<h4>Chapter 332: The Ascetics</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The monitoring facility was a cylindrical building and along its perimeter were long rectangr walkways. The whole design was simr to that of an antiquated rocket; it was a design particrly favoured by the Kerbalians. The monitoring facility was mainly used for scientific research and the Kerbalians would send all the odd or funny things they found in their explorations to this centralised facility for research. Clearly, the Orb of the Holy Synod and the four ascetics fit the bill of being odd. Hao Ren and his party alighted from their vehicle not too far away from the monitoring facility, noticing the amount of guards on duty. All of them were armed (presumably with lethal force) as they stood guard over the facility. There were also plenty of smaller, spinning alloy towers around the area. The towers were probably some sort of sentry tower or detection device.


    Tam personally served as the guide for the tour. “…Since the four weird people were sent here, we have doubled the amount of guards on duty. The four of them kept trying to escape. While they are not technologically advanced opponents, they have all sorts of weird abilities. For safety, we had to increase the amount of guards.”


    The guards had already received their orders, thus were not surprised by the visit of the’s governer. They quicklypleted the verification and other formalities. Tam then led Hao Ren and his party along the walkway into the oddly-shaped building. As they walked pass a group of Kerbalians who were busy minding their duties, Hao Ren asked, “How long have you locked them up?”


    “Technically, we have not ‘locked them’ up.” Tam’s head bobbed as the colour of his skin took a darker shade of green. This signalled that he was serious. “They have not broken anyw… It’s just that they are not… stable. Plus, we are not sure if they are important members from other civilisation spheres or just a bunch of explorers. So, we have not been too strict with them either. Under agreed conditions, we left them in the biodome behind the facility to clear their thoughts, and that got us some good will in return. If it wasn’t for that, we would not have deciphered theirnguage at all. They were silent during the first two months of captivity.”


    “The ascetics are a bunch of stubborn goats and they have a lot of prohibitions as well,” Becky muttered softly next to them. “Especially since both them and the Orb were transported from the church. They probably saw this as a ‘trial’ from the goddess and viewed the Kerbalians as… a bunch of demons.”


    Such characters were probably the hardest people to have a conversation with. Hao Ren had yet to meet them, but he had a feeling that the ascetics would probably not be the best. conversationalists. So, he was busy thinking of a way to break the ice. After hearing what Becky said, he asked, “What do you think will earn the ascetics’ trust?”


    Becky demurred for a moment before nodding. “Probably anything to do with religion. Or if you’re daring enough, talk about something rted to the goddess.”


    Hao Ren nodded and followed Tam. They were told that the four ascetics had gone to the biodome behind the facility to unwind and Tam led them through a walkway that cut through the main building towards the back of the facility. The biodome was self-contained with solid ss panels and aserting covering the surface. Through the transparent screen, Hao Ren saw many purplish and greenish-blue nts, which towered over the rest of the inhabitants. The nts transformed the biodome into a very unique alien botanical garden. Tam pointed towards the silhouette between two giant leaves. “All four of them are there. Now is their time to…. what’s the word.. Ah yes, ‘meditate’. They call the process of sitting still ‘meditation’.”


    Hao Ren stretched his neck to get a better view and saw that four monks in grey robes were seated on the piazza in the biodome. One of them was in the middle while the other three formed a protective triangle. Their grey robes were well worn, but they did not seem to be famished like how one would imagine an ascetic to look like. Three of the four had taken off their conical hats and Hao Ren was surprised to see women amongst them. In fact, from their side profiles, there were obvious clues that pointed to them being women.


    The four ascetics had since broke out of their meditation, and were now talking to each other softly. Hao Ren thought it was a good time to go in and he beckoned Becky as well as the rest to follow him. He motioned to Tam, saying, “Leave the rest to us. You can wait outside.”


    Tam nodded as he let out a sigh of relief. His green head while still impassive, was a much lighter shade of colour now. This meant that he was relieved. And truth be told, the four ascetics had caused quite the amount of stress to everyone present; it was mainly due to their odd nature and prohibitions. These things caused the usually blunt Kerbalians to be a little loss on how to interact with them. Even the guards deployed were requesting for leaves more often than usual. Kerbalians were not afraid of death, but they were truly terrified of the ascetics’ vtile behaviour (in their eyes, it was vtile).


