People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

Although, viewed unemotionally, this statement seems perfectly reasonable from Priscilla's perspective, Ernst still sensed a chill.

You weren't the one who was killed, so you wouldn't understand.

Imagine having a very good-looking person, who is also your friend and murderer from a past life, apologize to you in person, saying that you might have been a little too lenient when you attacked him. This feeling is beyond just being "strange".

This female scientist from the end of civilization seemed to finally reveal a tiny bit of the madness and indifference of a post-apocalyptic survivor when she said those words.

He swallowed hard, only to realize that he hadn't been told how to end the "debate."

The preserver of the trenches and the riddle teller are one thing, but what are they up to now?

What kind of mess is this? Virtual reality games don't have a logout button, huh? There's some ancient female ghost from some distant civilization, who's lived for tens of thousands of years, hacking into your server and chasing me! Aren't you going to do anything about it?!

"Calling me that is a bit much."

Precys hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Ernst quickly covered his mouth. Although those words weren't originally meant to come out of his mouth.

Realizing that covering his mouth was useless, he immediately changed the subject. (+6)

"Then why did you still come looking for me?"

“Prisus, you should already be aware of my suspicions, so I might as well state them plainly.”

"So far, your words have only been one side of the story to me. I need to verify them from more sources, from the Keeper, from Kal'tsit, from the Prophet. And until then, even if I assume that everything you've said is true, you should have already run out of reasons to believe me."

“Originium can multiply on its own. According to your prediction, the Originium Project can be completed before the next lumberjacks arrive. The artificial amber is almost finished. What use is my natural amber?”

"Or are you looking for me just to catch up with an old friend you know nothing about? If that's the case, I'd be happy to be a listener."

Precys gently shook his head.

"Ernst, please believe me, I am truly willing to tell you everything we have experienced, witnessed, and agreed upon. Not a single word I have said to you is false. If you wish, I can communicate with you often; you can use any Originium you find to speak with me."

"However, as you can see, I have gone so far as to interfere in Friston's debate in order to meet with you, and as you have guessed, I do have another reason for doing so."

"This request concerns my beloved, your dearest friend. The Prophet."

A hint of embarrassment crossed Precy's face. She raised her hand, tapped her fingertips together, and carefully, before offering a tactful explanation.

"Because of some, uh, unpredictable, accidental prophecy, he..."

"He has amnesia?"

"His memory has suffered some irreparable damage."

Ernst and Precys spoke almost simultaneously.

The next second, an undisguised look of surprise flashed across Precy's face. Although it was only for a brief moment, Ernst, who had been watching Precy, still caught the fleeting emotion.

I didn't delve into this surprise, because it wasn't a question that could be pondered here.

Precyth seemed surprised to know that the Prophet (Doctor) had amnesia. That's what Ernst was thinking now.

To prevent his thoughts from spiraling into a deeper abyss, Ernst once again forced the conversation to continue:

"So, what you want?"

Precys gave Ernst a deep look and replied:

"I want the other part, the part about the stability of the soul."

"Could you please assist me with my research?"

Before Ernst could speak, her image seemed to be disturbed in some way, and it distorted for a moment.

Fourth, the Preservator finally noticed the changes here and began to try to artificially stop this "debate," or rather, "trial."

Realizing that his time was running out, Precys quickened his pace:

Please don't refuse immediately. Please believe me, I also don't expect your selfless sacrifice and dedication.

"Originium has stored a great deal of information and will continue to record information from the Terra region. Through it, we can do—"

Precys's voice abruptly stopped.

His figure vanished, along with Ernst's entire field of vision.

After a brief moment of dizziness, Ernst opened his eyes again, and before him stood the enormous mechanical pupil of the Preservator.

"Are you alright? There were some mistakes in the debate, probably because it hasn't been run for too long."

Ernst glanced at the [Preserver] in front of him, somewhat speechless, and said:

Could you repeat that sentence?

The keeper was taken aback: "Which sentence?"

“Have you ever seen Priscilla?” Ernst asked.

The preserver, bewildered, obeyed the order: "Have you seen Prismus?"

"I've seen it before."

Ernst rolled his eyes, turned around, ignoring the [Preserver's] stunned surprise, and walked to the corner of the room on his own.

