The Record of Unusual Creatures

Forest had swallowed the city, and plants had replaced the buildings. Human, the wisest of all creatures, built a splendid civilization with flames and steel, but it only took nature some time to get rid of it—even devour and assimilate it all to become part of nature.

The civilization on this planet had gone for a long time, which was evident from the sad state of the ruins. Buildings had not only collapsed but also become the nests and territories of wild animals. The human builders had carefully designed these things to showcase their knowledge and strength, but in the end, wild animals were the ultimate beneficiaries of this human legacy. These ‘tenants’ apparently did not care what the original functions of their lairs were.

A few strange beasts with stiff, short hairs and looked like wild boars ran to the distance in a panic and disappeared into the jungle in the blink of an eye. With just a little sense of presence, Lily had scared the animals the daylights out of the animals. It seemed that Nolan was right; the planet did not have anything that could pose a threat to them as the beasts in the forest were not much worse than those on the earth.

“This civilization was highly developed. The ruins have been here for thousands of years, but they have not completely weathered. Their material technology is comparable to or even higher than that of Tannagost.” After chasing the animals away, Hao Ren and the MDT went up to check up the ancient ruin that the beasts used as a lair. It was a hemispherical metal shell that once seemed to be a massive pressure container for storing dangerous liquids. Distorted and only half of it remained, the hell stayed strong except for the surface rust. “It is a complex alloy, highly heat resistant, anti-corrosion, and high tensile.”

Vivian rubbed the rust on the metal container with her fingers. “How did they die?”

“Maybe it was the First Born. Even if it was not the First Born, many reasons could lead to the demise of this civilization,” the MDT said in an emotionless voice. “Civilization is very fragile, even if it can get into space. In the face of diseases, wars, and natural disasters, most civilizations are not as strong as they think. Right now, how the civilization of this planet went extinct is still unknown, but I think we can get more information in the ruins of the city.”

Lily looked up into the distance. Due to the dense jungle and the terrain, she could not see the city. But her extraordinary vision had captured something: steel structure in between the trees, and the cement fragments that lodged between branches and rose to the air as the trees grew. The more frequent sighting of these things, that meant the closer they had gotten to the edge of the city ruins. It was just that the forest had almost reclaimed this part of the city.

“I did not expect such a place in the Plane of Dreams.” Hao Ren could not help but lament. “The mysterious galaxy isolated by the discontinuous space, the habitable planet hidden in the corner, and the ancient civilization that has perished—life is such wonderful thing, it is so rare and precious, but it could also be ubiquitous.”

“I am more concerned about the attack in space.” Vivian frowned. “Apparently, it was a targeted attack, directed at us. But before this, the drones have repeatedly scanned the jump point and deemed it safe.”

Hao Ren became solemn. “Yup. The drones checked the jump point many times, and before we got here, the drones had also released the probes to conduct recon in the surroundings. These probes emitted powerful signals, yet they never encountered such an attack.”

Hao Ren would not have gone to an unknown galaxy with all the people onboard without first ensuring the safety of the route. But this time, things had still gone wrong despite all the safety checks he had done.

Hao Ren could not help but think that it was a trap—a very clever trap, and very likely that there was someone behind the ambush.

Or at least there was a complex and smart mechanism behind this trap.

He scratched his chin. “The storm in space manifested distinct divine characteristics, so it was divine-powered. Not many beings can mobilize this power, and there are only three forces in the Plane of Dreams could do this: the Goddess of Creation, her guardians, and the deicidal race, who could achieve similar effects through runic technology, and the Goddess of Destruction, who has been contaminated and corrupted. As for the Mad Lord, it does not have the IQ to lay out this trap.”

“Most likely it was the Goddess of Destruction,” Lily said. “The Goddess of Creation is in the justice camp. She will not harm anyone. The deicidal race is just a tool and has never gained the initiative. It was only the Goddess of Destruction that had the motive. Think about it, Me. Landlord. Did we not suspect the star chart in Vivian’s head? I think it is a trap that the Goddess of Destruction has set up for us.”

