The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-270

Chapter 270: The Journey Home

No one had expected Raven 12345 to leave such an easter egg in the planet that she created. Of course, that crazy goddess had probably forgotten that she placed it there since she did not mention it to Hao Ren when he talked about the big migration. Now, the planet came alive with the influx of intelligent beings. As long as you were look up at the sky, no matter which part of the planet you were in, the words would appear within your vision. Almost instantly, Hao Ren realised that there was something even more sinister: You could not ignore the words. The moment the broadcast started, those words were firmly etched into your vision. Heck, even before the introduction began, Raven 12345’s watermark was already plastered all over your face…

“Welcome to the new intelligent beings inhabiting this planet. New inhabitants detected as foreign beings. Switching to Introductory Guide Number 2. This planet, under the majority of circumstances, was created by the great and magnificent imperial commander, goddess and apprentice planetary sculptor, Raven 12345.

“The planet’s average radius is 9,000 kilometres. For unit of surface gravity, please measure it yourself. For planetary rotation cycle, please calculate it yourself. Galactic parameters, forgotten but, it is probably stable. The galactic map is available in the creator’s suite within the planet’s core however, it seems to be password protected. All in all, the planet is beautiful and perfectly habitable. It is in harmony with the celestial bodies nearby so, there should not be any cosmic disasters.

“The planet is equipped with an atmosphere and ecosystem that is suitable for Type IV carbon-based life forms. For basic tectonic parameters, please see Appendix I. For natural resources and reserves, please see Appendix II. For a guide on extracting resources, I have forgotten. Nevertheless, I believe that any race capable of interstellar travel is capable of finding it out themselves. Following this will be the various parameters set during the planet’s creation. Disclaimer: I bear no responsibility in notifying you of any subsequent natural changes to the planet.

“That is all.

“From your great and magnificent goddess, Raven 12345.

“P.S. If there is any problem regarding the planet’s quality, please bear with it using your faith and courage. This planet is not registered in the Imperial Planetary Database as it is a personal project. Frankly, it is not possible to cover everything, so bite me.”

Raven 12345’s broadcast had mostly ended. What followed was a series of data about the planet’s resources and parameters. At the same time, a multi-signal transmission reverberated throughout the atmosphere. This signal was also a broadcast of the planet’s parameters. By then, Hao Ren was already squatting in a corner, pretending to be looking at some stones alongside Lily, who was actually looking at stones. Hilda’s voice only broke through to him after a couple of tries. “Umm… A-are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just feel like gutting someone right now. But, I can’t defeat her.” Hao Ren lamented. “…It has taken me so much effort to pull of something big like this… Can’t she just let me finish it properly… This scene… will forever be etched in the annals of your people’s history…”

Hilda looked blankly towards the beach and found that many of her people had only just recovered from their stupor. However, there were a few experts who did not dwell on the stunning heavenly message, and quicky realised the importance of the broadcast. They swiftly called for their helpers or roused their colleagues, who were still dumbstruck to get their recording tools. They then began taking down all the important notes before the broadcast ended.

“Have a look.” Hilda pulled Hao Ren to his feet. “This thing is of great importance to us. You may think that the presentation was too casual… but for us… it is another gift.”

Hao Ren gave a stunned, “Oh”. He never thought that the elves would intently take down notes of Raven 12345’s super casual broadcast. It was not until much later that Hilda would tell him how the information helped the Aerymians pass their first winter in their new home without incident. As this migration was done on such a short notice, aside from the data the MDT had from its last cursory scan, there were no further detailed information about the planet. The elves would have taken years, or even decades to even start developing their industries again and to understand the nature of the planet. Raven 12345 had however saved them a potentially fatal trouble.

Hao Ren spent the next few days on the beach’s front base with the elves. He was there until all of the Aerymians and materials were sent over by the transport fleet in orbit, thus completing the Great Migration. He and his motly crew were of great help during their stay. Lily and Y’zaks’ brute strength were more than welcomed in the ongoing work while Vivian’s blood magic saved many from the grisly fate of succumbing to the local pathogens. It also helped the Aerymian medical experts in their research of ways to combat and prevent infections from the native microbes as well as pathogens.

Once the treatment methods were sent back to research facilities on Darklight Isle, the introduction of vaccines and antibiotics were quickly made for the migrants. Therefore, the initial fear of local diseases were someone allayed.

Something did boggle Hao Ren’s mind; he was under the impression that vampires contributed more to plagues, poisons and the likes while Blood Magic was meant to be destructive. Vivian had also mentioned that other Blood Clan members were not particularly adept with healing magic. However, she was the odd one out with some rather impressive restorative abilities. Her blood magic could easily kill someone like the magic of any normal Blood Clan member yet, hers had a secondary ability—the ability to turn itself around and utilise its energies to heal her target.

