EDEH CHAPTER 99

[007 Diary Thirty]

 

[Human consciousness has always struggled between destruction and survival, from ancient times to the present.]

 

·

 

Despite fooling around, they didn’t go all the way.

 

The little evil dragon only wanted to be served, not to serve others. Nestled in Huo Yanji’s embrace, he was too lazy to even move his hands, wrapping his tail around perfunctorily and giving it a couple of half-hearted coils.

 

Huo Yanji said: “This lazy?”

 

“I’m a patient…” Sang Jue added: “A sick dragon.”

 

“Beep—”

 

A long sound penetrated through the blanket into their eardrums, buzzing and not very clear.

 

A large hand lifted the blanket, and Sang Jue poked his head out, listening carefully.

 

Huo Yanji wrapped an arm around Sang Jue’s waist: “Do you hear any sounds?”

 

Sang Jue said uncertainly: “Like an alarm, but the frequency is different from the main city’s alarm.”

 

Relatively speaking, it wasn’t as sharp and piercing, more of a reminder and desolation, like a countdown.

 

Huo Yanji got up, grabbed the shirt from the foot of the bed and put it on, buttoning it while walking to the window. He opened the well-soundproofed window, and immediately noisy sounds poured in.

 

This intoxicated city that had always lived in false peace was now caught in panicked and helpless whispers.

 

“Beep beep—”

 

Without looking, Huo Yanji answered the communication, hearing his subordinate’s grave tone: “Sir, something big has happened!”

 

Huo Yanji looked up at the dome and hummed: “I see it.”

 

This artificial sky that had once cost humanity decades of effort was now pitch black, with no stars or moon visible, only a row of neat crimson countdown numbers.

 

【3651 days 23:57】

 

【3651 days 23:56】

 

【3651 days 23:55】

 

…

 

The numbers in the front row remained unmoved, only the numbers in the back row kept jumping and decreasing. Though the people stopping to look up didn’t understand, they still felt a vague unease in their hearts.

 

Sang Jue’s legs were fair and white, with red fingerprints from Huo Yanji’s rubbing still remaining at the root of his thighs. He rolled out of bed and walked over barefoot, asking in confusion: “What is this?”

 

Huo Yanji hung up the communication: “Life countdown.”

 

Though his intuition about crises made Huo Yanji realize something might happen, he hadn’t expected this result.

 

The crimson numbers reflected in Sang Jue’s eyes as the little evil dragon calculated for a long time: “3651 days… ten years?”

 

He’d never seen such a long countdown before.

 

Huo Yanji said slowly: “There was a rumor long ago that when the underground city was first built, the Supreme Council and chief engineer embedded a destruction program in the system. But later someone investigated thoroughly and found no relevant documents, so the rumor was dropped.”

 

Sang Jue didn’t understand: “Wasn’t the underground city established for racial continuation? Why would they insert a destruction program?”

 

After a while, Huo Yanji said: “Probably because the humans of that time weren’t certain they’d have a chance to return to the surface.”

 

Imagine, in the original projections, the surface radiation brought by the meteor season would take hundreds of years to dissipate. Could the underground city’s energy and supplies really last that long?

 

If they couldn’t sustain it and couldn’t return to the surface, would they have to die in despair as resources gradually depleted?

 

Better to have a big explosion and die quickly and cleanly before despair arrived.

 

But according to the most credible theory at the time, the rift anomalies absorbed over 99.9% of the surface radiation—

 

So when the underground city’s resources were about to be depleted, humans cautiously returned to the surface to check the situation, only to discover in shock that less than twenty years after the meteor season ended, surface radiation had already dissipated to levels where humans could survive.

 

Only then did they return to the surface to build safe zones, beginning humanity’s new life.

 

Indeed, it was just as Huo Yanji had thought.

 

A cold, intelligent mechanical voice echoed throughout the city, reaching everyone’s ears and explaining the meaning of the dome’s countdown to the confused residents.

 

“Energy is near depletion, self-destruct program has been activated—”

 

“Current resource calculations complete, natural circulation supply within the cabin is sufficient for human survival for ten years.”

 

“005 hereby wishes the 7,322,111 residents in the city to spend their final ten years in peace and tranquility. These are your final ten years, and also humanity’s final ten years.”

