Chapter 1 The Grand Relocation

However those young dragons that Galazur brought were fooled into becoming construction workers, the dragon race’s innate strength and superb magic were there. Even young dragons under a thousand years old could undertake heavy work—amidst the noisy shouts of curious young dragons who found everything fresh, the grandest relocation in the history of Twilight Capital began.

With Anthony’s help, Odin had already left the Iron Throne and had been sent to a safe place to rest temporarily and undergo a comprehensive medical examination. The Twilight Barrier slowly disappeared as the rune arrays left by Anthony were deactivated one by one. This ancient city, sealed for two thousand years, finally opened its doors to embrace the cleansing of nature—a complete rebirth of nature.

Yggdrasil’s “deep breath” had already purified ninety percent of the residual magical energy on the land of Midgard and was rapidly filtering and purifying the toxic dust in the high sky and the corrupted water deep in the earth. Although it was still a bit away from complete purification, the environment outside the city was now habitable. In the foreseeable future, the continent of Midgard would surely become a place where magical power flourished: the re-sorted and transformed magic power would harmlessly fill the entire continent and become the foundation of civilization in the new world. Steam power, alchemical technology, and rune studies might be the source of strength for the Twilight survivors in the future.

The reshaping of the earth and the growth of vegetation continued. The branches of Yggdrasil still danced on the distant horizon, and the chasms left by Ragnarok were gradually being smoothed and healed. On the re-healed land, new plants continued to spread and grow at a visible rate. However, these changes were being gradually moderated under Yggdrasil’s deliberate control, in order to ensure the smooth progress of the subsequent relocation work.

Organized by the Steam Council, the residents of Twilight gathered in front of the sixteen steel avenues around the city, embarking on this journey of migration, filled with both unease and hope.

Information about the “Dawn of the New World” and “the end of the long night, the city will collapse” had spread to every corner of the city, even to the “lower citizens” living in the engine rooms and caves of the lower city. Not everyone could understand what this incredible news meant, but the authority of the Steam Council, built up over thousands of years, and the appeal of the “ancient oracle” still allowed everything to proceed as planned. Moreover, the earth-shattering changes outside the Twilight Barrier served as proof, allowing the knowledgeable among the citizens to become leaders in the migration team and anchors of stability.

The first batch of citizens to complete preparations brought their most important belongings and luggage, following the steam tanks of the Twilight Guard and queuing towards the city gates. The people at the front looked up at the towering and dilapidated steel beams, and couldn’t help but hesitate. Once upon a time, these steel borders were the dividing line between life and death. Even children in the city who had just learned to walk knew that they must never cross these gates, but now, the energy barrier covering the gates had disappeared, and the unprecedented external world was waiting at the end of the steel ramps for brave people to take the first step. Was it really okay to step out?

The first brave citizen stepped out, wearing his most decent clothes, carrying two suitcases, and with a resolute expression on his face—he was actually a commander in the Twilight Guard, but after taking off that layer of black iron mask, no one could recognize him.

Stepping onto the soft grass outside the city, this "citizen" turned around, put down his suitcases, and waved to the others on the ramp.

Then cheers suddenly rang out in the crowd.

Many people didn't actually know why they were cheering. Their life experience of being born and raised in the sanctuary had made them numb, but after the cheers spread from a few points in the crowd, this cheer still spread. An exciting atmosphere stirred the team, and more and more people began to pour out of the city.

In the upper district of Twilight Capital, an even more spectacular "relocation" was also underway.

Self-propelled machines flew back and forth between the steel beams, using cutting beams and versatile tentacles to disassemble the bolts and rivets of those steam furnaces, bearing assemblies, and integrated buildings. The first to be dismantled was not the large boiler, which was called the symbol of the city, but a black steel building located in the middle of the city. This building was square, pieced together from a dozen smaller cuboids. Inside these buildings were not gold, silver, or mechanical equipment, but knowledge and technology: it was the "Steam Brain" of Twilight Capital. Those dozen cuboids were filled with gear calculators and punched paper tapes, cardboard, and piles of blueprints and ancient books. The oldest data was even scrolls copied in Asabu from the mythical era, while the latest data was symbol cards printed in the "Steam Brain". These things were the most valuable wealth accumulated by Twilight Capital over two thousand years.

When people migrated to the wilderness, they would still rely on the knowledge inside to build a society: from the most primitive farming textbooks to the steam technology that people were proud of, to the runic characters from the gods, the Steam Brain had everything.

For thousands of years, the Steam Council had been collecting and managing these things in order to welcome this day.

The dragons were also working hard.

"Pick up the pace! Be careful not to break anything! These are all important data. If you break one, you'll be locked in a small dark room!"

