Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 601 The Past [6.7k words]

"Tsk."

In the secret room, Yamu looked at the diary in his hand, clicked his tongue lightly, lowered his eyes slightly, and slightly sped up the reading speed, as if he wanted to quickly skip this part.

Wow~!

Pages of papyrus filled with past events passed through his fingertips, making a rustling sound.

Starting from the paragraph where he chose to speed up the page turning, the log contents recorded in the following pages were almost all descriptions with extremely obvious emotions of joy, such as what successful results the antibody research project had achieved, how much the physical condition of the fourteenth generation White Saint had improved, or what good news had come from other places, etc.

Even if you only understand it through text descriptions, you can truly feel the excitement and excitement in the diary owner's heart when he wrote these contents. He even started to record some leisurely trivialities of life later, describing his imagination and expectations for the future of the world in the diary.

After flipping through about thirty pages at a faster pace, Yamu looked at the changing years on the diary and his movements gradually slowed down:

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Advent, Day 5"

"I stayed at the association for two more days, perhaps because it was the first time in decades that I could celebrate Advent with such a relaxed attitude."

"Oton said I talk a lot more than before. I thought about it and thought it might be because I finally saw hope and the end of my long efforts, and I could finally take a good rest."

"The eighth generation of antibody drugs has been developed. Compared with the seventh generation of antibody drugs, it is slower and gentler in affecting the body's alienation. After all, we all know that the antibody plan cannot be a permanent solution. The 'power of the saints' is indeed very useful, but in the face of the endless life of the filth, even with the help of the 'power of the saints', the best we can do is to keep our reason and consciousness in that body built by the power of filth for a few decades or even hundreds of years."

"If we want to end this curse once and for all, we must find a way to completely eliminate the power of filth. At the very least, we must find a way to stop the power of filth from increasing. The implementation of the Antibody Project will only give us more time."

“We need to keep moving forward.”

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Coming, Day 12"

"The Fire Project is complete. With the nine white crystals left by the first generation White Saint Lady as the cornerstone, combined with the research on the power of the saints and our preparations over the years, it is enough to build a shelter that can accommodate 30,000 people to sleep for thousands of years."

"In this way, even if the disaster breaks out again, we can at least preserve some of the fire. We just need to wait until we old guys find a way to crack the filthy power outside, and these seeds will sprout again on the earth at that time."

"Well... the next step is to select candidates for the Spark, but let old Anton worry about these things. Old guys like us just need to focus on perfecting the antibody plan."

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Month of Shengsu, 7th day"

"The condition of the test subjects injected with the seventh-generation antibody drug has stabilized. Judging from this, even the seventh-generation antibody drug can ensure that humans can remain awake for more than a hundred years after becoming a demon. This is much better than we expected."

"The first batch of test subjects for the eighth-generation antibody drug has also been selected. Those guys still think that His Majesty has pardoned their crimes and are immersed in the fantasy of eternal life. To be honest, although I hate these parasites who are useless to the kingdom, their ignorance and narrow-mindedness sometimes make me envy them. After all, that means I have fewer troubles."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Awakening Month, 8th Day"

"It has been a month since the first batch of eighth-generation antibody test subjects were injected with the antibody. As expected, the speed at which their bodies became polluted is about three times slower than that of those who were given the seventh-generation antibody. If this speed does not change in the future, it means that even if the disaster strikes now, we can rely on the eighth-generation antibody for another three hundred years."

"Three hundred years... Considering the number of people involved in the Spark Project, and with newcomers taking over, we should be able to hold out for another thousand years, right? Even if we old guys have already become unconscious ghosts by then, at least the knowledge we have been seeking and the efforts we have made over the past thousand years can continue."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 19"

"I went to see Lady Anna today. Her condition is still deteriorating, but with the help of the power of the saint, the speed has slowed down a lot compared to before."

"That kid Orton is proposing to restart the isolation barrier again. I can understand his idea. After all, without knowing the truth, the isolation barrier is indeed the only way to resist the filthy power. But such protection is too short-lived. Without Lady Anna or the new White Saint, we can't exert the true power of the isolation barrier. Otherwise, there is no need for us to embark on this path now."

"There is also research on the power of saints. As expected, when the power of saints is guided to certain extremes, it can not only forcibly interfere with people's emotions, but can even directly smooth out people's emotions, turning them into 'insensitive people' without any emotional fluctuations."

