Above The Sky
Chapter 236 - 236 224 Life's Traces 14

236: Chapter 224 Life’s Traces (1/4) 236: Chapter 224 Life’s Traces (1/4) Six years ago, the Natives relied on spreading the source of a plague in the Northern South Ridge Colony, leading to a widespread epidemic named ‘Flash Mosquito Disease’ in the Mordor Colony, Odor Colony, and Midra Autonomous Region.

Although the plague was cordoned off by Bishop ‘White Mist’ of the Huai Guang Church from the start and all the infected were cured, it came to an end.

But in the early stage of the infection, the bizarre symptoms and extremely high contagivity indeed slowed the pace of this Second Energy Level monk, preventing him from returning to Harrison Port in time to assist the Viscount in combat with the Totem Master.

Based on subsequent analysis and tracing, physicians discovered that Flash Mosquito Disease was a parasitic disease spread by mosquito larvae.

The ones spreading the disease would pour water containing diseased larvae into wells and communal water barrels, causing infection among many colonists.

While using water as a medium is common among many parasites, Ian still couldn’t help but make a slight association.

——After all, the Southern Sea Ruin Cluster is the Holy Ground of the Natives.

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be natural for the Natives to keep some of these parasites in the Holy Ground as some sort of plague bio-weapon to cultivate?

Thinking of this, Ian couldn’t help but extrapolate further, “The Flash Mosquito Disease of those years is one thing——but the recent frequent appearances of agents from Fiery Flame Land, is their intention really just to use the Natives to restrain Harrison Port or South Ridge Province?”

According to his thinking, enhancing the bio-weapon of the Natives and waging biological warfare in South Ridge seems to be the most in line with Fiery Flame Land’s strategic objectives.

After all, their own territory is arid and scorching hot, which naturally blocks most viruses and parasites, so there’s no worry about it backfiring on their homeland.

But it would be bad for The Empire, because even if it were curable, it would cause extreme instability locally.

Noting these thoughts down, placing them in the notebook of the Silver Chip, Ian felt a vague unease, “Although I don’t know whether this parasite is naturally thus, or has evolved into its current form due to nuclear radiation or the distortion of the Spirit Energy Field, this peculiar creature is enough to illustrate the dangers of the ruin cluster.”

“If this parasite were to be turned into a biological weapon…”

——The Native Great Shaman had indeed died, and the Crocodragon had gone with him.

However, since the Natives had accepted firearm assistance from Fiery Flame Land and undoubtedly had agent support from behind…

whether they had actually weakened was truly an unknown.

If these parasites were to be discovered by Fiery Flame Land and turned into weapons, the danger would definitely not be limited to just a part of South Ridge.

There was indeed much to worry about, and Ian slightly shook his head, “I hope that Bishop White Mist of the Huai Guang Church has truly completely eradicated Flash Mosquito Disease back then.”

“Otherwise, the situation will be much more difficult.”

Stepping over the bodies of the lizard horde, Ian continued forward.

Across the sturdy stone bridge, ahead was the dark and unfathomable entrance passage of Redwood Base.

This passage was quite large, more than a dozen meters wide and about twenty meters high, clearly not just for human passage.

Even the average Armor Suit could go in and out without any pressure, and even large siege machines could easily enter and exit.

The ground and the walls on both sides were paved with large blocks of sturdy white rock, the dome structure on top was semi-circular, supported by some kind of alloy framework, and though it had stood for a thousand years, it remained very strong.

However, due to the meltwater waterfall in front and the blue river beside it, this place was also very humid.

The floor of the passage was a slow-moving stream, and there was a strange scent of decay and rust in the air, likely the smell of some iron-eating bacteria’s metabolites.

The smell was unpleasant, but it wasn’t miasma, so it didn’t affect breathing.

After passing through the passage, Ian came to a rather bright hall.

It was evident that this hall was originally a natural cave; the decorative reliefs on both sides of the walls were slightly modified from the cave’s native calcified rock walls.

They were inscribed with many strange styles of star maps and some towering ships sailing towards the stars…

If a local from Terra World came here, they would probably just categorize it as ‘ancient fantasy murals from a former era.’ But Ian knew that the reliefs depicted the scenes of uniquely shaped spaceships flying into the starry sky.

He sighed slightly, now completely certain that Redwood Base must be the central base managing the space elevator and orbital accelerator in this area.

The nuclear fusion power supply that powered these two structures probably belonged to the same management.

Of course, it certainly had other functions, otherwise, it wouldn’t just be called ‘base’ but perhaps something like ‘Space Engineering Control Center.’

“No wonder Teacher Hiliad has always been searching for the entrance to this place…

The essence of the great storm in the Southern Sea is simply a cooling issue leading to a relic disaster.

Without making adjustments here, no one could externally resolve the nuclear power station’s cooling issues without destruction,” he mused.

Ian nodded slightly and looked around the interior.

The hall was not empty; there were many scattered skeletons and sources of light.

The skeletons belonged to Humans and Beast Demons.

They had all decomposed into skulls and ashes, with only some stone and iron tools at the bottom of the skeletons remaining intact.

Noteworthy was the abnormal state of these skeletons, even those of the beasts, which were twisted into knots or scattered about as if torn apart by some immense force while they were still alive.

Some skeletons appeared to be sitting peacefully to one side, but with their heads cradled in their arms.

Their posture suggested they were exerting force, as if trying to crush their detached skulls, indicating they had experienced extreme pain before death.

Ian frowned as he glanced at a skeleton, and he acutely noticed that there were many abnormal bony spurs on it that shouldn’t exist.

The light sources were some fluorescent algae on the sides of the stone walls, emitting a cold light that had not dimmed after thousands of years.

Or perhaps, these algae lamps were designed from the very beginning to last for a millennium?

Moreover, they seemed similar to fluorescent algae, just a bit more primitive…

Aside from these, there were many upright iron coffins in the hall, topped with transparent glass windows through which one could see the coffins filled with some sort of dark liquid.

But the liquid was too turbid, and even with Ian’s vision, it was hard to make out what was inside for now.

With Foresight View, Ian could see there were no other living creatures in the hall, which was why he could observe carefully.

He also realized there were living creatures in this place.

A part of the hall contained skeletons, another part these strange iron coffins, and yet another part, in a corner of the hall, were some campfires that hadn’t gone out yet.

There were scattered and chewed animal bones beside them, and judging by a skull that hadn’t been completely gnawed clean, they seemed to belong to some kind of giant rat.

In a more sheltered area, there were beds piled up with dry moss, and nearby were some dark traces.

It looked like blood.