The Record of Unusual Creatures

When Wendell said “this is my son,” Hao Ren and several of them had already made up a hundred and one speculations in their minds. Their imagination derived from their prolonged exposure to novels and serial dramas on TV. But they remained silent, hoping that the father could simply explain himself.

“Tell us, if you don’t mind.” Vivian sighed. “What the hell went on?”

Wendell was hesitant. But perhaps he had kept the thing to himself for too long and now needed to find someone to talk to, or maybe he had finally accomplished something in life, and now he had dropped his guard, after hesitating for a moment, he silently turned around and walked to the edge of the platform.

Hao Ren and Vivian followed.

“He’s right,” Wendell said in a whisper. “I abandoned my wife and son. Throughout the first half of my life, I have nothing to show to comfort the soul of my wife in heaven.”

What happened to Wendell was an uncomplicated story: it was about an ambitious man who yearned for an adventurous journey, a complete family that could have been happy ever after, and a tragic ending. The young Wendell had participated in the light-seeking expedition. He had a family at that time: a wife named Sasha and a son named Hope. That year, Hope was only seven. Twilight Capital had stood for 2,300 years in the long night. Countless Lightseekers had failed, and the appeal of the light-seeking expedition died down. It had declined to the extent that, other than the Lightseekers themselves and a few religious groups, no one had any more faith in finding habitable zone outside the shroud.

The Steam Assembly at that time had even begun to discuss the complete halt of this expedition that had been passed down from ancient times.

Lightseekers represented ancient tradition, while the Steam Assembly represented the pragmatism of keeping up with the times. Wendell belonged to the former, and the seven-year-old Hope began to deeply admire the security officers of the Steam Assembly in their smart uniform. Their contradictions existed from the very beginning, and what happened afterward was only enlarging the crack.

Wendell had been participating in the light-seeking journey for more than 30 years. While he traveled in the long night, his teammates had all died. After many days, he made it home in a miserable state, but his wife had died of illness. His son had never called him father since that day.

When Hope attained adulthood, he joined the Steam Assembly.

Today, thirty years later, Wendell once again returned from the darkness as a Lightseeker. He faced Hope, who had become a senior security officer of the Steam Assembly. Human impulses and paranoia had come between the father and son. Hope would never calmly and sensibly analyze whether his father’s light-seeking career had the slightest feasibility; he categorically denied it. And, from the beginning, he did not intend to believe anything that Wendell said.

The son of a Lightseeker was now the most radical of the radicals in the Steam Assembly. Other members of the assembly would at least consider the ancient traditions and maintain superficial respect for the Lightseekers, but in Hope’s eyes, Lightseekers did not deserve his slightest respect.

So, feelings do kill. But what can you say when one’s mommy has died.

Wendell did not go into details about his past. After all, it was unfortunate. He was barely scraping the surface when he told of his relationship with his son, but it was merely for the benefit of those before him now. It was Hao Ren filling in most of the details himself. Hope, the seven-year-old rebellious child of the past and the middle-aged senior officer of today always glared at his father. But other than that, he had never overreacted.

“It turned out this is the case, then it makes sense now.” Hao Ren nodded when Wendell finished. He looked at the old man thoughtfully. “No wonder you were so unwilling to see people from the Steam Assembly; you were avoiding someone.”

“If can, I hope to send you to the ancient sage before he shows up,” Wendell said, pressing his hand on his eyes. “I have sacrificed everything for this cause: my wife, my kid, and all my life. I hope the whole thing will go smoothly. At least the ancient sage will see the messengers from Asgard. After that, no matter what the Steam Assembly wants to do, I will have no more regrets.”

Vivian silently looked at Wendell, the old man who decided to embark on the light-seeking journey. He had shown his courage and determination in challenging destiny. But when he finally saw the dawn of his effort, his faith seemed to have been shaken.

Hao Ren came up to Hope and nodded to him. “I don’t think you trust your father at all, do you?”

Hope was expressionless.

“You don’t believe that we are from outside the Twilight Shroud. You think that we are the extras whom your dad pays to make the light-seeking journey look a success. Aren’t you?”

Hope was still expressionless.

“Are you a retard or something?” Hao Ren looked into Hope’s eyes. “Don’t you think this is illogical? Do you think we have nothing better to do but come to stage this drama? To what extent does dementia get to your dad before he would use this kind of gimmick to inflate his achievement superficially? If the journey of light-seeking is fruitless, is there any meaning to find a group of extras? You can’t argue the facts that are laid bare before your eyes. But why do you still choose to ignore the most obvious and logical?”

Hope remained expressionless.

Vivian had come over and poked Hope’s head with her finger. “So you have a hole in your head. You have made up an argument that is full of loopholes to try to explain away what you see. If you choose to react to anything that you don’t understand this way, you are worse than a kid. Your brain must be so full of holes that you can look down through your brain at your feet directly. Hao Ren and I have been talking to you for so long, yet you remain silent the whole time.”

Y’lisabet jumped out. “Oh, you guys want him to answer your questions? You should have said it earlier. I saw him, and I didn’t like his face, so I froze him just now.”

Speechless.

After the little demon lifted the Shackles of Shadows, Hope recovered and immediately took two steps back in a high-alert posture. “Sorcerer! Attacking the security officer is a felony!”

At the same time, the other security officers had also regained their freedom. They took the opportunity to activate some device on their body immediately. Their uniform collars lit up with anti-magic runic symbols and an encirclement surrounding Hao Ren and his men.

“I can’t help it. It is the only way to make you listen,” Hao Ren said helplessly. “We come from outside the shroud. You can always check your population database and see if you could find our names in it. Well, I supposed you have this kind of database after more than two thousand years of development.”

Hope looked at this group of dangerous elements cautiously while his right hand had reached for a small iron box on his waist. “It is meaningless for you to tell me all this. If you are really from outside the Twilight Shroud, then come with me before the members of the Steam Assembly. They will investigate your claim. I believe that the Steam Assembly that upholds legal and rational concepts is fairer and just than the Lightseekers whose brains are full of fantasy.”

“You are right, but we are very sorry that we are too busy to go with you.” Hao Ren shrugged. “The purpose of our visit is to see your ancient sage. Now, instead of us cooperating with you, we hope that you can cooperate with us.”

“This is impossible.” Hope categorically refused. The moment Hao Ren mentioned the ancient sage, he had even forgotten the fact that he was defenseless in front of these people. “I don’t care who you are. No one gets to see the ancient sage just like that. I have enough reason to believe that you all are dangerous elements based on your thinking.”

“I know it is not going to be smooth.” Nangong Sanba crossed his arms. “A group of suspicious guys, without even an ID, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and wanted to see the president; the guards must be crazy if they let them in.”

“It seems that negotiation has broken down.” Hao Ren turned to look at Wendell. “Do you know the way to the residence of the ancient sage?”

Wendell nodded spontaneously, only to realize suddenly that something out-of-hand was about to happen. “Wait a second! You’re going to—”

“Don’t worry; we know what we are doing.” Hao Ren raised his thumb, gave him a bright and trustworthy smile, and then patted Lily on her head. “Have some mercy, okay? Let’s move out!”

“Arf!”