"Come to think of it, after those test subjects became 'insensitive', the generation of filth and signs of erosion almost stagnated, and the intensity of erosion was even lower than when they were in a dormant state. I wonder if this can be... Heh, what am I thinking? If even emotions are completely abandoned, then what is the difference between us and filth?"

"The night bell has rung. Has it already been so late? To be honest, I don't know why, but I always feel a little uneasy tonight, as if..."

(The writing stops abruptly)
……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 20"

"No, how is that possible?!"

"Why? Why did it suddenly get worse?"

"Moreover, not only the test subjects injected with the seventh-generation antibody, but also the test subjects injected with the eighth-generation antibody..."

"Calm down! Calm down!! They are just a few abnormalities. Maybe there is something wrong with the test subjects themselves!"

"That's right, that's right. The most important thing now is not to complain, but to quickly find a way to figure out the reason!"

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 21"

"Subject No. 164 has also changed. Just before yesterday, his consciousness was exceptionally clear, but now he has turned into an unconscious ghost, and we can't find any reason. It's as if this loss of control only happened in an instant."

"What the hell just happened?!"

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 22"

"Nine more test subjects have gone out of control, and just like the previous ones, they all suddenly deteriorated. Their sanity collapsed in just a few seconds, and their bodies began to rapidly defile. Finally, under the watchful eyes of the secret guards, they turned into filthy ghosts with only the instinct to eat."

"Your Majesty has issued an emergency order to temporarily detain all experimental subjects. This will inevitably have a certain impact on the situation in the capital, but we can't worry about that now."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 23"

"The secret guards reported that Orton saw a test subject mutate. Although they did a good job of covering it up, it seems that Orton has guessed something."

"Damn it, at this moment, can't that guy let me be more careful?!"

"There's nothing I can do. I don't have time to go back to the association right now. I'll just have someone write a letter to warn him."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 25"

"Some of the test subjects killed the secret guards and escaped. Their strength changed beyond imagination in a short period of time. This is absolutely unreasonable, but we don't have time to study these things now."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 26"

"That kid Orton hasn't given up yet. The secret guard said he has been tracking down the matter of the experimental subject."

"But I'm sure he absolutely cannot accept the truth of this world right now, so I have to find a way to hide it from him, even if he misunderstands."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Wind Month, Day 29"

"All the test subjects have been controlled. We must start the experiment immediately. If we don't figure out what happened, all our plans may fail."

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Flame Month, Day 14"

"It's been half a month, and there's still no progress in the research. The normal test subjects are still behaving very normally, and the mutated test subjects haven't appeared in the past week. It's as if everything that happened before was just an accident."

"But we all know that it was definitely not an accident. The antibody drug must have some huge hidden dangers that we don't know about. The same goes for the filth that suddenly increased in power. There is no filthy power in the royal city for them to absorb. Where did they get their power from?"

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Flame Month, Day 25"

"We haven't found anything today. People in the laboratory are in a very low mood. To be honest, I can completely understand their anxiety at the moment. After all, as long as we can't find the root cause of the problem, we won't be able to sleep peacefully."

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Month, Day 3"

"The secret guard said that Orton is still investigating the antibody drug and has found evidence of it. We are worried that he will do something even more outrageous."

"There is no doubt that this worry is correct. I know that kid's character too well. We advertised the antibody potion as an elixir of immortality. To a young man like him who has no idea, it is just a group of greedy nobles who are trying to get their hands on filthy power for eternal life."

"That's really troublesome. Should I just tell him the truth?"

"No, no. Given his personality, he would only fall into serious self-doubt if he knew the truth, especially when there are such serious problems with our research."

"And that girl Nove, her problem is even more serious than Orton's, but I am sure that once Orton knows the truth, that girl will definitely know it all."

"At least... at least wait until they are truly mature and have their own offspring. By then, even if they know the truth about Lady Anna, they should be able to accept this reality with their children as their support."

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Spirit, Day 15"

"Oton has been exiled. This is a request I personally applied to His Majesty. He will be stripped of his status as a great magician and exiled to a port in the empire, where he will spend the rest of his life."

"Of course, all of this is just a measure to calm him down. He is too impulsive, too prone to acting on impulse, and too stubborn. Letting him go to the border to relax and calm down is the best option."

"Besides, this will also help him and that girl Nove get closer, and it will also put an end to a problem that Anton and I have been worried about."

