Falling into the Abyss

Chapter 53: Atonement: Pales (II)

Pales was about 500 light-years away from Earth, at the edge of the Earth Union, and it revolved around a red dwarf named Fire Pot. Pales received much less heat and light than Earth, so some people call it the Planet of Eternal Night.

Initially, this planets name was not Pales, but a very standard academic astronomical name, but it had long been forgotten. People began to call the planet Pales because the highly intelligent species that resided on the planet had curved, ram-like horns protruding from their foreheads, similar to Pan in Greek mythology. These aborigines were called the horned people by the Earthlings.

The horned peoples technology lagged far behind the Earthlings. A very, very long time ago, they had already been annexed by Earths army, which had technology that could traverse countless seas of stars. However, the horned people were a primitive and belligerent race with their own cultural customs, religious beliefs, and living habits, far different from the Earthlings. Due to these vast differences, they were unable to integrate with the Earthlings. They would kick up a fuss from time to time, and it always gave the Earth Unions government a real headache.

In the past, when the relationship between the Earth Union and its neighboring planetary states, such as the Third Empire, was tense, nonhumans were often sent to the front lines to do some logistics support work. They were sent out as suicide squads when necessary. After all, the lives of soldiers who were law-abiding citizens were obviously much more precious than those of worthless nonhumans. Therefore, it was not surprising that nonhumans would be sent to the front lines first during times of war.

This time, Ethan only felt somewhat numb after being chosen, and he remained calm. Maybe after experiencing many terrifying events, he had begun to get used to it. Still, he saw a lot of frightened nonhumans crying. Some of them were trembling with pale faces, and many others were numb like him.

However, there were also a few who were excited.

For example, a nonhuman he wasnt acquainted with that was tied up like an animal. He had a mask that forbade him from talking and was closely watched by a guard. Ethan normally rarely saw this person, but he was impressed by the expectant and excited look in his eyes.

In addition to Samuel, who shared the same number as him, many other nonhumans he was familiar with were among the 300 people selected this time, such as Cavin, Chen Zeng, and Derek. Even Typhoeus, who had just been deployed to the East Area, had been selected. They were transported to the docking bay in batches and rushed into a huge saucer-shaped carrier ship. The journey would last more than half a month, two-thirds of which would be spent flying.

Ethan didnt know whether the soul bond between him and Tanisiel would be affected by the distance, so before boarding the ship, he tried to pass the image of the spaceship to Tanisiel. However, he didnt know if the other party received it. He was suddenly worried that if he was unlucky this time, would the time in the medical room be the last time he saw Tanisiel?

He regretted not French kissing Tanisiel one last time.

Due to the large number of people sent this time, to control them, both the chief security officer, Schneider, and Gray Fur, would lead several other experienced guards to accompany them. The nonhumans were rushed into the sleeping cabins by the guards, lying in them naked except for their underwear.

The warp drive engine propelled the huge carrier ship through the vast sea of stars until they finally arrived at the Fire Pots solar system. Then, everyone on the ship was woken up by the mainframe.

This time, because there were no legal citizens on board other than the ship crew and the necessary guards, the nonhumans were allowed to live in the guest rooms. Two people were paired to share a room, and unfortunately, Ethan shared a room with Chen Zeng.

At this moment, Ethan no longer thought Chen Zengs ordinary and friendly face was harmless. How could this person be so charming that he could make so many fugitives obey him?

Ethan did not know what to say. It would be an understatement for him to say it didnt matter since he had been so scared that he almost mutatedso he just nodded again and didnt reply.

After a while, a pamphlet was handed to him. Ethan was stunned, and his gaze moved up Chen Zengs arm and to his face.

The pamphlet was poorly made, and even the length of the paper was uneven. The front cover said, The Essentials of the Lord Graces Association.

Ethan stiffened, his mind spinning as he tried to decide whether he should politely refuse or choose to accept it. After he hesitated, Chen Zeng said with a smile, Theres no pressure. I merely guessed that you havent received this pamphlet, so Ill give you one. Its your choice to read it or not.

