Night World Players

Chapter 191 "The Hero Forgotten by Time" - Rust (Two Chapters Combined)

"Let's not talk about the senior sister for now, let's talk about business."

Rast withdrew his gaze from the night outside the window where Ingrid had disappeared, and turned to look at the little ferret on his shoulder.

"In the past few months, I asked Dean Yin to do something for you——"

"How's the gathering of intelligence on those newly emerged historical echoes in the night world going?"

Although it took Last nearly four months to convince Ingrid and recruit this arrogant Chief Inspector into his own service.

But from the beginning to the end, he was very clear about what he was going to do next, and had already planned out his future plans -

That is to conduct further exploration of the night world and the subsequent historical echoes of the Sixth Epoch.

Based on the past experience of Star University in exploring the night world, in every old era, a total of twelve night worlds corresponding to different historical periods will appear.

Now is the Seventh Era, and the Night World records six old eras that have disappeared. Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, there will be a total of seventy-two Night Worlds - quite similar to the seventy-two demons of King Solomon in the myths and legends of Rast's previous life.

The twelve night worlds in the same era usually follow the chronological order corresponding to their historical background.

From the Bronze Age when the spark of civilization began to ignite; to the Silver and Golden Ages when it prospered and flourished; to the turning point when civilization declined; and to the final stage when the flame of civilization gradually dimmed until it was completely extinguished.

The night worlds that had been conquered by the Night Travelers in the past, the historical remnants of the first five vanished Old Ages, all followed this pattern of appearance—until all twelve night worlds of an Age were conquered, the disaster at the end of the Age annihilated everything, and then a new cycle began.

However, the Sixth Age civilization that Last personally experienced was different.

According to common sense, the civilization of the Sixth Epoch had actually completely declined from its peak after the Iron Cross Plague broke out in Deep Blue Port, and began to embark on an irreversible downward path.

Even with the efforts of the Shore Watchers, the spark of human civilization was managed to be maintained for more than a hundred years, but in the end it was just a lasting struggle.

In the words of the legendary gravekeeper Noah, following the laws of the plane, or the so-called "laws of nature", the life cycle of the Sixth Epoch has entered its end and is destined to come to an end.

If the defenders had lost the battle at Broken Shore.

Then, after losing the protection of the Shore Guardian Organization and the last legendary strongman, the surviving human settlements on the continent will be destroyed one after another within a few decades, and then naturally usher in the final disaster, and then restart according to the laws of nature.

but--

However, Cecil won the battle of Broken Coast.

The old man used his last bit of strength to pull all the legends who could walk the earth on the Western Continent at that time to be buried with him.

He even almost single-handedly rewrote the fate of human civilization in the Sixth Epoch... and reversed the clear historical trajectory that had been defined by the laws of nature into a fog that no one could predict.

Then, he entrusted the position of leader of the Shore Guardians and the mission of guarding civilization to Gray.

After the battle at the Broken Shore, there were no more legendary creatures left in the world... Although potential dangers such as the Beast Tide, the Iron Cross, and the Evil Cult still existed, without the oppression of legends, these hidden dangers were far less suffocating.

What Cecil left to Grey and future generations was a world that was infinitely vast, full of dangers, yet full of vitality and true freedom.

Gray, who inherited Cecil's duties and mission and became the new shore guardian...how far can she lead the remaining humans in that vast wilderness?

Even Rast himself, who had experienced everything, could not know this.

However, according to statistics from Starry University, when Rast participated in the Battle of the Broken Coast, less than half of the twelve night worlds of the Sixth Epoch had appeared.

This also means that the battle at the Broken Coast was not the end of the entire Sixth Epoch's history...

It may even be the beginning of another new era.

This new era marks the final golden age of Sixth Epoch Civilization, and will become the meeting point between the Night World and the present world, between the Sixth and Seventh Epochs... This is also the gap in the historical records of the present world, a period shrouded in mystery thousands of years ago, known as the "Pale Age."

And Rast also had a very strong premonition in his heart.

The secrets that I long to explore in my heart——

The true cause of the "Fall of Canaan" two hundred years ago, and the origin of the seemingly safe and sound town of Canaan, sandwiched between the night world and the real world.

He also wanted to know why he had been trapped in the echoes of history for over three hundred years, the truth behind Xiao Ai's current existence, and a way to truly reunite with her...

Even the true origin of this "night world" that never appeared in the previous six eras but suddenly appeared in the seventh era.

All in all.

Perhaps I can get the complete answer in the last "pale period" of the Sixth Epoch.

……

"I knew you would ask this, so I've found out everything for you."

Dean Yin yawned on Last's shoulder. "It took me a lot of effort to collect this information for you. I've even been eating less dried fish these days."

It lazily stretched out its furry snow-white tail and coiled it in the air.

The next moment, a roll of files appeared in Dean Yin's tail and was rolled up by the big tail and sent to Last's eyes.

"Speaking of which, I did contribute a lot in your quest to subdue Ingrid. Once your organization is established, don't forget to reserve a position for me as your totem to repay me."

"Of course, when the time comes, Ingrid and I will definitely honor you, Dean Yin, as a guardian beast of religion. We'll arrange for two servants to serve you tea and water, fan you, and comb your fur every day."

Last stroked Dean Yin's snow-white hair, took the file from the big tail, and spread it out.

When he saw the words on the file clearly, Last's eyes narrowed slightly.

"In the past four months, two new night worlds have appeared. One is located within the Empire, and the other is located in the north of the Holy Kingdom of Far North, in the unclaimed land of the Arctic Icefield."