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Spirit, Day 23"

"The verdict on Orton has been handed down. I guess he is cursing me, his mentor, in his own laboratory right now?"

"However, these are no longer important matters. We must seize every minute and every second to figure out the disadvantages of the antibody drug, otherwise..."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Month, Day 1"

"Odon and that girl Nove have already left the capital. Although no one would stop them from returning quietly, I know very well that with his personality, he probably won't return to the capital until he has truly let go of this matter."

"But it's fine this way. Let them live well there, and let us old guys take care of the things here."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Glory Month, Day 5"

"It's been more than a month since Orton left. To be honest, I'm still having trouble adapting to the sudden lack of news about him every month."

"The research on the drawbacks of antibody drugs has finally made some progress. We found that those out-of-control test subjects were not without trace. Each of them suddenly lost control in their sleep. Could it be that..."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Glory Month, Day 10"

"I found the reason for the loss of control. It was a dream..."

"Even if you only dream about something bad and let your emotions get out of control in your dream, it will still cause the power of filth to break through the limits of the power of the saints and transform the experimental subject from a filthy creature with human consciousness into filth."

"Haha, hahahaha, actually... there is such a ridiculous thing."

"We are not even allowed to dream, and we are not even allowed to feel fear in our dreams? Then what is the meaning of everything we have done in the past?"

"Do we have to make a potion that will stop people from even dreaming?!"

"Fuck it!"

(Scribbles, as if venting)
……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Glory Month, Day 25"

"The secret guards sent a message saying that Orton has finally taken that step with that girl Nove. Haha, should I say this is the only good news in the past half month?"

"It's just that I'm not in the mood to wish them well right now. In the past half month, we have tried to add various materials that can induce sweet dreams into the potion, or cast magic on the test subjects, but it's completely meaningless. Even if we use magic every day, the unknown nature of dreams will always be unknown. Moreover, we have discovered an even more fatal problem, which is that dreams are just a trigger. The real reason that caused these test subjects to suddenly mutate on a large scale is actually another reason - that is, Lady Anna's condition."

"The power of the filth has some kind of chain. After many experiments, we finally discovered that even though the distance is extremely far, everything that happens in the restricted area can still affect the filth outside. The first wave of mutations was not simply because the test subjects were having nightmares. More importantly, Lady Anna happened to be having a sweet dream at that time."

"That's right. The power of filth will not disappear, even if it brings pain and despair. When Lady Anna's pain is alleviated by the power of the saint, the alleviated pain will flow into the dreams of other filthy ghosts, and even ignore the constraints of time and space to bring them unparalleled power."

"In other words, if we want this world to continue, we must keep Lady Anna in endless pain and despair. Even so, we cannot cure the fact that nightmares will cause the person injected with the antibody drug to lose control. At most, we can only delay the outbreak of the symptoms."

"The most important thing is that if the experimental subject has a good dream, it will increase the burden on Lady Anna, and if he has a nightmare, he will lose control of himself. Doesn't this mean..."

"We...have been increasing Lady Anna's suffering?"

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Winter Month, 5th"

"All the researchers in the Holy City committed suicide."

"That's natural." "Let alone them, even I can't help but doubt the meaning of all I've done along the way."

"We worked so hard to research all of this to save the world, to save the adult who loved us selflessly, but in the end we found that what we did was only adding to the pain of that adult, and the research results we were so proud of could be destroyed by just a nightmare."

"Haha, how ironic is this? It's as if it's mocking our ignorance of our own capabilities. I can even hear the disgusting laughter of the filthy ghost."

"But……"

"I will not give up."

"I'm sorry, Lady Anna. Even though this may be meaningless in the end, even though it may continue to increase the pain you endure, I will still persist."

"The will of humanity and magic will never succumb to filth."

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Winter Month, 16th"

"It has been a month since the truth was discovered. Only about half of the members of the institute are left, and the research in the Holy City has been stopped."

"Many people committed suicide, and many people took antibody potions and used magic to force themselves to have nightmares. Maybe they are crazy, or maybe those of us who still persist are crazy, but I have to thank those compatriots who chose to take antibody potions. The data and information brought by magicians who master the power of the soul are far more valuable than those incompetent termites. Thanks to them, I have made new progress in my research on the power of saints."

"Speaking of which, I heard that Orton has already finished his honeymoon. It seems that he and that girl Nove are living very happily. Maybe this is also the motivation for an old man like me to keep going?"