Ethan cleared his throat and reached for it, saying, Im sorry, Im not a believer of yours or anything

I understand. Sometimes, when many people around you start to believe in the same thing, youll get into trouble if you dont behave the same way. Although many of them regard me as a teacher, they cant control themselves even if I forbid them from being angry with nonbelievers. After all, it is human nature to eliminate anything different from ourselves.

Ethan had imagined what it would be like to talk to Chen Zeng, and he had planned to be preached at for a week. He did not expect the other party to hold such a reasonable attitude.

Ethan lowered his head and glanced at the book in his hand before asking, I know that your arrest was due to some of your teachings, but many things that you discuss now are completely different from what you said in the past. Ever since the incident on Red Earth.

Thats correct. That mission really opened my eyes, Chen Zeng said with a sigh. His gaze floated to a corner of the room as he revisited his memory of Red Earth, You know, a long time ago, there was a religion that originated in the Lumbini region. They believed that people would have a moment of epiphany. That is, one would suddenly realize the truth at a certain moment. I think that trip to Red Earth was my epiphany.

Naturally, Ethan had also read about the Buddhist culture that was deemed very important in ancient times. However, he still didnt understand what an epiphany meant. However, it didnt matter. After he placed the pamphlet in his bag, he asked, I think youve been influenced a lot by Evangelism, havent you? Did Tanisiel talk to you previously?

Chen Zeng was a little surprised and looked at him approvingly. You are very observant. Yes, when we fled on the Magic Flute, he showed me the Eves scriptures. Of course, they were automatically translated. At that time, you were in a coma.

Ethans heart suddenly shuddered, and he frowned slightly.

Tanisiel showed Chen Zeng scriptures from the Eves religionwas it intentional or unintentional?

Chen Zeng sighed again and said, The Eves are truly a very intelligent race. Their God of Order is actually the Lord! However, they were confused with regard to the powerful angels and the Lord and thought they were all gods of the same rank. Its a pity that I hadnt seen their scriptures earlier. However, I am also a little surprised since you and Samuel also saw those things on the Red Earth, so why dont you believe in it?

Why dont I believe in what?

The existence of the Lord and the Great Evil God.

I believe that we humans will never completely comprehend this universe. However, it doesnt mean that things like godsmaybe they are some kind of super intellectual beings that can influence the laws of the universe, but I dont think that believing in them will change anything, Ethan said in a solemn voice, I dont think they care whether we believe them or not

He got goosebumps when he said that.

Yeseven though he was infected by the God of Disorder, even though he had seen those strange illusions many times, and even though that green eye was constantly watching him, he still felt that those things simply disregarded what he was thinking. It simply did not care about the thoughts of the entire human race or even the thoughts of any living creature. Maybe he was only being watched because he was useful in some way, like what Tanisiel said.

Maybe the birth of the world was due to the labor of the gods that humans once believed inif they existedand they were all like this, not caring whether people believed in them or not. It was just like how humans dont care whether ants believe in the existence of humans or not.

He thought that Chen Zeng would retort and tell him that the Lord was concerned about his creations, and did not expect that Chen Zeng would pat him on the shoulder and say, You may be right, but why should we be concerned about whether they care about us believing in them?

Ethan couldnt continue this conversation with him. His words contained too many twists and turns and were too deep.

They didnt speak much since soon after, his believers who were too afraid to head to the battlefield came to ask for a blessing from the Great Teacher. Ethan had no place to sit, so he could only slip out of the room. The guest rooms had been completely sealed off from the other areas, and he had no place to go, so he headed over to Typhoeus and Samuels room. Typheouss complexion had returned to its past ruddiness, and he appeared the same as when he was in the Energy Bureau, but something was missing in his gaze, causing him to look tired and pale. Ethan thought that after all the setbacks he had experienced, it was inevitable for him to become like this. Society was malicious towards Omegas, and it would only become more perilous in extreme places like the Forbidden City.

