Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 135
After all these years, Earth was no longer the place Joshua remembered. Two thousand years might be a blink of an eye for Earth, but for humanity, it was long enough to topple a hundred empires and establish a hundred new ones. With the receding seas, the shape of the land had changed significantly. What were once scattered archipelagos had now merged into continuous landmasses, and previously low hills were now covered in snow.
The craft flew westward along the equator, crossing vast oceans, and arrived over what seemed to be the largest island. Joshua still remembered when the island was covered with subtropical evergreen plants, but now it had transformed into temperate vegetation and alpine shrubs. The once visible roads and airports were overgrown with dense plants, the cities eroded into ruins, and the high-rise buildings were now dilapidated, mottled, and covered in moss and vines.
Joshua’s hand trembled violently on the instrument panel. He had mentally prepared himself for how his home planet might look but seeing it with his own eyes was still shocking—like a dream where his homeland had turned into a desolate grave, only to wake up and find himself still young.
Time had only passed for a few decades for Joshua, but on Old Earth, ages had gone by.
The craft skimmed over the tombstone-like buildings, heading towards the outskirts of the city, where Kester’s research facility was located. Joshua remembered that there had been a parking lot near the research center. He wondered if it still existed after all these years. He flew the craft low, and soon enough, he spotted a clearing in the forest. The asphalt ground was cracked, overgrown with thick weeds and numerous flowers Joshua couldn’t identify—likely new species that had evolved on Earth over the past two thousand years.
He landed the craft in a corner of the clearing, activated the optical camouflage, and then opened the canopy to jump to the ground.
“So heavy…” the assassin complained. The Earth’s gravity felt like an invisible hand dragging his body downward. Even the gravity grid on the ship hadn’t felt this heavy. Most ships only operated at three-quarters of a G. Having grown accustomed to that, the gravity of his home planet now felt unfamiliar.
Alois and Casper didn’t seem to have as much trouble adjusting as he did. Both had undergone rigorous military training and were well-practiced in switching between gravity and zero-gravity environments.
“Is this your homeland?” Alois asked, looking around. A grayish-brown finch chirped from a nearby tree branch, the breeze rustling through the leaves. Joshua remembered that it was spring in the northern hemisphere of Earth—a time of flourishing life, bright sunshine, and abundant vitality, far from the image of a desolate, abandoned planet.
“She’s changed a lot,” Joshua replied. “In the past, Earth’s sky was always shrouded in dust, the oceans filled with debris and corpses, and the land was heavily polluted. Only a few islands were fit for human habitation. By the colonists’ standards, she was no longer suitable for human life and was classified as ‘extinct’.”
“You can’t tell that now,” Alois said, whistling at the bird in the tree. It flapped its wings and flew away.
“Given enough time, she healed herself.”
That was fortunate, Joshua thought. In the past Galactic Wars, countless planets had been destroyed by nuclear bombs and antimatter missiles, with no life left on them.
“Where do we go now?” Casper asked as he checked his weapons—two pistols, two knives, plenty of energy packs, and a few high-energy timed explosives. He tapped his helmet, which displayed various environmental data and a small map.
“I’m sending you the map of Kester’s research facility.” Joshua fiddled with the communication terminal on his wrist. “It’s synthesized from the data recorded by Leo and Captain Yutz’s ‘Ancient Earth Expedition Log’. It should be accurate.”
Casper received the data transfer, and a 3D map of the facility appeared before his eyes. “Were there still people on Earth after you left?”
“Yes. Kester and his core research team stayed here, probably about a dozen people.”
When Joshua left, Kester was in his prime. Now, he was surely long dead, buried beneath the soil.
He would never see his brother again.
A hallucination seemed to flicker before Joshua’s eyes. In his youth, he had found an injured squirrel in the forest and had run all the way to the research facility with the poor creature in his arms. Kester, dressed in white, knelt in front of him, his golden eyes shining like sunlight.
You can heal him. His brother had said. Didn’t you study medical techniques for this very moment?
Kester is dead!
Joshua shook his head violently to dispel the ghostly illusion. “Let’s go,” he managed to say with difficulty.
Alois quickly caught up to him and took his hand. “What’s wrong, Joshua?” he asked, concerned. “You look pale.”
“It’s nothing.” The assassin forced a weak smile. “Just… overcome with emotion.”
They pushed through the undergrowth, heading towards the research facility. The white dome of the building emerged above the treetops, weathered and ancient after two thousand years of erosion, covered in moss and vines.
The above-ground part of the research facility was just a three-story domed structure. It looked more like a museum than a scientific laboratory. But in reality, it was only the tip of the iceberg. The true heart of the facility was hidden underground. A vast subterranean complex, it housed Kester’s most important research materials and achievements. There was a massive computer to support Leonard’s operations, equipment used to create the Yasha, and the machinery capable of generating the field that restricted Yasha’s movements.
Over a century ago, Captain Jacob Yutz had gone through great hardships to break into the underground facility, copying the Yasha’s data at the cost of nearly his entire crew. Now, the explorer’s journal served as Joshua’s vital guide on his journey home.
“We’re not the only ones with a map,” Joshua informed the other two. “Although Duke Winnet didn’t get the chip with the Yasha’s data, he does have Captain Yutz’s ‘Ancient Earth Expedition Log’. He also knows the layout of the facility.”
“So we don’t have the advantage of the terrain,” Casper said regretfully.
The three of them stood at the edge of the forest, facing the research facility hidden among the trees. The main entrance was gone, seemingly destroyed by an explosion that appeared to have happened many years ago. Vines and shrubs had invaded the entrance, growing freely inside, but there were signs that the vegetation had been recently trampled—someone had gotten there ahead of them.
“Not necessarily,” Joshua said with a smile, seeing the state of the main entrance. “Captain Yutz had blown open the main entrance to get into the facility, which triggered an attack by the security robots. Even after all these years, the facility’s self-defense systems are still intact, so the intruders who came before us must have encountered some trouble. But we can take another route. I know an emergency exit that leads directly underground.”
He gestured for the others to follow him. “And we won’t be attacked by the defense systems.”
The research facility was Kester’s legacy, and it naturally belonged to his rightful heir. Why would the defense systems attack their master?
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