Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

“The statue cracked? Why did the statue crack? Who cleaned it?”

“It cracked when no one was cleaning.”

“Is it due to thermal expansion and contraction? These statues must be over a thousand years old by now, right? It’s about time they were replaced. The old records mention a period over a thousand years ago when a large number of statues cracked in succession, potentially due to improperly controlled temperature and humidity. They were all replaced then.”

“Uh, no, the statue cracked, shouldn’t that be a big deal? What does temperature and humidity have to do with it?”

“Are you dumb? If it doesn’t have to do with temperature and humidity, then why do we strictly maintain them here? There’s even a limitation on the number of people allowed in each day. Others may not care, but we certainly need to analyse the cause. If we don’t identify the correct cause, what are we going to do if it cracks again?”

“But, the statues should be protected by divine power, how could they randomly crack?”

“That’s where you’re wrong. We need to be realistic. You’ve been here for so long, have you ever seen the statues display a miracle?”

“No.”

“Not only have you not seen it, neither have I. I have looked up records spanning eight hundred years, and there’s no record of any miraculous occurrence. How can you be so certain that they’re under divine protection?”

“But, isn’t that what the clergy, priests, and bishops all say?”

“What they say is one thing, you have to respect objective truth. The easiest way for a statue to crack is because of temperature and humidity, especially these pure stone statues carved from a single stone block. If they were cheap, mass-produced statues, they’d actually be less likely to crack.”

His companion seemed somewhat convinced, hesitating as he asked: “So, what do we do now?”

“Go to the storage room to see if there’s anything that can patch up the statue.”

After rummaging around in the storage room, the two found a statue in a corner: “My god, how fortunate, it’s a statue of the God of Balance, the same one that just broke.”

“I remember now, the records mention that when those statues cracked all those centuries ago, there was one that didn’t crack – the statue of the God of Balance. But because they could get a discount on purchasing a set, they carved a new set instead. This one wasn’t put in place, so the one that just cracked was old? It had over a thousand years of history?”

“So what do we do now?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do we do now’? Just replace it, isn’t such a coincidence a sign from the gods?”

“What about the one that cracked?”

“Of course, we’ll move it out. But we can’t just throw away such a sacred item. It’s only cracked, the rest of it is still in good condition. We’ll have it repaired, then let the devout followers take it home for worship. The donations received will be used to improve our lives, allowing us to serve the gods more effectively.”

“Is… Is this really alright? I’m a little scared.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? This kind of ancient relic can sell for hundreds of demon crystals even in its cracked state. If you dare to block my fortune, I’ll kill you.”

“Alright then…”

For various reasons, the incident of the cracked statue in the Hall of Gods was not reported. Even if it had, it likely wouldn’t have been taken very seriously.

As the watcher pointed out, there’s no record of any miracle being showcased by the statues for over a thousand years. Though the accessible records only go back eight hundred years, preceding records were burnt in a fire. But based on existing records, it’s highly probable the statues from eight hundred years ago did not showcase any miracles either.

So, it cracked, big deal. Is there anything in this world that will last forever?

“The… the thing on your head is…” Negris circled around Ange, observing him repetitively. He then spoke uncertainly: “It kind of looks like the halo on the statue of the God of Balance.”

Ange raised his head and looked up, then with a thought, the halo disappeared. With another thought, the halo reappeared.

“So, you can keep it hidden? That’s pretty good, otherwise with a big lamp on top of your head, it’s a bit blinding. But it’s a shame it’s not a God status, what’s the purpose of it?” Negris asked.

Shamara, with her gigantic black light wings fluttering, floated past and said, “The Ring of Balance, capable of measuring all things in the universe, plants, trees, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning all have their own mass. This is the Ring that measures everything. Only when the material has been measured, can you tell whether the two ends of the crucifix are equal.”

“Measure everything? Everything can be measured? That’s incredible? How do you use it? Why didn’t Libra use it?” Negris exclaimed in surprise.

“I don’t know, maybe he didn’t have time to use it. The Ring of Balance requires a powerful spiritual power to operate. The weaker the spiritual power of the opponent, the easier it is to measure.” Shamara said.

“Pfft…” Negris understood. The God of Balance probably didn’t run out of time to use it. He likely had used it and it didn’t work, because the spiritual power of the Undead God surpassed that of the God of Balance.

“As for how to use it, I’m not sure. It may need Lord Ange to slowly explore it. Lord, I wish to leave now. Can you send me away?”

With her head covered, Shamara entered the Teleportation Array and left the Abyss Dimension.

“Is it okay to let her leave just like that? She should be really powerful, don’t you want to try and convince her to follow Lord?” Lisa asked, not understanding.

She was extremely keen on persuading others to pledge their loyalty to Ange and didn’t want to give up such a powerful Fallen Angel so easily.

Negris was taken aback: “Absolutely not, her beliefs are too strong. Having her in the team would be like having a ticking time bomb. The minute there’s something she disagrees with, she’d turn against you without a second thought. It’s too risky. There can’t be someone with beliefs that strong in a team.”

“What do you mean?” Lisa pondered.

“What I mean is, the people on our team, when Ange tells them to farm, they should get into the field barefooted without hesitation. Otherwise, I’d rather not have them.”

“I don’t want to farm! There’s Aunt Cow’s manure in the fields. I am not stepping into that field!” Lisa flared up.