The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 646

Chapter 646: Once Upon A Time

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

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The rest of them camped beside the lift shaft and stayed in contact with Hao Ren. Meanwhile, Hao Ren and Vivian had already entered the dark ancient cavern.

The light above quickly turned into a little dot as they dropped and were still dropping. Holding Hao Ren by his waist and let Hao Ren use his spear to illuminate the way ahead as they steadily descended. He looked at the steel frames and guide rails flying past him, the flapping sound of Vivian’s bat wings echoed in his ears. “We have not flown together for quite a long time.”

“Yeah, after following you to all the bizarre places, if it wasn’t space it was water, I have almost forgotten how to use my wings,” said Vivian from above, slightly adjusting her wing angles to make their descent down the shaft in a circling motion. “I still remember the first time you flew with me you were getting air sick… Err, probably not airsick, it was I who got giddy.”

“You’re kidding me. I was only shocked when you took me to the sky without warning. No layman has ever experienced it, you know,” said Hao Ren, moving his body slightly, the tactile sensation on his back made him difficult to concentrate. Vivian had immediately noticed it. She laughed slyly. “Still couldn’t get used to it after flying together so many times?”

Hao Ren compressed his lips. “No matter what, you are still a pretty girl.”

“…I never really thought about this, you know that I used to having difficulty filling my stomach,” said Vivian, blinking. Suddenly, a faint light appeared in front. She said, “Mr. Landlord, looks like we have almost reached the bottom.”

Soon, the two landed on a ring of alloy platform. The platform circled the shaft walls with a few-metre opening in the centre. The faint red light shone up from under the opening. Hao Ren got to the edge of the opening, poking his head over the railing and peeking down, to his surprise; he saw a pool of magma at the bottom.

“Could that be the core of the earth?” Vivian also took a glance, wide-eyed. “We have come to this deep?”

“It’s not necessarily the centre of the earth, but it should be very close,” Hao Ren looked at the dim red light that was moving slowly. The planet’s core temperature was already declining; the magma flow near to the planet’s core appeared weak and slow. However, the magma flow was a hellish place to be in. If not for the insulation technology, the metal platform might have melt. “This should be the energy source of the entire system. A heat exchange system between the core and the surface… It’s an engineering feat.”

“The senile old men on Earth should really come here to take a look…” said Vivian. “By the way, why am I feeling a sense of weightlessness under my feet?”

Hao Ren took a few steps. “The gravity is weaker here. We have reached the deepest part of the system where the gravity is probably less than one-fifth of the surface. Let’s look around; there should be an entrance nearby. The MDT has found a hollow space that looks like a control centre during the scanning.”

Vivian lifted her finger pointing across the circular platform. “You mean that?”

Hao Ren looked up and saw a heavy hatch with reflective metal lustre standing quietly across the platform. The weak light flashing beside the door seemed to suggest that the system behind the door was still running.

The two came in front of the entrance. Hao Ren looked at the flashing lights on the panel beside the door frame, exhaling. “We have already come this far and it’s enough to prove our sincerity. Is it still necessary to shut the door before us?”

Supposedly, no one should be responding to him, but the hatch responded. In a series of hissing sound, the circular hatch retreated a little before it rolled to a side. Hao Ren and Vivian stepped inside.

They passed through a long, safe tunnel before emerging into a rotunda.

A huge, cylindrical instrument lined with tubes was in the centre of the rotunda, extending up a dozen meters high to the dome while dim light flew in the tubes on the outside. Thick cables extended out like vine from the bottom of the cylinder on the floor before reaching into the machines around the rotunda. There was no lighting in the rotunda except the light emitted by the machines themselves, allowing them to see the ancient instruments in shadows albeit vaguely. A deep, compound humming echoes in the space like an inorganic breathing.

Hao Ren stared at the cylinder in front of him. This should be the host of the ark. He could feel that this is the heart of the planet, and the countless things, abstract and invisible, all spread from here out to the entire planet. He took a deep breath. “I’ve come. Why don’t you say something?”

The machines remained silent for a few seconds before a deep, cold synthesised voice came out from the cylinder. “My mission is to manage the ark and bring the creators to a new home safely. I was created and they gave me mind, logic, goals… The existence of the entire system is to ensure the survival of the civilisation on this. This is the only thing I know that I should do.”

Hao Ren stared at the host, as if he was looking at a living person. “What happened here?”

“Before the ark set sail, the civilisation was already extinct.”

A screen on the wall lit up. A crystal-clear, aqua blue planet that glowed in space appeared on the screen. Immediately, the sun exploded in the corner of the image, the highly charged solar particles blew over the surface of the planet, but a powerful shield had protected the planet from being ripped apart; it survived. Yet after surviving the supernova, something abnormal began to happen to the planet. Hao Ren had not seen what the nature of the disaster was, but the lights on the planet was dimming with an alarming rate until the planet went completely dark and silent.

