——I long to look up at the blue sky.
——I yearn to gaze upon the stars.
——I wish to touch the clouds.
——I want to catch the wind in my hands.
Desires tumble one after another, and wishes cry out, each in turn.
Different people, different wishes, different longings and wanderings.
Carrying sorrow, carrying anger, carrying hope, carrying determination.
All these emotions resonated with Ian, and at this moment, he felt a profound empathy for all of them, the indescribable complex longings so similar to his own.
Imprisoned on this land, surrounded by souls bound by gravity, and those nations who, despite possessing powerful technology, have no desire to step out but instead wage wars against other countries... Each one filled him with sadness and anger.
But...
’He’ could no longer see.
Once a blond, robust man with sky-blue eyes, he had become a frail old man unable to open the door to the outside world. The Redwood Base was like a cage, locking him in this comfortable yet gradually decaying underground space.
Yes, it was comfortable and cozy here.
Yes, he held a high position here.
Yes, he had immense power and the reverence of the people.
Yes, he had reached the pinnacle of life—he could do anything.
Except for what he wanted to do.
And...
He was about to die.
[When I die, can my body not even be sent out of the ruins?]
[The Great Elder... Your body itself is our most important legacy. What if an external mutated creature consumes your body and obtains the Bloodline Key? Not to mention, your Attached Brain must certainly be recovered.]
Even the body itself is property, a fact that could not be more normal. Redwood People needed special treatment before they could be buried, because all sorts of nanovaccines, special immune viruses, and Photosymbiotic Fungi in their bodies were technologies left from the previous era. If leaked to the outside world, while it would not precipitate an ecological disaster, it would definitely have a negative impact.
The Attached Brain, which held inherited memories, was even to be removed after death for memory uploading.
But for the Redwood People, removing the Attached Brain was like taking away half of their soul. What use would there be for that incomplete body then?
[Alright, I understand...]
No one could detect the faint despair in the voice of the Great Elder.
As well as his resolve.
So, two years later, the automated production line was suddenly damaged due to an accident.
Following this, the restraints in the ecological garden were destroyed.
Both crises threw the entire Redwood Base into turmoil. The automated production line issue was manageable, as the technological skills were contained within the Attached Brain; whether remaking or repairing it was not difficult, just a waste of time requiring mining and smelting metals.
But the destruction of the ecological garden and the mingling of different Alien Forms within it was enough to unleash a second-degree ecological crisis right there!
In dealing with this massive upheaval, no one noticed that in the depths of the ecological garden laboratory, some highly confidential gene samples were taken.
Then, as if the misfortunes were not enough, Redwood People started disappearing one by one.
They vanished silently overnight, causing unprecedented alarm among everyone, thinking that the Alien Forms from the ecological garden or those left outside were now attacking them.
Members of the Guard Squad patrolled day and night in their Armor Suits, yet people kept disappearing.
Until one day, a person attempting to leave was discovered by the Guard Squad, but this person had lost their self-will, their mind completely chaotic, spouting nonsensical words as if they had utterly lost their sanity.
After thorough medical examinations, everyone was shocked to find that the Attached Brain at the back of this person’s brainstem had mutated. This part, which should have been utterly stable, a half Spirit Energy Slug, had begun to devour the human brain, attempting to replace it.
The source of all this was eventually discovered. After meticulous investigation, the Redwood People horrifyingly found that all the disappearances occurred at the far end of the H-55 underwater channel, the source of the Viewing River, a minor flow from the power unit’s cooling channel.
There, in the purification plant, was a mound made of corpses and an old, small biological laboratory.
Many of the devices inside were of the highest secrecy, existing only in previous era laboratories accessed with key cards. And only one person could open the laboratory without applying for it.
That was their leader, the Redwood Great Elder.
[What are you doing?! Madara Qunsen, why would you do this!?]
[Eternal life]
[Are you insane?! This isn’t eternal life at all, you’re just turning yourself into an Echo. Even if you could really etch your soul into the Spirit Energy Network of the Attached Brain and become a Mirror... you would become a collective of wills of the Attached Brain, not the current you!]
[I don’t care.]
[What... what?]
[I said, I don’t care.]
——I don’t care whether I’m Human or not, I don’t care whether this violates morals or not, I don’t care if this will destroy the ecological balance of Redwood Base.
——I don’t care about you, nor do I care about myself.
—— Life, soul, memory, self, all these things are shit, they’re garbage, they only breed despair and pain. Can the Worm Nest network carry the complete me? Ridiculous, so what if it can’t? Only boring fools like you would fuss over such trivial details, no wonder you’re still content to stay in this underground tomb.