"Grandpa!"
"Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa——"
Su Ming’an sat in the back seat of the truck, covering his ears. Beside him, Noah kept calling him "grandpa" incessantly. The others looked at them with strange expressions, even Sen, who was in the passenger seat, turned his head back.
"City Lord, do you really have this blood relation?" Sen asked cautiously.
"No," Su Ming’an said irritably.
"Sen, don’t mind Little Handso, who knows what weird play they’re into," Xi, who was driving the truck, chortled.
Sen did not dare to ask more and simply turned his head back.
Ten whole years had passed since the Dawn War. Grey hairs had started to appear on Sen’s head, but Noah and Xi still looked like young n, seemingly the appearance of the Nine Thrones such as Tretiya, Xi, Noah, and Beili Sier did not age with ti.
"Grandpa. Acto Grandpa, Lewis Grandpa, City Lord Grandpa..." Noah kept calling.
"Alright, alright..." Su Ming’an couldn’t help but interject. Even though at the start it was he who had asked Noah to call him that, Noah had taken to calling him nonstop.
Noah continued unremittingly, "Grandpa, you finally ca back. If calling you grandpa would make you co back, I would’ve been calling you every day. Grandpa..."
Su Ming’an knew that because of the Ruler’s Skill, Noah was very fond of him. He hadn’t expected that, after ten years, it would still be the sa. Noah had just been confronting Sen’s battle team, but when he turned around and saw Su Ming’an pop out of the ground, both sides suddenly made peace as if he was so miraculous adhesive.
"Little Handso, ten years ago, on the day the Dawn War ended, you collapsed on the victory celebration square where hundreds of thousands gathered, ’bang’ just like that, dead on the spot. You scared everyone to death," Xi said irritably from the front: "That year, not only was the feast not celebrated but your funeral went on for over half a year. The Fuyuan Festival wasn’t properly celebrated. The whole city was draped in white, and your black and white photo was hanging around. Even now, if you go to the base of the Doomsday City Political Building, you can still see the ice coffin preserving your body..."
A bead of sweat trickled down Su Ming’an’s forehead. It seed this was the third ti the public had held a funeral for him. The first was at the end of the Second World, ten billion Zhai Xing people gave him one. The second ti was in Pulaya, where a million Soul Hunt and islanders gave him one, and the third ti was now, where hundreds of millions from the Freedom Faction held one for him...
"I recall I left relevant information. If I suddenly die, don’t mind , as I might erge again in a few years," Su Ming’an said.
No sooner had he said this than Xi burst out as tears sprung into his eyes:
"Who knows whether you’ll play possum or suddenly die from overwork! Who knows if there’s sothing wrong with your body after you’ve been in the City of Gods for so long, what if you really did die! No matter what, we treated each death as real, you truly left us for a full ten years! What if we lost our reverence for death one day if we didn’t do this!!"
As Xi exploded, the inside of the truck fell silent, the truck’s speed slowed, and the remaining vehicles of the convoy passed by one by one. The distant sound of bells rang, and far in the distance, you could vaguely see the rolling plains, like waves of red, whipped up by the wind.
"...Ahem." Sen coughed.
Xi took a deep breath, "Sorry, I spoke too harshly."
Su Ming’an shook his head and opened his left wrist’s watch to check up on the recent data of Doomsday City.
Paragraphs of text, organized by Yeah, materialized into concise segnts:
[Two years after the end of the Dawn War (50 years after the Catastrophe), 80% of the post-disaster reconstruction work was completed, with eighty-nine vassal settlents surrounding Doomsday City. The farmlands produced two million tons of food each month, mainly crops such as corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, enough to sustain a population of ten million. Many of the discharged soldiers and other idle labor forces joined in farming or basic manufacturing.]
[Five years after the end of the Dawn War (53 years after the Catastrophe), the post-disaster reconstruction work was completed. The laboratory, based on the technology data left by Yasa Acto, conducted research and developed high-quality fertilizers, which significantly increased the production of sweet potatoes and potatoes. Spinach, eggplant, and bok choy graced the dining tables of the people, and with the developnt of the sugar industry from sugarcane and sugar beets, the food issues of the public were resolved, signaling the end of over fifty years of the human lower class’s hunger era.]
[Joslin and Maxia died in office as Great Commanders due to injuries.]
[Eight years after the end of the Dawn War (56 years after the Catastrophe), based on the weapons and equipnt data left by Yasa Acto, there was a once-in-a-century innovation in firearms and ammunition. The laboratory developed high-precision protective shields capable of defending against natural disasters, almost on par with the technological level given by deities at the beginning of the Catastrophe.]
