The Terra Travel Diary of Neither Sacred, Rhea, nor Terra

29: The symbol of the Tower of Babel

After entering the wilderness, Miku's driving style was not so considerate because there were not so many Originium crystal clusters as obstacles, and he also had to tell Christen the story of the Tower of Babel.

This made Di Ling, who was almost thrown off the motorcycle at the start, feel a little relieved.

After a while, the relieved earth spirit felt something was wrong.

That was because Miku and General Kristen were too quiet. Above the flat wilderness, the only sounds were the engine sounds of the motorcycle and the robot flying behind them.

If it were another vehicle, a transport truck or a landship, or if there was a project or a special ore at hand, the earth spirit could stay alone and quietly for a long time.

But the earth spirit currently sitting on the back seat of the motorcycle does not have this condition.

At the same time, after becoming a "researcher" of Rhine Life to be studied, Di Ling didn't know what attitude he should use to ask questions to Christen... Or could it be that he became a researcher to be studied because he asked too many questions?

After a strange silence lasted for a while, the Earth Spirit finally spoke first:

"Are we going to Kjerag now?"

The endless snow-capped mountains on the horizon did not seem far away, but at the speed of this old car, it would take two or three days to reach Kjerag where the snow-capped mountains were.

Hearing the question raised by the earth spirit, Miku, who was driving a motorcycle and telling a story, turned his head to look at the little goat behind him.

Oh, is this lonely?

After all, Miku was telling the story to Kristen in the private chat channel, and the earth spirit who did not join the private chat channel of course could not hear anything.

Understanding this, Miku maintained the speed of the motorcycle, reached into his "backpack", took out a small gadget and threw it to the earth spirit.

The earth spirit quickly caught it and saw that this little gadget was an in-ear wireless headset. Although the design was not specially designed for Caprini people like her, it could still be used.

Some curious rice

The earth spirit who was thrown a pair of earphones by Ku stuffed the earphones into the beast ears on top of its head.

For most Terrans who have two pairs of four ears, which ear to put this in-ear headset into is purely a matter of personal habit, and generally they do whichever is more convenient.

As soon as he put on the headphones, Di Ling heard a cold female voice coming from the headphones:

"What about after the tower fell?"

The sudden voice startled the Earth Spirit and made it wonder who said it.

"After the tower collapsed, God used magic to create language differences between people. As a result, the lack of language made it impossible for humans to unite together, and no one could build a new Tower of Babel."

Ignoring the earth spirit's doubts, Miku told Christen the last part of the Tower of Babel story.

“Is this story a myth or something that really happened?”

Kristen, who also ignored the earth spirit, asked Miku.

At this time, the earth spirit who heard Miku's voice finally understood what had happened, and also knew that the strange and cold female voice just now was her new boss, General Kristen.

So, you guys have actually been chatting on the internal communication system? Di Ling inexplicably felt excluded.

Fortunately, the Earth Spirit reacted quickly and there was no need to consider her thoughts on opening a separate chat channel between Miku and Kristen.

Anyway, I am just a person being studied.

"Some are myths, some are true stories, and some are..." Miku said to Kristen with a very emotional tone:

“It’s a myth that actually happened.”

“Have you participated in it?”

Compared to the Tower of Babel legend itself, Kristen was more curious about whether the alien Miku was involved in these myths.

“I participated in some of them. Sometimes I was responsible for dismantling the towers, and sometimes I was responsible for building the towers.”

Miku answered without any evasion, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"..." Although she had guessed that the answer would be similar, Kristen remained silent for a while before saying:

"So, you want to use this story to remind me that if we want to truly build the Tower of Babel, we need to achieve cultural unity? Or do you want to remind me that there are gods like God in heaven who forbid this behavior?"

"It's just a story. What you get from it depends on each person."

Miku did not directly answer Christen's question, but chose to evasively continue:

“You can even just think of this story as a story.”

“…”It was obvious that for Kristen, the story told by Miku was definitely not just a story.

Di Ling, who was just pulled into the group chat, was full of questions. What kind of story is this? What about demolishing a tower and building a tower? Why don't you talk about academic and professional knowledge?

