Chapter 1821 - 468: Choices, Honor and Shame

Chapter 1821: Chapter 468: Choices, Honor and Shame

The development of New Star Valley has become increasingly brilliant over years of accumulation.

The city’s skyline constantly rises, with the energy rail network stretching like vines through the forest, reaching every emerging district.

The old low stone houses are systematically demolished, replaced by skyscrapers with new alloy frameworks.

Streets have become wider, public hover pods run more frequently, and the city center has begun planning for larger three-dimensional transportation hubs.

The communication department led by Qi Ming successfully upgraded the "Spirit Language Communication Device" to the third generation, achieving stable real-time voice transmission.

The flood of information rushes through the neural network of New Star Valley, making the city’s operation efficient.

The Lie Zhua’s "Thunder Armor Plan" has already iterated to the Fifth Generation.

Thunder Armor Type Five has comprehensively improved the warrior’s performance, achieving high integration with the individual "Crystal Energy Gun" and tactical data link sharing at the corps level.

New Star Valley’s military strength is akin to a carefully armed iron giant beast, with sharp claws and keen perception.

On the other hand, Jingsi’s path of internal exploration, although lacking earth-shattering breakthroughs, is quietly altering the clan’s foundation.

The new generation of Downspirit, under the influence of the "Spirit Guiding Breathing Technique" and improved gene optimization potion, has significantly enhanced average physical fitness and better energy affinity compared to their ancestors.

This change, although slow, lays a more solid foundation for the clan’s future.

Everything presents a thriving scene.

Resources flow back constantly from conquered lands, technology blossoms in various domains, the population continues to grow, and the fire of civilization has never shone so brightly.

Tu Hu witnesses it all.

His bodily ailment is like a bone-adhering fungus, never disappearing, requiring increasingly rich liquor to suppress it.

But conversely, time seems to halt completely on him.

His appearance, compared to the Blackthorn Forest era, has not changed at all.

Time washes over everything but bypasses him alone.

During these years, daily drinking has become a habit integrated into his everyday life.

His silhouette often shuttles through the ever-changing steel jungle.

Sometimes he’s at the top of the tallest buildings, overlooking the dazzling city below.

Sometimes he’s at an inconspicuous street corner tavern, listening to the surrounding Downspirits talk about work worries or life’s interesting stories.

Sometimes, he may be outside the window of a research institute, quietly watching the busy figures inside, his gaze seemingly penetrating time to see the once Mo Tong and Huixin.

Occasionally, a young voice breaks his contemplation.

"Look, it’s the ancestor!"

An offspring being led by its mother, with big round eyes, points at him curiously, with a hint of reverence.

The adult Downspirit beside them quickly pulls the offspring and respectfully greets him:

"Hello ancestor!"

Young Downspirit clan members, whether encountering him on the streets or meeting him at some occasion, wholeheartedly call him this title.

This term "ancestor" carries the clan’s entire respect and affection for him.

He is a living historical stone in the Downspirit clan’s eyes, and the witness and protector of civilization’s rise.

Memories grow weightier, making recalling the past a part of Tu Hu’s life.

Walking past newly built cinemas, watching the light and shadow changes inside, he recalls the young faces by the campfire when he first arrived at New Star Valley, telling stories of the Dream Weaving Clan.

Riding convenient hover pods through skyscrapers, what comes to mind is the scene from back then, carrying a backpack, leading the new generation of Downspirit clan members trudging through the desert’s hardships.

The wheel of civilization rolls forward, crushing the past, reshaping it into a new form.

In the eyes of the new generation Downspirit clan members, the history is something he can never forget, constantly replaying vivid memories in his mind.

The heavy memories and the ever-changing scene of the present intertwine into the complex and unspeakable taste in his cup.

Loneliness, like a tide, wells up in the silence of the night, almost drowning him.

He watches generations of familiar faces grow old, pass away, yet he remains like a reef forgotten by the river of time on the shore.

However, in the increasingly intense depth of loneliness, another emotion, like a new bud struggling out of a crack in the rock, tenaciously grows: expectation for the future.

When he sees Lie Zhua commanding the Thunder Armor Corps in military exercises, exhibiting tactical coordination far surpassing the Ah Lann era.

When he hears Jingsi report that a new generation of offspring exhibits a special ability of innate sensitivity to energy perception, the popularization of the "Spirit Guiding Breathing Technique" is nurturing immeasurable potential for the clan’s future.

When he uses the latest communicator developed by Qi Ming to instantly engage in cross-space dialogues with distant frontier outposts, experiencing the majestic force binding the entire civilization into a tight-knit whole... he clearly realizes that this civilization, which he witnessed rise from the ashes, honed in wanderings and grew through setbacks, is marching towards a future beyond even his initial imagination at a transcendence speed.

The Downspirit civilization no longer struggles for survival, instead beginning to explore the essence of strength, construct efficient societies, reaching even the threshold of life’s evolution.

The path they tread, although faintly reminiscent of the Dream Weaving Clan’s knowledge system.

Yet it integrates the Downspirit clan’s own resilience, wisdom, and the wildness forged through adversity.

However, civilization’s growth is destined to repeatedly experience setbacks.