As time goes by, the sun cooled and the planet froze. A layer of white covered the planet, and the entire world was lifeless. Artificial light had never been seen ever since.

Vivian turned to look at the host. “Who did it?”

“An indescribable creature. The creators called it a natural disaster,” the synthesised voice of the ark’s host reverberated in the rotunda. The screen flashed. A weird object of combination of a myriad of tentacles, roots, plants, meat appeared on the screen. It was difficult to describe how weird the thing was; only a sense of terror that seemed to evoke biological instincts pervaded through the ever-twisting roots. “It destroyed the civilisation on the ark after it died.”

As it turned out, the thing on the screen was none other than the First Born. But Hao Ren was still surprised when he heard what the ark host had said. “After it died? You killed it?”

“It came out of the ground, but the creators succeeded in detaching this creature from the planet with the help of The Denizens of the Stars and pushing it into the sun—then The Denizens of the Stars blew up the sun. The creature was blown and burned into ashes. However, something unknown remained on the planet. It eventually destroyed the entire civilisation.”

“Something unknown?” Hao Ren felt a little confused until Vivian reminded him in a whisper. “Tannagost had a similar incident before.”

It then dawned on him. Hao Ren asked, “Is the soul of the First Born?!”

The ark host had not responded. It seemed that it could not understand what ‘soul’ meant. However, Hao Ren had already guessed what happened back then:
Although the aborigines of this planet had not been able to surpass the technological level of the First Born, with the help of The Denizens of the Stars they did achieve something the other Second Borns had not been able to do: they succeeded in killing the First Born at the cost of their own sun. However, this had not been able to save their own fate—the First Born had used its soul to exterminate everyone on the planet!

This soul should have dissipated. The radar of the Petrachelys had not detected any sign that the First Born was still on the planet. It was also because the First Born had dissipated, no one had ever found evidence of the existence of the First Born.

Hao Ren had finally pieced the pieces together. He stared at the ark host with a serious look. “Who is Denizens of the Stars?”

Chapter 647: After Dusk ##

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

The Denizens of the Stars—that was what the humans called these mysterious beings from deep space. In Holletta, the ancient mage emperors called them “allies from the stars”. These mysterious beings had their own name for their race. However, due to their unusual language and vocabulary structure, ordinary races had difficulty in accurately translating the name of the race, literally or figuratively. So, those who had met this mysterious race had chosen to call them according to their own customary way.

The image of the Denizens of the Stars was an amorphous beam of bright light where stars and lightning abound. Some believed that the most primitive and purest light of the universe formed these creatures, which represented purity and the light of the world. They either possessed weird technologies, which no human could ever comprehend, or just magic, which they used to create all sorts of miracles. Some people even believed that the Denizens of the Stars possessed some kind of power beyond the physical world, thus they could affect fate, karma and things like that. The Denizens of the Stars initially established communication with humans on the planet through a spiritual connection. They then came to the planet through a strange optical phenomenon beyond the laws of Physics. They soon demonstrated their incredible power, strength, and quality.

The Denizens of the Stars had warned the locals of the First Born’s awakening and informed them of a catastrophe beyond their imagination, which could overturn the entire universe. At first, the humans on the planet did not believe in these warnings, but the Denizens of the Stars quickly proved everything through a series of precise predictions and the excavation of the First Born’s tentacles from deep underground. They helped the indigenous people on the planet prepare for the catastrophe. This included coming up with plans to go up against the First Born and a special shield to protect the planet once the sun exploded—all these things came from the hands of the unique and glorious creatures.

“That’s to say, they came to this planet from the deep universe, gave you an early warning, guided you to transform the planet into an ark, helped you kick the First Born into the sun and blew it up, and also helped you build a planetary shield—all things that were beyond what your science and technology could do,” said Hao Ren after he listened to the narrative of the ark’s host. His brows were knitted together. “…Yet, they still failed. The Denizens of the Stars did not know that the First Born’s soul could continue to survive after the death of its body and have the capacity to destroy the entire ecosystem. So, what happened to the Denizens of the Stars?”

“They went back into the light,” the ark’s host replied with a monotoned voice and showed a visual of the planet’s last moment on a nearby machine. Hao Ren saw a thin and dim red glow shrouding the planet as the distant sun expanded rapidly before shattering into dust. People on the planet seemed to be holding a celebration. However, when the sun expanded to a third of the sky, the celebrating crowd began to fall down one after another.

At this time, a few strange lights burst out from the crowd. Dots of light were in what seemed like twisted lightning and jelly, reminding one of the interior of a house. The lights shuddered violently towards the sky before they eventually disappeared into huge beams of light.

