10. The Lost Era

The command center was ... a command center! A table in the middle of the hall, a lot of boom scattered here and there, shelves with books and folders of important importance. Also, a card that has already turned yellow and in some moments has been holed. Also, there was a fucking globe in the corner! A globe, in the middle of which was a continent in the form of a water lily, and on the other side was another continent, marked with a shard.

" So they knew about the planets and stars ? Has the past civilization reached the era of space ? " – Adam picked up a small piece of paper from the ground, on which an unknown star trek was drawn

" What happened to you after all? " - Adam put the piece of paper on the table and began to look around the room

The room was quite spacious. There were three shelves on each side, each of which was filled with books. There were devices in the walls that resembled wall lamps. They were still shining brightly, so he extinguished the torch and began to examine.

But Adam was most interested in two things here. Books and corpses.

" To be or not to be, that's the question " – Adam turned the skull on his palm and then casually threw it on the floor

For the first time Adam saw the corpses of the previous race. Completely bare bones. There were five bodies in total, horror and... surprise froze on the face of each of them?. Logically, remembering the textbook on anatomy, Adam analyzed the corpses and realized what race they belonged to. Drum roll.

[ DRARARARARARAR ! DRAG ! ]

Newts ! All the bodies belonged to newts. Each of the bodies was at the table, as if frozen in time. Apparently they didn't even have time to react, wait out than die. Otherwise , why was there a grimace of horror on their faces ?

"Okay, that answers one of my questions. If we build theories, then newts were the most advanced race on Amphibians. I think they either subjugated the entire continent, or they led other races into a bright future! " – Adam was silent for a while, after which he grinned from his own delirium

"I don't think that having such power, they asked for permission for something. But while I can't say anything for sure, we need to investigate these babies. " – Adam opened a random cabinet and gently touched the books

To his surprise, the books did not crumble, no! They calmly kept their shape and were like brand new. The only defect was the yellowing of the pages, and so everything was fine. He could even read the contents normally !

"I wonder if it's possible that more expensive paper was used here? What kind of wood should be used to make paper so that it will lie for who knows how long and only turn yellow? "

Adam opened the book and read its internal title.

[ Colonization Countdown #33.] – Adam raised an eyebrow and opened another book

[Colonization Countdown # 35.] – then the next one

[ Colonization Countdown # 43.] – and one more

[ Colonization Countdown #53.]

[Colonization Countdown #66.]

[Colonization Countdown #78.]

[ Colonization Countdown #9.....]

The entire cabinet was filled with these counts, as wide as a palm. Adam decided to postpone it for later, it's better to start with interesting literature. But he made a mental note to himself about this "colonization".

The other two cabinets on this side, just like the first one, were filled with counts. Then he moved in a hurry to the other side, he was waiting for a huge disappointment. There were only counts in all the cabinets. There were no books on history, biology, science or any other subject. Only counts.

" Phew....okay. What do we have on the table here ? "

And on the table were the next counts mixed with star charts. Star maps were scattered all over the table, with notes on them. There were also... photos on the table! These were photographs of other planets. There were many planets, but he was hooked on one of them. It lay exactly in the middle and was knocked out by the fact that there was much less dust on it than on the others.

With trembling hands, he held up a photograph of his native home, his native planet.

" Earth. How did they know about Earth ? " – the photo fell out of his hands and he began to walk around the room convulsively

" They definitely knew about Earth ! They were watching ! " - he glanced at the pictures of the stars

"They were preparing for something, for something... large-scale. But what's the point...." - he stopped abruptly when he looked at the shelves

" Colonization....they wanted to colonize us?! " – Adam abruptly opened the closet and started looking for the very first countdown

It didn't take him long, since everything here was arranged in order.

[ Count of colonization No. 1 ]

[A new planet with a huge amount of natural resources has recently been discovered. The level of development of the race inhabiting the planet is below average. You can notice internecine conflicts all over the planet. There is also a clear division of territory, peoples and religion.

It is recommended to continue monitoring. It is strictly forbidden to introduce troops. We don't know everything about this planet yet, we can't step on the same rake again. The countdown is over.

Generalissimo Patrage, to my great and highly esteemed Emperor Aldrich]

Adam threw a countdown, then took the next one.

[ Count of colonization No. 30. ]

[Observation of the aborigines continues. Most of the languages have been deciphered. The planet is inhabited by a race called "humans", which are divided into many subspecies. Each species hates the other, and some form alliances to kill the third. The race of people is very aggressive, I do not advise you to go to the contract.

