Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 740 - 110: The Whirlpool of Darkness

The black cat declared that she didn't like eating people, especially when they were a bunch of soulless "puppets." It was no different from gnawing on wood. She preferred to admire the way life gets lost in the darkness — for most species, darkness is their enemy.

Ethan interrupted Little Dark's sinister laughter that was reminiscent of a teenage girl, reminding her that she was now a video creator with tens of thousands of fans. This had an immediate effect, and the black cat on the table quickly restrained herself, putting on a harmless demeanor.

It turned out that even for Elemental Elves, the burden of being an idol could effectively regulate their behavior.

With a loud rumble, the space outside the window twisted, as if the entire city were being obliterated. In the next second, the scene outside the window was replaced by a vast starry sky, showcasing the space warp technology on the starship. In this timeline, Mr. Ethan, a doctoral student at Mashu Institute of Technology, made great contributions to the world of science.

And now, he planned to take a walk through the cabin.

"I'll go with you."

Lindong put on a fitting white gown, facing the mirror to adorn herself with sparkling jewelry. Besides the "Heartfelt Kitchen: Cooking Works Better Than Confession" series, she had collected many videos on fashion and dressing, opening the door to a new world for her.

She had to admit that this soon-to-be-destroyed city still had many admirable aspects. Perhaps this was the benefit brought by peace, giving people enough time to go further in entertainment.

Upon hearing this, the black cat on the table couldn't help but leap toward Ethan. She tried to imitate Lindong's usual behavior, climbing along Ethan's arm to his shoulder. However, Lindong quickly intercepted her in mid-air, firmly restraining her upper body with both arms and fixing her in front of Lindong's chest.

After a fruitless struggle, the black cat could only let out a frustrated "meow."

Miscalculated!

Little Dark profoundly reflected on her strategy and decided that next time, she should transform back into human form. Lindong exploited the strength of her human form to intercept her.

If it weren't for the busy crowd in the cabin, she would have loved to transform directly in Lindong's arms and brawl with her.

The most likely outcome of that would be both of them losing balance and falling to the ground together. Being a famous online cat with over ten thousand fans, she could never allow such a thing to happen. Conversely, Lindong, who had no fans, was hard-headed in her actions.

The black cat's eyes kept moving constantly; at this moment, she felt the downsides of being too famous.

Ethan didn't notice the scheming between the two cats. He greeted the coming and going crew with smiles; this area was staffed directly by the Democratic Assembly. Most of them belonged to the elite of upper-class society, wearing neat clothes and maintaining never-changing fake smiles on their faces, making it impossible for anyone to see through their thoughts.

Ethan suddenly thought of something and asked the black cat in Lindong's arms, "What are they thinking about?"

He felt this was where mind reading should truly come into play, rather than probing into what study materials he had saved in his favorites.

"They haven't thought about anything."

The black cat listened attentively for a while, "They are all very pure."

Humans who are true to themselves are rare; even Ethan couldn't avoid being conventional. However, most people on this starship had achieved true consistency between their inside and outside. Despite dressing like insincere upper-class elites and speaking as if hiding a hundred motives, their minds were very pure.

They were simply exchanging each other's identity information, the first step in socializing.

Ethan understood.

This should be one of the side effects of losing their souls.

Ethan even suspected that whether these chatting humans gathered here was due to free will or driven by some program and settings. Just as in common knowledge, on the first day of boarding, people were supposed to get acquainted, so they left their rooms and meticulously followed the "program" settings.

Ethan listened carefully for a moment, yet judging from their conversational style, they closely resembled real humans. There was no rigid jargon and no AI-like awkward speaking pattern. They would talk about their professions, families, and recent amusing happenings. Without mind reading, no one would think their minds were vacant.

Apparently, they were unaware of the starship's fate.

In the story narrated by Mediterranean Sir, it was lost deep within a black hole.

His grandfather made one last phone call, trying to inform his family of the events onboard. The crew went mad, and among those who went insane, was his grandfather himself. Perhaps they were still alive or had all been twisted into monsters by the darkness.

Ethan moved through the crowd; the fate of the starship formed a stark contrast with the bustling atmosphere in the cabin.

Ultimately, the starship carrying the hopes of the City of Truth's people neither reached the empire nor returned to its homeland.