Those lights were the Denizens of the Stars. Hao Ren believed that the last beams of light were their last moments before their death.

The allies from the stars—the ancient people of Holletta believed that these mysterious creatures from the deep universe would help them against the First Born, as they seemed to possess powers beyond the normal mortal race; at least, they had the means to kill the First Born’s flesh. However, it turned out that such level of strength was still not enough, and the Denizens of the Stars died on the ark planet.

The visual froze at the scene where the light beams disappeared. Vivian looked at the screen thoughtfully. “This light-like race was like a rescuer in space. Although their aerospace technology was very advanced and they could probably protect themselves from the First Born’s attacks, in terms of helping other races, I’m afraid, they were less than successful.”

Hao Ren sighed and asked the ark’s host several questions. The truth of the incident had finally come to light.

The original plan of the Denizens of the Stars and the planet’s indigenous peoples was to escape with the ark after they had used the sun to destroy the First Born. Then, they would find a habitable zone for the planet. However, on the day they were about to set sail, the civilization was exterminated all of sudden. For more than 10,000 years, the planet quietly slept in its home galaxy, dead. But there were still other “living” things on the planet—the machines left behind by the humans still waited silently in the darkness. They had never forgotten the purpose of their existence; they had never given up on the 10,000-year-old ancient plan.

During the planet’s 10,000-year slumber, the ark’s host kept its operations minimal while it scanned the planet repeatedly for signs of life—it continuously searched for survivors on the planet under the guidance of the established procedures. Even if only one person survived, it was significant to the ark’s existence.

If it had been humans, they would have given up long ago. But these machines, from the day they were created, had never known the meaning of giving up.

Now, all was clear to Vivian. “The Nangongs restarted the ark’s sailing protocol?”

The ark’s host replied in an affirmative manner.

“So, the TV, newspapers, advertisements, names of people and places… All these details of human society were just a simulation?”

The ark’s host responded with a sentence, “The civilization of the creator must live on.”

Hao Ren felt that the host’s understanding of “civilization” seemed to be a little problematic, but he did not know if he was in any position to correct the “problem”. The machine before him was only using its programmed logic to accomplish its mission. It may not have really understood what a civilization was and what the creators wanted to preserve. No AI could understand the abstract will of humans. The ark’s host did not understand all of these things.

However, it carried out its old directives stubbornly for 10,000 years—by the way of a machine.

“So, you’re not going to let the people in the city leave.” Hao Ren sighed. “But, you also know that we’re not your creators—it doesn’t make much sense for you to take us with you.”

The ark’s host remained silent for a long while before it repeated the same sentence with an emotionless voice, “The civilization of the creator must live on.”

“What’s your next plan?” asked Vivian. “You got us to come here. This proves that you’re also hesitant. You actually understand that you can’t continue to maintain this stalemate—it’s an illusion. It’s meaningless.”

Hao Ren also stared at the supercomputer in the center of the rotunda. Although he could not see any emotions in the host’s steel body, he could vaguely feel that the AI was now as confused as a human. Something that did not belong to its system was prompting it to seek change.

After a long silence, the ark’s host asked, “Where are you from?”

“You have antennae on the surface, right? Point them to space where there’s a silver-white spaceship,” Hao Ren said, connecting to the MDT telepathically. “MDT, start a transmission to the planet. Tell it about the Space Administration.”

The lights on the ark’s host flickered as it listened quietly to the broadcast from space. Hao Ren and Vivian waited patiently next to it. A few minutes later, a human sigh came from the host. “Now I understand.”

Half an hour later, Hao Ren and the others were back on board the Petrachelys in space.

He only brought back two things from the ark planet.

One of them was a square, black metal box, which was half-a-man tall. It was a library containing most of the information on the ark’s civilization. The ark’s host had tried its best to understand what civilization meant and eventually developed the necessary database, hoping that someday, someone would take it to a faraway place. Just like most civilizations when they were faced with extinction, the ark chose to leave a message behind. It was the only way to commemorate its creator.

The other thing was a foot-high transparent jar filled with some greyish-green substance. This was the second thing the ark’s host hoped that Hao Ren would take away: they were mosses, which had been scraped off the condensation tubes.

It was a sample of organic life on the planet.

The ark explained, “Some of the creator-scholars had extrapolated the failure of the entire plan and envisioned some alternatives: if they couldn’t keep humans, they would save some animals. If they couldn’t keep animals, they would save some plants. If all of them could not be saved, they would save some cells. Please take these samples away. Let them survive and spread out, then my mission will be completed.”

The Petrachelys, shrouded in a blue glow, slowly left the ark planet’s orbit. The greyish-white, rogue planet slowly disappeared from their view.

