Chapter 423

Chapter 423 – Epilogue: The Past and the New Birth

Epilogue: The Volume of Knowledge

Lolan Hill perused the data stored within the system. Although the records about the human decline were incomplete, she was able to grasp the general process.

After the meteor shower of the 21st century, extraordinary powers began to awaken in various places.

Nature’s creatures underwent rapid mutations. Many bizarre abilities made them hard to guard against, and the number of mutated viruses surged, causing widespread epidemics. Antibiotics proved ineffective. Even though the situation was eventually contained, the human population had drastically decreased.

In that era, governments, organizations, both official and civilian, started focusing on researching these peculiar phenomena or abilities.

The first batch of extraordinary beings among humans naturally came under control. Those who were lucky could assist in research within large organizations or enjoy better treatment. Unlucky ones caught by underground organizations or marginal institutions suffered greatly.

Sometimes, researchers would push moral boundaries to obtain rare and extreme data.

Thus, the first extraordinary beings began to form alliances, seeking self-preservation and protecting their interests. Eventually, due to ideological conflicts and the split from old humanity, war broke out.

The post-mutation humans called themselves New Humans. Though fewer in number, they were stronger than ordinary people due to their ability to use extraordinary powers. Initially, they held the upper hand. However, the Old Humanity rapidly advanced in genetic technology. After gene sequencing, humans who could adapt to extraordinary powers emerged, known as Genetically Sequenced Individuals. Thereafter, most newborns of the Old Humanity were Genetically Sequenced Individuals.

Genetically Sequenced Individuals were slightly weaker than New Humans but had a larger base, so the combined strength of the Old Humanity once again surpassed that of the New Humans. Unfortunately, this prosperity did not last long. The number of natural organisms far exceeded humans, and mutation led some to grow enormous, develop sharp claws, or gain the ability to use fire, among other oddities. Their instinctive activities destroyed many human facilities—wires, optical fibers, pipelines, roads, and more.

Human society became increasingly complex, and the loss of any single link in the chain could halt the entire process. Ultimately, many factories had to shut down, severely damaging overall productivity. The New and Old Humans then ceased fighting and began addressing the invasion of mutated organisms.

Governments began to restrict activity zones and concentrate industrial areas, slowly restoring the population. But the mutated organisms continued evolving, and both sides engaged in a life-or-death race over the next decade.

However, the race was ultimately won by the mutated organisms. Their numerical advantage overwhelmed everything, and among them appeared intelligent rulers directing waves of mutants to assault human defenses relentlessly.

Finally, humans resorted to using nuclear weapons, unleashing countless mushroom clouds across the land. Having reached this point, to prevent the resurgence of mutated organisms, humans used nuclear weapons to cleanse all lands on Earth. Countless dust particles darkened the sky, and marine life lost sunlight, leading to massive algae deaths, collapse of food chains, and floating corpses in the seas. Earth entered a nuclear winter.

Without sunlight, plants could not survive, and without plants for sustenance, other organisms also perished. The remaining humans entered hibernation pods, awaiting Earth’s next reboot.

When the dust settled and the sun reappeared, the world was no longer what it once was.

—

Excerpt from “The Diary of Ruins Excavation in Asia HA-46 Zone”

November 24, 3622

We entered here on November 7th, with a team of nine people carrying two excavation units and one detection unit, digging based on residual consciousness signals.

The process was not smooth. We encountered several mutant beasts right from the start, with alarms going off constantly on the shuttle. Sometimes even using the restroom was unsafe.

Fortunately, the two guards in our team were top students from military school, and their Liquid Blade-4 armor performed admirably, repelling multiple attacks from Level 5 mutants.

They seemed to consider this place very important, as if there were treasures here. This is a good sign; I hope we can find something valuable this time. My year-end bonus would be secure, and I could finally buy a custom-made android maid. I’ve saved up my salary for years for this.

—

December 5, 3622

It seems we hit some hard objects. One of the excavation units is damaged. Replacing the shuttle will take until next weekend, which is too long. Can we really go back before the end of the year? It’s really cold outside here.

—

December 12, 3622

Well, those hard objects are actually a rare type of mineral.

They are the result of Mana combining with real matter, likely produced during the first impact? That’s what the eccentric scholar in our team claims anyway.

—

December 18, 3622

We’ve unearthed something. Unfortunately, the footage isn’t great. This ruin seems to have been created suddenly during the first impact, when Mana first interacted with reality, causing a violent transformation. The people inside didn’t realize what was happening and died instantly. (Looks like it was an ancient city.)

—

December 20, 3622

We’ve dug up batch after batch. These translucent blue substances are like amber, preserving the contents inside. Thanks to this, we even saw remnants of ancient human daily items, not much different from today’s. Humans truly declined; after all these years, there hasn’t been any major innovation.

—

December 22, 3622

Okay, although they are deceased ancients, the detection unit indicates that one of them has a faint consciousness. How interesting.

—

December 24, 3622

Finished work. Finally managed to return before the end of the year.

—

A mundane archaeological diary, but according to the annotations at the end, Lolan Hill understood that the relics excavated from this site were precisely her own.

But what happened afterward? According to the notes of the project development leader, she had no body when sealed away, and it was the year 3918.

According to the records, after the meteor shower, a special substance called Mana began to appear in this world.

This magical existence served as a bridge or catalyst, linking biological consciousness with natural energy and matter. Thus, it provided the foundation for altering reality through mental power.

Initially, this effect only appeared in a small group of people, and their extraordinary abilities were very weak, barely enough to light a fire, far from being able to combat high-tech weapons.

Later, as research progressed, humans summarized the underlying patterns.

If scattered Mana was like a tiny glass bead, then biological consciousness was akin to sending specific waves through this bead to manipulate reality.

However, it should be noted that this phenomenon was extremely subtle, like gravity, usually imperceptible except in a few specially mutated individuals.

But the organisms were clever. They gradually chose and utilized this phenomenon. They collected Mana, arranging it in a tightly cohesive structure. With just a push, it could spread like dominoes.

Thus, organisms gained stronger, reality-altering capabilities. This structure was called an Extraordinary Core.

With the foundational and solid groundwork laid, building skyscrapers became remarkably swift.

Mana was the most basic and flexible block, while the constructed Ling Sequence was what humans adapted to and excelled at. They made the Extraordinary Core into their personal AI or computational manipulation device.

With guidance from the Ling Sequence, humans could effortlessly operate complex machinery, swiftly solve and compute various problems, and enhance learning and memory efficiency unprecedentedly.

Due to this, after humans re-emerged from the ground, they quickly entered a flourishing era.

Although the ground remained thick with Mana, chaotic magic, rampant mutants, and insects, and the sky was still covered by dark, pale yellow clouds, high above the clouds, Mana was sparse, and the air was cleaner. Humans felt no discomfort there.

It was in such an environment that humans gradually abandoned the ground and established their nations in the skies. Cities, islands, and airships floated high above using anti-gravity arrays.

Past and new birth, earth and sky, two worlds separated by floating clouds, this is the ‘Dusk Era’ recorded in the annals of countless dust particles.

(End of Chapter)