Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 713 - 493: Elegy of the bygone days (1)

Chapter 713: 493: Elegy of the bygone days (1)

With Jason’s help, Malin had deciphered the code, which was a personal key of a refuge member—besides the basic function of the tablet, it could also unlock the sealed doors of the refuge.

"Can you confirm exactly where this refuge is?" Malin was very curious, as the one under the Aegean Sea had already far exceeded his imagination, and he was quite intrigued as to where this new refuge might be.

"We found it in the ruins of the old world to the North, almost reaching the central region of old Engma," Jon said, not understanding what a refuge really was, but he felt that fortune was calling out to him.

This made it impossible for Jon to hide the smile on his face.

"By the way, where’s your captain? I think this is a windfall for you, it’s great, it will bring you wealth and fame, but there is something I have to tell you, in addition to that, you will also need to face dangers, the uncontrollable Machine Souls of olden days, traps that you can’t deal with at all, and a series of dangers that will come with your finding of the refuge... Let him come and talk to me, Jon, I give you the right to make your choice."

In Malin’s view, Jason would definitely not let these monkeys of the new world get their hands on the refuge, so he would offer these young people an amount of money that would be hard for them to refuse, but... if they still thought about riches far beyond what they deserved, then... Malin felt he should be preparing their graves.

After thinking for a moment, Jon decided to go find his captain.

Malin leaned back in his chair, looking at the wallpaper on the tablet, a phrase that was surprising but not too unexpected once he considered this was likely unearthed from the French area of that era—"Long live the people."

It was in Chinese.

Malin opened the voice recorder, where the vast majority of the dozens of files had been damaged, and the two that were still playable were just ordinary conversation records, but the language used by the speakers was still Chinese.

The call records had been damaged, leaving only the lines of text and tables on the spreadsheet.

Malin flipped to the diary app and found a clue there.

The device must have belonged to a Chinese refugee child born after the great destruction, who lived through the years between the second and third destruction; his refuge fell apart due to extreme scarcity of supplies, and he, along with a few others, headed South, hoping to find an energy core to restart the refuge amidst the ruins.

Unfortunately, they failed, and this young man was the last of his team to be sacrificed; he spent the night in ruins and then died from an unknown attack.

"At least they tried," Jason commented on these young people.

And Malin sighed, "In that era, every person gave all they had."

Everybody was sacrificing for this civilization, looking at the young faces in the dirt, their worn-out clothes, their weary smiles in the photo app on the tablet... they achieved what many couldn’t, their courage, perseverance, and resilience were admirable.

In the root directory of the last recording app, there was the young man’s final soliloquy.

This is the Normandy refuge, I am a seeker, our refuge’s energy core is broken, and I must find a new one, otherwise, the entire refuge will be destroyed, the gene preservation center in the lower level will lose power in three months... if there truly are gods in this world, then please bless us humans.

Tonight, I will spend the night in the ruins, hoping the bonfire won’t attract the prying eyes of evil creatures.

"I’ve always said, counting on deities is a very unreliable thing to do," Jason’s electronic tone was full of sarcasm, but Malin could hear the sorrow beneath his mocking, and ultimately, the mechanical being pulled up the city’s map from before it became ruins, marking out the young man’s location, "He should walk south another fifty meters, where there is a half-collapsed building, he should be able to get inside, it was the city’s largest shopping center, which should have an energy core, and there should also be a protector, a mechanical body created to protect customers at all costs, it should’ve protected him."

"Unfortunately, Fate doesn’t do what-ifs," Malin sighed.

Fate is such chaos; life is a game without a save feature, every step must be carefully considered because there is no second chance for those who fail.

At this moment, Jon arrived with his captain, a big man with a hint of giant blood.

Malin also saw his teammates behind him, "So, you want to hear what I have to say?" Malin asked with a smile.

"Yes, and more than that, we wanted to see you with our own eyes." The giant kneeled on one knee before Malin with the proper etiquette of a giant, his right hand resting on his right knee, a gesture of respect for the strong.