At this time, Samuel was playing cards with Typhoeus, and the hothead who could only talk with his fists was obviously not Typheouss opponent, complaining that the other party was too crafty. Although Typhoeus won three games in a row, his expression revealed neither warmth nor excitement. He only had a slight smile on his lips, which showed that he was much more relaxed now. Ethan felt relieved. He had tried to talk with Typhoeus about their past in the Energy Bureau several times, but the other party would always avoid the topic. He even yelled at Ethan nervously to stop talking about the past. That had made him worried about the other partys mental state for a while.

A week later, their ship landed on Pales. Everyone was wrapped in thick winter clothing and stepped out of the ship in lines of thirty nonhumans. They arrived on Pales at noon, but at this moment, the sun was like a red ball hanging in the middle of the sky, casting a scarlet and violet haze over the nearby sky and the building that was built a hundred years ago. The edges of the sky remained dark blue, similar to how it appeared when the sun sunk over Earths horizon.

Pales orbited a red dwarf star, whose density and temperature were much lower than that of the sun. Additionally, Pales was located in the outer half of the Fire Pot solar system, receiving the equivalent of only one-third of the light that Earth did, so two-thirds of its day remained dark. Plants had evolved on this planet to be several times more efficient at photosynthesis than plants on Earth. Due to the lack of light, many reproductive organs on the plants had also evolved fluorescent enzymes, emitting a faint light to attract insects that would pollinate them. Therefore, there was no lack of illumination on this planet that was shrouded with darkness, but the light from its organisms was much colder than sunlight.

The military base they landed on was located on the edge of a forest consisting of thin but tall trees. There were additional shrubs in the forest that twisted like coral, with thick green leaves. Among the leaves, a bunch of flower-like vines radiated light, appearing like delicate crystal chandeliers. The dense shrub plants were lush and had leaves with dark green and blue-green hues. Some stick-like and thick, fleshy leaves wound around them, with veins emitting a blue fluorescence. At noon, this fluorescence was not very visible. The leaves reflected the red clouds, dyed in a multitude of different hues as they stretched out to absorb the valuable sunshine. When the short day passed, the bioluminescent lights would light up like small lamps, spreading throughout the vast forest, all the way to the mountains and rivers.

The area they were currently in was experiencing summer, but it was still so cold that they could see their breath. They were transported to the edge of the camp, where they began to build temporary tents. Ethan was not very familiar with it, and when he tried to hammer a nail, he almost nailed his hand to the ground. Samuel was so angry that he scolded him and asked him to do the rest of the work. Before the tent was completely set up, several soldiers strode towards the nonhumans, led by a red-haired sergeant with a bitter face.

Listen up, you bastards. Im your officer, Wilson. During this period, I am your God. You have to do whatever I tell you to do. If anyone dares to use their brain, then I will send you to see your grandfather. Do you understand me?

The crowd stared at him, silent.

Sergeant Wilson spat on the ground and swore before telling people sharing each number to choose a captain to report to him. Ethan and his team obviously picked Samuel.

Ethan looked around at the soldiers who were being too quiet and felt a strange atmosphere.

He couldnt read the atmosphere. It felt like they were under heavy pressure and were somewhat uneasy. However, he did not see anyone who was injured.

Later, when the chief security officer passed by, he took the opportunity to ask about their situation. Seeing that no one nearby noticed their conversation, Schneider said, They just destroyed a local rebel stronghold, and there were barbarians engaging in a living sacrifice ceremony.

A living sacrificewasnt that something that only appeared in the most ancient legends and some vulgar horror movies with prehistoric themes? In the current interstellar era, even in wars, people would hardly see blood. How could there be this sort of thing?

The author has something to say:

Paless original name is Kepler 186f. When describing the Planet of Eternal Night, the images I took reference from in mind include scenery from the planet Pandora from the movie Avatar and the dark elf's main city in World of Warcraft.

T/N: Warning: depictions of gore in this arc. I dont know if anyone would be uncomfortable with it, but Ill leave summaries at the end of each chapter in this arc that are too gory. But I realized that the previous atonement arcs except mars have scenes that are pretty gory toobut just keep in mind that this arc has chapters that could be quite intense.