The little goat found that he still seemed to be excluded.

Without paying any attention to Di Ling, Kristen was silent for a while and then brought the topic back to her original question.

That's why Miku was so surprised when he heard that Rhodes Island was once called the Tower of Babel.

"This is very simple." Miku also knew that he was a little excited and explained:

"The Tower of Babel was a tower that was demolished by God, symbolizing mankind's resistance to theocracy. From the perspective of historical materialism, it is a process in which theocracy is inevitably replaced by feudal monarchy as civilization develops."

"But the origin of the name Rhodes Island is that it was originally the territory of the Sun God and the legacy of the Age of Gods. Later, this legacy was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller under God, and it became the local office of God's power."

"That's why I find it strange that the Tower of Babel was renamed Rhodes Island."

Although it was strange, Miku could tell from the fact that Christen didn't know about the legends of the Tower of Babel and Rhodes Island that the people who established this force on Terra should be the descendants of the ancient humans who once lived in this world.

Or perhaps the people who established this force saw relevant ancient human records from somewhere.

"I see." After listening to Miku's explanation, Christen also understood what was strange.

Things that were originally completely opposite were squeezed together.

At the same time, Christen also realized that the establishment of the Tower of Babel and Rhodes Island might have a certain relationship with the civilization of the previous generation.

Because Christen had once seen Friston, an ancient human who integrated his consciousness into machines and lived for more than 13,000 years.

"So tell me what's going on with the Tower of Babel and Rhodes Island in this world." Miku asked Christen curiously.

"I know, but not in detail..." After putting a layer of armor on herself, Kristen did not speak immediately. Instead, she turned her head and "looked" at the earth spirit sitting behind Miku with her metal head without any facial features.

Some of the things she was going to say would happen in the future and were not suitable for other people to know.

The earth spirit who was being "watched" by Kristen realized that the other party seemed to be saying something secret, and immediately wondered whether he should take off his headphones.

If it were someone else, they might take off their headphones directly to avoid knowing something they shouldn’t know.

But for the Earth Spirit, she only heard half of it and was now in a state of great curiosity...

…and she noticed that Kristen actually addressed Miku in a very respectful tone.

In the worldview of Earth Spirit, Christen, as the chief of Rhine Life, is already a top figure.

What kind of person could be respected by such a great man? The Emperor of Ursus or the Witch King of Leithania?

No, neither the Emperor of Ursus nor the Witch King of Leithania were worthy of such a gesture from someone like Kristen.

It should be someone who is more powerful in the academic world, but Di Ling has no idea who is more powerful than Kristen in the academic world.

Fortunately, before the Earth Spirit could come to any conclusion, Miku helped her out.

"It doesn't matter. We are one family. Otherwise, why would I help her cure her mineralopathy?"

So the earth spirit's curiosity shifted to herself.

"I see." Kristen once again put on an attitude of "that's how it is."

Miku's words also answered Christen's doubts about why Miku wanted to cure the earth spirit's mineral disease specifically.

Apparently, the little goat had touched upon some of Miku's fragmented memories... memories of the Miku who once lived on Terra.

Maybe... this is just a coincidence?

30: Strange Bandit

Christen's guess was correct. The reason why Miku said that the earth spirit was one of his own was indeed because the little goat touched some of Miku's memories.

Moreover, it was when Miku saw Diling and Kristen discussing the treatment of “researchers” that he recalled the broken memory.

Among Miku's fragmented memories, the most complete one is that the earth spirits who were unknown where and when were also discussing treatment, but the object was not Christen, but Miku himself.

In front of Miku, the earth spirit who claimed to be a geologist and magician said in a serious tone that his working hours were eight hours a day, and if he had to work overtime, he would need to pay extra overtime pay.

This is the most complete of all the fragmented memories that were recalled. It seems that in the impression of that "Miku", the image of the earth spirit is basically equated with the eight-hour work system.

Christen, who didn't know all this yet, followed Miku's request and introduced the former Tower of Babel, as well as the present and future Rhodes Island.

