Superhumans of the Dome City-Chapter 1373 - 1: Shadows of the Past
"That goes back to fifteen years ago, when I had just inherited the family."
A month ago, in Fire Wind State.
A beam of sunlight pierced through the iron bars, illuminating half of the man’s face amidst the floating dust in the air. Gaius Otimis gazed at the clock on the wall opposite him, recounting the dust-covered memories in his mind.
"The former Family Head, Claudius, was assassinated, and I couldn’t learn the family’s secrets from him. Therefore, after stabilizing the situation, I immediately began to organize Claudius’s personal effects, hoping to find the secrets he hid within, allowing me to fully control the power of this ancient family."
"But the intelligence I truly obtained exceeded my imagination."
Click, click, the second hand of the clock ticked steadily, marking the passage of time with the same interval. The cell was eerily quiet, even the pen of the recorder made no sound. Gaius paused, as if the words he was about to say carried the weight of a mountain, requiring even a man like him to brace himself before speaking.
"I saw Claudius’s communication records. Letters, communication rituals, virtual images; each communication’s time and location meticulously recorded and securely guarded in the family’s headquarters’ secret chamber. These communications were from all over the world, from the capitals of major countries to untamed wilderness regions without civilization—there were traces of his interactions with certain people. He left no content of the communications, but I immediately inferred his purpose..."
"I found the Otimis family’s arms trade ledger and compared it with the communication times. The result was shockingly clear. In nearly two-thirds of the communications, before and after conclusion, the family would complete large-scale arms transactions or intercept newly developed products from foreign forces. This clearly was his way of communicating with business partners across the globe.
But nearly one-third of the communications remained undeciphered. I scrutinized every family expenditure to find no connection. Those times always felt inexplicably familiar to me. To trace the source of that familiarity, I reviewed my own diary. It was then that the obvious truth dawned on me. These were events in which I was personally involved—the ’actions’ corresponding to these communication times were major conflicts on the northern front between the United Republic and the Empire."
"This one-third of the communications came from the Yong Guang Imperial Capital."
The recorder’s fingers trembled uncontrollably, the pen tip lingered too long on the paper, leaving an unsightly ink blot. Gaius remained calm, listening to the ticking of the clock as he continued to reminisce indifferently.
"In that moment, I realized the so-called ’secret war’ was not as simple as I understood it. I realized that the secret behind this war was something even Claudius couldn’t control. He recorded these communications not to pass them on to his successor but to treat them as ’evidence’ to protect his life. At the same time, I decided to forget all of this, abandon my conjectures, and pretend to be an inept Family Head unaware of any secrets until someone far away in the Imperial Capital forgot the past of the United Republic."
Gaius slowly closed his eyes.
"However," he said, "soon after discovering the truth, I received a strange communication. It came from the Yong Guang Imperial Capital, its initiator claimed to be...
"The Red Emperor’s Royal Family."
The pen clattered to the floor, the deep blue ink seeping into the cracks of the stone. The recorder gasped for breath in fear, oblivious to the malfunctioning clock on the wall. The second hand, meant to move forward, stood frozen in place, as though the cold machinery were slicing through time.
·
Now, in the Yong Guang Imperial Capital, Yiji Hall.
"In fifteen minutes, nationwide, sixteen provinces have witnessed 214 anomalies in spacetime, multiple Grotto Heavens appearing simultaneously; local manpower severely lacking!"
"Issue my seal to the Imperial Academy Supervisor, pair External Disciples with Class B Walkers as temporary teams, and dispatch them in groups of two to support the array nucleus."
"Kongtong Province and Maoshan Province have sent out Dragon Disaster warning signals, real world stability is acutely wavering, expecting a Dragon Disaster within 5 to 20 minutes..."
"Order departments B3 and B5 to march with Yao Guang Guards elites for assistance; all An Yushi and Class A and above Walkers are on standby. Notify the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites to prepare for emergencies. Divination outcomes moderate to low, tonight might be long."
