Chapter 1380: The New Life of the Ark Immigrants
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren fully appreciated the differences in the values of different races. Differences were even more apparent when it came to the sirens. No matter how close the deep-sea “fish” looked like carbon-based living things, they were essentially elemental creatures. The most significant difference between elemental beings and ordinary life was in their perception of the material world. At least one-third of the gifts that the Queen of the Sirens brought was rubbish, but Eva still appeared happy.
There was even a piece of rotten, steel-toe shoe, which some siren must have picked up while strolling along the beach. In Katreina’s mind, the shoe was a marine object, and she had begun to instill this idea in Eva.
Based on the sirens’ thought process, everything they found in the sea was a marine object, including floaties, bottles, offshore drilling rigs, and Jack who sank with the Titanic.
On this basis, Katreina described the living environment of the Earth’s sirens to Eva, who was listening with interest. Hao Ren wondered what was on Eva’s mind right then. But one thing was sure; Eva’s understanding of the sea on Earth was very different from what the humans knew.
“I am glad!” Eva surged around Katreina and a group of sirens, and the sound of splashing wave resounded in the air. “It is a cool place here! There are fish, sea plants, and iron islands! People on the iron islands have recently learned how to eat fish and sea plants!”
“Are you getting along well with those immigrants?” Hao Ren looked at Eva with a smile.
“We are good.” Eva tumbled down and spattered into many tiny Evas that jumped on the sea surface. It seemed that as Eva’s mind grew, her self-controllability had increased. “They did not dare to leave the iron islands at first, but then when I told them that there was food in the water, they started to go into the water. But they have to take the boat; they can’t live underwater.”
“Not all creatures can survive in the water,” Hao Ren smiled. “I should also go to see Lorenz. I wonder how he is doing with the social order rebuilding of the ark immigrants.”
Next, the sirens would bring the otherworldlings to visit the ancient kingdom ruins at the bottom of the ocean. The dive was under the care of the sirens and Eva. Except for a few vampires who had aquaphobia, everyone was excited. After the group set off, Hao Ren and his little buddies went to the floating city cluster. He was anxious to know how those extraterrestrial immigrants were doing on this planet.
As it turned out, it was a little beyond Hao Ren’s expectation. The floating cities still looked vicissitudinous, but the residents living in the old buildings here had a different mindset now. They used to be numb, ignorant, and muddling along in a pile of ancient life-support system that was about to fail. The sky above their heads was always gray, and they vied for the little food supply that was still left. They even formed ridiculously tiny ‘kingdoms’ of their own in the streets and fought with each other like the barbarians. But now, things were different. The steel sky had opened. The residents were exposed to the vast world, which was beyond their imagination, outside the barriers. Under the leadership of spiritual leader Lorenz, a new social order took shape. The ark residents had to start working hard to rebuild their homes. They had to expand their living space. These people still wore their old, worn clothes and survived on the materials they salvaged from the ruins, but the emergence of the new world had brought these people hope. There was a sense of reborn.
There were workers building houses and fixing streets, the beating sound of metals, roar from the machine shops, the rumble of the old generators, and the whistling noise from the boilers that were restarted after thousands of years of idling. Workers and technicians who had just completed their study and training were working amid the rusty structure, trying to revive the metal settlement. It seemed that life was slowly returning.
The shadows of the era of colonial spacecraft present in every corner of the floating city cluster. After all, and these people in the spacecraft had only started to restore their civilization a year ago after thousands of years of lost time. Under these circumstances, it was challenging to achieve fundamental change in their society even with the support of religious power and spiritual beliefs. Hao Ren had not conducted an in-depth investigation, but he could still see that the shadows of the dynasty system still remained. Factionalism, a legacy from the splitting of the civilization into several kingdoms earlier, still existed. It needed a whole generation to change that.
But what they had done was good enough.
Hao Ren found Lorenz in the Throne—the ark which was now the capital of the floating city cluster. This old man was the spiritual leader of the Ark civilization and the de facto ruler of the floating city cluster. He consolidated his power using the power of religion and successfully carried out his civilization recovery plan.
Hao Ren’s visit was a pleasant surprise to Lorenz. Wearing a plain white robe standing on the platform in front of the Furnace of the Ancestors, Lorenz overlooked the city below and lamented. “It has been a year, they finally understand how to survive in this new world. They had to learn the concept of the sky at first, adapt to the cycle of day and night, and the weather. I had been a tough time.”
“The hardest days have passed, isn’t it?” Vivian said with a smile. “Your ability amazes us. We did not even think that you would do so well. Not everyone could make a lost civilization get back on its feet and begin rebuilding so quickly.”
“Physical reconstruction is easy, but mental rebuilding is difficult.” Lorenz shook his head. “It takes a long time to change them mentally. I am just taking the first step. Our main task is to repair the buildings damaged during the launch of the spacecraft, provide a living safety net the people, and repair some simple facilities in the city. It is far from reconstruction. However, I have started a new project to build a school in the center of the city of the Throne. The first group of students is studying basic scientific and cultural knowledge. Then they will teach in general schools in various places. After the basic survival necessities are secured, the next priority will be education. I hope that to let young people under the age of 20 complete the reconstruction of their outlook on life within three to five years so that we will have sufficient talents in the next step of rebuilding.”
“Well. I saw there were people on the other floating cities. Are you ready to expand the settlement?”
“They are just doing some preliminary investigations,” said Lorenz. “The other immigrant starships have been separated from the Throne for thousands of years. The situation above is completely unknown to me. Therefore, I must figure out the situation first. On this planet without land, we will sooner or later have to expand to other immigration starships. After all, the floating city cluster is the only place where we can stand on this planet.”
Lily stood on the edge of the platform and looked around curiously. Suddenly, she saw something new in the square below. It was a large pool with two statues of the goddess in the middle. Such a structure was obviously a mega project to a ruined civilization. The husky maiden suddenly yelled, “Whoa! Are those the Frostfire Twin Goddess statues? You have made me look so handsome.”
“In the early stage of the recovery, spiritual support and religious guidance are the best and most necessary means,” Lorenz said. “Because during this stage, people’s cognitive ability is low, you cannot tell them why they should do this. So there must be something that drives them to do it without question. We wanted to build a statue for the Spirit of the Ocean, Eva, but this spirit is a little naughty. She always changes her image. Sometimes she deliberately changes into unrecognizable shapes. So I finally chose to use the basic element of ‘water’ to represent her. Every statue is accompanied by water, which is everywhere and symbolizing Eva’s omnipresence. Maybe we will become a water-worshiping race in the future.”
“But this early stage will end eventually.” Hao Ren reminded him. “Humans always learn to stand on their feet.”
“Of course.” Lorenz laughed. “We will not stay in these ruins forever. Besides, our lease on this planet is only 200 years.”
Hao Ren shrugged. “It depends. If you cannot find a suitable new home, it is possible to renew your lease.”
Nangong Wuyue suddenly frowned. She seemed to hear some voices. Poking Hao Ren’s arm with her tail, Nangong Wuyue said, “Mr. Landlord, Katreina just sent a message saying that Eva is looking for you. She has something she wants to pass to you.”