Chapter 703: A Familiar Name

“Look, there are survivors over there.” Luo Zhu pointed to an outpost forty miles away, overjoyed.

Having survivors meant this planet wasn’t completely extinct; it fell within the range of being on the brink of destruction, and there was a high probability it could be salvaged, allowing its civilization to continue.

The settlement was a small city, messy and devoid of aesthetic appeal, seemingly precarious, yet every construction style served a purpose.

The primary function of the settlement’s buildings was to house people and be sturdy; comfort was the last consideration.

Here, everyone was a soldier of sorts, with a certain division of labor. Some were responsible for venturing out to find relics from the old world, some engaged in farming to ensure food supply, some taught, ensuring the civilization’s knowledge was passed down…

When the three arrived, a loud siren blared. The people in the settlement dropped what they were doing, aiming their weapons at the trio. Those who were outside heard the sound and rushed back.

“We mean no harm…” Luo Ying tried to explain, but the other side didn’t listen at all, shouting a stern question.

“Why is your radiation level so high! Approaching us with such high radiation, do you want to kill everyone?”

The three were taken aback, realizing the siren wasn’t because of them, but because they carried radiation.

Luo Ying was the first to react, whispering, “It must be because of the place we just visited. There was probably an explosion of nuclear weapons or similar, leaving radiation. Although we aren’t afraid of radiation, for these survivors, it’s a deadly weapon.”

According to statistics, many worlds faced the difficult problem of handling radiation after nuclear wars. For this reason, the Dao Sect specifically sent people for on-site inspections to research new spells.

The three silently recited an oral formula and quickly cleansed the radiation. The siren also quieted down.

However, the survivors remained wary of the trio. In this desolate wasteland, the appearance of three outsiders carrying radiation, followed by the siren stopping so quickly, was just too bizarre.

“Don’t come any closer! I’ll shoot if you take another step!” A survivor raised a weapon produced two hundred years ago, warning the three.

Whether the weapon could even fire was another matter.

Luo Ying helplessly raised his hands and shouted loudly, “We are traveling merchants. We mean no harm. We came here just to sell things.”

“Outsiders, you are not welcome here!”

The survivors still didn’t believe them, holding their weapons, ready to attack at any moment.

What kind of traveling merchant arrives empty-handed?

Seeing the other side was uncooperative and unwilling to cause conflict, the three decided they might as well go elsewhere to look for survivors.

The reason they hadn’t found any survivors before was that they went to the areas most severely affected by the war, where radiation levels were far beyond the limit. How could anyone live there?

The survivors all lived in clean zones.

Luo Ying updated the record: “Zhou Tian World, Report Number Twelve. Currently on Blue Star. Survivors discovered.”

The three soon found a new survivor settlement. They put on backpacks, disguised themselves as traveling merchants, and tried to inquire about the past.

Unfortunately, the historical break on Blue Star was too severe. Even the oldest elders only heard from the previous generation why Blue Star became what it is now, with too many vague points.

The three searched over ten survivor settlements, but the results were largely similar. History was a distant thing for them; they could no longer remember how the war started or how it ended.

“Memory is unreliable. We still need to find documentary records.” Luo Ying’s viewpoint was agreed upon by his sister and Ji Kongkong.

They found dictionaries in six languages and learned the mainstream languages of Blue Star.

“Ordinary places have been destroyed by the war, making it hard to find information. We should go to the national defense departments, combat command centers, or bomb shelters of various countries to look for clues.”

After learning the languages, the three finally understood the functions of the buildings.

Libraries, schools, hospitals, courts, government buildings, landmark structures in various places… Knowing their functions was useless; these had all become ruins, holding no value.

The three moved at high speed across Blue Star’s surface, going to various places to search for the truth of the past.

After several days of effort, gathering information from all sides, combined with Ji Kongkong’s Dao of time, the three pieced together the final piece of the puzzle in a bomb shelter, understanding the origin of the war.

“Over two hundred years ago, five countries on Blue Star were the most powerful. Their intentions determined the world’s direction.”

“However, conflicts existed among these five countries. Their opinions often failed to unify, and covert and overt struggles were very common.”

“At this time, a mysterious person appeared, claiming to be from the Immortal Realm, here to help Blue Star. The mysterious person provided technical support to each country, making their weapons increasingly powerful, to the point where any single country’s arsenal was sufficient to cover half of Blue Star with firepower.”

“Through verification via the Dao of time, the mysterious person was the Executor of Karma.”

“Yield equals truth, and these five countries all grasped this truth.”

“Each country wanted to surpass others in national defense, triggering a global arms race.”

“The materials left by the Executor of Karma for each country were rich in content. As long as money and manpower were invested, more knowledge could be extracted from the materials to upgrade weapons.”

“Countries reduced research into outer space, shifting focus to national defense.”

“Ultimately, each country’s weapons reached their peak. A single country’s arsenal was enough to turn the entire Blue Star into a sea of fire, reduce the surface to ruins, with a terror surpassing all natural disasters.”

“The Executor of Karma appeared again. He went to one of the countries and pressed the nuclear weapon button. Several nuclear bombs were launched at other countries, targeting either the national capitals or the families of national leaders.”

“This became the spark that ignited the powder keg.”

“A chain reaction began. Other countries also launched nuclear bombs in response. Instantly, the entire world was plunged into a sea of fire.”

“Each country had built bomb shelters to protect their people. Therefore, when the war began and alarms sounded, more than half of the people hid in bomb shelters and survived.”

“But this was only the beginning of the war.”

“Once hatred is ignited, it is hard to extinguish. This historically most brutal war lasted a full ten years, exhausting the arsenals of all countries.”

“Two hundred years ago, the war ended, and Blue Star civilization also welcomed its twilight.”

“After surviving, the survivors found themselves in dire straits. Radiation limited their range of activity. To compete for resources and live in clean zones, they killed each other, making the already scarce survivors even fewer.”

“The war destroyed material things and also destroyed heritage. Regarding Blue Star’s culture, the three of us know more than the survivors.”

The matter of the Executor of Karma did not exist in any archives; his deeds were seen through the Double Pupils.

The appearance of the Executor of Karma was not a surprise to the three. In the first eleven worlds of the Zhou Tian World, there were traces of the Executor of Karma.

The method used by the Executor of Karma this time, they had seen in reports from other cultivators.

Having uncovered the truth, the three remained silent for a long time. A sense of powerlessness pressed down on them, suffocating them.

“What do you think… does the state of Blue Star civilization belong to ‘destroyed’ or ‘on the brink of destruction’?” Luo Ying’s voice carried bitterness.

Ji Kongkong’s mood was also low: “That’s not for us to determine. Our task here is to record truthfully and report to the Human Sovereign Hall.”

“Let’s go. Let’s look around elsewhere. I’ll use the Dao of time to restore Blue Star civilization as much as possible.”

Above the bomb shelter was an orphanage. The orphanage director had a small booklet recording the backgrounds of the various orphans in the orphanage.

Luo Zhu inadvertently saw a familiar name in the booklet.

Jiang Li.

Time of death: Two hundred and sixty years ago.