Chapter 660: The Pioneer Declaration

## Chapter 661: The Pioneer's Proclamation

"A nuclear wasteland???"

Jian Changsheng's face was filled with shock.

Club 8 stood beneath the bare, withered willow branches, letting out a long sigh. "This matter is the highest secret of the Mortal Realm. No one knows about it except the members of the Floating Life Painting. But now that things have come to this, there's naturally nothing left to hide.

"More than three hundred years ago, at the end of the Great Cataclysm, the last human survivors of the war relied on the Nine Monarchs' domains to establish nine bases. The nine major bases pooled all human wisdom to create nine hibernation pods that could extend life through deep sleep. These pods themselves did not incorporate any cutting-edge technology; they were merely improvements on primitive cryogenic hibernation, so they would not be affected by technological regression in the short term.

"After that, the nine major bases unanimously approved the hibernation plan: to extend the lives of the Nine Monarchs as much as possible through the hibernation pods, thereby preserving human civilization to the greatest extent during the Gray World convergence, and simultaneously searching for a solution to the convergence during the long years of sleep. From then on, the Nine Monarchs successively fell into deep sleep..."

"We already know all this," Heart 9 said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Where's the secret?"

"You know, but the newcomers might not," Club 8 said, rolling his eyes. "Just let me tell the story properly!"

"...Tsk, fine, fine."

"After receiving the 'deep sleep' command, the Nine Monarchs in their respective bases successively entered their hibernation pods to sleep... But that's where the problem lies," Club 8's expression grew serious. "Five minutes after Monarch Hongchen fell into deep sleep, the Hongchen Base suffered a nuclear strike."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the faces of the Twilight Society members registered shock.

"This was a premeditated attack targeting the Hongchen Base, or rather, Monarch Hongchen," Club 8 said in a low voice. "It's said that there wasn't just one round of nuclear strikes at the time, but three consecutive rounds within fifteen minutes. Countless nuclear weapons detonated around the Hongchen Base, annihilating everything into nothingness.

"No one knew where these nuclear weapons came from, no one knew why they could still be used normally when other nuclear weapons had failed, and no one knew who was so ruthless as to wipe out the Hongchen Base along with its millions of inhabitants in the Hongchen Domain. But the timing chosen was too precise. Under such a desperate nuclear attack, no one could have survived unless one of the Nine Monarchs intervened, and at that time, Monarch Hongchen had just fallen into deep sleep...

"The people at Hongchen Base had no choice. In that emergency, they forcibly broke open the hibernation pod and awakened Monarch Hongchen."

At this point, Chen Ling suddenly recalled the relief sculpture he had seen in the Hongchen Base. The black meteors descending from the sky and the massive, mushroom-like expanding clouds were likely the nuclear strikes Club 8 was talking about. Chen Ling truly hadn't expected someone to be so deranged during the Nine Monarchs' slumber, but, analyzing it logically, if someone wanted to kill the Nine Monarchs, this was undeniably the best time to strike.

"Fortunately, Monarch Hongchen had only just received the injection five minutes prior and hadn't completely fallen into an unconscious state. Ultimately, a sliver of consciousness was forcibly awakened, allowing her to barely hide the Hongchen Base and its millions of inhabitants within a single speck of dust, thus escaping the nuclear strike. But after that, Monarch Hongchen completely succumbed to the effects of the medicine and fell into deep sleep."

"Wait, I have a question!" Jian Changsheng suddenly raised his hand.

"...Go on."

"Didn't you just say that to wake Monarch Hongchen, the people at Hongchen Base forcibly broke the hibernation pod? If there's no hibernation pod, is Monarch Hongchen falling into sleep useful?"

"It's no use. Once a hibernation pod is damaged, it cannot be repaired, and there were only nine of them in total, with no spares."

"So, Monarch Hongchen can only sleep, but can't extend her life, right?" Heart 9 asked in surprise. "Then how did she survive until now?"

"That, I don't know either..." In the scroll Club 8 had brought out, Monarch Hongchen was indeed not in a hibernation pod, which had long perplexed the Twilight Society members. But now it seemed that no one could provide an answer except the original artist who had embroidered the image.

"So, the Mortal Realm we see now is built upon a nuclear wasteland?" Diamond 10 pondered for a moment. "But didn't you say Monarch Hongchen hid everyone in a grain of sand to escape? Why didn't you just live directly in that grain of sand instead of returning to this nuclear wasteland?"

"It's not that simple... According to experts, the Mortal Realm was originally a flower in the Gray World, considered a first-level ascension. The grain of sand, strictly speaking, was sand within that flower, a second-level ascension—dust within dust... During Monarch Hongchen's sleep, the second-level ascended world was unstable; it was fine for short periods, but risked collapse in the long term." Seeing everyone's bewildered faces, Club 8 simply skipped this topic.

"After the nuclear strikes, most of the supply resources originally prepared by the Hongchen Base were lost, and the pre-laid Inter-Realm Train tracks, along with other infrastructure, were all rendered useless. At that time, the Hongchen Base was essentially disconnected from the other bases. And if the Inter-Realm Train was cut off at the Hongchen Base, it meant that the Aurora Base in the far north would also be completely disconnected from the outside world. This concerned the survival of two human bases, so someone had to venture into this nuclear wasteland to repair the train tracks and rebuild the infrastructure.

"Therefore, the Hongchen Base selected the first batch of volunteers from its million survivors to enter the nuclear wasteland... They were called the Pioneers."

"Pioneers?"

"After three rounds of nuclear strikes, the nuclear radiation in the Mortal Realm was severely excessive, causing irreversible effects on the human body. Repairing the tracks and infrastructure was also a long process... So this first group of people ventured into this wasteland with the conviction that they would die. Most of them were strong, middle-aged men who already had children. They voluntarily signed and issued 'The Pioneer's Proclamation,' then stepped into the nuclear wasteland without hesitation, and never returned."

"What is 'The Pioneer's Proclamation'?"

Club 8 paused for a moment. Words, clear and distinct, emerged from his memory, forming lines on a white banner marked with bloody handprints, fluttering in the wind amidst shouts:

" 'We, as sons and daughters, as parents, and as those with fervent hearts, do solemnly swear:' "" 'We voluntarily offer our youth, our bodies, and our lives to forge a path for the future of human civilization, to lay the foundation for the stability of our descendants, to enter the wasteland, and to rebuild our home.' "" 'We shall not falter, we shall be invincible, we shall go and never return.' "" 'May the towering structures we build restore humanity's glory.' "