Hao Ren frowned; what Lily said made sense, but something seemed not right. And he could not tell what. At last, he could only shake his head. “Let us not make any conclusion yet before we figure out who was behind the divine storm.”

The team moved slowly in the jungle to collect the environmental data. After collecting enough information, they emerged from the forest when the first ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and sprinkled on the earth. They were standing at the edge of the city ruin in the middle of the forest.

The city ruin was bigger than expected. When they flew past the ruin earlier, Nolan had only managed to take a few snapshots which were not ideal and only of the part visible from the air. But when looking from the high ground at the edge of the forest, things had become apparent. It should have been a highly developed big city in the past. Even years of weathering and erosion from disasters could not erase its past glory. Tall buildings still stood neatly in the city center with some empty structures in between. At the center of the city was a large building of a quadrangular pyramid shape, magnificent, but its uses were unclear.

All the buildings were severely damaged, and rubble was everywhere. Collapsed buildings were far more than those standing. This civilization had superb material technology. The high-rise buildings they built were far sturdier than those made on Earth. Just like the golden capital of Tannagost, a small part of these buildings still stood for thousands of years after the end of the world. But even then, the power of nature had trampled these man-made structures. The sprawling forests had twisted, bent, and brought down the metal. The giant trees growing inside the buildings had punctured the walls and roofs, making the buildings the coat of their trunks as the dense canopy rose above the structures.

Bridges had become arbors, and the tarmac was broken and rolled up. Nature had reclaimed its rightful place on this planet after the end of the civilization.

There were two vast lakes in the ruins of the city, formed after the collapse of the underground structure, such as subway system or something that gave way under the weight of the superstructure above, causing the city to collapse and sank. These pits became water reservoirs. When the forest spread, the most massive sinkhole became a lake and a source of water for animals.

It was dawn. The sky was getting brighter, and the sound of birds and beasts had made the ruins and the forests a lively place. A series of fluttering sound also joined the symphony of dawn; the bat swarm of Vivian was flying into various directions looking for something valuable.

The MDT rose in the air and was ready to take an energy map of the ruins. If past experience had anything to go by, this civilization must have left something when it went extinct, even if it might not be intentional effort. There could be some prehistoric relics such as databases buried deep under the ruins. Perhaps such databases could withstand the erosion of time and work after thousands of years. That was what the MDT was looking for.

While waiting for information, Hao Ren climbed to the top of a boulder nearby, overlooking the city and surrounding scenery. Suddenly, his eyes fixed in a direction as he got a glimpse of something out of place.

“Mr. Landlord,” Nangong Wuyue was shouting from below, “what are you looking at?”

“Come and take a look. I think something is not right there.”

Wuyue swayed her tail as she climbed up the boulder. She raised her upper body and looked into the distance with her hand above her eyes. “What is it?”

Taking advantage of her long tail, she could raise higher than Hao Ren did and command a better vantage point.

“The vegetation over there is sparse. It seems that something has cleared the forest and no buildings are intact. Not even ruins.” Hao Ren pointed to the distance. “It is as if the place has been bombed.”

“It seems so,” Wuyue said while swaying her tail. “So, is this civilization destroyed by war?”

“No. Not just that.” Hao Ren’s brows knitted together.” Even if the city was destroyed by bombing, the forest should have reclaimed the place after so many years—”

Before Hao Ren finished, the MDT spoke into his mind. “Buddy! I see something here!”

Hao Ren and Wuyue came back down and met Lily and Vivian on the ground. After a while, the MDT descended from the air and projected the images it had captured in a hologram.

In the northwest of the city, a mountain range rose from the end of the forest and extended outward along the edge of the woods. The mountain range appeared green in black and brown background. It did not have sharp lines and angular like regular mountains but round and smooth.

Line?

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

It was a tentacle. A colossal tentacle, as large as a mountain range, extended out from the earth.