Amidst the flickering of arcane sparks, Kamal turned around and silently looked at the nearly a thousand seats in the hall, as well as the 972 former colleagues who had fallen into eternal slumber on them.
"It's been a thousand years … A thousand years ago, I was one of the chief researchers of the Imperial Royal Magus Legion. His Majesty personally issued a secret order to transfer me from the Imperial Capital to this fortress at the northern border. When I first saw it, I was just as surprised as you are now.
"The Empire secretly built this facility twelve hundred years ago. The plan had already begun twelve hundred years ago. Yes, just as you said, we are here to defend against the Mana Tide. The Imperial Family had long been aware of the approach of the Mana Tide and had been looking for a solution. It was a huge and secretive plan, and the Imperial Family and the entire Imperial Magisters participated in it. However, very few knew the full picture of the plan. Even as the chief researcher of the Imperial Magisters, I only knew the parts of the plan that I was in charge of.
"My mission was to analyze the power of the gods, and to find a way to combine the genes of the gods with human cells …
"Please don't interrupt me. I know this may sound ridiculous to you, but it did happen a thousand years ago.
"When I came to this fortress, the plan had already been in operation for two hundred years. We found the exact location of the White Star Fall. It was not in the present world, but it required passing through the Umbra Realm to reach the edge of the Umbra Realm. So, we built a portal at the bottom of the Disobedient Fortress. This portal used the power of the gods to break through the barriers between several 'realms', and the exploration team brought back a sample of the God of Nature's flesh …"
As Kamel spoke, he raised an arm condensed from arcane energy and pointed at the wall. As a small spark danced, a hidden isolation door suddenly appeared on the wall. The isolation door slowly opened with the creaking sound of machinery, and Kamel slowly floated towards the door. "Please follow me. I hope you can remain calm no matter what you see."
Gawain and Heidi looked at each other and followed after Kamal with the rest of them.
"We paid a huge price. Mortals who come into direct contact with a god's flesh and blood, or even looking directly at it, would be fatal, not to mention extracting energy and genetic factors from it. However, we discovered something 'mixed' with the god's corpse in the Looming Shadow World. That thing helped us find a way to resist the erosion of divine power … although it was only partially effective."
Following behind Kamel, Gwen saw the hidden rooms and the secrets that still remained in those rooms.
In a laboratory, he saw large pieces of metal and crystal debris bound and sealed by a set of complicated magic circles. The debris seemed to have been peeled off from a large-scale man-made object. Even after so many years, they still maintained a brand-new texture.
"Their material …" Gwen looked at the shards of metal and crystal with a serious expression. "Seems to be the same as the Eternal Slate?"
Kamel nodded. "Yes, exactly the same. These things are together with the corpses of the gods. It even looks like they are the cause of the fall of the gods. But we don't know the real connection between the Eternal Slate and these things."
Gwen's heart skipped a beat. He had vaguely guessed the truth, but he said nothing.
Kamel passed through the room and continued to float forward. "I don't know the full picture of the whole plan, but I know that the power of the gods is the only thing that can resist the Great Mana Tide, and the only way for humans to survive the Great Mana Tide is to change our life form. After decades of research, the pioneers have found a way to extract energy from the flesh of the gods. And the team I lead is going one step further: injecting the genetic factors of the gods into human cells, changing the basic biological structure of humans.
"Through this method, humans can carry the 'power of the gods'. Even if it's just a weak power, it can bring hope to resist the Great Mana Tide. In the laboratory 'outside', I cultivated the first phase of the experiment. I named it 'Abomination' … "
"I see …" Gwen muttered in a low voice.
Kamel did not hear clearly. "What?"
"No, it's not important." Gwen looked at the ancient spirit of magic. "And then? Did the Abomination succeed? "
"In the end, it succeeded. We created a stable genetic factor that can safely combine with human cells and be passed down generation after generation. Humans who carry the genetic factor will not die of malignant mutation like the first phase of the Abomination. Instead, they can undergo beneficial rapid mutation when the Great Mana Tide comes, mutating before the body dies and adapting to the new environment of the Great Mana Tide … theoretically."
Kamel led Gwen and the rest to the next room. Here, they saw neatly arranged culture containers. The culture containers were well-preserved. In the translucent biomass solution, human samples of different periods were soaked. The first sample was a huge swollen body with distorted crystals on the surface of the body. But as time passed, the samples became more and more stable. In the final container, it was almost a healthy human.
