Igor's voice came to Azathoth's ears: "...Sir?"
He felt as if he was still in a dream, with whispers and flute sounds ringing in his ears. He turned over and buried himself in the soft quilt and pillow, not moving.
After a while, Igor's voice sounded again, a little helpless: "Didn't you say you wanted to go out yesterday? It's already nine o'clock in the morning. Although Kemingting Town is a small city, it takes a long time to get to the suburbs..."
Before he could finish, Azathoth grabbed his follower's arm and easily brought him down onto the spacious master bedroom bed. He embraced Igor like a pillow and buried his head in his neck. He said slowly, "It's okay. I'll sleep a little longer."
The world is big, but sleeping is the most important thing. As a strong man who could sleep for days or even months on a desolate planet, Azathoth has no psychological burden.
Igor, who was inexplicably forced to sleep with someone, became stiff as a stone statue, staring at the ceiling motionlessly.
Twenty minutes later, Hugo, who was about to leave when he saw no movement in Azathoth's room, poked his head in and said, "Why haven't you...oh."
It immediately retracted its head and tried to return to the living room. Igor coughed dryly and called it to stop, whispering, "How did you wake up the gentleman before?"
Hugo: "I haven't provided this service yet, but if you feel it's necessary, I'll go get a bucket of hot water now."
Although cold water is used to wake up ordinary people, Azathoth is obviously not an ordinary person.
Igor rejected this proposal without hesitation. Before they could come up with a plan to rescue the motionless gray-haired young man, Azathoth nudged Igor, yawned, let go of his hand, and sat up cross-legged. Without a trace of embarrassment, he pulled Igor up, as if he hadn't just been the one to use him as a pillow. He also complained, "Igor's story about the Griffin family history yesterday was a bit boring."
Half a week had passed since Igor's former adjutant Richard Tolum was arrested. They were still temporarily staying in the town of Keminting, and Azathoth had developed the habit of listening to Igor's stories about the Federation every night - of course, this was because he expressed interest in it.
But just like he was not picky about the snacks Igor brought back, no matter what topic Igor talked about with him these days, Azathoth always looked serious on the surface and seemed to be listening very attentively.
Today was the first time he had openly expressed his negative feelings. Igor was surprised but quickly responded, "Then let's change the topic tonight."
Azathoth nodded casually, not saying that he felt bored because Igor was in a bad mood when he mentioned this.
After washing up, Igor drove the four of them out of town in a rented car. As they drove, he said, "Mr. Ford sent an email yesterday saying he's completed Erica's enrollment paperwork and that he'll be back in Keminting in three days to take her to the capital."
Even Erica herself didn't care much about this minor incident, as she leaned over the car window excitedly and asked, "Excuse me, where are we going now?"
"In the fog," Igor replied.
"fog?"
"You will probably learn this in geography class later."
"The planet where Keminting Town is located is a true natural planet. Its surface area is actually comparable to that of the capital planet, nearly three times that of Port Yarple," Igor explained. "However, there are too many phenomena in the universe that cannot be explained by current human technology. The human settlement of Port Yarple is only located in the northern hemisphere of that planet because its southern hemisphere is mostly ocean, with only a few very small islands on land."
"But Keminting Town is different. After being established as the capital of the Federation hundreds of years ago, it underwent extensive development and should have been a massive, developed city comparable to the capital. But soon, people discovered that the entire area outside of Keminting Town was suddenly shrouded in white fog one day."
"Because of this thick fog that appeared out of nowhere, satellites cannot detect the terrain inside. The Federation has sent robots and drones in many times, but has never obtained any valuable intelligence."
"Decades ago, adventurers entered to explore. They were armed with state-of-the-art video equipment and weapons, and had nearly perfect protection. However..."
Hugo guessed: "No one came out?"
Igor nodded. "But over the years, people have discovered that as long as you don't venture beyond a kilometer of the white fog, you won't encounter any danger, and even the network signal will work well. As a result, the suburbs near Keminting Town have become a rare natural wonder, which is why many people from the capital are willing to come here for vacation."
As soon as he finished speaking, Hugo's eyes flickered and he said, "I really can't see anything."
“…”
Azathoth: "Quickly release the hijacked satellite."
"It's okay, they can't find it." Hugo said excitedly, "So what's inside?"
Two bionic birds equipped with cameras rushed towards the suburbs like cannonballs.
Fifteen minutes later, Hugo, who was concentrating on controlling his small vanguard, asked in surprise, "What happened...? It suddenly went offline? There was no sign at all?"
Erica asked, a little excited and a little scared: "What did you take pictures of?"
"It's just weird that we didn't capture anything," Hugo frowned, his brows furrowed in a humane way. "With this kind of visibility, we shouldn't be able to see anything in the light... The light hitting the fog is like being swallowed by a black hole. There's not even a Tyndall effect."
Igor hesitated to speak.
Azathoth had been focusing on him and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
"I've told you before," Igor told him everything he knew. "The Federation's history spans six hundred years, but there are significant gaps in the records."
