The huge statue towered before the mountain town. It had yet to be complete. It was merely a rough model now. I ran out and stood in the shadow of the statue, which seemed as tall as a building.

I walked out of the statue’s shadow and Raffles greeted me happily. “Lil’ Bing, look! I built you a statue.”

It’s really me!

Behind Raffles were the villagers, who looked at me in admiration.

I felt awkward and pulled Raffles toward the statue, where one side of the skirt’s hemline could block us from view.

“Raffles, why did you build a statue of me? You know I don’t like it.” I had hated my statue in Noah City for a long time, and I’d finally smashed it when I left. It had felt great.

I never expected Raffles’s gaze to turn solemn as he explained, “Lil’ Bing, I know that you aren’t used to it. However, the statue not only represents you, but also a spirit and a belief. The people in Zone 1 will only have the strength to live a new life with it towering here.” Raffles’ eyes were set aflame under the sunset. His grayish blue eyes twinkled.

I recalled that the people in Zone 1 didn’t dare to believe in the assistance that we’d provided them with. They didn’t believe in a Queen who didn’t eat humans. They didn’t believe in the fact that they were going to live a good life. Suddenly, I understood the purpose of the statue.

Raffles was right. The statue not only represented me, but it also represented a belief and a sort of strength! It was much more meaningful than I thought.

It was my promise to the villagers that they would no longer suffer. I had promised that they would no longer starve. I had also promised that they would no longer be bullied by the Ghost Eclipsers.

That was why, when I stood here overlooking them while they looked at the statue, they would feel that I was with them and they wouldn’t be afraid or insecure. 

“The statue is connected to you directly too…” Raffles brought me out of the shadow and stood in front of the statue. Then, I realized that there was a door at the bottom. There was a room inside. I wondered what Raffles was thinking about this time.

“Long live the Queen!”

“Long live the Queen!” Suddenly, the villagers cheered and waved excitedly. Some of them cried, while some of them wailed tearfully on their knees.

Such scenes constantly happened around me among the Ghost Eclipsers. They didn’t dare to believe in everything that had happened before their eyes. They didn’t dare to believe that they would see a good life ahead of them.

Night fell and the first day of our work ended. Everyone gathered in the palace under the mountain town. It was supported by huge stone pillars.

A huge bonfire lit up the surroundings. The palace was so huge that the light of the flame couldn’t reach the edges. It was still empty, but it would probably become very busy in the near future.

The palace was segregated into a few regions by stone walls. A part of it was going to be storage for food and supplies, while the others were going to be a market, a school, and other public areas.

Although they would think that there was no need for a school, Raffles had designed the mountain town with great foresight. When the world was at peace, people had to learn. Everyone here, not only the children, had to receive an education.

“I still can’t believe in everything that’s happened…” An elderly man continued to wipe his tears.

“Yeah, we can’t either. Eletta, Chew Li, you really brought the Goddess back to us.” Everyone hugged Eletta and the others tightly.

“To be honest, I thought Eletta and the others wouldn’t come back anymore…” A middle-aged man sobbed. “If their mothers were alive, that’d be great. It’s a pity…” The man began to cry as he spoke.

Their mothers had all been eaten. Before we’d taken over Zone 1, the only mother left alive had been Flowery and Grassy’s mother. But right as He Lei had arrived, Flowery and Grassy’s mother, Uncle Anima’s wife, had been cut down. He Lei had come a little too late.

“I miss mommy…” Flowery and Grassy cried sorrowfully.

“Your Highness, if not for you, Flowery might be dead…” Uncle Anima said with tears welling up in his eyes.

I was left speechless. I couldn’t help but look at the Queen. 

You commanded the Ghost Eclipsers long ago. What did you do when the people were bullied by the Ghost Eclipsers?

  The Queen lowered her head quietly, while Flurry remained silent next to her.

“You united the Ghost Eclipsers…” Xing Chuan said coldly in the firelight, “But you never 

rescu

ed any suffering humans… What was the purpose… of unifying them? 

Cough, cough…

 The Great Ghost King never cared whether you were dead or alive, but Queen Bing brought you food and seeds. This is what a monarch should do! 

Cough, cough, cough!

” 

“That’s right!” Eletta’s voice ran hot with emotions. “As our Great Ghost King, when did he care for us? Are we not his people? Just because he needed the Ghost Kings, he let them hurt us! If the western hemisphere can be united, I hope the one to unite us will be our Queen!”

“That’s right! Your Highness, tell us what you need us to do!”

“Your Highness! I have a superpower. I can move things with my mind too, but I’m not as good as Lisi. Tell me what you need me to do tomorrow!”

“Your Highness, let us do something tomorrow!”

Everyone looked sincere and eager to help.

Raffles and Xing Chuan looked at me. I smiled at them next to the bonfire, saying, “We are sowing seeds tomorrow. There are so many fields. Everyone can help.”

“Sowing seeds!”

“Oh! We are sowing seeds.”

“We have food!”

“We can live! We can live!”

Everyone stood up simultaneously and they began to sing and dance around the bonfire.

The people in Zone 1 had survived through a terrifying ruler and kept their positive side. It was precious. They were unlike the people in Zone 10, who had been assimilated into the Ghost Eclipsers.

Flowery and Grassy came to pull me and Raffles in. We joined the human circle and we danced and sang around the bonfire.

The temperature at night fell drastically, and the wind was strong too. It kicked up more dust.

Theoretically, it was a basin, and there shouldn’t be such strong winds. However, it was a rocky mountain, and the surface area of the basin was huge like a flat plain. That was why there were freezing winds.

I stood in the middle of the mountain town and looked into the distance. The surrounding rolling mountains merged into one with the ground under the pale night sky. It was like a huge gray canvas.

It was an important task to manage the dust in Zone 1 too. So, the surroundings of the mountain town had to be filled with huge trees to dustproof the city.

The gray canvas would soon be covered in brilliant colors.

After we sowed seeds the next day, we would leave to visit another livable zone. I would hand over the rest of those matters to Eletta and the others.