Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 716 - 96: Messiah

The next day.

Zhuang Xiao awoke once again from a headache and fear. No matter how many times she experienced the process of awakening, such emotions would not fade. She stood still, witnessing time freeze, with the elevator display forever halted at the 32nd floor.

That was the building known as the "Consensus Obelisk," the locale of the Democratic Assembly, and the absolute center of power in this city.

She remembered that name.

Surrounded by empty offices, she remained in Merlin's office, lying on the sofa. As soon as she opened her eyes, she could see the book being perused, a book obviously not belonging to this era, a Sheepskin Book, with yellowed pages, appearing as a product of the Victorian Era.

This book reminded Zhuang Xiao of the millennia she spent in the "alternate world."

"The others have gone to a meeting."

Noticing the movements from the other end of the sofa, Merlin spoke without lifting his head, "I heard that many unexpected changes occurred in the 'dreamscape.' Chen Qi's people were quite frightened, as witnessing a sudden appearance of a hundred-story high skyscraper on the surface is not a common experience... I really wish I had been there then."

"'Consensus Obelisk,' that's the name of the building."

Zhuang Xiao said, "And the Democratic Assembly, a power institution I've never heard of."

"Indeed."

Merlin halted on a page in the Sheepskin Book, "The city's tallest building, the very center of power, a skyscraper with a design theme centered on pointers."

"How do you know..."

Zhuang Xiao was stunned. She had never described the appearance of the "Consensus Obelisk" to Merlin. She thought of something, rolled off the sofa, and quickly walked to the table.

The Sheepskin Book was extremely old, with printing technology unused for one or two centuries, and on that yellowed paper was suddenly an illustration of the "Consensus Obelisk," with densely packed text next to it. Zhuang Xiao recognized them; they were in the universal language of the New Continent—most newly recruited guild members used this language.

This was truly surprising.

They hailed from different time nodes, different planes, yet used the same language for communication.

However, Zhuang Xiao was certain that the people in the Sanctuary did not recognize this text; they, as pioneers, initially spent about a week using the "Adventurer's Handbook" to familiarize themselves with it.

"Where did you get this book?"

Zhuang Xiao asked outright.

She was very sure that if the upper echelons of the Sanctuary knew of this Sheepskin Book's existence, they would immediately demand Merlin to hand it over.

"A gift from a friend."

"Song Xian?"

This was the only person Zhuang Xiao could think of, one of their members who had gone twice to the Empire, albeit in an ungraceful manner.

Merlin just smiled, neither confirming nor denying it. He closed the Sheepskin Book, allowing Zhuang Xiao to see the words on the title page—The City of Truth.

"This is good news, Colonel Zhuang Xiao. All my hypotheses so far have been confirmed, which means we are getting closer to the truth."

The cause of the apocalypse, that shadow still suspended above the surface.

By now, people have lived in the Sanctuary for too long, and with the development of brain-machine and cognitive chip technologies, their understanding of the pre-apocalypse world has become increasingly vague, until recently, when Merlin had a new idea.

Is it the new generation of Sanctuary inhabitants who have forgotten history and lost the courage to return to the surface, or does someone want them to forget everything that once happened?

"This is a very interesting book, but it is conspicuously missing the ending."

Merlin sighed regretfully. He wanted to find answers in this book. He hypothesized that the City of Truth was where the previous generation lived and that the "Consensus Obelisk" and Democratic Assembly once truly existed. But after they launched a starship, what really happened to the City of Truth?

He could tell this book was written from the perspective of an "alternate world native," a person who inadvertently established connections through the "dreamscape" with the City of Truth. Or perhaps all his experiences here were pre-arranged.

Consciousness linkages and starships were not technologies they mastered; like cryo-pods and serums, they originated from pre-apocalypse "old technologies."

This was Merlin's humorous term. In the words of the Sanctuary's higher-ups, during the apocalypse, a vast amount of human technological documentation and production resources were destroyed along with it. This serves as a reasonable excuse, while the committee must completely seal off news about the surface and the apocalypse so that the survivors in the Sanctuary can continue to survive.

But why be so sure that returning to the surface will certainly lead to misfortune?

From a temporal perspective, over a century has passed since the day of the apocalypse; since the day Merlin was born, the ruins on the surface have been silent—no earthquakes, no signs of life, certainly no unseen enemies lurking beneath the rubble.

Merlin couldn't fathom what deep-seated hatred justified humanity's enemies waiting silently for over a century just to wipe them out.

Today, he felt he found the answer in this book.

What drew attention was not the author's depiction of the City of Truth but the description of the appearance of those top rulers of the Democratic Assembly. Though fashion habits had changed, some features and habitual actions persisted to this day.