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Winter Month, 18th"

"After discussing with His Majesty, I decided to cancel the Antibody Project and the Spark Project, and decided to restart the barrier project that Orton had always insisted on."

"After a thorough study of the power of filth, we know that the Antibody Project has no chance of success. Without it, the Spark Project is nothing more than an empty shell. Rather than letting 30,000 people wait for death in their sleep, we should try to find a way to give the hundreds of millions of people who are still alive a ray of hope."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Cold Month, Day 1"

"The barrier plan has been restarted, and the port where Orton is located has also been designated as one of the array bases. This is also a small selfish desire of mine. After all, that guy has always wanted to study the techniques in the White Crystal. Although I know that this doesn't make much sense, it is one of the few things I can do for my students as a teacher."

"And the identity of a great magician. Although this thing doesn't have much meaning, I'd better help the kid recover. If nothing unexpected happens, he will come to ask me what happened after a while, right?"

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Cold Month, Day 15"

"It has been half a month since the restart of the Crystal Project. Because the Antibody Project has been cancelled, the guys that Your Majesty and I deliberately indulged before have naturally been locked up in the Kingdom Dungeon. Thanks to the list compiled by the previous Spark Project, it has become much easier to replace the subsequent candidates."

"I have also made good progress in my research on the power of saints. I have revived an idea that I had abandoned. Since filth is born from the emotions of life, if I completely erase my own emotions, perhaps it will bring about different possibilities."

"Although the cost of doing so is foreseeable at a glance, at this point, we can only try our best to save the situation."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 983, Holy Cold Month, Day 28"

"I received a letter from Orton. I replied to him with the words I had prepared long ago, telling him that he was appointed as the guardian of the isolation barrier on the eastern border. I believe that this way he can stay there peacefully and spend the rest of his life."

"The research on the power of saints is still ongoing. I used the results of my previous research to adjust the magic that created the power of saints. I got a new power of saints that can guide emotions to the extreme. I call this power 'power of the devil'. It is not as gentle as the power of saints. Instead, it will use extremely violent methods to make the emotions of life extreme, turning people into devils."

“I never thought that one day I would embark on this research path that I once despised so much.”

……

"Year 983 of the Bright Calendar, the first day of the Holy Return Month"

"There are fewer and fewer people in the institute. Many people have left here, wanting to spend the last moments with their families. I don't blame them. After all, even I don't see any hope worth holding on to."

"Your Majesty has been talking less recently. I can see that the failure of the plan has dealt him a heavy blow. I can't say anything to comfort him. I can only ask Miss Yela, the fourth guardian, to pay more attention to him. After all, compared to me, as the leader of this country, he has the heaviest pressure on him."

"Come to think of it, it seems like the Holy Day is coming soon? Never mind... I won't go back this time. After all, there aren't many people around."

……

"Year 984 of the Bright Calendar, the first day of the Holy Return Month"

"Unconsciously, a year has passed. Now there are not many people in the institute except me. In the end, I am only accompanied by these filthy ghosts who are cursed by filth and cannot die, but are dying all the time."

"Oton seems to be living a good life over there. There is no need to disturb him. Let him enjoy his time with Nove. Young people shouldn't know these things."

"There is also the Holy Day. The people in the association asked me if I wanted to go back and take a look, but to be honest, I don't have much interest in this aspect right now."

……

"Year 986 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Winter Month, 17th"

"The materials are all used up. I have to go out and buy another batch."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 989, Holy Wind Month, Day 9"

"Elder also left today. As a result, I am the only one left in the institute. But... it doesn't matter."

……

"Year 991 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Spirit, Day 23"

"It seems that Orton has accepted a talented disciple, not bad."

……

"Year 993 of the Bright Calendar, the first day of the Holy Return Month"

"Another year has passed. It seems that Orton is still the same. It seems that there is no need to go back for the Holy Day this year."

……

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 996, Holy Wind Month, Day 28"

"The secret guards said that Orton was investigating Lady Anna. I had a feeling that this would ruin everything for him, so I asked Old Anton to deceive him."

……

"Year 996 of the Bright Calendar, the first day of the Holy Return Month"

"There has been new progress in the development of the erasure technique. Now this technique can completely erase one's own emotions."

"I conducted experiments on the filthy ghosts in the research institute. In the end, they lost their offensive and predatory instincts, and they no longer absorbed or generated filthy energy."

"This is undoubtedly an effective way to resist the power of filth, but I know very well that this method is meaningless."

