"So if the humans die, but they learn of them before they die, that still works?" Ning asked.
<To a certain extent, yes>
<They care more about the souls that recognize them than anything. The negative emotions of the people are quite powerful and let them survive for a little longer than if the same amount of people simply thought of them nicely.>
"Wait… from what you're saying, it just sounds to me like it's better in their interest to keep the humans safe and have them remember forever," Ning said.
<Normally, a Constellation continues surviving in two ways.>
<they either help the beings with souls and get remembered by them. Or they rule them in fear and then get remembered by them>
<however, the situation on earth is different. There is no one constellation, but 144 that want a piece of it.>
<As such, they realized that not all of the could do the same thing. The portals were forming to another universe anyway, so they could help them. But if they did so, it would be hard for the humans to remember all 144 of them>
<They could at the start, but then they would have to continue being popular to constantly remind them that they were one of the ones that needed to be remembered.>
<as such, a few of the constellations decided to take a different approach. Instead of helping the humans, they decided to terrorize the humans. No matter what they simply wanted to be remembered after all.>
<They have a higher chance of failure due to their low number, but if they succeeded somehow…>
"They would have hit a jackpot," Ning said. "I see. So they are indeed capitalizing on the dungeons and cooking up a plan to bring their names to the forefront at once."
<Yes.>
"Do we need to be concerned?" Saphandra asked.
"No, not really," Ning said. "For now, let's just get to the city and see how it has changed."
Ning drove all the way to Chengdu city and saw the many billboards with various apostles on them. Each one of them had their god's name in the s too.
He saw the various tall buildings that he didn't remember being there. He passed by a zoo and turned around to look at it.
"That's the zoo where I used to work," Ning told the two in the car. "That was also where I died before reincarnating."
"Do you want to go in and see?" Saphandra asked.
"Well…" Ning stopped the car. "Maybe just a quick look. Do you want to come?"
"Sure," the two of them said.
"Okay, it's nighttime, so the zoo must be closed. We will have to fly over," Ning said and quickly entered. He concealed himself with Qi and so did White. As for Saphandra, she didn't need to conceal herself with how easily she could hide in the dark.
Ning went through the zoo from above and arrived in the cage that housed the zebras. "Which one killed me?" Ning asked.
<The zebra that killed you have already died. It died during the Dungeon break 5 years ago.>
"Ah… is that so," Ning said with a sad face. "Well, what can you really do?"
The group left and went back to the car, driving away once more.
"It's only been 7 years since you left. Don't you want to meet your friends?" Saphandra asked.
"Hehe, I don't have any friends," Ning said with a smile that was clearly self deprecating.
"Why? Were you bad at making friends? Or were you just the type of kid that liked to stay alone?" Saphandra asked.
"Neither," Ning said. "I wasn't very outgoing, but I still liked having friends. I did have some friends before my parents died, but after that, I was sent to the orphanage and I could no longer talk with my friends from before."
"I tried making friends in the orphanage, but any time I got close to someone, I would only be disappointed after they were adopted, and I was left all alone."
"After a few times of making friends and losing them, I finally stopped trying to make friends altogether. I would just sit in the lounging area, watching the same old movies that we were allowed to watch in the orphanage," Ning said. "Sadly, after I left the orphanage, I was alive for barely 3 months. Not enough to make any real friends."
"I see," Saphandra said.
"What about relatives?" White Depth Field asked. "Did you not have any?"
"No…?" Ning thought. "My parents never took me to any relatives from what I can remember. My grandparents died when I was very young. My father's parents, that is."
"As for my mother's parents… hmm, I think they might have died early too. I don't remember her saying anything about them," Ning said.
"What about uncles or aunts? Or even just cousins?" Saphandra asked.
"Stop asking an orphan such questions," Ning said. "System, can you show me my family chart for up to 2 generations ago?"
The system immediately gave him a chart of his family tree. Ning saw him being connected to his father and mother, who were born into two different couples.
Ning saw the status of every single one of them as well. His father and mother were dead and so were their father's parents. On his mother's side, however, while her father was dead, her mother was still alive.
"I… I have a grandmother?" Ning's eyes narrowed as a cold emotion filled him. He saw that his grandmother also had a son who had two children of his own.
"She was still alive," Ning said softly. "And my uncle was still alive. Why did they never come to find me? Why did my mother never talk about them?"
His words were cold and full of hidden anger. "System, answer me."
<Your mother was pregnant with you before she was married. When her family found out, they wanted her to get rid of you.>
<However, your mother refused and when they threatened to disown her, she left on her own. Since then, she cut her ties and her family never tried to look for her.>
<By now, they assume that she is either living a peaceful life somewhere or has already died in a dungeon break.>
