Chapter 1360: Convincing (2)
Silence settled over the hall like sediment.
Roland looked around. Everyone except Fei Yuhan wore the same combination of emotions — shock, skepticism, something approaching fear — and yet they were watching each other rather than looking away, as though the weight of what they’d heard required witnesses to distribute itself across. Without realizing it, the Association had already accumulated considerable background on him and the other world. The revelation had not landed in a vacuum.
Rock was the first to collect himself. “The Dream World — does the name imply that it could vanish at any moment, the way a dream does?”
“No. I started calling it that because sleep is the only way I can enter it.” Roland set down the empty jar. “In the beginning I assumed it was a hallucination. Everything that happened afterward changed that assessment. You’re equally welcome to think of my world as the dream, and treat this one as the waking. I believe that as my research on both sides advances, the connection between the two worlds will reach a level none of us can fully predict right now.”
From the corner of his eye he caught Fei Yuhan’s slight smile.
There was nothing more that needed saying — everyone in the room had understood. The wall between worlds was already thinning, and eventually it would not be there at all.
“That’s a future prospect, though.” An older man leaned forward with a frown. “The problem before us is immediate. We have no way to verify your account. All of this is too extraordinary for me to simply accept.”
Voices gathered behind him at once.
“Mr. Roland, I mean no disrespect — but your understanding of these matters comes from an Oracle that betrayed the Gods. We don’t know what that Oracle’s real intentions were, or whether it’s afraid of the Gods and deliberately gave you distorted information. We need something about the Gods themselves, not a secondhand account from someone who left their service.”
“Shouldn’t our first priority be understanding what power the Gods actually hold? An existence capable of destroying the world has apparently not done so yet. What if it’s our actions that trigger it?”
“I see a deadlock here. According to the Oracle’s account, doing nothing destroys the world. Acting destroys it if we lose. Mr. Roland — what are your actual chances against the Gods?”
“Everything here was created by this man. What if the entire story — the Oracle, the Erosion, all of it — was fabricated for his own purposes? I’m not saying that’s the case, but—”
“What are you implying? Your own celebrity is the most vocal supporter of him!”
The discussion accelerated toward its worst version of itself, voices sharpening against each other.
Roland settled back against his bench and held his teacup in both hands and watched.
He had expected this.
In all honesty, he would have responded the same way if this account had been delivered to him by a stranger. The doubts the room was raising had genuine foundations — the Oracle who supplied his information had given him clues and angles, not certainties; his chances against the Gods were something he could not calculate; the reliability of a betrayer’s testimony was a real question with no clean answer. He didn’t have resolutions to these problems, and he suspected he never fully would — even a direct encounter with the Gods might not settle them.
This was also why he had made a deliberate choice to conceal one detail: Lan’s identity as the betrayer. That would have redirected the dispute toward Garcia’s master, and the last thing this meeting needed was another axis of suspicion.
He had not walked in with high expectations. What he had hoped to accomplish — introducing the crisis to the Dream World, making it real to the people positioned to respond — was already done. Whether the room’s conclusion was favorable or not, the information had landed.
He set the cup down and started to turn toward Fei Yuhan, ready to signal that they could leave.
Her right hand was rising.
Silver light opened from her fingertips.
“Hey—”
Before he could say anything, the light came down across the table in front of her. The table separated cleanly. Both halves dropped. The teacup that had been sitting on her side hit the floor and shattered.
Every eye in the room swung to her.
“Have all of you forgotten why the Martialist Association was founded?”
Her voice was not loud. But the edge in it was unambiguous.
“For centuries, Awakened individuals have gathered together to resist Erosion — to prevent this world from being consumed by the Fallen Evils. That is the purpose. And what is the present reality? Enemies more powerful than anything we have faced emerged from the Erosion. Prism City fell in a single engagement, with Defender Furious Flames dying in its defense. Even our best Martial Artists couldn’t manage a meaningful exchange. And facing this — with these enemies present right now — you are debating whether to believe in another world.” She looked across the room. “Don’t you find that laughable?”
“Miss Fei Yuhan, know your place!” An older man’s voice sharpened with anger.
Rock held up a hand to stop him. “Is that not a relevant question?”
“No.” No hesitation. “I see only one thing that matters: Martial Artists cannot kill an Oracle. Roland can. If we cannot protect this world ourselves, our responsibility is to support those who can, and to protect its people. Let me be clear — his explanation of magic power and the other world was given to satisfy your curiosity. It was not an invitation for you to put him on trial.” She let that sit for a moment. “Even if Roland were an entirely ordinary man with no connection to another world — as long as he can kill the Oracles that we are powerless against, the Association owes him every resource we have. That should have been the only question put to this meeting. Otherwise, how do we justify calling ourselves guardians of this world?
“The Gods are difficult to oppose. That is precisely why we need both worlds working together. Fearing the outcome and choosing paralysis is the thinking of cowards. Even if we know defeat is possible, we are obligated to try everything.