[That sa year, the first general election was held; a leader nad "Su Xiaobi" was elected the second Deputy City Lord of Doomsday City, following the death of Acto, occupying the sa status as the City Lord. The position of the City Lord remained vacant.]
[Ten years after the end of the Dawn War (58 years after the Catastrophe), the depth of the One Dinsion and a half invasion deepened, the sky turned blood red again, the outside temperature plumted, and spring disappeared, once more ushering in a wave of Other-Dinsion invaders...]
"..."
Su Ming’an’s gaze scanned these histories.
He rembered when he first arrived in Kaius Tower in Year 32 of the Catastrophe, the sll of sweet potato porridge that filled the streets of the Beacon settlent in Zone Eleven in the early morning, the rich sweet scent that crisscrossed the streets was unforgettable. At that ti, he and Lu were walking, and Lu told him about an old grandmother who was persecuted by the Deity faction; Lu also said he planned to beco a journalist exposing the Deity faction’s brutalities, not expecting that Lu would eventually beco one of the Deputy City Lords of the Freedom Faction in Doomsday City.
How unpredictable human affairs were.
At that ti, he was also hesitating whether to reveal his identity as Acto; in the end, he inevitably trod the path of Acto.
The truck drove through the plains, and in the distance, so cities could be vaguely seen. To this day, Doomsday City remained the largest human city, accommodating up to ten million inhabitants, but many of the forr dium and small-sized settlents were also gradually being built into cities, making Doomsday City more like the capital.
"Over there is a wind power plant, responsible for supplying electricity to the surrounding cities. Then that’s the food processing factory and breeding areas. Doomsday City now has a permanent population of ten million, protected by a Guardian Army called ’Hawk Hound,’ and the army commander is Cheng Luohe..." Noah explained.
Cheng Luohe...
Su Ming’an rembered this young man whom he had first seen in Year 32 of the Catastrophe at the Beacon settlent, holding a bright red sniper rifle. The boy with a pair of eagle eyes had earnestly asked to "please kill before the onset of the missing disease," leaving a deep impression on Su Ming’an. Roughly calculating, Cheng Luohe must also be around forty years old now...
The people he had t back then were now all twice his age.
"Who has been managing Doomsday City during these ten years I was absent?" Su Ming’an asked.
Noah was silent for a while, "Ten years ago, soone who called herself Su Xiaobi ca. At first, we were wary of her, but she was just too capable... Every decision, every suggestion she made was far beyond our level. After that, when the general election was conducted, she beca the Deputy City Lord."
Su Ming’an was stunned for a mont. Su Xiaobi... Xiaobi?
Xiaobi was clearly the Agent of the City of Gods, the antivirus program of the Two Dinsions World. What was she doing in Doomsday City as the Deputy City Lord? Considering she had hardly ever left the City of Gods, it might have been just for fun...
"What about Tretiya?"
"Disappeared," Noah said. "And there’s also that girl nad Dong An’an from Doomsday City, she disappeared too. The surveillance facilities were destroyed, and we cannot find any trace of them."
Su Ming’an nodded, indicating that he understood. Everything that was happening now wasn’t too much of a surprise for him. Although Dong An’an had gone missing, the TE2 progress hadn’t dropped, so things should be on the right track.
"How is the City of Gods faring?" he asked.
"It still maintains its original structure; it contains too many high-end technologies. Many researchers have moved in and are still decoding them," Noah said. "Compared to ten years ago, the City of Gods still enjoys eternal spring. I am not very clear about its situation either; it’s too far from Doomsday City... Oh yes, it has been renad, no longer called the City of Gods but after your na."
"I see," Su Ming’an said.
Through the information organized by Yeah, he knew that the human situation was not optimistic. Ta Wei was eroding humanity’s last sanctuary layer by layer, and even the missing disease had reerged... At this rate, humanity might not hold out until the 72nd year of the Catastrophe.
The deeper into the dinsional layers, the more resources the Dawn System needed to maintain. Previously, Three Dinsions, which he hadn’t been in contact with, had been supplying resources to Two Dinsions. Now, with One-and-a-Half Dinsions being a transit dinsion disconnected from the others, people needed to supply themselves with resources, causing the resources held by humanity to dwindle. Heating had beco a major issue.
The reason for the quarrel between Noah and Sen was because Noah’s subordinates lacked heating, and many were frostbitten. Noah wanted heating resources but was refused by Sen. The reason was that the Dawn System in One-and-a-Half Dinsions also needed resource support.