"Yes!" "Yes!" "Understood!"
As dusk approached, the semicircular hall remained bustling. Paper documents fluttered like snowflakes, succinct and powerful reports echoed, and those clad in official robes walked in and out of the semicircular hall without a trace of disorder, resembling ants entering and exiting a massive, intricate beehive.
The head overseeing this network, seated at the top of the hall, masterfully orchestrated the vast institution with the precision of his thoughts. He faced a national map that occupied the entire front wall, a single piece of natural jade black as ink. Ancient craftsmen wielded their tools with extraordinary skill to carve the mountains and rivers of Yong Guang onto the jade. The mountain and river map monitored the entirety of the Empire, any anomaly would reliably manifest, transforming into pure white "errors" on the blackened map.
Usually when Liu Zhongwu sat in the command room, with just a few words he could erase the white marks with ease, and everyone would gaze at the splendid dark landscapes with a deep sense of tranquility. However, today’s situation was unprecedented, with hundreds of sudden incidents breaking out simultaneously across the national territory, nearly half of the mountain and river map now stained in white. The Yong Guang Empire was not a chaotic nation like the United Republic—look forward three hundred years and such chaos was unheard of, even the most seasoned An Yushi were taken aback. At this moment, the Minister of Taichang, issuing orders from on high, was the anchor for everyone, with Mr. Liu as steady as a rock, ensuring no great mishaps in the realm.
Liu Zhongwu indeed remained composed, having weathered countless storms over the years, this scene was not enough to daunt him. While issuing commands, he continued to divine: "The capital’s security must be stabilized first. Is there any contact with the Qin family?"
A young man with tied hair responded: "A small number of martial world individuals attempted to stir up trouble, but the Qin family led the Yao Guang Guards to subdue them. However, Mr. Qin An is not in the city, making it difficult to suppress some of the older ones steeped in martial world habits..."
"It’s alright. Eventually, someone will make them relent. How about Mr. Qin?"
The young assistant paused and whispered, "...Still no contact."
Liu Zhongwu looked out the window at the night sky. The moonlight was bright tonight, the full moon round as a jade disk. He knew that at this moment, Qin An was within the jade disk, assisting His Majesty in stabilizing the grand situation. Qin An’s lack of response meant that there was still no news from His Majesty, and the world’s oldest empire remained unable to contact its sovereign. However, this was not the worst situation. The busy people in the Yiji Hall were unaware of it; only Liu Zhongwu’s eyes could see the truth of the sky:
The outline of the moon was becoming blurred, and the excessive moonlight defied logic, as if two full moons were overlapped, hanging in the same sky.
"We need to speed up..." Liu Zhongwu muttered to himself.
At this moment, the divination result came out. The Minister of Taichang and the young assistant looked at it at the same time. The Four Pillars Evil Star Compass contained a Star Formation Diagram personally set up by Mr. Xuan Zhi, which corresponded with the empire’s fortune through the array of stars. At this moment, the stars in the star disk were dim, and the northern starlight flickered, vaguely forming a dragon shape, with a dark star dragging a long tail, swaying in the north, emitting an ominous red glow.
The young assistant’s voice trembled involuntarily, "Mars guarding the heart, invading dragon energy... Divine Capital is in great danger!"
During his time at the Imperial Academy, he was passionate about divination, and now he could instantly grasp the celestial prediction. The dim north indicated misfortune for the capital, Mars hovering suggested the omen of sword soldiers, and the starlight forming dragon energy was a signal that a Dragon Disaster was imminent. However, the dragon energy lacked precise information, and Mr. Xuan Zhi could not predict such an ambiguous outcome. There was only one possibility: a large number of Dragon Disasters was impending, so much so that the star disk could not summarize their commonality, only reflecting a general dragon energy!
"Well done, didn’t miss the basics." Liu Zhongwu leisurely picked up his teacup, "Inform everyone around the capital to be on standby and not to act rashly."
