"Having made the stars flow into a river, He used its tip to create writing and devised symbols for pronunciation and counting."
"He made the stars converge into a river, pointing out that goodness and righteousness were upstream, while evil and unrighteousness were downstream."
"From then on, all things received their respective marks, and mankind could then know good and evil, as well as benefit and harm."
"This was the third and fourth days."
After passing through the picture frame, everyone returned to the theater, and Sunday began telling his mythological story again.
Standing puppets appeared along the road, pointing the train crew in the right direction.
Following their guidance, everyone arrived at a room. Inside was another glowing picture frame, another door.
With their previous experience, none of them hesitated and they walked straight in.
"This is the second play, Ode to the Foolish Servant."
The new play brought everyone into a new environment. Unlike the deep, empty darkness of the starry sky in the first play, this place was hazy and unclear, like a shallow green, misty deep sea.
Countless strange plants stretched and climbed upward, forming eerie shadows. Only after looking closely did they realize that they were actually the shadows of dancing puppets.
"The story that follows revolves around a struggle for power. The seven great families of Tree, Grass, Flower, Bird, Beast, Fruit, and Insect were established one after another on Penacony."
"Peace never truly descended upon the land of exile. This part of history is complicated and tangled, so please allow me to present it to you in the form of a fable."
"The order of the land of exile was extremely chaotic, while internal and external troubles watched like tigers waiting for an opportunity."
"The seven great families appeared united on the surface, but in reality, each governed its own affairs, and conflicts continued without end."
"The first to withdraw from the civil war was the Black Plum family. During the 'White Desert' incident planned by the Alfalfa family, they became part of history forever."
"The head of the Alfalfa family intended to defect to the Corporation, trading freedom for survival, but his eldest son killed him in the name of righteousness. The latter then took over as head of the family."
"The galaxy is cruel and merciless. The Moth family attempted to cultivate the silver tracks left behind by the train, only to encounter the remnants of the Swarm and suffer destruction."
"It was not until Gopher Wood led his family to the land of exile that the five great families converted one after another, and only then was Penacony able to embrace its new name, the Land of Dreams."
Another new puppet appeared before them. Like the previous one, it had a voice from the past, and it was noticeably different from the other puppets.
It was called the Newly Arrived Master. It held a wineglass in its hand, its face was blurred, and its appearance was hideous.
It said, "Foreign guests, I ask you to help this house rid itself of the poison of the instigators hiding within."
"Help you? What do we need to do?" March asked, looking at the Newly Arrived Master.
"I hope they can all regain their rational calm and no longer be controlled by hypocrisy." The Newly Arrived Master looked at the other puppets kneeling around it as it spoke.
"Sure, no problem!"
Nero agreed to the Newly Arrived Master with a smile all over his face. After all, he was always so willing to help others.
Pointing his sword, the boy once again lifted Black Flash with ease, and then...
Bang!
The Newly Arrived Master fell from the high platform as well.
"Uh..." Everyone seemed to hear Sunday let out a speechless murmur.
Himeko once again summarized it for the children, "This second act is about Penacony's journey toward becoming the Land of Dreams, and the arrival of the Family played an indispensable role in it."
"But this Newly Arrived Master... doesn't look like a good person," March said.
"Of course not." Stelle said, then glanced at Nero, who was knocking the other puppets down one after another. "After all, when that guy asked not to be controlled by hypocrisy, he himself was the first one Nero knocked down.
"Nero made it that obvious. How could it possibly be a good thing?"
"Uh..." March looked at Stelle with the corner of her mouth twitching. She was talking about the one in the story, not that guy just now... but whatever. There wasn't much difference anyway.
Compared to caring about the "Newly Arrived Master," she was also more willing to believe that "Nero is justice."
"Actually, this is what Sunday wanted to say." Himeko looked at March and patiently explained, "He hid these contents beneath the narrative. Harmony changed Penacony, but its methods were no different from those of the prison guards in the past."
Sunday's sigh rang in everyone's ears, "Unfortunately, to the very end, they were still a group of slaves who had been granted the right to freedom."
"That concludes the second act. Amid the illusory music of harmony, the land of exile gradually became the star of the grand gathering."
"This is the process by which Penacony gradually became the Family's territory," Himeko said. "After Harmony arrived, the land of exile underwent tremendous changes. These changes... were not all positive."