In the ark’s sanctuary, lights began to dim as the day was now over. After dusk, another civilization would fall into the darkness for good. Unmanned vehicles slowly parked themselves on the side of the streets, while robots stopped working and began to shut down one after another. On the electronic billboards of buildings, a uniformed and middle-aged man with gray hair looked at the empty city, delivering his last good night greeting to his world. “Citizens, the sanctuary will soon be closed. Thank you, everyone. Goodbye.”

When the space warp obscured the last light in space, everyone began to turn their gazes away from the holographic image. Rollie curiously looked at the black metal box, which Hao Ren had brought back with him. She went up to it and pushed her head against the box. “It’s so heavy.”

Hao Ren sighed. “Yes, heavy indeed.”

Chapter 648: A New Beginning ##

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

The Petrachelys was travelling in warped space, surrounded by endless darkness in an enclosed space. On the flight deck, Nangong Wudi and Ayesha’s eyes darting around in amazement. Everything here interested them–they had seen the powerful autonomous machines on the planet of the Ark, and obviously, the installations on the Petrachelys were even more incredible… especially the ultra-realistic holographic projections and the dinky MDT.

“You came in this?” Ayesha looked at her daughter. “How far can this thing go?”

“Can’t measure in mathematical term,” said Nangong Wuyue. Huddling around her mom, her long snake tail curled around Ayesha as she smiled happily. “You and dad would be shocked if I told you that we used to travel to other universe in, even experience the battlefields of the different worlds in this spaceship.”

Ayesha gently stroked Nangong Wuyue’s hair with a mild and contented smile on her face. “You have really grown up…”

Looking at them, Nangong Wudi also smiled. Then a sudden sound of water on the table not far away. He looked into that direction and saw a basin on the table. A super tiny mermaid was resting her head on the edge of the basin, looking at the strangers on the flight deck curiously: it was Lil Pea; she had waked up.

Nangong Wudi was shocked. “What is that thing?!”

Lil Pea was startled too. She pulled back and then cautiously probed out to check the surroundings. Only after she was assured that everything was fine, the little one jumped out of the basin and toddled towards Hao Ren. “Dad-dee! You’re back!”

This time, not only Nangong Wudi but also Ayesha was wide-eyed. She frowned and grabbed Wuyue’s arm. “You married? Why have you not told us?!”

Then she pointed at Lil Pea in surprise. “Why does the child so tiny? Have you not let her eat anything?”

The moment Lil Pea jumped out, Hao Ren already knew what reaction Nangong parents would be. After so many awkward moments, he had developed an intuition of how to deal with the awkward moment. Anyway, when he heard Ayesha’s scream, he still almost banged his head on the table. “Please don’t misunderstand. She’s not the same thing as the siren! She’s a mermaid, coming from another world.”

Lil Pea could not care less. She hopped up to Hao Ren, jumped onto his arm, and dangled on it steadily. Then she snored: it was less than a minute after she woke up before she fell asleep again.

Just when Nangong Wudi was about to get to his feet to come to Hao Ren, he had to hold back the word ‘son-in-law’ on his lips when he heard Hao Ren’s explanations. Ayesha stared at Lil Pea then Hao Ren before her eyes finally landed on her own daughter. “This is not…”

Nangong Wuyue was almost all tears. Her tail rattled like a rattlesnake. “Mom! Can you not always be so imaginative? Is siren so tiny?”

“Water is amorphous. When you just gave birth to you, you were just a little ball. Only after two years later you learned how to formshift into a humanoid…”

Nangong Wuyue turned her head away embarrassingly. “I couldn’t help it. I was born on land; there was no other siren child around me, it was normal to start late.”

Suddenly, everyone on the flight deck looked at the mother-daughter combo in horror. The magical life form of the sirens had amazed them. Hao Ren could not bear to imagine how kindergarten of the sirens looked like. Meanwhile, Vivian reached out her hand and jabbed the sloppy little face of Lil Pea who was snoring like a pig and muttered. “What happen to the child lately? She has been having five meals and sleeping for more than a dozen hours a day.”

Lily put a small piece of wood in Lil Pea’s mouth and watched her gnawing in her sleep. “And she has grown so rapidly.”

“I’ve asked Raven 12345 before, she said that it was absolutely normal,” said Hao Ren, reaching to held Lil Pea to prevent her from slipping from his arm. She swung her tail in response. “It is said that this type of mermaid has several special stages of growth, eating and sleeping on a massive amount at a time. It’s okay, as long as she’s healthy.”

Lily let out a ‘woof’ sound. She finally could not help but think of the planet of the Ark. “Mr. Landlord, what do you think will happen to the Ark at last?”

Before the Petrachelys entered the warp jump, the last image of the planet of the Ark was it dragging its long tail of flames flying into the deep universe. The Ark had not yet reached its destination. Although the sanctuary had been closed, the other systems of the Ark were still running. Its long journey of thousand years had just begun. Lily was worried about the future fate of the Ark— especially after learning about the Ark host, she was only more concerned.

