Netherworld Retrograde-Chapter 553 - 260 Living Warship_2
"Iron Guard... How long can you live?" Li Yelai asked.
Before becoming a Spiritual Ability User, Li Yelai believed that the Border Iron Guard were legendary figures of great power!
They were mighty, with long lives, and in the eyes of the Giant City’s inhabitants, they were invincible before the exposure of Spiritual Ability Users.
At the founding of Giant City, they sheltered humanity from danger, fighting against wasteland warlords.
Only after eradicating all threats did they fade from public view, true legends they were.
In reality, the Border Iron Guards were non-spiritual soldiers who had undergone multiple biomechanical modifications.
Through these modifications, they were unable to become Spiritual Ability Users, but their bodies became stronger and were perfectly suited for the heavy Power Armor.
This technology came from a certain Forbidden Zone civilization. After human sages conquered the Disaster Fog that didn’t evolve into a Forbidden Zone, they passed this technology on to other human Giant Cities. This greatly enhanced the combat power of the Giant City’s forces.
Each Giant City Circle’s Iron Guard, in fact, had their own distinctions and titles.
In Border City, they were called Border Iron Guards, with even thicker Power Armor.
In Yaoqing Giant City, they were referred to as Snow Riders, with Power Armor fitted with insulation equipment.
"You’re Border Iron Guard have undergone the same modifications as our Snow Riders, so theoretically, they should have a lifespan of two hundred years," Jing Lin replied. "You’re guessing there are Iron Guards still alive? That’s difficult. Even Iron Guards require regular maintenance and care. In such an environment, it’s tough just to survive."
"At least it’s a hope," Li Yelai responded. "We haven’t seen the bodies of any Iron Guards, which means anything is possible."
Then, the two of them continued forward.
They finally approached the Major Destroyer, but its structure was well-preserved, and they couldn’t find an entrance.
Not wanting to destroy the warship’s hull, they climbed onto the deck and entered through an unsealed missile well.
After entering the missile well, they didn’t find any flesh mutations but saw a dozen massive missiles arranged in groups of four within the well.
"Is this the one with a top speed of ten Mach?" Li Yelai asked.
"It should be," Jing Lin commented with a sense of loss. "If not for the technological disruption, the Forbidden Zone Army would be getting blown up as they left their base! That’s ten times the speed of sound... Of course, I’ve also heard of cases where the missiles were jammed by the Forbidden Zone interference, flipping back and hitting the Giant City."
"Don’t worry, the three major restricted areas in Border City are all barbaric; they don’t have that kind of capability," Li Yelai spoke up, harshly mocking the three major restricted areas of Border City.
Some Forbidden Zone civilizations have superior technology; the bionic bodies of the Giant City, the Iron Guard modification surgery, Power Armor all originated from certain Forbidden Zones or the Disaster Fog. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
But many Forbidden Zone civilizations followed the path of Spiritual Energy, with technological levels far below that of humans.
There’s not much to say about Doomsday Forest; it mass-produces Extraordinary Creatures, and apart from the core area, there is no civilization to speak of.
Black Origin City and Heavenly Kingdom also do not follow a technological path.
While they have unique technologies, they do not completely overshadow humanity.
Afterward, the two of them exited the missile well, and upon forcing open a sturdy metal protective door, they entered the interior of the ship.
They were met with a cold draft, and both of them exhaled visible white breath, indicating the extremely low temperatures within the ship’s cabin. Even with the Spiritual Barrier, Li Yelai felt a chill.
At the same time, the devices they carried emitted a low warning alarm.
’Warning, oxygen shortage..’
They immediately turned off the warnings to avoid attracting nearby flesh mutations and quickly donned or raised faceplates, putting on oxygen masks.
"What’s going on?" Li Yelai and Jing Lin frowned.
Why was there an ultra-low temperature environment inside a completely silent warship? Moreover, the oxygen content in the air was frighteningly low.
Without oxygen masks, ordinary people would quickly die in such a space.
Of course, Spiritual Ability Users would also struggle. At least at their current level, although they could function for long periods in an oxygen-less state, they still needed to breathe.
"Could the warship still be operational?" Li Yelai pondered.
"How many years has it been? This Major Destroyer isn’t even nuclear-powered," Jing Lin shook his head.
