This star, “Taepyeong,” was a world where, when Venus was destroyed, some of those who had escaped from Venus had taken refuge, just like Trappist and Paradise.
This star was at a suitable distance from its primary, and its gravity was similar to Earth’s, so it was a place where all one had to do was create terraforming ruins and fill it with water and oxygen.
It also had abundant dark energy, making it a star where the terraforming ruins could be operated freely, while being as close to the solar system as Paradise was.
If only the terraforming ruins had remained intact, it might have become a true refuge, far better to live on than Paradise.
But all such expectations had vanished.
Even the ruins’ control room, buried deep underground, had already been reduced to rubble.
[Repairing it will be impossible.]
[It was not easy to obtain the remaining information, either. I was only barely able to get it because we had visited the Venus ruins beforehand.]
The control room had been beneath the control object’s nest, but it had already been destroyed thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of years ago.
Soph was only barely able to determine what elements the ruins had once produced by examining the remnants of magic.
“On the way here, I didn’t see any intact artifacts, either.”
Perhaps because monsters had used it as a nest, there were no artifacts left behind.
Only the broken remnants of the past remained.
However, there was someone who thought differently from me.
“So the ruins extended this deep underground. There are more materials than I expected. With this much material, it will be a great help in restoring and expanding the base.”
Secretary Li, who had come underground with us, nodded as he looked around the ruined control room.
Unlike me, who had held great expectations, he seemed satisfied with even these scrap materials.
The reason I had come down with Secretary Li instead of Margreta was because he was the only one among the Chinese who was still in his right mind.
Margreta had to watch over the Chinese who had fled aboveground and the others who had fallen into panic.
Several hours had passed since the control object died, but the Chinese still had not escaped their fear.
Captain Li Wei, who had sensed the energy, was at least trying to collect himself, but it would have been difficult to bring him down into the ruined underground remains.
Perhaps thanks to his experiences so far, Secretary Li quickly regained his composure, and outwardly, he seemed fine now.
I fell into thought as I watched Secretary Li pleased by the scrap materials.
Now that the terraforming ruins had been destroyed, this star could not recover.
Putting aside the oxygen, which could last for a long time, there was no water.
Using this star as a refuge was nearly impossible.
If Earth remained intact, they could bring water from Earth, but if Earth were destroyed, there would be nowhere to obtain water.
The atmosphere was not particularly rich in moisture, and extracting water from rock would not be easy.
In the end, this star was one that would end as soon as Earth was destroyed.
When I had learned that fact a little while ago, I had intended not to tell anyone.
After all, what the American president wanted was only to quell the Chinese government’s anxiety, and I did not particularly like China, either.
But keeping it secret from Secretary Li weighed on my mind.
‘It would have been better if he had been a stranger…….’
He was someone who had traveled with me on Trappist.
He was good at navigating social situations, but he was also a decent person.
From what I had seen so far, like Margreta, he was someone who did his utmost to save people.
It was not easy to turn away from someone like him simply because he was Chinese.
After agonizing for a long while, I made my decision.
“There is something I need to tell you.”
I told him about the ruins.
“These ruins are terraforming ruins. They were ruins that produced oxygen and water, and from now on, you will not be able to find water on this star…….”
He listened to my explanation with a blank expression.
A moment later, my explanation ended. Secretary Li asked me in return.
“You are saying these ruins were terraforming ruins?”
He was not asking because he did not understand.
Having been on Trappist, he knew very well what terraforming ruins were.
And what it meant that those ruins were broken.
With an expression different from before, he looked around once more.
Then, as if speaking to himself, he let the words spill out.
“So the fissures we saw on the way here really were traces of rivers. That is also why dew does not form easily on the cave walls, and why there is no moisture in the atmosphere.”
Since he had been on this star longer than I had, it seemed he had already had his suspicions.
He looked around the ruined control room with a sorrowful expression, then opened his mouth again.
“Seeing as you told me this, when you go to Earth, you intend to inform them of this fact, don’t you?”
“I intend to inform the American government.”
Since I had told Secretary Li, the Chinese government would find out as well.
If that was the case, the American government needed to know too.
It would be different from the American government’s plan, but since things had turned out this way, that was something America would have to deal with.
However, what Secretary Li said next was completely different from what I had expected.
“Please keep the matter of these ruins secret. I will not speak of it either.”
When I looked at him in surprise, Secretary Li explained with a gloomy face.
“If the Party leadership learns that this star has no future, they alone will go to Paradise. Ordinary Chinese citizens will continue to be sent to this star without knowing anything.”
It was a bitter thing to hear, but it was exactly as he said.
Since he was Chinese, he would know the Chinese leadership better than I did.
Even if the political systems differed, people were the same.
Those in power in America and those in power in China were no different.
“If the Party leadership does not come to this star, then all the people who end up here will die. But if the Party leadership comes here, there will be at least a sliver of hope.”
Certainly, if the leadership came, the supplies transported to this star would change.
If they came, this star might have villages or cities built on it, just like Paradise.
They might bring a large amount of water, and they might use science to find water.
Of course, even that was a slim possibility, but if the leadership did not come, even that possibility could not exist.
In the end, Secretary Li was asking me to keep it secret from everyone so that the Chinese leadership could not run away.
