Ashen City.
Beneath the lofty sun that never went out, the majestic city had lost its former splendor.
Bugfolk hurried along the roads, while the occasional patrol of soldiers lent the streets an air of grim menace.
Exhaustion, sorrow, and all manner of negative emotions spread through the residents' hearts.
Every so often, a notice of a soldier's death would arrive at a household, followed by cries of grief.
Even so, they still had to pull themselves together and return to work the next day, lest that suffering continue.
Over these past few months, the postman had become the last person any bug wanted to see.
His arrival announced the death of another loyal soldier, the loss of a father, son, or husband, and the shattering of a family.
Yet every bug still prayed of their own accord, hoping the god they believed in would deliver them from suffering.
Those fragile yet steadfast lights gathered together, eventually forming a long tether that connected to the city's center.
The Sunfire Temple.
At the center of the ceiling, a dazzling orb shone as it continuously absorbed essence. Its fiery red glow imperceptibly raised the temperature throughout the chamber even further.
The air was so hot that any bug who entered would spontaneously combust and die.
As the Sunfire God's temple, this place was almost an absolute domain of flame.
Yet this sacred place was now filled with frantic noises. It was hard to imagine that the one whimpering was the very god to whom the bugs had just been praying.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing, still nothing! Damn it, I can't find anything!"
Countless bugs' prayers poured in alongside the essence. Lin Jin could hardly be unaware of them. In fact, he was already doing everything he could.
But as his anxiety grew, wave