The black sun hangs high

Chapter 450 Echo
The scene in the hall was rather strange.

In this bright, empty hall, surrounded by desiccated corpses in various poses, Hughes quietly watched the images from a distant time and space, holding a special "tablet computer" in his hand.

When the warm language and slightly familiar northern accent reached Hugh's ears, the last vestige of hope he had was completely shattered.

Hugh knew that the figures in the images, or rather, the dead people surrounding him, were all closely connected to him.

The man who left behind the video footage is certainly worthy of being called one of our "compatriots".

So, amidst the man's rambling, Hugh sighed, took two small steps, leaned against the cold metal workbench beside him, and then held the tablet up to his face, beginning to carefully examine its contents.

The man in charge of recording was very talkative and always had a smile on his face, but Hugh could clearly sense his unease and anxiety. However, Hugh didn't quite understand the specific source of this unease.

Is it because he doesn't like being in front of the camera? Or is it for some other reason?
"Okay, okay... The translation system is working properly now. Hopefully, it can handle most language systems. It's funny, this system was originally designed to communicate with aliens, but I never expected it to be used here."

The man checked the equipment in his hand, told a not-so-funny joke, then adjusted his facial expression and said seriously, "Okay, enough of that. I'll just assume everything is working properly."

“I am a senior officer within the United Defense and Resistance Organization, and also the second-in-command and chief engineer of this outpost, or rather, this base… In my hometown culture, you can call me Engineer ‘King’.”

"The main reason for recording this video is that... the home that sustains our lives and civilization has now reached its worst state. All evidence suggests that we are very likely the last survivors remaining in this world. Therefore, according to the original plan, we need to do everything possible to carry out the final plan."

At this point, the man breathed a sigh of relief. He turned the device in his hand and took a picture in the direction of the gate and the fortifications: "Now, more than two months have passed since the facility was completely locked, but that strange stagnation phenomenon has begun to affect this place. Although the spatial rules here are still stable under the influence of energy, the time scale we are used to is beginning to fail little by little."

"So, we just made this situation public and launched a final vote... Haha, well, actually the vote doesn't really mean anything, it's just a formality, after all, everyone who came here has already thought it through."

The camera panned back to the scene where Engineer Wang had settled into his role. His expression had become calm, and his voice was no longer trembling. Like a tour guide, he explained while filming the surroundings: "The place you see here is the only one among the nearly one thousand large bases we've built that doesn't use code names... It has its own name."

"It is called the 'Continuation Base' or the 'Continuation Land'. Well, the religious connotation might be a bit strong, which I don't really like, but 'Continuation' is indeed its ultimate mission."

Hughes noticed that many people working in the video noticed the chief engineer filming them. Facing the camera, these workers from different ethnic groups and countries all managed to force a smile and wave to the camera.

They were clearly not very happy, and even a little anxious and nervous, but none of them wanted to give up this opportunity.

This is a precious opportunity to proclaim one's existence to posterity.

"Since you've managed to get here, I imagine you have a very deep understanding of the outside world. So let me start from the beginning and explain to you why our world has come to this point."

For Engineer Wang himself, this was destined to be a difficult topic, but he had clearly already accepted the reality before him.

After clearing his throat, Engineer Wang slowly said, "The Continuation Base is twenty years older than me. One hundred and sixty-nine years before it was officially established, a... subtle and interesting war broke out in our world. It was completely different from our two previous major wars. That time, the war swept across the world in a relatively mild and slow manner... In that conflict that lasted for more than ten years, a peculiar mineral that we had never heard of before was accidentally discovered."

As Engineer Wang explained, he led the equipment to a huge piece of equipment next to him. Through the transparent window of the equipment, Hugh saw the magic crystal ore that he was very familiar with. Judging from the color and light of these ores, the concentration of magic power in these crystal ores was extremely astonishing. Even the most expensive and rarest crystal ores in Vain could not compare with them.

What surprised Hugh even more were the strange patterns that kept appearing and disappearing in these crystalline minerals.

I had seen these patterns before.

Similar "ores" appeared in the great fissure that swallowed the entire rugged hills. However, they appeared on the bodies of soldiers and mages who had transformed into humanoid crystals. According to Vilin, these patterns were actually a manifestation of consciousness and thought. In a sense, they could also be regarded as "writing".

"I think I don't need to explain their characteristics to you in detail. Perhaps you know more about them than we do?"

After showcasing the ore at the base, Engineer Wang continued walking forward, saying, "In short, it has once again triggered a 'revolution' in our world. That wondrous power, somewhere between the intangible and the tangible, has completely and utterly overturned our understanding of the world, and of course, it has also catalyzed new developments."

"However, rapid progress in the material realm is always inseparable from development in the spiritual and conscious realm... Ah, I'm sorry, I don't know if you can understand what I'm saying, but the general situation is that new technologies and energy have catalyzed entirely new modes of production, and this rapid change has caused terrible damage to the inherent structure of the entire world. The golden period of development that everyone originally thought would come after the war has not truly arrived."

“New contradictions, conflicts, coups, wars, and even massacres... even my own hometown, which has always been known for its stability, has inevitably been impacted.”

