I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Du Danping.

When Lu Ban heard this name, he felt as if he hadn't expected it.

He had heard from Xia that Du Danping had appeared in the wasteland before, and now that his mission had been disrupted, the possibility of encountering Du Danping would inevitably increase significantly.

At this point, all we can say is that Lu Ban has a sense of a closed loop in fate.

Having witnessed Du Danping's deeds during his mission, he began searching for the fragments of the melody Du Danping left behind. After traversing many exotic lands, he is finally about to stand before Du Danping.

Lu Ban saw Shuang Xin get up and walk towards the inner room, so he followed her.

The room had no door. Over Shuangxin's shoulder, Lu Ban saw a person sitting inside.

The man was wearing a well-fitting suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he was engrossed in reading an old-fashioned document. He only looked up when Shuangxin spoke.

“Mr. Du, this is Mr. Lu Ban, who once led me into the Promised Land.”

Shuangxin spoke, taking half a step back to let Lu Ban come to the door.

Lu Ban saw the other person's appearance clearly. Just like Du Danping in the photo, he was handsome and dashing. Compared to the flat image, Du Danping's features appeared more three-dimensional and deep.

If you add to that outstanding musical talent and the mystique that comes with being a chosen one, it's hard not to be captivated. No wonder Song Yunyan, a wealthy heiress, was so enamored with him back then.

Upon seeing Du Danping, Lu Ban had a lot to say, but he choked up for a moment.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time. Please have a seat."

Du Danping patted the spot next to him.

Shuangxin left, and Lu Ban and Feng Yu entered the room, which was a reading room, usually used by renowned scholars to study books alone.

The room wasn't big, but it was well-lit. A window was open, and sunlight streamed through the windowsill, casting a soft, hazy glow on the books.

Judging from their ages, Du Danping and Lu Ban are about the same age.

But Lu Ban always felt that this person was much older than him.

“I have seen many chosen ones, but you are indeed quite different.”

Du Danping looked at Lu Ban's body, as if he had already seen through his human form, which was just a disguise, and his true body had turned into a pool of melted flesh and blood.

He found it somewhat unbelievable; in this state, his rationality should have been negative long ago, yet he was still able to maintain normal thinking, which was truly miraculous.

According to Du Danping's experience, those who have lost their human form and twisted into monsters are usually already insane, or they are no longer human, but rather gods or their followers, similar to the Great Old Ones.

Therefore, Du Danping's gaze fell on Feng Yu, who was standing to the side.

This woman was clearly not a chosen one, and Du Danping immediately realized that Feng Yu was not even human.

Could it be that this chosen one has become a member of the alien creatures' kin?

Moreover, Lu Ban possessed an even more peculiar aura, which reminded Du Danping of certain individuals who wandered between different realms seeking chaos and distortion.

If he hadn't known that a fellow chosen one would be arriving, Du Danping might have considered Lu Ban an adversary.

Who is this?

Du Danping decided to proceed with caution.

"This is Feng Yu, the woman who could become my mother."

Lu Ban explained it as a matter of course.

"Mother?"

Du Danping glanced at Lu Ban, then at Feng Yu, thinking to himself that these two were playing a pretty big game.

"Don't worry about me, I'm just a traveler."

Feng Yu looked at Du Danping with a smile, which made him feel a subtle chill.

“I understand… To put it another way, my mission is to help the Academy win this election, while also eliminating any potential cultists within Utopia.”

Du Danping said succinctly.

"Help the college?"

Feng Yu raised an eyebrow. Although she wasn't quite clear about the connection between Lu Ban and Du Danping, it seemed that if Du Danping chose to help the academy, then Lu Ban would most likely choose that side as well.

The academy, of course, is clearly the hardest to beat.

"Yes, I've been here for three months, which is probably more than a month in reality. Luckily, I made arrangements in advance and told the people around me that I went to the deep mountains to study and collect materials, otherwise Yunyan might have been worried."

Du Danping nodded, his expression softening considerably when Song Yunyan was mentioned.

Perhaps what sustained his rationality as he traveled through these foreign lands was his lover back home.

"It will be very difficult for the academy to win."

Feng Yu said.

“Indeed, over the past three months, through dealing with people in the Senate, I have roughly grasped the movements of the various factions. Currently, the Wild Wolf Guard and the Yellow Sand Brotherhood have the highest support rate, followed by the Quicksand Council. The Academy’s supporters are less than five percent, and the vast majority of them are members of the Academy itself and their families.”

Du Danping said simply.

"But my mission is to help the academy win."

Do you have any strategies?

Lu Ban inquired, but he didn't mention Song Yunyan's matter. As far as Du Danping was concerned, his fate of dying was still in the future and didn't affect the present.

"The Academy now has a best opportunity: to take advantage of the appearance of the Promised Land, obtain some precious resources from it, and use these resources to gain the support of the Senate. Only then can it possibly achieve victory."

