Chapter 127: Time Capsule
Miho hesitated only a second before sending a few more shots, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Alric," Lily said coldly, "remember this. If you so much as stroll near Miho again, there will be no one worse than me for you."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Now leave. Never appear before us againâunless youâre courting death."
Alric didnât even realize he was practically naked as he stumbled away, running blindly while muttering to himself, eyes stretched wide with terror.
"Never... Iâll never get close to that woman. Fuck, what was I thinking trying to take her as a concubine? Iâll die. Shitâhow does that Leo guy even manage her? Sheâs a monster!!"
He would never forget those devilish eyes that had watched his agony with unmistakable delight.
---
"Whatâs the situation?" Brant asked as he stepped through the door into the study.
Inside, a man who looked roughly the same age as him sat behind a cluttered desk. His eyes were sunken and weary, the kind that suggested sleepless nights spent staring at reports no one wanted to read. He lifted his gaze toward Brant.
"They say the intelligent specimen count still hasnât been met."
At those words, Brantâs expression darkened almost instantly.
The other man continued, his voice flat, as if heâd repeated this line too many times already.
"One thousand five hundred intelligent beast cores... or one hundred and fifty thousand human bodies in place of them. Theyâre still short by nearly twenty thousand."
Brantâs jaw tightened. His teeth clenched hard enough to ache.
"And itâs not even the proper ritual," he muttered bitterly. "Why is this new world so cruel?"
"There was a manuscript found," the other man said, breaking the silence.
He leaned back slightly, fingers brushing against a stack of yellowed documents.
"It says the World Dragon implemented these laws in the beast world to control overpopulationâand to create an elite force capable of handling the invading Carnal Desire Incarnates."
Brant listened quietly as the explanation continued.
"Eventually, even after the WorldFall, these laws had to be preserved," the man said. "Those Incarnates found their way here, too. Fucking Demons."
As he spoke, his fingers tightened around a single piece of paper on the desk, crumpling it slightly. It looked like a letterâcreased, worn, and read far too many times.
"The World Dragonâs hands are tied," he went on. "He needs God-tier beings as quickly as possible for the survival of this new world. And eventuallyâsomeone to replace himself."
Brant frowned. "Was it really that bad?"
The man exhaled slowly.
"I donât know," he admitted. "In fact, we donât know anything beyond this point. Even gathering this much information cost us one of our Queens."
He gave a humorless chuckle. "Talk about a tough life."
Brant let out a long sigh.
"Humans are far too behind in these matters," he said. "Itâs barely been five hundred years. And thatâs not even accounting for how much of our technological advancement weâve already lost."
"Thatâs true," the man replied. "But have you heard? Another time capsule has been found."
Brant raised an eyebrow, a faint crease forming between them. "Hm?"
"Donât âhm?â me," the man scoffed, clicking his tongue in irritation. "Are you saying you donât even know what that implies?"
"Tsk." Brant clicked his tongue
"Old coot. Iâm better at these things than you. Iâm asking what they found inside. Youâre a 5-starâyou should have at least that much information."
"Hah, saying that as if youâre any less," the man shot back, lips curling. "Hiding like a fox, as always. Anyway, I was informed it contains something related to communication..."
"Communication?" Brant echoed, his brow furrowing slightly. "Donât we already have magic for that?"
"Exactly," the man replied, spreading his hands. "Thatâs why it hasnât caused much excitement. But weâre talking about communication without magic. I canât help but wonder how people five hundred years ago managed that."
Brant hummed thoughtfully, his fingers tapping once against the armrest.
"Well, only a handful of people from that era are even still aliveâand theyâre all locked away by the Emperor, pampered like sheltered kids. Of course, we know next to nothing about that time. At least these time capsules help us piece things together."
He paused, eyes narrowing slightly as another thought surfaced.
"Does this one also mention firearms? That discovery was incredibly useful. Now even the weak can defend themselves."
"Bah!" The man snorted, waving the idea away with clear disdain. "Defend against who? Rats? Forget even that. Those tiny, corn-like metal pieces canât even dig properly through flesh. Not to mention theyâre complicated to make
and
to function. Before they can even pull that thing called a trigger, I mightâve already finished erasing them from existence."
His voice dripped with contempt as his hand fell back to his side.
"Old Lu, are you stupid?" Brant snapped, irritation bleeding through. "Whoâs defending against us? We donât even have time to terrorise them. Iâm talking about defending against people with no power. Human nature is vileâan evil person will always find a way to torment the good and the weak, even if they themselves are an insect on the grand scale. Banding together, using underhanded means, everything under the pretence of living better. Thatâs where firearms come in. By giving them to people, we ensure their safety."
Old Lu scoffed, folding his arms.
"More like a false sense of security. Didnât that even help the criminals?"
"Thatâs why firearm licensing has strict protocols," Brant replied evenly. "Only people with safe records get them."
"Nah." Lu shook his head. "Youâre just trying to justify the importance of the old eraâjust like how you justify your old body by saying itâs a sign of enlightenment. In reality, nothing from that era compares to now. Didnât someone claim they had a weapon of mass destruction called an atomic bomb or a nuke or whatever? Then they went on about a complete destruction range of âa massive 2 kmâ and a moderate damage zone of 10 km."
He scoffed again.