In the end, Lin Gui's "Avalon post office" officially accepted only one letter on its opening day.
That was right—for an entire morning.
Lin Gui only received that single letter from Kyle.
While the entrance was packed tight, more than ninety percent of the people were really just there for the spectacle.
Among the remaining ten percent, there were indeed some who wanted to send letters.
Unfortunately, Lin Gui politely declined them all.
The reasons for refusal were simple.
Some destinations were simply too far.
The nearest would require traveling to Dawn City in the center of the continent.
The farthest actually required crossing the entire continent to be delivered to the bitter cold lands of the far north.
More ridiculously, a resident of the sea folk with transparent fish fins on their ears timidly handed over a letter.
The recipient's address was a remote, barely known island far beyond the East Sea.
Lin Gui looked at the other party's scales, which appeared somewhat dry outside of water, and couldn't help but be stunned.
Avalon... even had the sea folk?
Could this tiny city-state have gathered every single race on the Akara Continent?
As for the other letters that couldn't be sent...
It was because of their content.
For example, one letter used extremely "rich" vocabulary to "offer greetings" to the family tree of a certain city-state's prison warden.
The sarcasm within those words once made Lin Gui suspect the sender was his own countryman.
【Dear Duke Carlos】
【I have heard that for three generations, your family tree has practiced consanguineous marriage. I wonder if this is true?】
【P.S. Your youngest son's face is identical to that of the stable boy; I suggest you verify this.】
Another letter used sharp irony to depict the various hypocritical postures of an Inspector beneath their dignified appearance.
And then there was one that was simply a "public condemnation letter" addressed to a high noble, with lines burning with a fury suppressed for many years.
Through these unsendable letters, Lin Gui gained a clearer understanding of the composition of Avalon's residents.
Many of those gathered here were "outcasts" who had been rejected, expelled, or even wrongfully convicted by the outside world.
Truthfully, Lin Gui personally really wanted to deliver these letters.
He wanted to see what kind of magnificent expressions those people would make after seeing the contents.
Unfortunately.
If he really wanted to open post offices all over the continent and establish a long-term, stable delivery network...
He could not accept these "dangerous commissions" that would clearly offend those in power or even invite retaliation.
After filtering out the letters with intense emotions or ridiculous destinations...
Ultimately, only thirteen letters barely met Lin Gui's delivery standards.
Thirteen letters.
This quantity wasn't even a fraction of the commission he sent to Shield City.
Much less the scale of those thousands of letters for the Carter Royal Capital.
However, Lin Gui didn't mind.
As long as he could meet the System's minimum sign-off requirements, he would receive a mana reward.
Moreover, the destinations of these thirteen letters were all distributed among the city-states along his return route.
It didn't count as too much of a detour.
Over the next week...
Lin Gui operated the post office almost every day.
Yet, the number of people coming to drop off letters or inquire grew smaller with each passing day.
Although the topic of the "post office" was still circulating among Avalon residents...
Hardly anyone would specifically run over anymore to gawk at the subject of the conversation.
Avalon gradually returned to its former tranquility.
The area in front of the 7-Copper Post Office also became quiet again.
After a busy week...
Lin Gui's final harvest of letters stopped at twenty-one.
The quantity was small.
Yet, it required him to travel to seven different city-states for delivery.
Fortunately, he now had a flying vessel for transportation.
He no longer needed to spend months on the road as he did when he first came.
Since no one else in Avalon was coming to drop off letters...
Logically, Lin Gui should have ended the System's Letter Retrieval and prepared to set off.
But he didn't.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the true City Lord of Avalon.
Demon King Gusion to return.
He wanted to personally confirm that the city-state's greatest safety pillar was unharmed before he could leave in peace.
Or...
Wait for Morpheus to take the initiative to come to him.
To have him lead the experts of Avalon through the Wailing Corridor to search for their missing City Lord.
If he really had to go to that "Voiceless Abyss," the strength of Lin Gui's trio alone was far from enough.
Because they would likely have to deal with more than just the demons within the Wall of Sighs.
It was more likely those other groups of the Demon Race that made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Lin Gui had a hunch.
Gusion's departure was very likely related to Jesse and her group.
And Jesse's group had been tracking Gusion all along.
Capturing the Demon Hunter was their method of finding Gusion.
Rosa's warning during their conversation, and Roger's subsequent tracking of her, both told Lin Gui...
That the Demon Hunter Cass possessed a method to track Gusion.
And regardless of whether Lin Gui wanted to be swept into this unknown vortex or not...
For the sake of Avalon...
More accurately, for the sake of Theia, who would live here for a long time...
Lin Gui had to find Gusion.
To do that, he needed the help of Morpheus and the others.
Whether it was intelligence or strength.
However...
What Lin Gui never expected was...
That he didn't wait for news of Morpheus or the City Lord.
Instead, he first encountered an unexpected crisis in Avalon.
A major life-altering crisis targeting him specifically.
...
The daily work of the post office was basically over.
Lin Gui told Theia and Eve that he intended to stay in Avalon for a while longer.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion.
But when he announced this decision...
There was an obvious, almost overflowing happiness on Theia's face.
As for Eve...
Her gaze as she looked at Lin Gui flitted with a trace of very faint, almost odd sympathy.
The days following were mundane yet punctuated by a few vibrant moments.
During the day, Theia often pulled Lin Gui and Eve along to follow Winnie and several young residents.
Within the limited range of Avalon, they went everywhere to "find amusement."
They helped gather the last batch of late-season berries, watched the dwarves forge iron, and listened to old beastkin tell rough adventure stories.
Or on afternoons with perfect sunlight, they would lie on the grassy slope in the center of the city, watching the clouds slowly drift past the barrier dome.
At night, after Theia and Eve had fallen asleep...
Lin Gui would quietly don his Shroud of the Gloomy Night and slip out of the post office alone.
He moved like a silent shadow, wandering between the rooftops and alleys of Avalon.
He attempted to catch even a few stray words regarding Gusion or the "Voiceless Abyss" from near the residences of Morpheus and other high-level figures.
The gains were minimal, yet he still went every night.
Time thus slid into the sixteenth day amidst this rhythm that was half leisure and half undercurrent.
This night, Lin Gui returned from his usual "eavesdropping" excursion.
He skillfully vaulted onto the second floor of the post office, and just as his fingers touched the windowsill of his room...
His movements stopped abruptly.
A sudden, cold, and unannounced sense of danger...
Like a venomous snake hidden in the darkness, it suddenly raised its head.
From the gap of the window he had pushed open, it came lunging at his face.
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