“After I took the database and the life samples away, the Ark host would adjust its mission plan. It will continue to follow the established route,” Hao Ren was speaking of his interaction with the supercomputer at the control centre. “Its creator had chosen a new home ten thousand years ago. Now the Ark had decided to continue this mission. If all goes well, it will reach its destination after a thousand years.”

“And then what?” asked Lily, looking into Hao Ren’s eyes. “Isn’t there no one on the Ark anymore?”

“And then?” Hao Ren picked up the glass jar containing the moss sample and shook it gently. “Indeed there is no one on the Ark, but there is still this. The sun will melt the ice and snow, and then it’s a new beginning.”

The fact that the Ark host allowed Hao Ren to take these life samples away did not mean that it had given up his mission; it was only to increase the chances of survival of these living things and allow them to spread as far as possible. The Ark host had summed up this experience after the destruction of the parent star civilisation: do not put all lives into one basket.

After Hao Ren took the life samples, the Ark would continue its journey and let the creator’s world wake up in another star system—even if the creator were no longer there, it would still decide to let the planet come to life again.

This was the ‘solution’ that the Ark host had found for its own mission after sharing it with Hao Ren.

No matter how many difficulties or obstacles the mission would encounter, no matter how tortuous and difficult the journey was, the Ark had a mission. To complete the mission, the machines would never give up.

Vivian looked at the small jar of moss. “Where are you going to put these samples?”

“Life should be able to multiply to be of meaning. Putting it in the specimen library for ten thousand years it is still a specimen.” Hao Ren got to his feet and came to the front of the flight deck. As the Petrachelys was gradually leaving the warped space, the visual on the monitor gradually became clearer. “I’ve done a mock test. The mosses will survive in a place, and that place…”

The Petrachelys had jumped out from the warped space; a clear blue ocean came into sight.

“…happens to need more variety of species.”

Io’s ocean glittered in the sun, waves dancing in sparkling light.

The Petrachelys slowly descended and penetrated the fresh atmosphere and clouds over Io before it hovered above the calm ocean. This once a violent and dangerous world was now incredibly calm as the waves gently moved below the spacecraft like the gentle breathing of a baby.

Ayesha and Nangong Wuyue formed a platform for everyone to stand on the water. They alighted from the spacecraft. After a short nap, Lil Pea was all-active again as she swam happily in the waves, jumping out of the water like a happy little fish to greet everyone from time to time. Rollie was curiously dipping her tail into the water seemingly to try fishing.

Ayesha looked at the sea in awe as she had heard about Io from Wuyue. “Here… is place of birth of the sirens?”

“Yeah, we were with the Queen of the sirens the last time we were here,” smiled Wuyue. “When we get back, you have to meet with the Queen first. There are many people in Nasaton worrying about your whereabouts.”

“Nasaton…” Ayesha lamenting. “I haven’t heard about it for a century.”

Hao Ren opened the jar and sprinkled the mosses on to the ocean. At the same time, he also sprinkled a large amount of crystal-green powder that he had synthesised in the lab that would help the smooth transformation of the moss crumbs.

“They are a wonderful thing. Although they are mosses, they are completely different from those on Earth,” said the MDT as it landed on Hao Ren’s shoulder. “They will soon adapt to marine life and may become a kind of seaweed… the wonder of life is that it is incredible.”

“Eva, I’ve brought you some new friends,” Hao Ren stooped down and dipped his hands into the ocean. “Take care of them.”

The ocean did not reply, but a surge of soft wave seemed to be her response.

Chapter 649: Times Change, and the World with Time ##

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

The green crumbs gradually disappeared in the ocean of Io, and eventually integrated into the undulating waves. Vivian looked at the crystal foam on the ocean in thought. “How many of them could survive?”

“Life is a very tenacious thing and it’s incredible,” the MDT replied melancholily. “They are difficult to come into being, but they are born they are difficult to go away. No matter what the danger they face, they will always do their best to leave a seed, even if only a few cells are left, one day it will multiply again. Civilisation may fade away, but life… except due to real end of the world, there is hardly anything that can really wipe them out.”

Lil Pea splashed through the waves. From time to time, she leapt out from the water and her beautiful fish’s tail glistened in golden red in the sun. Hao Ren smiled pointing at the little mermaid. “Sometimes even the end of the world couldn’t completely extinguish life.”

In the next tens of thousands of years, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps there would be new species emerging in Io. They would carry the DNA from a different planet and come into harmony with the host planet. Prior to the release of the seeds, Hao Ren had let the MDT conduct many sophisticated extrapolations to ensure that the alien species would not cause harm to the existing Io’s fragile ecosystem. He had full confidence in this release.

