The Record of Unusual Creatures

Looking at the Motherlode that had turned into a “vaccine”, Hao Ren could not help but lament, “This whole process does sound very real… and a vaccine creation process is actually something like that.”

“At times, the operation of the universe is like an organism, and many things in the universe are interwoven,” the MDT said rather carefreely. “Like how the health bar gets longer as you fight, and the skin getting thicker as you punch it, something like that…”

“That metaphor is problematic on all fronts…” Hao Ren raised an eyebrow, “And what’s the deal with the health bar getting longer as you fight, that’s a bloody bug!”

“I thought of turning it on its head… but somehow that eluded me.”

Hao Ren pursed his lips as he refocused on the matter of the vaccine: After inspection, the black obelisk was stored by the engineering droids into a large container, and the container was teleported first back to the Basilica of the World Tree for proper storage and further studies. He then asked Rheia on the plan for the vaccine, “Say, what do you plan to do with this?”

“I would need to see the detailed reports first before I can come up with something.” Rheia pondered. “But after seeing the preliminary data I have some idea. The Motherlode is equipped with a data duplication trait, and we can probably use it as an ‘information source’, and do a wide-range broadcast in areas where the Mad Lord is active, the vaccine will weaken its taint and suppress the spread of the taint, and these two points are where it is most dangerous. If we are able to use it right, we will be able to control the battlefield during the final battle.”

Hao Ren sighed softly, “If that could work, then that’s for the best… being able to control the battlefield and the spread of the taint, that means we can reduce the losses and casualties… As quite a few planets on the Plane of Dreams are now regrowing their ecosystems, these planets would need all the help they can get.”

“We need to move the Heart of God away, right?” Vivian looked at the direction of the Heart of God, and the debris around the heart was mostly cleared now, and the engineering droids were busy installing thrusters and warp generators to allow the Heart the ability to move freely. “But if we were to tear something this big from the core of L’Haronne… would it not affect the planet?”

“Almost none.” Hao Ren shook his head, “L’Haronne is unique in that its core had already lost contact with the rest of the planet, and the planet’s geothermal system had already cooled down for so many years and there’s little to no seismic activity, and any changes to the crust is affected by divine powers rather than the core itself. Of course, our engineering works here will somewhat change the deepest level of the World’s Scar, but the L’Haronneans have never encountered this level yet, so any changes to this level will not really affect their progress. At most, we’ll provide the original environmental perimeters in the form of a data vault to a few countries on the surface, and when they have progressed to the point that they can analyze these data, they can see it as a historical record.”

And after that, it was a peaceful few days.

The Heart of God had been successfully moved to the Plane of Dreams for further studies and the modification works had also officially commenced; the study of the vaccine too was progressing smoothly, and as they had full rights to access the heart’s system, the rate of process astounded even themselves.

Yet, these things were pretty distant for the L’Haronneans.

The sudden war had caused catastrophic destruction beyond anyone’s comprehension. The power of Annihilation was beyond the understanding of the normal folks who had no idea of the Turn of the Eras. No disasters, natural or man-made could compare to it.

Even with the help from their ‘outlander allies’, and the war was won in a very short period, as the source of the annihilation outbreak, the Dragon Empire was heavily wounded and the heartlands of the empire was reduced into a wasteland, many of the towns there were destroyed, and the closer it was to the imperial capital, the destruction was more and more thorough. From above, it looked like a black flower of decay had bloomed in the center of the empire as wastelands were spread out in all directions with the imperial capital at the heart, and anywhere the black taint touched, the light of civilization was snuffed out.

The north and the south of the empire fared much better. The Count of the Southern Realm, Count Naaem had risen in rebellion at the first moment with Greymountain as his base, and he quickly got rid of the Ebon Blades in the nearby towns and cities. He had also created on the plains a vast, bee-hive like exclusion zone, and that saved a great number of the southern civilians. And while the monsters had torn quite a few holes in Count Naaem’s defensive lines, but at the very least a few key towns and cities survived; Things were much better up north. As the Army of the North had gone on the offensive, and even when pushed back into the northern six realms for a moment, their advanced had not stopped since they were reinforced by the guardians. Thus the taint had never managed to enter the interior of the six provinces and only left a few dents by the border.

However, the north was a cold and harsh place. It was never prosperous, to begin with, and even when they were intact, the “value” of the northern six realms and the half-destroyed south was about the same.

