Scar of the World.
The Stone City.
This city is the scar of the world, or rather, the largest city in the entire Infinite Sea.
It was expanded from the original Stone City.
When the demon-proof wall was in danger and the demons launched a massive attack, expansion began.
From that time on, a large amount of resources from all over the world arrived here.
The increasing resources and population, coupled with the pressure from the front lines, caused the Stone City to grow larger and larger. Eventually, it completely merged with several neighboring cities on its side, becoming the largest city in the entire Infinite Sea.
With the expansion, more than twenty years had passed since the demons launched a massive attack.
"Isn't this city too big?"
A brand new ship sailed across the ocean, slowly approaching.
The docking ports that stretched along the entire coastline were something the crew had never seen in their lives.
This ship was just an ordinary ghost ship, its name visible on the side.
Golden Ocean.
A perfectly normal name, perfectly suited to the style of this world—unassuming yet memorable.
The ship's figurehead depicted a perfectly normal woman holding a pearl.
But on the side, golden crowns and wheat ears could be seen, somewhat reminiscent of a ship of the Church of Our Lady.
"Is this island the World Scar?" a young man on the ship couldn't help but wonder, looking at the island.
A crew member beside him nodded.
"Yes, this must be the World Scar. The harbors we see stretching along the entire coastline are this Stone City."
The captain, Argus, looked middle-aged, a man in his thirties or forties. "After sailing across this vast ocean for so long, we've finally arrived here. It's been so hard."
"Alright, stop lamenting here. Let's figure out how to dock first."
After some quick instructions, they finally docked the ship at a berth. They disembarked and stood on the city's grounds.
"So many people, so prosperous! I've sailed across the vast ocean for so long, and I've never seen such a prosperous city."
"Of course, there are goods and people from all over the world here."
But the overall atmosphere of the city didn't seem so serious, much more relaxed than they'd imagined a city under military rule.
Not what they'd imagined.
After settling in, they arrived at the center of the city.
"Are these 12 towers the legendary Trial Towers?"
"Not really, after all, we only heard about them a dozen years ago."
Of the dozen or so crew members on their ship, only the captain and the vice-captain possessed a treasure.
These two were the only ones who had reached the fourth stage of strength.
They had made it here, naturally, to undergo the Trial.
People could be seen constantly entering and exiting the Trial Towers from the teleportation platform.
Their expressions varied, ranging from joy to frustration.
The captain and the vice-captain went directly to the registration desk.
After a brief wait in line...
"First time?"
They both nodded.
"Then I must remind you that this is wartime. If you don't want to provide support on the front lines, you are temporarily prohibited from using the Trial Tower."
This standard was established two years after the Trial Tower was established.
After all, these forces were willing to assist the Trial Tower's initial search because it would improve the quality of the frontline troops, enabling them to better defend against demons.
But as the second year began, those drawn from all over the world began to compete for these soldiers' positions. This was completely unacceptable.
Because the Trial Tower was their reward for the sacrifices of the frontline soldiers, it was a form of protection.
Clearly, the two had already made plans. They nodded and signed a contract.
They only needed to provide support for one year to gain access to the Trial Tower.
If they successfully passed the trial and obtained a treasure, they would receive an additional year of support.
Of course, these people would not actually be used as cannon fodder; that was clearly not the case.
At the edge of these twelve towers.
Several people were looking at these twelve trial towers.
"Are we acting too relaxed?" Jason and his companions suddenly asked as they strolled through the city.
Hearing this,
Urulius, who was standing next to him, rolled her eyes at Jason.
Urulius's figure and features no longer resembled the young girl she once was, but more like a woman in her twenties.
She had become more mature.
"Well, if you're sorry, you can be as busy as they are," Juanlu said from the side.
"No, no," Jason smiled and waved his hand.
The people at this moment were Jason, Urulius, Juanlu, and Matlisa.
Jason said nearby, "I may be a god, but I don't want to be busy at all."
Jason and Urulius had ascended to godhood long ago.
They had become a rare pair of gods.