"About three hundred years ago, humans began to ban all research related to androids and destroyed a large amount of data, including many historical documents."
Hugo scoffed softly.
Igor briefly mentioned this point and then passed it over, continuing, "This is probably a small peak era in technological development. The Federation is currently investing heavily in weapons research and development to compete with the Zerg in space, but in reality, the overall level of scientific research has not significantly improved."
"Historians have long argued that three hundred years ago, when technology had reached a certain level and humanity had yet to enter the full interstellar age, the power system wasn't entirely reliant on science. There was a period of glory for supernatural powers and divine arts."
"—But this is actually what the Zerg are best at."
Hugo quickly flipped through the information and began to summarize: "The Zerg can operate in space for extended periods of time. Compared to humans' technologically advanced methods of defeating their opponents, they appear far more 'primitive and barbaric'... Relying solely on their immense physical strength, they can counter the artillery fire of spacecraft. Their diverse and innate abilities are difficult to defend against, and they can even mimic many common life forms in human society."
"Wow," the robot from this ancient planet exclaimed in a country bumpkin's voice, "Animagus?"
Azathoth, who inexplicably understood this stalk, said: "..."
Only Igor and Erica looked at the androids and gods who suddenly reached a consensus with confused expressions.
Igor brought the topic back to the topic. They were almost at their destination, and a large number of ordinary people, heading for their holiday in the suburbs, were appearing on the road. "Anyway, the prevailing theory in the Federation right now is that the fog surrounding Keminting Town is actually caused by a supernatural power that far exceeds the limits of both humans and ordinary Zerg."
"But no one can provide evidence. While ensuring safety, the exploration of the fog is progressing very slowly. Because of the war, no Zerg experts in supernatural powers are willing to offer advice. So, aside from developing tourism and collecting entrance fees, the area surrounding Keminting Town is of little use."
They bought four tickets, which were so expensive that they made people wonder if this place was a gimmick created by the government to make money, and then slowly drove into the thick fog.
The fog seemed to be separated by a cover. It was clearly flowing with the air, but it refused to step into the town of Kemingting.
Therefore, the boundary between them and the human settlements is very clear and abrupt, as if in the blink of an eye, the clear sky and warm sunshine disappeared. The people inside are like being wrapped in a huge white jelly, with only coconuts or raisins as decoration.
To prevent tourists from getting lost, huge arrows are painted on the ground every step of the way. Iron fences are also pulled on both sides of the road, with huge slogans on them: "Cherish life, no climbing over the fence."
Strictly speaking, this trip was not only to satisfy Azathoth's rare desire for exploration, but also to take Erica on a last relaxing trip before school.
"There's a road to heaven, but you don't take it. Learning is a journey of hardship." Hugo once said with compassion, "Let's take her out with us and experience the beauty of the world one last time."
However, most families probably wouldn't bring their children to a place that looks like a haunted house.
As Hugo had said, in this white fog, turning on high or low beams was useless. The government of Keminting Town had created a one-way circular road around the town, stretching over 300 kilometers. It was only two lanes wide, apparently to prevent curious people from wandering around and accidentally losing their lives.
In addition, although light cannot be formed in the fog due to unknown principles, humans can observe certain scenes in the fog with the naked eye - this is why the scenic spot is a scenic spot.
The buildings and plants in the distance were shrouded in white mist, leaving only deep shadows, like a hazy mirage. It was impossible to tell whether this was a delusion created by the brain or a real behemoth.
Erica, born in the slums of Port Alplai, wasn't as intimidated by such an environment as some pampered Omegas. After her initial vigilance, she quickly relaxed and let Hugo open the car window. They leaned forward, their phone in front of the windows, muttering to each other:
"That shadow looks a bit like a signal tower."
"Are those dinosaur bones over there?"
"I think it might be the ruins of a human building."
“But I think it could be an alpaca…”
"Wait, something just moved over there. Was it my imagination?"
After a while, a dusty small car changed lanes and accelerated from behind them, blocking Hugo's view.
The window of the car opposite rolled down, and the male Beta in the driver's seat stuck his head out and greeted Hugo enthusiastically: "Hello! There are so many people traveling here today!"
Hugo stared at him for a long time without saying anything.
——You're blocking my camera signal!
Beta, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car next door, was smoking a cigarette when he was caught off guard by the draft and choked: "Cough cough cough! Mike, close the window quickly!"
"Wait a minute, Nixon," the driver said. "It's more fun when there are more people around. I'm just chatting."
Igor, who was driving with his eyes fixed on the road, heard this and his hand trembled, and he accidentally closed the car window in front of Hugo that was covered with glass film.
Mike: “……?”
Before he could say anything else, a brightly colored sports car followed behind the two vehicles driving side by side and honked its horn impatiently.
"What are you doing? Don't you guys know how to drive?" A young Alpha stuck his head out and yelled, "This isn't a hoverboard. Are you going so slowly, just waiting to get hit?!"
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