Aside from these two realms, the east and the west of the empire too had suffered the taint of annihilation, and the situation in both areas was not positive, but compared to the totally ruined heartlands… they were at least salvageable.

Night had come, and Constance had completed her day’s work. Released from the heavy demands of civil administration, she came to the open-air terrace. Looking at the clear night sky, she took a deep breath, before letting it out slowly.

The faint charred stench still permeated in the air, this was the scent of the land that had yet to heal.

This was not a glorious palace or a fortress in Snowfrost City, neither it was any of the temporary palaces. It was a noble’s manor by the edge of Eagle City. The original owner of the manor had already escaped, and whether he was alive or not it was unknown, and this place, after some patching up, became Constance’s abode.

It was much better than most places. At least it still had walls around it.

Constance looked at the direction of the imperial capital, she could of course not see anything, but she remembered clearly the scene when the city was reduced to ash: In order to cleanse the last remaining taint after the death of Emperor Berentine, and to prevent the special monsters who had not totally died off from being a menace later, Rheia had ordered for the city to be reduced to dust, and now the imperial capital was nothing but charred ground, and aside from a few ancient cultural artifacts and mementos, there was nothing left there.

So, Eagle City had become the emergency capital in these trying times.

Thankfully the city’s magical relay towers could still be used, or else Constance would be facing the difficult situation of beating the monsters but losing contact with the army trapped within the ruins.

A flash of light appeared behind her, and as Constance turned back, she saw her few “outlander friends” standing behind her.

“How’s it like being an empress?”

Hao Ren looked at the ‘princess’ before him and asked with a guffaw.

“Tiring as hell,” Constance did not bother with the usual pretense before her special friends and answered honestly, “Frankly speaking, I had never thought I’d need to do all of this after becoming empress… I never actually thought this war would end so quickly, and to actually win it.”

“It’s normal to feel bewildered when you originally intend to perish together with the enemy, and for some reason, you come back victorious,” Lily said. “This was like the first time I went to Beijing University, and I got lost for the first time in my life when I saw the canteen…”

“Huh?”

“Just ignore her. She’s talking about things in another world,” Vivian said as she pushed Lily aside. “As for you… you are not the type to give up, so all the best.”

Constance smiled. “Thank you for the encouragement, and it is quite manageable. With about a dozen clones, my work can be delegated a little, and once Grand Duke Owen has recovered, I can hand the matters of the North to him, and that will take some burden off my shoulders as well.”

“Have Charlemagne and Awenna returned to Izzo?” Hao Ren nodded.

“They left yesterday with the soldiers from the White Cities,” Constance said as she cracked a joke, “With the Dragon Empire in its current state… we sure can’t feed them all.”

“I heard Charlemagne lost an arm.” Hao Ren rubbed his chin. “I actually wanted to have a look, but it seems like you have fixed that for him?”

“Biological engineering and prosthetics is a key expertise of the Dragon Empire, and Charlemagne asked for a rather intricate mechanical arm, rejecting our suggestion to clone it.” Constance pursed her lips and said, “That arm and this war will be his capital, and if things go as they should, the future king of Izzo will be him.”

Rheia looked at Constance in the eye with approval. “Seems like you have gotten your house in order pretty well, seems like there’s no need for us to continue helping.”

“You’ve done more than enough for us.” Constance gave a deep bow. “And for the road ahead, let us walk it ourselves.”

“All the best, tread your path well.” Rheia held her hand out as she touched Constance’s hair with a gentle smile on her face. “When you are able to beyond this planet, I will prepare a big present…”

Constance looked up, and there was no one before her.

“A present…” Constance looked into the distance,, and in the ruined city under the veil of night, pockets of fire lit up, as the survivors gathered around like the original ancestors who had first founded the land and relied upon that tiny fire to dispel the darkness, and make it through the long night.

“Surviving itself is a great enough gift.”

After going through the teleportation gate of the basilica, the fresh and vibrant air in the basilica got everyone taking in a deep breath.

“So, do we just leave it like that,” Vivian asked, “Their days to come will be difficult, and while in the taint of madness had been purified in many places, the ruined lands will need plenty of time to heal, and the rebuilding of the Dragon Empire will be far more difficult than its founding.”

“Yes,” Rheia said, “I believe they can go far, and we… we have things that we need to do.”