Two years was long enough for him to learn a lot of things. Especially when he was under various trying situations, he would gain even faster. Without those two years of sophisticated experience, he would have freaked out when facing the patriarch. Now, he could calmly tell Vogus about Tannagost, and he had total confidence in controlling the narrative.
He did not reveal everything but only the necessary; those things that Vogus as the descendant of the Tannaean had the right to know. He talked about the ecological disaster and its cause in the Plane of Dreams and projected himself as a professional in handling such events. When talking about the current state of Tannagost, he told the patriarch briefly, “The ecological environment of the planet has been completely rebuilt. Though it was your home ten thousand years ago, you would find it as hard to survive as when your ancestors arrived on Earth for the first time.”
“There is a new intelligent race living there?” Vogus asked, his voice was much calmer than what Hao Ren had expected.
Hao Ren had just told Vogus about the migration of Zorm civilization. Vogus nodded. “According to the certification rules, your civilization has been classified as extinct, and your planet is also marked as a deserted planet. Though I feel sorry, the place had been inhabited for ten thousand years, and the Zormians, who are also victims of ecological disaster, were in desperate need of a place to stay. Without a new planet to accept them, their civilization will be extinct too,” Hao Ren explained.
Vogus was silent for a long moment before he whispered, “It sounds like the best option.”
“It was also the only option at the time. If you like, I can show you the Zormian civilization. You have to know that what has happened in the Plane of Dreams is more terrible than any disaster you could imagine. All the myths and legends told on Earth are just the small fragments of the great extinction in the Plane of Dreams, so I could only safe one at a time. Your planet now has a new master. I have to make it clear that it’s impossible for them to vacate it,” he said.
Vogus looked at Hao Ren’s eyes. “Firstly, I have to get confirmation of what you said is true. What you told me is a bit too unbelievable.”
“Do I have to lie to you?” Hao Ren spread out his hand. “Do I get any benefit from lying to you? Of course, you still don’t believe it, I will show you my spaceship, and I can take you into space, to any corners of the universe, then you will know that I can go to various places, including the Plane of Dreams.”
At this time, Hasse interjected. “You can trust him. I have seen some evidence just now.”
Vogus was silent, and his throat was groaning with resonating sound, which was probably a habit of the Tannaean. Then he looked at Hao Ren curiously. “Who the hell are you?” he asked.
“I am the spokesperson of a powerful force. You can think of this force as a god. That’s all I can say.” Hao Ren shrugged. “My mission is to observe and report, and a certain degree of executive authority. I patrol many worlds, every civilization is my observation target. Apart from events like the end of the world, I hardly interfere with any of them. It is the content of my duty.”
“The universal ranger?” Vogus said cautiously. “No wonder you are special.”
For the first time, Hao Ren found out that the policing work could have such a lofty title to it.
Vogus then pondered for a few seconds before breaking the silence. “I understand everything you say, but that planet is our home, after all, we have to go back, and this is beyond doubt,” he said.
Hao Ren curiously asked, “You have been living on this planet for ten thousand years, still thinking about going back?”
“You are right, we have indeed lived here for ten thousand years, and we could even treat here as a homestead,” Vogus said slowly. “I’ve seen our people at home dying, but we still want to go back and take a look. After all, that’s from where we come. Meanwhile, Earth… Do you think we could thrive openly on this planet? As you’ve already seen, we have no future here. Hiding in the refuge is not a ‘progress.’ Unless the ownership of the planet changes hand, otherwise we will never have a chance leaving the refuge.”
Hao Ren knew what the patriarch was thinking. He had also realized that the current generation of Tannaeans’ yearn for their hometown might not be as strong as their ancestors, but for the sake of getting more space of development of their civilization, they would choose to leave. So he nodded. “I have a few questions. First of all, what do you think of those Zormians? Let me be clear; their rights of existence in the planet Tannagost are protected. Meanwhile, your civilization has been cut off, and the planet has been in dereliction for ten thousand years. Therefore, I can only express my sympathy for what you have gone through in my capacity.”
With ears stood erect listening to their conversation, Lily poked Vivian’s arm and said, “Mr. Landlord is getting more slippery.”
