Leonis nodded, and they disappeared into the angry crowd, following the philosopher who walked with grandeur, his guards protecting him from the attempts of some Ghlizan who wanted to tear him apart. But he didn't flinch or startle from this attack. The soldiers around him took out their electric batons and began to shock anyone who came near him.

With his cyborg's sharp hearing, Keno heard the philosopher shaking his head and saying to his guard, "I eliminated the blind sanctification of religions in a single revolution, yet I haven't been able to achieve anything on this planet for thirty years. Was what I achieved on my planet a fluke that won't be repeated? Or did the circumstances serve me, and the tyranny of the clergy help me? Oh, my confusion. And so it is with the philosopher; always confused."

Keno followed him silently between the houses, with Leonis at his heels. They watched the Franks soldiers relentlessly beating the rebellious crowd with electric batons and clubs.

The philosopher slipped away from the crowd, continued on his way leaning on his cane, and then got into a carriage pulled by the golden-colored deer-like creatures. Keno was surprised that he did not ride one of their modern aircraft or vehicles, preferring to ride an old carriage used by the Franks. But he attributed this to his desire to observe the inhabitants of Ghlizan to understand them better and to know how to get through to them and push them to embrace his ideas and values.

Keno and Leonis got into a carriage and asked the driver to follow that carriage, which he did.

Domarto arrived at a huge building, characterized by the colors blue and white, with the Franks' flag flying on it and Administrative Headquarters written on it. Domarto dismounted from the carriage, threw a coin to the driver, and entered the building. The soldiers at the door gave him a military salute, and one of them led him toward the stairs of the administrative headquarters' courtyard.

Many Ghlizan were entering and leaving the building to register everything with the Franks government. They registered newborns and obtained birth certificates stamped with the Franks' seal. They also obtained identity cards with all their personal data, so that the Franks would have all the required information about all the inhabitants and then use it if needed if the Ghlizan rebelled.

They also forced the Ghlizan to submit to them because they had changed the structure of their society and put all interests in their hands. If a Ghlizan individual wanted to get married, he had to get the approval of the Franks, or the marriage was illegal. If he wanted to work, he had to get the consent of the Franks because the employer registered his shop or his profession with the Franks so they could get a monthly tax from him. If he did not do so, he was threatened with the closure of his shop or the confiscation of his goods and other property.

Therefore, the employer required everyone who worked with him to get approval from the Franks offices for civil affairs. Thus, the people of the capital were subject to the control of the Franks and could not easily rebel against them because they might find themselves without work or food. The most they could do was short-term rebellions to vent their anger—like the one that happened after the boy's execution—and their rebellion usually ended with batons raining down on their heads and electric batons shocking them. Some of them were taken to the infamous Franks prisons and received torture that tore their souls to shreds and broke their spirits, then they were released to be an example to others.

This was in addition to the executions that befell thousands every period on various charges, to always remind them that complete submission was their path to survival.

Keno and Leonis got out and hid among the passersby, watching Domarto as he entered the building. Leonis said, "What now?"

Keno lowered his head, thinking, then said, "We wait for him to come out, then we follow him until we find tangible proof of the crystal's location."

They heard a voice from behind them say sternly, "What brought you two here?"

Their eyes widened, and they quickly began to think whether to run or to turn to whoever was speaking, whatever their identity. But they decided to run. Keno fled to the right, between the alleys, with astonishing speed, and Leonis fled to the left, having extended the wheels of his shoes, and began to skate quickly, jumping over the shops, pottery, and goods.

The Tree of Knowledge

Ivanov sat inside the enormous Tree of Knowledge, which extended to the heavens, its branches in the thousands and its red leaves shining in the light of the green sun. This was the greatest tree he had ever seen in his life, and he had never imagined that such a thing existed in this universe. The largest trees on Earth did not reach a quarter of the size of this tree, which resembled a skyscraper.

What impressed him more was that the inhabitants of Ghlizan had built houses, places of worship, and a huge, great library on its first floor. Inside this library were thousands of books and manuscripts covered in dust. He saw only a few dozen Ghlizan inside the library with its large, decorated columns and mosaic-covered walls, adorned with pink and blue plants.

