novelhk Chapter 379 Natural Disaster
Chapter 379 Natural Disaster
Chapter 379 Natural Disaster
With Katie's arrival, everyone boarded the steam train bound for the front lines of the river region. Tang Zijun originally wanted Langya to come along, but he insisted on running alongside from below, so Tang Zijun let him go.
It's worth mentioning that Chang Lei, who has always been very resistant to the dream world, also came along. Although his reason was that he wanted to take a break and accompany Tang Zijun to the tavern for a drink, Tang Zijun keenly noticed that he was carrying a lot of gold bars—this guy probably wanted to bring some more gifts back for Luan Luan.
Since the start of the War of the Gods, the weather in the dream world has become chaotic. Although the battlefield of the gods is outside the dream world, their every move still has a great impact on this world.
The most obvious thing is that the temperature here has already dropped below zero in just a few days since everyone left, and it is the kind of dry cold with strong winds but no snow.
According to Grelando, ever since the Elf Forest was set ablaze, the world's climate has spiraled out of control. A cold front, carrying calamity winds and ghostly mists, has begun to spread from the north to the south. Before long, the entire south will also fall into a deep winter.
Many people speculate that this is evidence of the fall of the god of nature. Although those nature cultists vehemently deny it, everyone has witnessed the climate change over the past century.
It's not that no one has tried to step forward and salvage the situation, but in the face of nature, humanity's power is still somewhat weak. If all races could truly unite, they might have a chance, but with humanity itself in chaos, how can they possibly unite other races?
Climate change is not sudden, but gradual. Some troubadours, after drinking too much, would pour out their grievances, saying that this was the last chance given to mankind by the gods, but those foolish nobles failed to seize this gift.
In fact, although this sounds harsh, it is not wrong. The change in climate began in the Elf Forest, and the places where humans were first affected were the noble territories that bordered the Elf race.
However, faced with this natural disaster, the nobles not only did not choose to accept the elven refugees and help them through the crisis, but instead took advantage of the chaos to loot.
Taking advantage of the fragmentation of the Elven capital, they dispatched large armies, privateers, and local mercenaries to annihilate the elves. The men were captured and enslaved, while some of the women were kept and others were sold to the east. They even made deals with orcs for money.
Of course, this incident is related to the historical issues between the northern nobles and the elves. When human civilization first ventured into the Black Forest, they did so with good intentions. However, the elves, due to their long lifespans and pride, did not take humans seriously at all. They even stood by and watched when the orcs slaughtered humans. A duke's daughter and her knights were chased by the orcs all the way to the border of the elves. They wanted to find a way to continue their escape to the east, but the elves drove them away on the spot, causing them to die tragically under the orcs' blades.
After redeploying their army, the northern nobles, with the help of other grand dukes, recaptured the Northern Highlands and drove the orcs back. However, this also created a grudge between the northern nobles and the elves.
Despite being neighbors with adjacent territories, the two sides are constantly at odds. Some nobles would rather win over the orc tribes in the smaller tribes than give the elves a second glance. In fact, the northern nobles have even secretly formed privateering groups to capture lone elves and sell them as merchandise to other nobles.
As for the elves, they never took humans seriously from the beginning.
The elves consider themselves noble and holy. They believe themselves to be the first life forms in the world and the race closest to the gods. Therefore, they deeply resent humans for copying their beliefs. However, they do not only target humans but also despise everyone equally.
Even long after the disaster in the Elf Forest, many elves who had become prisoners still held this idea.
At first, the nobles did reap the benefits, but that only lasted for a little over three years. By the time those ominous signs began to spread from the Elf Forest, it was already too late.
The northern nobles ignored the elves' warnings, but they soon paid the price. When the cataclysm struck, nearly 90% of the crops in their territory perished overnight.
It was only at this point that humanity realized how terrifying the impact would be when nature became the enemy—the poorest people were the first to suffer, and in the following years, the number of people who died from hunger and famine skyrocketed.
