I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

"Don't worry, these insects have water storage sacs inside their bodies. They collect the water by chewing sand, so their bodies contain a lot of clean water that can be drunk by humans after boiling."

Shuangxin explained that she had taken out a pickaxe from her backpack, cracked open the frozen insects, and together with the other two, removed the huge block of ice from within.

By the time the ice was chiseled off, the temperature had risen considerably, and the frozen insects were gradually melting.

They only took a portion of the water, enough for a week's supply, including what was left. The rest gradually disappeared into the desert.

"We have to leave something for other creatures."

Shuangxin looked at the vanished corpse and murmured to herself.

Chapter 487 The City Without Windows

"This is the nature of the ecosystem here."

“Every species has its place in this desert, and as long as they are not over-hunted, they can always survive.”

Sitting on the camel worm, Shuangxin looked at the azure sky ahead and said.

“I once had the opportunity to see the records of the city-state library and read materials about human life before the catastrophe. At that time, the whole world was full of green trees, mountains, lakes and plains. I can only understand these words from written and picture records.”

"When I saw those records, I felt a mix of longing and heartache. I longed for such a beautiful world, but I was heartbroken because people back then didn't know how to cherish it and destroyed it all."

"That's why I want to study insect swarms, find their weaknesses, and completely eliminate them."

Upon hearing Shuangxin's words, Lu Ban remained silent.

The reason why the wasteland has become like this may not really have much to do with what humans have done. Any alien land under the gaze of the evil god cannot escape its fate. What humans do or do not do is of no use.

It's okay, it's all the same.

As for whether the wasteland can completely eliminate the swarm of insects, Lu Ban doesn't know. He wonders whether this world can ultimately rely on the efforts of researchers like Shuangxin to eliminate the swarm and continue its desolate but vibrant present, or whether it will be completely devoured and drained by the swarm, leaving only endless yellow sand.

The four of them headed toward the location marked on the map, and about four days later, a small ruin appeared in their view at the edge of the horizon.

The ruins were much smaller than the cities Lu Ban had seen before. At first glance, they looked like the size of a regular university campus, more like a facility than a city or town.

Perhaps due to weathering, there are no tall buildings or large open spaces in the ruins, only rows of low houses.

Unlike ordinary ruins, the houses here don't look too damaged, as if they've been maintained all along.

Lu Ban looked over with his [True Vision], but due to a lack of understanding, he could only use it as a telescope.

This sight surprised Lu Ban.

Because those buildings had no windows, they were just four walls. In reality, he had only seen some research institutes that needed to be isolated, which had this kind of configuration.

"Where did you get this intelligence about the location?"

Lu Ban couldn't help but ask.

"The records in the library sometimes mention special locations. The city-state will send people to investigate, and some of them are just ruins."

The singer answered truthfully.

“These ruins look very new; there’s something wrong with them.”

Lu Ban reminded him.

"Very new?"

Shuangxin frowned and glanced at Lu Ban.

“My eyesight is very good, I can see clearly. Look, those buildings have no windows, and the walls are not damaged. This does not look like a ruin at all.”

Lu Ban pointed.

"Does anyone live here?"

He guessed in an instant.

"Would anyone be in a place like this?"

The singer sensed something was wrong.

"I think it's unlikely; it might be a swarm of insects."

Lu Ban continued, saying that since they couldn't see a single insect right now, he wasn't sure what was going on.

"How about this, I'm fast, I'll go check the situation first?"

So he suggested that he go and check it out by himself first. If there was a swarm of insects, he could use the cat to finish it off. If there was no swarm of insects, he could search for this strange place.

"I will go with you."

Shuangxin said.

Lu Ban initially wanted to refuse, but after considering Shuang Xin's abilities, he thought that she might be able to help when encountering a large number of insects, so he did not refuse.

The singer and Setsuna stayed behind to guard the area, while Lu Ban and Shuang Xin rode camel-insects to the edge of the ruins.