I request permission to take a sample for autopsy and further study. You need to know your enemy both from the outside and from the inside.

Generalissimo Patrage, to my great and highly esteemed Emperor....]

"Did they... dissect us?! " – Adam took the next countdown

[ Count of colonization No. 31 ]

[ According to our data, people began development in the technogenic tree. Recently, new explosives called "gunpowder" have been invented, capable of great destruction. The formula has been successfully copied and is in the process of improvement. I will send a copy to the letter.

I apologize for the previous request, this will not happen again. We Newt Empire shouldn't do such terrible things. Please forgive me again.

Generalissimo Patrage, to my great and highly esteemed Emperor Aldrich]

"Oh, lucky you bastards. " – Adam closed the countdown and then started looking for the latest one

"It's good that your empire has already fallen. Otherwise, I would have destroyed it myself if you had even touched a person with your finger. ] – Adam pulled the last of the counts

[ Count of colonization No. 337 ]

[The observation is over, all data is collected. I ask for permission to enter troops and factories to start mining resources. Humans are too cruel a race that is not ready to make contact with our empire. It is recommended to exterminate the entire species and use the planet as a factory.

Generalissimo Patrage, to my great and highly esteemed Emperor Aldrich]

" Exterminate the species ? But I don't remember something in history textbooks about a large-scale invasion from another world. What happened that they decided to close the shop? "

Adam began to cast his eyes around the room, looking for some document. There were no more counts in the lockers, it was the last one on the list. But in the hands of one of the corpses, he noticed a similar document.

Opening it, she immediately noticed the bad handwriting, unlike all the previous documents were written in a beautiful and neat handwriting.

[ Countdown # 338 ! ]

[ Your Highness, what's going on?! Why is the energy no longer coming in?! I ask the headquarters to answer me immediately ! If this continues, all the factories will collapse in the blink of an eye! Why are there interruptions?!

I demand immediate.... ]

Unfortunately, the poor guy did not have time to finish the sentence, apparently he died faster than he managed to do it. Looking closely at the body, Adam noticed a fracture of the cervical vertebrae, which symbolizes death as a result of a broken neck.

"Apparently, when he wrote this, the factories were already falling. Poor guy, he didn't have time to notice how he died. I certainly don't want such a death for myself. "

Adam stood in the middle of the room and folded his arms across his chest. There is nothing here that he wanted. But still he was able to get a couple of new pieces of information.

"So, what do we have? " – he sat down at the table and started counting with his finger

"The Empire of the Tritons, landing on other planets, the space age, Emperor Aldrich, as well as the collapse of the empire due to the termination of the supply of energy. This clarifies the picture a little, but there are more questions." - Adam opened his notebook and continued to write everything down in the investigation section

" What was the relationship between Aldrich and Andreas ? How could the empire fall because of a lack of light? How developed were newts at that time ? " - Adam closed his notebook and turned to the shelves

"Well, I'm waiting for hours of digging through these boring papers. But maybe I can pick up something useful. " - Adam roughly pushed the corpse out of the chair and sat down in it, putting a lot of counts on the table

(I need to finish here, after which I will go to other buildings. I now have the means to get there. But everything I'm doing and looking for now can be called a side mission. ) – Adam 's eyes narrowed for a second

(I do not know when the main plot will begin and when these " three stars" will arrive. I have limited time. I'll solve everything here first, then I'll go back to Newtopia. I need to find out about this Proteus Mother. ) - Adam turned the page

(Predictions, I don't believe in this nonsense. But since it exists in this world, then you need to study it. I generally pay little attention to magic, focusing on technology. I'll need to find a couple of books about magic, in case I can find something useful for myself there. ) – he smiled, continuing to read in the silence of his thoughts

He was right about one thing, he didn't have much time. He spent almost half a year in this world, it's time for others to come after him. Three bright stars that he must guard, instruct and protect from dangers. Three stars, with whom he does not want to deal.

But he will have to. Fate is a strange thing. Sometimes she brings us together with those we lost a long time ago. I don't envy Adam's fate. After all, he will have to meet with three of his most unloved people on Earth.

A slob who weakly follows the instructions of others.

A tyrant who likes to control other people's every move.

A traitor, the one who turned away from him in favor of her happiness.