Just like Kristen's stacked armor, she didn't know much.

Christen only knew that Rhodes Island was once the Tower of Babel and was the loser of the Kazdel Civil War.

After its failure, Babel reorganized into Rhodes Island, a mobile medical company specializing in oripathy.

Although it wasn’t established long ago… at least not very long until Christen went to space.

However, relying on its strong scientific research capabilities, Rhodes Island can compete with Rhine Life Sciences in the treatment of mineralogy, or even surpass it.

Although according to Kristen, this was because she didn't focus her energy on this aspect.

If she wanted, Rhine Life would be no worse than Rhodes Island.

From what Kristen said, Miku could tell that Rhodes Island, which was either an exiled regime in disguise as a medical company or really considered itself a medical company, was quite skilled in treating oripathy.

Even Christen only dared to say that if she worked hard, she would not be worse than Rhodes Island, not that she would definitely do better than Rhodes Island.

"It fits the name of Rhodes Island quite well."

What Miku meant is quite consistent with the setting of the Hospitaller's base... although the Hospitaller Knights were only doing this business in the beginning, and later became a purely military force.

And for Christen, what impressed her most about Rhodes Island was not its medical level, but its talent recruitment skills.

If Christen remembered correctly, after leaving her, Saria joined Rhodes Island.

Later, Dorothy, director of the Stone Technology Application Department, also joined Rhode Island.

As for Muerseth, if Saria doesn't want to return to Rhine Life, then she should also join Rhodes Island.

Poaching a founder and two department heads would be like declaring the two companies enemies if it happened to any other company.

But Christen didn't have this idea. She even thought it was a good thing for Saria.

"You mean that both Saria and Muirses have joined Rhodes Island?" Miku grasped a key point in Kristen's words.

"In the future, but not right now." Kristen calculated the time and said, "But it should be soon."

The Fire Demon incident will happen in more than a year. After that incident, Saria will leave Rhine Life and join Rhodes Island.

"At least for now, Saria should still be in her office in the Rhine Life Defense Department." Christen said in a somewhat melancholy tone.

For her dream of flying, Kristen gave up too many things.

Maybe these things won’t slow her down as she pursues her dreams.

But looking back now, some things and some people can still be saved... At least for Kristen now, many plans that ultimately serve Arclight One are no longer necessary to continue.

Why continue trial and error when you already have the answer?

"???" As the only person responsible for listening in the chat channel, Di Ling was in a brainstorm because of Kristen's words.

What do you mean by "will be in the future, not yet"? Isn't Ms. Saria another founder of Rhine Life?

Is this the so-called power struggle within a large company? Knowing that he was just a small shrimp, the earth spirit trembled a little.

"I see..." Miku nodded after thinking of another point, and then stepped on the brake without any warning.

Although the speed was not very fast, the sudden stop still caused the other two people on the motorcycle to shake uncontrollably. Di Ling even fell headfirst onto Miku's back, and the goat horns on his head almost poked the back of Miku's head.

"What's wrong?" Christine, sitting in the sidecar, didn't make any fool of herself thanks to the seat belt...although seriously speaking, this seat belt seemed to be of no use to Christine with her current weight.

"There are a few rats." Miku stopped the car and raised his hand.

"Rat? Zakla?" Christen was stunned for a moment. Before she could react to what was happening, she heard a sound of breaking air beside her ears.

"Be careful, it's a crossbow arrow!" In terms of vigilance, the earth spirit who has been running in the wild for a long time is much higher than Christen.

After giving a loud reminder, she immediately raised the tuning fork staff at hand and skillfully jumped off the motorcycle.

And based on the direction of the crossbow sound, he hid on the other side of the motorcycle.

Because the other side happened to be the side of the sidecar, Di Ling bent down and stretched out his hand to Christen, as if he wanted to pull her out of the car as well.

This was a purely subconscious reaction. Unfortunately, after reaching out her hand, Di Ling realized that the lady in charge was really heavy. Her attempt to pull Christen out of the car was completely ineffective.

"Is it the enemy?" Kristen asked almost a second late.