Even so, the nobles still didn't feel anything was wrong. Perhaps it was because they were too far removed from the people, or perhaps it was because their position was too high. The nobles continued their extravagant lifestyle. In any case, the money they made from selling elven slaves was enough for them to buy food from other places that were not affected by natural disasters.
When the nobles don't care about these things, the common people care even less, since it doesn't really matter to them anyway.
After years of suffering, many poor people and slaves began to flee from the territories of the northern nobles.
It's one thing for the poor to flee, but the fate of slaves who flee is extremely tragic. However, they were driven to that point, so they didn't care. If they escaped, they might have a chance to survive, but if they didn't escape, staying there would only lead to death.
By the time the northern nobles realized what was happening, they had already become an isolated island in the stormy sea—countless monsters and cultists had divided their land, their trade routes with other nobles had been completely severed, and no more food could be sent there. No mercenaries dared to take them on, no matter how high the price they offered.
It can be said that their downfall was sown from the very beginning, and sadly, other nobles and races did not learn any lessons from them.
The proverb "If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" is a truth that even elementary school students understand in the real world, but these nobles living in privileged conditions are completely oblivious to it.
After the northern nobles died, fled, and went into hiding, the other nobles naively believed that the natural disaster would not spread. Soon, reality taught them a lesson for their foolish minds.
It was only at this point that humanity realized something was wrong. If they had chosen to unite all the forces that could be united, it wouldn't have been too late, but they still ultimately failed.
Although many noble lords decided to send wizards and knights to try to stop the spread of the disaster, and many church officials responded to the call, there were simply too many incompetent allies.
Unlike those who dared to stand up and challenge the natural disaster, most noble lords thought those people were crazy. Rather than choosing to risk everything to fight against the unknown disaster, they preferred to flee south.
It would be best for them to run to the southernmost point, so that they could live out their lives happily before disaster strikes.
Don't laugh, this idea was very popular in the aristocratic circles at the time, and it even gained the approval of many small religious sects.
It is said that if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked as well. If these noble lords are like this, then the common people at the bottom must be even worse off. And the final result is obvious. In this environment of constant self-inflicted conflict, the disaster eventually spread to the entire continent and completely destroyed the world's climate.
As they passed by the ruins of the statue they had seen before, Tang Zijun suddenly noticed that there were many figures around the statue.
Those people were mostly dressed in tattered clothes, some even draped in what looked like tattered bedsheets. They all knelt devoutly before the statue, motionless like sculptures, making it impossible for Tang Zijun to determine whether they were still alive.
Noticing Tang Zijun's gaze, Gloland walked to his side. "Those are mostly refugees from the front lines of the river basin or surrounding settlements. They know they don't have long to live, so they came here voluntarily to pray for the gods' forgiveness and blessings."
"If I remember correctly, this statue carries a huge amount of spiritual pollution, doesn't it?" Hyacinth murmured.
"Yes, and therefore, from the moment they chose to step into the area contaminated by the idol, they had no way back." Gloriand's expression was also somewhat complicated as she answered in a low voice.
"That's hilarious." Chang Lei curled his lip and slowly approached. "Praying before a fallen statue—if that faith really worked, the statue wouldn't be broken into pieces and here."
"But they did experience something beautiful before they died," Gloriand said with a bitter tone. "Although it was a hallucination caused by mental pollution, it was enough for them. In this day and age, dying amidst beautiful mental pollution is the best possible outcome."
Looking at the devout dream dwellers in the distance, Tang Zijun frowned slightly.
He paused, then turned to look at Gloriand. "Don't the city lords and the churches on the river front have any plans to deal with this?" "They can barely maintain peace on the river front right now. Recently, even more refugees have been fleeing here, including many nobles and foreigners. And no one cares about the lives of these poor people," Gloriand said.
"A foreign race has come to the front line in the river basin?" Tang Zijun was stunned.
Tang Zijun wasn't surprised that nobles from other places would come here, but if they were from other races, then things would be a bit serious, since this place was already in the rear of human territory.
Gloriand understood Tang Zijun's implied meaning and quickly said, "My lord, it's not what you think. This group of alien races entering the river front..."
"These are all goods brought by noble lords."