The Record of Unusual Creatures

The return of the ancient sage did not mean the demise of the Steam Assembly. Though Odin was the highest authority of the city, members of the Steam Assembly were the ones who ran the government. They had managed the city for thousands of years and knew the social issues inside out. If the planned relocation was to go on smoothly, the role of the Steam Assembly was indispensable.

Lavinia, the leader of the Steam Assembly, was a total stranger to Hao Ren. But judging from the attitude of Angelica and the words of Wendell, this unsmiling woman was trustworthy, just, powerful, obsessed with dignity, and extremely loyal to the ancient sage, which was why she was still the highest spokesperson of the Steam Assembly even after Odin woke up as everyone trusted her.

Others might not understand what Hao Ren said. They had to ponder and let the words sink in slowly. But not Lavinia, who just nodded indifferently.

Of course, deep inside her, she had doubts.

“Your ancient sage will personally tell you the details,” Hao Ren said, spreading out his hand. “We are going to see him now. Let these men go home. They won’t be of help here. What’s more, with all bandage on them, it becomes a nuisance.”

The last time they came to Odin’s Iron Throne, there was fierce resistance. They had drawn all the hatred towards themselves as they stormed in. But this time, it was different. The leader of the Steam Assembly and several senior members were personally accompanying them to the lower city. In the sanctuary, Odin still sat on his Iron Throne, waiting for news from Niebelungen.

“There is no more corruption,” Hao Ren told Odin directly. He then pointed to the bright light floating on the roof. “This is the soul of the World Tree Yggdrasil Whitey. I brought him out of the chaotic dream.”

As expected, Odin was surprised that the World Tree had another name called Whitey. Vivian told Odin that the World Tree had schizophrenia and his other personality was Blackie. They had only given him these names two hours ago.

Odin is no stranger to the soul of Yggdrasil. Though he had not seen Yggdrasil, he had been in contact with the World Tree many times in his chaotic dreams. One was an old, dying alien sealed in the crystal; one was a demigod guardian corrupted by the ancient curse, who was about to give himself up. The two near-turnips became good friends despite their differences in age. When Hao Ren about to introduce them to each other, Odin interrupted him. “We know each other. We have been friends in spirit for a long time.”

Probably Odin was the only one who could use ‘friend in spirit’ so aptly in this world.

“What you did in Niebelungen deserves to go down as the greatest feat in history.” Odin was not sure how Hao Ren solved the corruption problem of the World Tree, but for what he could understand, it must have been a heroic battle of the century. “Thanks for saving the world and the World Tree Yggdrasil will be reborn.”

Recalling how he wielded McStabby and stabbed it into Blackie’s brain, and now that it was called the greatest feat in history had him quietly feeling embarrassed. “Ahem, shall we talk about this later? The key question now is how to evacuate the people of Twilight Capital quickly. We have already discussed with Yggdrasil, and he will purify the environment of Midgard and rebuild the hinterland of this continent around Twilight Capital into a habitable zone. After that, I need your help to evacuate the residents out of this city.”

“I will arrange it,” Odin said. “But I am afraid that it will take a while. There are millions of people in Twilight Capital. They have been living here for generations. Not only do they have their family and career here, but the technology and culture. Do they have to give up all these?”

“Of course, they don’t have to,” said Hao Ren, the landlord had all these covered. “I’ve moved an even larger group of people and never left anything behind. At least, well, most of the things. You can rest assured that we will arrange large machinery to help the city move. The steam units and factories will be cut and moved out. We will arrange for personnel to ensure that the equipment will still be functional. People of Twilight Capital need not have to eat grass after the evacuation. We will even take care of the intangible cultural heritage. We foresee that the damage the city may suffer during the process of extracting the spacecraft will be limited to the central area. Moving the residents is out of safety. After all, Twilight Shroud has been running for two thousand years; once it is shut down, the result will be disastrous, not to mention the ancient spaceship has long past its warranty period.”

Galazur frowned. “We will not resort to such method if we have other alternatives. Not only is the operation complicated, but it is also difficult for people to give up their family and career. But we have all scenarios calculated, and it would be impossible to properly study the spaceship without risking shutting down the Twilight Shroud. So the best way is to move the people out. This city is not going to last very long anyway.”

Anthony Alfonso nodded. “I have checked the magic energy in the city. The one-hundred-year runes used to reduce physical weight has failed. The subsidence of the lower city is severe, and the stability of the upper structure is almost at the limit. Some of the urban areas have serious leakages of toxic substances. For those in urban areas, it is no safer than going into the wilderness.”

“I understand,” Odin’s voice came from all directions. “So, let’s start the work.”

Odin issued the evacuation order to every corner of the ancient city.

News of the opening of the shroud and the coming of the dawn had also quickly spread.

An evacuation order was not typical since the establishment of Twilight Capital. It was unheard of by anyone living in the city. For the mortals, the world outside Twilight Capital was no different from a legend. The word “dawn” was only a mysterious vocabulary repeatedly mentioned in the scholar’s books. People were living in this steel jungle, steam engines, gears, workshop platforms, dark alleys, large crypts. These were all of their lives and all of their world. But now this little world was about to come to an end as the announcement from the Steam Assembly had everyone looking up from their busy and boring life, confusedly watching the familiarly turbid city dome.

They wondered, was the night gone?

Commotions started to rise in every corner of the city as millions of survivors living in the caged environment suddenly found themselves seeing the arrival of freedom. But their first reaction was not ecstatic but slightly confused. Few could understand the real meaning of the evacuation order. More chose to go on the streets, and flock to the agencies of Steam Assembly in various parts of the city, wanting to figure out what happened.

The Steam Assembly was well prepared. The city’s earliest builders and rule-makers (including Odin) did not give up the possibility of leaving the shelter from the beginning. They had devised various response measures and system about “the coming of the dawn.” Before chaos set in, the security and propaganda officers of the Steam Assembly were already in standby in the densely populated places, reorganizing the social order and explaining the evacuation plan. Others had come to the essential facilities in the deepest part of the city— the boiler, the intermediate gear set, and the pressure pipe control area—to take over the control of these critical organs in the name of the “Emergency Management Regulations.”

As the dust settled, Galazur had to return to her kingdom.

The dragon queen had enough workforce at home, and she was going bring them over to help with the evacuation, so Hao Ren did not have to worry about how to move the massive equipment in Twilight Capital.