I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Feng Yu wasn't interested in the food. She looked at Du Danping's little fangirls and asked them a question.

"You mean using supernatural abilities to manipulate people's minds?"

Du Danping glanced at the group of female admirers and gave them a smile.

“I could certainly use music to do these things, but at least in the wasteland, I didn’t. Those saints could sense the extraordinary power. If I had used music to bewitch them from the beginning, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

“Different cultural perceptions exist, but at least in the wilderness, music is universal. They have sacrificed a lot to survive, including art and music, but that feeling and resonance are in their genes. When the old melodies are played, they will naturally be moved.”

Upon hearing Du Danping's words, Feng Yu remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

"But music shouldn't be enough to convince those in the Senate."

Just like in reality, even if someone sings a song, they wouldn't entrust their future and life to another person. In the end, art is just a luxury compared to survival.

"Music is just a means to build relationships. In the wilderness, the most fundamental reason that allows you to get along better with others is to demonstrate your value."

Du Danping said.

"That's why the academy's pursuit is hard to understand. It's difficult to directly transform the exploration of the past into immediately usable value. So far, the things people have dug out of the ruins have not played their original role. Even that piano, if I hadn't noticed it, would probably just be scattered in the garbage dump, undiscovered by anyone."

He looked at the people talking in hushed tones not far away and pointed over there.

“Perfect timing. Let me introduce you to the leader of this city, the saint of Utopia, whose name is Plato.”

Chapter 861 Plato

Lu Ban looked over.

He was a middle-aged man.

He stood out conspicuously among a group of teenagers and young women in their twenties.

His face was sharply defined, like a sculpture from ancient Greece, full of masculine beauty. The long robe he wore was adorned with gold threads, making him even more unique. His hair was slightly gray, and his eyes contained a deep will, like black holes, making it easy for those who looked into them to fall into them and be unable to extricate themselves.

"saint……"

Lu Ban murmured softly.

“Sages are not troubled by crystallization disease, and their lifespan even exceeds that of normal people. It is normal for them to live to be several hundred years old. This is Plato, a sage who has lived for more than a hundred years. He is about to abdicate.”

Du Danping explained from the side.

"He's dying?"

Lu Ban asked subconsciously.

"You could say that while the human body can achieve immortality with the help of extraordinary power, the human spirit cannot. As a chosen one, I believe you are well aware of this."

Du Danping gave Lu Ban a meaningful look.

"Even if you strengthen your physical body through various means, your spirit and reason cannot become stronger. It's like a consumable; it will only gradually wear down and erode day by day, eventually becoming mutated and turning into a monster. Saints are the same."

"Over their long lives, they are eroded by power, and eventually their will gradually collapses. Living to be over a hundred years old is already considered a long life. If this continues, even saints will fall into madness, eventually be rejected by utopia, and perish."

"Therefore, in order to die as a human being, he chose to abdicate and pass on the name of the saint to his successor."

He turned his gaze to the saint, and then led Lu Ban and Feng Yu to stand before him.

Plato was conversing with another man who looked quite old and also appeared to be a saint. Upon seeing Du Danping, he amicably interrupted his conversation and looked over.

"Mr. Du, your music is truly a comforting force in this gloomy world, and I am deeply moved."

Plato praised it.

"You flatter me. I just happened to hear those melodies hidden in the wind and copied them down."

Du Danping responded with a sentence, and then gestured to Lu Ban and Feng Yu.

"These two are my friends, Lu Ban and Feng Yu."

Plato followed Du Danping's hand and looked at the two of them. His gaze swept over Feng Yu and lingered on Lu Ban for a long time before he spoke.

"Young and promising, young and promising indeed."

"Mr. Plato, regarding what I mentioned earlier..."

Du Danping quickly got back to the main topic.

“I know about that. For Utopia now, exploring ruins and excavating old civilizations can indeed bring rich rewards, and I personally support doing so. But Utopia is not my utopia alone, and we must respect everyone’s will.”

Plato said.

Even if that leads to the destruction of the city?

Lu Ban suddenly spoke, causing Plato and the saint beside him to look at him.

"Even if this happens, it is the people's choice."

Plato sighed and said softly.

"The ideal state does not exist because of its continued existence, but for the sake of the ideal. If one day, only the great power and dictatorship of an individual can save this city, then the ideal state will surely fall apart and lose its current name."

"Are you saying that even if the people choose the path of retreat and isolation, ultimately leading to the city being buried in the yellow sand, it is still a choice made by Utopia?"

