The Record of Unusual Creatures

Regardless of how Galazur duped the baby dragons into working as cheap labor, these baby dragons had the magical strength to perform the job even though they were all under the age of 1,000 years old. Hence the biggest relocation in the history of Twilight Capital began.

Odin had left the Iron Throne with the help of Anthony Alfonso. He was brought to a safe place to undergo a comprehensive medical examination, while the Twilight Shroud slowly disappeared after the runic circles of Anthony Alfonso were turned off one by one. The ancient city, after being cut off from the outside world for two thousand years, had finally opened its doors to receive the baptism of nature – a newly reborn nature.

The deep breath of Yggdrasil had purified 90 % of magic energy residue in Midgard, filtered and purified the high-altitude toxic particles and the corrupted underground water. Though it would still take some time before purification was complete, the world outside the city was habitable. In the foreseeable future, Midgard would surely become a place where magic could thrive. The purified and transformed magic energy would be harmlessly and become the foundation of the new civilization; steam power, alchemic technology, and runology might become the ultimate sources of power for the Twilight survivors.

The rebuilding of the earth and the growth of vegetation were still continuing. The roots of the World Tree were still dancing on the distant horizon. The deep abyss left by the Twilight of the Gods event gradually healed. On the recovered land, new vegetation grew and spread rapidly. Yggdrasil had kept these changes at a moderate pace so that the relocation work could proceed smoothly.

The Twilight residents had gathered in front of the sixteen steel roads around the city, embarking on the migration journey. They were filled with hopes and disappointment, uneasiness, and confusion.

News of the “dawn of a new world” and the “end of the long night and the city will collapse’ had spread all over the city. Even the people living in the engine room and caves in the lower city had been notified. Not everyone understood what this ridiculous announcement meat, but the authority of the Steam Assembly and appeal of the ancient sage still made everything go according to plan. The changes outside the shroud was also a factor that convinced the people of the relocation. Those who were knowledgeable became the leaders of the migration teams who could calm the people’s mind.

The first batch of people had packed their belongings, waiting for departure. Following the steam tanks of the Twilight Guards to the city gate, those walking in front looked up at the old steel girders and could not help but hesitate. Once upon a time, these steel girders were the dividing line between life and death. Even children in the city learned that they must not cross the gate. But now, the energy shroud above the entrance had gone, the outside never-seen-before world at the end of the steel ramp was waiting for the brave to take the first step. But was it really okay to step out?

The first brave resident stepped forward. Wearing his most decent clothes, carrying two suitcases with a determined expression on his face, he was actually a commander of the Twilight Guards, but no one recognized him when he took off the black iron mask.

Stepping out on the soft grass outside the city, this resident turned around, put down his suitcases, and waved to the others on the ramp.

Then cheers rose in the crowd.

Many people did not really know why they were cheering. Life in the shelter had numbed them, but when a few people in the crowd cheered, it spread quickly. An exhilarating atmosphere was building up, and people began to emerge from the city.

In the upper city of Twilight Capital, another more spectacular relocation exercise was underway.

Autonomous robots were shuffling between the steel structures, using cutting beam and versatile tentacles to dismantle steam boilers, bearing sets, and bolts and rivets of the integrated buildings. The priority was not dismantling the boiler but the black steel building in the center of the city. This black steel building was square, made up of dozens of smaller cuboids. These buildings were not holding gold and silver, nor equipment but knowledge and technology. They were the “Steam Brain” of Twilight Capital. The dozens of rectangular buildings were filled with gear processing units, perforated paper tapes, cardboard, and blueprints and ancient books. The oldest material was a fair-copy scroll from the Yasab of Mythological Era, and the latest material was a symbol card printed in the Steam Brain. These things were the most precious treasures which Twilight Capital had amassed for two thousand years.

When people relocated to the wilderness, they would have to rely on this knowledge to rebuild their society. The Steam Brain contained everything that they needed: from the most primitive farming practices and the steam technology that they were proud of to the runic writings of the gods.

The Steam Assembly had been collecting and managing these things for thousands of years just for this day.

The dragons were also busy at work.

