Book 4 Chapter 16.4 - Unknown
When they emerged from Kelan City, it was still nighttime. Su and Madeline walked about shoulder to shoulder within the silent and desolate plains. Low hanging clouds full of radiation still stretched as far as the eye could see, and apart from the ruins found everywhere in the wilderness, there was no other person in sight, not even a single wandering creature. At the limits of the world, the silent and majestic mountain range seemed to be staring at Su, waiting for his arrival.
Su narrowed his eyes as he observed the world around him. He almost seemed to have the misperception that Madeline and himself were the only ones alive in this world.
This great silence attacked like a tide, instantly drowning out Su's consciousness. In his world of perception, aside from the icy coldness, silence, and solitude, there was nothing else. He could see Madeline right next to him, but he couldn't sense any life force from her body, as if she would die if just another moment passed. Moreover, not even a corpse would be left behind, her body would turn into ashes before his consciousness could register this, becoming one with the world.
This was a world that had already died. There was no water, no life, only naked rocks, a whistling hurricane, berserk energy, and a temperature difference of over several hundred degrees between day and night.
Inside of this world, there was still Su.
Su's body suddenly trembled. It was if he woke up from a nightmare, immediately returning to reality.
The Madeline beside him was real, and her body possessed a terrifying aura of life. Even though the night was calm, there were still many small sounds interweaving together. Countless small lifeforms beneath the earth were squirming, fighting, reproducing, doing their best to survive within this environment that was harsh for any living beings. Not even the small bugs that were less than a centimeter in size, even if they were hidden more than ten meters underneath the earth surface, could escape Su's perception.
When Su fully displayed his perception abilities, the world's true appearance finally appeared before him. This was a noisy, thriving world full of unrest. Countless creatures were changing and evolving at shocking speeds, the ever present radiation even becoming sources of energy for a few strange and unknown species. If one didn't look at this world from a human's perspective, they would discover that this world was perhaps not much inferior to that of the olden era, similarly full of vitality and even more exuberant. Every single creature was igniting themselves, seeking an opportunity for evolution. This was a world afire.
Even though he was looking at a world so rich with vitality, Su's heart still stopped in the world he just witnessed, the one that was ice cold and silent, a place of death.
At this moment, Madeline quietly clasped Su's hand. Even though her hand was ice cold, it was much warmer than the world within Su's mind, dragging his consciousness back to this world.
"Feel a bit better?" She asked.
"A bit of discomfort, but I'm alright now."
After meeting with the subordinates stationed at Steel Gate and using several days for preparation, Su and Madeline departed for Frozen Throne. All three subordinates were left behind to defend the base west of the great lakes. The road that led to Frozen Throne consisted of first crossing a mountain range that was several thousand meters tall and several hundred kilometers long; only then would they reach the coast. Many of these mountain peaks were even drowned year round within the clouds full of radiation. The environment was extremely nasty, not something the three subordinates could endure at all.
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The bulk of the central biochemistry laboratory Dr. Connor was in charge of was situated outside of Dragon City. The continuous and majestic building complex was comparable to a normal small town. Regardless of whether it was scale, manpower, or funds provided, they were second to none within the Blood Parliament.
At this moment, a building within laboratory region A was surrounded by soldiers armed with weapons. In addition, behind these soldiers roamed more than ten low rank dragonriders. At the top floor of this five story building, several individuals with completely distinctive traits sat within a spacious room, watching the unchanging scenergy through the full wall window in a somewhat bored fashion. There were men and women in this group, all of them releasing faint auras of energy. They were clearly all powerful individuals equipped with considerable strength. When their eyes occasionally passed by the roaming Black Dragonriders, a completely undisguised disdain could be seen within their gaze.
There were several couches arranged in the room, the largest and nicest one only having a single person sitting on it. To be more precise, a boy was sitting on it. He looked extremely pretty, his eyes even carrying a trace of melancholy. At this moment, he had a rather old-fashioned book in his hands and was reading it with rapt attention. However, from his brows that were tightly locked together, it was clear that this process was not a pleasant one, to the point where it was full of suffering.
The boy looked like he might not even be ten years of age, yet he occupied the best spot in the room. One could only vaguely teel that he was the leader of this group of ferocious individuals. In addition, when those people's eyes occasionally roamed over, they were also full of reverence. The fear and reverence they displayed was purely towards that boy himself, not because there was some great figure from his bloodline.
"How much longer do we all have to wait?!" The robust middle-aged man standing by the window complained, but his voice was suppressed greatly, almost as if to avoid disturbing the boy who was reading.
"It shouldn't be long. Didn't Dr. Connor say that the project would be completed in these few days?" A thirty or so year old woman on the side spoke. She had dark black rings around her eyes, looking like she hadn't slept all week.
"Connor? You think these fellas who only know how to research have any sense of time?! He already said half a month ago that the results might come out within a few days, but where are those results? He is still saying that the project would conclude in a few days, so are we all supposed to accompany him in this waste of time?" The man said furiously.
"We will just waste time with him!" The woman said without any trace of politeness. "If that spider sends people over to stir up trouble during this period of time and you just happened to be missing, think about how great the consequences would be!"
The man's face immediately became a bit unsightly. Bevulas' great shadow fluttered past his heart, making him completely speechless.