Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

The [Catastrophe Lab ID Card], this rectangular card that is indestructible and impenetrable, with a black and gold exterior, has been transformed from its previous state of dormancy since Roy acquired it. Now, it seems to have been activated, with all its patterns lighting up.

【ID: 42】

[Name (codename): Historiographer]

The Preservator Project Lab is now open. Coordinates have been sent. Please proceed as soon as possible.

Humanity will live on forever.

Volume 1: Chapter 257 A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity

Trimont, underground ruins.

Even though Roy already knew that there were many ancient ruins on Terra, he couldn't help but be shocked by the scale of the ruins before him. The part that had been excavated and exposed to the air was already nearly a square kilometer in size, and this was clearly not the whole picture. Many of the structures still had clearly visible staircases leading to the lower levels.

What's puzzling is that such a large area of ​​ruins and facilities clearly couldn't have been exposed naturally by wind and rain; it seems that someone else had already gotten there first.

Very likely. Otherwise, it's inexplicable why this card remained unresponsive for so long in my possession, only suddenly changing and marking this address today. Someone must have unearthed this ruin, triggered some terminal, and caused this card to receive a signal.

However, how could such a small card receive signals sent from Colombia to Casimir over such a long distance? How did it relay the signals?

Roy couldn't help but raise his head and look at the azure sky.

Although his previous life's learning didn't cover any aspects of communication technology, he still had a clear grasp of some basic common sense. For example, the most common signal relay methods are generally two: the first is through ground base stations, and the second is through satellites in the sky.

Roy was certain that there were no more base stations left over from the human era on Earth, otherwise they would have been found and studied by various countries long ago. So there was only one answer.

Outside Terra's atmosphere, there are satellites built during human history, and they're even operational? Are they being maintained, or are they some kind of semi-permanent structure?

Remembering the pair of large eyes in the sky he had seen in the game's trailer, Roy felt a surge of pressure. He could only forcibly put aside his doubts for the time being and begin his descent.

Everything on the ground gradually became clear, and the flags bearing the Rhine Lab logo gradually came into focus. Roy immediately understood; this was Rhine Lab's research site. They not only conducted research on the ice fields but also carried out archaeological work in the Columbia wilderness.

In the researchers' rest area surrounded by flags, Roy also noticed three figures—one in gold, one in yellow, and one in brown.

Dorothy, Christensen, and Ferdinand were the three people Roy agreed to meet with.

Perhaps drawn to the untimely, stimulating background music playing in the sky, the three, who had been somewhat tense and awkward, simultaneously looked up. They watched as the shooting star streaked across the sky, gradually slowing down and descending. A human figure emerged from the golden streak of light, gradually becoming more real. Finally, with one hand supporting its weight and knees slightly bent, it landed steadily on the ground, creating a landing effect that Gaia would definitely rate as perfect.

The fierce sandstorm forced Christen and Ferdinand to turn their heads away, cover their mouths and noses, and cough softly. Only Dorothy, due to her Originium Arts, was unaffected and was the first to rush forward:

"Mr. Roy!"

She called out happily, and despite never having actually met him, she wasn't shy at all. She opened her arms and gave the unsuspecting Roy a big hug.

Behind her, Ferdinand pulled a gas mask from his pocket, put it on, barely protecting himself from the sand and dust, and stepped forward first. He looked Roy up and down, his deep brown eyes filled with disbelief:

"Heng Knight? You just flew all the way here? From Casimir all the way to Colombia?"

"When Dorothy told me she was coming here, I was wondering what she was up to. When she said she was waiting for you here, I almost thought she was messing with me and wasting my time, and I went back. There's no station here, no aircraft docking area, how can an archaeological excavation site wait for someone? But you actually..." He clicked his tongue in disbelief, asking with a mixture of amazement and doubt, "You actually managed to fly all the way here!"

He reached out and eagerly pressed down on Roy's shoulder, seemingly lost in thought about some grand strategy, and began to ponder:

"Listen to me, brother, your Originium Arts are enough to eliminate all the flying machines on the market. What does it use for energy? How does it operate? What is your casting medium? To be able to fly from Kazimierz to Columbia, such a huge energy consumption cannot be solved by carrying a few Originium crystals, unless your energy conversion rate is extremely high. Oh, you are simply amazing!"

