Ch.358Chapter 358 – What Was Found in the Ruins

Upon arriving at the New Continent, Hyeryeong and I headed straight for the demon clan’s stronghold.

The New Continent development project had been temporarily suspended for the recovery from the Great Fire.

Because of this, I was able to head to the demon clan’s stronghold with just Hyeryeong, without any interference.

The exterior of this place, now renamed from “demon clan stronghold” to “ancient civilization ruins,” appeared intact.

“Fortunately, this place seems to have escaped the effects of the Great Fire.”

“It seems there was nothing here to burn, I believe. Looking around, there’s nothing but stone.”

The fact that the Great Fire’s flames bypassed this place meant there was a high probability that whatever might be inside the ruins remained intact.

I had been here before to eliminate the remnants of the demon clan.

Perhaps that’s why?

Hyeryeong and I walked forward without the slightest hesitation.

“There’s no sign that anyone has touched this place since that day.”

“I don’t sense any energy here. Are you certain the item you seek is truly here, my lord?”

“It should be.”

Some might think I’m crazy, but I had a feeling there was something here that could counter the Malignant Star.

Humanity always prepares for the worst-case scenario in any situation.

If that’s the case, my theory was that this place, constructed from the wreckage of a spaceship, would contain something from the spaceship that could be used as a “weapon.”

What if there’s nothing here?

Well, then I’d have to make Hyeryeong continue training with her abilities until she could destroy a planet with a single punch.

Some might call it reckless, but we must consider all possible means if we can.

This peaceful world we’ve created—we can’t let everyone sacrifice themselves because of that thing(?).

If sacrifice is necessary, sacrificing just one bad guy is the safest option—that’s the established theory in academia.

“My lord, how far must we go?”

“We need to search all places that look like storage areas. But preferably, we should look for places protected by especially thick and sturdy doors.”

What I’m looking for isn’t an ordinary item, but something extremely powerful.

So, it’s highly likely to be stored in a place under strict security.

However, the power reactor supplying energy to this place had a radiation leak accident.

They said they forcibly collapsed the passage to seal it off.

‘I’m glad I remember the contents of that diary I read back then.’

The diary I collected after eliminating the demon clan remnants.

I took it out again.

‘Though I don’t remember everything in it.’

I started reading the diary I pulled from my pocket from the beginning.

[Day 30 after the crash. So far, so good. We will definitely survive here.]

[Day 60 after the crash. The food production facility occasionally stops, probably due to power shortages. We’ll need to find capacitors from the spaceship for additional power supply.]

After reading through the diary again, there wasn’t anything particularly special.

“Sigh.”

As I sighed and put the diary back, a single note fell out from between the cover and the first page.

I picked it up and checked its contents.

What could be written on it?

The writing was tiny and difficult to read, but it contained the following:

[The explosion of our spaceship was no accident]

Hmm? That’s an intense first sentence.

[It was on our spaceship. That’s why the cargo hold of our ship exploded!]

Wait, the spaceship explosion? Since this note was written by someone who survived the spaceship… they must have investigated the cause after the crash landing.

[But the truly horrifying fact is that ‘it’ is still functioning perfectly. Damn it. Are we destined to never escape from that cursed object?]

It… What object could they be referring to?

[It’s horrifying. Truly horrifying. The new weapon that destroyed the moon was on our spaceship. Who the hell loaded that thing?]

A new weapon that… destroyed the moon? Is that thing on this planet?

I got goosebumps reading this part. I needed to read the rest quickly.

[After discovering the object, the survivors’ council decided how to use it. If, by any chance, this planet proves hostile to us, we would activate it to destroy this planet.]

[We installed a remote detonator and placed it in the deepest part. I pray this planet isn’t hostile to us. If this planet isn’t like our home Earth, we must blow it up for the sake of other humans.]

Hmm, it seems the humans of the future were somewhat… troubled individuals.

[I leave this note in case we all perish. If you can read this, it means we who lived on this planet have been wiped out. Descendants of Earth’s humanity, if this planet is not hostile to humans, we wish for you to dismantle this weapon. Here is the password to enter where the weapon is installed: ‘May humanity be eternal.’]

The last part of the note contained the password to access where the weapon was installed.

“My lord, what note are you reading?”

“We need to go to the deepest part of this place. The answer is there.”

Hyeryeong and I walked down to the deepest part of the ruins.

The deepest part of the ruins.

Upon reaching it, a large door greeted us.

[DANGER. HIGH ENERGY SOURCE DEVICE WORKING]

The large door had “DANGER. HIGH ENERGY SOURCE DEVICE WORKING” written on it.

“The door won’t open.”

“Looks like we’ll have to force it open.”

Currently, with the power supply cut off, the door wouldn’t be operational.

“Can you just break the door?”

“Of course I can. What do you take the Heavenly Demon for?”

Hyeryeong approached the door confidently, coated her hands with strong energy, and began cutting through the door.

Watching her cut through the door with just her bare hands, without any tools, really makes you realize how extraordinary the Heavenly Demon truly is.

A door that could probably withstand a nuclear explosion gets sliced through like dough as Hyeryeong’s hand passes through it.

Shortly after, a passage large enough for one person to pass through was created, and Hyeryeong and I entered through it.

And what we saw was… a cylindrical object crushed under reinforced concrete that had fallen from above.

“Could you clear that away?”

“Certainly.”

Hyeryeong cleared away the reinforced concrete that had fallen on the cylindrical object, revealing its complete form.

‘…A bomb?’

Though slightly dented, it was definitely a bomb.

It had an impressive cylindrical body that looked like an enlarged drum, and most notably, it had the word ‘X-03’ written on it.

However, the part crushed by the reinforced concrete was the panel responsible for direct detonation and control of the warhead.

Perhaps that’s why this thing hadn’t exploded.

‘Most people would see this state and turn back in despair, but not me!’

I took out my hammer and used my ability on this object.

As my ability activated, the dented object began to return to its original shape.

The panel pieces that had fallen off reattached themselves, and watching it return to its original state was fascinating no matter how many times I saw it.

Once restored to its original state, the object began to operate again.

[Power supply activated. System rebooting.]

When a monotone female voice emanated from the bomb, Hyeryeong showed interest.

“Oh, how fascinating. A human voice coming from it.”

“You’ll see even more fascinating things later.”

I confirmed that this device was operational.

A weapon powerful enough to destroy the moon.

They probably tested this weapon on the moon because they thought it was safe, with no people living there.

But the weapon’s power must have been stronger than expected, resulting in the moon’s destruction.

Well, anyway, that’s good.

The strongest punch to deliver to Arcturus, just in case, is now prepared.

How to detonate it, you ask?

‘Ah, damn. I didn’t think of that.’

Remote detonator?

That’s… gone because I shot it to pieces with my gun.

So, there’s only one way to detonate this.

Carry it directly and activate the detonator.

And none of us could do that.

Even Hyeryeong’s Heavenly Demon Dimensional Step is ultimately a technique that only works within a planet.

Testing it in space would be too dangerous with too many variables.

While I was pondering what to do, a signal came through my terminal, and a smile automatically spread across my face when I checked it.

[Dearside: Hey, I’ve finished installing the weapons you asked for, so use them well. The AI will tell you about the installed weapons if you ask.]

It was a message from Dearside saying the weapon installation was complete.

A ship capable of navigating space had finally arrived.