“I understand that some here may doubt the claim that Martial Artists cannot defeat an Oracle. Only Zero and I witnessed the bridge, after all.” The Force of Nature spread across her whole body and her voice dropped several degrees in temperature. “I invite anyone present to test it. If any of you can inflict injuries on me equivalent to what I received — alone, one on one — I will retract everything I said tonight.”
Her gaze moved slowly across the room.
Not one of the seniors in that hall — older in age, higher in rank, longer in the Association than she was — managed a response. The silence that followed her challenge was the specific silence of people deciding how much they actually want to win an argument.
“As expected of the new generation’s best…” Rock laughed — a real one, sudden and uncomplicated. He brought his palms together once. “She’s right. I’ve been spending too much effort on secondary questions and losing sight of what the Association actually stands for. Whatever Mr. Roland’s origins, there is no ambiguity about his contribution — whether as a model for younger Martial Artists or as a hunter, his record is beyond dispute. We have no standing to approach him with suspicion.”
Rock looked at both of them, and something in his expression had the quality of genuine grief. “Since Prism City fell, I’ve wondered whether humanity can endure the Erosion at all. The picture may be even worse than I’d calculated. But everyone in this room can see clearly where the path forward is. The question of the other world — we can explore that once we’ve addressed the immediate enemy. Does anyone disagree?”
“That seems like the most practical framing.”
“Priority to fighting the Erosion. Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
The approving voices gathered until the doubts were buried under them. Defeating Erosion was the purpose Martial Artists had organized around from the beginning. To overturn that verdict, one had to first get past Fei Yuhan — and anyone who had examined honestly what had happened on the bridge understood this was not the moment to test that.
Even the older man who had pushed back hardest found nothing more to say.
Fei Yuhan let the Force of Nature fall away and settled back into her chair. She looked at Roland. “There. I’ve done what I promised.”
Roland pressed his hand over his face. Her methods were — extreme. The unanimous agreement she’d obtained was real, but it had been extracted by force of personality and implicit threat, and it would breed resentment in at least several of the people currently nodding along. She understood this; he was confident of that. She simply didn’t appear to mind.
“Why go that far?” he asked.
She looked down at her bandaged hands for a moment, and the composure in her expression shifted into something quieter.
“Because…” She turned one wrapped hand slowly. “This is the only area where I can work slightly harder.”
Chapter 1360 - Convincing (2)
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
A deadly silence filled the hall.
Excluding Fei Yuhan, everyone else looked at each other with mixed emotions. This surprised Roland. Without him realizing it, the Association had already attained a degree of understanding towards his background and he other world.
It took a long while for Rock to calm down and speak, “The Dream World… d oes the name imply that the world can disappear at any moment, like a dream?”
“No, it is a name that I got used to calling because it is only through sleeping can I enter this world,” Roland answered. “In the beginning, I thought it was merely a hallucination, like a dream. But after experiencing everything in here, I changed my thoughts about it. All of you can also assume my world to be a dream, and treat this world as reality. I believe that once my research on both sides regarding magic power makes progress, the connections between the two worlds will be elevated to a brand-new level.”
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Fei Yuhan smile.
There was no longer a need to continue further, for everyone understood his words.
The barrier between the worlds was slowly dissipating.
Soon enough, everyone would be able to travel between the two worlds.
“But that has to be realized before we can progress further.” An old man frowned and said, “The problem now is that we have no way to verify your words. Everything sounds too outrageous, so pardon me for being unable to trust you!”
Very quickly, people started echoing his sentiments. “Mr Roland, I have no intentions on denouncing you, but your understanding of the matter comes from the Oracle that betrayed the Gods. Who knows what plans they have hidden behind our backs? The focus should be on information regarding the Gods’ essence, but as it happens, the information we have might have been altered due to the other party being afraid of getting caught by the Gods. It is just too inconvincible.”
“Isn’t finding out what power the Gods have the most important? For an existence to wield power capable of destroying the world, why haven’t they done so? Who knows, it might be our reckless actions that incite the destruction of our world.”
The moment a doubt was raised, more questions emerged in rapid succession.
“I feel that this entire issue is in a deadlock. According to the Oracle, if we stand by and do nothing, the world will be destroyed. But if we infiltrate God’s domain and lose, it will still result in destruction. Here’s the question, Mr Roland. Do you think that you have any chance in defeating the Gods?”
“Everything was established by him. From the looks of it, why can’t it be that the entire story was fabricated by this Hunter here, an excuse to strive for a higher status? Without a doubt, the conservative party is not without suspicion either.”
“What are you trying to say? Don’t forget that your celebrity is the most supportive of him!”
The discussion gradually turned hostile, while Roland remained silent and leaned against the bench with a teacup in hand as he observed the dispute.
He had long anticipated this outcome.