“Be careful not to break it! This is all important information. If you break it, I will lock you up in the black room back home!”

Over the city, Galazur was instructing the dragons to move the heaviest equipment and buildings. The machine of the Steam Assembly would take weeks to transport all these things out of the city, but the dragon could move everything relatively effortlessly. But Galazur seemed to be still not satisfied. In the eyes of the dragon, the young dragons were severely lacking in self-discipline. One young dragon even drank the lubricant leaking out from the machine. It vomited for half an hour and got what it deserved, but it gave Galazur a headache.

As the dragon queen reprimanded them, the young dragons became nervous and flew with their heads down. Hao Ren could not help but mutter after seeing this. “Maybe there is a better way to teach them. Look how you have scared them.”

Galazur turned her head. “I am not good at taking children. Hey, Shirley! Come to help!”

A beautiful blue dragon flew over and bowed her head as a sign of respect. Looking at the young dragons, Shirley knew what was going on. This aunt of kindergarten flew up and spoke with a gentle voice, “Everyone, line up. Follow instructions. Collect your item according to your student number. Awesome! Don’t grab things not belonging to you. The most obedient kid will receive half a ton of barbecue as a reward.”

So all dragons began to behave.

Hao Ren was speechless.

This was indeed a bunch of young dragons.

The entire relocation exercise lasted nearly a week. It was miraculously efficient nonetheless.

Vivian found a place in the northeast of the wilderness. It was a good location for their new home: flat, abundant water, close to a vast forest that was an ideal source for food and materials, and geologically stable. The remnants of Twilight Capital set up a temporary camp here, around which they piled up the materials and machinery. Later, they would gradually reassemble them. It was an essential foundation for their new home.

The Steam Assembly had played its role well throughout the entire relocation exercise. They were the ones whom the people looked up for. They assured the people of the migration, managed all resources, and built camps. Things were going on smoothly. There were unexpected situations and turmoil, but there was no need for Hao Ren and his team to intervene. The Steam Assembly could handle it all.

Twilight Capital became empty after the mass evacuation like ancient ruins.

The shroud had gone, and many of the runes were damaged during the relocation exercise. The city was deformed dangerously like a pile of scrapped steels standing on the lush land of Midgard. It was hard to imagine that it was once the only shelter of civilization in the entire Nine Kingdoms not long ago. There was a massive crater in the city after the gigantic boiler, and main pressure pipeline was removed, leaving the already unstable city in the brink of disintegration caused by its own weight.

Standing on a small hill outside the city, Hao Ren and his team were ready to activate the ancient spaceship underground.

The MDT had hijacked part of the spaceship’s control system while the autonomous robots had fixed the damaged power reactor and engine over the past week. These power units could be restarted now.

At the scheduled time, the MDT sent an alert; the self-test of the spaceship’s Power Core was passed.

“Fire it up.” Hao Ren ordered.

Entire Twilight Capital began to shake violently as a vibration came from the underground.

The thousand-year urban structure began to collapse. The already fragile crumbled into the crater in an instance. Hao Ren heard a loud bang as if of a bomb explosion from the pile of steel ruins. It seemed that the ancient waste piled up in the ruins had been ignited under the intense energy radiation of the spaceship as continuous explosion spread from the underground to the surface.

The upper city of Twilight Capital blew up like a volcano eruption. The powerful eruption spewed millions of tons of waste into the sky. Ymir’s spaceship slowly lifted off amid the cloud of smoke.

That was the end of Twilight Capital.

Hao Ren froze. The scale of the explosion seemed to be more powerful than he had expected.

Galazur and Anthony Alfonso recorded the moment of the end of an era in their daily log. They then took out their MDTs respectively and pulled Hao Ren beside them in the backdrop of the destruction of Twilight Capital.

It was a solemn moment.

Two minutes later, on the inspector’s dedicated data link, Galazur and Anthony Alfonso posts had occupied the top positions on the inspector’s dedicated data link. The posts, showing two of them together with Hao Ren standing in front of a crumbled city, had the exact same caption:

“First time in collaboration with Hao Ren who truly deserves the reputation of Demolition Man.”