He became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and his words became increasingly ambiguous. The way he looked at Roy was as if he were looking at a living treasure trove of science, which gave Roy goosebumps and even made him feel a sense of danger from the bottom of his heart.

The Last Knight's premonition of danger warned him, giving him a feeling that he was about to be captured and sliced ​​into pieces at any moment.

Fortunately, Dorothy and Christensen acted simultaneously, forcibly pulling Ferdinand away from Roy.

The commander's clothes were relatively neat, a stark contrast to Ferdinand's disheveled appearance, which was covered in yellow sand and ash. There seemed to be an invisible barrier around her, keeping out everything except for the dust that rushed up at the beginning before she could react.

Roy knew that this was her Originium Arts, a spell that, by utilizing the special environment of the Commander's Office, could even barely block the enraged Saria.

Facing Roy, Christensen's eyes were also filled with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, but compared to Ferdinand, she was noticeably more restrained and composed. She simply nodded slightly to him, extended her hand, and introduced herself:

"Kristen Wright. Dorothy's boss."

Ferdinand belatedly introduced himself: "Ferdinand Kruger, Head of the Rhine Life Energy Department. This is my business card. If you have time later, you can come to my office and talk to me. I think we have plenty of room for cooperation."

He straightened his tie and smiled confidently, a hint of defiance in his expression towards Christensen.

Christen's complete lack of reaction made his punch feel like it hit a cotton ball.

“I am equally curious about your magic. But unlike Ferdinand, I am more curious about your experiences in the sky,” she said, neither intimate nor distant. “If you would like, I can pay you to tell me the story in detail.”

“We can talk about that later. I’m here for something else.”

Roy naturally saw the spark between Ferdinand and Christensen, a spark that would one day create a fantastical tale of green fields. But at this moment, Roy had something more important to confirm.

"Gentlemen, I have invited you here in the hope that you will witness some things with me."

He looked at Christensen and said,

"Madam, this is Rhine Lab's research area, right?"

“Yes.” Christensen nodded, seemingly realizing something.

"Could you take me down with you?" Roy continued.

Christen narrowed his eyes, not refusing, but instead asking, "Do you know what's underground?"

Roy nodded: "A lab, a shelter, or whatever. But whatever it is, for you scientists, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Christen nodded. "Come with me."

P.S.: I'm taking some medicine and taking a nap. I'll write another chapter when I wake up.

Volume 1: Chapter 258 The Quiet Tomb

The main body of this ruin, now sunken in the deep underground, untouched by light for millennia, was not always like this. Its exterior is severely weathered, clearly having once been exposed to sunlight, wind, rain, and the elements, but now only the mottled marks left by endless time remain. Its outer walls still reveal its former grandeur and modernity. Those once towering laboratory buildings, their glass facades shattered, can no longer reflect sunlight as they once did. The numerous rooms surrounding the ruin, each with its own function, which have stood for millennia without crumbling, now stand silently, as if waiting for their owners to return.

The gate to the ruins was made of a sturdy, unknown alloy. The automatic identification system at the entrance appeared to be malfunctioning, but Christen explained how it worked—it no longer seemed to rely on a simple identification system, but was controlled by a communicative intelligent terminal. That terminal had even briefly conversed with Christen in a completely unintelligible language, calling her "little animal."

Roy's gaze swept across the illuminated corridor as Christen spoke. During the development of the ruins, Rhine Lab attempted to restart the ruins' power system, but they could not find the control terminal, nor could they understand the internal wiring structure and energy system. In the end, they could only bring in truckloads of power equipment from Trimont to replace the entire ruins.

Through the light, Roy could see the interiors of the rooms marked as living areas. They were fully equipped with chairs and benches, medical equipment, and even something resembling a coffee machine on the table—though there were no ingredients to make a rich, invigorating drink. Everything was remarkably orderly, as if someone had lived there for centuries.

In contrast, the "experimental area" was in complete disarray. A layer of dust, thick enough to leave footprints, had accumulated in the abandoned laboratory. Lab benches, microscopes, and cryogenic chambers used to store unidentified items—once-advanced research equipment—were scattered haphazardly in every corner, utterly devoid of its former vitality and life.