In all fairness, he would have reacted in the same way if someone else had reported such a thing to him. Even the suspicions they had on him had reasons to them, for example—the reliability of the Oracle that betrayed the Gods merely gave him clues instead of direct answers, or the possibility of
changing their fates in the face of the Gods. Roland had no answers to these questions, and afraid that he might never have the answers even after meeting the Gods.
It was for this reason that he intentionally hid the news of Lan being the betrayer.
This way, the dispute would not fall onto Garcia’s master at the very least.
Roland did not harbor much expectation towards the eventual result of the meeting.
People like Fei Yuhan, who held firm determination and made an all-out effort upon coming to a decision, were extremely rare.
They had already achieved what they sort out to do—reveal crisis to the Dream World.
After downing the tea in one mouthful, Roland turned and was about to inform Fei Yuhan on his plans to leave, only to discover that she had her right hand raised.
A dazzling silver light blossomed from her fingertips—
“Hey…”
Before Roland had the opportunity to dissuade her, the light sliced the table before her in two!
The teacup that was sliced into two dropped to the ground and shattered out loud.
Everyone’s eyes instantly turned towards her.
“Have all of you forgotten the original intent for the establishment of the Martialist Association?”
Her voice was not loud, but had undoubtedly revealed her annoyance.
“For centuries, Awakened Beings have assembled together to resist Erosion, to protect this world from being devoured by the Fallen Evils! And what is the present reality Even more powerful enemies have emerged from the Erosion, and Prism City was overthrown in a blink of an eye with Defender Furious Flames dying while defending it. Even with Awakened Beings, we didn’t even stand a chance. Yet in the face of this crisis, all of you are here discussing whether or not to believe in another world. Don’t you find it laughable?”
“Miss Fei Yuhan, don’t forget your place!” An old man erupted in range.
Rock stopped the man and asked in surprise, “Is this not important?”
Fei Yuhan replied without hesitation, “It’s not, I only see one point—Martial Artists are unable to defeat Oracles, but Roland can. If we can’t protect this world, we should be providing assistance to protect the people of this world! Please make no mistake about it, his explanation regarding magic power and the other world was merely to satisfy your curiosity and not an excuse for any of you to question!
“In other words, even if Roland is an ordinary man, as long as he is capable of killing the Oracles that us Martial Artists are helpless against, the Association should do its best to support him and attach importance to him equal to one capable of protecting the world. That should be the objective of this meet— Otherwise, how do we have the cheek to proclaim ourselves as guardians of this world?
“And it is because the Gods are difficult to defeat that we require the collaboration between both worlds. To fear the future and give up on forging ahead is simply the mentality of cowards, even if we know that defeat is the eventual outcome, we should do all we can to turn that around!
“I can understand that maybe some of you suspect that our point on ‘martial artists being unable to kill an Oracle’ does not hold; after all, only Zero and I were present at the scene at that time. But I welcome everyone to try—” At this point, the silver light covered Fei Yuhan’s entire body, and her tone had sank a few degrees. “As long as anyone of you is able to injure me to that same degree in a one-on-one, I will retract my words. How is that?”
Her gaze swept across the entire crowd, eyes as sharp as blades. All the higher-ups, who were superior in terms of seniority in age or position to Fei Yuhan, were unable to provide a rejoinder.
“As expected of an elite of the new generation…” Rock suddenly laughed as he clapped his hands. “Indeed, I shouldn’t be too hesitant over superfluous things and forgot about the true intention of the Association. You are right, regardless of where Mr Roland comes from, there isn’t any doubts regarding his contributions to the Association— Be it being a role model as a newcomer or his capability in hunting Fallen Evils, he is definitely a great addition into rebuilding the Association. Just this alone makes it wrong for us to have predisposing attitudesand judge him with malice.”
The Defender looked at the two, his voice filled with regret. “Ever since Prism City fell, I had a doubt whether humanity can continue surviving the Erosion crisis. Perhaps the situation is far worse than what I have anticipated, but I believe that everyone can see the goal. As for the other world, we can slowly probe into it once we have resolved this crisis. What does everyone think?”
“This… might be the most suitable way to handle the issue.”
“That’s right, we should place priority in defeating the enemies from Erosion.”
“I concur.”
Approving voices gradually drowned out the voices of doubt.
After all, eliminating Erosion was the top priority for Martial Artists. And to overthrow this verdict, one had to first get past Fei Yuhan.
Anyone who understood the brutality and desperation in the ambush on the bridge clearly knew it was not the wisest choice to stand against them at such a time.
Even if they won, it was merely directed against her challenge.
Even the elder had no choice but to keep quiet.
Fei Yuhan retracted her Force of Nature and returned to her seat. She smiled at Roland. “See, I’ve accomplished what I promised.”
Roland could not help but to cover his face; her methods were too reckless— although she was able to obtain a unanimous agreement temporarily, it had inevitably led to resentment. Roland knew that she understood this point; yet, she acted as though she did not care. “Why go to such an extent?”
“Because…” Fei Yuhan looked at her hands covered in bandages, her expression somewhat crestfallen. “This is the only areas where I can work harder in.”