Feng Yu inquired.

"You can understand it this way, because this is a utopia, not some city that never falls or an eternal city, but an ideal city."

Plato explained.

"As a saint, and a saint of Utopia, inheriting the will of this place, I also uphold democracy and justice. If you can persuade the majority of the people and the extraordinary members of the Senate, then the path forward for Utopia will surely be the direction of the Academy."

"I understand."

Feng Yu did not continue the discussion. She exchanged a glance with Lu Ban, bid farewell to Plato, and went to a corner of the banquet hall, leaving Du Danping to continue the conversation with the two of them.

"It seems that survival is not the top priority in this city."

Feng Yu commented.

"It's more accurate to say that its existence is simply to highlight its rules."

Lu Ban said.

Clearly, judging from Plato's words, he adhered quite strictly to the rules of utopia, even to the point that these rules superseded the future of utopia.

There are two possibilities: either if everyone in Utopia violates its rules, the city will cease to exist physically, suffering a backlash.

Or perhaps Plato had other ideas in mind and used the rules of utopia to reject Du Danping.

As the two were discussing, Lu Ban suddenly saw the man who had been with Plato earlier walking towards them.

"Excuse me, do you two have a moment?"

The other party asked politely.

Lu Ban nodded, and the other person sat down opposite him and Feng Yu, holding a glass of honey insect wine.

"Let me introduce myself first. As you can see, I am a saint who inherited the name of Hippocrates. As a member of the Senate, I found your performance just now quite amusing."

The middle-aged man laughed.

His appearance was more ordinary, with slightly curly hair and a robe decorated only with silver threads, showing his difference from Plato.

"Hippocrates..."

Lu Ban felt that the name sounded familiar, but he didn't know where he had heard it before.

"I'm just an insignificant doctor. Compared to my colleagues, I can only provide support from behind, and I can't even cure crystal nucleus disease."

Hippocrates sighed.

Indeed, in this era, doctors have very little influence. Even with extraordinary powers, they can only watch helplessly as their contemporaries pass away.

In the wasteland, many diseases have long since disappeared, and under normal circumstances, there are very few opportunities to use a doctor.

“I don’t belong to any faction, but when I was young, I mean about thirty years ago, I studied at the academy for a period of time. After learning about the Promised Land, I also hoped that Utopia could send people to explore it. Unfortunately, Plato could not go against the will of Utopia, and we were just fledglings under the protection of this city.”

Hippocrates sighed.

“It seems that the will of Utopia is above all of you.”

Feng Yu noticed something that both he and Plato had mentioned.

"It's as if...this thing actually exists."

"Of course, that's why I came to find you."

Hippocrates' voice lowered.

"I want you to help us break free from the utopian mindset and leave this city."

Chapter 862 Necessary Evil

"The will to break through utopia..."

Lu Ban sensed something was wrong.

"You mean, utopia restricts you?"

Hippocrates did not answer directly, but instead took another sip of the wine made from honeyworms. Although this behavior seemed perfectly normal, Lu Ban already knew how the wine was made, so the scene seemed strangely funny to him.

"As you know, it was utopia that created Plato. The saint was merely the spokesperson for the city's will. We have lived this way for hundreds of years, and no one has thought it was wrong."

Hippocrates put down his cup and continued in a deep voice.

"Indeed, under the utopian system, our lives are quite prosperous, and everyone lives in harmony and order. Under the condition of absolute justice, even if someone tries to exploit loopholes, it will mostly not cause a huge negative impact. We should be grateful to Utopia and should not have any thoughts of going against Utopia."

In Lu Ban's view, Utopia has indeed achieved an ideal country in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Here, people must abide by a fair, just, and open order, and must act under absolute justice. Even if the Senate interprets the rules, their goal is still the survival of utopia.

In real life, such a system is almost impossible to exist, which is why utopia has become a synonym for fantasy.

This is also the difference between the two different worlds. After all, in Lu Ban's world, breaking the rules won't immediately get you struck by lightning. If you secretly do bad things and aren't discovered, you might really get away with it. But in the wasteland, breaking the law will really get you struck by lightning from the Utopia on the spot.

This is a legitimate legal system, not rule of man based on law.

At the same time, due to the nature of utopia itself, these rules and laws are absolutely just, always implemented for the survival of utopia, and will evolve with time. It can be said that this is an ideal society governed by the rule of law.

In this situation, many people would be eager to move to Utopia, so why would Hippocrates want to defy the Utopian system?

Normally, this would definitely be a villain's statement.