Du Danping said.

"The Senate held a significant number of votes during the election, and they also had the power to decide the future direction of Utopia. If we could win the support of the Senate, it would be possible to turn the tide."

"It doesn't sound like this place is entirely democratic either."

Lu Ban commented.

“Even if true democracy exists, it won’t be in a wasteland. Here, everyone is different. Some people are powerful, while others are weak. Humans are inherently unequal, and the pursuit of democracy is just a distorted version of utopia.”

Du Danping explained.

In an ordinary world, democracy certainly has a basis for existence, but in a strange land or a wasteland, pursuing democracy one-sidedly is simply stubbornness.

Everyone here has different strengths. Some are powerful enough to survive in the desert and among monsters, while others are as weak as ordinary people. It is impossible for ordinary people and extraordinary people to have the same power and the same number of votes.

The rules of utopia itself stipulate democratic voting. Therefore, the saints of previous generations interpreted this rule and derived the existence of the Senate, achieving centralized power above democracy without violating the rules.

"Looking at it this way, even if this election must be fair, just, and open under the rules of utopia, there are still shortcuts that can be taken?"

At this moment, Lu Ban thought of a brilliant idea.

"If that's the case, I think I also have a way to help the academy win."

Chapter 859 [Heavenly Father]

"Your mission is to help the Academy achieve victory, while my mission is to choose a side to support, and at the same time, to oppose the Chosen Ones."

Lu Ban said.

His original plan was to find those hostile Chosen Ones and then choose a different camp from them. Now that Du Danping's mission is to support the academy, he will naturally follow suit.

For Lu Ban, the chosen ones from other factions, however, took on a different purpose.

"Most of these hostile chosen ones harbor ill will toward these alien realms, and their actions will inevitably cause some harm here. We just need to find these harms and expose them, and then most people should be able to see clearly what they should choose."

Lu Ban's thinking was very simple.

If they were all Chosen Ones like Four-Eyes and Little Fishman, they would most likely come up with some bad ideas. Once exposed and dealt with, the remaining Senate members would most likely choose the Academy.

After all, people aren't blind; they can't possibly see that an option is entirely detrimental to them and still insist on trying it out.

"That is indeed one way."

Du Danping agreed.

"But the enemy chosen ones who are able to participate in this mission are definitely not simple. You must be careful."

He wasn't worried about himself because Du Danping's mission didn't involve any confrontation, so theoretically, those hostile chosen ones wouldn't know of his existence, while Lu Ban would obviously be facing them head-on.

"There's no need to worry about that."

Lu Ban thought for a moment, but still didn't tell Du Danping about his past experiences of wandering into those alien realms and witnessing their decline.

"On the one hand, enhance the Academy's reputation and prestige among the members of the Senate, show them the benefits of exploring ruins; on the other hand, find other potential chosen ones and defeat them."

Du Danping quickly summarized their mission objectives.

"Also, there may be cultists in the city, so we must be wary of them."

He added a reminder.

"Cultists?"

Lu Ban was curious about what kind of mysterious organization might exist in the wasteland.

“There were already signs of other Great Old Ones infiltrating the wasteland. They mostly influenced ordinary people with high spirituality through rambling, bewitching them to spread their names. However, due to the presence of the swarm, these beliefs could not be well gathered and formed a system.”

Du Danping explained.

"But now that the swarm has disappeared, many previously hidden beliefs in deities have begun to sprout, and some of them have even secretly taken control of city-states."

He put down the book in his hand and picked up a scrap of paper with writing on it.

"Among them, the most noteworthy is the [Father]. He was the first deity to spread his existence in the wasteland. As far as I know, at least one city-state has become His paradise."

Upon hearing this name, Lu Ban quickly recalled the statue he had once seen.

The description of the statue is that it comes from the wasteland. Lu Ban once obtained a statue of the Heavenly Father on the way to the island shrine while escorting Amber. The two statues can communicate and connect with each other. He previously thought it was just a communicator.

It now appears that there is indeed a deity whose nickname is "Heavenly Father"?

"The Father himself spreads disease, plague, and corruption. His followers will be more or less mutated, becoming monsters such as the undead, ghouls, and zombies. Moreover, these followers will continue to spread disease. For civilization, the existence of the Father is a great threat."

Du Danping explained.

"Most believers of the Father will possess an idol of Him. This idol can cause disease through certain unique rituals. Their favorite thing to do is to spread these diseases and corruptions in cities where people gather, turning everyone in the city into their kind. After accepting the Father's faith, the pain of those diseases and the distortion of corruption will turn into pleasurable pleasure, making them intoxicated by it."

"That's a bit perverted."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ban commented.

Du Danping glanced at Lu Ban, then at Feng Yu, unsure of his opinion, and instead spoke.