Watching the fingerling enjoying the ocean for a moment, Hao Ren beckoned to the mermaid. “Lil Pea, it’s time to go home!”

The little mermaid was in a mirthful laughter as she swam towards Hao Ren before jumping into his arms, her wet body rubbing against him. Hao Ren had been accustomed to it: Since rearing the fish, wetting his clothes had become a norm. He was fortunate that Lil Pea was only jumping into his arms, not his pant; otherwise, he would have a hard time explaining the wetting of his pant had nothing to do with his kidney…

No one spoke a word during the return journey. Very quickly, the Petrachelys arrived at Alamanda base in Tannagost. The Nangong couple seemed very nervous when they passed through the lilac crack: They could not believe that they could return to Earth just by walking through a crack. As they crossed the space crack into the other side, an endless dark snowfield appeared in front of their eyes. Ayesha was in shock. “The earth has also become like this?!”

She had related it to the surface of the planet of the Ark—indeed, if you ignore the oxygen issue, there is really no difference between the basement of Igor’s house and the surface of the rogue planet… You cannot really imagine the life of the rich; just look at the basement, it looks just like the surface of an alien planet.

Nangong Wuyue mirthfully told her parents about the dark snowfield. Nangong Wudi quivered in fear when he learned that this place was actually the creation of the vengeful spirit that kidnapped them. “I have never thought that that thing was so powerful. It’s fortunate enough for us to have survived it.”

Hao Ren smiled but said nothing. He just led the people out of the dark snowfield and went up to say hello to Igor. Igor was not so surprised now to find the adventurers emerged suddenly from the basement. The most obvious improvement was that this time the old man did not pass out even when Vivian appeared to him suddenly. They stayed in Andrea Castle for a day and regained their energy before they set off again to return to their home in Southern Suburbs.

Nangong Wudi was a little surprised when he saw the old house. He turned to look at Hao Ren. “There is a huge contrast between your house and your ability. How could you even be poorer than your own man?”

He mistook the Andrea family he met yesterday as Hao Ren’s own man—but this misunderstanding was not entirely wrong. After all, they were Vivian’s family. Now Vivian was a full-time babysitter in Hao Ren’s home.

“You were expecting me to live in a palace, weren’t you?” Hao Ren laughed. He took out his key, turned the nob and entered the house. “My house is indeed a bit old. It can’t be compared with the lavishness of the city you were at on the Ark, but at least it is clean enough, Vivian cleans it all day.”

Nangong Wudi explained while he followed from behind. “I didn’t mean to ridicule. I just think that… Hey, most great people are weird. I perfectly understand that.”

Everyone began their usual daily chores. Vivian rolled up her sleeves and wiped the tables; Wuyue formshifted into a sea snake to mop the floor; Y’lisabet went into the kitchen for a while before she ran out with a liquefied natural gas tank on her head recklessly. “Forgot to refill the cooking gas before we left home. I’ll now get it done!”

Lily was startled and quickly stopped her. “You don’t go! Let your papa go! People would think you’re abusing the child here!”

Y’lisabet’s lips compressed and tossed the one-meter-high liquefied natural gas tank to Y’zaks. “Papa, get it refilled!”

Hao Ren watched from a side, his heart shuddering; the freaking child really left people speechless.

However, the even more reckless freaking child was right behind. Lil Pea was somehow turned on by the gas tank, she excited jumped down by the table and toddled excitedly towards Y’zaks with a handful of sacred flame. “Uncle Bulky, let me help you light it up…”

Lucky for everyone, Y’zaks immediately rushed for the door with the gas tank: He was not prepared to let her blow up the house just yet.

Lil Pea did not know what to do with the flame. She turned to look at the Nangong Wudi. “Uncle, do you want to light your ciggy?”

Hao Ren glanced at Vivian who was wide-eyed. “Could you use the normal igniter for cooking next time? This child is now excited about lighting up the cooking gas tank…”

Lil Pea toddled up to Hao Ren. “Dad-dee, do you want to light your ciggy?”

Everyone glared angrily at Nangong Sanba. The latter pointed to himself and protested. “Is it even my fault for her turning into a lighter?”

Lily looked at Hao Ren. “Then it must be Mr. Landlord’s fault.”

Hao Ren planted his face in his hands, hapless. “Why the house turn into a mess just minutes after we’re back?”

Ayesha smiled and looked at this weird family, the daily of which no one could have imagined. She also turned her eyes on the furnishings in the living room, be it the LCD TV on the cabinet or the laptop that Lily was fiddling with was hugely different from that of her memories of a hundred years ago. Although having not seen the rest of the world yet, Ayesha still realised that times changed and the world with time. She sighed, feeling emotional. “A hundred years … we are out of touch with the world for too long, I am afraid we have to adapt again.”

