Chapter 16

Chapter 16

In the stillness, Jin Sen yawned. "The prison beds are quite soft."

An Zhe surveyed his surroundings. In a cramped cell, there was a two-meter-long, one-meter-wide plastic cushion in a corner, with a white thin blanket folded at its end – this was probably what they called a bed.

He walked over, sat cross-legged on it, wrapped himself in the blanket, and leaned against the wall.

Footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor as blinding light illuminated the passageway. Three soldiers from the City Defense Bureau patrolled with flashlights. As they passed by, one soldier on the left said, "There are three extra. Who sent them in?"

"The Court of Judgment did it. Colonel Lu is impressive. The City Defense Bureau is now their support team."

"The Court of Judgment wants to take full control, but the director's still holding out."

They shone their flashlights on their faces briefly before moving on, inspecting each cell before ascending through another entrance.

After they left, the entire underground space fell silent, filled only with the breathing of the prisoners. There were few of them, An Zhe could tell. Drips of water echoed in the distance, landing on the plastic surface. Boss Xiao grumbled, "The City Defense Bureau is wasting water like that."

But the sound of the dripping water continued without pause, steady and uniform. Jin Sen said, "It's a clock."

An Zhe strained to listen, identifying the sound as emanating from the cell next to his. It was a periodic tick, barely audible, not the dripping of water but the measured ticking of an old mechanical clock.

In the darkness, the seconds hand moved steadily, stretching time into infinity.

Finally, Jin Sen spoke, "Boss Xiao, with your experience, how long do you think we'll be locked up?"

"I don't think it'll be for long," Boss Xiao replied. "Illegally obtaining information about a Judge depends on the purpose. As long as no harm is caused to the Judge, it's manageable."

"But you used it for profit," Jin Sen argued. "Even if it's not a long sentence, there should still be a fine, right?"

Boss Xiao responded, "In that case, I'd rather serve a few more years."

Jin Sen sighed. "Judges are just Judges, even taking a photo lands you in detention. I guess I should stick to selling phones from now on. All I did was take a picture, and the Court's agents dragged me away. I was terrified, thinking I might have unknowingly become an Other without realizing it."

Boss Xiao remained silent, but a clear young male voice echoed from An Zhe's neighboring cell, "I've seen this charge before - illegal acquisition of a Judge's information."

Boss Xiao asked, "How long were they kept?"

"The shortest was three days, the longest three years. One was executed – he attempted to assassinate a Judge."

Boss Xiao cautiously inquired, "…Was it successful?"

"It was not."

"Then why the death sentence?"

"The Judicator's Bill stipulates as such." The voice remained calm. "Without absolute safety for the Judicator, there can be no absolute authority."

Boss Xiao continued, "So… we didn't have any intention of harming him. How long will he be locked up?"

The voice replied, "It depends on the Judicator's mood."

An Zhe's fingers scratched at the blanket. He felt that the Judicator was in a good mood.

Just then, Jin Sen asked curiously, "Brother, what did you do to get in trouble?"

The voice answered, "Incitement and spreading panic."

Jin Sen seemed puzzled. "Huh?"

"I submitted articles to the Cultural Institute, and the City Defense took me in," the neighbor explained. "Later, when the institute shut down, they didn't release me."

An Zhe realized that this person was in the same profession as An Ze.

Jin Sen then asked, "How long were you sentenced for?"

"Life imprisonment."

There was a distinct pause on Jin Sen's end of the line. "Are you joking with me?"

The man chuckled but didn't respond.

An Zhe pondered. According to An Ze's memories, his job had been quite secure.

He turned to the neighbor and inquired, "What did you write?"

"I wrote popular science on base history. My pen name is Poet. Have you read any of my work?"

An Zhe replied, "No, I haven't."

The poet said, "Do you want to hear it? Your voice is very pleasant."

"Yours is too," An Zhe commented, sensing the poet's eagerness to share. "I'd like to listen."

"Stop." Boss Xiao interjected. "You're guilty of incitement. Don't even think about trying to sway our children."

"The worst that can happen is that you'll be listening," the poet chuckled. "After all, you're already captured."

There was an undeniable logic in his words.

"I spent a long time putting this together," the poet continued. "Since being locked up here, I haven't had many opportunities to share it. But you're probably familiar with most of what I'm going to say."

An Zhe replied, "I'm not."

"Oh?" The poet asked, "Then let me elaborate."

"I'll have to think about where to start..." His pace slowed. "Let's begin with the Desert Era."

"Before the Desert Era, it was the 'Great Flourishing Period.' There were seven billion people on Earth. In the plains, you would encounter a village or city within an hour's drive. Cities were bustling with inhabitants. Surrounding them were farmlands, ranches, and factories that supplied the cities with goods. There were wars back then, but they were conflicts between nations. Animals and plants were no match for human weapons."

Pausing here, he seemed to be organizing his thoughts. After a moment, he continued, "That was in 2020. More than a century ago."

"When I was a mercenary, I visited the ruins of a research institute in a country's capital. There, I dug out a document — a report on geomagnetic research starting from 2020."

Silence reigned as he went on, "From that year onwards, they detected a rapid weakening of Earth's magnetic field — do you know what a magnetic field is?"

Jin Sen replied, "Don't ask me, buddy. I'm no scholar."

Boss Xiao remained silent.

"The base doesn't teach these things," the poet continued. "In short, in 2030, Earth's magnetic field vanished."

Jin Sen asked sincerely, "So what exactly does the Earth's magnetic field do?"

"The Earth is a giant magnet with the North and South Poles as its positive and negative ends. The magnetic field is everything," the poet explained. "After it disappeared, compasses ceased to function, the global ecosystem was disrupted, human industries ground to a halt, and electricity generation became impossible. However, those were the least of our worries."

