The Debate Hall was considered a public area, and usually, there were no restrictions on entering or exiting. Even taking this secret passage was of little consequence.
But today, Darlina had given orders for the guards to keep a strict watch over the tunnel’s exit, to prevent any assassins from disrupting the order of the debate.
After all, today’s debate was simply too important.
“No need to panic,” Wu Yi first comforted a few frightened boatmen who wanted to flee, then looked at the guards. “Take me to Darlina.”
“You are…”
“I believe Darlina must have reserved an Audience Seat for those coming out of the tunnel.”
Wu Yi stepped into the light, sunlight illuminating the rose-pink tips of her hair.
The guard, seeing that hair color, snapped to attention. “It’s you! Please, come this way. Lady Darlina gave strict instructions—anyone with pink hair must be treated with the utmost respect.”
Wu Yi was invited into the venue and led to a spot with a broad view.
The debate contest had not yet begun. The Seeking-God Faction and the Self-God Faction were each at opposite ends of the arena, both busy arranging their prepared notes.
Those were the arguments they had readied beforehand, their weapons for victory, so neither side dared be careless.
“Lady Darlina, a guard just reported some news…”
“Enough, anything can wait until after the debate.”
The ram-horned girl was no longer the little puppet she once was. Now, she held a high position and acted decisively and efficiently.
She knew that the most important thing right now was the debate.
All the eyes of Borneo, and even the world, were fixed on this place.
This was a clash of ideas, a confrontation between the old era and the new world, a battle they had to fight to break free from the God-King’s control!
The importance of this battle was no less than Her Highness Wu Yi’s legendary “Twilight Execution” of the God-King.
“Understood,” the subordinate withdrew.
Darlina’s chest rose and fell gently. Even she, who had survived countless life-and-death trials, found herself unable to suppress the tension brought by such a great mission and responsibility.
She looked across at the man who could not accept the God-King’s death and sought another deity to worship—Vagang, who now sat calm and composed, not showing a hint of nervousness.
A strange Cloaked Man stood by Vagang’s side, whispering something to him. Unfortunately, Darlina was too far to hear.
……
“Don’t worry. If things go badly, someone will take care of Darlina,” the Cloaked Man whispered.
Vagang looked up, giving the Cloaked Man a cold glance without replying.
“Don’t look at me like that. You need a god, and my job is to ensure the new god ascends. Our interests are aligned,” the Cloaked Man said, puffing out his chest in dissatisfaction.
Vagang withdrew his gaze. “What we need isn’t a god, and not just anyone can become our god.”
“If the Seeking-God Faction doesn’t need a god, what do you need, athlete’s foot?”
Perhaps feeling victory was assured, the Cloaked Man let out a coarse laugh, betraying a hint of his brutish nature.
There was a stench about him, the kind that comes from years of blood and unwashed flesh, thoroughly soaked in. Mixed with the reek of fish and the mustiness of rotting food, it was enough to make one’s stomach turn.
That smell was like an icy chill, reminding Vagang that, at such close range, there was a knife at both his and Darlina’s throats.
But he didn’t care.
“The debate is about to begin! Both sides, please prepare!”
Dun dun dun—
A Spirit Master summoned Heaven’s Light, gathering two gentle beams from the sky and shining them on Darlina and Vagang.
They rose, facing each other from afar.
On the table before them were rows of Communication Crystals, ready to broadcast this debate to every corner touched by the Fire of Civilization.
Darlina was the first to speak.
Her voice was firm and powerful.
“Under the God-King’s rule, ninety percent of all taxes were taken. Countless people of every race starved or froze to death. If we establish a new god for worship, concentrating all power in one being, sooner or later, we will repeat the same tragedy.”
That was just the appetizer. Vagang was well-prepared and replied calmly:
“The new god’s tax cannot exceed twenty percent. The council will oversee the new god’s actions. No one will let history repeat itself. All we long for is faith. We need faith.”
“Faith?” Darlina retorted. “The god we once worshipped told us the sea was black, told us that outside the ban was only emptiness and terror, told us that people with horns must be burned alive—all simply because of his personal preferences, and we once believed it without question… Faith only makes us blind slaves.”
Vagang shook his head. “That’s because we believed in a terrible god. It’s undeniable that faith brought us much pain, but… it also gave us hope.
Ten years ago, when we were in despair, we prayed. We didn’t know if the god would answer our hopes. But the god’s existence gave us the hope to keep going.
We prayed, not because we were sure the god would do something for us, but because, in our darkest moments, we could look up and see a ray of light. That light gave us the strength to move forward, the will to walk out of despair.”
“Obviously, the facts have proven that this so-called light was nothing but a lie.” Darlina responded swiftly. “We must understand that escaping despair can only depend on ourselves, not on any guiding light. We must become our own light, no matter how difficult or lost we are.”
Vagang laughed. “You’re overestimating humanity. You overestimate the willpower of living beings.
We will inevitably face insurmountable difficulties and realize how small and helpless individual strength is.
Repeated failures will crush your will to resist, leaving you a walking corpse, beyond redemption… What’s that new word people say these days? ‘Give up.’
See? When they realize the enemy can’t be defeated, humans will just give up.
But if you have a lofty faith, maybe it will help you hold on to hope. Most of the time, we underestimate our own abilities. Only by persevering will we discover… we are so much stronger than we thought.
That’s the power of faith. It draws out our potential to overcome hardship.”
“You’re too optimistic. More often, this kind of blind encouragement only leads us to crash headlong into ruin,” Darlina shook her head. “Despair and defeat are the necessary pains of life. They tell us when it’s time to change direction and seek a place better suited for ourselves, not to waste a lifetime only to regret it in the end…
We must abandon fanaticism and blindness, and use these pains to examine ourselves. The faith you speak of is the root of all blind devotion.”
“Perhaps we need a bit of blindness, clever lady,” Vagang sighed. “Borneo has a population of five hundred million. Even with the recent baby boom, only one-fifth were born in the last ten years.
The remaining nearly four hundred million were born before the God-King’s fall. Most of them were taught from childhood to dedicate themselves to the god, and took pride in it. But suddenly, the God-King died.
That omnipotent image collapsed, his divinity vanished.
Their sky fell. And now, you want to tell them their faith was a joke? That their proud devotion, all their customs and passions, were just grass falling in love with the sickle? Can you understand what that feels like?”
“I do. But it’s a pain we must endure.”
“No! You don’t understand! Clever lady, we need a new god so desperately—not to return to the past, but so that the masses, frightened and lost after losing the God-King, can find new meaning in the light, instead of being destroyed by a sudden, crushing blow.”
Vagang’s words were persuasive, especially since most people had come to the arena out of confusion.
His words struck a chord with them, and for a moment, the debate hall was filled with noise.
Darlina seemed to be at an impasse, but she remained calm and countered, “And who do you think is worthy of bearing such faith?”
“The answer to that is obvious.”
Vagang placed both hands on the table, glanced at the Cloaked Man, and then, under the Cloaked Man’s shocked and angry gaze, smiled and said:
“Your Highness Wu Yi.”