Chapter 82: An Unknown Civilization

Ji Yu guided the fawn back to the low street beneath the ruins. After witnessing the stretch of horizontal wreckage flattened as if by some immense force, he could hardly afford to stroll boldly atop the ruins any longer. The purple moon's world was rife with unknowns, and Ji Yu had countless mysteries he wished to unravel.

Thus, upon reaching a section of ruined city that faintly resembled a street, Ji Yu immediately began searching for anything that might yield useful information. Yet, these ruins had suffered the ravages of time so profoundly that everything was corroded beyond recognition. Moss and weeds blanketed the streets, filth and pitted stones littered the ground.

He pressed gently with the fawn’s hoof, attempting to kick aside a slab of broken stone. Beneath it, only more useless stone awaited him. Though there were rods of steel and corroded iron, the absence of papers or markings meant Ji Yu could not discern whether he had arrived in the civilization of another world.

In truth, Ji Yu harbored a lingering worry—that these city ruins might belong to some city on Blue Star. Mystery always accompanies the unknown, and every possibility exists. Ji Yu would not miss a single clue, not even the faintest thread.

The sound generated by the fawn’s hoofsteps grew louder across the ruins, echoing through the desolate landscape. Yet, this sound spread only a few kilometers; it was the faintest volume Ji Yu could manage. Given the fawn’s immense size, it could not enter the hollowed floors of ruined buildings, so he could only search for traces on the ground.

Deep within the sea of consciousness, the fawn watched curiously as its father manipulated its body, making such commotion. It remained silent throughout, recalling the advice of its elder brother: every action of the father had its purpose. Though they might not understand, ignorance was unacceptable. The father was everything; when he descended, silence and solemnity must be maintained. If something was unclear, it must be pondered alone, unless the father mentioned it himself; never interrupt him otherwise.

Such etiquette and reverence were expected from offspring toward their father. From the day the father bestowed upon them life and the will of freedom, they owed him unconditional respect and admiration. All these words had been unearthed by Adam within his consciousness, delving into the movie fragments Ji Yu had granted him. Among them were scenes of Western myth and Eastern celestial courts. There, fathers and sons, kings and heirs, were expected to behave with utmost reverence.

Ordinary human family relations did not apply to Adam and the fawn. Naturally, Adam took the relationship of gods and divine children from myth as his model. The name Adam carried profound significance. Who was Adam, and what had he done? In Adam’s eyes, perhaps this was his father’s warning to him: as the firstborn of the gods, he should not grow arrogant or defy the divine will.

Adam was both a name and an example, a constant reminder. This was the meaning Adam had deduced over the past month and a half regarding his father’s choice. Of course, Oak Adam wondered if he was overthinking it and if Ji Yu had simply chosen the name after reading human mythology. Such a notion was not unreasonable.

After all, if his father was a revived deity, then Blue Star was now dominated by humans, and Adam’s kind were but a race modeled after the god himself. If his father was that ancient god, shouldn’t he favor humans first? At first, Adam believed he was not the first but perhaps the second or third creature favored by the father. Yet, after the fawn appeared, Adam felt the name’s significance grew deeper.

Thus, Adam’s imagination took him further and further down this path. This was why he always showed absolute trust and reverence whenever Ji Yu appeared, and slowly instilled this understanding into all newcomers. The fawn was now the first ‘victim’ of Adam’s indoctrination.

Ji Yu noticed this, but did not bother to explain. After all, saying too much invites mistakes, and he did not wish for his image to crumble. Yet, he could not tell whether this perception among his incarnations would be beneficial or harmful to his future. In any case, Ji Yu found himself propelled forward by the will and understanding of his incarnations, compelled to become more composed and mature.

Within the ruins, the fawn’s hoofsteps gradually revealed a deeper pit. Within this pit, the scene before Ji Yu slowly began to change.

At last, five or six meters deep, Ji Yu discovered a relatively intact mechanical object—a metal cabinet resembling a safe. It had been ravaged by possible rainfall in the world of the purple moon, corroded into something barely recognizable, like a large black scrap iron box. Yet its tight edges and protruding handle evoked a familiar feeling in Ji Yu.

It was this familiarity that convinced him this was most likely a safe. The fawn’s hoof wrenched it back and forth, producing a rapid scraping sound. Afterward, the corroded safe was carefully hoisted by several strands of the fawn’s fur. Before him stood a square iron cabinet, less than a meter tall, covered in rust.

Ji Yu controlled the fawn’s hoof, carefully stepping onto it. Due to his enormous size, Ji Yu had no delicate way to open it, so he chose brute force. In less than thirty seconds, the safe began to deform and finally burst open.

With a sound like an explosion, the safe erupted, sending countless sheets of paper fluttering upward and scattering around. Ji Yu stared intently at the flying papers. Gradually, the anxious expression in the fawn’s eyes eased.

The writing on the papers was unlike any script known on Blue Star, and the illustrations were not in the style of Blue Star’s aesthetics. The characters were jagged and lined, resembling ancient pictographs from Blue Star’s primitive societies. The illustrations featured a creature’s head, reminiscent of a lion.

Yet this lion’s head was not what tradition might expect. Its face was hairless, with features similar to humans but much broader. Its ears, unlike human ones, were covered in fur, and its hair was brown.

Seeing these richly colored papers, stamped like currency with the same portrait, Ji Yu understood their significance. From the papers, Ji Yu could tell this city was not one from Blue Star, but belonged to an unknown civilization—one with features akin to the beastfolk of Western fantasy.

However, this city was clearly abandoned, and whether this civilization still existed remained uncertain.