Any race that managed to escape from the cataclysm of the Guardians seemed to have received help from the Denizens of the Stars. These ancient beings from the depths of the stars were shrouded in mystery. So far, Hao Ren had not found any reliable historical data or relics about the Denizens of the Stars in the Plane of Dreams. He did not know where the light creatures were born, nor did he know their social form and civilization. Even their language and writing were a mystery to him. The only thing he could be sure of was that these beings had superb technology and were very familiar with the Goddess of Creation. Otherwise, they would not have been able to fight against the mad Guardians after the fall of the Goddess.
"They brought the Gilded Disc?" Hao Ren rubbed his chin, feeling that the Denizens of the Stars were getting more and more entangled with secrets. "Where did they find the divine artifact … Before the Star of Creation exploded, the Gilded Disc should have been in the Divine Kingdom."
"Muru once mentioned a special race called the 'Eternals'. It was said that they were an ancient race that had lived in this universe before the Goddess of Creation created them." Vivian suddenly remembered some details. "We did not ask in detail at that time. Could the Eternals be the Denizens of the Stars?"
Hao Ren hummed in acknowledgment and turned to the old man. "What happened after that? Did the Denizens of the Stars stay with you when you embarked on your journey? "
"It was said that in the first few hundred years of the voyage, they were with us. The light creatures lived in the navigation cabin of the ark," the old man said shakily. "But after a few years, they were sure that the divine artifact had taken effect, so they left, perhaps to help other survivors. Our fleet continued on their journey, trying to find a safe place, but the entire universe had been contaminated … Every habitable planet had a natural disaster. All ecosystems were mutated, giant tentacles and poisonous blood pools were everywhere. Our divine artifact could only protect the fleet, but it could not purify the entire planet. After losing a few ships, the fleet decided not to stop. We will keep wandering until we find a planet without natural disasters … "
Vivian frowned and asked, "What's with the infectious disease?"
The old man panted heavily and said in a low voice, "No one knows what's going on. It appeared suddenly, without warning, and there was no cure. With our medical technology, we could not find the cause. We only know that it infects adults, but the effect on children gradually weakened. The younger they are, the weaker the effect of the disease. Adults who are infected have a mortality rate of almost one hundred percent … "
"Almost one hundred percent." Nangong Wuyue looked at the old man's face. "You were the only exception?"
The old man raised his hand and looked at the wrinkles on his skin. His voice was hoarse. "Yes, I was the only exception. Because I was very young, oh, very young. That was probably why the plague spared me. But many others of my age were not so lucky."
Vivian raised her eyebrows. "How old were you when you were frozen for the first time?"
"I … I don't remember. Twenty, or twenty-two?" The old man's eyes turned cloudy again. "I only remember being locked in a white house. I trained day and night, learning, and brainwashing myself to master the knowledge and skills … When the disease spread, we realized that it was irresistible. It was like the ecological disaster back home. It was a super disaster, so we started to prepare for the aftermath. We spent a few years modifying the ark and building the Final Vault. More than half of us died in the process, and the project almost failed due to lack of manpower … We sent the healthy children into the hibernation facility, and tried our best to let the older children learn because they would need it in the future. But it was not enough, not enough … The oldest among them was only thirteen years old, and the thirteen-year-olds made up less than one percent of the population. "
"That's why you're here." Hao Ren guided the old man to remember more. "You're the teacher and parent of those children. When the virus in the ark is eradicated, you're going to lead them to rebuild their civilization?"
The old man's head trembled slightly as if he was nodding up and down. "Oh, yes, I want to guide them … After the children go to sleep, the adults will be left to fend for themselves, and the shelter will be closed for a hundred years until the ecosystem completes a complete internal cycle before it can be restarted. Once everything is in place, the children will wake up and start their lives anew under the guidance of their 'parents'. But I wasn't the only 'parent'. We had many candidates. Each of them had a strong will, strong learning abilities, and could lead a team. Most importantly, they had a certain level of resistance against the plague. But the other candidates died one by one. The plague was only weakened in their bodies. They had no real resistance against it. In the end, I was the only one who came out of the training facility. The children had already lined up to enter the hibernation pods. The last few dozen people on the ark who were on their last legs held a small farewell ceremony for me. From then on, I have been here. "
Lily asked curiously, "Why were you placed here alone?"
