Actually, the moment Wendell said "This is my son," Hao Ren and the others had already imagined hundreds of thousands of words detailing the background, story, protagonists, supporting characters, and post-reading summaries—all thanks to being influenced by novels, movies, and TV dramas. How could they not guess the inside story? But they didn't say much, hoping the old man would simply explain what happened back then.

"Speak," Vivian sighed. "What exactly is going on?"

Wendell hesitated, but perhaps these things had been weighing on him for too long, needing someone to confide in, or perhaps the success of his lifelong career had shaken his defenses. After a moment of hesitation, he silently turned around and walked towards the edge of the platform.

Hao Ren and Vivian followed.

"He's right," Wendell said softly. "I abandoned my wife and children. In the entire first half of my life, I didn't have a single achievement to comfort my wife's spirit in heaven."

It was not a complicated story: an ambitious man longing for an adventure, a complete family that could have been happy, a destined tragic ending. Wendell had participated in a Search for Light voyage when he was young, and he already had a family at that time. He had a wife named Sasha and a son named Hope. That year, Hope was only seven years old—at that time, Dusk City had stood in the long night for two thousand three hundred years, and countless Seekers of Light had made futile efforts. Therefore, the appeal of the "Search for Light voyage" in the hearts of the people had weakened to an extreme. It could be said that apart from the Seekers of Light themselves and a few almost religious groups who still had faith, others had long since stopped believing that there was any vitality outside the dark wilderness.

The Steam Council at that time had even begun to discuss completely ending this age-old action.

The Seekers of Light represented the ancient perseverance, while the Steam Council represented the pragmatic spirit of keeping up with the trend. Wendell clearly belonged to the former, while Hope, who was only seven years old, had already begun to deeply admire the uniformed Steam Council constables. It could be said that their contradictions existed from the beginning, and what happened later only completely magnified this rift.

Wendell participated in the Search for Light voyage more than thirty years ago. He trekked through the long night, and his teammates were almost completely wiped out. After many days, he returned home covered in wounds. His wife had died of illness, and his son had never called him father again from that day on.

After Hope came of age, he joined the Steam Council without any surprise.

Thirty years later, Wendell once again returned from the darkness as a Seeker of Light, facing Hope, who had become a senior constable of the Steam Council. Obviously, human impulses and prejudices would tightly grasp this father and son. Hope would never calmly and rationally analyze whether his father's Search for Light career had even the slightest feasibility—he completely denied it, and from the beginning, he had no intention of believing anything Wendell said.

The son of a Seeker of Light, now the most radical member of the radical faction in the Steam Council. Other council members would at least consider the ancient traditions and maintain a superficial respect for the Seekers of Light, but the Seekers of Light in Hope's mind had long been completely disfigured.

So, acting on emotions can kill people—but what can you say? His own mother died...

In fact, Wendell didn't go into too much detail about these past events. After all, it was a painful past. He only briefly explained the process of his break with his biological son in order to clarify the situation. Most of the details were completed by Hao Ren and the others relying on their imagination. Throughout the whole process, Hope—the rebellious seven-year-old of the past, the middle-aged senior constable of today—maintained the posture of glaring at his own father with his neck stiff, but he didn't make any more excessive reactions beyond that.

"So that's how it is, then this can be understood," Hao Ren nodded after Wendell finished his story. He looked at the old man thoughtfully. "No wonder you were so reluctant to see people from the Steam Council. It turns out the only person you wanted to avoid was one person."

"If possible, I hope to send you to the Ancient Sacreds before he appears," Wendell pressed one hand over his eyes. "I have given everything for this cause—my wife and children, my whole life, all invested in it. I hope the whole thing can proceed smoothly and without any mistakes, at least let the Ancient Sacreds see you messengers from Asgard with their own eyes. After that, no matter what the Steam Council wants to do, I will have no regrets."

Vivian silently looked at Wendell, the old man who resolutely embarked on the Search for Light voyage. He showed a dauntless courage and unwavering decisiveness when challenging fate, but when his life's work was finally about to see the light of day, he became anxious and worried.

Hao Ren came to Hope and nodded to the middle-aged constable: "Looks like you don't believe a word your old man says?"

Hope was expressionless.

"You also don't believe that we came from outside the Twilight Barrier. You think we are extras your old man hired, just to perform a scene of 'the Search for Light voyage is successful, this work has broad prospects' in front of you?"

Hope was still expressionless.

"Are you out of your mind?" Hao Ren looked into the other's eyes very seriously. "Do you think this unfolding method has even a little bit of rationality? Do you think anyone would be so bored as to perform these things? Do you think your dad would be senile enough to forcibly promote his career in this way? If the Search for Light voyage really yielded nothing, would it make sense for your dad to hire a group of extras? There are so many incomprehensible things standing here, why don't you believe the most obvious and logical fact?"

Hope continued to be expressionless.

Vivian also came over and poked the other's head with her finger: "So I said you're out of your mind—you racked your brains and made up a loophole-ridden scam to explain what you saw. You have this reaction when you see things you don't understand. You're not even as good as a child. The pit in your brain has almost reached the level of perforation. If you look down from the top of your head, you can directly see your instep, right? I said you... Hey, why hasn't this person said anything after Hao Ren and I said so much?"

Elizabeth immediately jumped out: "Hey, you wanted him to answer questions? Why didn't you say so earlier? I just restrained him because I didn't like him..."

Hao Ren: "..."

Hope only recovered after the little imp解除暗影束缚 (Jiechu Anying Shufu—removed the Shadow Restraints), and he immediately took two steps back, making an extremely defensive posture: "Sorcerers! It's a serious crime to attack a constable!"

At the same time, the other constables also regained their freedom. They took this opportunity to immediately activate some kind of device on their bodies. Runes with anti-magic effects lit up on the collars of their uniforms, and then formed a circle around Hao Ren and his group.

"There's no way, you wouldn't listen to us if we didn't do this," Hao Ren spread his hands helplessly. "We really came from outside the barrier. If you don't believe me, go check your population information or something. There must be no one like us in it—speaking of which, you've been developing for more than two thousand years, you should have something like this, right?"

Hope looked warily at this group of dangerous elements, while his right hand was already on a small iron box on his waist: "It's meaningless for you to say anything to me—if you really came from outside the Twilight Barrier, then come with me to see the members of the Steam Council. They will investigate your origins. Compared to the 'Seekers of Light' who are full of fantasies, I believe the council that upholds the concepts of justice and rationality is more fair and just."

"What you said makes sense, but unfortunately, we're very busy," Hao Ren shrugged. "Our purpose here is just to see your 'Ancient Sacreds'. It's not us cooperating with you now, but hoping you can cooperate with us."

"That's impossible," Hope flatly refused. The moment the other party mentioned the Ancient Sacreds, he even forgot that he had no power to fight back against these people in front of him. "I don't care who you are—no one can rashly approach the Ancient Sacreds. Just based on your idea, I have enough reason to believe you are dangerous elements!"

"I knew this thing couldn't be so smooth," Nangong Sanba folded his arms. "A group of suspicious people without even an ID card suddenly ran over and said they wanted to chat with the president. How big of a pit would the guards have to have in their brains to let them through."

"It seems that the negotiation has broken down," Hao Ren turned to look at Wendell. "You know the way to where the Ancient Sacreds live, right?"

Wendell nodded subconsciously, and then suddenly realized that some uncontrollable things were about to happen: "Wait a minute, you want to..."

"Don't worry, we have a sense of propriety," Hao Ren raised his thumb, revealing a bright and trustworthy smile, and then patted Lily's head next to him. "Show mercy, let's open a way!"

"Awoo—Woof!!"