Upon closer inspection, Lu Ban became even more certain of his previous guess. The building's surface was only covered with a thin layer of dust, and the signs of weathering were not obvious. In simple terms, something must be taking care of it.

Another thing is that there is a wall surrounding the ruins.

Most cities have open roads without walls, but this place is clearly not an ordinary urban building; it looks more like a designated area.

Although they could get in by climbing over the wall, Lu Ban and Shuang Xin still managed to find the gate.

The inscription on the gate was illegible and appeared to have been burned.

Stepping inside the walled compound, the distribution of these buildings reveals the severity of the landslide.

In his words, it's very similar to the industrial parks or university towns in his world.

The buildings are similar in size and exist in clusters. For example, the building near the main entrance is like a service hall, with only two floors and a spacious entrance.

Further away, a four-story building, had no windows.

Shuangxin had only taken two steps, intending to enter the service hall to investigate, when suddenly, a sound rang out from the street.

She and Lu Ban immediately crouched down and hid.

"...That sounds familiar."

Lu Ban peered out and saw a box slowly moving on the street covered in a layer of sand.

The box was cylindrical, reaching only to the waist of an average person, and had a metallic texture. The lower half, apart from the tracks, consisted of constantly rotating brush wheels.

This is a high-end robotic vacuum cleaner.

Lu Ban wasn't sure if such a thing existed in his world. He had seen those sweeping trucks before. This thing was like a miniature version of a sweeping truck, making the sound of a motor running as it swept across the streets, making them clean.

The two watched the thing slowly move away and disappear into the distance, remaining silent.

"what is this?"

Shuangxin asked, saying she had never seen such a thing before. It was neither an insect nor a living thing, but more like some kind of machine.

"You do not know?"

Lu Ban asked subconsciously.

Since Shuangxin has already seen the data before the destruction, she should be able to make connections to things like robot vacuum cleaners, so why does she look so blank?

Or is it that the materials she read don't mention such details?

Thinking of this, Lu Ban began to explain.

"This is some kind of machine, an automatically moving man-made object, usually used for cleaning."

He wasn't sure how far Shuangxin's understanding of robots had progressed, so he answered in the simplest and most understandable way possible.

"A man-made structure? Are there other people living here?"

Shuangxin's eyes suddenly lit up.

Lu Ban wasn't sure if there was anyone else here, so he thought for a moment and then walked up to another robot vacuum cleaner.

The robot vacuum cleaner detected the foreign object and stopped.

A moment later, it bypassed the land obstacle and continued forward.

"It's quite high-end."

Lu Ban felt that the technological level of this world before its destruction was probably a little bit higher than that of the world he lived in.

He and Shuangxin entered the service hall and saw a large table in the center of the hall with a miniature model on it, the model's style matching the ruins.

Lu Ban noticed the text visible on one side of the model, which had been exposed due to frequent cleaning.

"...Future City sales office?"

Shuangxin read these words aloud.

Chapter 488 So you know a lot, huh?

Sales office.

Upon seeing these, Lu Ban subconsciously twitched the corners of his mouth.

The concept of buying and selling houses, or commercial housing, certainly doesn't exist in the wilderness right now.

This sales office is undoubtedly a remnant from the past.

If they knew the current situation, the sales office's slogan could probably be something like "Even if the world ends, the building will remain intact," absolutely true.

"This is probably a residential area, and these houses are all for sale."

Lu Ban explained.

"Sell? You can sell a house?"

Shuangxin seemed somewhat curious.

“Weren’t our houses all directly allocated by the governors?”

"Yes, people used to have to buy things. I've seen some old documents about people's livelihoods. Back then, you had to buy everything, even houses."

Lu Ban explained.

The population of the wasteland is small and includes people with supernatural abilities, so land has become the least valuable thing. The governor of the city-state can allocate land according to need. Families with more members live in large houses, and families with fewer members live in small houses. Everyone is happy and harmonious, and there are certainly no issues with household registration or school district housing.

"Then who should pay the money for the house? Doesn't the land belong to everyone?"