He needs time to think, private time to think, time to think without being disturbed or having his thoughts leaked.

He knew what the unspoken word was in Precyth's last sentence.

"trade".

We can make a deal.

It came from Originium, a deal proposed by the creator who shaped this land.

The snow leopard, who was only 23 years old but whose real age might exceed 100 million years, couldn't help but sigh deeply. His nose tingled slightly, and he felt more aggrieved than having a headache.

Some people coveted his body, but he endured it. After all, it was the end of the world, and although there was no evidence yet, it was mostly his own decision.

But after craving his body, they'll turn around and continue to crave his soul. Where can he complain about that?

There are still so many messes on Terra that he hasn't finished dealing with! First, he issued a warning about Horhyah, who is 42 years old. Then, another one popped up here, a pre-civilization hero who could jump out of the graveyard at any moment. And in the backcourt, there's a lumberjack who might be able to take down anything!

The questions lately are getting more and more advanced than ever!

Chapter 639 A Tribute to the Newly Appointed Legendary Pressure-Resistant King, Lao En

Both Horhaya and Kristen were still immersed in the "debate" and had not yet woken up.

Ernst was indeed curious about what a proper "debate" would look like, what he would see, and who he would talk to.

His past self? Or his predecessors from a past life? Or perhaps Kal'tsit, the great god Yeragand, or even Ensiodis, the ones he interacted with most in this life?

Unfortunately, he has no intention of seeking out the Preservator to restart the "debate" for the time being. He needs time to think things through calmly.

The sheer volume of information and countless questions have piled up together, forming an almost impenetrable net, like an isolation layer, covering Terra.

Deep within the northern tundra dwell demons, and according to Prissis, these demons should be powerless against him, given that all his information is already fixed—this is his advantage. But just because the demons cannot harm him doesn't mean they cannot harm others.

Christensen had been corrupted by demons, and if Ernst hadn't arrived in time, she might have been beyond saving. This is enough to show that, at least ordinary Terrans, have little power to resist beings like demons.

Completely eradicating the demons is virtually impossible. If it were possible, previous civilizations, with their ability to traverse the stars and create artificial amber to evade lumberjacks, would have wiped out the demons long ago when they opened up the subspace.

If they didn't kill them all, it's either because the demons were too good at running away, or it's because they simply couldn't kill them all.

Regardless, the importance and danger of the tundra are self-evident. The survival of Sami, Ursus, and Flame, three nations that directly fight against the demons, has become Terra's first line of defense against them.

Whether it's providing aid, offering assistance, or even expanding the ice plains and finding the passage through which the demons descended upon Terra, all are necessary. However, careful planning is still needed. At least, with the isolation layer in place, Terra still has a chance to breathe.

When it comes to aid, Ernst has to think of another country.

Iberia has long suffered from the invasion of the "Sea Spawn".

As one of the three calamities that would destroy the world, Ernst knew the least about the Seachilds.

Ernst was not entirely clear about what it was, what its special features were, or whether it was related to a previous civilization.

All his knowledge of Hai Si came from the prop that the Yan people used at the World Summit—a specimen of Hai Si.

To be honest, although it's just speculation, Ernst still thinks that Haisi is most likely related to that unfortunate previous civilization.

why?

Need I say more? Of the three calamities that brought about the cataclysm, the Demons were enemies that the previous civilization had fought against and even conquered. Originium was a poorly made and unfinished "artificial amber" created by the previous civilization using its own body as a model. So what about the Sea Child? How could it not be related to the previous civilization?

Whose legacy is this, left untouched for tens of thousands of years before being unleashed to wreak havoc? Ernst couldn't guess, and he was too lazy to even try.

At least, judging from the current situation, Hai Si is relatively easy to deal with. If a crippled Iberian can hold them off for so many years, then the land nations should have plenty of time to deal with Hai Si after they have dealt with the demons and Originium.

Of course, this is just Ernst's speculation based on the current situation.

The Originium incident taught him a very simple lesson—you never know whether a surprise or a bad feeling will come first!

Who knows, maybe tomorrow, some kind of vengeful ghost from a previous civilization will appear on Hai Si's side and push Hai Si ashore?

Ernst would only have the right to speak on these matters after he had actually visited the site.

And finally, there's [Originium].

