035: Two Choices

What lies above the moon?

What a fascinating question indeed.

Mr. Door's ravings appear at night, reaching their peak during full moons and blood moons. If the Abraham family didn't believe these ravings were related to the moon, that would be the real problem.

The "moon" Olsen spoke of doesn't merely refer to the moon in the real world—it also carries mystical implications.

Whether in reality or in mystical terms, what the moon generally represents is...

If the Abrahams only thought there was a problem with the Evernight Goddess targeting them, that would still be manageable. After all, the Goddess's honorific name includes the title "Lady of Crimson," and most proper rituals point toward the Evernight Goddess.

Ah, of course, if they weren't proper and they knew about those other few entities, and went to understand them, to make contact with them...

Then the Abrahams should prepare themselves—today they want to have children, tomorrow they also want to have children.

Have one today, have another tomorrow. Have as many as they want, however they want to have them!

Moreover, this childbearing has no gender restrictions?

Thinking of this, Don's mouth twitched slightly.

The high sequences of the Abraham Apprentice pathway—just Mr. Door's existence alone blocks all their paths completely.

"Among our clan's elders," Olsen's expression grew somewhat dejected, as if recalling things he'd rather not remember, "after those high-sequence Beyonders died, the ravings began gradually affecting mid-sequence Beyonders as well."

"We've tried various methods. Currently, our conclusion is that aside from blood descendants of the Abraham family itself, other people who advance to high sequences can hear less of those indescribable things, and their reactions are much milder compared to ours."

High sequences affecting low sequences is inevitable, but with the Goddess's isolation and special protection, aside from Abraham bloodline descendants, others advancing to high sequences won't easily fall to Mr. Door's ravings.

But the advancement ritual for high sequences of the Door pathway, such as Sequence 3 Wanderer, is so...

Stellar wandering—going out at this time would truly result in being devoured without even dregs remaining.

Very well, this pathway's high sequences could be considered ruined/finished, with the highest probably only reaching Sequence 4, even for non-Abraham Beyonders.

"Currently, the only method we know of is probably finding a place that can shield the moon."

Olsen exhaled, sitting cross-legged on the ground with the travel journal resting on his knees. "As long as we shield the moon—I mean finding a place completely isolated from the moon in both the spirit world and reality—if we could find such a place, perhaps we could greatly reduce this influence?"

Though these were family secrets, Olsen didn't hide much.

As one of the outstanding members of the Abraham family's younger generation, having advanced to Sequence 5 while the high-sequence Beyonders had died, his voice within the clan wasn't insignificant. Moreover, the elders had already prepared for the worst. If the Abrahams truly could only face ultimate extinction, it would be better to spread these secrets now, have them recorded, to serve as warnings for future generations.

Their clan understood very clearly how those histories and truths settled in the flames of war disappeared over long years, leaving only fragments of words and phrases. They also understood that if they couldn't resolve this matter, they too would inevitably go mad unto death, just like the Abraham high-sequence Beyonders.

Of course, there was another important point—Don was trustworthy.

"Uh, I have a small suggestion. I wonder if you've tried it."

Don also sat down. "Before that, I'd like to ask something. Olsen, are you saying that when you enter nighttime—that is, when 'the moon appears'—the ravings occur? Or do you mean 'even when clouds are thick and the moon is obscured, but as long as the sun has set and you're in a dark environment,' that's when the ravings appear?"

"Ah..."

Olsen hesitated, carefully recalling, then frowned. "It should be the latter."

So as long as the sun set, regardless of whether the moon was obscured, it would cause Mr. Door's ravings to appear.

"Then I have a proposal. I don't know if it would be effective."

"Tell me."

Don said, "Travelers can bring people along, right? And Scriber can mostly record travels?"

"Yes."

"As long as sufficient spirituality is expended and specific spirit world coordinates are available, Travelers can traverse the spirit world and conduct long-distance travel in short periods, correct?"

"Yes..."

Don asked sincerely, "Are you afraid of cold?"

Olsen: ...??

"It's... manageable."

How did this topic suddenly shift to this?

"Afraid of loneliness?"

"Also... manageable."

"Do you have elderly or children at home?"

Olsen was bewildered by the questioning. "There are some, but if they're not Beyonders, they shouldn't be affected by the ravings..."

"In that case, I do have a good destination."

Don said.

Initially, he had thought that since Mr. Door's ravings followed the moon, they could have Travelers take people and follow the sun instead.

Let Mr. Door's ravings be unable to catch up to them—no matter how much influence was exerted on the moon, it wouldn't affect Abraham Beyonders under the sun.

But then he reconsidered: first, this approach might exhaust the Travelers' spirituality; second, traveling from east to west according to the world's layout, the Forsaken Land of the Gods (the Eastern Continent) and Western Continent were inaccessible to Travelers. Similarly, if they forced entry, they would encounter unimaginable dangers.

This method would require a complete route from east to west with places for Travelers to resupply and rest, with precise determination of each travel trajectory and timing—no margin for error.

So this plan was dismissed as soon as it formed in Don's mind.

"You should go to the South Pole or North Pole."

Olsen: "...Huh?"

He was stunned for several seconds, somewhat hesitant about the terms Don used.

The ultimate southern land? The ultimate northern land?

What places were those?

Don stood up, patting the dust off himself, saying somewhat teasingly, "Those places have half the year in complete daylight and half the year in complete darkness."

"Though there may also be dangers there, going there means that even if there's something on the moon, it theoretically can't catch you."

Though according to current history and geography, the North and South Poles hadn't been discovered by humans.

Whether that territory still had formed islands or glaciers, whether it had sufficient resources to sustain human survival—these were unknown.

As for how to obtain spirit world coordinates, whether to believe what he said, whether to have clan members bear risks to seek unknown territories... these were questions the Abrahams needed to consider.

"Ah, of course, I have another proposal." Don clapped his hands, shaking off the dirt: "I happen to have a sealed artifact here. Well, it should be able to block ravings—consider it something to address urgent needs."

Come on, he had prepared the Abraham Travelers' happy house as well.

'Scheming host.'

"Likewise."

(End of Chapter)