Chapter 63

After leaving the Engineering Academy, Bronya skipped training and, following the old expert's recommendation, went to the Perpetual House to ask for Sylva's help.

But Sylva didn't even think twice and flatly refused.

The reason was the same as always.

She wanted to do rock music.

There was no way around it.

Bronya had no choice but to return to the Engineering Academy and, for the first time, acted willfully, ordering the Black Box to be delivered to the Perpetual House.

Now Sylva found it hard to refuse.

Of course, another reason was that she was also curious about the Black Box.

Rock music was her hobby, but what about machinery? Wasn't that her passion too?

However, none of Belobog's mechanical devices could stump her; she could take them apart and reassemble them with her eyes closed.

So, upon seeing the Black Box, she dropped any mention of rock music.

She began to study it with deep focus.

And that study lasted a full two days.

The time was so long that Bronya had already completed her punishment from Cocolia, yet Sylva still had no leads.

Obviously.

Her title of "genius" was relative to Belobog.

At least, before receiving higher-level education, her skill level remained on the same plane as the experts at the Engineering Academy.

If the people at the Engineering Academy couldn't open the Black Box, then of course she couldn't either.

But just as Sylva and Bronya were at a loss, an accident occurred.

First came a burst of light like the sun.

This light was blindingly bright, illuminating Belobog, which was in the middle of night, as if it were day.

And it brought intense heat.

Had the light lasted longer, or had Belobog not been covered in ice, many things would have caught fire directly.

And then...

For about half a day, an "electromagnetic storm" swept across all of Belobog; at least, that was how the Engineering Academy and Sylva explained it.

After being swept by the electromagnetic storm, the trains began to malfunction, and traffic started to paralyze.

Most critically, even the heating systems that drove away the cold began to go on strike on a massive scale!

For Belobog, which had been covered in ice for centuries and maintained extremely low temperatures year-round, this was a natural disaster!

Everyone was caught completely off guard.

If the time hadn't been so short, a large number of people would have already frozen to death.

But even so, the situation was dire.

Under these circumstances, the High Elder Cocolia had no energy left to deal with Bronya.

There wasn't much Bronya could do either.

She could only place her hope on the Black Box.

To her surprise, the Black Box, which had been impossible to open, could suddenly be opened after the "electromagnetic storm" swept through.

And then...

It was what had just happened.

A device suspected to be a signal transmitter sent back a bit of sound.

"！%%……"

Unintelligible.

Completely unintelligible.

"Sigh..."

Sylva sighed, "Bronya, even if this Black Box was truly left by a higher civilization, I'm afraid it won't be able to save us in time."

Sylva didn't say much, and her tone was not gentle.

She told Bronya the truth directly.

"By the time the residents have burned everything they can burn in their homes and chopped down all the trees nearby, I'm afraid... many people will freeze to death."

"How much time do we have left..." Bronya's voice trembled with tears.

"As short as three days, as long as seven," Sylva replied.

"At most a week..."

For a moment.

A sense of helplessness swept over Bronya's entire body.

She wanted to do something, but even Sylva, known as a "genius," was powerless; what could an eight-year-old child do?

At that moment.

A burst of hurried footsteps approached rapidly from outside.

Then a figure burst through the door, accompanied by an urgent voice urging them.

"Sister! And Young Lady Bronya? You must evacuate immediately! This place is no longer safe!" Gepard said in a hurry.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Sylva moved quickly; as soon as her younger brother entered, she started to move.

"After the bright light and the storm swept through, the frozen army outside the city is thawing, and the nearby Fragmentum fissures are expanding!"

"Ah?"

At this moment.

Whether it was Serval or Bronya, both were so terrified their faces lost all color.

The heating system failed, and now the Legion had revived and the Fragmentum was invading.

Belobog is surely doomed!

48. Technology from beyond the stars? No! This is divinity!

Belobog once had a prosperous history.

But ever since the Stellaron descended a thousand years ago, this planet has been plagued by disasters.

The Antimatter Legion, Fragmentum creatures, the blizzard—one after another.

In just a few centuries, this planet went from its former prosperity to becoming a lone city in the present day.

That city was Belobog.

And now, this last city has also begun to totter.

Not only has the heating system failed.

Are the Legion and Fragmentum creatures also going to invade at this very moment?

"Gepard, do we still have a chance to evacuate? Or rather, where can we even evacuate to?"

Serval gradually calmed her emotions.

She was no longer as terrified as when she first heard the news.

The reason was that she knew very well that Belobog was humanity's last fortress, and her Ever-Heat Mechanical House was located in the heart of Belobog.

If even this place was not safe, then where was?

You must know.

Not far from the Mechanical House lay the Girdle of Kriper, the center of Belobog.

Gepard fell silent for a moment, not knowing how to reply.

Because his sister spoke the truth.

Indeed, there was nowhere left to retreat to.

If one really had to speak, there was only one place slightly safer than the surface.

But Gepard did not dare to reveal the true situation.

He could only repeat, "Sister, no matter what, we cannot stay in the Mechanical House any longer. This place cannot be held. We must leave immediately! If we wait any longer, it will be too late!"

Serval frowned; she could clearly sense that her brother was hiding something from her.

But before she could speak, Bronya had already said, "Where is my lord? What is she doing?"

"The High-Exarch is... evacuating the residents and instructed me to bring you to her side as soon as I found you," Gepard replied.