Counterattack System appeared when I'm already At The Mahayana Realm

Chapter 704: Chapter 703: A Familiar Name

“Look, there are survivors.” Luo Zhu pointed to a stronghold forty miles away, overjoyed.

Survivors mean this planet hasn’t been totally annihilated yet, it’s on the brink of destruction, there’s a high probability it can be salvaged, and the civilization can continue.

The settlement was a small city; it was messy and devoid of any aesthetic appeal. It appeared dilapidated, but every building style had its purpose.

The primary function of the settlement’s buildings was accommodating people and durability, comfort was a secondary concern.

Everyone here was a soldier. There was a clear division of tasks: some were responsible for exploring remnants of the old world, some handled agriculture to ensure a steady food supply, while others taught to pass on the knowledge of civilization…

When the three of them arrived, the alarm sounded. The inhabitants of the settlement put down their tasks, armed themselves, and aimed their weapons at the trio. Those who were outside hurried back upon hearing the sound.

“We mean no harm…” Luo Ying tried to explain, but the inhabitants disregarded their explanation and inquired fiercely.

“Why is the radiation level on you so high! Approaching us with such high radiation levels, do you want to kill us all?”

The trio was taken aback. They hadn’t expected the alarms were set off because of the radiation they carried, not their arrival.

Luo Ying was the first to comprehend and murmured, “It might be because we just visited a place where nuclear weapons or something similar had exploded, which has caused us to become irradiated. Although we aren’t affected by radiation, for these survivors, it’s lethal.”

Statistics showed that many worlds faced issues of dealing with radiation after a nuclear war. Therefore, the Dao Sect assigned people to visit these sites and develop new spells.

After chanting a brief incantation, the trio quickly elimated the radiation on them. The alarm quieted down.

However, the survivors were still wary of the trio. In this desolate wasteland, the appearance of three outsiders carrying radiation, and the abrupt silencing of the alarms, were too strange.

“Don’t come any closer! I’ll shoot if you do!” A survivor warned the three while holding a weapon produced two hundred years ago.

It was debatable whether the weapon could even fire.

With a look of despair, Luo Ying raised his hands and shouted, “We are peace-loving traders who just want to sell goods.”

“Outsiders, you’re not welcome here!”

The survivors were still skeptical and kept their weapons ready, seeming to be on the verge of attacking.

Who had ever heard of traders who came with empty hands? @@novelbin@@

Seeing that they were not cooperative, and unwilling to initiate conflicts, the trio decided to move on and find other survivors elsewhere.

The reason they hadn’t discovered any survivors previously was that they had been visiting the areas most devastated by war where radiation levels far exceeded the norm. It was impossible for anyone to have survived there.

The survivors lived in clean zones.

Luo Ying updated the record: “Zhou Tian’s World Report No. 12, currently located in Blue Star, survivors found.”

The trio quickly found a new settlement of survivors, grabbed their bags, disguised themselves as wandering traders, and began to inquire about the past conditions.

Unfortunately, the cultural discontinuities on Blue Star were so dramatic that even the oldest people could only relate what they had heard from their elders about why Blue Star became what it is now, and there were too many ambiguities in their accounts.

After visiting over ten survivor settlements, the trio found that the stories were all similar. Historical events were distant memories for the inhabitants, who could no longer recall how the war had started or ended.

“Reliance on memory will get us nowhere. We need to find documentation.” Luo Ying’s opinion was shared by his sister and Ji Kongkong.

They found dictionaries of six languages and learned the main languages of Blue Star.

“Normal places have already been ruined by war, making it hard to find materials. We should head to the Ministries of Defense, war command centers, or air-raid shelter of each country to find clues.”

After learning the language, they finally understood the purpose of the buildings.

Libraries, schools, hospitals, courts, government buildings, landmarks of various cities…Knowing their functions was useless as all of these places had turned into ruins, void of any value.

The trio moved swiftly on the surface of Blue Star, travelling to various places to uncover the truth of the past.

After days of effort, gathering information from everywhere, together with Ji Kongkong’s Time Dao, the trio finally pieced together the last part of the puzzle in an air-raid shelter and understood the cause of the war.

“More than two hundred years ago, there were five powerful nations on Blue Star that steered the course of the world.”

“However, there were conflicts among these five countries. Their opinions often didn’t align, and covert and overt conflict was common.”

“A mysterious figure emerged around this time who claimed to be from the Immortal Realm and said he was there to aid Blue Star. This figure helped each country technologically, enabling them to strengthen their weaponry to the point where a single country could cover half of Blue Star with firepower.”

“Checks by the Time Dao verified that this mysterious figure was Du Ye.”

“In the face of the truth, each of the five nations held their own.”

“Every nation sought to surpass the others in terms of national defense, precipitating a global arms race.”

“Du Ye left each nation with abundant data. As long as they invested in it, more knowledge was attainable from the data, allowing for updates and upgrades of their weapons.”

“All the nations, consequently, cut down on their space exploration and shifted their focus to national defense.”

“Ultimately, the weaponry of each nation reached its peak, with each country’s arsenal capable of turning Blue Star into a sea of fire, reducing the surface into a wasteland, a horror far surpassing any disaster.”

“Du Ye reappeared. He went to one of the countries and activated a nuclear weapon. Several nuclear bombs were launched at other nations, not targeting their capital cities, but the homes of their leaders.”

“This was the spark which ignited the powder keg.”

“A chain reaction began, other nations responded by retaliating, and the whole world was quickly engulfed in a sea of fire.”

“Each nation had established air-raid shelters to protect their citizens. So, when the warning sounded at the start of the war, more than half of the population hid in the shelters and managed to survive.”

“But that was just the beginning of the war.”

“Once hatred takes root, it’s difficult to eradicate. This most brutal war in history lasted for a full decade, draining all nations’ arsenals.”

“The war ended two hundred years ago, marking the dusk of civilization on Blue Star.”

“After the survivors managed to live, they faced numerous difficulties. Radiation restricted their movement. They fought each other for resources and the chance to live in clean zones, decreasing the already low number of survivors.”

“The war destroyed material resources, but it also destroyed heritage. We know more about the culture of Blue Star than the survivors themselves.”

The matter of Du Ye was not recorded in any files; his actions were witnessed through Time Dao.

The trio was not surprised that Du Ye was involved. His traces were found in the first eleven worlds of Zhou Tian’s World.

The methods Du Ye employed this time were mentioned in other cultivators’ reports.

After discovering the truth, the trio remained silent for a long while, a feeling of helplessness suffocating them.

“What do you think…is the current state of Blue Star civilization on the verge of destruction, or is it already destroyed?” Luo Ying’s voice was bitter.

Ji Kongkong’s mood was also somber: “That’s not for us to determine. Our mission here is to document the facts and report them to the Imperial Palace.”

“Let’s go. We’ll check out other areas. I’ll use my Time Dao to restore as much of Blue Star’s civilization as possible.”

The vacated area above the air-raid shelter was once an orphanage. The head of the orphanage kept a small booklet that recorded the stories of all the orphans at the orphanage.

Luo Zhu accidentally came across a familiar name in the booklet.

Jiang Li.

The record indicated that he had died two hundred and sixty years ago.