Chapter 1 A Long and Silent Night in the Shipboard City

The shipboard city was steeped in a long and silent night. Since the Ancestral Furnace had died out several years prior, the temperature within this enclosed space had been steadily decreasing, and the lighting system’s power was severely affected. People could only draw meager amounts of electricity from a few branch lines to maintain illumination, plunging their entire "world" into a dimness that resembled an endless twilight.

But it was said that ancient times were not like this.

Scholar Auro carried with him a heavy book bound with something like synthetic fabric. It was a large, handwritten volume, and the scholar spread it out with great care, slowly saying, "This is a precious thing. Only scholars who have studied at the Tower of Knowledge for more than ten years are qualified to copy the encyclopedia. I spent half a year copying it down… Look, these pictures record the glorious history of our ancestors…"

Hao Ren and Lily peered over. They saw that the drawings on the pages were extremely complex. Sometimes a single page contained drawings of operating machines, circuits, maps, and everyday objects, along with complicated annotations and personal markings. Hao Ren felt a bit dizzy after just one glance. Many of the items depicted were everyday objects, but due to various errors and omissions accumulated through generations of handwritten copying, the content on the pages was peculiar in many ways.

"Many, many years ago, there were days when winter never came," the scholar said slowly, stroking the pages. "The whole world ran smoothly, and all the factors of distortion and destruction were absent. Our ancestors lived in a rich and stable environment. At that time, the spirits of electricity were much more active than they are now, and they were inexhaustible. All the lights and heaters could run all day long, and the great factories never had to worry about shutdowns. Our ancestors were led by a wise king—oh, yes, a king, the only king. At that time, the whole world was one kingdom, not divided into four like it is now…"

"What happened later?" Lily asked anxiously. "How did people suddenly split into four countries?"

"Patience, madam, have patience, I am just about to get there," the scholar glanced at Lily and continued in his unhurried tone, "According to ancient legends, the entire world was built inside a giant, floating turtle, and this turtle is wandering in the stormy Sea of Erdos. There are many monsters in the Sea of Erdos, monsters that are bigger than the whole world. They desperately chase after this turtle, wanting to devour the human world entirely. So the wise king of ancient times prayed to the gods and finally received divine favor. A divine artifact descended into the turtle's body. The king placed his throne on this divine artifact, and then swore to the artifact that he would repay the gods with the loyalty and reverence of all mankind. Thereupon, this divine artifact emitted light in the Ancestral Furnace, driving away the monsters surrounding the giant turtle and allowing this world to avoid the fate of being swallowed…"

Hao Ren listened attentively. As expected, the scholar’s account corresponded to the situation of the exiled ark, and the more ambiguous and difficult-to-understand parts were the legends about the divine artifact and divine protection—he didn’t know if this was a corruption of religious stories or if it was related to the Goddess of Creation. The scholar noticed that his audience was listening attentively, and an old smile bloomed on his aged face, "There are fewer and fewer people who are willing to listen to these stories seriously now, especially young people like you. If Willie's father knew that his son was here listening to these things again, he would be furious."

Willie couldn't help but shrink his neck: "He won't know."

"In short, the ancient world was like this: the divine artifact drove away the monsters outside the world, allowing humans to wander safely in the Sea of Erdos. But the good times did not last long. Later, something happened that almost completely overturned the entire world," the scholar paused before continuing, "People had been living peacefully under the protection of the divine artifact for too long, and gradually they began to take this protection for granted. So they began to forget the gods' grace. After people stopped praying, the divine artifact lost its power, and as a result, the monsters wandering in the Sea of Erdos gathered again and began to gnaw at the giant turtle's shell. The entire world then experienced a great earthquake and the first 'arrival of winter.' In this critical situation, the king once again sought help from the gods, and people swore oaths never to abandon the gods again. They prayed like this for many days and nights, and the gods finally bestowed a second grace: He reinvigorated the giant turtle, saving the world. But this time, in order to punish mankind's fickleness and cunning, the gods also bestowed three curses at the same time:"

Hao Ren and Lily perked up their ears simultaneously.

"First, the world would no longer be bountiful, and the spirits of electricity would no longer be infinite. From now on, the entire world could only provide limited food, and humans would often be plagued by famine, as a reminder not to indulge in pleasure.

"Second, the wounds suffered by the giant turtle would become hidden dangers. From then on, various disasters would occur in the world from time to time. The spirits of electricity would suddenly disappear, the Mother Earth would suddenly lose her power, and violent winds would suddenly blow out of the giant's nose. But the greatest disaster would be winter. Whenever the giant turtle stopped to rest due to its injuries, its blood would turn cold, and the entire world would be frozen, and winter would kill countless creatures.

"Third, the human kingdom would be divided into four, and people would fight each other, constantly shedding blood, but they would not become extinct. People should remember the threat of death at all times, and from then on they would not fear death, and human souls would become firewood for the Ancestral Furnace: using their own lives as the power to maintain this world, this is the last shackle that the gods have placed on mankind."

The old scholar was old and spoke slowly, taking a long time to finish these stories. After the old man's story came to an end, Hao Ren began to ask some simple questions: "Is there only one giant turtle in the Sea of Erdos?"

He wanted to know if people still remembered the existence of other arks.

"Of course there is only one," the old scholar widened his eyes, "The world is unique!"

"Uh… then do you know who 'created' this giant turtle?"

The old scholar's eyes widened even more: "Of course it was the gods—does man have the power to create a world?"

Hao Ren covered his head: "Okay, I have no more questions."

The old scholar was puzzled. He looked at Willie: "Your friends have strange ideas."

The old man was too old to chat for too long, and he was also responsible for teaching the young electrical technicians in Hearthstone City, so after exchanging a few questions with Hao Ren and the others, the old man said goodbye with Willie's support. After only his own people were left, Hao Ren stood up and stretched a long stretch: "Phew—what do you guys think of the situation here?"

"I'm very concerned about the 'divine artifact' that the scholar mentioned," Vivian said immediately, "Based on the legends he described, I think the idea of a 'divine artifact' shouldn't be unfounded."

"This unit agrees," the data terminal also popped up, "Have you ever thought about why this exiled fleet was able to escape the Guardians' pursuit for ten thousand years? The technical content of these ships is actually not very high. They have only just entered the field of faster-than-light, and the Guardians' ships are several generations more advanced than this. A single black warship like the one Muru rode could sweep through this entire fleet. But the exiled arks still escaped. In the end, they collapsed one by one completely because the machines exceeded their service life—compared to those races that couldn't escape their home planet at all, don't you think these arks are unbelievably lucky?"

Nangong Wuyue's eyes lit up: "So they really have a 'divine artifact' protecting them?"

"Even if it's not a real 'divine artifact,' it should be something similar with powerful power, which allowed the ark fleet to evade the Guardians' detection and played a significant role when the fleet escaped its home planet."

Hao Ren thoughtfully looked out the window. From this angle, he could just see the giant machine at the end of the enclosed space—the Ancestral Furnace.

"If there really is a 'divine artifact,' then it can only be hidden in one place: in that control hub."

Vivian frowned: "But the Ancestral Furnace is definitely heavily guarded by the locals. We haven't gained their trust yet, so if we want to go in and check the situation, we'll probably have to use force… Wait, it looks like something's wrong!"

She exclaimed halfway through her words, raised her finger and pointed in the direction of the "Ancestral Furnace." The others followed her finger and looked over, and immediately their eyes widened:

A series of huge electrical sparks erupted from the inside of the Ancestral Furnace, and were running wildly outwards along the shell of that ancient machine!