"Based on the situation at the scene, it is inferred that the researchers who evacuated from here acted in a very hurry. Our staff even retrieved a document from a research table in one of the laboratories, but it was so badly damaged that it was temporarily impossible to perform effective text deciphering."

As Christen introduced the device, he pulled out a square machine that resembled a tablet computer, but was thinner and more transparent. He turned on the screen, flipped through it a few times, and handed the projected 3D image to Roy.

This is a thin piece of paper. Paper is too fragile for recording time, so much so that the pattern on it is completely illegible, leaving only a few rough letters. It is slightly different from Victorian script, but it seems to be of the same lineage.

"My dad is a hero!"

Roy's gaze swept over the projection on the paper, his pupils contracted slightly, and he translated with some emotion, "It says that my father was a hero."

Christen paused for a moment, then realized that Roy was translating the contents of the document. Unable to contain her surprise, she asked, "You can understand it?"

“It’s very similar to Old Victorian, you can try to decipher it from that angle,” Roy suggested, downplaying the main point.

Christen put away the transparent computer, squinted at Roy a few more times, and after walking a while, stopped in front of the gate that could be clearly seen from hundreds of meters away.

The pitch-black door remained unchanged from when Christen last visited. The patterns carved on the door resembled dried-up pipes or layers of circuitry on a chip, with the core chip being the extinguished display screen.

She took a deep breath and solemnly placed her hand on the display screen on the door.

Ripples appeared vividly on the screen again, and then the spreading water waves activated the surrounding patterns from the center, filling them with a faint light. The magnificent voice rang out once more, sounding somewhat hesitant and dissatisfied:

"Small animals? Why did you bring so many of your own kind with you?"

"If you want to force your way through the gate, it's pointless. The only way to open this gate is from the inside. Any other method, without authorization or my permission, will prevent the shelter from falling unless the planet is destroyed."

Christen lowered his head and said, "I'm here to fulfill my promise. I brought a USB drive to store the knowledge you need. This kind of technology can import data by plugging it in. As for them..."

Christen turned her gaze to Roy, offering no explanation, clearly waiting for Roy to reveal more information on his own.

Regardless of whether he saw through Christensen's little probing, Roy simply took out the ID card that emitted the same light as the laboratory from his pocket, stepped forward, and placed the card against the rippled screen.

In an instant, the ripples seemed to spread at an accelerated rate, and a bright light burst forth, filling the entire underground ruins without leaving any room for anything else, almost piercing through the soil and expanding directly to the surface.

The door creaked open with a heavy thud, as if some shackle had been suddenly broken, and a startled voice echoed from all directions:

"Authentication successful?!"

"Why do you have a universal authentication card? Where did you get it from?"

He spoke in the most standard American English, so fast that it almost exceeded Roy's limited English proficiency, so he could only reply briefly in Chinese:

"This is mine. And since we've come to this era, let's speak in the language of this era. I don't want to hide it from my friends."

"Friends?" The voice immediately switched seamlessly to Chinese. "These small animals?"

"We have a proverb that says animals are man's best friend, don't we? Besides, we shouldn't treat them, who already possess civilization, as mere animals."

The voice paused for a moment before replying in Colombian: “You’re right, compatriot. I’m…very…extremely happy to see you again. My name is Trevor Friston, the executor of Project 322.”

"Please bring your friends in. This shelter... has been uninhabited for a very, very long time."

As soon as he finished speaking, the tightly closed gray door slowly opened a crack, just big enough for Roy and the others to enter.

Roy turned around, nodded to the somewhat worried Dorothy, and, having prepared himself mentally, walked forward without hesitation.

The dim red light illuminated the darkness inside the door, and the silence created an unsettling atmosphere. Roy's eyes widened uncontrollably as soon as they adjusted to the surroundings.

Beneath that ominous light and shadow lay countless "stone coffins".

Volume 1: Chapter 259 So that's how it is!

Stone coffins, countless stone coffins.

Unlike the unofficial one in Chernobog, the sarcophagi here were more square and lightweight, their black surfaces seamless, seemingly without any openings or joints. They were arranged neatly, in orderly rows and columns, almost stretching as far as the eye could see. Even though Roy only glanced at them and counted them roughly by the deep red light, there were at least a thousand sarcophagi here.

This is almost the population of a medium-sized human village! If each of these stone coffins contains a sleeping human, then there are easily over a thousand humans here!