"But this is only the beginning of a new disaster."

Engineer Wang pointed to the soldiers on duty and the large war machines that were helping to move and unload various materials and equipment, and said, "The weapons you see were indeed initially used in the struggles within our world. However, with a large-scale mining operation, the real enemy we need to face finally emerged."

“No one could have imagined that these special ores weren’t some kind of natural ‘gift,’ but rather a cage designed to bind and isolate destruction.” He stomped his foot heavily. “I bet you saw them on your way here, those eerie, shadow-like monsters. They coexisted with these ores, and you were always kept away from them. Yet, we dug a hole in the vein ourselves… Haha, and it was quite a big hole!”

At this point, Engineer Wang's expression twisted, his voice became strange, and his words included Hugh's incredibly affectionate profanity: "Fuck it, it's like blowing up a son of a bitch's cesspool, it just sprays out from below in a 'poof'! Fuck!"

Even without Engineer Wang's explanation, Xiuge could basically guess what would happen next.

In the video, Engineer Wang finished describing the desperate situation. After briefly explaining the establishment and goals of the "Joint Defense and Resistance Organization," he raised the equipment so that the visitors, who might arrive at any time, could look at the dome of the hall and the magnificent passage reserved for the pillar of light.

Hugh instinctively looked up, but all he saw was a color as dazzling as sunlight.

"Eighty years after the start of the joint defense operation, the spread of the shadows has become unstoppable, and they have successfully occupied most of our world... After devouring and assimilating enough victims, a terrible ideology has even evolved within them."

"Yes, the trends... Countless contact records show that they have regarded the behavior of devouring and assimilation as the evolutionary process of the whole world. They not only want all living beings to be subject to the same power and will, but also desire to assimilate the entire world and make it a complete part of the shadow."

"Finally, they became powerful enough, they truly became the masters of this world, and we became the only bright spot in the darkness."

Six months ago, global communications were completely cut off.

“Four months ago, the nearest base, X-289, briefly restored communications using backup methods and delivered a final message to us—the Joint Defense and Resistance Headquarters had been swallowed up, there were very few operational outposts left, and containment operations in various locations had been forced to terminate. They requested that ‘Continuation Base’ carry out its mission as originally planned. Subsequently, X-289 sent a self-destruct signal, and communications were lost.”

"After that, we completely sealed off the base and began final preparations... but the invasion still happened. After losing a significant number of personnel, we retreated to this location and made final preparations with the remaining manpower and resources."

"Now, everything is ready."

In the video, Engineer Wang had already arrived in front of the massive metal base. Throughout the process, he did not lower his voice, and the engineers and scholars who were engrossed in inspecting the equipment were not significantly affected.

Hughes saw a woman with flaxen hair busily organizing the work. She seemed to be in charge of this important module, and others nearby were constantly reporting to her.

"Let me introduce you to the lady who is in charge of 'Continuing Beacon,' and... also my lover. Don't get me wrong, she's not the number one person in charge here... that person has already sacrificed himself, on our way to retreat here."

Engineer Wang chuckled twice: "My part has been verified. Next, as long as the final inspection of the 'beacon base' is completed, the plan can officially begin."

"Continue the beacon?"

Hugh silently repeated the word the other person had said. As if seeing Hugh's confusion, Engineer Wang explained, "This thing might be very complicated to explain from a theoretical perspective, but you can understand it from the perspective of its function."

"The ultimate goal of the so-called Continuation Beacon is to perpetuate our entire world civilization, traces, and all species... In the whole plan, it is the last link and also the project that was least favored in the past."

"However, those shadows, their methods of operation have exceeded our past understanding. For them, the rules of space have been completely broken. Long-distance interstellar travel might have been an option, but with our capabilities, we are not enough to completely escape their pursuit. The fleet on the voyage may also face the pursuit of those monsters..."

"Therefore, after all the options were confirmed to be in an unstable state, the 'Continuation Beacon' was activated."

"Although it is called a beacon, it is actually a very crude 'cannon' in essence."

"The extracted energy will become an invisible carrier, and what it needs to carry will be countless valuable messages and knowledge that we have collected."

"From the smallest fragments of life to macroscopic records, and even the characteristics and combination rules of life itself, all are included in this content... They are not just messages, but objective entities that exist based on that invisible force. According to past experimental results, when these forces carrying specific messages hit specific targets, they can even fundamentally change the way and form of the target's existence."

The engineer sighed: "The first people to propose this idea hoped to use this method to reproduce our race and the knowledge and memories associated with it in another world, but in my opinion, it is simply impossible."

"The journey they face is far too long, and the unknowns along the way are impossible to calculate. Even if they do reach their destination, the fragments they carry are very likely to be lost, disordered, or even randomly combined..."

"However, none of that matters... After all, the universe itself is terrifying enough."

The man in the video gave a bitter laugh: "It's really hard to imagine that what destroyed us was actually a group of imprisoned prisoners... The entire planet was their cage, and until the very end, we didn't even know what kind of existence that 'warden' was. It's truly ironic."

(End of this chapter)