I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 493 - 493 492.Cradle_1

Chapter 493: 492.Cradle_1 Chapter 493: 492.Cradle_1 Back at the ecological park, Lu Ban saw Shuangxin and the others seated on the lawn.

Although the plants were artificial, to them, who had hardly ever seen real vegetation, these were as “real” as flora could be.

Standing in the center of the ecological park, Lin was surrounded by mechanical animals, like the Forest Goddess descending to earth.

In this desolate world, she appeared like a fairy who had walked through time, aloof from the world.

Lu Ban also took a seat next to Shuangxin. The dome of the ecological park was a massive screen, reflecting the starlight that, for thousands of years, was perhaps the only constant.

The surroundings suddenly dimmed down, accompanied by Lin’s voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen, coming up next is the special program of the ecological park, ‘Cradle,’ presented by me.”

Her voice took on more emotion, surely fine-tuned for this program with nuances of shyness, anticipation, and yearning that reverberated beneath the dome along with the robotic girl’s voice.

“Please look.”

Lin pointed toward the sky where the stars on the screen shone brightly, invoking a sense of nostalgia and melancholy.

“In the distant past, when the universe was born and the galaxies were still in chaos, in a tiny corner of this starry expanse, a planet was forming.”

The perspective of the dome zoomed in, passing through the splendid beauty of the stars, and the lens focused on a planet still hot and glowing fiery red.

“It was an inconspicuous one among the billions of stars in the universe. With the cooling of celestial bodies, land formed and, with sunlight spurring reactions among the elements, the first droplets of water condensed.”

At this point, Lu Ban had a good idea of the program’s content.

It was like those educational videos in science museums, chronicling the journey of this planet from its inception to the present day.

He glanced at Shuangxin, the researcher whose eyes sparkled with fascination. For her, this was the history of a Foreign Domain she had never understood.

And the unquestionable protagonist at this moment was the robotic girl standing in the very center of the ecological park.

“In the primeval oceans, lightning, the substances brought by meteorites, and the inorganic matter wandering the seas finally spawned a marvelous reaction after countless thunderstorms, creating organic matter. These organic compounds, after what must have been eons of time, eventually assembled into the first forms of life, and from then on, this planet was no longer silent.”

The visuals on the dome changed, and Lu Ban noticed that the vegetation around them had also shifted to resemble seaweeds, as if they were immersed in the ocean, experiencing the environment of this planet billions of years ago.

“…The ancient creatures we are familiar with or unaware of then made their debut. Even the vast oceans were not enough to sustain their flourishing life, prompting the first lifeforms to leave the water and venture onto the land.”

Footprints stumbled forward on the beach.

Wings spread out under the sunshine.

Cold-blooded behemoths dominating the land and the cyclical history of extinction and rebirth brought by natural disasters.

Among them, small creatures hiding between rocks and caves thrived and grew.

Hands stretched to reach the fruits on branches, and legs grew stronger.

The surroundings became a vast grassland.

“The ancestors of humankind were born in this way, hunting and settling on the grasslands, step by step toward the future.”

Lu Ban was no longer familiar with the subsequent developments; the human history here was different from what he knew.

But the essence remained the same.

War, progress, barbarism trampling over civilization, and civilization in turn accommodating barbarism, liberation of thought, technological advancement, greater wars, and natural disasters.

The cyclical history of hatred taught humans that they could never seem to learn from history.

Of course, along with development, peace, cooperation, and mutual benefits also became mainstream.

What finally appeared before Lu Ban, Shuangxin, and others was a city ablaze with dazzling lights.

“This is Future City, a city built for the future. Although the living conditions are not that Excellent, we still try to provide everyone with green plants, blue skies, and clear water sources. According to the designer’s intention, this city can continue to operate for six hundred years without relying on external energy sources. As a pilot project, it will provide data and samples for future space travel.”

“The people working here will also seek breakthroughs in the research of biology, aerospace, energy, materials, and so on, to solve the current situation.”

Lin spoke as if these things were certain to happen.

“Although there are still many problems in the world today, I believe that, with the efforts of humanity, we can always solve these problems and lead people into a new era.”

“I am just a robot, I do not know what the future not shown in the database is like, but I have a good memory. I believe that, just as in the hundreds of millions of years of evolution, life has suffered ordeals and extinction and ultimately been reborn, humans will eventually overcome any hardship they face and welcome a brand new future.”

“I will remember all this, imprint it in the database, and never forget.”

“When that time comes, please remember, no matter how far humanity has ventured, this place will always be everyone’s eternal home, the eternal cradle of life.”

The robot girl’s narration was like a bedtime story told by a mother in childhood, full of hope and without a trace of darkness.

Perhaps it was the emotionless robot who could still hold such thoughts under these circumstances.

Lu Ban knew that this special program might have been produced to encourage the people living here.

Perhaps when Future City was being constructed, the Foreign Domain had already started to go awry, the environment was damaged, the disease of crystallization spread, human living space narrowed, and they could only hope to save themselves by venturing beyond this planet.

Unfortunately, they failed. Humanity entered the countdown to destruction, the entire planet became a desert, and the few remaining people struggled for survival, having long forgotten history, wrestling in the midst of rampaging swarms.

This place was like a street where time had frozen, everything halted before destruction.

Only the gradually deteriorating Solar Panels and the robots unable to move due to the lack of electricity slowly pushed time forward.

All four of them fell silent.

Shuangxin and the others were shocked by the Splendid, magnificent history of the past; they had never imagined the world was once so prosperous. Compared to the desolation of the present, it seemed even more cruel.

But Lu Ban noticed something else.

In the images of Future City, not far from here, was an industrial park.

That was the place for researching the most advanced technologies.

Considering the power outage here, that place definitely wasn’t operational either.

Should they perhaps go there and explore?