Old Gods, Rapid-Fire Guns, and Prohibition

Chapter 257 [Translation Diary]

Ethan eventually bought out all of Finch's products for a hefty price of three million gold Ryan.

This price was completely beyond Finch's imagination; he had originally thought that one million was the limit.

He still underestimated the potential of sound films.

Of course, Ethan didn't just want to use the money to buy equipment; he wanted to buy Finch himself.

Because he had already found out that the rough film was shot by Fincher himself, while the concept of using the camera was a collaboration between him and Kevin.

In other words, both he and Kevin are exceptional film talents.

These days, it's hard to find someone with this kind of talent.

Finch didn't expect that Ethan would try to poach him not only for the products but also for his personal life. However, Ethan had just been promoted and certainly didn't want to leave. He only said he could help with the filming, but strongly recommended Kevin to be the director.

Ethan didn't insist, after all, Kevin was a very good talent.

So that evening, after finishing dinner with Azeratu, Ethan went home and resumed writing his script.

He had even started the first round of casting in his mind.

However, as the next day approached, he had to stop working on the script because his auction was about to begin.

He needs to prepare and warm up.

Besides relying on newspaper publicity for pre-launch promotion, he also had a trump card up his sleeve.

That's a research paper.

That art essay based on that toilet.

Actually, Ethan started writing this paper after his solo exhibition ended. It should have been finished a few days ago, but he got too busy.

First there was the matter in the South District, then the movie script, which is why he's rushing to meet the deadline today.

He didn't finish writing the paper until the afternoon, while drinking coffee, and then quickly sent it to Jackson to get it processed.

When it comes to getting papers published, Jackson is quite resourceful; after all, he was the one who used his connections to get Gustav's paper published last time.

Although Ethan later checked, it seems that the paper was immediately withdrawn and destroyed after it was published.

This shows that there has always been a pair of eyes secretly watching the matter of ancient language.

Thinking of the ancient language, Ethan finally remembered the diary he had brought back from the altar in the karst.

Ethan took the diary out of his alchemy pouch and at the same time pulled out the word list left by Gustav.

He began translating sentence by sentence.

"In the year 1340 of the Earth Calendar, on the seventh day of the month of sowing."

Without a doubt, the gods are dead.

This is the second day since the discovery of the Old God's remains. The only thing to be thankful for is that what we found should not be the remains of the Mother Goddess.

In other words, the Mother Goddess should still be alive, but she has fallen into a deep sleep for some reason.

We can only console ourselves with this thought, just as we have for countless years to come.

However, I was filled with despair, and I no longer believed this argument.

Because besides the remains of the ancient gods, we also found other things—some documents.

Ethan wasn't entirely sure about the word "document," because he was translating it while reading it. Many words in the diary didn't have very standard equivalents, and the only similar word he could find was "document."

However, judging from the later text, these do not seem to be documents, because the diarist said that these documents were used for sacrifices, to commemorate the departure of the gods.

Some of the sacrificial texts also mentioned words like "twilight".

That's why he concluded that the gods were dead.

Seeing this, Ethan was puzzled. Why could they so definitively conclude that the gods were dead based solely on some documents?
With this question in mind, Ethan continued translating the diary, whose exact year was unknown. In later entries, Ethan roughly learned the name of the diary's owner: Heraclitus.

Rang is a priest of the Earth Mother Goddess sect, specifically responsible for the traces of the Mother Goddess in the human world.

In later accounts, Heracles continued to wander the earth, fulfilling his duties while spreading the teachings of the Mother Goddess.

However, with the mother goddess's silence, the teachings of the Earth Mother Goddess have gradually fallen out of reach.

As more people began to believe in the sun god, the sun god also fell into slumber, but would occasionally awaken slightly to display his power.

As a result, the influence of the Sun God Cult expanded greatly.

After reading this passage, Ethan was finally able to confirm the timeline a little.

Based on his predecessor's not-so-shallow historical knowledge, he roughly knew that the Sun God Cult had indeed had a very powerful period, with its territory covering almost the entire Old World.

Back then, even the coronation of a king required the Pope's permission.

The Sun God Cult began its large-scale missionary work around... over 1300 years ago in the old calendar.

In that sense, this Earth Calendar is quite similar to the Old Calendar.

However, the earth has existed since time immemorial, so it's normal for it to have a long history.

With the suppression of the Earth Mother Cult, Heraclitus's exploration journey became dangerous.

Many areas have become restricted zones, controlled by the Sun God Cult.

In the latter half of the diary, he wrote about discovering a site that appeared to contain the remains of an ancient god. Just as he was about to excavate it, he encountered people from the Sun God Cult.

He was forced to engage in a battle with the Sun God Cult.

In the end, he actually managed to defeat the Sun God Cult and snatch the remains from them.

Then they successfully escaped.

From this perspective, Heraclitus was truly a remarkable figure.

The reason he wanted to snatch those remains from the Sun God Cult was...

He felt that these remains still possessed some vitality, and he couldn't confirm which god these remains belonged to.

He must take it back to the council of elders so they can study and confirm it.

To escape the pursuit of the Sun God Cult, he chose to flee into the mountains.

He hid in a mountain called Turnover, where he had a secret hideout.

He planned to return to the sect's headquarters once things calmed down.

However, the diary is about to end here.

In his last diary entry, Heraclitus wrote:

"In the year 1346 of the Earth Calendar, on the ninth day of the harvest month."

I seem to smell the aroma of ripe wheat wafting from the wheat field, right across the river. I'm starting to miss my hometown.

Techouri, it's been so many years since I've been back.

After this matter is over, I will apply to end this job. It's time to go home.

Wait, there seems to be a sound?
Was it coming from that wreckage?
It...it seems to be calling me?

It must be my imagination; I'd better go and check it out.

The diary ends here.

If there really is some kind of authority, could it be that so-called remnant of an ancient god?
But even if it really exists, what would be left after more than a thousand years?
(End of this chapter)