Chapter 521 Countless Lives
Twenty years.
There are not many twenty years in a person's life.
Su Xia spent the last twenty years of his life on a long interstellar journey.
Twenty years later, he finally arrived at the familiar planet.
"arrive……"
Su Xia looked at the blue planet outside the porthole with cloudy eyes.
The spacecraft began to descend, the hull vibrated, the reverse thrusters spewed out hot flames, and slowly landed on a green land.
Just like in Su Xia's memory, this is a planet full of life.
But there are some differences from my memory.
"Coral City is right here..."
Accompanied by countless fleet members, Su Xia left the spacecraft.
At this time, he was already 112 years old and was no longer able to stand up. He could only move slowly with the assistance of an exoskeleton machine.
They wore anti-radiation suits and came to the location of Coral City in Su Xia's memory.
There is indeed a city here.
But the city has long been deserted.
High-rise buildings collapsed, factories were shattered, and there was only ruins. There was no human life, only desolate ruins and countless swaying weeds on the ruins.
Beside him, several researchers were reporting the known information.
"Master Su, over the years, we have communicated with other civilizations in this star region, and one of them told us about the situation of this planet."
"There was indeed a human civilization on this planet, but later the mechanical civilization rose up and the two sides fought for decades. In the end, both were destroyed and the planet became a ruin of civilization."
"After the war, the surface of this planet was covered with radioactive contamination."
"The very few lives that survived were rescued by people from another civilization."
"The place we are in was formerly called 'Coral City', a city with a population of nearly one million..."
War, destruction, radioactive contamination...
All of this was exactly the same as what Su Xia saw.
He walked forward slowly, dragging his weak body, step by step into the city.
The researchers and guards followed closely behind.
After a long time, Su Xia came to the southwest of the city and entered an old street that had become ruins. She stood quietly at the ruins of a pharmacy in silence for a long time.
In the weeds of the ruins, he saw several broken test tubes of medicine.
"Let's go to another place."
He sighed softly and turned around.
They entered the mountainous area in the southwest, crossed the mountains with the help of all-terrain robots, and spent several days to reach the location of Dragon City.
Here, too, there is only a piece of wreckage.
All the eighteen small cities in the mountains were destroyed, and the entire Dragon City turned into ruins of war.
"Is all this a dream, an illusion, or real..."
Su Xia murmured softly, taking old steps, with a hunched body, and slowly walked into the ruins of City No. 9 and headed towards the central area.
He wants to go and take a look at that place.
The buildings in the city center have collapsed and their original appearance cannot be seen.
Under Su Xia's command, members of the fleet began to dig out the ruins in the central area. Within a few days, they cleared a path leading to the underground area.
Su Xia went underground and saw the familiar elevator.
However, the elevator had long since rotted away and was hanging in the elevator shaft, precariously awaiting its release, making it completely unusable. The entire underground world was filled with an air of decay.
"Master Su, there seems to be a space underneath." said the researcher next to him.
"I know, keep cleaning up."
That evening, the elevator shaft was cleaned out and the fleet members built a simple lifting device to facilitate their up and down movements.
Accompanied by everyone, Su Xia took the elevator to the deepest part of this underground world.
What appeared in front of Su Xia was the familiar arsenal.
More than half of the weapons and ammunition in the warehouse have been emptied, with only a very small number left, as if they had been used up in a previous war.
Su Xia walked out of the lifting device and walked inside step by step. He reached the deepest part of the armory and saw the black door in his memory.
Although decades have passed, he still remembers what happened.
The accompanying personnel stepped forward and opened the black door for Su Xia.
The space inside the door was dark.
Everyone turned on their high-intensity flashlights, and beams of dazzling light shone in, allowing them to see the dark space clearly.
"What is that?"
"It seems to be a machine."
"Be careful, don't get close."
They saw that in the center of the space, there was a cylindrical machine with a bluish-gray exterior and indicator lights of various colors all over its surface. It looked very old.
When Su Xia saw the machine, her cloudy eyes lit up slightly.
Find the world!
He forced himself to cheer up, supported his tired and old body, and walked towards the machine step by step.
"Master Su, be careful, there may be danger here!"
Everyone hurried to dissuade him.
But Su Xia just looked back and shook his head slightly.
By this time, he already had some guesses in his mind.
“Thank you for your hard work…”
His voice was hoarse, and he took a last look at the staff who had accompanied him all the way to this planet, and a gentle smile appeared on his old face.
Then, he slowly stretched out his hand and placed it on the strange machine.
Suddenly, a surge of electric current came over me.
