"The ninety-third one..."

Underground refuge.

The cart stopped at the foot of the Banyan Tree Guardian. Eureka straightened his aching back, waiting for the sapling to lower a piece of paper, like a child picking up a candy, entwining the five or six tons of brick and stone piled nearby, waiting for them to be taken away together.

"What are you counting?"

Next to him, Lance, who was about to replace Eureka and had already familiarized himself with the routine, tried not to look up at the Banyan Tree Guardian, asking softly.

"How many I've transported, do you want to count too?" Eureka swayed his hips. "At least a dozen people are doing the same job. How many have we transported today? A thousand?"

Lance shook his head, his cheek muscles jiggling with the motion. "I don't want to. I used to count 20 counts a month; 1 count meant going hungry for a day."

Counting was a pain engraved in Lance's soul.

Eureka said nothing, just patted Lance's shoulder and returned with the cart to the bustling construction site.

"Aren't you going to rest?" Lance noticed that Eureka showed no intention of leaving.

"I'll go back after moving a hundred blocks. Staying up a bit later is nothing." Eureka chuckled nonchalantly, changing the subject. "Do you think we'll have a chance to visit the Temple once it's built?"

"Visit? Do you not care about your head?"

Before Lance could reply, Yu Le, a neighbor passing by with tools, shouted.

"We won't die even if we get polluted."

The camp residents' aversion to the believers was gradually diminishing, especially after the "Indelible Love" incident. They had started to harbor some expectations about the "rebirth" after the end of human life.

"But it must be hidden away for our own good." Yu Le didn't stay long and soon walked away.

"Lance, what do you think?"

Eureka sought affirmation from the newly acquainted resident.

However, he was concerned with another matter: "Can we still drink the water from Agate Lake..."

"I don't care, and the Exorcist will find a way to solve the pollution." Eureka replied. He wasn't like those noble rich folks; people with a cleanliness fetish had to either adapt or perish. There was no third choice.

"I mean, will we be banned from using the water from Agate Lake? Never able to drink or wash with it again..." Lance looked up at the dim rocky ceiling above, as if seeing through layers of thick rock to the Temple's structure at the bottom of Agate Lake.

"Come move some stones!"

A shout interrupted Eureka, who was about to speak, and Lance from his thoughts. They moved the cart to a new pile of bricks and, working together, pushed the polished stones, resting on wooden beams, onto the cart.

"I don't think they would."

Eureka and Lance pushed the creaky cart together, resolutely saying: "The Exorcist wouldn't do that, and neither would his allies."

Blind trust in Lu Li was almost a "virtue" all humans possessed, at least on the Main Affinity Continent. People in the Barren Lands might have a slightly different view...

He said to the pondering Lance, "Stop guessing. We just need to do what we can, and let the Exorcist handle the other problems for us..."

"We can't always rely on the Exorcist..."

"That's why, besides doing what we can, we also have to learn. I want to become a pharmacist... The ninety-fourth one!"

Thirty minutes later.

After moving the hundredth block, Eureka and Lance bid farewell to the others and followed the scattered residents up the long staircase.

Returning to the surface, the stars had already climbed up above by the time they reached it. Eureka slightly opened his mouth and looked up, as usual, immersing in the grandeur and mystery of the vast galaxy.

Passing residents brought him back to reality, and he followed the crowd to the square under the night sky to enjoy dinner.

Surrounded by the chatter of bustling people after a day's work, Eureka listened quietly, ate quietly, then draped in the night's colors returned to his quiet home.

The faint light the stars emitted outside the window made the silent room feel lonely. In a way, Eureka preferred the day and toil—at least then there was someone to talk to.

Pillowed on the tranquility and peace of the night, an ordinary resident of Agate Lake Camp gradually drifted into slumber.

...

"April 14th..."

Arriving at the Lake Heart Island hut to listen to the plan, 'Elena' was startled by the date: "That's my sister's birthday..."

That day was Elena's birthday. At this moment, she had long since been ensnared within the Land of Vortex, becoming part of the vortex.

This coincidence felt like a sorrowful epitaph.

The figure twisted by sorrow was the first to drown in anguish. The outline of 'Elena' gradually blurred, like a scene reflected in a shattered mirror.

"Philomena..." called the Mother of the Marsh to the twisted silhouette surrounded by pain. "Harden your resolve; everything we do is to break the vortex and rescue your sister."

"Elena... may have perished in the confrontation with the Ashes District."

"You should have more faith in your sister..." the murmur of the Crown of Thorns relayed the Mother of the Marsh's words: "She is waiting for us; she knows what to do..."

The twisted figure calmed gradually under reassurance, the tendrils of emotion retreated into its body.

"How much longer until the Temple is completed?" Lu Li asked at this moment.

"Maybe a week, maybe ten days."

"Masonry alone cannot create a Temple. You'll need artisans to transform the brick and stone into a building."

"Some of my believers were artisans. They know what to do..."

The believers haven't forgotten their memories from when they were human, so they can also be seen as empowered humans.

It seemed that the construction of the Temple wasn't a significant concern for the people above ground.

On the day they started planning, a new position was added to Agate Lake Camp: oversight of the Ruins of Old Belfast, primarily focusing on the Land of Vortex, Ashes District, and other forbidden zones.

This position was given by Lu Li to a Knights Order squad that first came to the Land of Light under a "guard" title — upon their arrival, they had been put into the residential area as ordinary residents, given work and learning arrangements like everyone else.

Treating these law-abiding, battleready knights as ordinary residents was clearly a waste.

Although having them just stay in the camp and observe was also a waste.

By noon the next day, ten Apprentice Exorcists returned to the camp unharmed.

They were received like heroes. Hades even greeted each of them with a cheek kiss. Though a bit unaccustomed, they still accepted the intimacy from this revered Exorcist, elder, and teacher.

After giving them a few days' rest, Lu Li then accepted the Mother of the Marsh's invitation to Princess Roland's villa to attend an afternoon tea with two deities.

After the guiding maid left, the Mother of the Marsh approached Lu Li, her radiant and beautiful outline moved near, her cheeks close to Lu Li due to her low-shelled form.

Just when their faces were about to touch, Lu Li stepped back to avoid her cheek kiss.

"It is a gesture of closeness, why do you refuse me..." the Mother of the Marsh wondered.

"I'm not used to being too close with others."

"Cautious Exorcist..." The Mother of the Marsh straightened back up, gazing at the calm standing Lu Li.

Then, the Crown of Thorns lowered a branch, gently touching Lu Li's face.

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