"The Earth's magnetic field... Its most crucial role is to protect the planet. Suspended in space, the Earth is exposed to cosmic rays and solar winds from all directions. But when these substances encounter the magnetic field, they're deflected away, sparing surface life from harm. In 2030, after the magnetic field vanished, the entire Earth was directly exposed to solar storms and cosmic radiation. The radiation outside was too intense; most land was uplifted by storms, water evaporated, and the atmosphere thinned. Droughts, skin diseases, and cancers... Half of Earth's population perished. That was the 'Age of Deserts'."

Jin Sen gasped, "Oh my god."

"However, the Desert Era ended swiftly," the poet chuckled, continuing, "Ever since the magnetic field changes were discovered in 2020, humans had already formulated countermeasures, dividing them into Plan A and Plan B. I had to dig through a lot of records in the ruins to find this information."

Jin Sen's tone became more respectful. "Please go on."

"The Plan A involved constructing enormous magnetic field generators at two specific locations on the Asian continent and North America. One was called the 'Eastern Magnetic Pole,' the other the 'Western Magnetic Pole.' These two generators would replace Earth's polar regions, resonating with the charged particles in the solar wind to create a new magnetic field that would envelop the entire globe."

Jin Sen clapped appreciatively. "Impressive."

"Plan B entailed the construction of vast subterranean cities, shifting the focus of human life from the surface to underground, protecting us from radiation and solar winds."

Jin Sen kept applauding. "Well done."

"In 2040, Plan B succeeded, and the subterranean cities opened for habitation."

"In 2043, Plan A was accomplished, establishing a weak magnetic field that covered the globe. The climate stopped deteriorating, and living creatures no longer perished due to cosmic radiation. Human technology began to recover, and the period from 2040 to 2043 was known as the 'Dawn Era.'"

At this point, the poet let out a soft sigh. "But, humanity's most challenging times were only just beginning."

An Zhe's eyes widened.

"I'm aware," Jin Sen replied from across the room. "The Era of Catastrophe has arrived."

"Yes," the poet said. "Cosmic radiation led to unknown genetic mutations, birthing terrifying creatures."

"At first, it was super bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They multiplied within human cities, infecting everyone indiscriminately. The cities were filled with corpses. Those who ventured into the wilderness ruins know this truth."

An Zhe asked, "How did anyone survive?"

"Survival was a matter of fate," the poet explained. "If your genes granted immunity to these bacteria, you lived. If not, you perished. Eventually, only those with immunity remained. Out of the three billion people who had survived the desert era, only around one hundred million were left. However, that wasn't the hardest time for humanity."

An Zhe inquired, "What happened next?"

"You already know the rest. Whether it was an unknown evolution caused by cosmic radiation or a virus we couldn't detect, comprehensive biological mutations occurred. These creatures took over the world. There must have been something special about them; contact with them would infect humans, gradually erasing their human traits as they assimilated. They enjoyed attacking humans; our genes tasted delicious to them — and thus began the war. It was the grandest conflict in human history."

Taking a gentle breath, the poet continued, "Scattered humans couldn't withstand the monsters' attacks. Mankind started consolidating remaining resources to establish human bases. Our ID numbers start with 3, indicating this is the third base. The Underground City Base, Virginia Base, Northern Base, and Southeast Base formed an alliance as the shared destiny of humanity. Once the bases were established, we could catch our breath, leading to the life you have now."

With this statement, the atmosphere in the prison seemed to ease, only to plummet again with the poet's next words.

"Unfortunately, the bases weren't safe havens." The poet coughed, his voice growing softer.

"In 2073, the mutated rodent outbreak occurred, leading to the fall of the Southeastern Base."

"In 2121, marine anomalies infiltrated, causing the Virginia Base to succumb."

"Damn it," Jin Sen abruptly interrupted, "Now I understand why you were convicted of incitement and spreading panic. The city defense should have just gagged you."

"I haven't done anything wrong," the poet smiled, "I merely joined my boyfriend's mercenary group, collected data from human ruins, organized it, and published it. Yet, I was sentenced to life imprisonment."

Jin Sen responded, "They should have severed your tongue for life. You actually have a boyfriend?"

The poet chuckled, "It's so boring in the base, why can't I have a boyfriend?"

He ignored Jin Sen and continued, "So now, only the Northern Base and the Underground City Base remain operational. These two bases safeguard the magnetic field generator, which is why their auroras are brighter than other areas. The aurora is a stream of particles from the solar wind."

Pausing, the poet sighed, "I don't know if there's still any connection between the two bases, considering the entire Pacific Ocean lies between them. When I said that the most challenging times for humans weren't the Desert Era or the Cataclysmic Era, it's because the hardest time is right now. Who knows what will happen in the next moment?"

As he finished speaking, the ground beneath them jolted fiercely.

Dust fell from the prison ceiling, landing on An Zhe's head and body, making him cough. But then, a more intense tremor shook them.

Jin Sen abruptly sat up, shouting, "An earthquake?"

"It's not an earthquake," An Zhe heard the poet from next door rise to his feet. The learned man muttered something that was beyond An Zhe's comprehension, "Earthquakes have both transverse and longitudinal waves, but this is irregular vibrations, and the epicenter is shallow—"

"—There's something underground!"

This time, An Zhe understood.

"Thud!"

Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed from the depths of the corridor, followed by the clanging sound of an iron gate falling.

"Thud!" came another loud noise.

A hundred times more intense tremor shook the ground, and An Zhe gripped the iron bars of the gate tightly to keep his balance.

He could discern it now.

Something immense and alive was violently pounding against the floor from beneath the earth.