I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 496 - 496 495. Saving humanity is urgent_1

Chapter 496: 495. Saving humanity is urgent_1 Chapter 496: 495. Saving humanity is urgent_1 The recording ended there.

In between, there was some everyday ranting, which allowed Lu Ban to quickly form an image in his mind of a straight-laced researcher who liked eating beef ramen, listening to classical music, was passionate about research, and had also lost a daughter to disaster.

“Bridges?”

Lu Ban consulted his notebook again before he became certain that this researcher must have been studying how to launch spacecraft beyond the cosmos.

However, unlike the outer space exploration Lu Ban was familiar with, what he was researching, presumably, involved technology for traversing Foreign Domains.

Lu Ban was unclear about the disasters that people of that time had faced, but leaving this planet to find a new home in outer space would undoubtedly have been difficult.

Perhaps some were misled by the guile of an Otherworldly Evil Deity and gradually mastered the method of crossing into Foreign Domains or opening portals between this world and the Foreign Domain, eventually unleashing monsters from the Foreign Domain and causing a total catastrophe here.

Lu Ban played the recording from the tablet for Shuangxin, and the researcher fell silent.

“So… did he cause the swarm?”

Shuangxin’s expression darkened.

In her view, the researcher had always started with good intentions, just like herself now.

But a good beginning did not necessarily lead to a good outcome.

“It’s not clear yet.”

Lu Ban shook his head.

Determining the truth based solely on this record would be biased.

He continued searching the building, activating electronic devices, and only discovered part of the map of this complex.

Following the map, Lu Ban and Shuangxin arrived at the Biological Research Institute.

The destruction here was even more severe, with almost no structures left above ground.

But Lu Ban noticed that the underground section extended even deeper.

Carrying a crowbar, he led the way down the stairs with Shuangxin following behind.

The darkness below was absolute, so Lu Ban wrote [Glow] on a stone, held it in his hand, and its light illuminated the old, mottled staircase.

Descending further, Lu Ban noticed this place was better preserved, perhaps because it was underground and hadn’t been subjected to weathering by the sandstorms, as evidenced by the slogans on the walls.

[Saving humanity is urgent.]

[In the face of disaster, every second counts.]

[The minute you waste is a minute humanity moves closer to extinction.]

It was heavily oppressive, making it difficult to breathe.

In the underground lab, there were only shattered glass containers, which led one to imagine what they once contained.

Lu Ban also discovered a room with many beds, resembling a ward.

He and Shuangxin came to the third sub-level, which appeared to be a research office, with corroded filing cabinets and computers.

Lu Ban managed to turn on a computer, emulating what he had seen earlier, and the screens from several centuries ago used their last bit of energy to display images and text.

[Third report… about transgenic modification to adapt humans to a drastically changing environment… causes of climate change, subsequent developments, land survey report…]

[A study report on the effects of a special mineral substance on the human body… It is reported that most patients exposed to this substance underwent certain mutations; currently, research into these mutations is not yet thorough…]

[Mutation case file one, the patient endured three hours of exposure, presenting a change in eye color and observable crystal-like precipitates; after testing, it was determined the patient could see through walls fifty millimeters thick…]

[Regarding the effects of artificial mutations, tests have shown clear signs of rejection, evident in the rapid degeneration of physical organs and brain damage…]

Most of these documents focused on the radiation of a certain mineral on the human body and the resulting diseases and mutations.

This easily led one to think of the Crystal Disease that now afflicted every person in the Wasteland.

According to the history circulating in the Wasteland, the prevalence of this disease was the main reason for the extinction of mankind.

However, based on these documents, the Crystal Disease wasn’t a natural disaster, but a man-made calamity.

Of course, the origin of the initially radiated ore was unknown, but the subsequent research and human experiments were all the works of human beings.

The researchers tried to use these ores to transform the human body, hoping to adapt it to the changing environment, yet they never anticipated that this transformation would lead to shortened lifespans and even more catastrophes.

One could say that if these ores were a Pandora’s box given to humankind by the Devil, then it was mankind itself who opened it.

“How could this be…”

Shuangxin found it hard to believe.

She had always believed that, like the swarm of insects, the Crystal Disease was a disaster from nature itself.

But now, it seemed that both might have been brewed by the hands of humans themselves.

For her, this was a feeling of her entire worldview collapsing.

Lu Ban, on the other hand, could still accept it.

It wasn’t the first time he had witnessed humans courting their own demise.

In various literary works and films, there were countless ways that Earth could be destroyed.

Moreover, in a world like the Foreign Domain, where worlds had developed normally and were free from Pollution, it was hard to say they wouldn’t be coveted by other domains. Just like the Deep Sea or Misty City, Dusk City and the like probably dreamt of invading other domains to develop colonies.

The Wasteland was probably just unlucky enough to catch the attention of two Foreign Domains simultaneously.

Whether it was malice from Otherworldly Domains or mere blind shooting from an Evil God, the radiated ores were a form of Pollution, and the connections made to bridge between domains were also a contamination.

The humankind in this world fell apart under the tidal wave of Pollution, civilization destroyed, and in the end, only the “new humans” who had adapted to the Pollution survived.

The history of the Wasteland that Lu Ban now knew was a complete tale of destruction by the polluted Foreign Domain, adaptation, and rebirth.

But whether the current Wasteland could be considered reborn, Lu Ban was not so sure.

The existence of Crystal Disease had stalled the development of technological and cultural progress, and the presence of swarms had driven the Wasteland towards utter annihilation at breakneck speed.

In a few hundred years, probably only a desert of sand would remain in this world, devoid of any life whatsoever.

Lu Ban and Shuangxin continued forward and came near a rocket launch platform, where the structures were relatively well-preserved.

The sign hanging there read “Command Center.”

The two climbed the stairs, surveyed the area, and quickly found a document from among the electronic equipment.

[Summary and Report on Several Solutions to the Current Global Disaster]

Lu Ban opened it.

[…Currently, rare natural disasters are occurring globally. In the past three months, over ten volcanoes have erupted, including two level six volcanoes and one level seven volcano…]

[…Two level sixteen typhoons have formed over the ocean, affecting over fifty countries and regions…]

[…A disease is spreading among crops, and currently, the global production of corn and wheat is expected to decrease by 90%…]

[…Affected by ****, over twenty countries and regions have fallen into anarchy and, currently, international humanitarian aid efforts cannot be conducted…]

[…A magnitude 9 earthquake struck the West Coast, affecting over a million people, with tens of millions displaced…]

In the beginning, the report detailed the disasters. Lu Ban could hardly imagine that so many rare disasters could occur in such a short period.

He strongly suspected that perhaps a Chosen by Gods from another Foreign Domain had summoned an Evil God or released some Seal in this world.

Skipping over those calamities, any one of which could reduce the world’s population by half, Lu Ban saw the response measures that followed.