BXBX NOVEL Chapter 303: Plans for the future
"During the last moments of the war, all of you must\'ve heard him. Yes, I\'m talking about the Sun Sage. I won\'t reveal his identity to you; all you need to know is that he\'s been working with us closely and he\'s had a hand in all of the massive changes that happened within our civilization. His contributions far surpass ours, even."
"You all heard him declaring a rule that states that no demons are allowed to disturb the space and time anywhere within Azure Terra. Let me tell you now that his declaration isn\'t only effective in that moment; it\'s a permanent rule, and Acala herself confirmed this with us."
Filius paused for a brief moment for his words to sink into everybody\'s mind.
The army\'s vacation is over, and it\'s their first day back at work. The very first thing they did was convene a meeting to let every important person learn about their next set of actions.
"This means that from that moment onwards, no demons are capable of manipulating space anywhere within Azure Terra. Any form of spatial travel is impossible, and this includes any invasion coming from the outside."
"His rule cut off any possibilities of the Demon Race directly sending troops anywhere in this continent. As for the demons in the Lost Continent, if they want to invade, they also couldn\'t do it by teleporting here; they have to manually traverse the stormy and chaotic seas that separate us, and only a handful of them could do that."
"It also means that, so long as we humans stay within Azure Terra, the Demon Race could no longer use our bodies as a tool for spatial passage to justify their invasion. \'Nodes\' are a history moving forward under the assumption that we all stay here, for now at least."
His words stunned his colleagues. Some already expected it to be the case, but the idea sounded so good to be true that they subconsciously denied it. However, Filius spelling it out for them proved that they were right, and it doesn\'t make it any less surprising.
"I know that this will raise some concerns, so let me explain a few things first."
"First and foremost, most of us here knew the \'Oath\' that Acala forced the demon race into, which changed our way of life. Your concern about this violating the contents of the oath is unfounded because the Sun Sage himself studied this oath and discovered many loopholes that the demons have been exploiting ever since."
"Because Acala was too weak to retaliate against this exploitation, we could only suffer from it, but not anymore. The Sun Sage stated it himself, \'If they could exploit us using the rules, then what\'s stopping us from doing the same?\' Don\'t think that we\'re stooping down on their level; it\'s them who stooped down on our level."
"The demons could still use us humans as spatial nodes to invade our world, but there\'s nowhere in the oath that states that it has to happen within Azure Terra. Since the Sun Sage imposed the Space and Time ban on demons within this continent, that cuts off their chance to exploit this."
"Of course it is possible for the \'Risks\' to learn this sooner or later. Don\'t worry about this; Acala has already imposed new rules on their punishments. At the very least, this will make them less desperate."
"The demons left roaming around this continent are strays, and their numbers won\'t surpass a million. We can do a mass hunting operation to eradicate them completely and make this continent truly free from demons."
Stating this, Filius just can\'t hide his enthusiasm.
"It\'s time for us humans to reclaim this continent. We no longer have to be imprisoned in this tiny corner of the world. If we don\'t seize this chance, then we are wasting not only the Sun Sage\'s hard work but also the efforts of our ancestors, who had given up their lives for our survival."
"We can\'t waste this chance because if we do, I don\'t think we\'ll ever receive another one. If we can\'t even rehabilitate this continent into our home, then we deserve to be driven into extinction."
"Now, we will move on to the division of duty; we\'ll start with..."
The plans for future development continued from there. The High Marshals began dividing tasks for the entire army to do. They have deadlines and expected results, with attached rewards and punishments.
It could be said that Filius\' burning enthusiasm was infectious. It couldn\'t be helped because this was truly a once-in-a lifetime chance, something that might never appear again if they missed it.
Most of the people here still can\'t believe that the entire continent was open for them to claim. All their lives have been limited to the walls of human territory. They\'ve been used to the idea that the outside world is scary and irrideemable; they even thought that this was the best thing they\'d ever get forever and they should just work hard for it to stay that way.
But now, the once-impossible thought is actually happening. Their world is about to become much larger than it was before. They have an entire continent to explore and reclaim as their home.
This walled civilization might just turn into the capital city or the ancestral lands for the future human empire. And isn\'t this idea just too stimulating? Who could resist such a future?
And if they work hard enough, who knows? Maybe one of them here will become regional commanders of their own territory!
Forget about humans not having enough people to occupy this continent; they could just lift the family size ban entirely! Hell, they could even give rewards to those who eagerly participate in the effort to repopulate. Let\'s see how many people could remain unfazed by that kind of temptation.
It was also during this meeting that the reputation of the unseen Sun Sage was boosted through the roof. His existence revealed the sheer number of contributions he had made for the sake of humanity\'s future.
He\'s the one behind the existence of the Essence Souls; he improved the outer world bases that the expedition teams use; he\'s the one who invented the way to revert corrupted materials to their previous state; and he was also the one who invented a tool that could convert corruption into a neutral energy source that they could use.
The Sun Sage was also the one who invented the formation that created the semi-invisible mist that isolated their territory. It\'s this miraculous creation that greatly lessened the burden on them since, as soon as it appeared, they no longer had to worry about constantly being vigilant about guarding the entrance to human territory, allowing them to focus on more important things.
It was also him who restored the lines within human territory, which essentially revived Acala and caused the Origin Energy Storm, which changed many lives moving forward. And most recently, he\'s also the one behind the creation of the Heavenly Cycle Clocktower, which allowed them to see and feel what the real sun, moon, and stars looked like.
Of course, he\'s also the one who made it possible for the High Marshals to kill the seemingly immortal Undead Bone Dragon, stripped the demon races\'s abilities to manipulate time and space within human territory, and healed thousands of people at once. He forcefully ended his sensitive seclusion to support the war effort, and it\'s still unknown if this was harmful to his personal development.
Learning all of this was certainly enlightening. Everybody couldn\'t help but admire this person they hadn\'t seen before. No wonder the High Marshals were so protective of his identity, because who wouldn\'t? His value was no less than all of them combined!
The so-called Zodiac Saints aren\'t even fit to lick his shoes!
This dear Sun Sage of theirs worked hard to contribute to the race. His achievements were known to everybody, but his identity remained a secret. He wasn\'t after fame; he just wanted them to thrive. He fought tooth and nail for this chance, so it\'s no wonder that the High Marshals are urging everybody to seize it.
And savor it; they will.
As soon as the meeting was adjourned, everybody was mobilized. The effort to cleanse Azure Terra and make it a habitable place for humanity starts now.
The High Marshals themselves weren\'t idle. As soon as the meeting was over, they flew out of the territory to plan out future developments for the continent. All of them had a lantern hanging by their waist lit with golden light—sunlight—an element that\'s inherently harmful against demonic corruption.
All of this happened while Cedric, the emancipated Sun Sage, who apparently sacrificed his development, was inside his dimensional farm taking a peaceful nap with his girlfriends.