Above The Sky
Chapter 287 - 287 273 Phantasms of the Past 23

287: Chapter 273: Phantasms of the Past (2/3) 287: Chapter 273: Phantasms of the Past (2/3) The hall was semicircular, with two floors, and the second floor was supported by two sturdy metal brackets, forming a platform that overlooked all the screens of the entire hall.

Below the platform was a spacious and bright working area.

The semicircular screen with no dead angles flickered with the conditions of many areas, and although the majority had gone dark, one could still vaguely sense the grandeur of this control area in its heyday.

There were eight entrances and exits in the entire hall, and Ian felt a sudden realization; the crystal corridor he had walked through was a direct passage to the underground river transportation system, a fast channel used to travel quickly between various ecological parks.

But at the center of the hall stood a rock statue that was quite out of place with the overall style of the hall, even appearing quite rough.

A swollen, as if edematous, giant statue.

“This is…”

Ian furrowed his brows as he examined the statue carefully, then said in an uncertain tone, “A radiation suit?”

It was indeed a human-shaped sculpture of someone wearing a radiation suit.

Despite the poor attention to detail, he was very familiar with the style because he would often wear such a suit during inspections and maintenance.

The crude handmade statue, donned in a radiation suit, stood silently in the midst of the exceptionally advanced Silver Central Control Hall, appearing mysteriously simple, and Ian couldn’t figure out why for a moment.

All he could do was walk forward and observe his surroundings carefully.

And with such a look, he saw many details.

On the four walls of the hall, there were many faint scratches of inscriptions — rather than scratches, it would be more accurate to say they were the remnants left by some sort of marker on the metal wall, which had no scars itself.

Dense marks and totems covered the surroundings of the hall; aside from the screens, even the floor was covered with these traces.

“Stop.”

Although neither he nor Andor had entered the hall, Ian still stopped the Pirate Captain’s actions.

He bent down to closely observe the markings on the walls and floor and had the Silver Chip record them.

“The third power module’s linked sequence could be compatible with both ‘Spark’ and ‘Flying Light’ Furnace Core Structures through a unified furnace model, but they cannot replace the ‘Tidal’ and ‘Stormrage’ linked sequences.

If it’s necessary to connect any two of these combinations for maintenance purposes, a Broad Area Psychic Suppressor must be installed to stabilize the different wavelengths of Natural Spirit Energy and prevent field howling changes.”

“Administrator-Elders can perform remote maintenance operations on both the base and ecological parks simultaneously through the unified information platform, but they may not remotely operate on ‘Forbidden Zones’ such as the ‘Power Source Area,’ ‘Biological Laboratory,’ etc.

However, administrators can perform remote maintenance using the ‘Core Management Platform’ paired with ‘Remote Viewing Devices.'”

“Non-Administrator-Elders can apply for maintenance qualifications to enter the maintenance equipment area and proceed to the Forbidden Zones through a special exit for 4 to 8 hours of maintenance work.

If an extension is needed, please continue to apply for qualifications.”

Reading the meanings in these traces, Ian was at first perplexed but then understood, “Is this the key maintenance manual?

And it’s written very straightforwardly; ordinary people could understand it…”

“Is this a study manual specifically left for future generations!?”

Standing upright again, Ian looked around the hall once more.

And this time, he saw that on the five seats in front of the screens, there lay five skeletons that had completely mummified.

And at this moment, another wave of Illusory Visions washed over the youth, causing a series of light and shadow fragments to flash before his eyes.

Underneath the statue, five figures of different statures, both men and women, were gathered, engaged in a heated discussion.

“There’s no other way now, to counteract, this is our only option!” the tallest man’s voice boomed, his tone resigned, “I will be the first to strike, and if I fail, please learn from my sacrifice!”

“Indeed, this is the only way to defeat that guy,” a woman spoke calmly, “The lab’s Consciousness Upload device has been destroyed, yet he doesn’t know that the Central Control Room’s administrator’s seat was originally meant to project one’s consciousness onto the base’s control platform—with just minor modifications, every one of these seats can act as a Upload device.”

“A person’s thoughts and memories account for one share, even if he has the advantage of striking first, we can still scatter him by sheer numbers,” a somewhat somber man spoke slowly, his head bearing a large scar, indicative of brain surgery, “He hasn’t begun mass-producing Echoes yet; though there are many, they haven’t coalesced in quality.”

“Exactly,” another fiery-voiced woman nodded, “We’re all people, and although he may be the strongest among us, could he really be stronger than all of us combined?!”

The eldest among them sighed, his worries as he turned to look at the door of the Control Room: “The problem is, after we crush him, what about the Worm Nest?

It has already begun to expand savagely, and the younger generation has lost their Brain plugins and can’t use the base tools to clear it…”

“Even if it gets cleared out, can those modified Brain Slugs, which now meet the old military’s bio-weapon standards, really be completely eradicated?

Even if they pilot Armor Suits…

it is not certain that they will know how to operate them.”

A silence fell in the meeting room, but soon voices rose again.

The tall man tried to reassure them, “It’s okay, some of them are clever enough to learn to operate the manual even without the Brain plugin.”

“The population is still not enough, no matter what, we can’t sustain the base’s ecology and the inheritance of knowledge…

They will definitely decline,” the calm woman said with a touch of regret, “It’s our dereliction of duty that we can’t pass on the glory of Terra…”

“I’ve thought about this for a long time,” the grim-looking man wore a darker expression, but finally managed a smile uglier than a cry, “I’ve told Bona to activate the cloning chambers; that should supplement the population somewhat.

Although the gene pool has been contaminated, it will at most cause physical deformities, not affect intelligence.”

“If necessary, we could use the clones as cannon fodder.

It’s inhumane, but there’s no other way…

Sacrificing clones is better than sacrificing normals.”

“It’s so dirty, we’re probably the last generation of the Alliance’s Terrans, but we still can’t maintain our glory,” the fiery woman sighed, “Enough about that, without the Attached Brain’s Spirit Energy Network, we’re left with only the fragmented knowledge recorded in our genes and passed down through word of mouth.

What will our descendants turn out to be…”

“We…”

The elder surveyed his successors with a heavy heart but ultimately showed a smile, “We have no choice.”

“We can only believe.”

To believe…

To believe in the future.

In the future…

The ancient phantasms of the past dissipated in front of Ian, eventually coalescing into the skeleton before him.

It was all just a moment, the youth slowly raised his hand and rubbed his eyes.

Now, he had arrived at the future spoken of by them.