Chapter 18: Life in the Tombstone
The middle of the God's Tomb Forest is the original forest where Wanzu Zanzhakarla is located.
There is a piece of land here that has been cleared by humans.
The trees were uprooted and piled around the edge of the clearing, and the bushes and soil were sloppily wiped away, revealing a ground with a rusty metallic texture.
The metal floor was square, with obvious bumps and faded paint. There seemed to be some words written on it, but it was in an ancient language so it was indecipherable. The entire square area was very large, almost one square kilometer in size, and two groups of people were standing on it with swords drawn.
On one side stood Su Mo and his men. A man wearing a ghost mask, his lips curled slightly. To his left stood Yi Zhi, and to his right stood a somewhat unfamiliar warrior with light blue hair. Behind them stood an army dressed in dark red—even using the power of the Star Spirit to detect them, one could tell they were definitely quite powerful.
On one side were Elysien's elite Night Cavalry, as well as Xifeng, Gu Yinyue and Glenshe standing in the front.
Behind the two groups of people, there were two giant dragons, one black and one white, sitting upright, their golden pupils filled with murderous intent, staring at each other without blinking.
The two sides have been in such a standoff for nearly ten hours.
But no one on either Su Mo's or Elysion's side showed signs of fatigue or laziness. Everyone present was a battle-hardened man with an iron will.
Alysien did not launch an active attack because they were only on the defensive side. They were still some distance away from Wanzu, but the metal ground beneath their feet was actually the entrance to the base of the control device that led underground and directly connected to the roots of Wanzu. Therefore, they could not move a single step.
It was strange that Su Mo remained motionless. He simply stood quietly with the people around him, not even talking, just silently watching the enemy in front of him - as if he was confident enough to wait for something to happen and let Elysion's people leave on their own.
"I'll ask again."
Gu Yinyue spoke in a low voice:
"What exactly is your purpose? If you want to use that control device to harm Wanzu, you can go back. We will not let you pass."
Su Mo, however, just smiled as before, but did not answer any questions.
Time passed in a stalemate, minute by minute. Just when Gu Yinyue couldn't help but want to take a step forward, there was a loud rustling sound suddenly from the bushes in the distance - and then two figures walked out from the shadows of the trees and walked to the center of the clearing.
“…Then Lian Cang and Xing Ge!!”
Xifeng couldn't help but let out a low cry.
"Founders of the Thirteen Moon-Slaying Seats, why are you here?"
However, Lian Cang completely ignored Xifeng's surprise, and also ignored the slightly surprised expression under Su Mo's mask. He and Xing Ge whispered a few words to each other - then took out a luxurious large blanket and a bunch of snacks from the storage space, made a bed on the floor and started eating!
“…”
In an instant, Su Mo, Yizhi and Elision's men all looked somewhat unstable.
"Then, Lord Liancang." Gu Yinyue suppressed the bulging veins on his head, "You guys are not really here for a picnic, are you?"
“It’s actually true.”
Lian Cang was eating a piece of greasy-looking cake with a mouthful of cream.
"We were originally planning to come here to lend a hand, but the biggest mastermind behind this was just eliminated. So our actions are meaningless. We've finally made it to the God's Tomb Forest, so let's just treat it as a picnic."
Hearing his words, Glen She walked over and found a place to sit on the other side of the blanket. Without saying hello, she grabbed a piece of cake and started eating.
"The mastermind? Destroyed? Who is it?"
"Your Queen took care of it. ──By the way, don't steal my cake. If you like sweets, go buy them yourself!"
"Ash... Who did she defeat?"
"Just say don't eat my cake—ah, my limited edition Black Forest cake!!"
"Please eat, Mr. Glenn." Xing Ge took out a large stack of cakes from the storage space. "These disgusting cream products have been an eyesore in my storage space for a long time. If you like sweets, you can take them all away."
"You're welcome."
"Alas." Na Liancang shrugged somewhat dejectedly. "My concubine is too jealous. She even tastes my sweets. Fine, fine, take them. But don't swallow three in one go."
"I'm not jealous of your cake, I'm just worried about the survival of your abs."
