Chapter 1149
Humanity’s Companion Race
The mess Cain left behind back then was too colossal, and it’s not an easy task to mend it now.
However, since Little Cain was willing to shoulder the responsibility, at least the situation was improving.
—Though, strictly speaking, it wasn’t her responsibility.
In a sense, the current “Little Cain” was Lucia, who had obtained a portion of Blood Heavenly Envoy’s memories. Others might not understand, but Eivass understood perfectly… Wasn’t this state exactly like Eivass on the day he summoned the Shadow Demon?
Both retained their own complete memories and emotions while obtaining fragmented memories of a “saint”; both treated those fragmented memories as part of their self, as their “past life,” and were willing to bear the consequences and responsibilities for them.
This was why Eivass repeatedly asked Lucia, “How much memory do you still have?” This was essentially confirming Lucia’s personal will and determination.
No one understood Lucia’s current predicament better than Eivass—being a pawn for the Ring Heavenly Envoy and cleaning up the mess for the Blood Heavenly Envoy were both thankless tasks. And once the crown of the Mist Demon King was worn, it would be difficult to remove.
Precisely because of this, Eivass intended to help her.
After Eivass returned to his residence and explained the matter to Sherlock and Isabel, they both fell into deep thought.
“…It’s a solution, I suppose.”
Sherlock pondered for a moment, stroking his chin, and frowned slightly. “But I don’t think it’s the best solution.”
“Mist Demons and Children of the Moon are different,” Eivass said with a slight shake of his head. “The biggest difference is that Mist Demons can live solely among themselves, but Children of the Moon cannot. Children of the Moon cannot consume the blood of their own kind, thus they need Ordinary Persons as food. As Phantom Demons on the Path of Love, their gluttony, lust, will to kill, and desire for satisfaction are intertwined, forming strong desires. This leads to Children of the Moon requiring a larger scale of Blood Slaves if they gather together.
“But Mist Demons are not purely Phantom Demons of the Path of Love. Just as Shadow Demons are Phantom Demons of the Transcendent Path who wield the power of love, Mist Demons wield the power of devotion. They can help each other alleviate their path impulses, much like the Elves of the Church. Therefore, Mist Demons do not need to live intermingled with other races.”
“—The problem lies precisely here, Fox.”
Sherlock sharply pointed out a blind spot. “This also means that the racial expansion of Mist Demons is not constrained by natural conditions.”
“Constraints, huh…”
“Exactly. For instance, in a natural environment, if rabbits multiply, grass becomes scarce, and wolves increase—because the wolves’ food source has increased. As grass diminishes and wolves increase, the rabbit population will then decrease. The same principle applies to Children of the Moon.”
Mr. Detective sighed. “Though it might sound unpleasant… Children of the Moon are like wolves that prey on rabbits. If the wolves multiply, the rabbits will decrease drastically. Children of the Moon run rampant, unable to find Blood Slaves, causing chaos. Then, due to external interference or internal variables like Eagle Eye, the number of Children of the Moon will consequently decline.
“It is precisely because of this situation that although Children of the Moon can assimilate new individuals through the method of resurrection by bestowing blood, and can also give birth to pure-blooded or mixed-blooded Children of the Moon through normal reproduction… the birth of every Child of the Moon actually signifies a new predator appearing out of nowhere. They will all compete for their food.
“From this perspective, Children of the Moon will, to some extent, control their population to avoid having too many of their own kind competing for food. The internal culture of the Children of the Moon recognizes this phenomenon as a form of ‘arrogance of recognition,’ meaning only those of sufficiently high status can join their race.
“—However, Mist Demons have no such restrictions,” Sherlock said slowly.
His meaning was simple.
New Mist Demons would not affect the quality of life for existing Mist Demons—unlike Children of the Moon, who would create a negative feedback loop due to food issues. Mist Demons don’t even need to eat; they can survive by simply drinking water. This means they won’t put pressure on each other’s living environments due to a need for work compensation.
So, for a race that can live as long as they take care of themselves, wouldn’t they continuously increase without decreasing?
“When the Mist Demon population expands to a certain limit, the Mist Capital will become a Mist City, the Mist City will become a Mist Island, and the Mist Island will become a Mist Kingdom. Precisely because they can live contentedly without needing anything, it implies there will be no obvious contradictions or conflicts within them. And unlike Elves, they do not possess the ‘twilight’ characteristic of ‘keeping everything unchanged’—so, sooner or later, Mist Demons will spread out.
“But people in other places require resources for their lives. Their populations are also expanding, and living spaces are becoming increasingly scarce. When Mist Demons emerge and compete with them for living space, it will trigger new conflicts—even wars. Not internal conflicts, but between the internal and external.
Sherlock looked at Eivass and asked, word by word, “That would be a war of extermination between species. And humans can transform into Mist Demons, but Mist Demons cannot transform into humans… What will you do then?”
This was a rather sharp question.
But Eivass did not believe it was an insurmountable problem.
“This is not a problem, Sherlock,” Eivass said calmly. “The situation you described will only occur in several hundred, or even thousands, of years.
“Let alone the Mist Heavenly Envoy watching over them; if an irreparable situation were to arise, the Mist Heavenly Envoy could be brought down to resolve it completely… much like the Blood Heavenly Envoy, eradicating the unique characteristics of this race from the root.
“Moreover, what you worry about is too limited to the current era. Let me ask you, what is your opinion on Mist Demons not needing to eat and being able to survive indefinitely with just pure water?”
“Fear,” Sherlock replied without hesitation. “This means their way of existence is nobler than that of humans. It means the Path of Love is nobler than other paths. It means short-lived races like humans should be completely eliminated, ceding living space to this new humanity.”
“But my view is—opportunity,” Eivass shook his head and said to the two of them. “To be able to produce infinite resources without needing its own resources. This is precisely a perpetual motion machine.
“Mist Demons possess the power of the Path of Devotion, which means part of their power comes from the ‘Civilization’ Origin River. What can you conceive of when Civilization merges with Creation?”
“…Flame Heavenly Envoy?” Isabel asked uncertainly. “She seems to be that kind of combination.”
Upon hearing Eivass’s words, Sherlock didn’t answer immediately.
He seemed lost in thought, as if he understood Eivass’s idea.
“You mean…” Sherlock frowned slightly, asking incredulously, “You want to send Mist Demons to factories as workers? Because they don’t need to eat, don’t need to sleep, don’t require payment, won’t die, and are willing to work for others… But mist causes great damage to machinery.”
“Not just factories, Sherlock. There are many jobs in this World that, at minimal cost, could be done by machines, and the difference between them and Mist Demons is that Mist Demons also possess the ability to create.”
Eivass said earnestly, “You say Mist Demons are a new type of human that can replace humans—I think that’s only half true. They cannot replace humans because Mist Demons lack the adaptability of the Nine Great Paths; they only have Love and Devotion. They can only be considered a new race—and the special setting by the Mist Heavenly Envoy that Mist Demons cannot procreate is also a form of quantity control.
“For humans with many demands, Mist Demons are closer to being ‘assistants’ rather than replacements. The resources required by both sides are completely different, making coexistence possible. It’s not possible now simply because a low-cost, stable, versatile method hasn’t been developed for Mist Demons to survive long-term without affecting other humans. But technology is progressing—as long as there is a demand, it is simple to meet it. Not to mention, the demand itself is not difficult to resolve.”
“…Star Crystal Person?”
Isabel on the side immediately thought of the servant race of Atlantis.
At that time…
Just like at this moment.