“The country was still embroiled in fighting when we left, but now it is peaceful.” Nangong Wudi looked at the scene outside the window. “And it looks more prosperous than before. Given a chance, I would want to go out and see for myself. Even though we’re hermits, we should learn the rules of the world.”

“First of all, dad, you have to change the way you speak,” smiled Nangong Sanba. “Your way you speak is so yesteryears. It simply sounds weird.”

Nangong Wuyue chimed in. “That’s right; this is something that has to be changed. If you found it hard to change your way of speaking right now, at least you could keep your beard and long hair, and then I’ll buy you a XXL clothes so you can pretend to be an artist.”

Nangong Wudi laughed. “Up to you. However, we are not humans. We could not care less about the life cycles of this world. No big deal. If necessary, we could always find a place in the wilderness it’s a big deal to find a wilderness and be a hermit again…”

Wuyue gave her dad a sideways glance and said, “Dad, you need to quickly adapt—now that wilderness has been outsourced to someone else…”

Nangong Wudi. “What is outsource?”

Hao Ren interjected. “And there were some unlucky hermits nuked more than a hundred times.”

Nangong Wudi was all confused. “What is nuked?”

At least, it was Vivian also put an end to this kind of conversation. “The best thing to do now is to come out from isolation. Humanity is getting more powerful, they could even fly an aircraft to Mars. No demon hunters and otherworldlings could escape from the changing world. The world will leave those who live like an ostrich behind. The most stubborn old-fashioned guys in the sanctuary in Athens had already pushing for their apparel products to enter the human market. I feel that you two have much to learn. I’ve seen enough. Humans have developed so fast that you would find hard to catch up now…”

Lily curled herself on the sofa with her laptop in her hand and her lips compressed. “The old lady begins to lecture again…”

Nangong Wudi and Ayesha looked at each other: They felt an aura that only the elder could have possessed; they could not help but remained silent while Vivian lectured.

Vivian’s arms akimbo and shot Lily a glare. “I tell you what, Doggie, no spare ribs for you today!”

“Nothing decent will come out from a filthy mouth… I’m still young…,” the vampire maiden kept mumbling as she walked into the kitchen, leaving everyone in the living hall staring at each other, speechless.

Chapter 650: A House Full of Weirdoes ##

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

After lunch, Hao Ren asked the Nangong couple about their plans.

“I’m sure the old place where you lived was definitely gone,” Hao Ren held the Nangong couple to sit on the couch and talk about their plans. “And you guys are unfamiliar with this world now, you need to learn a lot of things. So I suggest that you stay here. Although the house is little old, there are still enough rooms for you two. Furthermore, you two have separated from your children for so many years; you should spend more time together.”

There was an empty room in the house, which was initially cleared out for Rollie but she just stubbornly refused to sleep in—and certainly much less to be willing to make her own bed. She still insisted on sleeping on the mat in the living room. No one in the house could handle this cat; naturally, the room is vacant as a result.

The Nangong couple glanced at their children. Of course, they would like to be with their children. However, the old couple were a little cautious. Nangong Wudi placed his hands on his knees. “Is this… all right? You have been so kind to us and we already owe you so much. We would not want to bother you again.”

Ayesha also nodded. “Right. We can bring Wuyue and Sanba back to our house. I know the house is gone, but we can rebuild it.”

Lily made a sound by knocking on her notebook. She said without looking at them, “Don’t think about it. I just checked; the place where you used to live now have been developed into scenic spot, you have to pay sixty bucks just for the entrance fee, and most famous attraction is the circular hole on the rocky hill… I suspect it was your house.”

The Nangong couple suddenly stared at each other for a long moment before Ayesha forced a smile, spread out her hand and lamented, “Really, nothing stays unchanged, the ruins of our house has turned into a treasure.”

Vivian twitched her mouth. “No big deal, young people. I even had a beaded ring being kept in the Museum of Prehistoric Humanity. Whom should I seek for recourse? Furthermore, I still have two bracelets that I couldn’t retrieve in the tomb of Cleopatra.”

Nangong Wudi had not managed to ask the background of this group of people around Hao Ren. Now when he heard what Vivian said, he was startled. “Prehistoric human? May I ask—do you have any appellation?”

“Some people call her Countess of the Crimson Moon, but I think the moniker is too long. I’m advising her to change to Moonlight Warrior—” Lily chimed in before Vivian could say anything. However, before Lily could finished saying, a little bat already stuck in her face. The husky maiden shrugged. “The only problem is she is not willing to change.”

Nangong Wudi was shocked hearing the moniker. He stared at Vivian like an about–to-retired old archaeologist discovering a living cave man. “The Count of the Crimson Moon… the world’s oldest vampire?! Really?!”

“I don’t particularly like your overplayed reactions, especially this kind of stare,” Vivian’s brows knit together. “It feels like I’m becoming a rare animal in an exhibition. I just live a little longer than you.”