There's really not much to discuss about the properties of Originium anymore. Precys' explanation is practically perfect. Ernst's level of knowledge, compared to the great scientists of the previous civilization, is still slightly lacking, so it's not fair to question whether he had any shortcomings in his technical understanding.

Whether the plan to create artificial amber is truly feasible is unknown. Even Priscilla himself couldn't say he was 100% certain that artificial amber could help civilization evade loggers.

What if they upgrade their equipment? If they find the axe can't cut enough, they might switch to a chainsaw or a cutting machine?

The chance to attempt civilization is only once. For each of them, it's merely a plan "based on theory and Ernst's isolated evidence, with a high success rate." But we all know that isolated evidence is invalid. Even with all their might, it could very well end up being nothing.

Ernst doesn't intend to consider such pessimistic things for the time being, because for the Originium Project to succeed, it still needs the prerequisite of "covering the entire land with Originium".

Now that he's out of the "debate" environment, Ernst can finally calm down and reflect on the meaning of that statement and Precys' performance in the "debate".

To put it bluntly, according to her, this land, this planet, is the "experimental planet" she prepared.

Originium will use this planet as an experimental field to repeatedly crystallize, devour, store, and release, thereby continuously improving its internal mechanisms until it finally reaches perfection, becoming a true "artificial amber," and absorbing, preserving, and protecting the entire civilization.

From God's perspective, such an experiment is quite reasonable. Precys even controlled the costs, protecting the key invention of a god-like civilization that could traverse the universe and move freely in the subspace. She only used one planet as an experimental field to continuously experiment, which could even be considered "hasty".

If we want to achieve perfection, we should theoretically conduct experiments on star systems with different environments, various former civilization colonies, and the effects of extreme conditions on Originium.

That's not just a matter of one planet. Even if it's a pilot project, a large experimental area would have to be drawn up within the territory of the previous civilization, right?

Yes, that's the theory.

But Ernst understood that the previous civilization, at the end of its life, must have lost the ability to conduct such large-scale experiments.

Moreover, how different is this kind of experiment from "letting the people suffer and I'll bear the blame"?

Because they simply couldn't afford to maintain so many planets, they resorted to using planetary explosions to blast enemy colonies into mineral deposits during conquests. Ernst did something like this in the game. But games are games; in reality, it's somewhat "brutal."

It's no exaggeration to say that the success of Project Originium was built on the destruction of the Terra civilization on this planet.

7 Although the Terran civilization of today is indeed inhuman in many ways, Ernst did live here for 23 years. This is a place he cares about.

He refused to accept such destruction. Even if, theoretically, he could still survive after the destruction, even if what brought about the destruction was, to some extent, "himself from the past."

Lu's choice is the same as his initial one of voluntarily sacrificing himself and handing over his "amber shell".

By sacrificing his body, he wouldn't lose much. At most, it would be one life. But he might save an entire civilization.

The same applies to the fourth one; by rejecting the Originium Project, he too is trying to save a civilization.

Si had already done his best for the previous civilization, even losing his life in the process. Strictly speaking, he wasn't a person of the previous civilization, so there was no point in having him sit on the sidelines. There was no need to expect him to gamble his entire soul into Precys's plan.

However, it would be inappropriate to directly break ties with Precys and part ways.

After all, no matter how much Ernst rejects the Originium Project, he will eventually have to face the ultimate question after the Three Calamities—how to survive as a lumberjack?

Terran civilization can't withstand lumberjacks.

Precyth softened her stance at the end, indicating she was willing to make a deal, which was good news.

Ernst stated, "We can talk, we can talk, I can talk, I can love the previous civilization!"

Ernst hoped to find other solutions, but if there were no other options, Precys's Originium Project was a last resort.

And for Ernst, there was even better news.

—Pricys was not omniscient.

This was something Ernst only realized at the very end, and it was the part of the nine-true-one-false lie that Precys first told, which she thought was "true" but didn't even realize was actually "false."

Ernst asked her at the time, "How much do you know?"

She replied, "Everything. Including your origins, your past, and that world that wasn't Terra."

At that time, because "debate" would reveal true feelings and because of the overwhelming amount of information he received, Ernst accepted Precys's words without much thought. Furthermore, in subsequent exchanges, he consistently adhered to the principle that "Precys knows everything."