A tent village spread out along the lakeshore.
The tents covered in monster hide were mixed with tents brought from Earth, so at a glance it looked like a refugee camp, but with the lake beside it, it did not seem too bad a place to stay.
Now that it was connected to the underground ruins again, there was no need to travel dangerously over the surface when going to the terraforming ruins or elsewhere.
Even so, this base was not as comfortable as the terraforming ruins or the underground city on the Ice Star.
This place was only meant to serve as temporary lodging for the people who would continue crossing over to this planet.
In any case, the new base now looked exceedingly lively.
Watching the people clearing up the area around the newly opened underground passage, I said to Catherine,
“At this point, it looks like we’ve put out all the urgent fires.”
There had been other, larger reasons, but in any case, since this base and the underground ruins were now connected, I had done everything I needed to do for the new base.
At my words, Catherine shook her head.
“There is still the matter of hunting left.”
At Catherine’s reply, I had no choice but to give an awkward smile.
There was nothing I could do about that either.
I had handed over to Catherine the authority to travel to the tower west of the mountain range, but that alone would not be of much help.
“We found a nest of native monsters west of the mountain range, so for now, they can hunt the monsters there.”
“After hunting Akzar monsters, it won’t be easy to go back to hunting native monsters.”
So I had barely managed to think of one alternative, but even that alternative did not work.
Then again, even I thought it made no sense.
The difference in black stones obtained was a hundredfold; there was no way they would hunt native monsters.
“We do plan to check it out to obtain meat and other materials again.”
Perhaps feeling bad for rejecting it outright, Catherine subtly changed her wording.
Hearing that, I looked at Catherine.
Judging by her expression, she had not said it because she felt sorry.
She had said it because she thought it was necessary.
Then again, she was not the sort of person to feel sorry over something like this.
Scratching my head, I said to Catherine,
“It can’t be helped. All the monsters west of the mountain range are running west. It won’t be easy to find Akzar near the mountains.”
Setting aside the danger, there were hardly any Akzar monsters left near the mountain range.
I had killed the ones close to the mountains whenever I spotted them.
Of course, there might still be some searching the area, but there would not be many.
As soon as they heard the news, the Akzar monsters west of the mountains would all run toward the sanctuary at the western end.
But I could not let the hunting team teleport to the tower near the sanctuary.
Without me, they were a hunting team that could barely catch a single scout.
I could not send people like that to a sanctuary crawling with monsters.
“Then for the time being, we’ll have to borrow Hyeon’s help.”
“This time, including what the hunting team hunted, the amount is fairly substantial. The problem is next time… But by then, it may not be a problem.”
The hunt in the city ruins had ended midway, so the amount was smaller than before, but even so, these were black stones from Akzar monsters.
It was far more than I had initially expected.
Enough to move several dozen times more people than originally planned.
However, because the original plan had been too small, if one said it was still insufficient, then it was insufficient.
That remained true even if the black stones I had obtained were added.
“What do you mean it may not be a problem?”
Catherine asked back, but I still could not tell her the reason.
Next time, I might be able to use nuclear bombs and obtain a large number of black stones, but that was not what I meant.
The situation on Earth was changing rapidly.
It felt as though the moment when we would bring black stones back but be unable to use them was not far off.
It was a terrible thing to say, so it was hard to tell Catherine, but we had to hurry more.
Although the matter of the Demon King had not been resolved, I decided to visit Earth.
I asked Catherine,
“Do you have no family you need to bring from Earth?”
At my question, Catherine gave a faint laugh.
“They’re family I lost contact with long ago. People who mean even less to me than the household that adopted me.”
People who meant even less than the powerful figures who had adopted her to use her as a tool.
It was a bitter thing to hear, but I had nothing to say.
Because when I thought of the old man in the countryside, I was not all that different either.
Come to think of it, many of the people I had met here had cut ties with their families.
Besides Catherine and me, there was also Hanna.
She had no family at all.
No, if one thought about it, perhaps we were her family.
Magreta’s relationship with her family was not very good either, but still, it seemed she would contact them when she went to Earth this time.
The same was true of Sergeant Woo.
When we went to Earth this time, I planned to take care of not only my brother but also the families of the team members.
We had brought livestock over, so we could certainly bring people as well.
“Magreta is going to check on the expeditionary force’s families, right?”
“Yes. She agreed to take charge of that.”
This time as well, Magreta had decided to go to Earth with me.
On Earth, she would check whether the families of the expeditionary force were properly being sent to Paradise.
It was only natural that she, who was connected both to Earth’s government and to the power holders of Paradise, would take charge of that task.
The families of those who had come to this planet had been scheduled to go to Paradise from the beginning.
There was no limit on the number of people who could go to Paradise, and there were enough black stones, so it did not seem like there would be any problem with the team members’ families going there.
However, considering the situation on Earth, we had to check whether it was proceeding properly.
Those families would eventually all have to come here to Trappist, but for now, they had no choice but to go to Paradise first.
“Then will you be going with only Magreta again this time?”
Catherine had a lot to do here, so she had decided not to go to Earth this time.
But the team members were different.
“The team members decided to come with us.”
Once we reached Earth, Tom and Sergeant Woo would bring their families to the Mount Baekdu base.
Me and the exploration team members.
Those were the people who would be going to Earth this time.
Aside from us, no one else was going to Earth.
There were no more latecomers or expedition members who said they would return to Earth.
Those who had come here long ago worried about their families on Earth, but precisely because of those families, they could not return to Earth.
“By the way, is Hanna going to Earth too? I heard that when you went to Earth last time, Hanna only stayed at the hotel.”