To think he would consider it that far.
Secretary Li was someone who saw the bigger picture even more than I had thought.
I felt that Secretary Li was too valuable to lose. I spoke to him again.
“The reason I told you, Secretary Li, was also because I wanted you to come to Trappist with your family.”
Secretary Li and his family could easily be accepted into the underground city.
At my words, Secretary Li’s expression changed.
His expression changed several more times like that, and in the end, he let out a sigh.
“That is truly a devilish temptation. I almost accepted. No, even now, I want to accept.”
With a weary face, he bowed his head to me.
“I would like to ask you to take in at least my family, but I will not. Instead, I have a request. If Earth is destroyed, please come to this star. If the situation is bad then, I ask you to take care of my family.”
I immediately understood what he wanted.
By remaining on this star himself, he wanted me to return to this star.
He said he was entrusting his family to me, but more than that, he likely meant for me to come to this star and look after the people here.
In the end, it was no different from saying he would use me, but this time, I did not feel displeased.
He was staking his own life to ask this of me.
I nodded.
“I will. When the time comes, I will come to this star.”
Granting his request would not be difficult.
Now, without even needing to stop by Earth, I could come directly to this star from Trappist.
If Earth was destroyed, I would have to check Paradise and the other stars anyway, so I could stop by this star then as well.
After finishing our conversation, we returned to the surface through the underground section of the ruins that had become the control object’s nest.
On the way up, we destroyed the cocoons remaining in the nest and were able to obtain several black stones.
There were no traces of the people who had escaped from Trappist in these ruins either.
If there were no traces in either the spatial transfer facility or the terraforming ruins, it meant they had not come to this star.
There were likely other ruins on this star, but there was no time to search for them.
There was not enough time to confirm whether there were other monsters on this star either. I could only hope that the control object in the terraforming ruins had been the last monster.
When we came up to the surface through the passage opened with earth magic, Margreta waved at us.
Beside her, the man who had fled was lying on the ground, tied up, and the other Chinese were talking among themselves as they looked at him.
Perhaps because some time had passed, they all seemed to have recovered somewhat from the shock.
When I approached, the Chinese lowered their heads with frightened expressions.
Had they not recovered from the shock?
When I looked at them in puzzlement, Margreta smiled and shook her head.
“They saw that scene with their own eyes. Of course they would react like that.”
It seemed the Chinese had been more shocked by Soph’s magic, which had blown the monster away, than by the control object itself.
Since they likely thought I was the one who had used that magic, it was only natural for them to fear me.
As I watched the others avoid me, Margreta asked me,
“What kind of ruins were they?”
At Margreta’s words, I shook my head.
“I’ll tell you later.”
I had no intention of hiding it from her, but I could not tell her here.
Seeing my expression and Secretary Li’s, Margreta nodded with a stiff face.
While I was talking with Margreta, Secretary Li went over to his Chinese colleagues.
“There were many usable materials. Dozens of times more than what is visible aboveground.”
“That is fortunate.”
At Secretary Li’s report, Captain Li Wei nodded.
“Were there perhaps any artifacts? Or at least black stones from the dead monster…….”
As one of the Chinese whispered those words, he glanced at me.
Now that he had come to his senses, greed seemed to be gradually surfacing.
Since they had seen me take all the black stones from the dead monsters, it was understandable that they would want some as well.
However, perhaps because the shock had not yet fully faded, no one asked me about it.
“There was nothing but scrap material.”
Though he had seen me obtain more black stones, he did not mention it.
Instead, he pointed to the tied-up soldier.
“More importantly, what will you do with Sergeant Liu Feng?”
“We were just discussing that. To think he had not simply run away.”
During their rest, they had heard the story from Margreta and confirmed that Sergeant Liu Feng could use abilities.
The Chinese could not help but be at a loss.
Another energy user had been an internal spy.
They could not simply let this pass.
“It would be better to just bury him.”
Perhaps because they were soldiers, a frightening suggestion came from the start.
By “bury him,” they meant physically silencing him.
“We are not the only ones here, are we? There is an American and a Korean as well……. If we cannot silence them, then burying him would be pointless.”
At another person’s words, the Chinese stole glances at us.
Seeing fear return to their expressions, it did not seem they would consider silencing us.
“Couldn’t we coordinate our stories with them as well? If not, perhaps we could pretend we know nothing.”
Various opinions came out, but most of them amounted to erasing his existence.
When Captain Li Wei seemed to be thinking along similar lines, Secretary Li voiced an opposing opinion.
“We must report this to our superiors. Things like this will continue to happen from now on. Before that, the higher-ups must know in advance and prepare. For this operation to succeed, the leadership must know all the forces interfering with it and pour all their strength into this plan.”
On the surface, his words were the orthodox, proper argument, but his true intent was all contained in the final phrase.
Secretary Li wanted the Chinese leadership to pour all their strength into this star.
In the end, Captain Li Wei accepted Secretary Li’s orthodox argument, and we headed toward the base with Sergeant Liu Feng in tow.
After walking for a long while along the empty river, we arrived at the base, where there were far more people than I had expected.
It was the third exploration team sent from Earth.
The Chinese government was continuing to send people without even confirming the situation on this star.
Secretary Li (2)