“Shhh! Keep your voice down,” Vivian said and pushed Lily away, excited. “It’s so funny listening to how people bluff.”
The two maidens had unwittingly immersed themselves in the gossip.
Vogus had heard Vivian and Lily, but he could not care less. “It bound to be problems in any relations, especially between two races. They don’t necessarily welcome us even though we were the master of the planet. But I hope to live in peace with those people. After all, we have a common experience. I believe that after experiencing such things, personal interests and racial differences will take a back seat and the survival of races will take center stage. As you can see now, the Ancattero family has only a few hundred people left. Do you think what other ideas I could still have?”
Vogus was very forthright, but it was still unclear how Zormians and Tannaeans would get along. However, before that, there was already the precedence of Helcrown resettling in the elven kingdom of Aerym. Hao Ren felt that perhaps they might be able to coexist.
Of course, he could not discount the possibility that the two races would fail to get along and fight.
However, whether it was a peaceful development or warm, both ways were typical during the evolution of any civilization. War was also an approach to integration. As an inspector, he could only observe and report. When it came to the frictions between two civilizations, he could not care less.
He stopped chasing the rabbits and erected a second finger. “The second question is you have to wait.”
“Wait?” Vogus was perplexed.
“Currently, there’s blockade between the Plane of Dreams and this universe to protect the fragile wall. Before we could find a way to repair the wall, the traffic between the two worlds is highly restricted, especially forbidding the otherworldlings on Earth to return to their home in large quantities,” Hao Ren said in a serious tone of voice. “Since you have the will of peaceful coexistence with the Zormians, I will liaise with them. There shouldn’t be a problem, because I’m their ‘Lord.’ You’d better be prepared mentally as to when you could return to your home planet. As of now, the sirens are still on the waiting list. The sirens are populous, and they have gone through a lot worse ordeal than you in the mass extinction event,” he said.
“To tell the truth, most of the things you said are beyond my understanding,” Vogus said, frankly. “So just tell me, how long will we have to wait?” he asked.
Hao Ren thought for a moment. “It could be a few years, a few hundred years, or probably longer. You can’t expect me to know how the law of the universe will work out. Even if I know how it works, I still can’t tell you,” Hao Ren said.
Vogus did not know what to say now.
At this time, Y’zaks reminded, “Though he sounds a bit bitchy, he isn’t arrogant with you.”
Hao Ren blinked. “I have said it as euphemistic as I could.”
It was not known whether it was due to Hao Ren’s ‘universal ranger’ identity that forced Vogus to give in or he had another plan, Vogus accepted Hao Ren’s arrangement calmly. The senior patriarch nodded and said, “We will wait. We have already waited for ten thousand years after all.”
“You’re not the only one waiting,” Hao Ren said as he looked at Hasse. “There are too many otherworldlings on this planet. You know, whenever I think about the mess, I’d have a headache.”
Hasse thought about the problems that Hao Ren might have to deal with, and could not help but smile. “Looks like there are many troubles ahead for you.”
After the disaster, Vogus had a lot of things to deal with. He needed to organize the survivors to complete the reconstruction of the territory, at least rebuilding to the point where they could survive. He also required to weigh this decision whether to break the news about their homeland to the rest of his family members. Hao Ren suggested that he should tell the survivors the story of their hometown through limited and appropriately rhetorical methods, which could inspire the Tannaeans and let them sail through the most challenging time. At the same time, Hao Ren also reminded him not to reveal too much truth about their hometown to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
As the head of a big family, Vogus could certainly handle these things by himself, so Hao Ren did not need to say more than that.
Hasse and Hesperides would be very busy when they returned to their respective people. The Shades of Chaos in the territory of Ancattero had disappeared together with the sealing of the Gilded Disc. However, there might be still many Shades of Chaos out in the wild. The follow-up works would keep the demon hunters and the otherworldlings busy for a while.
In the other hand, the things that Hao Ren needed to deal with were by no means less. Aside from dealing with the surviving Tannaeans, he had to study Gilded Disc and the many things he saw in the illusion as soon as he could.
After the exchange of words, the alliance of convenience was parting and leaving.