Hoa Ren had to reconfirm with Vivian if any other vampires had such an ability, and Vivian was adamantly sure about it. The Blood Clan had no interests or intentions to heal anyone, and they even thumbed their nose at such unconventional magic. Vivian also mentioned that a few of her juniors were interested in learning her healing magic, but they soon found that their blood was poisonous, incapable of being transformed into life energies.

It was something almost beyond comprehension, but Hao Ren did witness Vivian resurrecting a dead elf with her blood.

Hao Ren had thought long and hard about her abilities and in the end, he concluded that he had better things to do. All of his tenants were already quirky to begin with and quite frankly, no one had the time to actually bother with that.

As for Hao Ren, his job was to command his regiment of droids from the Petrachelys. The droids only took command from the captain and he could not relegate the job to someone else. He was thankful that the droids were very effective in carrying out their tasks and their ability to desynthesis or resynthesis items. The construction of the base camp was moving forward swimmingly. By the time the last of the migrants had landed, the basic camp site now looked more like a settlement. In fact, you could call it a proper town at this point.

The Aerymian mages reconstructed the base of the town and moved it towards the jungle. Some of the buildings were even translocated directly into the forest. The elves were careful not to harm any of the ancient trees there. They only emptied the clearings as well as a portion of the snaking brambles and vines. The elves had found ancient construction logs on how their ancestors peacefully co-existed with the forest. As such, they placed utmost importance and reverence to the forest in their new home. Being one with nature did run in their blood after all, and millenniums of living under a metal dome did not diminish their inborn appreciation for nature.

Plenty of simple wooden houses now dotted the beach as the construction work gained pace. The exposed Magic Resonance Device had also since been transfered into the town’s power station, and the feeder tubes were buried underground as per the reconstruction plans. These facilities were partly made with the materials brought from Aerym while the rest were rocks that were converted into building materials. As these buildings were temporary shelters, they sufficed.

More and more elves were making landfall from orbit, and part of the populace stayed in Darklight Isle as well as the remaining eco-domes. Meanwhile, the rest formed into approximately 20 primary settlements all over the planet. The transport fleet also brought along spacecrafts that the Aerymians had cosntructed. These spacecrafts were capable of atmospheric travel, and were used to keep the lines of communication between the settlement open.

Vimm landed along with the last batch of the migrants into the settlement on the beach, now named Minas Elenion, the City of Stars. This was the name of the legendary capital of Aerym’s first dynasty. It was also the first major, historic city that was constructed after the elves left the forest. While it was a simple town at the moment, it would not take long to be a prosperous capital. Hao Ren and Hilda awaited the prince regent in the town hall. Aside from bringing in the last of the migrants, he took with him an atmospheric transport craft.

The prince regent was taken aback by the sight of his new home. But, as he had also received footage of its progress from Hilda, he recovered much faster than others.

“I have brought along the World of Prayer’s server.” Vimm pointed towards a bulky transport craft, which had landed on the beach. “All data is frozen as of now.”

“Once we upgrade the power station to a higher level, we can reactivate the servers.” Hilda nodded and sighed. “…I just feel so sorry for the last batch of elves who entered the World of Prayers… Cardillon too…”

“If only they had waited another month for the Great Migration.” Vimm was solemn too. “They left a little too soon.”

Hilda did not wish to dwell on such a grim topic. “The Lotto Group has already handed over the activation keys to the restricted and locked areas in the World of Prayers. I believe we can meet them again soon. Have faith in our scholars. Perhaps, they will find a way to create a body for those in the World of Prayers to reconnect with us physically.

The last of the transport fleet’s ships were preparing to leave the system. Captain 883 sent a communication signal to Hao Ren and the Aerymian elves to say his farewells. He also promised to send in the relief materials, which was agreed upon earlier. Hao Ren felt that his group had nothing more to do there presently, so he also bade farewell to Hilda.

“I’ll leave one of the droids here. You can use it to communicate with me.” Hao Ren pointed at the squid droid that was entertaining a few excited Aerymian children as their parents looked on. “Let’s keep in touch. If you run into any trouble, please let me know. If you want to visit Earth again, you’re most welcome as well. I should be able to accommodate a few visitors.”

Hilda smiled beautifully. “Please send my regards to the goddess. Once I am done over here, I will head over to pay my respects.”

Not long after, the Petrachelys soared towards the sky and disappeared from Hilda’s sight.

Vimm was deep in thought as he tried to recall something. Having suddenly remembered the matter, he quickly turned to Hilda. “Mother… haven’t you forgotten about your body?”

“…”