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墨書 Inktalez
New Era of Humanity in the Apocalypse
It was a very strange sculpture, a terrifying figure with a serpent's face and a human body.
Long ago, on the land of Ancient India, there existed a sculpture of a Sphinx. People regarded this sculpture as a sacred object, believing that this mythical creature symbolized the realm of death. Even though it evoked fear of existence among the living, it did not incite any malicious thoughts.
Humans must have a fear of death; this way, they can maintain kindness while alive and attain what is called eternal life after death. This connection exists, yet despite the Sphinx being carved under its influence, many ambitious individuals who feared death still believed that there were incredibly beautiful treasures in this world—namely, eternal existence. They sought to unearth the graves of the deceased in search of so-called immortality.
In fact, every generation of rulers harbored a dream: the longing for eternal life. They were unwilling to live in fear within the limited days allotted to them. Even in death, they wished to continue living through the fears of others; that would be their form of immortality. However, they overlooked one essential point: if their predecessors had found methods for eternal life, why did they ultimately rely on tombs for their last assurance?
They left epitaphs to inform future generations about the dire living conditions of people during that era, illustrating how those under exploitation lived in misery. This was essentially the message conveyed. Throughout history, emperors believed there must be a paradise somewhere in the world where something granting immortality existed. They wished to live longer to savor the beauty of life; yet such aspirations made them less than human—they became gods. Even if they developed certain artifacts to maintain their dignity beneath the tombs, that dignity was merely a facade for the world.
Dignity was just a tool for concealing shame; every era that passed was gone forever.
To preserve permanence and live on in people's hearts, it would be better to do good deeds that resonate through time. Rather than fearing that their graves would be excavated by enemies who once revered them during their lifetimes and stole their treasures from beyond, they should consider that such existence is meaningless. The significance behind this sculpture must be extraordinary; there was once a myth about a Serpent God known as Naga, and this sculpture bore some resemblance to Naga, though specific details remained unclear.
However, upon closer inspection, it became evident that this sculpture was not carved from stone; its size was immense—approximately four to five meters tall. If that were true, it would indeed be an extraordinary feat of engineering. Moreover, this sculpture was crafted from an extremely rare metal; while its exact composition was unknown, it was unmistakably metallic.
Yet no one believed that just because the sculpture gleamed brilliantly, it meant it was made of gold. Freyr and others had no particular attachment to gold; their current profession had long since forged a contract with death. While alive, they did not overly covet wealth because such greed would leave weaknesses in their bodies—decaying vulnerabilities susceptible to destructive impacts from external forces.
Greed is human nature and not easily shed; however, some individuals are born with an aversion to money.
Such lives may seem unfulfilled, yet some believe that this kind of existence is genuine. People indeed live for money and suffering; however, some merely wish to realize their ideals.
"Back to the point—could this sculpture be Naga?" Xiong Tai asked.
The three individuals were momentarily taken aback. They couldn't believe that this rustic fellow actually understood such a beautiful tale about the Naga. The Naga God was the leader of the serpent tribe! At that moment, each of them wore an approving expression. If they could share this information with the outside world, even without revealing the location, it would certainly provide ample gossip material for those beyond.
This was indeed a remarkable discovery. However, as they looked around, they quickly sensed something was amiss. Freyr slapped his forehead, realizing that they hadn't come here for sightseeing; their companion had been taken away, and they were supposed to rescue him. Damn it, the lead had ended here.
"Wait a minute, that's not a Naga, right? Isn't a Naga supposed to look like this?" Freyr pointed out after glancing briefly and noticing something was off.
"What is that?" Duan Shuai asked in confusion.
"The legendary creator goddess Nüwa," Freyr replied calmly.
"How do you know that's Nüwa? Where's the clue?" someone immediately questioned.
"Look below; those things on the ground resemble split cells. Aren't they slowly transforming into humanoid forms under the Creator's technological influence? That goddess Nüwa is also depicted as a beautiful woman with a serpent's body—a powerful sage who should not be desecrated. Perhaps nowadays, very few people have heard that story," Freyr continued.
Indeed, during their period of study, they had absorbed a wealth of knowledge. Such lost cultures were nearly forgotten in folklore, with only a few university professors still discussing them factually.
Educators' understanding of creation differed fundamentally from what was once believed in folklore. They regarded creation as part of the civilization developed by the Creator, a cultural legacy that could not be altered.
Others felt that the origins of these tales were indeed real. The scientific community had long debated humanity's ancient traditions, but they were hesitant to claim that these inherited stories were genuinely existent. Some held beliefs that neither fully accepted nor rejected these narratives.
"Nüwa?" Duan Shuai chuckled at this point.
Indeed, the creator goddess Nüwa seemed to perfectly embody the essence of this sculpture; the tool in her hand resembled a cellular creation device.
The device had slowly become a divine ability under the gaze of mere mortals, yet it was merely a technological creation of their civilization. Indeed, such creations were virtually unseen in the current human civilization.
No one knew whether these people's emotions had any military significance. After staring at the sculpture for a while, they gradually shifted their focus elsewhere, and their spirits began to lift. Some individuals moved closer.
