The history of the Anti-Demon War and PF recounted by Zhao Kangmo left Legen stunned. His mind was in turmoil, trying to process the vast amount of information. While Legen was in a daze, Zhao Kangmo continued speaking. "My name, Kangmo, means anti-demon. I chose it myself. I won't rest until I've eradicated every underground demon!" Zhao Kangmo gritted his teeth as he made this declaration, then shifted the topic and asked Legen, "By the way, Brother Legen, my most important task this time is to ask you if there are any survivors on the Spice island where you live. If there are, we need to organize a rescue immediately." "Huh? I..." Legen's thoughts hadn't caught up with Zhao Kangmo's pace. He was now thinking about a fact he had long suspected but only now confirmed—that he was no longer on Earth. Legen had been puzzled by this before, and now he was shocked. He had noticed many unusual things, such as the fleet that rescued him. All the ships were strange; they didn't use cannons but ice water cannons. They had no chimneys and didn't emit any smoke while sailing. The ships were full of lights, but there were no switches or visible wires. For example, Dr. Borda, who rescued him, performed a check-up by simply moving her hand about 1 cm away from his body without touching him. When she rode a bicycle with him, she did so effortlessly, even though she didn't look particularly strong. The buns that were too hot for Legen to touch, Dr. Borda could pick up and eat without any concern. Since encountering this fleet, Legen had intermittently felt an indescribable emotion through these strange occurrences, like the feeling of having forgotten something important after rushing out the door. And now, the information from this man named Zhao Kangmo had cleared up his confusion—this world had magic and a species called underground demons. There shouldn't be underground demons on Earth. If there were, as Zhao Kangmo described, humans would have disturbed them long ago while drilling thousands of meters underground for oil. From Zhao Kangmo's description, these demons were clearly an intelligent species, even tunneling to the surface to attack humans. If such creatures existed on Earth, humans and these demons would have discovered each other long ago, leaving no trace unnoticed. Unless... this wasn't Earth, or it was Earth from millions of years ago, now unrecognizable. Another possibility struck Legen with fear: with the existence of demons, could this be a fantasy world like those he had read about in literature? That would be bad. "Hey, brother, you need to think back. Are there any other survivors on the island? This is very important!" Zhao Kangmo waved his hand in front of Legen's face. "You can't zone out. I understand that something scary might have happened on the island, and you don't want to recall it. But nothing is more important than human life, right? You need to answer my question, brother." "You mean... the island?" Legen struggled to snap out of his thoughts and asked. "Yes, tell me if there are any survivors on the island," Zhao Kangmo asked urgently. "I'm not sure... Didn't you search the island?" Legen thought carefully, realizing he had too little information and needed to ask more. Zhao Kangmo sighed, "We did search... The rescue team went to the Spice island five years ago, but they said the Spice island had experienced a massacre and found no survivors." "Honestly, I want to apologize on behalf of the rescue team," Zhao Kangmo said, standing up from his chair and bowing deeply to Legen. "Not finding you was a failure, but I'm sure they did their best. Please don't blame them." Zhao Kangmo's sudden apology left Legen at a loss. He quickly supported Zhao Kangmo, "No, I don't think you need to apologize. It's... it was those damned underground demons' fault, not yours." Zhao Kangmo's expression relaxed a bit. "Thank you for not holding it against us. You're right, it was those damned underground demons." After a moment of solemn silence, Zhao Kangmo asked again, "So, there are no other survivors on the island, except you?" Legen realized that the answer to this question might carry the responsibility for human lives, and he didn't know the answer. So he could only shake his head and repeat what he had said before. "Like I said before, I'm not sure." Zhao Kangmo was puzzled, "You're not sure? Then... how have you survived on the Spice island all these years? Were you hiding in some part of the island? Don't you know the situation of the whole island?" This question troubled Legen. He didn't know the exact situation of Spice Island. If he lied, it might lead to unpredictable consequences. And his real experience didn't match Zhao Kangmo's assumptions, so he didn't dare to tell the truth either. Finally, with a pained expression, he answered, "I'm sorry... I have amnesia. I don't remember anything from a year ago, maybe two years ago." As he spoke, Legen thought carefully about how to explain to avoid logical flaws. "I cut some wood and made a raft, moved a lot of things onto it, and planned to go out to sea to find others." "But I encountered a storm, and my raft was destroyed. Everything on it fell into the sea. I thought I was going to die, but then I was washed back to the Spice island by the waves." "After that, it wasn't long before I met you. That's it." Legen had quickly made up this false story, hoping to get away with it. But upon reflection, he realized there were many flaws, making him very nervous and unable to look Zhao Kangmo in the eye. But Zhao Kangmo interpreted Legen's behavior differently: he thought Legen might have done something bad to other survivors or had bad things done to him by other survivors, so he didn't want to talk about them. Zhao Kangmo reasoned that if this were the case, the probability of other survivors on Spice Island was indeed low. He didn't quite believe Legen's claim of amnesia; things couldn't be that simple. Zhao Kangmo thought: if there had been other survivors on the island who didn't get along well, and one group survived until