    But thankfully, the little green aliens were made of stronger stuff and they had good foresight. It was to their credit that they tolerated the ascetics’ behaviour for that long.


    A sudden bristling noise came from the entrance of the biodome as shoes stepped on the fallen leaves on the ground. The four ascetics immediately stopped talking and leapt towards the source of the sound with much agility. Their face was cautious and grim.


    However, their face of caution quickly turned into surprise.


    What appeared before them were not gun-totting green lifeforms, which held “unholy intent” towards the Orb of the Holy Synod. Instead, this group was the same as them: they were humans—to them, even werewolves and vampires were humans at this point. The fish that wastched onto Hao Ren’s arm would be a matter for another day.


    “Goddess have mercy!” one of the ascetics eximed. He quickly crossed his hand over his chest and looked at Hao Ren as well as his party. “Humans! Humans like us! Are you saviours sent by the goddess or are you brethens who have been captured by the green creatures? Where did youe from?”


    “We’vee to take you away from here.” Hao Ren had expected that sort of reaction and he motioned for the four ascetics to calm down. “Sit down, sit down. I know of your situation, where youe from and how you ended up here. Let’s introduce ourselves first. I’m Hao Ren…”


    “I’m Becky!” the mercenaryss quickly chimed in. “I’m a mercenary from the Kingdom of Holetta! I’m a Northerner!”


    The four ascetics in grey robes perked up at the mention of Holetta. They were initially surprised when they saw humans appearing in front of them. But upon hearing “Holetta”, they were sure that these group of people were on their “side”. The younger of the two female ascetics then spoke in a rather hoarse voice, “How did you find out that we were here?”


    “You were transported here from the small church.” Hao Ren remembered Becky’s reminder to link all topics of conversation to the church’s mystery. “There was probably a blinding light, then all four of you and a part of the church got pulled into this ce. You probably can’t feel the power of the goddess here as this ce is very, very far away from your homnd. Even farther than you can ever imagine. It’s a ce where the Disciples of Glory have not set foot in.”


    “It seems like you do know a lot…” The first ascetic who spoke nodded. Seeing as how the stranger was able to narrate what happened, it built anotheryer of trust. “Friend, are you an envoy of the goddess? Why are you not in the church’s holy raiments?”


    Hao Ren shook his head. “I’m not a clergy… Uh, no… I am… but not the same as you…. Uh, that’s not right either. I’m a contracted clergy… Never mind, forget about it. I don’t know how to exin this. I’m not a member of the Disciples of Glory, but I can help you.”


    The ascetic did not have much of a reaction upon learning that Hao Ren was not a member of their religion. He simply nodded. “Do you know what actually happened? Why are we here?”


    “Actually… you are not in your own world anymore…” Hao Ren sighed. With Becky’s aid, he exined the situation behind the Surface World and The ne of Dreams to the ascetics. Hao Ren initially thought of overwhelming the ascetics with information to intimidate them, but thinking back, there was nothing scarier than The ne of Dreams itself.


    It did not take much for Hao Ren’s exnation on the concepts behind The ne of Dreams and the Surface World to shock the ascetics. Plus, the whole exnation regarding crossing into another dimension had all of them stunned beyond words. The female ascetic with the hoarse voice looked at Hao Ren with bulging eyes. “So, you mean to say that we actually crossed a portal and came to a different world? How far is this ce from the blessednds of the goddess?”


    “It can’t be described.” Hao Ren opened his arms wide. “It is akin to the distance between two heavens—a concept that can only be measured by the gods themselves.”


    “Then, who are you?” a bearded ascetic who had been silent the entire time seemingly recovered from the shock and he spoke as he gave Hao Ren a steely gaze. “You are not a servant of the goddess and you do not even look like a child of the goddess. Nheless, you are clearly on our side. Who are you?”


    Hao Ren then raised his hand and said, “Traffic Police!”