The core of their ascension was naturally hope.
However, within the divine system, they were considered the weakest, having only barely achieved godhood.
Their duty was naturally to bring hope and save the world.
They were in the scars of the world, doing all sorts of things, even saving the world.
If they wanted to truly gain powerful authority and enhance their strength within the divine system, they would have to wait until a true counterattack.
It was precisely this strange, so-called hope, which only worked at crucial moments, that made them, despite their ascension to godhood, not as busy as others.
"Crown-level treasures... are truly hard to come by," Juanlu said, rubbing his forehead as he walked nearby.
Jason nodded. "Without Alka's help, the treasure hunt is indeed much more difficult."
"Plus, we have to defend the World Scar, and the area we can defend is shrinking. There's nothing we can do about it," Matlisa said from the side.
Urulius then hugged Matlisa's arm and asked, "Haven't you been helping Pororo? How come you're free to go shopping with us today?"
Hearing this, Matlisa touched her cheek with a worried look, propping it up with one hand. "That's because Pororo went to fight Poseidon again a few days ago, and he obviously didn't win.
But he didn't suffer a serious injury. After I take care of him, he'll naturally need to rest for a few days."
Everyone understood after hearing this.
It's a perfectly normal occurrence, something you hear almost every year. It seems the Seagod promised Pororo an annual challenge.
To be honest.
Jason seriously doubted it, but the Seagod actually wanted to stretch his muscles.
He was quite willing to accept Pororo's challenge.
With Pororo injured, recuperating, he'd naturally put his work aside for a while. And since Matriasa wouldn't need to be there to assist him, she'd have time to stroll around and relax.
Jason shrugged, somewhat puzzled, and said, "You said Julia, as the Voice of Nature, needs to use sound to harmonize and repair the harmony of nature. I understand why she's busy.
Simon, as the God of Mechanical Progress, preaches and builds teaching materials every day. I understand why he's busy.
Pororo, as the God of Disaster, what does he do all day? Busy wreaking disasters on the sea? That's not a good idea."
Almost ten years ago, the three of them received three crown-level treasures from three gods.
With Libra's help, each of them attained a divinity suited to their own needs.
Just as they had predicted, the one that emerged was a being that suited them and urgently needed their time.
As a result, when they began their journey to godhood, they were extremely busy, and while busy, they achieved godhood.
After achieving godhood, their lives naturally became even busier. Of the original nine-member team, only a few still regularly gathered at the World Scar.
The others could only gather sporadically; there was no other way. Before the world was repaired, every moment these new gods busied themselves could bring a touch of order to the world, suppressing the World Scar and even its various cracks.
They were each fulfilling their once-promised promises in their own ways.
Even so, Jason still couldn't understand what Pororo was busy with.
Hearing Jason's words, Matresha glanced at him.
Urulius lashed out with his tail.
Juanlu said from the side, "I've actually been to see him before. Although he's the God of Disaster, he's actually working to restore order in this way."
"What? Tell me about it," Jason asked curiously, rubbing his whipped calf.
"Let me tell you," Matresha said helplessly. "Although Pororo is the God of Disaster, you must understand that chaos is causing all disasters in this world to not follow natural laws.
These are false disasters that shouldn't occur. Pororo's job is to first restore order to the chaos, then transform the once chaotic disasters into naturally occurring ones."
"Oh, I see. Wait, doesn't that overlap with Julia's?"
Due to the order in which they ascended to godhood,
Pororo found the delicate task of repairing and restoring order unbearable, leading to his ascension only five years ago.
Julia, having long been repairing the environment and maintaining the laws of nature, quickly immersed herself in the work, achieving deity status roughly two years after acquiring the complete treasure.
About three or four years faster than Pororo.
So, Jason, having helped Julia with some of the preliminary preparations, had a better understanding of the situation.
He also repairs the environment through natural sounds, which sounds similar to Pororo's duties.
Matlisa nodded.
"So they often work together, and since they were both marine creatures, repairs are easy.
It's quite efficient, huh?"