"Nonsense! My abs are in great shape, how could they be defeated by sweets!"
"Let me get to the point!"
Unable to bear it any longer, Xifeng pointed the barrel of his gun at the three picnic group who were sitting on a blanket eating.
"Alright, alright." Na Liancang rolled his eyes. "The mastermind behind this is the planet's will, Senagard—just now, the winner was revealed. The witches won—so there's no need to hide it."
After saying that, he looked at Su Mo with a mocking look.
After hearing this, Su Mo opened his mouth slightly, looked up at the sky for a while, then let out a soft sigh and shook his head.
"In the end, she actually won."
He spoke the first words he had spoken since arriving here, then slowly walked to the edge of the blanket and sat down, nodding to Gu Yinyue and Xifeng who were left.
"Then just say everything you need to say. There's no need to hide anything now."
"That's refreshing."
Na Liancang took a bite of the bacon roll.
The rest of the picnic was spent with Lian Cang, Su Mo, and Xing Ge alternating their explanations. By the time Su Mo had finished explaining the events of ten thousand years ago in simple terms, it was already quite dark.
After he finished speaking, for a moment, the entire open space fell into a somewhat depressing silence.
Finally, it was Gu Yinyue who broke the silence:
"So, after the death of the former miko Theresa, in the past ten thousand years, with the exception of Ragnarl, who has fallen back into sleep, the consciousnesses of your three planets have united to carry out a major overhaul, and you are responsible for guiding and destroying them? Choosing a guide, observing humanity's development from behind, and then destroying them as appropriate to slow down their progress?"
"yes."
Su Mo nodded.
"Along the way, you've seen those towering crystal pillars, right? They're called tombstones of the gods—do you know what's inside them?"
Gu Yinyue pondered for a few seconds, then narrowed his eyes.
"...the fruits of humanity's forgotten technological revolution?"
"right."
The corners of Su Mo's mouth curled up in a sinister way, and his iron face reflected a cold light in the moonlight.
"There are things that look like steam engines, things that look like aircraft, things that look like power generation devices—these hundreds of crystal pillars are tombstones that seal the remains of these destroyed technologies. Humans always mistakenly believe that they are gods who can dominate and change the world, but I have no choice but to bury these gods."
Gu Yinyue was silent for a few seconds, and suddenly a faint smile appeared between his brows.
"Then why not completely destroy it, but seal it with crystals?"
"This is a reminder to myself. Every time one of these crystal pillars appears, it tells me that the danger posed by humans increases by one point."
"Really?"
The gray wolf eyes met Su Mo's gleaming iron mask.
"Why? I actually think you're just laying a backup plan for everything—if something truly fateful were to arise, you could just temporarily dig up these technologies and use them for humanity."
Su Mo was stunned, then turned his head hesitantly and looked at the large and small crystal pillars in the distance. His eyes under the iron mask seemed a little confused.
"...Is that so? Is that what I thought?"
"Otherwise, why don't you just attack forcefully? You don't really want to hurt Wan Zu, do you?"
"And he's tried to persuade us to surrender time and again before. His methods have been quite cruel at other times, but he's been incredibly indulgent with us. Deep down, he's probably hoping we'll change, right?" Xifeng chimed in, "You're a competent Demon King, but you're still too soft-hearted."
Su Mo lowered his head upon hearing this, and curled the corners of his mouth in self-mockery.
"I guess so."
Chiyue's Will looked at the metal floor under the blanket and touched the dirt on it absentmindedly.
"...After hearing about the God's Cemetery, the consciousness of this planet immediately abandoned the name 'Feinheim' and changed its name to 'Senagard'. You can imagine how much it hates humans. I felt the same way at first."
Glen She looked up from the cake pile: "What happened next?"
"Later, with a strong desire for revenge, I chose a guide and, together with the guide, monitored human activities, then took great pleasure in destroying the fruits of their painstaking research. At the beginning, I was indeed carrying out the tasks assigned to me by Senagard with this perverse intention."
As he spoke, he picked up something that looked like a plum from the pile of snacks on the blanket and put it into his mouth.