"You're saying that in theory?" Gwen looked at Kamel, who was floating before him. He had a vague guess. "You didn't test it?"
"Can't test it." Kamel stopped. "All the information about the Great Mana Tide can only be simulated. We used the Deep Blue Well to simulate, but what the real Great Mana Tide is like … probably only the gods know, and we are defying the gods."
After that, the ancient spirit of magic led the group forward. Gwen noticed that they were heading to a higher level: there was a third level of this facility.
"After the final Abomination was completed, the mission of this facility was over. The personnel were evacuated, and the data and samples were sent back to the imperial capital. But not everyone was evacuated." Kamel's voice echoed in the empty corridor like the emptiness of the dead. "We are not sure if the Abomination can really fight against the demonic tide, and we are not sure if there will be a new disaster to destroy mankind. So a group of people were chosen to be the 'seeds'. The seeds are sealed in the deepest part of this facility, sealed in a different dimension that is isolated from the real world. If the 'outside world' is really destroyed, then at least we have left a glimmer of hope for mankind."
"Those we saw in the hall …" Heti muttered to herself. Then she raised her voice. "Are you planning to rebuild human society with just a few hundred people?"
"No, we have more than a few hundred people." Kamel seemed to smile, but all his expressions were mixed in the blurry arcane sparks. He stopped in front of a door at the end of the corridor. "Behind this door is the Silent Hall. There were sixty thousand people in it."
"Sixty thousand?!" Heti's eyes widened. But then she realized the key point in Kamel's words. "You mean … the original?"
"Yes, the original."
Kamel opened the door. As the heavy and ancient isolation door slowly opened, the scene in the Silent Hall appeared before everyone's eyes.
Everyone was at a loss for words in shock.
Behind the gate was a shattered space. There was no stagnant hall at all, nor were there the 'seeds' of the sixty thousand rebuilt civilizations. A mad gloom shrouded the outside as massive spatial rifts and violent turbulence of energy raged in the distance. All that could be seen were floating pebbles, broken remains, and chaotic shadows. A small area on the ground, a few pieces of torn walls, and a dome were the only traces left of the stagnant hall.
It was as if a wild storm had struck here, completely tearing and devouring the Silent Hall.
It was a despairing scene, but Kamel had calmly accepted the fact many years ago. He just quietly closed the door and led everyone to another direction. He slowly told what happened back then. "We made a fatal mistake … Even if we hid here, we could not avoid the Demonic Tide.
"The Demonic Tide attacked the shelter and caused a chain reaction of dimensional collapse. Except for a small part of the facilities, everything was destroyed by the energy tide and dimensional storm. Sixty thousand people disappeared silently. The only ones who survived were the 'Watchers' in the center of the facility.
"The Watchers were the watchers who stayed behind willingly. We slept in a smaller Silent Hall and would wake up once every twenty years to check the situation in the Silent Hall and receive the latest news from the Communication Hall. We slept and woke up again and again to see sixty thousand people lying unconscious in the Silent Hall while the Communication Hall relayed the news that everything was fine in the Empire.
"You can't imagine what it was like … In the hundredth year of the facility's closure, the last person we knew in the outside world had passed away. In the sixtieth year, the Demonic Tide had not happened, the Empire was still prosperous, and we even began to doubt the necessity and meaning of the plan. Perhaps the Demonic Tide would not come at all. We, the nine hundred volunteers and the sixty thousand 'seeds', were only worried about a ridiculous doomsday prophecy and spent our entire lives for this illusory doomsday panic. But we still carried out our orders faithfully and fulfilled the oath we made back then. In the two hundred and fortieth year of the facility's closure, some of us could not hold on any longer. We had a small internal conflict. Some were ready to open the door from the inside, but in the end, Grand Magus Wigma took control of the situation, and then … "
Kamel was silent for a long time before his voice was low. "We were awakened by a shrill alarm. In the midst of the chaos, we received news that the fortress was heavily damaged. In the Communication Hall, we saw the last message from His Majesty. We were the last survivors. The necessity and meaning of the plan was finally confirmed, but everything did not go as we expected.
"The Silent Hall was destroyed. Two-thirds of the entire facility's structure disappeared in the storm. The magic to the present world was also closed due to the Demonic Tide. Even if the magic door was not closed, we could not leave here. The outside world was no longer viable. The only place for us to survive was this cone.
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