Zhang Chen asked the most crucial question.
If the headquarters of the progress faction was on the Lighthouse, then the answer to his question would unravel all the mysteries he had been painstakingly seeking.
Thus, as the words left his lips, Zhang Chen’s heart was filled with immense tension.
“His work environment was always underground, he rarely went to the surface, and the place was called a laboratory, with no particularly special name,”
Mo Ran said.
But Maglan’s laboratory was underground; could the Lighthouse also be underground?
Unlikely. Such a massive structure buried underground would be an enormous engineering feat, and there would be no need for it.
“Then… in which city was this laboratory located?”
“Maglan couldn’t have entered there out of thin air. Before entering, he must have had relevant memories.”
Zhang Chen tried to guide the conversation.
“Mm… after the apocalypse arrived, the cities suitable for human settlement drastically decreased. Sometimes, a place was suitable for settling today, only to be destroyed by monsters tomorrow.”
“Moreover, the ultimate apocalypse caused immense destruction to cities and the natural environment. Cities could no longer be called cities.”
“The original names of the cities lost all meaning, as no one bothered to distinguish where it was anymore.”
Mo Ran replied.
“It’s alright if there are no city names. What were the surrounding features of this city, or any landmark buildings?”
Zhang Chen, unwilling to give up, continued to press.
Indeed, he knew Maglan’s understanding was correct.
It was only the third stage of the apocalypse, and many cities already resembled relics of prehistoric civilizations, hidden within vast plant communities, having long lost their original appearance.
He reckoned that even if locals returned, they might not immediately recognize them.
Thus, the names were no longer that important.
“He hid underground for a long time, and his memories of the surface were already very blurry. He only remembered a leaning tall tower, the sky was heavily overcast, and it was snowing.”
“The entire city was covered and submerged by ice and snow, with almost no vegetation.”
“The entrance to the underground laboratory was a museum, with a damaged character ‘英’ above it.”
Mo Ran said, clutching her head.
It seemed that accessing memories from many years ago had consumed a vast amount of her energy.
“Snow… this makes it impossible to determine if it was winter or if the city was located in a cold region.”
“However… we are heading to the far northern ice plains, so let’s assume for now it’s a city there.”
“Because if we interpret the scene as winter… then the search area would expand to the entire Water Blue Star, which would be an impossible task.”
Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
“Dad, I don’t know why, but accessing this person’s memories is very draining!”
“My remaining stamina is only enough to access one more memory. Do you have any other key points you want to know?”
Maglan’s face had turned pale, and blood was starting to drip from his nose.
“If I keep asking, it won’t have any bad effects on you, will it!?”
Zhang Chen asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m just taking over his body. At most, my stamina will be depleted. This body’s death has no effect on me!”
Receiving Mo Ran’s affirmative answer, Zhang Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He took out the [Controller 2.0] that had been stored in the progress faction’s weapon arsenal.
“I need to know the specific usage method for this thing!”
Maglan swayed his somewhat unsteady body, slowly walked up to Zhang Chen, and then began to teach him diligently.
Although the entire teaching process took longer than answering any of the previous questions, it was still relatively easier than accessing older memories because it belonged to the same block of memory and was frequently accessed.
After more than an hour of both explanation and practice, Zhang Chen had a preliminary grasp of how to use the device.
At this point, Maglan was not only bleeding from his nose but also from his ears.
His eyes were swollen, and he could barely stand.
“That’s enough, Mo Ran, come out!”
Zhang Chen said quickly.
“Okay… Dad…”
After saying this, Maglan coughed out a large mouthful of blood.
Then, he abruptly tilted his head back to the sky, his mouth agape.
A mass of black fluid rapidly flew out of his mouth.
It condensed into a human form beside Zhang Chen.
Mo Ran had emerged.
Maglan, no longer under Mo Ran’s control, swayed unsteadily for a moment before collapsing to the ground, motionless.
“I’m sorry, Dad. My stamina is a bit weak. I wanted to hold on a bit longer…”
Mo Ran lowered her head, her face filled with self-reproach.
She knew how much Zhang Chen wanted to question the natives for information, and had traveled to many places in the apocalypse for it. Now that she had finally caught a survivor, he died so quickly. She felt guilty, attributing it to her insufficient strength.
“You did wonderfully. You’ve given me a lot of crucial information.”
“Including the Newcomer Plan, the New Human Plan, and the approximate location of their laboratory.”
“This information is far more useful than all the information I found combined before!”
Zhang Chen said, smiling as he gently stroked Mo Ran’s hair.
His words were not entirely meant as comfort.
The experimental data and journals Zhang Chen had found previously all recorded what the progress faction had done. However, this was the first time he had heard from a native about their potential future plans. He had finally moved from chasing the progress faction’s clues to being able to anticipate their actions.
“Really? It makes Mo Ran happiest to be useful to Dad!”
Mo Ran’s face was pale, and she forced a faint smile.
“True God… has the battle on your side… ended?”
At this moment, Zou Keke, leading a group of survivors, drove over.
She wasn’t actively looking for Zhang Chen. She remembered Zhang Chen’s words to run as far as possible and was driving the survivors away. Unexpectedly, after driving for a while, she saw Zhang Chen from a distance.
“Yes, it’s resolved. As long as you don’t open the gate to the Divine Realm again, you should be safe for now!”
Zhang Chen nodded.
“No wonder everyone in the Divine Realm calls you True God. You really are a god!”
Zou Keke said, imitating the followers of the True God Cult, and bowed respectfully to Zhang Chen.
The others also quickly got out of the car and followed suit. They had already heard Zou Keke recount Zhang Chen’s “miracle” of annihilating the entire city’s zombies with a snap of his fingers, and their eyes were filled with admiration and awe.
“I’m just an ordinary person… Never mind, do as you please! Let’s go!”
Zhang Chen was too lazy to explain. With his current strength in this world, calling him a god wasn’t exactly an exaggeration.
He beckoned to Xiao Ruan.
Then, a spatial gate tore open out of thin air.
Zhang Chen, pulling Mo Ran along with Xiao Ruan, walked into it without looking back.
In the survivor team, a little girl watched this scene, her eyes sparkling like stars. In her hand, her drawing board depicted a stick-figure man in front of a spatial portal, radiating a holy aura. Below it, in wobbly handwriting, was written: God!