The library was rich with geometric arches, floral decorations, and muqarnas that resembled honeycombs, hanging one above the other. The wooden desks were distributed harmoniously inside this towering tree, and the air caressed the green paper fans and Ivanov's golden hair.

Ivanov sat in a corner on comfortable, inflated cushions, leaned his back, relaxed, and watched the Ghlizan move back and forth, selecting books and discussing historical and intellectual matters that he did not care much about. But he enjoyed the fresh air inside this library and the feeling of tranquility that overcame him and took away his anxiety and fatigue.

He had come here two days ago, and the library's attendants had welcomed him. He told them that he was a traveler from space whose ship had crashed, and he wanted to rest with them and get some food and drink. They agreed when they saw that he did not resemble the Franks. Ivanov thought to himself that these creatures had accepted his presence more quickly than he had expected.

If an alien had landed on planet Earth before it was destroyed, the humans would have attacked him, imprisoned him, and conducted experiments on him until he died. But it seemed that the Ghlizan had gotten used to the presence of strangers from space since the arrival of the Franks. Ivanov had seen several strange races that did not resemble the Ghlizan or the Franks coming and going; some of them had faces like yellow sand or mud, and some resembled fish a little, but they were more handsome.

Ivanov sighed and looked intently at the beautiful decorations that filled the ceiling, at the light fixtures teeming with glowing insects, and at the Ghlizan who were discussing at a large table in the middle of the library, and some of them were sitting around a teacher who was teaching them their language, their history, and various other matters.

Sleep soon overcame him, and he fell asleep, feeling a joy whose origin he did not know. Then he woke up after three hours, because this was the most that the genetically modified Enix soldiers slept, and he was not one of the Enix, but he was supposed to join them if it weren't for his escape with Noor and the rest from the planet Atlantis.

After they had learned of the Enix's participation in the destruction of planet Earth and the displacement of humans throughout the universe, they harbored a hatred for the Enix. But there was no way to defeat those monsters unless they became stronger, and they would not become stronger except by fighting battles and risking their lives. But here he was, sitting inside the Tree of Knowledge, sleeping and resting.

He noticed the discussion in the library, so he raised his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked intently. He saw a large-bodied, broad-shouldered man from the Franks, wearing a monocle on his right eye from which a small golden chain hung. He was wearing a loose blue shirt and yellow trousers, and he was arguing with an old man from the Ghlizan.

Ivanov heard him say, "Your history mentions that Al-Yajuri, who is one of your great scholars, met the fifteenth Dayi, Prince of Ghlizan, and asked him to imprison everyone who did not follow the doctrine of the Lunix and to put them to the sword, especially those who followed the doctrine of the Zurix. So how could your great scholar take this heinous path and persecute the freedoms of those who differed from him in thought and doctrine? What if we searched the history of the rest? Wouldn't we find a terrible history full of blood, intrigue, and the spread of ignorance?"

The old man from the Ghlizan stroked his beard amidst the anxiety of those around him from what they had heard about Al-Yajuri, who was an icon to them, and they always read his books eagerly and learned them from a young age. The old man looked at those around him, waiting for one of them to answer him, but they could not find anything to defend Al-Yajuri with.

He sighed and shook his head grimly. "Shame on you for being ignorant of your history and your virtues, so that a lying historian like this comes and fabricates lies against the great men of your history without finding anyone to refute his lies and fabrications."

The Franks historian, Rouchi, became angry, and his purple blood was visible, boiling in his transparent crystalline face. "Do not accuse me of lying, old man! I get my information from your books and your sources. And I use the most accurate and impartial tools for studying history. It is not in my interest to fabricate lies against you."

He raised a book in his right hand with History of the Scholars of Ghlizan written on it. "Isn't this your most famous and most accurate book? Look then at the seventeenth volume and search it carefully, and you will find what I am saying."

The Old Scholar laughed, and his grass-like beard shook. "Do you think I am a decrepit old man, so much so that I would be too lazy to go to the seventeenth volume and look up what you are saying?"

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