 

Residents panicked helplessly: “What’s happening?”

 

“Aren’t there over twenty safe zones on the surface? Why are they saying resources are depleted?”

 

“What does self-destruct program mean? Will the underground city be destroyed when ten years are up?”

 

“It might be a big explosion…”

 

“My god.”

 

…

 

Huo Yanji made a phone call: “Go to Engineer Hao’s house immediately!”

 

Then he hurriedly said to Sang Jue: “I’m going out for a while.”

 

However, when he turned around, he found Sang Jue staring blankly out the window, seemingly still not having recovered from the announcement.

 

Huo Yanji paused: “Sang Jue, what’s wrong?”

 

Sang Jue looked up and asked: “Who is 005?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “The AI system that manages the underground city’s network, the voice from the broadcast just now.”

 

“…” Sang Jue said “oh” and went to get his pants. “I’ll go out with you.”

 

The two got dressed and went downstairs. Midway, Huo Yanji received over ten phone calls, constantly switching between receiving information and sending instructions.

 

Sang Jue only caught a few key sentences: the self-destruct system was activated by someone manually inputting a key, the passage to the surface had been closed, communication signals to the surface had been blocked…

 

None of the above could be terminated because they didn’t have the authority.

 

Sang Jue asked: “Don’t you have authority either?”

 

Huo Yanji hurriedly got in the car: “No. All authority for the underground city is in the hands of the council, Madam, and engineers. Initially only the council had authority, fearing that surface safe zones would ‘rebel’ after growing stronger.”

 

Later, after the Lydia incident, the freedom agreement clearly stated that all authority possessed by the council would be shared with successive “Madams” and chief engineers, solely to protect the rights of underground city residents, not to be the council’s dictatorship.

 

Sang Jue asked: “So Madam Evelyn has authority?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “But she’s been missing since the day we encountered her in the cave.”

 

It was even very likely that this activation of the self-destruct program was connected to her.

 

Sang Jue suddenly said: “I’m sorry.”

 

Huo Yanji paused and ruffled his hair: “It has nothing to do with you.”

 

Sang Jue felt that if it hadn’t been for accompanying him that day in the cave, afraid his identity as a ‘little monster’ would be discovered, Huo Yanji wouldn’t have had to hide in the cave with him but would have directly brought Evelyn back to camp.

 

After all, Huo Yanji had already begun to suspect Evelyn had ulterior motives.

 

“If you hadn’t come, I might not have made it out of the mountain fire, and I wouldn’t have encountered Evelyn at that time.” Huo Yanji said calmly: “Besides, even without her, the self-destruct program would probably have proceeded on schedule.”

 

This couldn’t be a spur-of-the-moment plan. They had probably been planning this for a long time and wouldn’t entrust success or failure to one person.

 

How many people were included in “they”? One, ten, a hundred?

 

Huo Yanji quickly filtered through all the information he’d received since arriving at the underground city, finally uttering several names: “Hao Hui, Bernie, Evelyn…”

 

But what didn’t make sense was that Hao Hui clearly still had a wife and children, living happily. How could he participate in this kind of self-destructive act?

 

The car finally stopped downstairs at Hao Hui’s residential building.

 

In the underground city, forming families wasn’t common. After all, most were women, and only some male workers could form families with women, though the women still couldn’t escape their “duties.” However, children born from non-obligatory births could be registered under the family’s name.

 

Additionally, there were a small number of women willing to partner with the same sex, caring for each other in their lives.

 

On the surface, Hao Hui belonged to the very fortunate.

 

He had a wife, children, and a safe job—this was a life that 99% of current humans wouldn’t dare even dream of.

 

Huo Yanji strode into the building. An adjutant Sang Jue hadn’t seen before approached: “Sir, Engineer Hao is inside.”

 

Huo Yanji frowned: “Wasn’t he on the way back to the city with Saiya from the solar base station?”

 

The adjutant said: “I checked the records. Engineer Hao returned underground two hours before the self-destruct program activated.”

 

Sang Jue had only met Hao Hui once—when he rescued him from the dark pool and was scared unconscious by the evil dragon’s true form.

 

His impression was of someone very cowardly and timid.

