The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1202

Chapter 1199: City of Eternity

Before Sharky began its dive, the emerald jewel on Eivass’s chest shimmered with a verdant Path radiance.

Without words or rituals, merely accompanied by imperceptible fluctuations of Path Adaptation power, Eivass and Leviathan became hidden. Even the sound, which sharpened like a bomber in a dive during its glide, suddenly vanished without a trace just before reaching its peak.

The Free People on the ground were either kneeling before various statues or praying intently.

No one looked up at the sky—nor would they dare.

Looking up at the sky was equivalent to placing the statues of “Generous Adler” found throughout the city below one’s line of sight. In Anxi, looking down at someone with one’s eyes represented looking down on them, despising them. If an interested party reported it, or if soldiers discovered it, their attention towards that person would immediately be secretly heightened.

For this reason, people in Heaven City walked with their gaze predominantly fixed on the ground. They wore robes and hoods, their bodies hunched as they moved slowly on the wide, clean streets.

Eivass and Sharky silently landed behind a temporarily unoccupied building.

Scales on Leviathan’s body broke off, detaching and floating in mid-air.

Its nearly three-meter-tall body melted into a pool of viscous blood essence. Immediately, the blood essence violently expanded, transforming into a docile little girl.

Her hair and eye color evoked the unfathomable depths of the sea.

The floating scales then fused together, forming a dark blue dress. After it was worn by Leviathan, it transformed from a blurry mosaic model, gradually gaining texture and detail, slowly becoming like a real dress.

Eivass realized it was the dress Isabel was wearing at that moment. However, Isabel had always favored white and green, and her dresses were often a patchwork of white, yellow, and various greens… whereas Sharky had repainted it in blue, dark blue, and purple.

“Dad…”

She extended her soft, fair hand towards Eivass, looking at him with pleading eyes. Her shimmering, lustrous eyes reminded Eivass of a puppy running over with a toy, wanting its master to play.

Sharky was only about Eivass’s waist height, even smaller than No. 14 during the Ascension Ritual. This instilled Eivass with the fleeting illusion that “perhaps this is truly my daughter”.

Eivass couldn’t help but reach out and stroke Sharky’s hair, but as soon as he touched it, he immediately felt something was wrong—it wasn’t the texture of human hair, but clearly harder, finer, and smoother. To describe it, it felt like optical fiber… or some kind of wig.

He reached out and pinched Sharky’s hand again, feeling an unusually scorching temperature.

It was even hotter than the temperature of a head during a high fever, like a hot spring bubbling with white steam. If an Ordinary Person came into contact with Leviathan, they might even get burned.

Eivass knew that Leviathan’s flesh and blood were naturally this hot—her body temperature would gradually rise to an absurd degree when she was fighting, flying, or training, usually around sixty degrees Celsius, and it would further increase during intense combat.

It was precisely to improve heat dissipation that she had so many cooling vents in her Phantom Demon form, making her look like a fighter jet. When flying, she could use these vents to extremely efficiently draw in air and expel high-temperature white smoke that distorted the air, with almost violent efficiency.

Clearly, the residual heat from flying had not yet completely dissipated.

However, for Eivass, this level of high temperature only brought warmth.

“Shhh.”

Eivass extended his other hand, placed it on his lips, and whispered, “Try not to talk much, Sharky.”

Sharky nodded quickly, but her eyes still sparkled, looking expectantly at Eivass.

She lowered her voice and whispered, “What are we going to do, Dad?”

For her, this was the first time she had “adventured” to an unfamiliar place with Eivass.

Not to mention, she clearly understood that the owner here was Eivass’s enemy, and if her identity were discovered, combat would begin immediately… She suddenly felt an itch in her hands, eagerly anticipating the scenario of being discovered.

“We’ll look around for a bit, then we’ll go find Adler.”

Eivass was also curious about Heaven City; otherwise, they would have descended directly near the Master’s palace.

This was the first genuine Anxi City-state he had seen in its original form—Rock Cell City didn’t count because when people recovered from their petrified state, their way of life had already been ruined. And later, Eivass became the Master and established new rules for Dawn City, so there was nothing much to see.

Moreover, Heaven City was undoubtedly more advanced compared to other Anxi city-states.

The reasons why it had formed such unique rules, and what “Generous Adler” was thinking, all made Eivass very curious. His subordinates, even after transforming into demons, still praised Heaven City without reservation. This piety was undoubtedly genuine.

As Eivass led Sharky out, he felt a sense of clarity and openness.

Although Eivass had witnessed the splendor of the city from above, only by being in it could he feel that sacred and prosperous feeling, different from Avalon and Star Antinomy—

This desert city-state, inhabited by just over three hundred Free People, did not feel empty; people walked about on the streets, but it wasn’t crowded.

A group of young students surrounded a teacher sitting cross-legged by a fountain, listening to him speak by the roadside; an old man playing a harp in another part of the fountain plaza, with his eyes closed, played an ancient melody.

Women in colorful skirts walked barefoot on the stone slabs, with golden anklets or silver bracelets on their ankles. They carried pottery jars in their hands and cloth bags at their waists, evidently going to fetch food and water.

It was only Seven o’clock in the Morning, the time just after dawn.

A refreshing thin mist permeated the city, and this precious, humid, and cool air brought intense happiness in the desert.

This city did not possess the barbaric, rustic feel of a rural-urban fringe like Rock Cell City. Almost the entire city was paved with pure white alchemy stone slabs, the floor seamless, full of a sense of order. Eivass momentarily thought he was back in Avalon’s White Queen District.

And the architecture here was even more beautiful and grand than White Queen District—all the building exteriors were carved by first-class artisans. The main motifs were palm and laurel leaves.

On top of these bas-reliefs were special colored bricks as decoration… they looked a bit like colored glass, and a bit like stones. They were not transparent, and appeared to be not-so-expensive jewels. Eivass didn’t recognize them but could feel their intense beauty.

Unlike Rock Cell City’s architectural style composed of stone pillars and domes, the core concept of Heaven City’s architecture should be “spires.” Platforms of varying heights extended from the sides or tops of many buildings.

They were burning with flames and emitting smoke… these were altars of flame, one after another. They looked like huge candelabras. In the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, which worshipped water, this was quite a rare sight.

Statues of “Generous Adler” were everywhere in the city, several on each street, and their poses were different.

The closest one was beside Eivass. It was a seated sculpture about two meters off the ground, approximately three meters tall.

Adler was a middle-aged man with a large beard, appearing to be in his forties but with a kind face. He wore a robe, was handsome, with deep features, looking like an ancient Greek scholar.

He was in a “thinker” pose. Not far away, several people were kneeling intently, devoutly singing songs of “Praise to Generous Adler, Praise to Benevolent Adler.”

Although the entire city was engulfed in war, there was a sense of tranquil peace and happiness within.

The people here were clearly content with their peaceful and eternal lives, no longer desiring more.