Chapter 661: The Pioneer's Manifesto

"A nuclear ruin???"

Jian Changsheng's face was full of astonishment.

8 of Spades stood beneath the bare, withered willow branches and let out a long sigh.

"This matter is the highest secret of the Red Dust Domain. No one knows about it except for members of the Floating Life Painting. But now that things have reached this point, there's naturally nothing left to hide...

Over three hundred years ago, at the end of the Great Cataclysm, the remaining human survivors of the war took refuge in the domains of the Nine Sovereigns and established nine bases.

The nine major bases pooled all human wisdom to build nine hibernation pods capable of extending life through deep sleep... These pods didn't incorporate any cutting-edge technology; they were just improvements on primitive cryogenic hibernation, so they wouldn't be affected by technological regression in the short term.

After that, the nine bases unanimously passed the [Hibernation] plan: using the pods to extend the lives of the Nine Sovereigns as much as possible, thereby preserving human civilization to the greatest extent during the Gray Realm Convergence, while searching for a solution to the convergence during the long years of sleep.

Since then, the Nine Sovereigns have fallen into slumber one after another..."

"We know all that," 9 of Hearts asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where's the secret?"

"You know it, but the newcomers might not," 8 of Spades rolled his eyes. "Wait for me to finish!"

"...Tch, fine, fine."

"After receiving the 'slumber' order, the Nine Sovereigns entered their hibernation pods in their respective bases... but that's where the problem arose." 8 of Spades' expression grew serious.

"Five minutes after the Red Dust Sovereign fell into slumber, the Red Dust Base was hit by a nuclear strike."

"What?!"

At these words, the expressions of everyone in the Twilight Society shifted in shock.

"This was a premeditated attack targeting the Red Dust Base, or rather, the Red Dust Sovereign," 8 of Spades said in a deep voice. "It is said that there wasn't just one round of nuclear strikes, but three consecutive rounds within fifteen minutes... Countless nuclear weapons detonated around the Red Dust Base, obliterating everything into nothingness.

No one knows where these nuclear weapons came from, no one knows why they still functioned when all other nuclear weapons had failed... and no one knows who was so ruthless as to wipe out the Red Dust Base and the million people within the Red Dust Domain.

But the timing was chosen too cunningly. Under such insane nuclear bombardment, no one could survive unless the Nine Sovereigns intervened, and at that time, the Red Dust Sovereign had just fallen into slumber...

The people of the Red Dust Base had no other choice. In their desperation, they forcibly smashed open the hibernation pod and awakened the Red Dust Sovereign."

At this point, Chen Ling suddenly remembered the relief he had seen in the Red Dust Base... the black meteor falling from the sky and the huge mushroom-shaped cloud. That was likely the nuclear strike 8 of Spades was talking about.

Chen Ling truly hadn't expected that someone would be so insane during the Nine Sovereigns' slumber... But analyzing it rationally, if someone wanted to kill the Nine Sovereigns, this was absolutely the best time to strike.

"Fortunately, the Red Dust Sovereign had only been injected with the serum five minutes prior and hadn't completely entered an unconscious state. In the end, her reason was forcibly awakened, and she barely managed to hide the Red Dust Base and the million people in the domain within a single grain of dust, escaping the nuclear strike.

But after that, the Red Dust Sovereign fell into a permanent slumber due to the effects of the serum."

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

"...Go ahead."

"Didn't you just say that to wake her up, they smashed the pod? If the pod is destroyed, is her slumber even useful?"

"It's useless... Once a hibernation pod is damaged, it cannot be repaired, and there were only nine of them in total. There were no spares."

"So, doesn't that mean the Red Dust Sovereign can only sleep, but can't extend her life?"

9 of Hearts asked in surprise. "Then how has she survived until now?"

"I don't know that either..."

In the scroll 8 of Spades had brought out, the Red Dust Sovereign was indeed not in a hibernation pod. This was a question that had puzzled the Twilight Society for a long time... But now it seemed that unless it was the original author who had embroidered the picture, perhaps no one could provide an answer.

"So, the Red Dust Domain we see now is built on top of a nuclear ruin?" 10 of Diamonds pondered for a moment. "But didn't you say the Red Dust Sovereign hid everyone in a grain of sand to escape? Why didn't you just live in that grain of sand? Why return to this nuclear ruin?"

"It's not that simple... According to experts, the Red Dust Domain was originally a flower in the Gray Realm, which counts as a first-level ascension; the grain of sand was a grain within that flower, which strictly speaking is a second-level ascension—dust within dust... During the Red Dust Sovereign's slumber, the second-level ascended world was unstable. It was fine in the short term, but there was a risk of collapse in the long term." Seeing that everyone looked confused, 8 of Spades skipped the topic.

"After the nuclear strike, most of the supplies prepared by the Red Dust Base were lost, and the Domain Train tracks and other infrastructure that had been laid out in advance were all abandoned... At that time, the Red Dust Base was basically disconnected from the other bases.

And once the Domain Train was cut off at the Red Dust Base, it meant the Aurora Base in the Far North was also completely disconnected from the outside world. Since it concerned the survival of two human bases, someone had to step into this nuclear ruin to repair the train tracks and rebuild the infrastructure.

Thus, the Red Dust Base selected the first batch of volunteers from the million survivors to step into the nuclear ruin...

They were also known as the [Pioneers]."

"[Pioneers]?"

"After three rounds of nuclear strikes, the radiation levels in the Red Dust Domain were dangerously high, having irreversible effects on the human body. 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 children behind. They voluntarily signed the 'Pioneer's Manifesto' together, then stepped into the nuclear ruin without looking back, and never returned."

"What is the 'Pioneer's Manifesto'?"

8 of Spades paused for a moment. The words emerged clearly from his memory, connecting into a white flag covered in bloody handprints, rolling in the wind amidst shouts:

"'We, as children, as parents, and as those who carry burning hearts, do hereby swear.'"

"'We voluntarily offer our youth, our bodies, and our lives to pave the way for the future of human civilization, to lay the foundation for the stability of our descendants, to step into the wasteland, and to rebuild our home.'"

"'We shall go without hesitation, we shall be invincible, we shall not return.'"

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