Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 538 - 368: Old Days (Part 4)_2

Chapter 538: Chapter 368: Old Days (Part 4)_2

Dante nodded, choosing to step back—he, as the commander in charge of this operation from the Church of Justice, understood the dangers some knowledge posed.

At that moment, the entire wall emitted a creaking sound, Malin turned his head and saw the front facade unfolding, after eight centuries, the hotel began operating once more.

Then the tall tower in the distance came into Malin’s view. Cursing, as he observed the zombies swarming it and unsure of what to do, he suddenly noticed the light at the top of the tower flashing rhythmically.

That light was against the sun, signaling that his girls had noticed the unusual events here and were trying to contact him!

With that in mind, Malin turned and pushed the freestanding, pushable long mirror to the window, using it to reply to the morse code signal from the girls.

"Are you trying to get in touch?"

"Yes, by using a pattern of flashes to communicate, you’re supposed to use it too, right?"

"Hmm, indeed, look, they’ve launched flares."

Malin saw the flares go up and three Gryphons flying to pick them up; the girls obeying was the thing that pleased Malin the most. Thinking this, Malin raised his head, "Isabella, should I call you Mrs. or Miss?"

"Miss, guest, can I be of service to you?"

Good, Miss Isabella possessed strong logical abilities but was only passively responsive. Compared to number Seventeen, she was just a low-end AI.

"Can I go up to the rooftop?" Malin asked.

"Of course, the passageway to the rooftop is opening. Please enter the lobby, the elevator will take you and your friends to the rooftop."

Malin nodded, telling Dante there was a way up to the rooftop, and they immediately began to pack their luggage—yes, pretty, soft, and seemingly usable pillows were to be taken, pretty, soft, and seemingly usable blankets were to be taken, pretty, soft, and seemingly usable pajamas were also to be taken.

When Malin found the small tablet computer, he stared at the Dell logo for a while—hoping it would come with Chinese language support built-in.

Taking the data cable and spare battery, Malin followed the group, which seemed like they were moving houses, to the lobby. Some had already gone up the elevator. Malin looked around and saw that these guys had taken everything they could.

Malin was the last to get on the elevator. Before stepping on, Malin had a question, "Miss Isabella."

"Yes, guest, what is your question?"

"How do you keep these things from breaking?"

"Because they’re all recyclable and reusable, like the mini-computer in sir’s hand. It has been reproduced thirty-one times. It wouldn’t be possible without the replication factory on the fourth underground level."

A replication factory, damn, we’ve struck it rich, friends!

Malin stuck out his tongue, then with a smile, he bid farewell to Miss Isabella, "We’re leaving."

"Ah, guest, I still have a message left by the original occupant of the room. His corpse has been cleaned up. I never thought that the new guest mentioned by the original occupant would come so late... Do you want to listen to it?" Miss Isabella asked.

Malin didn’t refuse: "Why not, play it."

And thus, a man’s voice began to speak.

· In the past month, a lot has happened. I used to think being a soldier was a hassle, but I never expected that it was because I had been a soldier that I survived until today.

Then the man coughed.

After coughing for a while, he continued his statement.

·I always thought humanity had escaped the sky, establishing bases on the Moon and Mars, that we would not meet the apocalyptic end as described in those old novels and games, that our Earth Union would unite in effort, shrug off the shackles of gravity, and billions upon billions of souls would leave our mother planet, Earth Union, to become a significant power in this universe... I was wrong.

·The bioengineered humans meant for terraforming hospitable neighboring planets went out of control. An evil named Chaos tore through space and took control of these failed experiments. Our once helpers had become our enemies. We sacrificed, we fought, we blew up the space elevators, we destroyed the dams, we... even destroyed the Eiffel Tower.

·I loved the Eiffel Tower the most. As a child, my father always took me to see it, even though it was falling into disrepair. But it is such a shame to have to blow it up simply to destroy the biohuman incubation zone on the southern bank of the Seine.

·But considering the orbital elevators that East Asia had to blow up, we in Europe can’t be too petty...

·Unfortunately, we did everything we could, but we still failed. The number of living people kept decreasing. At least in the Italian and Swiss defense lines, I haven’t received any communications in a week. The long-range communications from the East Asian and North American defense zones haven’t been intercepted either. I don’t know if everyone is dead or if the long-wave transmission towers were destroyed. Anyway, human civilization seems to have reached the brink of destruction, and I, I’m also about to die...

The man coughed again, followed by a longer bout of wheezing, and then he resumed speaking.

·This is the Legrande Belview Hotel, Switzerland’s newly opened luxury service establishment. If it were me two months ago, a year’s salary wouldn’t be enough to stay here for one night. You should know that the special suites on the top floor reserved for VIPs offer a view over the entire area, and I heard they can arrange the furniture to the guests’ liking... that’s all it really is.

·It’s just very homelike... I wonder if my orc at home will survive. That was the latest model I bought with two years of salary... I really am foolish. After two months, the poor thing must have starved to death...

·Mom was right, I’m not cut out for keeping pets. Even if this pet looks just like a person, it still hasn’t learned to open a can by itself...

·My combat companion, Number Seventeen, is holding down the fort below... I hope its warranty period isn’t too long, as it would be pitiful for a suit of armor to face such loneliness alone...

·By the way, whoever comes after, I had my butler, Miss Isabella, set all the newcomers to guest mode... but then again, I doubt there will be any more people... Good night, Earth...

The man’s breathing grew more labored.

·This is the Europa Seventeen Corps, Sixth Armored Assault Battalion, Troop Sergeant, Karn Kaydor.

·Earth Union... invincible in battle...

The recording ended, and Karn’s words sunk Malin into silence, while Miss Isabella began what seemed to be her additional duty: "Mr. Karn Kaydor’s remains were removed during the first annual cleanup and have been sent to the recycling factory, voice playback complete, guest, your friends have been waiting a long time."

"...Right, Miss Isabella, goodbye." Malin said, stepping onto the elevator platform.

"What was that man talking about? I hardly understood anything, only a few words could I guess the meaning of." Gold Ingots looked at Malin with some confusion.

"It was the farewell of an indomitable soul to our endeavor." Malin replied.

The elevator platform carried him and Gold Ingots upwards to the top of the hotel.

A squad of Gryphons awaited at the top; Malin saw his own girls.

"I hear it was a very smooth operation?" Matilda asked with a smile.

"Yes... what happened to your hand?" Malin inquired, noticing the wound on her arm.

"Got scratched, it’s nothing, I just took some potion." Matilda smiled.

Malin paused.

Orcs, biohumans, a virus?

Malin walked up to Matilda, took her injured hand, tore off the bandage, and saw the inflamed wound.

After a moment of silence, Malin patted Matilda on the head and then connected to Dante’s Arcane Communicator.

"Dante, this is Malin, we’ve got big trouble."

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