Soon after, Ethan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He spotted two familiar figures among the chatting crowd, one appeared to be in his sixties, sporting a characteristic Mediterranean haircut. His eyes were bright and his features appeared far more stern than Mediterranean Sir. The female companion who was conversing with him also noticed Ethan and Lindong, waving at them from afar.

"This is Mr. Du Ya, the carpenter of the Pioneer."

Zhuang Xiao proactively introduced both parties to each other, "This is Mr. Ethan and his wife."

"I've heard of you." Du Ya's eyes lit up, "Mashu Institute of Technology's top student, one of the pioneers of space warp technology... I can't believe you're so young!"

Ethan knew that the time flow in the "Dreamland" was abnormal; this was the sixth day of "Dreamland," but from the time dimension perspective, several months or even one to two years might have passed since he bid farewell to the three professors. He couldn't determine the exact time, because the professors' research on space warp technology wasn't recorded in the book "City of Truth."

The sages of the Truth Society never knew of the existence of the Western Suburb Institute and the large shelter hidden beneath the city.

Du Ya proactively introduced his life story to the two.

He worked in the aerospace department in his early years, and due to his solid technical skills, he was transferred to work at the "Concord Obelisk." On the day the starship was decided to be dispatched, he responded to the Democratic Assembly's deployment and actively devoted himself to this great cause.

During the conversation, everyone followed Zhuang Xiao's lead and arrived at the restaurant.

The luxurious decor perfectly matched the identity of people in this area. Lindong frowned at the prices on the menu; since she started learning to cook on her own, she and Little Dark bought the ingredients every day. Seeing the not-so-expensive ingredients transform into prices dozens of times higher was quite a shock to her understanding.

"Speaking of which, I have a grandson, a little younger than you, who is now preparing to enter middle school. I've always wanted to send him to a place like Mashu Institute of Technology to study."

Du Ya's way of speaking was more like the department leader from that implanted memory. Ethan guessed that Du Ya might be the prototype of that Mediterranean leader, but due to the change in identity, he became much more courteous and talkative, and he spoke about his family as they became familiar.

Family harmony, at sixty years old he fulfilled his wish of having grandchildren.

"It's just a pity that the child isn't cut out for studying; his grades have always floated in the middle of the class, and he isn't really focused on it."

The seemingly bland conversation made the atmosphere at the dining table much heavier.

Zhuang Xiao's expression also became somewhat unnatural; they all knew the grandson Du Ya referred to was Du Li, who had been found by neighbors in the apartment after committing suicide two days ago.

Just as Ethan thought Du Ya might hope he'd share some studying methods and experiences with the kid that would be of no actual use, the little old man suddenly changed his tone, chuckled and said, "But not everything in this world goes as people wish; I've come to terms with it. If he's not cut out for studying or working, let him live happily as an ordinary person. Even though the kid doesn't love studying, he doesn't have any personality issues. When he grows up, can't he at least find a job?"

Ethan and Zhuang Xiao exchanged glances, unsure how to respond.

Zhuang Xiao ordered a bottle of premium red wine, and with Du Ya in high spirits, he downed two glasses as if it were a beverage.

Du Ya was very excited today, completely immersed in the beautiful visions of the future, just like everyone on this starship. According to Ethan's observations, they were unaware of the true purpose of this starship, nor the reason the soldiers were stationed in other cabins.

An unprecedented friendly exchange; they firmly believed in the decisions of the Democratic Assembly, considering themselves the pioneers of opening new territories.

"Once trade is established between the two places, endless new opportunities will arise. If the kid is lucky enough to catch up with the era's developments, he might be able to make his mark."

Du Ya continuously sought news about the "Empire," striving to understand those fresh things, "Mysticism, faith paths, you youngsters are far more imaginative than me; these avenues might even become mainstream in the future."

Time ticked away second by second, and unknowingly, it was already deep into the night.

Their conversation was interrupted by the exclamations of people in the restaurant, which attracted more and more towards the window.

Among the stars, they witnessed a strange celestial phenomenon.

Initially, it looked like a crack, but as the starship approached, the crack slowly opened towards them, revealing an interior resembling a vortex.

The magnificent black vortex heralded the beginning of the impending nightmare.

In the Mediterranean gentleman's story, the starship couldn't escape the black hole's pull, and thereafter was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

People discussed the black vortex, observing this cosmic spectacle with pure appreciation, knowing nothing of the future.

Until, the captain laid down orders to all his crew members.

At that moment, his eyes were bathed in sacred white light.

—"Bring the ship closer."