Before long, Freyr was the first to react; he distinctly heard a clear sound amidst the friction.
What was that sound? Perhaps it was footsteps.
Someone was approaching, and the sound seemed to emanate from all directions, indicating that no matter where they connected, it would ultimately lead here. This was indeed a frightening place; the location they had arrived at could very well be a main hall.
In their human understanding, this place resembled the main hall of a corridor. They had come to this hall to meet their sovereign, who might very well be represented by the sculpture before them. The question arose: standing here, they could easily be perceived as defilers or deceivers of their lord.
Their attire certainly did not resemble that of their kin. If that were the case, there were indeed some commonalities in thought; people shaped their creations based on their conceptual environment, and those creations were akin to children. From this perspective, there were many differences—characteristics such as personality, appearance, and even height could be matched according to the Creator's vision.
From this standpoint, the original creator of this work must have envisioned it based on their own appearance. But what about appearance? The dilemma arose: this race consisted of creatures with serpent bodies and human faces.
"Oh my god," Freya exclaimed, unable to contain herself any longer.
The others looked at her with indifference, not understanding what had prompted her outburst—had she lost her mind? Or was she startled by something?
Perhaps she was startled? The multitude of footsteps drawing near was indeed shocking enough. If an army existed, while they might escape, it would be impossible to do so without leaving traces behind.
"That's a terrifying thought. You must be scared, right? Squad Leader, are you alright?"
Xiong Tai immediately spoke up, signaling with a gesture.
"Seems like there's nothing wrong, Commander. Are you possessed or something? What should we do now?"
Xiong Tai grew anxious, realizing that everyone had their own concerns.
"Uh, sorry, I was just startled. Let's find a place to hide."
Freyr suddenly came to his senses, recalling something amidst the chaos of thoughts.
At that moment, the others chimed in, and the sound of footsteps seemed to grow closer. Freyr, in a flurry of activity searching for a hiding spot, suddenly noticed a particularly sharp location ahead. Although it was concealed, it was undeniably a safe place; after all, the dangerous areas were often the safest. Choosing this spot had to be the right decision.
He quickly pointed ahead and said, "I think this place is quite good. What do you think?"
The others hurriedly looked in that direction. It was a familiar spot—the area behind the Serpent-Faced Monster Sculpture could indeed accommodate several people. Instantly, a hint of joy appeared on everyone's faces; in other words, this was definitely a good place.
Following his lead, everyone gazed toward that direction and climbed onto a similar altar adorned with various bizarre animal heads—none of which resembled the familiar creatures from the Surface World.
As they contemplated the strange figures, their hearts began to tremble upon seeing this place. Just as they squeezed into their hiding spot, they heard footsteps approaching nearby and cautiously peeked out.
To their surprise, several eerie beings were drawing near—just as he had suspected, they were Human-Faced Serpent Monsters.
They moved by dragging their scaly tails across the ground. Each of these creatures bore distinct names and symbols on their clothing that resembled the runes carved on crosses. Freyr thought that perhaps this was indicative of their civilization.
Seeing this made his heart tighten; it seemed this race was quite remarkable. The strategy guide had indeed described the cultural system that emerged in this area—culture being merely the accumulation of knowledge over time until one person eventually blew into a reed and gave birth to a template of civilization.
Since the birth of these civilizations, some knowledge has been deposited. Their descendants have accumulated some Astonishing knowledge as they progressed a little bit, and after hundreds or even tens of millions of years of evolution, they only have knowledge. The amount is far from giving them anything similar to Astonishing. The birth of civilization can require coincidence, and it also needs to be discovered by people with certain wisdom. Such people are often the products of a civilization. They have many followers. In ancient times, some people called these people Descendants of the Dragon, that is, The existence of ChosenOne. But even so, the birth of a civilization is by no means just inheritance. It has to go through many evolutions before it can finally become the starting point of a civilization. When the civilization is started, it will definitely have a strong impact on traditional industries. Just like today's Human Alliance, a few people looking here also discovered other things, that is, traditional industries have basically disappeared, replaced by the needs of human survival. In response to this, more and more humans will become rich. The more. In this situation, he was thinking to himself, and then he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and felt Xiong Tai winking at him from behind. He leaned towards his Ear in a low voice and said: "You What are you doing?" Xiong Tai hurriedly came over and signaled to him: "Commander, look over there." After that, he immediately looked in the direction of Xiong Tai's finger. , sure enough, he saw two SerpentPeople tied to a wooden pole, and there are usually some pigs, sheep, dogs and other livestock tied with ropes hanging on the pole. The existence of these animals is nothing to watch, but when Freyr looked carefully, he realized that the poles were not animals at all, but living people. These Serpent People actually regarded people as animals and regarded them as animals. Did they hang them up to steal the spotlight? Well, maybe in their civilization, we people are considered their servants, or maybe we are like monkeys in clothes no matter how we dress up. They don't understand human language, just like people don't understand their aesthetic concepts. . "You actually treat people like animals. How can these SerpentPeople be killed? I want to kill them." Freyr gritted his teeth.
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