What a cliché, Hao Ren could not help but think.
The ancient civilization of the previous era was dragged into the crack of time and space due to an unknown natural disaster (the explosion of the Divine Kingdom). The surface world was destroyed, and the survivors built a large number of shelters inside the planet with their powerful technology and struggled to survive in them. As time went by, the disaster on the surface world gradually subsided. However, the survivors in the underground shelters became monsters or simply perished because of years of isolation and environmental changes. The shelter facilities they left behind became the dangerous Great Pit, filled with deadly poisonous gas and endless monsters. The new civilization on the surface world regarded them as scourges and ferocious beasts.
Hao Ren even boldly guessed that if these assumptions were true, then the so-called poisonous gas in the Great Pit should be the normal atmospheric composition of the planet 10,000 years ago. It was the foundation of the previous civilization, but it was the disaster of the current ecosystem.
But could a mere ten thousand years really cause such a huge change? Or, after the planet was dragged into the Umbral Realm, something else happened here that greatly accelerated the process of ecological evolution?
These questions could only be answered after entering the Great Pit.
Hao Ren had thought that becoming a mercenary and signing a guard contract with a sorceress was just a trivial incident, but he did not expect that it would lead to such important information. Hao Ren could not help but sigh at his good luck. If not for Rheia's sudden appearance and mention about the Great Pit, he did not know how long it would take him to get to the secrets of the underground world. After all, for most people in this world, the Great Pit was a place to stay away from, and a bold "scholar" like Rheia was a rare species.
Hao Ren made up his mind and closed the geographical journal in front of him. "Everyone, get ready. Tomorrow, follow Rheia to the Great Pit and try to find the entrance to the underground …"
However, before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly interrupted by Nolan's communicator. "Boss! You'd better come out and see this! "
"What's going on?" He did not expect Nolan, who was on guard duty at high altitude, to suddenly send him a message. He thought something had happened. "Enemy?"
Nolan's voice was hurried and shocked. "No! It's in the sky! There's something in the sky! "
The few of them immediately looked at each other and then ran to the wide floor-to-ceiling window in the library. They opened the window and looked up at the dark night sky outside.
Even the cat maiden was shocked by what she saw. "Meow, meow, meow, meow?"
In the pitch-black night sky, a fragmented world was slowly crossing the horizon!
It was a huge shadow, larger than any satellite or star that Hao Ren knew. Ordinary people could tell with their naked eyes that it was some broken continents floating in space without the aid of any optical equipment. Among them, the three largest continental fragments were distributed in a triangular formation. On the surface, there were clearly raised mountains and deep rifts. There were even some indistinct patterns that seemed to be man-made. Between the three floating continents, there were countless black dots of various sizes. Those were the floating islands that floated around the continents.
There was no doubt that all of this once belonged to a complete planet.
The surface of the broken continents was not completely dark. There were still some dark red or dark yellow patterns in the depths of the continents, and the faint light seemed to be the magma that had not completely cooled down. Of course, it could be something else that was still emitting light.
While everyone was still in shock, the inverted continents were still moving at a speed visible to the naked eye. They had already reached the center of the night sky, and their massive size almost covered a third of the sky. While the entire process was silent, there was a shocking sense of oppression and solemnity. Hao Ren even felt that he was hallucinating, and he heard a dull sound like giant logs rolling on the ground. Rumble, rumble …
These hallucinations were suddenly interrupted by a crisp voice from the side. "Ah, what are you doing neatly in front of the window?"
Hao Ren snapped out of his daze, and was surprised to see Rheia standing not far away from him. She was standing outside the window, and there was air beneath her feet. A few faint runes floated around her, blocking out the cold air from Longwind Ridge.
The mage lady seemed to have come out for some fresh air after her research.
"Aha, I'm just out for a walk. Don't look like you've seen a ghost." Rheia waved her hand casually when she noticed the surprised look on everyone's faces. "I know it's a little scary to stand outside the window and greet people, but you've seen a lot of things, so you shouldn't be scared, right?"
"Err … Oh, that's nothing." Vivian quickly snapped out of her daze and put on a gentle smile. "We're just looking at the night sky, and … the scenery in the sky."
"Oh? Oh, so you're looking at the broken heaven. "Rheia followed Vivian's gaze, and when she turned back, she had a knowing smile on her face. She did not seem to be surprised by Hao Ren and the rest looking at the sky in the middle of the night." Indeed, no matter when, no matter how many times you see it, it's a fascinating scenery, isn't it? But I didn't expect you adventurers to have this kind of interest. You like to read and look at the broken heaven. I almost thought you were a group of scholars who came out to study. "
"We come from a very remote place, and there aren't many learned people there. But we're different, and it's because we're curious about the outside world that we traveled all the way here." Hao Ren carefully weaved the background of his group and tried to lead the topic. "If Miss Scholar has time, how about telling us about the broken heaven?"
