Night fell, like an endless expanse of black velvet, slowly covering the entire shelter.
This is a kind of darkness that everyone has long been accustomed to, yet deeply hates.
It is unlike the gray night sky on Earth, illuminated by city neon lights; it is a pure, all-consuming abyss, symbolizing primitiveness and danger.
In this darkness, the flickering flames of torches and fireplaces cast only swaying, menacing shadows on the ground, which only amplify the fear of the unknown corners.
But the darkness tonight is unlike any other night before.
A strange, almost frozen tension filled the air.
In the central square of the shelter, everyone had gathered.
Instead of using sun-wheel wood to bolster their courage, they simultaneously extinguished all the torches in the entire square.
They chose to confront this deepest darkness, hoping for a miracle that might or might never happen.
In the center of the square, a newly erected wooden pole made of the straightest ironwood stands alone.
At the top of the wooden pole is a glass dome, hand-blown by Pang Dahai, which is irregularly shaped and even contains some air bubbles.
Through the glass, you can vaguely see a gray-black spider silk, thinner than a human hair, connecting two copper wires wrapped in white rubber that extend down from the top of the pole.
This is the main character tonight—an incandescent light bulb that was once ubiquitous, cheap, and inconspicuous in their world.
But here, on this wild planet, it carries a long-cherished dream that almost no one dares to utter.
No one made a sound; they simply stood quietly, forming a large, silent circle, all eyes fixed on the man standing beneath the wooden pole in front of the simple knife switch.
Lin Feng.
Li Xiangbin stood behind Lin Feng like a protective iron tower, his fists clenched tightly, his palms sweaty.
He didn't understand electromagnetic induction, nor did he understand resistance and power, but he had an almost blind, religious trust in Lin Feng.
He firmly believed that if his elder brother said "Let there be light," then there would definitely be light here.
Pang Dahai and his four women, now dressed in clean linen clothes, huddled together.
His large body trembled slightly, half from tension and half from excitement. He stared intently at the light bulb, his mind filled with images of his spotless, brightly lit, five-star kitchen on Earth, equipped with an electric oven, induction cooker, food processor, and exhaust fan.
That was his palace, a perfect world built of electricity.
Su Wanqing and Qin Lan stood at the front of the crowd.
Su Wanqing clasped her hands tightly in front of her, her knuckles turning white from the force.
She knew better than anyone how illogical and shocking Lin Feng was trying to do something.
She witnessed firsthand the mining of Ciling Mine, the drawing of copper wire, and the assembly of generators... Every step was like a condensation of modern industrial civilization into a rough yet precise performance art in the style of a handicraft workshop.
In theory, this is feasible. But between theory and reality, there is often a chasm called "miracle".
Qin Lan appeared more composed, arms crossed, her sharp gaze scrutinizing everything.
But her slightly more rapid breathing than usual betrayed her inner turmoil.
She thought of nothing else but the high walls of the shelter. She thought of the sentries who kept watch through the long, dark nights, relying only on the faint light of a fire and their exceptional hearing.
If... if there were a stable, bright light source that could illuminate a hundred meters or so outside the wall as if it were daytime, what would that mean? It would mean unparalleled security!
All eyes eventually turned to Lin Feng.
He knew what kind of gazes were gathered behind him, a gaze that held trust, doubt, expectation, and trepidation... and even more so, a collective remembrance and profound longing for a lost civilization.
It's not that they've never seen an electric light before.
Because they had seen it, because they had lived in a civilization completely defined by electricity, they understood better than anyone what this scene meant.
It was more than just a lamp.
Those were signposts leading home. A phantom of a lost world. Fragments of bygone days they thought they could never reach again.
Lin Feng took a deep breath. The night wind was icy, carrying the chill of the snowfield. He reached out and grasped the crudely made knife switch, composed of a rough wooden handle and two pieces of red copper.
The whole world seemed to have been muted at that moment.
He could hear his own heartbeat, and he could also hear the oppressive silence behind him as everyone held their breath.
He did not hesitate any longer.
The arm suddenly pressed down!
"Snap!"
A sharp, piercing sound, like metal scraping and colliding, suddenly shattered the deathly silence of the square. It was like a starting pistol, announcing the end of one era and the beginning of another.
The switch is closed.
One second.
