Chapter 662

"Pioneers' Declaration"

"Nuclear Ruins???"

Jian Changsheng's face was full of astonishment.

Eight of Clubs stood under the bare withered branches of a willow tree and let out a long sigh.

"This matter is the highest secret of the Red Dust Domain. Besides the members of the Floating Life Painting, no one else knows. But since things have come to this point, naturally there's nothing left to hide...

More than three hundred years ago, at the end of the Great Cataclysm, the remaining human survivors of the war relied on the Domains of the Nine Monarchs to establish Nine Great Bases.

The Nine Great Bases gathered all human wisdom and built nine Hibernation Pods capable of extending lifespan through deep sleep... These Hibernation Pods themselves didn't incorporate any cutting-edge technology, just an improvement on primitive cryogenic sleep, so they wouldn't be affected by the regression of technology in the short term.

After that, the Nine Great Bases unanimously passed the [Hibernation] plan. This meant using the Hibernation Pods to extend the lifespan of the Nine Monarchs as much as possible, thereby preserving human civilization to the greatest extent during the Gray Realm Convergence, while simultaneously searching for a way to resolve the Gray Realm Convergence during the long years of hibernation.

Since then, the Nine Monarchs fell into deep sleep one after another..."

"You guys know, but the newcomers might not know." Eight of Clubs rolled his eyes. "Wait for me to explain slowly!"

"...Tsk, alright, alright."

"After receiving the 'Hibernate' command, the Nine Monarchs successively entered the Hibernation Pods in their respective bases to sleep... But the problem lay here." Eight of Clubs' expression gradually became serious.

"In the fifth minute after the Lord of the Red Dust fell asleep, the Red Dust Base suffered a nuclear strike."

"What?!"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of all the Dusk Society members were startled.

"This was a premeditated attack targeting the Red Dust Base, or rather, targeting the Lord of the Red Dust." Eight of Clubs said in a deep voice. "It is said that the nuclear strike at the time was not just one round, but three continuous rounds within fifteen minutes... Countless Nuclear Weapons detonated around the Red Dust Base, annihilating everything into nothingness.

No one knows where these Nuclear Weapons came from. No one knows why these weapons could still be used normally when all other Nuclear Weapons had failed... And no one knows who was so cruel and merciless as to wipe out the Red Dust Base along with the million people in the Red Dust Domain.

But that timing was chosen too trickily. Under that kind of frenzied nuclear strike, unless the Nine Monarchs made a move, absolutely no one could survive. And at that time, the Lord of the Red Dust had just fallen into deep sleep...

The people of the Red Dust Base truly had no other way. In an emergency, they forcefully smashed open the Hibernation Pod and awakened the Lord of the Red Dust."

Speaking of this, Chen Ling suddenly remembered the relief sculpture he had seen in the Red Dust Base... That black meteor descending from the sky and the giant cloud expanding like a mushroom, I'm afraid that was the nuclear strike Eight of Clubs spoke of.

Chen Ling indeed didn't expect that during the process of the Nine Monarchs' hibernation, there were actually people so frenzied... But analyzing rationally, if someone wanted to kill the Nine Monarchs, this was definitely the best time to strike.

"Fortunately, the Lord of the Red Dust at the time had just finished injecting the Potion for five minutes and hadn't completely fallen into an unconscious state. In the end, a shred of rationality was forcefully awakened, barely managing to hide the Red Dust Base and the million people in the Domain within a speck of dust, dodging this nuclear strike.

But after that, under the effect of the Potion, the Lord of the Red Dust completely fell into deep sleep."

"Wait, I have a question!" Jian Changsheng suddenly raised his hand.

"...Speak."

"Didn't you just say that in order to awaken the Lord of the Red Dust, the people of the Red Dust Base forcefully smashed the Hibernation Pod? Without the Hibernation Pod, is there any use for the Lord of the Red Dust falling into deep sleep?"

"It's useless... Once a Hibernation Pod is destroyed, it cannot be repaired, and there are only nine of these things in total, with no spares."

"According to this, wouldn't the Lord of the Red Dust only be able to sleep and not extend her lifespan?"

Nine of Hearts asked in astonishment, "Then how did she survive until now?"

"This point, I am also not clear on..."

In The Scroll that Eight of Clubs brought out, the Lord of the Red Dust was indeed not inside a Hibernation Pod. This was also a question that had troubled the Dusk Society members for a long time... But looking at it now, besides the original author who personally embroidered this picture, perhaps no one could give the answer.

"So, the Red Dust Domain we see now is built on the Nuclear Ruins?" 10 of Diamonds pondered for a moment. "But didn't you say the Lord of the Red Dust hid everyone in a speck of sand to dodge it? Why didn't you guys just live directly within that speck of sand, but insist on returning to these Nuclear Ruins?"

"It's not that simple... According to experts, the Red Dust Domain is originally a flower within the Gray World, which counts as a one-time dimension elevation; while the sand speck is a speck of sand within this flower, strictly speaking, it's a second-time dimension elevation, meaning the dust within the dust... During the period when the Lord of the Red Dust is asleep, a world that has undergone a second dimension elevation is not stable. It's fine in the short term, but in the long term there's a risk of collapse." Seeing that everyone looked bewildered, Eight of Clubs simply skipped this topic.

"After the nuclear strike, more than half of the supply resources originally prepared by the Red Dust Base were lost, and the previously laid realm train tracks as well as other infrastructure were all abandoned... At the time, the Red Dust Base and the other bases were basically in a state of disconnection.

Once the realm train was cut off at the Red Dust Base, it meant that the Aurora Base in the extreme north was also completely disconnected from the outside world. This concerned the survival of two human bases. Someone had to step into these Nuclear Ruins, repair the train tracks, and rebuild the infrastructure.

Therefore, the Red Dust Base selected the first batch of volunteers from the million survivors to step into the Nuclear Ruins...

They were also called [Pioneers]."

"[Pioneers]?"

"Having experienced three rounds of nuclear strikes, the Nuclear Radiation within the Red Dust Domain sharply exceeded the standard, having irreversible effects on the human body. And repairing the tracks and infrastructure was a long process... So this first batch of people stepped onto this wasteland with the conviction of certain death.

Most of them were strong, middle-aged men who had already left behind children. They voluntarily issued the 'Pioneers' Declaration' jointly, and then stepped into the Nuclear Ruins without hesitation, never to return."

"What is the 'Pioneers' Declaration'?"

Eight of Clubs paused for a moment. Clear characters emerged from his memories one by one, connecting into a white flag covered in bloody handprints, rolling with the wind amidst shouts:

"'We take an oath as sons and daughters, as parents, and with the identity of those who harbor a blazing heart.'

"'We voluntarily dedicate our youth, flesh, and lives to pave the way forward for the future of human civilization, lay the foundation for the peace and stability of future generations, step into the wasteland, and rebuild our homeland.'

"'We will press forward with indomitable will, we will be invincible, and we will go never to return.'

"'May the high tower we build reproduce the glory of humanity.'"