"For safety's sake," the old man said slowly, "Because until the day the Vault was completed, our medical experts were not sure if I was really not sick at all, or if I was carrying the 'virus'. If the last healthy person was infected with the plague, then we would rather give up the reconstruction plan. So I was sealed here alone. Every ten years, I would be awakened to examine my body's condition. I remember now, those are the ones I used … "
The old man pointed shakily at the corner of the room. Hao Ren saw an old set of equipment there. It seemed to have been used for medical purposes.
"Every ten years, I wake up, and then I draw my blood alone, test it, and examine my skull." The old man lowered his head and said slowly, "Through a small glass window next to the door, I look at the one hundred and fifty thousand little cradles outside. I know that my clan's bloodline is still sealed in ice, waiting to be continued. This gives me enough courage. Every time I woke up from the ice, I would count the number of times I 'woke up'. I told myself that when I counted to ten, everything would start anew … Until one day, I suddenly found myself writing '11' in my notebook. And the Vault's mainframe was uncharacteristically silent. "
The room was silent.
"System malfunction." Hao Ren sighed. "The reactor's radiation leaked and spread to the entire cabin. The Vault's mainframe urgently activated the hibernation pod outside. Perhaps it felt that letting people hide in the sanctuary was better than sleeping in the hibernation pod forever. But the machine missed you. "
The old man's wrinkled face froze into a complicated expression. It was hard to tell if he was crying or laughing, but there was no surprise in his expression. He only sighed softly along with Hao Ren. "I know, the system must have malfunctioned. But now I finally know the details."
Lily found it hard to accept. "This kind of accident shouldn't have happened. The Vault's mainframe's programming was faulty, and the location of the Vault was problematic as well. It was separated from the sanctuary by the reactor. It wasn't a good path. If only we could test it more … Sigh, forget it."
In the end, Lily did not say anything more. She knew that the people on the ark had done their best. Their people were dying every day, and the only places they could choose were a few corners of the spacecraft. They did not know how long they could live, and no one even knew if they could live to see the day the project was completed. When the Vault was completed, there were only a few dozen adults left on the ship. They could not test the entire system, nor did they have the chance to come up with a backup plan.
Everything was a gamble, a gamble that the plan would not go wrong.
But no one was the main character, fate did not favor anyone.
"How did you live after that?" Vivian stared at the old man's face. His face was wrinkled and thin. When he first entered the room, he was only in his twenties, brimming with youth. But now, he had aged beyond recognition. "How long … How long have you been awake?" "Very long, intermittently awake.
"For a long time, I was awake intermittently. At first, I forced myself to wake up once every ten years, and every time I woke up, I would check my body according to the plan, praying that the next time I woke up, I would see the children standing at the door. But then I slowly gave up, gave up, and started to eat and drink. I was really glad that they left me enough food, because I was the only person in the spaceship who still needed to eat. They simply stuffed all the remaining food into this room, since they had no use for it anyway." The old man smiled as if he was crying. "Really, I wasted a lot of time, but later I realized that it was worse than death, so I went back to sleep and set the time to wake up once every thirty years. This continued for many times, and I realized that my hair was gradually turning white, and wrinkles appeared on my face. Then I was scared, and I suddenly realized that I was not only wasting my time, but also the time of the children outside. So before my last hibernation, I did one last meaningful thing … Oh, yes, that's right, I remember now, the most important thing, the most important thing!"
The old man suddenly became excited. He raised his hand and pointed to another corner of the room. His face was filled with radiance like the last radiance of a setting sun. Hao Ren quickly ran over and saw a long table with many neatly stacked manuscripts on the table.
If these manuscripts were stacked together, they would probably be half a meter thick.
If these manuscripts were not shocking enough, then the wall next to them was enough to make him dumbfounded. He saw that the wall next to the long table, the floor nearby, and the furniture, almost every surface was engraved with dense handwriting and drawings. He followed the handwriting to the side and finally found that the engravings covered almost half of the room. However, the room was dimly lit, and most of the walls and floor were covered with debris, so he did not notice these things before.
Behind Hao Ren, the old man struggled to stand up. He slowly opened his arms, his eyes shining with pride. "Our … history."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