"According to the pioneering information relayed back by the Lionheart Institute of Star University and the strategy team—" "The historical echoes of these night worlds indicate that their level of civilization has significantly surpassed that of the present world."

"This is the highest level of human civilization ever discovered during the entire exploration of the night world. It can be defined as the near future, or the era of science fiction."

"After you last cleared 'Echoes of an Epoch' in the Arcana Tower and fought the battle for the Broken Coast, it seems some of the restrictions in the Night World's rules have been lifted, and the speed at which new Echoes of History appear has been greatly accelerated."

Dean Yin's voice sounded in Last's ears at the right time.

"In the first few years, or even more than ten years, there would only be one entrance to the night world, but now they are popping up like mushrooms after rain."

It used its tail to reel in a small dried fish from its secondary dimension and put it into its mouth. It licked its paw and said, "At this rate of development, in two years at most, before you graduate, all seventy-two night worlds will have fully appeared."

Last's gaze remained fixed on the dossier. "The historical echoes following the Sixth Epoch are set in the near future, perhaps even the science fiction era?"

"Ah."

Dean Yin nodded. "The first five Old Ages we, the Night Travelers, have explored in the Night World in the past. Although there are some minor differences in details due to the different branches of the technology tree, for example, some eras are magical civilizations, while others have developed ore refining and alchemy technology to the extreme."

"But generally speaking, the highest point that human civilization ever reached during the first five epochs was only the Steam Age—"

"Afterwards, these civilizations would decline for various reasons, their technological advancements stagnating or even regressing until the end of the era."

"No civilization before this has ever truly entered the atomic age, let alone the information age like ours."

Dean Yin yawned. "So, before this, we always believed that human civilization, now in the Seventh Epoch, was at the pinnacle of technological advancement of all epochs, reaching an information age unprecedented in history..."

"After all, because of the existence of the Night World, when modern human civilization was still in its infancy in the Bronze Age, those previous generations of Night Travelers were able to glimpse the various inventions and creations of previous civilizations through the echoes of history, thus saving many detours in the development of civilization."

"It is precisely by learning from previous civilizations through the Night World that modern humanity has been able to rapidly develop into the current information age in just a few thousand years."

"only--"

Dean Yin glanced at Last, who was standing beside him. "It seems that the civilization of the Sixth Epoch is even more exaggerated than our own, even to the point of being beyond imagination."

"It's clear that the level of technology before this had completely stagnated in the steam age, and had even begun to regress—"

"But after the Battle of the Broken Coast, the Sixth Epoch's humanity seemed to have experienced an unimaginable technological explosion."

"In just less than two hundred years, they completely surpassed the current technological level and completed a journey that would have taken four or five hundred years to complete."

Hearing Dean Yin's words, there was not much surprise in Last's eyes.

After all, although outsiders are unaware of this, Last, as someone who has experienced it personally, knows it all.

The leader of Cessel, relying on his own strength and his understanding of the laws of stellar operation as a member of the "Sun" sequence, has spent hundreds of years to deduce a complete model of controlled nuclear fusion in his mind.

Before choosing to die in the Battle of the Broken Coast, Cecil had already stored all the knowledge related to "controlled nuclear fusion" in the "Library of Fools" and passed it all on to Grey.

Even Rast himself at that time passed on all the knowledge and technical details of the future world to Grey through the Library of Fools.

It can be said that Grey has been standing on the shoulders of giants since the very beginning.

Under her leadership, the subsequent Sixth Age civilization entered the fast lane, and a "technological explosion" occurred in a short period of time, which did not surprise Last.

"How sci-fi is the sci-fi era?"

He looked at the ferret over his shoulder. "Humanity has already built spaceships capable of traveling across interstellar systems, breaking away from their original home planets and colonizing outer space. They've even built Dyson spheres to capture stellar energy, and constructed star destroyers and Heaven-burning Divine Weapons?"

"And in the process of exploring the unknown universe, they accidentally angered a fallen empire, leading to the destruction of the Sixth Epoch Civilization?"

"It's only been less than two hundred years. Even if there's been a technological explosion, it's not as exaggerated as you say."

Dean Snow Ferret rolled his eyes at Rust and patted his shoulder with his big, furry tail. "It's only in the near future. It still maintains the posture of a technological city and country."

"It's just that in most technological areas, they have already surpassed the mechanics of today—"

"For example, in that echo of history, biotechnology is highly advanced. Mechanical organ modification, transplantation, and mecha armaments are all but forgotten. Even at the cutting edge, there's technology that creates a mechanical body, imbues it with human consciousness, and allows the machine to live as a living being."

"And the entertainment technology in that night world is also highly advanced, for example..."

Dean Yin's voice paused slightly.

"Like what?"

"For example, those virtual reality games that only exist in online game novels, which can completely simulate real human senses, and fully immersive VR games."

Dean Yin jumped down from Last's shoulder, stood on the windowsill, and looked at Last seriously.

"Oh, there's one more thing... Because it needs to be kept confidential, it's not recorded in the file. I can only repeat it verbally."

"A night traveler discovered the figure of a historical figure in a virtual reality VR game that is popular across the continent. The game is based on historical figures."

"Someone's figure?"

"Um……"

Dean Yin's tone became subtle:
"The orphan of Deep Blue Harbor, the shore guardian from two hundred years ago, the spiritual mentor and pillar of the legendary leader Grey."

"A hero who single-handedly reversed the outcome of the Battle of the Broken Coast and saved the Sixth Epoch Civilization..."

“The one forgotten by time,” the “unfaithful tyrant of the underworld,” the “lonely king who turned his back on all living beings”—”

"Last."

(End of this chapter)