Chapter 310: Ancient Relic
A slender tail. Clearly, it belonged to a pureblood gene thief—one so pure that even its claws could wield a disintegration field.
He Qi Zheng continued to recall the events following his grandfather's death.
"My grandfather passed, and with him went everything he had brought to the hive city."
"The tyrant returned. Seven and a half million families in District 100 were forced to draw lots, and only the chosen ones within each family were allowed to live."
"The priests who believed my grandfather was divinely chosen were taken by the Inquisition, and the new state clergy dismissed all past grievances."
"I was escorted by a psychic and the Captain of the Guard to District 100. The people here, instead of resenting our family for the calamity we brought upon them, chose to follow me."
"While escaping from the tower, the Captain of the Guard sacrificed himself, trading his life for mine and preserving the ancient texts that our family had passed down for generations."
With that, He Qi Zheng's story came to an end.
Yao En frowned, considering the tale carefully, sensing certain peculiarities. "Your grandfather was a Lower Hive man, wasn't he? Not a fallen noble or a priest educated in the state religion?"
"Yes," He Qi Zheng affirmed with a nod.
"Then he was likely a compassionate person, not someone naturally skilled in administration," Yao En observed. "A person may possess certain talents, but knowledge doesn't come inherently. Without study, no matter how fast he learned, he couldn't have known how to govern a hive city, let alone how to improve it. And Lower Hive offered no environment for such learning."
He Qi Zheng lowered his head in thought, not as if he'd been exposed, but as if hesitating.
After a lengthy pause, he made up his mind. He climbed out of bed and gestured for Yao En to follow him to the basement.
Once the psychic left the house, Yao En followed with confidence.
The basement was vast, housing all of District 100's children who had not yet come of age.
As they entered, Yao En noted other, slightly better homes in the living quarters. If He Qi Zheng was the leader of District 100, he ought to reside in one of those better homes.
Thus, his choice to live in this broken-down house had only one explanation: if attackers breached the walls, they would target He Qi Zheng and the psychic first, before depriving District 100's adults of their future.
He Qi Zheng led Yao En through the gathered children to a large alloy door.
After scanning his iris at the adjacent electronic device, the door thundered open.
Yao En found the electronic lock novel for Beixu No. 1, where most doors typically used wetware locks.
The device scan revealed that this electronic lock was an antique relic, equipped with self-repair and self-destruct capabilities. Instead of opening the door, it generated an invisible energy field that would cause everything within a 70-meter radius to vanish if the device were compromised.
Once they entered, the door shut behind them.
On the iron bookshelf before them rested an ancient tome and a small medicine bottle containing three remaining pills.
"These are the relics our family has safeguarded for generations," He Qi Zheng said, approaching the ancient tome. "Though our family was always poor, we would sooner sell our respirators than lose these heirlooms."
Yao En's gaze fell on the medicine bottle. Scans indicated it was a water purification drug, with ingredients bearing a potent cleansing effect.
The bottle bore an inscription in an archaic language, which, after comparison and analysis in Yao En's database, translated before his eyes:
"Ancient Terra Script."
"Translation: Emergency Water Purification Tablets, produced by Restful Journey Group."
"Upon landing in an escape pod, toss one of these tablets into any liquid source you find, then use the attached tester to check if the water has been over-purified into ultra-pure water."
"Do not place more than half a tablet in any liquid body larger than an ocean."
"This is how District 100 remains water-sufficient?" Yao En asked, gesturing at the drug.
He Qi Zheng looked at Yao En with surprise, not expecting him to deduce the drug's purpose so quickly.
But without delay, He Qi Zheng took the ancient tome from the shelf and opened it.
It was then that Yao En realized it was a container resembling a book, within which lay a small, roughly embedded orb.
Reciting a series of incantations in a language Yao En couldn't understand, He Qi Zheng activated the orb, which projected a solid image, transforming the room into a classroom.
Two strikingly beautiful women with black hair materialized, both wearing glasses and holding books.
They walked toward Yao En and He Qi Zheng, removed a cord from the neuro-interface behind their heads, and connected it to both Yao En's and He Qi Zheng's interfaces.
Suddenly, Yao En found himself sharing sensations with one of the women.
Thinking this might be an advanced teaching method, he was taken aback when she leaned down and—
"Sorry, wrong file," He Qi Zheng muttered hurriedly, switching to the next scene.
They were back in the classroom, but this time, a man with black hair and peculiar attire appeared, resembling An Ruida, He Qi Zheng, and the Lord of Tyron.
"I'm the familiar Mr. He. Let's continue from the previous lesson and begin Lesson 121: Colonial Administration."
"As I mentioned in the last class, if you can't afford the basic $2 study device, then you'll have to bear with my verbal explanations."
"In the previous lesson, we covered the first steps of establishing a colony, from purchasing the colonization ship. This time, we'll dive into colony management. I've invited the distinguished Professor Jain, an expert in administration across the Federation."
"Professor Jain, please say hello to everyone."
A blond man appeared, greeting Yao En and He Qi Zheng. "Hello, it's an honor to participate in the course recording for Beixu Star System University. Together with your teacher, Mr. He, I will teach you all the essentials of colony administration."
"From creating a self-sustaining economic system, establishing a military for efficient alien extermination, to drafting legal codes."
The two instructors went on, imparting every facet of colony management to Yao En and He Qi Zheng.
The knowledge was almost too sophisticated, incongruous with the crude setting of the Hive World in the 41st millennium.
As the video ended, Yao En learned that it was never meant for physical video learning. The teacher explained that the video was only for knowledge preservation in cases where standard study equipment wasn't available, stored in a durable player capable of self-repair.
The player, disguised as an ancient tome, contained only two videos, with the course on administration incomplete beyond Lesson 121.
Yet, these two lessons provided a Lower Hive man with the very things he needed most—knowledge and solace.