"But, you know, because I hate humans, I have to monitor them. And because I monitor them, I have to understand them. Sometimes, even when I don't want to see, I see a lot of what humans do. Some of those things are good, some are bad, and some are hard to tell right from wrong. At first, I scoffed at them, but as time went by, my perspective... perhaps, I've unconsciously changed."
"Humanity is complex, so complex that it's impossible to find a single word to describe it. If I had to, the only word would be 'complex.' Even though the Guides and I have secretly eliminated countless technologies that would have revolutionized the world, their numbers continue to expand at an astonishing rate, from a population of a million during the Great Disaster to a global population.
Without any control or guidance, they independently divided themselves into classes and national boundaries based on their abilities. Due to different local climates and environments, they gradually developed their own customs and practices, gradually evolving various regional cultures. Every day, one can find new and interesting records of events in the Chita database.
Su Mo paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly.
"Then sometimes I wonder why seemingly ordinary natural phenomena appear so intriguing and even intriguing to humans? Why would someone tirelessly and relentlessly experiment and measure something they wouldn't even consider? Why does the world, in the eyes of this verminous race, become so colorful and interesting, so full of infinite possibilities?"
“…”
"Then, I don't know when, but I suddenly realized something. While observing and monitoring humans... I fell in love with this world. No, to be more precise, I fell in love with the planet Senagard as seen by humans. Vast, dangerous, full of vitality, mysterious and charming. It wasn't my consciousness of Senagard, but the planet itself—I no longer just felt protective of the satellite for its host, but truly hoped that it could continue to exist."
Xifeng raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you said that to Beichen at the time? You were so eager to select a million people to take to the Ark because you loved Senagard."
"If I don't destroy to appease Senagard's anger, even these one million people will have no chance of survival. That's what I thought when I faced Senagard."
Su Mo nodded.
"Anyway, because I developed feelings, my mindset changed. Because I wanted to understand humans better, I switched from a weapon and a moon-possessed body to a human. While my lifespan was short and I had to change them frequently, it was surprisingly interesting and captivating.
Therefore, sometimes, I feel a pang of regret—when destroying the fruits of human wisdom. Especially—after I've witnessed firsthand how they painstakingly researched, step by step, the coveted technology. At that moment, destroying those things no longer offers that perverse pleasure. Over these ten thousand years, I've witnessed countless fierce, hateful glances from scholars. The creators of those technologies have gone mad, committed suicide, or attempted to recreate them only to have their memories erased by my guide and me using 'reincarnation potion.' Perhaps, Your Excellency Gu Yinyue, you're right. That's why I've preserved the remains of these technologies with these tombstones."
The tall, wolf-eyed warrior smiled upon hearing this.
"As a warrior, I feel a little regretful that we don't have to fight this time, but as a human, I'm very happy."
"Is that so? But what should we do next?"
Su Mo looked at the sky in confusion.
"Senagarde is asleep. As his satellite, what should I, Celande, do next?"
"Of course, do what you want to do."
Glenn She spoke with a mouth full of cake.
"You've been fired by your boss. Do you want to start your own business or go to another company? If you don't think about it soon, you might end up starving."
Su Mo chuckled.
"Yes, first of all, we have to solve Wan Zu's problem no matter what - although I still think the only way to free Wan Zu is to kill him."
"Wait a little longer."
Gu Yinyue shook his head solemnly:
"Wait a little longer. ... Perhaps, she will come to us with what we want most. Perhaps... those fruits of our ancestors' labors, sleeping in the tombstones, will find a chance to reappear before the world."
"After being chased and beaten by you for so long, it would be really embarrassing if she couldn't come up with something to fight back." Xifeng sneered, then turned around and wanted to ask questions to Liancang and Xing Ge on the other side of the blanket.
"Hey, what's going on with you two? In the past ten thousand years of history, there has been no mention of anything related to you..."
Xifeng was stunned halfway through his words.
The other half of the blanket was already empty, with only some food scraps left as a sign that someone had once been there.
"What the hell? No one noticed when they left so close? Are they ghosts?"
Zephyr frowned and murmured doubtfully.
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