Just like last time, the train crew once again left through the picture frame.
After returning to the theater, Sunday was still telling his mythological story.
"He gathered the stars into a ring and made the laws clear, establishing rules of conduct with mankind."
"He used the great piano with black and white keys as the instrument; the symbols for pronunciation and counting as the notes; the river that flowed upward but never downward as the melody; and the rules that made the laws clear as the musical structure."
"Thus, mankind found the proper place for the One within the musical composition. This was the fifth and sixth days."
Everyone moved through the grand theater, following the seemingly endless puppets forward. They clearly had little interest in the creation story Sunday was telling.
March even complained that Sunday really liked using these puppets as guides.
Soon, everyone found the picture frame again and climbed inside with practiced ease.
"This is the third play, Ode to Order."
"Oh, I finally understand this one." After seeing the name of the third act, March put her hands on her hips. "This final act is going to sing the praises of Order."
"The atmosphere here is completely different from the previous two as well."
Stelle narrowed her eyes as she complained.
In front of everyone stood neat, white buildings and tall walls, solemn and sacred.
"His comparison is way too obvious."
"Mm." Nero nodded. "At least when it comes to his inner thoughts, Brother Sunday is pretty free."
"This is the final act.", Sunday said this.
He had heard all of their discussions, but he did not want to argue or quarrel with them.
The main reason was that along the way, the comments from the trio had been too sharp and too accurate, while their way of thinking was too unconventional.
Sunday, who considered himself normal, had no confidence that he could win. And in the current setting, getting into an argument would indeed be rather discourteous.
"I have already shown you the past and present of Penacony, and I sincerely hope that you can understand why exactly I want to change the current state of affairs."
"And next, I will reveal to you... Penacony's future."
This time, Sunday was very quiet. He no longer told them any stories, and everyone soon encountered another strange puppet.
The new puppet was red, resembling a conductor. Some of the parts that made up its body looked as though they had been taken apart from a violin.
The new puppet remained silent. Unlike the previous two times, it did not move or speak. Even the useful clockwork trick had no effect.
"Please forgive my discourtesy. I forgot to tell you," Sunday's voice suddenly rang out as he explained why the puppet did not interact with them this time. "Only this final play was written long ago."
Having grown accustomed to interacting with the puppets, everyone was somewhat uncomfortable for a moment. Nero, however, did not care. He actually thought this was better.
He walked over and lined up all the puppets in a row. Whether they were special or not, they were all placed in the same line. Then the boy pushed the last puppet, causing the puppets to fall from the high platform one after another.
After doing this, Nero casually clapped his hands. The expression on his face was as relaxed as if he had just thrown away some trash.
"Ha... It's better when they can't talk."
Nero said this.
Sunday, "..."
"This final act is much more active than the previous ones." Himeko looked at Nero with some helplessness.
She felt that when Sunday faced someone like Nero, he must have both a headache and a stomachache. "He wants to drive away Harmony and establish an empire of Order."
Everyone continued forward and walked out through the picture frame.
Amid the deep darkness, countless fragments spiraled upward, forming an endless spiral staircase that converged into the light above.
Countless window frames fell into place, a red carpet spread out, the lights came on, and the theater lit up, welcoming the actors who were about to take the stage.
Sunday's voice rang out again, "He bestowed meaning upon everyone in the world, and everything under heaven was created. He rested from all His work of creation."
"However, all living beings called out to the One again, You defined all people through Order, yet you made us realize that we are nothing more than your puppets!"
"Thus, on that day, all gathered together as one and cast God into the pit of destruction."
"This was the seventh day."
In the end, Sunday still did not give up the chance to finish telling his mythological story.
March looked at the grand theater, which had become magnificent, resplendent, sacred, and solemn, and sighed that the power of Order was truly incredible.
The transformation before her was so striking that the girl seemed to forget that someone even more astonishing was standing beside her.
If such a grand transformation could all be restored to its original state with just a clap, what an impressive sight would that be?
Everyone walked across the red carpet and arrived before the stage, where Sunday had already been waiting.
"That concludes everything concerning Order. I wonder what everyone thinks?" he asked.
Everyone looked at one another. Only Nero answered bluntly, "Nothing much. I don't know. I wasn't listening carefully, but pushing the puppets off was pretty fun."
Sunday, "..."