 

But at this moment, Hao Hui sat calmly by the bed where three people lay: a ‘young’ mother who was clearly only thirty but whose skin was as aged as someone in their forties or fifties, and her two children.

 

Hao Hui was gently stroking the woman’s hair, indifferent to Huo Yanji’s arrival.

 

Sang Jue wrinkled his nose. The air was filled with the stench of rotting corpses.

 

Looking carefully, one could see that lying on the bed were just three corpses, wet on their bodies, skin gray and white. They should have been taken from the freezer not long ago and were still thawing.

 

The cold military boot sounds stopped at the doorway. Huo Yanji paused and commented: “Good acting.”

 

Hao Hui smiled and shrugged: “Don’t say that. I’m just an ordinary person. I was scared to death facing you, afraid of giving myself away. Fortunately, I performed exceptionally well—you didn’t suspect me at all.”

 

Hao Hui had acted out a cowardly, mediocre demeanor, even willing to anger Huo Yanji with words in the cave to reduce his own physical stiffness when facing this decisive general.

 

Later, when they spent the night in the cave, he almost gave himself away—

 

He asked: “Doesn’t the general have anyone he misses?”

 

Huo Yanji answered at that time: “Yes.”

 

Hao Hui unconsciously said something heartfelt: “That’s nice. Having someone to miss makes you want to do everything possible to get home.”

 

His expression at that time should have been telling, but no matter how indifferent a human is, it’s hard to maintain usual calm and attentiveness when facing personal emotions.

 

With Huo Yanji thinking about someone, he naturally wouldn’t notice the implications in an ordinary engineer’s words.

 

Huo Yanji closed his eyes and said: “It seems you won’t cooperate.”

 

Hao Hui smiled: “I’d like to cooperate, but I told Madam that I hoped to return to the underground city to rest after the plan began. She agreed, but the price was removing all my authority.”

 

“…” The adjutant beside them said gravely: “Sir, I’ve already sent people to find the former chairman and former vice-chairman.”

 

Hao Hui caressed his wife’s lifeless face while saying: “You said it yourself—’former’ chairman and ‘former’ vice-chairman. I should thank General Huo for helping solve them, giving Madam an excuse to remove their authority.”

 

Huo Yanji suddenly realized: “You’re in contact with Ji Zhen?”

 

Hao Hui said calmly: “Who is Ji Zhen? I don’t know her.”

 

Whether he knew her or not wasn’t important anymore.

 

Only now did Huo Yanji understand the whole picture—

 

Ji Zhen had calculated everyone.

 

Initially, Ji Zhen, who had become a rebel, reached a surface cooperation with old Herman and the council. The Supreme Council was for Dawn Plan 2, Ji Zhen seemingly for profit and revenge, old Herman thinking he could successfully maneuver between Ji Zhen and the council while giving Huo Yanji a push…

 

But actually not—everyone was Ji Zhen’s chess piece.

 

From beginning to end, she had only one purpose: to expose the Dawn Plan. Other developments were unimportant to her.

 

Only with the Dawn Plan exposed could the council possibly be overthrown, and only then would Evelyn have the chance to remove the Supreme Council’s control over the underground city, completely isolate the underground city from the surface, and activate the self-destruct program.

 

Hao Hui asked: “Isn’t this good? Is there still any need for current humanity to continue living? Everyone is suffering too much.”

 

His wife had developed severe self-destructive mental illness during nearly twenty years of duty and had committed suicide with their two children, simply because she didn’t want the children to repeat the same fate.

 

That day, Hao Hui awakened for the first time from his seemingly happy but numb life. After a heart-wrenching cry, he no longer immersed himself in the engineer’s world but began watching documentaries, researching his wife’s illness, studying the situation of human survivors…

 

He reviewed countless materials and finally reached only one conclusion—

 

This world was beyond saving.

 

“Only humans would be complacent about so-called civilization, arrogantly thinking that the species must continue, but human civilization is just a drop in the ocean of planetary history, insignificant.”

 

“Madam has worked hard for many years to save people from suffering.” Hao Hui seemed possessed, saying softly: “She is a soft-hearted god, completely isolating the underground city from the surface full of absurd suffering, bestowing ten years of peaceful sleep.”

 

And above the dome on the surface, contaminants agitated by the mountain fire were on their way to trample the safe zones.

 

**

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