rescue while the other didn't, this situation could be ruled out. Because if they were still alive, they would have seen the fleet and planes that Legen saw and would have called for help. Since none of this happened, it ruled out the possibility of other survivors. Zhao Kangmo stopped asking Legen about the survivors on the Spice island and began recording the information he had gathered, including his own judgments. This was part of his task, as the organization needed his report to make decisions. Given that amnesia was difficult to disprove, whether or not another rescue team would be sent to Spice Island, Legen's words would remain an unchallenged lie. Legen watched quietly as Zhao Kangmo wrote in a familiar paper notebook with a pen, writing words he couldn't understand. His mind was still not at ease. After a period of silence, he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Zhao... I'm sorry I can't provide you with more information." "It's okay, you've done very well." Zhao Kangmo looked up at Legen and added, "If you remember anything, be sure to let me know. During this time, I will help you learn the Republic language until you no longer need a translator and can communicate with others." Legen nodded silently at first, but soon realized what that meant. "What, you mean you'll help me learn the Republic language? I... I can receive such treatment?" "Don't you need such treatment?" Zhao Kangmo asked, puzzled. "It's very troublesome to always use hand gestures to communicate with others, right?" "Although that's true, I'm just a survivor. Can I really receive such generous... help?" Legen was shocked that he could get a personal translator. He had thought Zhao Kangmo would leave after asking his questions. "We're all human, helping each other is natural. I'm volunteering, and the organization arranged it this way. The fact that you find this surprising shows you have a strong sense of responsibility." Zhao Kangmo smiled and handed Legen a business card. "Look at my name and the number below. This is the first thing you need to remember. If you need help and I'm not around, you can ask others to help you contact me." Legen took the card and saw Zhao Kangmo's photo on it. The picture wasn't very clear, and the colors were quite distorted, indicating that the photography technology in this world was behind that of modern Earth. But Legen suddenly realized that these were Arabic numerals. He could see Arabic numerals! Realizing this, Legen remembered that this wasn't the first time he had seen Arabic numerals. These symbols were so common on Earth that he hadn't immediately noticed how out of place they were in this completely different world. It couldn't be a coincidence that different civilizations ended up with the same numeral shapes. It was too much of a coincidence! "These are..." Legen tried to ask. "My phone number. Oh, you might not know what a phone is. It's a device that allows two people to communicate over long distances. A few years ago, it was very rare, only available in the offices of organizational leaders. Now it's more widespread, even I have a number. I estimate that in a few years, ordinary people like you will have one too. It's very convenient, and the organization is actively promoting it. So, no need to be too envious." Zhao Kangmo explained with a smile. Legen was continuously shocked by these Earth-like objects. He couldn't speak for a while, only nodding. His mind was trying to find a reasonable explanation for these occurrences, and he finally thought of one possibility—that Earth people had crossed over to this world before! This was a major discovery, but it was also useless, providing only a bit of psychological comfort to Legen. But he still wanted to know more. "Mr. Zhao..." "Just call me Zhao. No need for formalities. Saying it like that every day must be tiring. Do you have something to say?" Legen nodded, "I want to know more about the demons and the history before they came. Can you tell me more?" "Sure." Zhao Kangmo continued to educate Legen on history: PF's predecessor was not any of the major kingdoms. More specifically, it didn't originate from any kingdom and didn't inherit any kingdom's territorial legitimacy. It could be described as a rebel regime. This regime started with a very small area, sandwiched between two major kingdoms, struggling to survive. But it gradually grew stronger, encroaching on the territories of the surrounding major kingdoms that were difficult to govern, slowly becoming a powerful force that the major kingdoms couldn't ignore. Then, through diplomatic efforts, it avoided isolation for a long time until it completely defeated one kingdom, prompting the other kingdoms to unite against it. But by then, it was too late for the other kingdoms. Compared to the war between PF and the underground demons, Legen found its rise more legendary. As an Earthling, he had no feelings about demons, but stories of diplomacy and war among five major countries resonated with him deeply. "Your PF is really impressive, rising from such a low starting point," Legen couldn't help but marvel. "Yes, we owe it to our great Lingshou. He guided us in the right direction. Without him, there would be no PF." Zhao Kangmo said with admiration, his cheeks flushing with excitement, his eyes almost glowing. "Really?" Legen was intrigued by such high praise. "Your Lingshou is that amazing? Without him, there would be no PF?" "Yes, PF can function without anyone else, but not without the Lingshou! Without him, PF wouldn't have reached where it is today. Even if it survived, it wouldn't be as good as it is now. The Lingshou is the soul of PF!" Zhao Kangmo's tone became particularly fervent when he mentioned the Lingshou, not looking at anyone but gazing upwards out the window. This was serious personal worship, Legen thought to himself. Not everyone in PF could be like this, right? This didn't seem like a federation's characteristic unless this federation was not what it claimed to be.

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