187: Chapter 187 Civilization of the Old Era

"Commander, teams one, two, and three haven't found anything unusual. For now, the final information target is beneath the City Lord's Manor; the detector discovered a massive underground space."

"Another basement..." Li Ming felt a headache coming on. "Dark Realm, old way, prepare for demolition."

"Yes, Commander."

This time, Dark Realm was more cautious; she didn't fire directly, but instead took out shells to create an explosive device for remote detonation.

Li Ming jumped down from the tank and looked at Béarn beside him.

The skirt extending backward from her waist lacked any ornate fabric, leaving only the support frame.

"Are you feeling better?" Li Ming asked.

"Hmm?"

"I said, did you harvest any new clues for the Secret Council today?"

"Naturally!" She bowed slightly, arms tight against her body, letting her sleeves flare backward. "Why? Is there something the Commander wants to know?"

"I want to know if you've found the ultimate answer to the Dark Secret Council?"

"I will find it one day, hehe..."

"Then what do you think your odds are against the Arbiters right now?"

"Thirty-seventy."

"You have a thirty percent chance and they have seventy?"

"In three minutes, I'll destroy them seven times!"

"Whoa, impressive. Logic, did you record that?" Li Ming looked toward the tank.

"Of course," Logic replied.

"Send a copy to Observer if you find that fellow later."

Béarn's confident little expression stiffened for a moment. "Let them come! The rites of the Book of Darkness are peerless!"

"Is the knowledge in that book really that strong?" Li Ming acted surprised.

"Knowledge should have no taboos, and power should have no boundaries! The only obstacle to the Supreme Secret Council is a weak heart!" Béarn took small steps to stand before Li Ming, maintaining the same posture. "I don't mind monopolizing this power."

"Oh? Not even for me?"

"Naturally it is—not allowed! Unless you perform that most peculiar rite with me, then it might be possible!" Through her lenses, Li Ming couldn't see her left eye.

However, her right eye flickered with an uncertain light, indicating that this so-called "rite" was definitely not simple.

Li Ming was almost certain he knew what she meant.

"Oh?... And what would that be?"

Playing dumb again!

"Unspeakable, unspeakable! Guess for yourself!" She turned around and walked away, somewhat annoyed.

Li Ming chuckled; what she wanted to express was written all over her face.

Just like with Terrible that time, her consciousness had already sent an inquiry to him.

Li Ming didn't refuse, but merely left it suspended for the time being.

This could be considered a indirect rejection, but Li Ming really needed to think carefully before giving an answer.

First Gang Yishawa, then Terrible, and now Béarn Meta. He had unknowingly accumulated quite a mountain of romantic debts.

He blamed himself; his brain must have misfired when he insisted on raising everyone's favorability, even quietly using his food money—anyway, he had plenty of fat back then, skipping a few meals wouldn't kill him.

Shaking his head, Li Ming looked at the distant wall, which was the entrance to the underground space.

Boom! Amidst the sound of the explosion, the stone wall came crashing down.

The inner city wall that had stood here for who knows how many years could not withstand the impact of high-yield explosives; thus it fell, like a passing era.

Dark Realm jogged over and looked at him.

"Let's go." Li Ming looked at Béarn observing from a distance. "As for a certain Miss Witch... she'll come over on her own if she wants to keep up, haha..."

The two of them walked inside, and Béarn stomped her foot before jogging to follow behind.

This place didn't seem that complicated; it was simply a... cryogenic center.

Frozen people.

Li Ming looked at the people in the canisters and fell into deep thought.

"These are..." Béarn looked at the canisters, somewhat startled.

"People escaping death," Dark Realm guessed.

"Theoretically, you could say that," Li Ming replied. "Logic, find the console and see if you can retrieve some useful information."

"Understood."

The Nanocloud flew out again to search for a possible console.

Li Ming looked at the control lights in the distance; they were still lit. Unquestionably, despite how many years had passed, power was still running here, and the people in the Stasis Pods were likely still alive.

"Found it, Commander. I am currently querying the information."

During this time, Dark Realm and Béarn dispersed to look for information, while Li Ming followed Logic's guidance to the front of the console.

"Logic, how is it?"

"...Commander, I have finished the query. Aside from some basic knowledge, there isn't much information; I've already integrated it." Logic's tone was unusually flat.

"What's wrong? You don't seem to be in a good mood."

"Yes. Let me state the conclusion: the civilization of this world was quite... idealistic for certain reasons, but their technology was also fairly advanced, albeit specialized. Consequently, they had a very high degree of religious culture, and that's where the problem lies."

"They sought so-called divine revelation, leading them to touch upon biology and genetics, which ultimately created a series of disasters and severely destroyed the natural environment. Those creatures outside are their results."

"And to combat them, the plan they used was... integration. Or rather, using ordinary people as a price to buy time for the upper class to survive and find countermeasures."

"Then these people..."

"Exactly." Logic expressed affirmation. "Human experimentation, biological testing, and... sacrificial rituals. They stopped at nothing."

"But the results of the experiments were nothing more than the birth of some new monster species and out-of-control super-organisms."

"..." Li Ming looked at these Stasis Pods. "So these people, why did they choose to... live like this?"

"Because they wanted to survive, so they linger on in this way," Logic answered. "To be precise, only the core few hundred Stasis Pods are truly... alive; the others are just... biological batteries made from human bodies..."

"..." Li Ming felt his stomach churning.

Leaning against the console for a while, Li Ming finally raised his head again and looked at the holographic screen. "You mean, in a sense, these monsters outside are actually..."

"...In fact, the vast majority were likely once humans, or at least their descendants."

"...Logic."

"I'm here, Commander."

"Call Dark Realm and Béarn back; it's time for us to return."

"Understood, Commander."

"As for this place..." Li Ming looked around. "I don't think I consider them as so-called fellow humans. Let the nanomachines consume this place... oh, and remember to have them awake to watch themselves being consumed."

"Ah, right Logic, remember to record this information and upload it to the Central Control Center. Don't upload it to the qinglong ship side, lest it scares Fujian."

"Understood~"

"Also, don't tell Béarn and Dark Realm about these things. If anyone asks later, just say I disposed of it."

"Uh... okay..."

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