In the year 987 of the Empire Calendar, also marking the end of the first millennium of the Empire, a magnificent space carrier floated in the boundless universe.
The ship had a perfectly circular hull surrounded by a ring encircling it. If the circular hull resembled a complete planet, the ring was akin to the planet’s rings, floating around it.
The entire carrier was like a flowing stellar fortress, sailing through the infinite cosmos.
Originally, the Empire had embarked on the starry seas long before the middle of the first millennium, but due to the severe damage to the Eternal Wells caused by the Winter War at that time, the research on the compatibility of magic power and waves was lost, leading to social chaos. It wasn’t until the establishment of the fifth Empire that humanity began stable exploration of the starry seas again.
The outbreak of war was said to be due to the imbalanced development between other continents after the mist descended, resulting in intense conflicts caused by the lack of unified civilizations.
Objectively speaking, the cause was the premature death of the Empire’s emperor, with his young son succeeding the throne. The malfunction of the Eternal Wells on the M Continent delayed the construction of the Eternal Wells promised to other continents. Various negative factors accumulated, and amidst internal and external turmoil, ambitious figures began to stir, eventually igniting a war that spanned the continents.
The war started with the onset of winter and ended with winter as well. Besides the official name of the intercontinental war, it was commonly referred to by civilians as the Winter War.
Finally, the Winter War was concluded by a descendant from the Northern Border Church, who was already the fourth son of the first emperor of mankind, and thus the seventh Ror Empire was established.
The Empire underwent a reboot and successfully completed a reshuffling, leading to greater unity and cohesion. People regained their faith, built more Eternal Wells, and set out into the stars once again.
Perhaps it was truly the ancestors who provided protection within the Sea of Consciousness. Although humanity did not discover new habitable planets during this space voyage, they found a gigantic Ark in the boundless universe, of course, this size is relative to ordinary spacecraft.
Some individuals who favored classical futurism might find this Ark quite appealing.
The carrier first attempted to communicate through known means, but received no response. It seemed to be an unmanned Ark, and a scholar immediately thought of the ancient Arks that fled from Blue Star during the Golden Age, excitedly urging the Lars Knights to board a small ship to investigate the Ark.
“This design, this propulsion system, so retro yet so rigorous!”
Under the protection of the Lars Knights, the white-haired scholar continuously marveled at the Ark with his analyzer.
“Absolutely beautiful, so stunning! It’s simply the most exquisite answer crafted under spatial limitations! I can check it out, right?”
At that moment, the scout’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears:
“Report, no signs of active entities detected, but the consciousness network shows slight fluctuations. There may be artificial intelligence creations similar to the ‘Goddess’ on board, but the signal is weak and cannot be connected.”
The Lars Knight protecting the old scholar also replied, “Look for weak points in the spatial structure, bring portable magic chambers; we will use spatial magic to enter.”
After the portable magic chamber was successfully transformed into a temporary power source, the team of Lars Knights quickly took the excited old scholar inside the massive Ark.
“It’s truly exquisite; these designs even have merits in contemporary times!”
As soon as the scholar finished speaking, the Lars Knights restrained him as a beam of red light started sweeping towards the group.
“Don’t worry, this is just an ordinary check from the ancient system, no harm.”
“I know, I certainly know!”
After the red light passed, some large doors inside the Ark began to slowly open, but no light emerged, as if the Ark’s energy was insufficient. The Lars Knights helped the scholar turn on the lights.
“Because I know, I am this excited! This can now be confirmed as one of the ancestral Arks that set sail from Earth during the Golden Age!”
Saying this, the scholar glanced at a nearby Lars Knight, saying, “Esteemed ancestor, please disable the weight restrictions! We don’t know if this Ark is still sturdy; what if you damage the Golden Age floor?”
Subsequently, the scholar fell onto the Ark’s floor, saying, “No wonder it’s the Golden Age; is this made of such materials and structures? Although it looks outdated now, the layout is truly clever, saving space and rationally dissipating forces. So beautiful! There’s a classical beauty in mechanics! May the first emperor bless, may the queen of wisdom bless, the internal structure of this Ark must be preserved intact!”
Watching the excited scholar, the Lars Knights could only scratch their helmets and activate a switch. Their heavy powered armor was transferred to some space, leaving only basic auxiliary equipment.
This was also modeled after an ancient spatial magic created by the dragon race.
After inspecting the equipment, it was confirmed that this was indeed one of the Arks that escaped Blue Star. Everyone who discovered this Ark would be recorded in history, especially the first squad to board it. No wonder the old scholar was so thrilled; the relics of the Golden Age would yield countless insights.
No, it shouldn’t be said that way; this will indeed be an important milestone in the renewed stage of cosmic exploration.
But soon, the smiles of the squad faded. When they boarded the Ark, the surrounding artificial intelligence reactions led everyone to believe that the Ark could still operate normally.
It was the initial scan that gave everyone the illusion that the Ark’s interior was still running, but that scan was like the last glimpse from the Golden Age; upon realizing that the visitors were humans, the entire Ark let go of its last bit of power.
The scholar led the Lars Knights into the control room of the Ark. As they entered, the control room’s screens began to flicker.
“These are the languages of various countries from the Golden Age.”
The enthusiastic scholar unusually calmed down for a moment.
“It is saying to us: ‘Welcome to the universe, children.'”
Although it was a welcome, it felt like the old Golden Age was bidding farewell to the new humanity.
“There are no living beings left aboard this Ark; its operation has reached its limit, and even the artificial intelligence responsible for this Ark has just exhausted its final bit of energy.”
The old scholar’s expression held some sadness. It was clear that throughout this long time, this Ark maintained its last bit of energy, as if it believed someone would eventually board it and wanted to give future generations a small surprise.
One of the squad leaders of the Lars Knights looked at his military terminal and said, “A weak consciousness sea wave was just detected inside this Ark, but it has already ended.”
Inside the Ark, everyone held their breath, time seemed to freeze. The millennia-long chasm of time was smoothed over by these few words; they felt as if they were gazing into the eyes of those distant ancestors, hearing the entrustments and blessings that spanned history.
For this one statement, how long did this Ark persist in the boundless universe? The lonely Ark floated in the cosmos, waiting for humanity’s arrival.
And how long would it take for humanity, after experiencing disaster and rebuilding, to come to the universe and find this Ark? It might never be found, or one could say the probability approaches zero.
For the Empire fleet, which now controls spatial magic and warp engines, reaching the position of this Ark would likely take just five to ten years, and this time would continue to decrease with technological advancements. However, for this Ark from the Golden Age, it was already a thousand years away.
The solitude of thousands of years finally dissipated in the echoes of the universe.
