Chapter 1864: Chapter 1862: The Seed of the World
Osta is also a Mobile City, except it’s an "unfinished" one.
According to a blue-haired boy’s introduction, before the "cataclysm" arrived, the people here indeed tried to build a new Mobile City centered around this hill. However, the problem arose afterward when Wira’s mother became pregnant and gave birth to a child.
Yet, for Wira’s mother, she did not wish to have a child because she was physically not well at the time, and it seemed she didn’t like her husband either. But no one cared about her wishes at the time when the world had already begun to "distort," fewer and fewer children were being born, so she was almost forcibly required to give birth to that child.
Therefore, when the child was born, people crowded around to rescue the baby, abandoning the mother—it seemed a reasonable choice to them. After all, there were hardly any more children being born in this world, and the sickly mother was about to die anyway; it was unlikely she could give birth again.
To save the big or the small, this question was not really a question for those people.
Wira’s mother naturally hated all of this; watching those who held her child but disregarded her, she uttered curses of anger and sorrow along with hatred, while making a wish.
She prayed for the people to die.
Her wish was accepted by the newborn child—or rather, one of the children.
That was Wira.
She took her mother’s wish and became a symbol of death. Thus, those who she watched would die, those who heard her wailing would also die, and those who touched her would also die—and then they would rise again, continuing to exist in this world in the form of the dead.
The death then began to spread, and quickly, the entire nation turned into the dead, and since everyone was already dead, naturally, there was no need to avoid death. Contrary to people’s expectations, this region wasn’t attacked by creatures, so ultimately, under these circumstances, Osta’s Mobile City transformation plan was abandoned, and the core was sealed.
Of course, the reason the core was sealed was not merely because the plan was abandoned.
"This is it."
Arriving at the Core Zone, Wira reached out her hand and pushed open the door, immediately revealing to everyone an altar-like high platform, upon which the Core Reactor floated. But this wasn’t the main point because, up until now, it still looked no different from other Core Reactors Fang Zheng and others had seen.
The problem was beneath the Core Reactor—a pitch-black coffin.
A coffin?
What does this mean?
Looking at the coffin placed on the altar, the girls felt bewildered, while Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows but said nothing. But at that moment, Scarface suddenly walked over from behind and headed straight for the coffin.
"Wait, Miss Scarface?!"
"Miss Scarface, what’s wrong?"
Watching Scarface’s sleepwalking-like state, Saten Reiko and Misaka Mikoto quickly reached out to pull her back, but Scarface was staring fixedly at that coffin.
"That voice, the voice I’m hearing is coming from inside!"
"A voice...?"
Hearing Scarface’s reply, the girls were stunned; they still remembered Scarface saying she seemed to hear some voice before and felt uncomfortable—unexpectedly, it was related to this place?
Then, they saw the blue-haired boy and Wira walk up to the altar, the blue-haired girl pushed open the coffin’s lid, and then Wira reached out her hand and took out a orb from the coffin...
"Eek---!"
Upon seeing clearly what the orb was, the girls screamed out loud.
It was a baby wrapped in amniotic fluid, with the placenta still attached, curled up and looking as if sealed within a murky glass orb.
"This, is this... a baby?"
"Is she still alive?"
"Yes indeed."
Faced with the girls’ inquiries, Wira smiled slightly.
"This is my sister, Celica Hecmatica."
"......Sister?"
"That’s right."
At that moment, the blue-haired boy also continued speaking for Wira.
"At that time, Princess Wira accepted her mother’s wish and became the embodiment of the Grim Reaper. But her sister refused this wish, not only that, she used this power on herself, turning herself into what she is now. And she is still alive, but we are all unclear about what exactly happened."
"Ah... uh..."
Scarface watched the baby in the amniotic fluid, slowly walked forward, and extended her hands, while Wira watched Scarface and handed over the orb she held. As soon as Scarface took the orb, it suddenly shattered with a "bang," amniotic fluid spilling everywhere, while a loud crying voice echoed throughout the space.
"Wa—wa—!"
The girl curled up in the Grave Keeper’s arms cried loudly, and the scene before them left the girls at a loss for what to do. But just then, Reiko’s voice suddenly rang out.