Two seconds.
The glass bulb at the top of the wooden pole did not react at all.
The darkness remained darkness, so profound it was despair-inducing.
A low, barely suppressed murmur of disappointment arose from the crowd.
Some people's shoulders slumped, and some people sighed silently.
Su Wanqing's heart sank suddenly.
As expected... I was just too naive.
However, just as everyone's hope was about to be completely swallowed by darkness...
"Buzz..."
A faint, almost imperceptible hum of electricity emanated from the glass bulb.
Immediately afterwards, a tiny, orange-red dot of light, the size of a pinhead, suddenly appeared at the center of that slender fire spider silk, that filament that had been the culmination of countless efforts.
Like a spark struggling to stay lit in the embers.
"It's...it's lit up?" Someone rubbed their eyes uncertainly, their voice trembling.
That touch of orange-red did not fade.
It was infused with boundless vitality, spreading rapidly and tenaciously throughout the entire filament at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The orange-red light grew brighter and hotter, dispelling the darkness inside the glass bulb and illuminating its simple internal structure.
Immediately, the color temperature of the light began to rise sharply, transforming from a warm orange-red to a dazzling golden yellow, and finally, amidst a collective gasp, it burst forth with a deafening roar.
A pure, pristine, undeniably majestic, and dazzling expanse of pure white!
"boom!"
This was not a roar of sound, but a violent explosion of light on everyone's retina and in everyone's mind!
Light!
Endless light, like a flood bursting its banks, swept outwards in all directions from the tiny light bulb at its center.
It violently tore through the curtain of night, illuminating the entire square as if it were daytime.
The darkness was driven away, crushed, and fled in panic behind the building, leaving behind clear and deep shadows.
In the square, everyone's face was clearly illuminated by this sudden, unprepared, and absolute light.
The shock, blankness, astonishment, disbelief on their faces... and the glistening tears that uncontrollably slid down their cheeks, were all clearly visible under the pure white light.
Dead silence.
An even more profound, deathly silence than before.
Everyone froze, as if petrified in an instant.
Their mouths were agape, but no sound came out. Their brains had completely shut down due to the overwhelming visual impact that transcended time and space.
This is not firelight. Firelight is warm, flickering, and alive.
The light before us is stable, calm, imbued with the iron will and rationality of industrial civilization; it is a manifestation of absolute power.
It is precise, efficient, and utterly emotionless, yet so powerful that it sends shivers down your spine.
"Waaah..."
It's unclear who was the first to break free from this immense shock. It wasn't a cheer, nor a shout, but a choked sob from deep within the throat, tightly suppressed, filled with endless grievances and heartache.
That choked sob was like a key, instantly unlocking the floodgates of everyone's emotions.
"Waaaaah..."
A woman could no longer hold back. She squatted down, covered her face with her hands, her shoulders heaving violently, and tears that had been suppressed for months burst forth from between her fingers.
She wasn't crying over a lamp; she was crying over her brightly lit home, a home she could never return to.
"It's lit up...it's really lit up..." Su Wanqing murmured to herself, tears already blurring her vision.
Qin Lan turned around abruptly, not wanting anyone to see her expression. But her violently trembling back spoke volumes.
Pang Dahai cried the most unceremoniously, tears and snot streaming down his face, muttering incoherently, "My electric oven... my induction cooker... my kitchen... sob sob sob..."
Li Xiangbin also cried, but he laughed as he cried. He slapped his thigh hard and shouted incoherently at Lin Feng's back, "Big brother! Awesome! You're my real brother! No! You're my dad!!"
The entire square was completely transformed into a sea of tears.
This is not blind worship of miracles.
This is the most real and profound emotional torrent that erupts in an instant when a child of civilization, after wandering for far too long in the wilderness of another world, finally sees the lighthouse of "home" again! All the longing, pain, grievances and hopes that had been suppressed in his heart burst forth!
They knelt down.
It was not out of fear, nor because of being intimidated by divine power.
Their knees were bent for the regained light of civilization.
Their heads bowed deeply and willingly in homage to the man who brought the light of civilization back into their lives.
At this moment, Lin Feng's image in their hearts had quietly completed its final transformation.
He was no longer just a powerful leader or a wise leader.
He is Prometheus.
They are fire thieves.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com