“Without emotions, the source of all inspiration and creativity, civilization and life, even if alive, are just corpses with temperature.”

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 997, Holy Glory Month, Day 9"

"Odon brought Nove to me and Your Majesty. I knew that everything was irreversible. His curiosity was too strong. Whether he knew or not, it would only kill himself."

"Finally, I told His Majesty the truth about this world and took him to see Lady Anna. The situation in which that girl Nove left was very strange. I have a feeling that this might be the last time I see them."

"But I don't even feel sad in my heart. Why? Is it because I used the erasure spell on myself?"

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 997, Holy Cold Month, Day 20"

"The secret guards sent a message that something happened to Orton. He and Nove locked themselves in the tower where the White Crystal was placed and never came out again."

"I roughly guessed what he was going to do. If I went over there now, I might be able to save him, right? But that would just be another torture for him."

……

"Glorious Calendar, Year 997, Holy Cold Month, Day 24"

"I met Orton's disciple, her name is Ailin. Although she is very young, she is very talented. If she could have been born thirty years earlier, she would have been the chief magician of the kingdom."

"I brought her to the institute, and she stayed, intending to learn magic from me and study the power of the devil and the spell of erasure with me."

……

"Year 999 of the Bright Calendar, Holy Winter Month, 11th"

"Erin left. Although she was only fifteen years old, under my guidance and her incredible talent, she has grown into a qualified great magician."

"Honestly, her talent has surpassed my understanding. I gave her the antibody drug, as well as my lifelong research, because I judged that if it was her, she might really be able to create a miracle."

……

"Year 1000 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Advent, Day 1"

"A disaster has broken out. I can sense the filthy power emerging from underground. The white barrier that should have covered the entire royal city did not play its role. Instead, it only protected a small part of the royal palace."

"I don't know why. Perhaps it's because the power of the White Crystal has weakened, or perhaps it's because the filth that erupted this time is too powerful. But I understand that everything is over."

……

"Year 1000 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Advent, Day 2"

"I left the research institute and handed the antibody drug to the imperial guards in the palace. I also released a modified erasure technique for the people in the outer city... or rather, the filthy ghosts. This modified technique will not completely erase a person's emotions, but will leave some of the deepest obsessions, just like what I released on myself."

"In fact, before the disaster broke out, I considered whether to release the erasure spell on the entire royal city. After all, I had already engraved it in the basement of the palace. If I wanted to, I could do it with just a thought. But for some reason, I gave up this idea."

"Why exactly?"

……

"Year 1000 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Advent, Day 3"

"I returned to my laboratory and sealed it with magic. I sat in my seat, looking at the traces left over the past two hundred years, but it was difficult for me to have any emotional ups and downs in my mind."

"I know very well that this is the effect of the erasure spell, just like the filth from the outside world will not actively corrode my body. Now I am nothing more than a corpse with temperature. Everything I do is not what I 'desire' to do, but the execution of the last wish left by the great magician named 'Saidan Zagu'."

"But why...I, who should have completed everything, would be sitting here, recording all this?"

"Is it because this is also part of Saidan Zaku's obsession? To record everything that happened in full? But why do I always feel that I should do more than that?"

……

"Year 1000 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Advent, Day 10"

"This is my seventh day sitting here. Thanks to the spells and mechanisms set up outside to prevent the experimental subjects from running away, no evil spirits have found this place. However, I still don't understand what I should do, or rather... what I should write down."

"My eyes feel tired. Oh, I haven't rested for a long time. Let me get some sleep first."

……

"Year 1000 of the Bright Calendar, Month of the Holy Advent, Day 11"

"I...remembered."

"In that dream, I remembered everything, including Saidan Zagu's final obsession."

"So...is this what I long for?"

……

……

"Guangming calendar, year ???, month ???, day ???"

"To those who are reading this letter, I am Saidan Zagu, the former great magician of the White Kingdom."

"I don't know who you are, or whether you are someone I know. But if you can understand this, it means that the words of the White Kingdom have not completely disappeared, and there is still something in this world that continues to exist."

"In that case, could I ask you a question, or could you please record this?"

"I want to know if there were 'starry sky' and 'sun' in your time? If so, could you please tell me what they looked like?"

"Is it as bright and dazzling as described in the book, or as dark and bleak as the sky?"

"Or is it as brilliant and profound as our souls and desires?"

"——Saidan Zagu."

……

(End of this chapter)