As Catherine said, Hanna had no reason to go to Earth because of family.
So I had not urged Hanna to come with us either.
“Hanna said she wanted to go.”
The reason Hanna was going to Earth this time was because she wanted to.
“She said she has to go to Earth in order to awaken.”
As I spoke to Catherine, I recalled what Hanna had said then.
“There is no dark energy on Earth, but to become a guardian of a planet, I have to go to Earth. I am not the guardian of this planet, but the guardian of Earth.”
It was something I had not expected, but it was not a strange thing to say.
Unlike Shamara, Hanna was an Earthling.
As Hanna said, there was no dark energy on Earth, so I did not know how she would be able to awaken, but there was no reason not to bring her.
The next morning.
The entire exploration team headed for Earth.
I teleported together with the team members.
The backpacks we brought to Earth were exceedingly light.
The boxes were empty, and we did not take any monster samples.
Without relics or ruins, the only things we brought to Earth were the Akzar black stones obtained by the hunting team and me, and the awakening potions refined by the spirits.
However, although the amount of black stones was similar to last time, the amount of awakening potions made from the “Wizard’s Flower” was different.
Thanks to the expansion of the “Wizard’s Flower” cultivation sites, the amount of awakening potions had increased severalfold.
Enough awakening potions for ten thousand people.
With this amount, we should be able to create more than two hundred energy user candidates.
Compared to billions of Earthlings, it was not even a drop in the bucket, but even this was the best that the golems, the spirits, and I could do.
It was regrettable, but it could not be helped.
I could not save everyone.
The people in the underground ruins beneath Mount Baekdu greeted us with grave faces.
Their expressions were far more rigid than when we had come before.
Once we went up to the surface, we understood why they had those expressions.
We knew from the moment we got off the elevator, even before we stepped out of the tent.
Even inside the tent, the temperature was different from a week ago.
Back then, it had been warm in a way unfitting for winter, but now it was hot.
“Isn’t it still winter?”
Tom tilted his head as he took off his cloak.
It was strange. Before coming to Earth, I had checked the date.
The new year had passed, but it was not even February yet.
And yet, this temperature.
“It’s hot. It feels like about thirty degrees.”
Hanna was hot as well.
The team members, who had dressed thickly in anticipation of winter cold, all took off the clothes they had been wearing over their outfits.
Unlike me, the team members, who could not use dark energy on Earth, were plainly feeling the heat.
“It’s winter, and yet this weather… The abnormal climate really is severe.”
Sergeant Woo was fanning himself with his hand.
Startled by the heat, we went outside the tent, but the sky was still hazy.
The aerosols the United States had sprayed were properly blocking the sun.
Even so, we were feeling heat in the middle of winter.
The people moving about the base were all dressed in summer clothing as well.
While everyone looked around in disbelief, Magreta spoke in a grave voice.
“This isn’t just abnormal weather.”
She was checking an email sent by the intelligence department on the phone she had received underground.
“They say it isn’t an abnormal temperature in certain regions. The entire northern hemisphere is at this temperature.”
At Magreta’s words, people’s eyes widened.
If this was not a local problem, then it was no ordinary issue.
“What? The whole world is at this temperature? But it’s winter.”
At Tom’s words, Magreta shook her head.
“The whole world isn’t in winter. Right now, the southern hemisphere is in summer.”
At Magreta’s words, everyone’s expressions changed.
“Then…”
With a grave face, Magreta continued reading the email.
“They say many regions in the southern hemisphere have exceeded fifty degrees. There are several places that have reached sixty. Most countries along the equator and in the southern hemisphere have shut down, and most countries have declared martial law. There are many countries that have fallen out of control, so it seems many people have died over the past week.”
“My God…”
Startled by Magreta’s words, Hanna covered her mouth.
“Let’s hurry. Everyone go to your quarters and contact your families. I’ll check the situation further with Magreta.”
At my words, the team members ran to the quarters assigned to us, and I headed to Magreta’s office with her.
“This is much faster than expected… At this rate after only ten days, I don’t think they can hold out for long.”
If temperatures rose this quickly, people would not even have enough time to evacuate.
“That’s why the U.S. government and several other countries seem to be planning to spray aerosols and iron compounds again. They say that if they do, they’ll be able to hold out until this summer.”
“So, in the end, this summer is the end.”
It meant Earth’s lifespan had only half a year left.
The time remaining was shorter than I had expected, but still, it was fortunate.
“It’s a relief there’s a way to extend the period.”
If there had not been, we would have been caught off guard.
As I let out a sigh of relief, Magreta spoke with a grave face.
“But they say a problem will arise if they spray it again.”
“There’s no way there wouldn’t be problems. It’s an extreme method. So what problem?”
In any case, these were extreme measures meant only to hold out until summer.
Most side effects would have to be endured.
“First, they say the seas will be covered in algal blooms and become dead seas before long. Not merely to the extent that aquaculture farms will be ruined; a significant portion of the creatures living in the sea will die off.”
The creatures living in the sea would die off.
It was truly horrifying.
In the end, if the seas died, Earth would also run out of oxygen, so even if not for the heat, before long humans would no longer be able to live on Earth.
However, even this was something people with no way back had no choice but to endure.
And compared to what came next, even this was not a major side effect.
“The problem is the aerogel they’ll spray into the sky. If they spray that again, they say it won’t be long before sunlight no longer reaches the surface. In a few months, the surface will become eternal night.”
My God.
Humans would create eternal night on Earth.
At Magreta’s words, even I was left speechless.
The Coming Ruin (2)