Su Xia’s eyes darkened and he fell down.
Just like last time, the world behind me is not solid ground.
He seemed to have fallen into a cold lake, slowly falling under the embrace of the water.
Keep falling...
Time seemed to have lost its meaning and everything became blurry and hazy.
He didn't know how long he had been falling. It seemed like ten minutes, but also like a hundred years. Vague memories flashed through his mind.
In a trance, he seemed to return to his youth, back to his bed in the dormitory, and heard the sounds of several roommates playing games together.
The next moment, he seemed to be sitting in a pharmacy again, with the evening sun shining down, giving the entire store a light golden hue.
More memories came flooding back.
In a daze, he saw himself transformed into a cowboy, with a fierce look and fierce eyes, fighting a noon showdown with the enemy in the wind and sand.
A moment later, he transformed into a superhero, wearing a black robe and fighting criminals in a bustling metropolis at midnight.
One life experience after another emerged, as if they all belonged to him, yet they were somewhat unfamiliar.
In a certain memory, he wore a heavy crown, a royal robe, sat on a tall warhorse, with a solemn expression, a long sword in his hand, pointing directly at the distant empire.
In another memory, he transformed into an evil pirate, unified the archipelago, and led hundreds of pirate ships to confront the Royal Invincible Armada head-on.
In the next memory, he became a programmer who was busy making a living...
Countless lives, countless experiences.
Thousands of fragmented memories enveloped Su Xia, like sparkling crystals, disturbing his thoughts.
Suddenly, with a loud bang, all the crystals shattered.
Su Xia suddenly opened her eyes and woke up.
"here……"
He looked up and found that he was still standing there, with one hand on the locating machine.
The Lord of Dragon City was standing next to the world-seeking machine, his expression calm, his eyes fixed on him.
Su Xia returned to the familiar Dragon City.
Or rather, he never left.
Everything that just happened, those lives, that long experience, seemed like an illusion, but it was full of reality, making him think in a trance that he had really lived such a life.
"Are those experiences true?" Su Xia withdrew his hand and asked the Lord of Dragon City.
"Maybe." The Lord of Dragon City nodded slightly.
"You don't know either?"
"I am just a passer-by in this world, just like you."
Su Xia’s previous guess was correct. The Lord of Dragon City was indeed not from this world.
He came from another world. In that world, his planet was called "Deep Blue Star". He once had a happy and harmonious family, a daughter named Su Xiaoxia, and a stable job.
But later, all the good things were shattered.
His daughter fell ill and died, and his wife also became ill due to grief and died soon after.
At that time, he was completely hopeless and spent his days in a daze, numbing himself with alcohol, until one day...
After getting drunk one time, he staggered and fell into the river.
When he woke up again, he saw this war-torn world and countless lives screaming and crying.
"The day I woke up, this machine was right next to me." The Lord of Dragon City said calmly, "It is very important. Countless forces in the starry sky are looking for it."
"Searching for a world... is it looking for another world?" Su Xia expressed his doubts.
He saw countless of his own lives, and each life corresponded to a different world.
Are those worlds real or fake?
"Maybe, another world." The Lord of Dragon City shook his head slightly. He was not sure. "The true function of this machine should only be known by those space forces that have been pursuing it... We all want to find the truth. When we know the true function of this machine, the truth will be clear."
"Then we need to go to the starry sky." Su Xia said after a moment of silence.
"You should have a solution, right?" the Lord of Dragon City asked him.
"Um."
Su Xia has a treasure map in his hand, which he obtained during the mission "Dragon City Split".
Following the instructions on the treasure map, you can find a complete interstellar survey ship.
But there is still a little trouble at the moment.
Even if he found the survey ship, he couldn't go directly to the starry sky.
During this process, the mechanical race will inevitably interfere, such as intercepting, or directly launching missiles to destroy the ships in the air.
In the final analysis, we still have to fight against the mechanical race.
"We need to gather all our strength and defeat the mechanical race first." Su Xia said.
"Okay, let's do as you say." The Lord of Dragon City looked at Su Xia, "I called you here this time just for this matter. Those people outside should understand."
Just as the old dean said, this secret space was previously only accessible to the Lord of Dragon City.
Now, Su Xia has also come here.
This is a very obvious signal.
There is no need to announce anything deliberately, those people outside will understand that the Lord of Dragon City has already chosen the next Lord of the City.
In the past, the college and research institute might have objected and requested a general meeting for a vote.
But that’s not necessary now.
The name of Beifeng has long spread throughout the streets and alleys of Longcheng.