The two were puzzled but continued forward.
However, they had only taken a few steps after turning on their handheld searchlights when a dull noise came from behind them.
The protective door they had opened together had closed?
"Fucking hell," Jing Lin cursed under his breath, ready to go forward and open the protective door again.
Li Yelai stopped him, "That’s enough, someone doesn’t want us to disturb this low-temperature, anoxic environment."
Speaking, Li Yelai’s searchlight swept towards a room on the side.
Jing Lin moved closer to look and his complexion changed.
Inside the room, lay the bodies of more than a dozen human soldiers, each bearing terrible fatal wounds.
At this moment, they lay peacefully within the room, having succumbed to an endless eternal sleep.
And the low temperature and lack of oxygen had prevented their bodies from decaying. At least for the moment...
Someone... wanted to protect these warriors’ bodies from being desecrated by any force!
"My God..." Jing Lin picked up a handheld searchlight, quickly scanning the various rooms of the ship.
Soldiers with weapons at rest, Border Iron Guards in tattered power armor, Border City Processors in black trench coats...
Nearly every room held numerous bodies, the low temperature and anoxic conditions allowing them to slumber atop their own warship.
Once they had roared their anger at the enemy of humanity upon this warship, but now, as always, they continued to stand guard over it...
As always...
"Is someone... still alive?" Jing Lin looked towards Li Yelai, his eyes filled with disbelief.
After all these forty years, someone had arranged everything, preserved the bodies of the warriors.
And those who had done this were still alive!
"I don’t know... Everything will be revealed once we reach the bridge!" Li Yelai responded.
The two immediately made their way through the toppled corridors, passing the rooms where the deceased had been stationed.
The hallways were lined with frozen veins; there were warriors in eternal rest, but not a single flesh mutation was present.
This allowed the two to quickly make their way to a giant metal gate.
Working together, they pushed open the gate and entered the bridge.
The bridge had clearly been modified, solid steel plates sealing the windows, except for the single intact window in the position where Li Yelai had seen the shadow.
At the same time, there were terrifying signs of battle inside the bridge, hot melt bombs and machine guns having swept through here, along with numerous traces of Spiritual Ability combat.
But the bridge was empty, the two of them hearing no other heartbeat or breath besides their own.
"There’s oxygen here, and the temperature isn’t low," Jing Lin said as he removed his oxygen mask, "Are they hiding from us?"
"At least for now, they don’t seem to want to meet us."
Li Yelai walked towards the console; nearly all the control panels had been destroyed.
But on one of the consoles, a military saber was inserted, pinning a navigation journal to it.
Li Yelai removed the saber and picked up the navigation journal.
The first half of the journal’s content had been torn out, leaving the first page Li Yelai saw to read:
"Giant City Calendar Year 28, June 3rd. No.1 Border received a distress signal, the fleet set out in full force, leaving port in pursuit of the signal. We passed through Treasure Island Strait and received supplies, we will save our human brethren!"
"June 10th, we encountered Extraordinary Creatures of the sea, a great victory!"
"June 15th, we discovered what might be a Forbidden Zone, named the Great Whirlpool. We were caught by the whirlpool and struggled to escape. The Spiritual Ability Users were unable to establish contact."
"July 1st, unknown waters, we encountered Merfolk of the Great Whirlpool Forbidden Zone, a great victory!"
"July 8th, the fleet’s Spiritual Ability Users seemed to hear the voice of the warship, how could a warship have a voice? It may have been corrupted."
"July 9th, the supply ships behind us lost contact, despite no battle erupting, they could not be found."
"August 2nd, the warship began turning on its own! The Spiritual Ability Users carefully examined every location but saw no anomalies. Perhaps... it truly came to life."
"September 7th, a warship experienced a mutiny, soldiers corrupted by Chaos seized the warship and attacked us. We counterattacked, sinking them. No survivors were found..."
"September 23rd, more soldiers from three warships became corrupted by Chaos, we sunk them."
"September 30th... we saw a continent, it was made of countless ships combined into an iron continent! We even saw aircraft carriers! We didn’t approach but prepared to dispatch a team for investigation."
"October 5th, our warship began to retreat at full speed on its own; it truly came to life, but we couldn’t get away... Chaos believers appeared on the warship, seizing control and crashing into the land!"