Although Noah had called Su Ming’an "Grandpa", this problem hadn’t been solved at all...
Besides this, humanity could not unite as one. So remnants of the Deity factions were still making moves. To complete the main quest and drag humanity to the 72nd year of the Catastrophe, Su Ming’an needed to find a proper ans of energy supply to prevent the exhaustion of human resources. This was a web of ti flows; if the Two Dinsional world collapsed, humanity would lose everything.
"Deity, will you help again?" Su Ming’an suddenly asked.
A gentle male voice ca from beside his ear, "Although I only promised to teach you how to prevent the nuclear explosion before, I like you as a person, so now I will still teach you how to break the ga."
"It’s your kind that invaded this world, and you’ll teach how to break the ga?" Su Ming’an said.
"I told you, didn’t I? There are more than one Ta Wei; you can consider as having goodwill towards humanity," the Deity said. "You will win, Lv Shu. You are well qualified."
"Is the bet still not over?"
"The Dawn System in the City of asurent has not been restarted yet, Lv Shu. You are still missing the most crucial piece," the Deity said.
"..."
Su Ming’an looked out the car window, the back of his hand, bearing the white Pattern Mark, faintly warm.
"Beep— beep—!" Blinding lights flashed by, with millions of people moving near the urban area, acting according to their own life rhythms. Vehicles roared past like a dragon, their high-intensity headlights like swords piercing through the darkness.
The truck had entered Doomsday City, and he saw a very conspicuous sculpture.
— It was a stone sculpture in the shape of a fist raised up, its knuckles like sharp white swords pointing upwards, protruding from around the bones, as if to shatter the sky. Below the fist was a square obsidian pillar with inscriptions blurred by distance. Next to it stood a statue of Acto, surrounded by flowers offered by the people.
Ten minutes later, the vehicle stopped. The familiar political center lood before him, with Acto’s room located at the top of the building.
Noah and Sen went to argue about the heating resource issue, while Su Ming’an went straight up to his own room. Pushing open the door, the room was still arranged as before, as if soone cleaned it every day, even the vase on the window sill was decorated with fresh lilies. The faint starlight spilled through the dark clouds onto the windowsill, making the white petals glow softly. The room had no electricity but was well lit.
"Xi, can lilies be cultivated in the city now?" Su Ming’an closed the door, fiddled with the lily, and spoke into his wrist communicator.
From the other side of the wrist communicator, Xi’s puzzled voice ca through: "Lilies? There may have been so a few years ago, but as the environnt has gotten worse, theoretically they shouldn’t exist anymore... Oh right, handso, don’t go into your room just yet. It hasn’t been opened for a long ti; it’s all dusty now..."
The room hasn’t been opened for a long ti?
Su Ming’an was slightly startled.
But why, when he opened the door, was the room clean and tidy as if it had been cleaned every day, even with lilies...
"..."
A draft of air stirred.
Su Ming’an looked up.
Outside the pale white curtains, a figure floated in the night like a white bird.
The flute sound pierced through the glass, gently flowing in, filling the air with the aroma of roses and lilies. The person’s eyes were still exceedingly light in color, with white hair freely drawn in the evening breeze, like the color of ice and snow in a watercolor painting, surrounded by countless Yuan Guang, gently pushing the window glass open to the sides.
Su Ming’an stood in the dark room, while the floating figure outside the window seed to radiate light.
As the tune concluded, Lin Guang revealed an exceedingly natural smile, "Good evening, Lewis, happy Fuyuan Festival."
"Good people don’t live long, a nace lasts for a thousand years; I didn’t expect you to still be alive," Su Ming’an said. "There are only five days left in the instance, what else do you want to play?"
Suddenly, Lin Guang bowed slightly, his white hair fluttering lightly like the feathers of a bird...
"I invite you to be a guest in Ta Wei, Lewis."
Su Ming’an thought he had heard wrong: "You an Ta Wei? The Ta Wei that invaded this world, the world where Ta Wei originates?"
"Yes," Lin Guang extended his hand:
"Would you like to join and go together?"
"Sure," Su Ming’an said.
An opportunity to grab clues, he could rewind even if there was a trap, of course, he would go; now the true face of Ta Wei was about to surface.
Joy flashed across Lin Guang’s face, but before he could get close, Su Ming’an turned around.
"Wait, let bring soone along," Su Ming’an raised his hand as if summoning sothing:
"Co, Su Rin."
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