"What you’ve found is a key to open a refuge from the days of Old Humanity. Now, I offer you two choices: one is to sell me the key, which would be a very substantial figure, one that will satisfy all of you, and your children can join schools, talented ones might become Apprentices," Malin paused, then looked at them with their eager faces and continued, "The other choice is to take the key back and explore for yourself; if you choose this, I swear by the Lord of Justice that I will have no covetous thoughts towards your key."

"...Everyone, in these trying times, what would you like to do? Raise your hands to vote," the giant said.

Malin watched as they started to vote. Jon and his captain were the first to choose dividing the money. Following their lead, out of seven team members, five opted for the same path. The remaining two, though reluctant, acknowledged the outcome where the minority conceded to the majority.

Malin breathed a sigh of relief—reaching a consensus was far better than squabbling on both sides.

Thus, with nine people present, Malin presented two proposals: one where each person would receive a lump sum of one hundred thousand Mowish Paper Money, and the other where each would receive ten thousand Paper Money, with the remainder being invested by Malin as stock shares in various departments—like the pastures owned by the Church of the Shepherds.

They could choose, but only Jon and his captain opted for the second proposal.

Jon chose to become a landowner, naturally because as a Noble, he knew that sharing in the profits from owning pastures was better than holding money without knowing what to do with it.

But the fact that the tall half-blood giant chose to do so sparked intense curiosity in Malin.

The giant gave Malin an answer that was hard for him to keep a straight face—giants say that Lord Malin would not deceive his own kind.

Well, not all giants are fools; there are some who are masters of public opinion, it seems.

After the money was divided and the arrangements concluded, Malin sent everyone on their way, then returned to the drawing room, where the girl Lulu was browsing through a tablet.

"Do you understand Thainan?" Malin asked with a smile.

"Of course. The Night Watchers of the State Church... Well, those who founded the State Church were the Old Humanity from before the Great Catastrophe," Lulu replied, as if she’d opened up a music player, which began playing rock music that Malin found rather noisy.

Too loud, isn’t it.

"The eight thousand-year-old demons, right?"

At this thought, Malin reached out, and the squirrel Milani, who had been covering its ears on the table, leaped into its owner’s hand. Malin tucked it into his hood and approached the table, looking at the young Night Watcher girl: "Is he still alive?"

"Not sure, perhaps. Anyway, I’m definitely not privy to that," Lulu said with a hint of regret.

"Think about it, it’s not something you should know," Malin chuckled as he petted the girl’s head. "Alright, get ready. I will take you to the shelter this afternoon to see the world for yourself."

"Huh, you’re taking me? But didn’t you pay them to keep the mortuary of the old civilization from the eyes of the covetous?" Lulu turned off the app and handed the tablet to Malin.

"Faye told me that you are trustworthy, so I think I can take you there to see those guardians who, even in the era of destruction, never gave up on everything. The efforts they made for civilization may have failed, but what they did should not be forgotten or trampled upon, for our generation will surely rekindle the flame of civilization. In the sinking darkness, representing the flame of civilization of this planet, we will illuminate everything," Malin said, taking the tablet and putting it into his backpack.

"Your words are beautiful, and although I don’t really understand the civilization you speak of, I dimly grasp that you must be referring to the great civilization before the Great Catastrophe—that which could make steel fly through the skies, let people talk face to face across thousands of miles, and ensure that every child would never have to face the dawn of hunger and cold... These are what Faye told me. He also said that you would be a great Prince, a responsible husband, and a kind master."

Being evaluated so highly by Faye made Malin slightly embarrassed, yet she was right about one thing: the world Malin was determined to create was indeed one where no child would have to face the dawn of hunger and cold.

"...Have you ever heard of Northland doctrine, and how do you think I compare to it?"

"Although I am a Night Watcher and a Noble, I still have to admit that everything you do from beginning to end is more useful than those who just argue with each other. You are industrious, they and you...there’s simply no comparison," Lulu answered, looking at Malin with anticipation, "I believe that you, Malin, will become the most outstanding lord. Everything you’ve done is something that the Night Watchers have not seen in these long years—a completely new and beautiful world."

Malin felt some joy at this, for it represented an acknowledgment that she was satisfied with everything he had done.

That’s good.