Chapter 338: You're Awake?
Chapter 338: Chapter 326: You’re Awake?
As long as you’re alive, you need light and fire.
This was the well-known rule of survival for the Lamp Race.
This was what the Lamp Race senior who dug Deng Yuan out from the earth and lit its crystal told it.
“Use fire. Never forget fire.”
At the time, Deng Yuan was still groggy and understood nothing.
It felt as if it had forgotten so much, yet everything also seemed vaguely familiar. But ultimately, it all coalesced into an indescribable sense of confusion and chaos.
“Don’t worry, every member of the Lamp Race goes through this.”
The senior led a bright, floating lamp and shouldered a pickaxe. The crystal on its head flickered with a faint glow—the Lamp Race’s way of smiling. “When you wake up, first you have a splitting headache, then you feel like you’ve forgotten everything, and then you start to question your own existence.”
“It’s okay. Get up. The Fog Beasts will be here soon.”
This senior, named Deng Gu, had been digging for materials underground when it ended up digging out Deng Yuan.
Deng Yuan was puzzled. According to the common knowledge of the Lamp Race, they were under constant threat of attack and slaughter from ferocious Fog Beasts. Why hadn’t a Fog Beast dragged it out and eaten it while it was dormant?
Dealing with a helpless, dormant being was surely easier than hunting an active member of the Lamp Race.
“Who knows?”
Deng Gu said, “There are many strange things in Fog Harbor. Why is there so much black fog? Why does it never disperse? Why do the Fog Beasts attack the Lamp Race? Why are they afraid of light… Why do we even exist?”
“No one knows.”
“But there’s one thing the Lamp Race must know: look forward.”
The crystal on its head dimmed and brightened with its words. “Survive first.”
And so, just like other awakened members of the Lamp Race, Deng Yuan followed Deng Gu and entered a brief period of learning and Rebirth.
During this stage, Deng Yuan learned a great deal.
The life of the Lamp Race was divided into two main activities: scavenging and lamp making. Everything revolved around these two cores.
Scavenging—searching for various materials and dormant kin buried underground.
The population of the Lamp Race had always been small, now numbering less than 3,000. According to the oral histories of the Lamp Race elders, their numbers reached the tens of thousands during their golden age.
That was when the God, the Firefly God, was still present. Oracles would sometimes descend with iron and fire falling from the sky, bringing the Lamp Race new guidance and hope.
And in those times, Apostles, wreathed in flames, would also interpret these for the Lamp Race.
Unfortunately, after the God vanished in the World Pot, the Oracles never appeared again. The Fog Beasts grew more brazen, and Hanging Lamps became the key to survival.
They had to have enough materials to craft Hanging Lamps, and they also had to regularly replenish the lamp oil or solid fuel inside.
The numbers of the Lamp Race were constantly dwindling, partly due to Fog Beast attacks, and partly due to natural death.
The light from the crystals on their heads came from the burning of their very selves.
Inside the body of a Lamp Race member is a long Life Spine. This Life Spine is the core protected by their outer metal shell, and it allows them to think, communicate, and create.
But the Life Spine burns slowly, illuminating the crystal lamp, which is also the proof that a member of the Lamp Race is still alive.
As it is continuously consumed, this Life Pillar eventually crumbles into ash, and the Lamp Race member will meet its death.
Deng Yuan was still very curious.
If one extinguished the Life Spine in their crystal and was buried deep underground again, could they survive for a long time without being attacked by Fog Beasts?
The method seemed feasible.
After hearing Deng Yuan’s words, the light in Deng Gu’s crystal dimmed slightly. “You’re partially right.”
“If you extinguish your Life Spine and fall into a dormant state, you indeed won’t attract Fog Beasts. They only attack members of the Lamp Race who are actively burning…”
“But that doesn’t mean you’re safe.”
It paused for a moment. “Once dormant, the greatest enemy of the Lamp Race… becomes its own kind.”
“Why is the Lamp Race population shrinking? The external threat is the Fog Beasts, but the internal reason is the Hunting that occurs within the Lamp Race. This Hunting is never done in the open. It’s secretive and swift.”
Deng Gu spoke in a cold tone, “A member of the Lamp Race that isn’t burning is the best kind of ready-made material. No one would notice or care about the disappearance of an unlit member.”
“Even the husks of those who are dying naturally are coveted by many of our own kind. They just wait for the day the deceased’s Life Spine turns completely to ash… Without the Firefly God’s Deterrence, many in the Lamp Race have grown brazen. Some even hunt their own kind directly. After all, with the black fog providing cover, no one will see.”
“Why haven’t any Master Artisans been born in so many years? This is one of the reasons. The Lamp Race is in constant decline, headed for extinction.”
A chill ran down Deng Yuan’s spine as it listened.
‘My own kind are also my enemies.’
It was then that it understood why most of the Lamp Race lived alone. Their own kind were potential enemies and competitors.
The Lamp Race had fallen from their glorious past as a clan of Divine Gifted Lamp Makers, as Divine Artisan’s Servants who saw creating a Sun as their sacred duty. Now, they were just a barbaric tribe whose Order was collapsing. The root cause was the disappearance of the Oracles, and the fact that the God’s Fire of Faith had been swallowed by the World Pot.
Deng Yuan gathered its courage and asked, “Then why did you awaken me, instead of using me as materials…?”
“Of course I thought about it.”
Deng Gu’s crystal pulsed with a rhythmic light, a sign of its serious and formal demeanor.
“But I would never do that.”
“I was once a dormant member of the Lamp Race myself, and I was helped by one of our elders. Just as several Lamp Race Apostles were about to cut me apart, the elder lured over a Fog Beast and scared them away.”
“The one who lit my fire… I will never forget them. And I will continue to pass that fire on.”