"Aha, I have a lot of time, but the topic you're asking for is a little too broad. How am I supposed to tell you?" Rheia, who was called 'Miss Scholar', was obviously in a good mood. While she said it was troublesome, she still opened the conversation. "Some say that it was once the kingdom where the gods lived, and some say that it was a planet that was twin to our world, but it was destroyed by the flames of war. Some even say that it was an 'old world', the birthplace of our ancestors. Then the calamity came and the world was destroyed, and the ancestors used some lost ancient magic to create a new world on the other side of the old world, which is what L 'Haronne is today, and they moved all of us here. And the broken old world is forever floating in the sky of L' Haronne. Which one do you think is more reliable? "
Hao Ren, of course, supported the first one, but he did not know how Rheia would react, so he did not say it out loud. Instead, he asked, "What do you think?"
"Throw the question back at me? Tsk tsk. "Rheia smacked her lips, but there was nothing wrong with that." I'm a scholar, and while I study myths and legends, I look at them from the perspective of a scholar, not a believer. So I'm more willing to believe the third one. That is the old L 'Haronne, the place where our ancestors once lived. Whenever we look up into the sky, we are looking at the direction of our home … How touching. "
Hao Ren was a little speechless. "… Just because it's touching?"
"It's because of the power of humans." Rheia, who had always been rash, had a very emotional look on her face. "We are mortals, and so were our ancestors. But when the old world was facing destruction, they had the ability to create a new L 'Haronne out of nothingness, and saved so many races from the land that was being torn apart. How great was that power? Even though these inconceivable ancient powers had all been lost to time, just think about the ancient lighthouses that occasionally appeared in the Sea of Fog, the inconceivable ruins beneath the ground, and the mechanical palaces that still hovered in the sky near the highest peak … Which one of them wasn't a miracle to the current us? But those were all created by our ancestors with their own hands, and not a miracle … Why do some people turn a blind eye to them? "
For a moment, Hao Ren did not know what to say. He did not understand this new mage lady, nor did he understand the background of this world. He could only roughly understand what Rheia was thinking from her words. She believed that the power of humans was enough to shape this world, and that was why she supported the third theory of the broken heaven.
Vivian was curious. "You seem to be very dismissive of the 'kingdom of god' theory of the broken heaven?"
"It's not that I'm dismissive, but I don't even think of it as a theory." Rheia sneered. "Announce that the ruins in the sky are the places where the gods lived? Then we can directly push all the unsolved mysteries of the broken heaven onto the miracles. Be it its orbit or the floating structure that defies the laws of nature, they can all be explained by the 'design of the gods'. Since it can't be proven or falsified, it's easy. But this is not what a scholar should say. "
Nangong Sanba reminded, "But it's still called the broken heaven, not the old L 'Haronne or the old world."
"Yes, it's still called the broken heaven. After all, this is a name that has been passed down since ancient times. But this name doesn't mean anything," Rheia said nonchalantly. "If it's really the place where the gods once lived, then why did it become like this? Where did the gods who lived there go? If the gods there are dead, then isn't this god useless? A god that can't even protect his own home, what's there to fear? "
This was almost a rebellious statement. Even in this world where theocracy was declining, few people would openly preach such things. But Rheia clearly did not care about these secular rules. Even in front of a group of mercenaries that she had just met, she did not have the slightest intention of being cautious.
Of course, Hao Ren did not have any opinion on Rheia's statement.
While he had immediately associated the broken continent in the sky with the Star of Creation, and he knew very well that the Umbral Realm had an inseparable connection with the gods, he had no intention of forcibly changing the mind of the mage lady.
Rheia's perception of the world was her own business, and Hao Ren felt that he had no right to interfere in this aspect.
"Ah, I seem to have told you a lot of things that are hard to understand," Rheia said with a grin. "Has it impacted your worldview? You must be more supportive of the kingdom of god theory. "
"I do support the kingdom of god theory, but I don't disagree with what you said." Hao Ren smiled. "The power of man is great, and many times it can make the gods speechless. But there is no need to compare the two together, because the gods have their own things to do, and so do men …"
"What a novel view." Rheia could not help but look at Hao Ren a few more times. "If you had not become a mercenary, I'm afraid you might have the potential to become a thinker. Well, I should go back and rest. I've had enough fresh air, and I'm getting a little cold. "
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Mage."
"See you tomorrow. You'd better rest early too, we'll be leaving tomorrow."
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