“A little longer?” Nangong Wudi instinctively took a step back. This was the natural reaction as a demon hunter when he saw the most senior (in theory, the strongest; in practice, hahaha) otherworldling in the world. “Comparing to your Excellency, whether it’s demon hunters or otherworldlings, they have all returned to the soil but you are the predecessor of all intelligent creatures in the world! This is really… something I have never dared to think about that I could actually see you in person…”

Vivian said, “How come I feel that I’m more like a rare animal? By the way, why are you keeping away from me? I’m not going to eat you.”

Nangong Wudi looked Vivienne, shocked. He felt very strange as he turned his eyes on Hao Ren. “I really didn’t expect that the oldest vampire would live in this place—you never know, really. May I also know the appellations of the other ladies and gentlemen?”

Hao Ren looked around. “The rest of them aren’t worth mentioning. Even if I was to tell, you’re not going to know who they are. Y’zaks and the little demon come from a different world. They used to be demon king and princess that had nearly crushed the world. I’m a titular king in a place called Aerym, and renting out a big manor estate there. A monk, the like of Master Xuanzang, is also among us; he is from another world but has gone back to his hometown these few days. Even the lighter-fish going around helping people to light their ciggies is a pedigree… but let’s not talk about her since she is still a baby.”

Nangong Wudi knew that Hao Ren was telling the truth. Though at a glance those in the house were all ordinary looking males and females, he knew he could not underestimate them all—none of them was normal. There was little wonder why oldest vampire on earth was staying so low-key in this small shelter. She suddenly looked at Lily respectfully. “I wonder where the werewolf from? The royal family in Europe or the reclusive family of Latin America?”

Vivian squinted at Lily. “She has the simplest composition—a husky.”

Lily let out a reflexive threatening growl, but sadly, she soon realised that she could not refute that statement. The husky could only lowered her head, pulled Hao Ren’s sleeves and said aggrievedly, “…beside, I’m also a Pekingese…”

That is literally the worse comes to worst.

It was a chaotic family. The Nangong couple put aside their intention of going home together with the Nangong siblings. The couple had realised that the world had really changed with time in a way that was beyond their expectation. The way of life and common sense of a hundred years ago were no longer applicable. They needed to slowly reintegrate into this world—and before that, if you did not want to get into trouble or spotted by the demon hunters, they were better to stay in Hao Ren’s shelter.

Of course, they also did not intend to stay for long: although there was a room for them, obviously the house was pretty crowded already. The Nangong couple felt that it was somewhat inconvenient for the two of them to live with a group of youngsters. They decided to adapt to the environment here first before they looked for and moved to a rented house in the neighbourhood. This would be convenient for everyone. They could still meet one another regularly. Hao Ren had no objection to that. He knew Southern Suburbs inside out. If they could really find some place to stay outside, the low-key Nangong couple would do fine in this peaceful town. So he let them.

Of course, the Nangong siblings were all supportive of it: the two siblings had been searching for their parents for a full hundred years. Now they finally reunited with their parents, and foresaw that they were going to be separated again, they had nothing much to ask for. Nangong Wuyue was happily clinging to Ayesha, rubbing her mom’s arm with the tip of her tail. Seeing that, tough guy like Y’zaks could not help but whispered, “Hey, a family is better than anything else. It reminds me of a story of the humanity, which was very emotional…”

Hao Ren asked curiously, “What story? Chen Xiang?”

“Little tadpoles looking mama. But this one here is a 3D deluxe version.”

Hao Ren said, “…We have at least one worldview not quite right.”

Y’zaks shrugged. “You still have the nerve to talk about worldview with a demon from another world?”

Y’zaks sashayed away, leaving behind Hao Ren dumbstruck. Hao Ren pouted haplessly, then beckoned to Wuyue and her mom. “The two tadpoles over there, haven’t you finished yet?”

Wuyue swung her tail vigorously. “Why are you calling us tadpoles? What’s wrong?”

“Can I borrow your parents for a while; I’m taking them to see Raven. After all, the Space Administration is the one undertaking this case,” said Hao Ren as he got to his feet. “I also have to send in the database. By the way, I got the feeling that I’m more like a coroner than an inspector; there have been so many tombstones lately…”

The MDT quietly replied, “It’s normal. The progress of civilisations has always been with dead bodies. Those who could continue to walk on are few and between. So far, only one has made it to the end. You as an inspector must have this mental readiness: you could almost never witness a truly perfect world, even your own universe, which is in fact full of holes.”

Hao Ren thought for a moment and sighed. “A ship of thieves…”

Hao Ren who could chat with a brick puzzled the Nangong couple. They asked in unison, “Where go?”

“Bring you to see God—don’t worry, we’re going there, alive.”