The young assistant immediately issued the order, then anxiously asked, "Sir, you want to...?"
Liu Zhongwu took a sip of tea and smacked his lips, realizing the tea had long gone cold, "Get me a couple of throat lozenges."
The young assistant was momentarily dumbfounded. Mr. Xuan Zhi had been famous for years, his reputation widespread, yet he had never heard of using any sound-wave-based divine skills. When did fortune-telling have anything to do with one’s voice? Could it be that Mr. Liu had secretly practiced the Lion Roar Skill during his three years in Cangdu?
He nervously fetched two candies, then turned to keep an eye on the situation over the capital. Just as he looked up, the starlight over the capital intensified, and the young assistant quickly reported, "Dragon Disaster is imminent, with an estimated number over 20!"
"I see it." Mr. Liu was still leisurely sucking on the candy.
At that moment, the ominous starlight merged into one, instantly tearing a gaping crack in the real world’s boundary. A total of 21 stars representing the Dragon Disaster swayed from the other side of the world. The young assistant’s voice was sharp with tension, "Mr. Liu, aren’t you going to roar?"
Mr. Liu chuckled silently, "What are you thinking? I’m soothing my throat to take a rest."
Rest? You’re going to rest when the capital is in danger?! The young assistant nearly passed out from the shock, almost wishing he could fly up to confront the giant dragon himself.
He caught his breath, unable to believe his eyes. Those 21 starlights vanished simultaneously, the previously bright and dazzling light fully extinguished in an instant, as if an invisible god had stretched out a great hand to scoop away the stars. The fissure in the real world closed, and in a blink, the sky above the capital was calm and normal. Suddenly, exclamations erupted from below, and the young assistant instinctively followed the sound, noticing the white erroneous points on the mountain and river map disappearing.
From the center of the Divine Capital where they were, an invisible "circle" was expanding at an unimaginable speed, sweeping across the vast territories of the Yong Guang Empire. Wherever the circle reached, all errors vanished, and in an instant, the jade wall showed not a trace of white, the empire’s landscapes reverting to darkness!
"...Did Mr. Yan make his move?" The shocked young assistant could think of no other possibility.
The old Liu poured out the cold tea and poured a fresh cup, blowing the tea leaves standing upright on the water’s surface.
"The dim stars aren’t necessarily a bad omen. When the strong emerge, other lights naturally fade; Mars rises with ominous stars, heralding impending catastrophe and lurking threats—equally, it’s sword soldiers in defense, patrols by the evil star; when dragon energy appears yet is unclear, you’ve determined an uncertain number of Dragon Disasters, but why not consider if this energy refers to dragons?" Old Liu spoke slowly, "Accuracy is merely ’not making mistakes.’ The greatest taboo in divination is impatience and hastiness, obscuring the full picture."
"Are you saying...!" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
The young assistant suddenly grasped the message, clenching his hands in excitement. He thought of a possibility beyond Mr. Yan, that legendary figure known worldwide.
Old Liu set down his teacup and smiled warmly, "Correct, reinforcements have arrived."
Silently and suddenly, a gray-haired young man appeared in the Yiji Hall, dressed casually with gold-rimmed glasses. The An Yushi and others gazed at him with admiration and awe. In the hidden world, everyone had heard of his fame and legend. He alone wielded the fierce sword to slaughter four dragons, ventured into Zero Island Town to unite allies. In the cosmic battle, he defeated the foul sun, destroyed the theater to eradicate the Evil God. The star of silent annihilation, the indescribable moment of slaughter!
Gongsun Ce nodded to everyone as formal acknowledgment, instinctively adjusting his glasses: "On the way back, I dealt with miscellaneous matters in passing, hoping it makes everyone’s work easier... Good evening, Mr. Liu, I’m Gongsun Ce. I’m not late, am I?"
Old Liu smiled kindly, "You arrived just on time!"