"Ah, what are you all doing, come and help, Mr. Fang Zheng, do you have towels and warm water? Scissors would be best, Classmate Misaka, please help wash the baby’s body, Classmate Shirai, could you move the unnecessary things to the side, let Ms. Scarface sit down first...!"
The others reacted and promptly followed Saten Reiko’s instructions, while Fang Zheng left the necessary supplies and then ran off to research the core. After all, taking care of the child was a woman’s job, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for him, a man, to hang around unnecessarily. As for Misaka Mikoto, Kuroko Shirai, and Alisa, it was their first time dealing with such an event, unsure of how to handle a crying child.
"Why is she crying?"
"Is she hungry?"
"First, clean her up, clean her up, bring a blanket to wrap her... "
"Wow, she looks so small and fragile."
"Do all newborns look like this?"
Surrounding Scarface and the child in her arms, the girls were chatting noisily. Scarface had already unbuttoned her clothes; perhaps it was instinct, or maybe a natural response to begin breastfeeding her child. Once fed, the initially crying baby finally calmed down, quietly sucking milk in Scarface’s arms.
"Look at her face, all wrinkled, like a little old man."
"All babies look like this at birth, I think."
"Oh? So we looked like this when we were born too? I can’t imagine!"
At this point, Alisa and Feli also came over, curiously observing the baby and whispering among themselves. Meanwhile, Lei was looking at the baby, then at herself, and finally gazing at others before turning to Reiko.
"Reiko."
"Yes? What’s up?"
"How do humans give birth to children?"
"............"
With these words, the previously lively atmosphere instantly turned silent, and Reiko’s face turned crimson red.
"Well... Um, it’s just... As long as two people in love sleep together, they can have a baby."
"Then, will Reiko and I have a baby?"
"Ah?! Ah? Probably not, we’re both girls. It’s something that happens when a boy and a girl are together... "
"But can’t it happen between girls? I’m not human, I’m a Holy War Angel."
"Uh... Is that so? Wait, Lei, how do you Holy War Angels give birth?"
"I don’t know much about that..."
Lei shook her head slightly and then lowered her head.
"But I really want Reiko’s child... "
"...No, this...
"Can’t I? Doesn’t Reiko want to have a child with me?"
"That’s not the issue..."
While Reiko was facing situations all leading ladies encounter in their royal road stories, Fang Zheng began his investigation of the core. The results made him nod in satisfaction.
"Not bad, it seems useful!"
The reason Fang Zheng wanted to investigate the core was simple. Although the area was distorted, this distortion allowed the preservation of the record data before the "Cataclysm." Next, Fang Zheng just needed to fix the bugs, then replicate this part of the data, and use the Core Reactor as the center to modify the surrounding environmental information entirely!
For instance, the core database currently stored model data such as [Blue Skies & White Clouds] and [Grasslands & Streams]. Fang Zheng could replicate this and use it in the reactor at the previous Wasteland City. By activating the reactor and overlaying the [Pollution Wasteland] and [Wild God Ruins] data, the desolate and creature-filled world could instantly transform into a life-source filled with grasslands, wheat fields, and streams.
This data modification on the information level is what the Order Clan is best at, and Little Angel’s forte, whereas for Fang Zheng... he’s just at an entry level.
At least it works.
"First, I’ll confirm the model, then... Should I add some beautification? Maybe not, let’s stick to the original flavor, who knows if adding a filter will make it look awkward. Next, these data... whew, this ghost place has preserved some good things after all."
Looking at the continuously collected data before him, Fang Zheng nodded with satisfaction, already planning how to proceed. By transforming this environmental data into a MOD and handing it over to players as quest items, players could activate it at other Core Reactors. Once triggered, the surrounding environment would change instantly due to the overlay effects.
Of course, there’s a downside; this is pre-"Cataclysm" data, lacking any data on post-pollution crystal ores, meaning those mobile cities’ cores won’t be able to activate after using it.
How to resolve this... Well, I’ll develop a quest chain for the players to handle.
With this thought, Fang Zheng looked at the green data Light Orb in his hand and smiled slightly.
Let’s call it "Seed of the World."
