That day, humanity was declared extinct from the universe.
A cosmic war that had lasted for thousands of years had polluted the universe, and planets had beco completely uninhabitable.
Lucas Alhara was one of the scientists who had tried to prevent this massive disaster.
He discovered a formula capable of rebuilding a planet into a habitable state, creating a system that could generate a healthy atmosphere and even artificial organisms similar to edible animals.
But it was all in vain.
Lucas ultimately beca the last human left in the world.
He settled on a planet three-fourths the size of Earth, nad Antroseda. Old, frail, and longing only for the peace that so many others had already found.
In that utterly silent universe, Lucas was alone. Though humanity's technology had once been so advanced that they could exploit the entire cosmos, it was now nothing more than empty history.
Their legacy would end along with the universe, which was beginning to grow cold.
Lucas gazed outside from the window of his floating ho. Antroseda reminded him of the planet where all human life originated—a beautiful planet called Earth.
The vast lakes resembling seas stretched between the archipelagos. Brown plains occasionally sprouted with wild grass.
Though categorized as Lucas's greatest experintal success, Antroseda still contained high levels of cosmic radiation. Life, even the smallest microbes, had failed to adapt here.
Moreover, the overwhelming gravity made it extrely difficult for other forms of life to thrive. If not for the special materials used, Lucas's floating ho wouldn't have lasted more than three seconds in the air.
Even if life were to erge, it would require billions of years of evolution.
Humanity had indeed achieved extre longevity in recent tis, but no one had lived that long.
Lucas swallowed hard, the bitterness in his throat growing stronger. The dimming light of the red giant star signaled that night was approaching.
That ant his ti was running out.
Lucas turned and entered a room containing a chanical capsule and a comfortable interior, suitable as a final resting place.
It wasn't a sleep pod. No liquid oxygen would keep him alive in hibernation. Instead, nitrogen and a mix of deadly gases would be released, granting him instant death.
Lucas took a deep breath, pressing several buttons on the capsule's control panel before finally stretching his body.
He lay inside, watching the capsule's lid slowly slide shut, engulfing him in total darkness.
Lucas closed his eyes. "This is the end of humanity."
And so, he drifted into eternal slumber.
Or not.
Sohow, within a few hours, the capsule's lid opened, and oxygen burst in.
Lucas coughed violently as the air rushed into his lungs.
What happened? Was there a short circuit? An error?
Impossible. Lucas had even prepared a triple-lock protocol to ensure nothing could stop his death.
Then what...
The answer appeared right before his eyes.
[As the last of the dominant species, you have been chosen as the new Overseer of this universe.]
[The cycle of life must continue to preserve balance.]
[If balance is disrupted, catastrophic events will occur.]
[You may now create and develop a new species to beco the rulers of the universe.]
Huh? What... is this?
Overseer? Ruler? The last ti Lucas had heard about rulers was decades ago, and they had all been corpses since then.
Could this be a ssage from God?
That figure had long been forgotten, especially since humanity had beco a nearly omnipotent and terrifying species.
The idea of God as an absolute existence had eventually beco sothing people thought they could reach. Instead of worshiping or even rembering God, humanity had turned the concept into a joke.
"And now... to develop a new species?"
It made no sense. Lucas had already tried countless thods alongside other researchers, yet reviving the universe under these conditions was utterly impossible.
As if to challenge him, the notification screen reappeared.
[Select planet as the birthplace of the new species (default)]
[Select another planet...]
Lucas pressed the second option.
Suddenly, the room filled with a massive projection of galaxies and their countless clusters. Although each planet appeared no larger than a speck of dust, Lucas could sohow perceive and distinguish each one.
And among the trillions of planets, he saw it: Earth. The ho he and all others had longed for.
If a species were to be born, wouldn't it make sense for it to start where humanity began?
But Earth was no longer the planet humanity had once known.
That beautiful world had turned into a scorched gas ball following the Sun's expansion, precisely one million years ago.
And besides, Lucas didn't want this species to suffer the sa fate as humans—falling into destructive conflicts that would ultimately ruin themselves.
So, he pressed the first option again.
[Planet Antroseda identified as uninhabitable!]
Well, of course it is.
It was rather pathetic that Lucas was relying on a screen for sothing even humanity's brightest minds had failed to achieve.
[Would you like to begin the terraforming process?]
Sure, go ahead if you think you can.
Suddenly, Lucas felt a massive tremor. As if sothing colossal had stirred in the void, shaking the world with its titanic hands.
Lucas scrambled out of the capsule, his floating ho—once stable—now trembling violently.
Don't tell I'm going to fall!
He rushed to the control room, where various house chanisms were located. His eyes landed on a green lever labeled [Do not pull unless in ergency.]
Lucas pulled it without hesitation.
The entire floating house was enveloped in a pitch-black barrier.
It was dark energy.
Humanity had discovered its properties around 2,000 years ago. A flexible energy source that could be reprogramd and its efficiency optimized as needed.
Dark energy had beco the ultimate power source, even influencing the military as both a defensive tool and a weapon.
The sa applied to this barrier, making his floating ho impenetrable—even if Antroseda itself were destroyed.
But what was happening outside?
Lucas pressed a yellow button, activating an external feed showing the situation beyond his ho.
Antroseda was being bombarded by a massive asteroid storm. The land was shattering. The lakes boiled over. The atmosphere thickened with toxic fus.
I knew it. This won't work.
Even if the system sohow terraford Antroseda, it would be long gone by then.
But that never happened.
The asteroid storm lasted several days. Lucas hadn't slept since it began—he couldn't.
When it finally ended, Lucas couldn't believe his eyes.
The once-barren land of Antroseda had collapsed into several craters, but the remaining soil had beco rich and fertile.
The toxic green lakes had turned crystal clear.
And the atmosphere—it seed to have been completely reset, reverting to a pristine, pollution-free state.
Sohow, Antroseda had been terraford.
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