I, Theia Windrunner, on October 4th of the 42nd year of the Dark Age—”
“have officially become the 9,632nd registered resident of Avalon!”
After she finished speaking, she paused, then solemnly added: “And I have been granted the right to legally build a house in Avalon!”
She turned her head to look at Lin Gui and Eve.
In her blood-red eyes, something bright was trembling.
“Which means...”
Her voice finally choked up.
“I can... settle down in Avalon.”
“A real home where the Defense Force will never knock on the door in the middle of the night, unreasonably strip away everything, and then declare it illegal...”
“A true home.”
By the time she uttered those final words, her eyes had already turned red.
Tears welled up in her eyes, on the verge of spilling over.
That look... made Lin Gui feel as if she were a tenant who had been constantly evicted and forced to move by unscrupulous landlords for years, finally saving up enough money to buy her own house.
It was very similar.
But Lin Gui knew— what Theia had experienced in the past was far more heartbreaking than that.
Lin Gui and Eve were sincerely happy for Theia.
As they walked, Theia told them that her house had just been built with the help of all the carpenters in Avalon.
The speed was astonishingly fast.
Lin Gui was not surprised.
His post offices in New Covenant City and Shield City had also been completed within a few hours under similar high efficiency.
Under sufficient compensation and incentive, people could always burst forth with incredible enthusiasm.
Whether it was gold coins or pork.
He followed Theia toward the city center, but he felt a little puzzled.
He had originally thought Theia's house would be built in the area near the small woods, since Winnie, who now treated her like a sister, lived there.
But the direction Theia was leading them was toward the very center of Avalon.
And... whether it was his imagination or not, Theia's steps seemed to carry a trace of imperceptible anxiety, or even trepidation.
Lin Gui frowned, thinking he might be overthinking it.
Until Theia led them to Avalon's most central intersection.
She stopped in her tracks and pointed at a brand-new, three-story building in front of them.
The architecture didn't have any elven style; it was just a plain but sturdy human-style house.
“That is... my home in Avalon.”
Theia's voice was very soft, tinged with a bit of nervousness.
Lin Gui followed the direction of her finger.
When his gaze fell upon the sign hanging at the entrance of the small building, his entire body froze.
He saw that on the familiar sign, it clearly read:
【7-Copper Post Office】
Lin Gui stared blankly at the words, unable to process it for a moment.
“Cough, cough.”
Beside him, Theia let out an unnatural cough.
She reached out, tightly holding Lin Gui's hand with one hand and Eve's with the other.
Then, she looked up at them, her blood-red eyes shining, and spoke with anticipation and a trace of unhideable shyness:
“It's also for the three of us...”
“Our home in Avalon.”
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