Su Xia's heart moved, and suddenly something occurred to her, and she said, "You knew about the rebellion a long time ago?"
Hearing this, the Lord of Dragon City smiled slightly and nodded: "Yes."
"Are you keeping them to pave the way for me?" Su Xia asked again.
“You can think of it that way.”
"I see……"
Su Xia sighed. He thought that the rebellion was entirely his fault. If it weren't for him, Longcheng would probably have had a different ending.
But now it seems that even without him, the outcome of the rebellion would not have changed at all.
After all, Hu Li is too young. How can he defeat the Lord of Dragon City?
Perhaps, the Lord of Dragon City was not paving the way for him, but was just waiting for the right person to appear.
Su Xia just showed up at the right time.
"Let's go. It's time to confirm your identity." The Lord of Dragon City said gently, "Go to a meeting first, and then go with me to meet some guests."
"guest?"
"From another continent."
The two of them talked as they walked and left this secret space.
Soon, the Lord of Dragon City held a formal meeting, formally recognized Su Xia's status as Deputy City Lord, and transferred more than half of his power to him.
Both the academic community and the research institute had no objection and expressed their agreement.
The academic department is still managed by the old dean.
As for the research institute, its former head Qin Shou has been imprisoned, and it is now jointly managed by Qiu Hao and Wang Luo.
Not to mention Wang Luo, he is friends with Su Xia.
As for Qiu Hao, he already knew that Qin Shou and Hu Li were planning to use him as a scapegoat, so he was particularly grateful to Su Xia.
"I never thought that we would reach an agreement on the issue of the next city lord." The old dean looked at Qiu Hao and Wang Luo with a smile.
"If it were someone else, I might object, but it's Bei Feng after all." Qiu Hao shrugged. This was his savior. If he still objected, wouldn't he be worse than pigs and dogs?
After the meeting, everyone went to the reception room together.
The guests from another continent had been waiting in the reception room for a long time.
"People from Lion City?" Su Xia's eyes focused and saw the blond and blue-eyed guests.
"Yes." The Lord of Dragon City nodded slightly.
There were three guests in the reception room.
Through the system prompts, Su Xia saw the identities of the three guests.
They come from the conservative, liberal and youth factions in Singapore and are representatives of these three factions.
Within Lion City, the royalists have the greatest influence, followed by these three factions. The other dozens of factions have no real power.
However, the royalist representatives did not come.
"Respected Lord of Dragon City, it is an honor to meet you." Herbert, the representative of the conservatives, stood up and extended his hand with a smile.
Several other people also stretched out their hands and shook hands with Su Xia and the old dean.
After a brief introduction, the two sides started talking about business.
The people from Lion City first expressed their apologies. The previous rebellion in Dragon City was planned by the liberals, and the person who planned it has now been impeached by the parliament.
After the apology, the two sides began to discuss cooperation.
"Dear Lord of Dragon City, we come here with sincerity." Herbert smiled and spoke in a gentle tone, and every move he made gave off the feeling of an old-fashioned gentleman.
"Everyone should be able to sense that the mechanical race can no longer sit still. A war is just around the corner. " said another person.
“So we need to collaborate.”
They made it clear that everything could be negotiated as long as they could cooperate.
The old dean glanced at these guys and said calmly, "That sounds nice, but why didn't you royalists come? That faction is the most powerful, right? Can the three of you decide what happens in Lion City?"
"The royalists are stubborn, which is indeed a problem." Herbert did not deny it. "But, as long as we achieve results here, after we go back, the three parties will join forces to put pressure on them, and I think they will give in."
"What if they don't give in?" Wang Luo asked seriously.
"You haven't even resolved your internal issues yet, and yet you come here to talk to us?"
Hearing this, the three people opposite were silent for a while.
This is a fact and they cannot refute it.
The royalists were too powerful, and many people in Lion City hoped that the golden iris flag would rise again and fly high in the sky above the Western Continent.
Those people are arrogant and conservative and are not willing to cooperate with the outside world.
They have always been like that.
If they had known how to cooperate, the Mechanical Clan wouldn't have been able to overthrow the entire Iris Empire so quickly.
At this time, Su Xia, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up: "The matter concerning the royalists may be resolved with this sword."
As he spoke, he took out a rotten long sword.
He found this sword in the treasure of a shipwreck on the seabed.
It belonged to the former Iris Empire and was the sword of power that symbolized supreme power. It was later secretly taken out by a prince and finally sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship.
Seeing the sword, the three people on the opposite side were all shocked.
Herbert's face showed an incredible look, and he said in shock: "This... Is this the Sword of Power?"