Before they knew it, they had reached the coast, the side that wasn't the harbor.
They looked out at the endless expanse of sea and the ships circling overhead.
"So they must have repaired the surrounding environment first?" Juanlu said.
Alka's "sacrifice" on the front lines has dramatically reduced the pressure on the front lines, which is why the city has seemed less stressed in recent years.
Therefore, the demons have shifted their focus to breakthroughs at sea.
This also led Jason Juanlu and his team to frequently fight on the sea.
Therefore, they are very sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment.
Matlisa nodded.
Indeed, their initial focus was on repairing the surrounding environment.
"Ah, it's the temple of Pororo," Jason said with surprise, as if he had suddenly seen something.
On the shore stood a building, half submerged in the sea, resembling a fisherman's hut.
But compared to a so-called fisherman's hut, it was definitely larger and more sturdy.
Still, it looked very simple.
The reason Jason spotted it immediately was because of the wild statue of a shark-man.
It was undoubtedly a temple dedicated to the worship of Pororo.
The crowd walked past the hut, taking a few careful glances.
They could see some worshippers fishing on a small wooden plank extending out to the sea.
They didn't go in. After all, with their status, entering would require all sorts of greetings and respectful manners, which would be too much trouble.
After all,
Who didn't know they were friends of the gods?
And not just one god, but friends of several new gods.
"Why aren't you worshipping my temple?"
After Jason and his companions passed the temple, he looked at Urulius and asked.
Urulius rolled his eyes.
"Have you ever seen a god flying around overhead all day, for no reason at all?"
Due to stereotypes about gods, Jason, despite ascending to deity status, spent his free time attacking demons on the front lines and along the coastline, looking like a formidable warrior, not a god.
Plus, with no publicity, naturally, no one considered him a god yet.
However, Juanlu curled his lips in disdain at Jason's words.
"Yes, you don't have a temple, but you definitely have worshippers. Stop pretending."
"Don't those people in your Crystal Knights know you're a god? I don't believe it."
"Haha." Jason laughed at this.
The group continued walking forward.
It was a rare opportunity to relax, so they walked at a leisurely pace.
Suddenly, the sky was covered by a curtain, rapidly darkening, but with it, a brilliant full moon appeared.
The moon was as bright as a mirror, dotted with stars.
Matlisa looked at the sky.
"Sure enough, no matter how you look at it, Sofia seems like a god."
Urulius nodded in agreement.
That was true.
Then, walking through the night, they arrived at the Moon Temple.
This temple was arguably the largest cathedral in the entire Scar of the World, aside from the Four Gods.
It was situated atop a crooked, crescent-shaped mountain.
Sitting atop the mountain, it was the closest point in the Scar of the World to the moon.
The group was more willing to enter this temple. Because they were familiar with the members inside, who were all their comrades, they weren't overly respectful toward them.
This made it easier for them to accept him.
Looking at Jason and the others approaching,
the warriors and knights nearby, clad in silver-gray or bright silver moon armor, simply nodded slightly.
The most unique feature of the temple building ahead was the massive circular mirror atop it.
Through its unique construction, it was able to receive and reflect the moon's light.
This allowed you to spot the temple from afar, as a pure white beam shot up into the sky. While not bright, it was highly visible.
As they walked and chatted, they entered the temple's interior.
Night had already fallen for quite some time.
The night prayers had also concluded.
However, interestingly, the statue of Sofia wasn't the only one in the temple. Next to it, Alka could be seen.
Everyone was standing under the statue of Alka, their faces
Complex.
As they became gods, they could perhaps understand Alka's sacrifice, perhaps representing some kind of conspiracy against the demons.
But it was true.
They hadn't seen Alka in ten years.
They hadn't spoken to Alka in ten years.
And the statue of Alka in the Moon Temple was erected by these believers themselves.
At night, worshippers of the Moon would come here to worship Sofia.
During the day, those grateful for Alka's sacrifice would come here to thank him.
"Let's go to the front lines," Juanlu suddenly said.
Jason nodded.