Above The Sky -
Chapter 314 - 314 296 Stars of Yesteryear 34
314: Chapter 296: Stars of Yesteryear (3/4) 314: Chapter 296: Stars of Yesteryear (3/4) Longing…
“Is this…
memory?!”
Ian realized that his mental state had just shown a slight crack, failing to maintain the seamless state of mind, but he didn’t think it mattered much.
If a person truly experienced no emotions at all, then that life would be devoid of flavor.
The psychic attack from the Nest Will was indeed accurate, and this was where the opponent excelled.
But it couldn’t truly cause the youth to succumb.
He carefully guarded his core, beginning to reject these memory fragments originating from other souls.
It’s just that the process took time.
The play of light and shadow continued.
The gathering ended, and dim light illuminated the cramped underground living area, while the boy had become an adult at some unknown time.
He arrived at an ecosystem full of frost, with a dim artificial light source hanging overhead.
Even the moon in the videos was brighter than this light source.
He stepped on the snow, the ground compacted with frost reflecting the light above.
Drifting snow dust also mirrored the light, as if stars blown down by the wind and swirling around him.
But these were not real stars after all.
He had never seen real stars.
He had never seen real snow, never seen the green of real grasslands, never heard the sound of real tides crashing against rocks or the uproar of the sea of leaves; he knew everything, yet had seen nothing.
By now, Ian had some understanding that these memories in front of him must be the memory fragments of the Redwood Great Elder from those days, those deeply ingrained memories of his childhood, even mixed with the memories of others—the Worm Nest was not the Redwood Great Elder, not to mention the Brain-Eating Parasites he created after having devoured how many of the Redwood People.
Just those five who shattered his Elder will made it impossible for him to remain himself.
With this in mind, what does the Nest Will want to do after all?
The light and shadows kept shifting.
The young man instantly turned into a mature leader.
With a few subordinates, he watched the production line in the factory deep underground.
Amid the sound of steel humming, he watched the tribe’s required tools and goods take shape under the assembly of the automatic AI.
The Redwood People had never worried for living supplies.
They lived contentedly in this cave-like cage, as if residing in a Paradise hidden from the world.
The outside was too dangerous.
The aftermath of the Calamity of Heavenly Fall had not yet dissipated.
The landscapes depicted in the documentaries had long been destroyed.
The Redwood People were guarding the last glory of the Terra Federation; their greatest mission was to preserve themselves, maintain knowledge, and return to the surface when necessary, to bring back the spark of civilization to Terra World and the inheritance of the past.
They would not go out, could not go out, did not want to go out.
Compared to the turbulent seas outside, mountains constantly settling, and the relentless cycles of snowstorms and rainstorms, the Redwood Base had far superior conditions than any other shelter.
Only here could they maintain an abundance of supplies nearly resembling those of the previous era.
Going out would be no different from suffering.
The man’s temples had turned gray, his once bright golden hair gradually dimming, only the pair of sky-blue eyes remained crystal clear.
He stared at the production line in front of him, reminiscing about the contents of the previous meeting.
His fifteenth proposal to open the doors of the ruins to observe the outside world was rejected again.
No one could imagine how much destruction it would bring to the Redwood Base if the natural disasters were still raging outside.
They had to maintain the security of the entire ecosystem.
[But]
The man asked, [How long must we wait before we can return to the surface?]
[Great Elder, we too wish to return to the surface, to gaze upon the azure sky and the clear ocean with our own eyes.
We too want to hear the calls of birds and breathe the freshness of the forest,]
In the meeting room, those people with blurred faces said vague words: [Perhaps in a hundred years, perhaps in two hundred years, that is a scene that only our descendants will see.]
[Now all we can do is wait.]
[Wait for the future to arrive.]
—Nonsense.
Ian could sense a fury rising from within, stemming from the soul, burning as if it originated from himself, his will beginning to resonate with it.
Because his anger stemmed from such resonance, if Ian were in the same situation as the owner of this rage, he would certainly be just as angry.
——Nonsense.
Anger, like a pitch-black blaze, scorched the man’s soul.
Through his analysis of the crust’s stability and the ocean’s tides, he knew well that the outside turmoil had settled.
At worst, there was some lingering Spirit Energy radiation, which meant little to the optimized Bloodlines of the Redwood People.
If they ventured out now, at most they’d suffer some hardship initially.
It would be nothing like the horror those people described which made it seem as though it would lead to the complete destruction of Redwood Base.
Talking about safety was just an excuse for those who coveted the stability within the base!
If they left, the Elder Council would undoubtedly be reformed.
Those decrepit old men who wanted to cling to power, passing on knowledge and privileges to their progeny, would never support exploration and the forging of new frontiers, allowing fresh talents to emerge and vie for authority and profit with them…
Such decayed fools!
The man deeply resented himself for making Redwood Base too perfect, turning it into an underground paradise where everyone was content and thus resistant to change.
——Had I known, I wouldn’t have repaired the automatic production lines, so technology wouldn’t have turned everyone into useless people.
With such regrets, there was nothing he could do, because he was only the Great Elder and did not have the authority to bypass the Elder Council to assign tasks to the four major clans.
He could only advocate and lead only if the majority supported him.
Like repairing the automatic production lines, which was a good thing for everyone.
Fueled by a fiery anger, the man returned home to a double room identical to those of other clan members.
The Great Elder had no special privileges in resources; they all ate the same food, lived in the same houses.
The Redwood People were more equal and reasonable internally than anyone imagined, but the Elder lineage had the chance to learn more knowledge and control more instruments and machinery.
Inside the small cabin, there was an elderly woman wearing a somewhat tattered cotton-padded jacket, warming herself in front of a small stove, as the underground cavernous environment was indeed damp and chilly, and the old woman’s health was poor, necessitating more warmth from the fire.
The elderly woman’s eyes were closed, as if she were asleep, with an old-fashioned thermos in front of her and a small screen beside it playing a scene that had been shown countless times.
Displayed were the towering cities and perfect ecosystems of a previous era, the beautiful landscapes, magnificent mountains, and lakes shimmering like jewels, all attesting to the perfect fusion of civilization and nature that the pre-era civilization had achieved.
Their progress was the progress of all things in the world.
As the screen continued to play music, the man moved slowly and quietly, not wanting to disturb his mother’s rest, but soon he sensed something was amiss.
There was no sound of breathing.
“Mom?!”
He hurriedly approached, knelt at his mother’s side, and took her hand, but the old woman did not respond, her face still held a faint smile tinged with regret.
She had passed away in her sleep.
The man wanted to clench his fists, but couldn’t bear to let go of his mother’s hand, afraid to apply force.
Gazing up at the sleeping face of his mother, his eyes swirled with emotions too complex to be articulated by any words.
On the nearby screen, the documentary showcasing the civilization and landscapes of the Terra World from ancient times continued to play.
There, the birds sang amidst fragrant flowers; there, the wind whispered on and on.
There, the blue sea rippled; there, the mountains encircled.
There, lay the road to the future.
There, the stars shone bright.
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