readytorunbook Chapter 184 The Call of the Stars
Chapter 184 The Call of the Stars
Alice stood in the dark space. The underground structure itself had low visibility, and the entrance in front of her, guarded by two purple-robed mages wielding long spears, was even darker.
"This is?"
"You say you understand us... This is a magic trial. If you pass it, then you will prove that you understand us. You need to bring out an item from the trial... as proof that you have passed."
Behind Alice stood a golden-robed sorceress. The blonde woman's face was mostly obscured by her robe, so Alice couldn't see her features.
Where is our maid?
"Don't worry in the ward. We have a level of expertise in treatment that you can't even imagine. If you pass the test, she will see you unharmed."
Alice nodded, and the blonde woman tossed her something—a black, cylindrical object. Alice easily pressed the switch, and a faint beam of light shot out.
"Flashlight, of course you know what that means. Now, go."
Alice nodded and walked into the depths of the cave. The woman in the golden robe watched Alice's figure disappear into the darkness, then uttered, "Of course, of course... we can't stay here forever. Although this place is closer to the source of magic, we're getting further away from ourselves..."
"I hope she's as you think... The era of stars and science is long gone, far too long... Time has buried so much..."
"I hope so... After all, the 'humans' of that time could never have imagined that the home they once wanted to recreate would now be on a path of ignorance."
"But they never expected that the animals they casually placed to create the Garden of Eden would become themselves."
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Alice held up a flashlight. The hole led deeper underground, and the flashlight's dim beam seemed intentionally positioned to illuminate objects just enough to make it difficult to see the details.
The deeper they went, the lower the temperature became. Everything Alice had except her weapons was returned to her. The wind blew across her face, ruffling her messy silver-white hair.
"It's so cold..."
The flashlight suddenly shone on an unnatural structure. Alice looked and saw that it was an artificial stone tablet. Alice slowly walked inside and saw that it was inscribed with six different texts. At the bottom, there was a circular engraved emblem.
The stone tablet is chipped and broken, and the marks of time have fully demonstrated their power on it. It's just a pity that the traces of human activity have not yet been erased.
Alice's mind suddenly went blank, as if struck by lightning. If these words were ordinary words, it wouldn't be a problem, but upon closer inspection, she realized that of the six different passages, she could clearly read two of them.
One section is in what is called "Common Language," but the wording and sentence structure are different from those of the contemporary language. Alice sees handwritten notes in the contemporary Common Language next to the stone tablet.
But she understood it without needing any explanation.
If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. But the other section below, inscribed with ideographic characters in square characters, was what made her break out in a cold sweat and her heart pound wildly.
These fonts are actually written in Chinese!
"Memorial to the Earth United Nations, Earth United Government – Amelansi IV Planet Geomorphic Project, October 24, 4032 AD."
Alice's body went limp, and she suddenly knelt on the ground, reaching out to touch the text and the inscription. She could imagine the original color of the now blurred inscription—light blue.
"So... so much time has passed?"
Seeing things in a foreign land always brings tears to one's eyes. Alice's eyes welled up with tears as she suddenly recalled her original life, the last year of the 2030s, the last year before humanity was about to embark on the space age.
Humanity has gone through so much, but why has it ended up like this? Alice stood up, sighed, and decided to keep walking.
As she walked on, artificial traces replaced the natural cave. When the flashlight shone into the metal passageway, Alice felt as if she had entered a futuristic building from the 20s, filled with old-fashioned science fiction structures, with bright metal decorations covering the rooms.
Yes, a room. Alice suddenly realized that she was in an unfamiliar room, her feet on the ground, yet she felt strangely lightheaded.
She saw the signs on the wall. Compared to the stone tablet she had just seen, these bright yellow, green, and dark blue sans-serif fonts did not seem to have any signs of age. She looked at the fonts, which were difficult to decipher, but the icons next to them clearly expressed their meaning.
She walked forward, then looked back. The place she came from was dark, so she had no choice but to keep going. Her footsteps echoed in the metal corridor. Suddenly, she saw the sign above her. It was a blue circle with a red V-shaped symbol running through it and white stars dotting the background. Four letters ran through it, representing the progressives of an era.
Further ahead, the sign overhead is completely different. Inside a dark blue circle, a V-shaped arrow pointing upwards and an olive branch form the second sign. Although the four small letters have faded, they have not lost any of the meaning they once represented.
There are seven markers in the corridor, each representing a voyager from a distant past. Alice walks into the corridor and sees these markers standing side by side. Below these markers is a small marker, with one side of the planet as its main feature, connected to a larger structure.
Suddenly realizing something, Alice reached out and touched the mark, wiping away the dust. Then, the wall in front of her moved to the sides, and she realized with a start that it was a door.
She stepped through the door, and a spacious room appeared before her. Alice's eyes were drawn to some kind of dark reflection. She ran to one side of the room and incredulously focused her gaze on that side.
As far as the eye could see, the pitch-black space occupied the entire view. Only the indistinguishable stars, like gems, were embedded in the pure black curtain. A blue figure, like a silk scarf, swept across one side of the painting. Alice was speechless for a moment, her mind reeling from the sudden shock.
She is now in space.