In the sky above the city, Galazur was directing the dragons to transport those heaviest large equipment and integrated buildings. If relying on the mechanical equipment in the hands of the Steam Council alone, it would probably take weeks to transport all these things out of the city, but with the power of the dragons, as long as they were told where to put things, they could flap their wings and take care of everything in a few trips. But Galazur didn't seem to be too satisfied with this situation: in the eyes of the Dragon Queen, the young dragons seriously lacked self-control, were noisy and undisciplined, and some disobedient dragons even ran to drink the lubricating oil flowing out of the machine. Although the little rascal immediately got the punishment he deserved: throwing up for a full half an hour, she still felt that these little rascals were really giving her a headache.

Under the Dragon Queen's reprimand, the young dragons all looked particularly nervous. These huge creatures that covered the sky actually shrank their necks and flew out with a cowardly feeling. Hao Ren, riding on Galazur's back, couldn't help but mutter after seeing this situation: "Speaking of which, your education method is wrong. Look at how scared they are."

Galazur turned her head: "I'm not good at taking care of children—that one over there! Sherry! Come and help!"

A beautiful blue dragon flew over. She nodded to Galazur to pay her respects, and then saw the mess of the young dragons, and immediately knew what was going on. So this dragon's kindergarten aunt flew forward and comforted the bear children in the dragon language: "Everyone, don't mess around. Line up and get your things according to your student number—that's great, don't grab other partners' things, the most obedient child today will be rewarded with half a ton of barbecue after returning..."

So the dragons were in order.

Hao Ren: "..."

This is truly a bunch of young dragons...

The entire migration lasted for nearly a week, which was already a miraculous efficiency.

Vivian found a wilderness suitable as a new home in the northeast of Twilight Capital: the terrain was flat, the water source was abundant, it was close to a large forest that could provide rich food and various supplies, and the geological changes had completely stabilized. The Twilight survivors established a temporary large camp here, and the various materials and machinery transported from the city were piled up around the camp. They would be gradually reorganized in the next period of time and become the crucial foundation for building a new home.

The Steam Council played its due role in the whole process, leading the people, comforting the people, managing the materials, and building the camp... They did all this in an orderly manner. Although various unexpected situations and minor disturbances occurred in the middle, Hao Ren and his party did not intervene at all. The Steam Council solved all the difficulties by themselves.

The Twilight Capital after the great evacuation looked empty and lonely, like a ruin that had been abandoned for a long time.

The barrier had disappeared, and many runes were damaged during the relocation process. All parts of the city showed a dangerous tendency of twisting and deformation. It stood like a pile of steel waste on the lush Midgard continent, making it difficult to imagine that it was the only civilization sanctuary in the Nine Kingdoms not long ago. After the large boiler and main pressure pipeline were dismantled, huge holes remained in the city ruins. Under the action of its own gravity, these holes made the already crumbling city even more on the verge of disintegration.

Hao Ren and his party stood on a small hill outside the city, preparing to activate the ancient starship underground.

Part of the starship's control system had been forcibly hijacked by the data terminal, and the damage to the power furnace and engine assembly had been repaired by the self-propelled machines working overtime in the past week. Now, it could basically be started.

At the scheduled time, the data terminal sent a message that the starship's power core self-check had passed.

Hao Ren gave the order: "Activate."

A rumbling sound came from the depths of the earth, and then the entire Twilight Capital began to shake violently.

The city structure accumulated over thousands of years disintegrated in the vibration. The foundation, which had long been on the verge of collapse, collapsed into the huge hollow under the city in an instant. Hao Ren heard a loud bang like a bomb exploding from the depths of the pile of steel ruins. It seemed that the ancient waste piled in the ruins could not withstand the starship's huge energy radiation. Continuous explosions finally spread from underground to the surface.

Like a volcanic eruption, the upper city of Twilight Capital was suddenly blown open. The powerful air waves pushed millions of tons of debris and waste into the sky. In the thick cloud of smoke, Mimir's spaceship slowly rose.

The history of Twilight Capital ended.

Hao Ren was a little dazed: the scale of the explosion seemed to be a bit more powerful than he had expected...

Galazur and Anthony recorded the last moment of this era's end with expressionless faces, and added them to their inspector's work logs. Then, the two took out their data terminals, pulled Hao Ren to their side, and with the constantly exploding Twilight Capital as the background, the three inspectors recorded the image data of their accompanying the sanctuary through its last moments.

The whole process was solemn and solemn.

Two minutes later, the inspector's dedicated data link, Galazur and Anthony's posts were almost simultaneously topped up. The two old fritters pulled Hao Ren with a bewildered face and took a selfie in front of a city that had been blown into the sky. The two old timers' explanatory texts were exactly the same: