17 Dialogue with the future

The teacher's departure was expected by the five people, and did not cause the slightest wave in their hearts, in this life-and-death contest, someone is destined to die. But the feeling of being lucky to be alive did not appear in their hearts, but more of a collapse like the beginning of a serious illness, or the prisoners breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the guards leave, but they had to wait nervously for the guards to arrive again......

They survived the battle with the teacher, but - what to do after that? Far from relieving them, the teacher's death brought more mysteries: What is the earth? Where is it? What exactly is Project Stellar? "Harvesting" what? ……

Out of respect, the five of them bowed to the teacher's body in unison—no hatred at all, vaguely remembering how kind and earnest the teacher had taught them, and they still hadn't forgotten it after the two sides had met. When they raised their bodies and stared at the teacher's body, they couldn't help but feel regret and remorse in their hearts......

The teacher's remains are like the source of the problem, burying doubts in everyone's hearts. Countless questions filled everyone's heart, and they also filled the building. Outside the building, where the desert had submerged all but the accident at the top of the tower, a more realistic question lay ahead of them - how to survive next?

Umi recalled the information from the captain who had sent them here that they would be at the lighthouse in mid-May—almost a month later, so they had to be fed and watered to last them at least a month.

"Snatch back five chickens, even if they can lay eggs, it won't be enough for us to eat." Daniel was the first to raise his concerns.

"Vegetables and fruits barely last a few days, and keeping them fresh is a big problem." Para stored all the fruits and vegetables in the room on the first floor (now the lowest floor), hoping to save them for a longer time.

House, who had just returned from outside, added: "There is some grain in the warehouse, and if the ration is restricted, it can be managed for about ten days...... There are also servants who take away a lot of food, and they must be told in time not to rush to finish it first. ”

"There wasn't as much water as it used to be, [the water from the collectors] was barely enough," Albert said, "and as House said, it's important to limit rationing." ”

……

The five quickly came to a consensus, after all, the difficulty in front of them was too obvious - not enough food! They decided to abandon the place, pack up food and other supplies, and go to the lighthouse to meet the servants, so that if a ship docks, they can also know and get help as soon as possible.

"Then it's settled," Umi still commanded like a team leader, "and we'll pack our things and go to the lighthouse and wait for our ship to come." ”

"I can transform into a giant eagle and tell the people at ......the lighthouse to save their food first," Para suggested, but Umi waved her hand and said, "Don't rush this time, the work here needs manpower." Para nodded in agreement, and the other three didn't object.

It was getting late, and the five people in the building began to pack their bags, although it was heavy work, but without the interference of the teacher and the black shadow, everything went very smoothly. By dinnertime, they were close to packing the supplies, including clothing, all food, drinking water, etc., leaving only a few bits and pieces to put the finishing touches on.

Para stumbled past the door of the "Stone Door" room on the first floor (now the ground floor) and caught a glimpse of Daniel in the room—Umi had just asked him to do some light work due to an arm injury, while he was looking at the strange piece of "glass", a faint white glow reflected on his expressionless face.

"Are your injuries better?" Parra greeted with concern, her eyes falling on Daniel's injured shoulder, but the latter remained staring blankly at "The Glass" without any response.

"It's ...... What the? Para noticed the picture on the "glass", which was full of words. Daniel finally turned his head and replied coldly:

"This is the fine rules of the rating, it turns out that our existence is just a number in their eyes......"

After a while, the five of them gathered in the room again, circulating the "glass" in turn to see what was on it—in a script they could all understand.

After reading it, Albert said stupidly: "In other words: if our planet cannot meet the conditions mentioned above, the 'test' will not begin, and there will be no 'harvest'?" ”

"Judging by the information we get here, that's true." Umi said with her chin tucked in, then asked the others what they thought with her eyes, but Para and Daniel clearly didn't mean to respond.

House picked up the "glass" again and read it out:

"Scoring by...... Including the number of people on the planet, the degree of scientific and technological development, military strength, and the degree of stability of coexistence civilizations...... All of them are rated over seventy-" He repeatedly looked at the symbols on it, "I won't read this...... In short, the more technologically advanced the planet, the stronger the army, the larger the population, and the more stable the relations between countries, the corresponding ratings will be higher, and when all these ratings exceed seventy, the 'test' will begin! After saying that, after he confirmed that he was not mistaken, he was also asking for the opinions of others with his eyes.

"Isn't it okay to keep the status quo?" Albert shrugged and said, "There are constant disputes between countries, and the technical strength is like that, so naturally the score will not be high......

"But there's no guarantee of what the future will look like...... Umi followed, "maybe in a few decades, but what about a hundred or two hundred years from now?" Will it really be that there is only one or a few powerful countries left, and finally let the 'tests' begin? At that time, although we are gone, our descendants and country will be completely wiped out, and the entire planet will be reduced to ashes, and then the 'curse of the stars' will be repeated. ”

House was also impressed: "Look ahead, Albert. We can't just think about ourselves, we can't just think about our own country, so many lives, so many historical precipitations, so many cultural accumulations on the whole planet...... Isn't it a pity that they will all be destroyed in the end? ”

Albert was very disdainful of the two men's rebuttals and persuasions, and he asked, "So what? We're going to try to keep all the nations in chaos, people in dire straits, technology stagnant, magic not moving forward...... Will it go on like this for a hundred, two hundred, or even hundreds of years, forever? ”

In the face of Albert's questioning, the other four were silent, and the terrible silence lasted for a long time, and Albert continued to press them with sharp eyes, but—

"Well, yes." Umi nodded in the affirmative, returning Albert with a determined look, and—

"Hmm!" "That's right!" "Yes!" House, Parra, and Albert also followed suit!

"This is the only thing we can do to keep the civilization and life on the planet alive." "It's hard to choose, and it's hard to succeed...... But in order for more people to be able to get rid of this 'curse of the stars', we ...... What should be done......"

"That's not easy," Albert then defiantly said, "Tell everyone about this bullshit 'Star Project' or 'Star Curse', and just reveal the truth!" ”

"No, it's too risky!" Daniel retorted, "Who knows if there are other people from some 'Earth' watching our planet somewhere, and if everyone knew the truth, the catastrophe would probably come sooner." ”

Para nodded vigorously, "Prince Umi and Daniel are right, we can't take such a big risk and do nothing, we have to mislead people in a way that we can do without being noticed, and even mislead the rating, so that the 'test' and the subsequent plan cannot begin." ”

"Humph! It's easy to say......" Albert shook his hand disdainfully, but quickly put on a serious face, "Count me in, let's discuss what to do!" ”

"Ha, I knew you weren't really going to make a mess in the world!" Daniel said excitedly after learning Albert's true intentions, and then glanced at Umi.

Umi understood what House meant, saying, "Since Albert has also agreed to avoid the beginning of the 'test', let's talk to the future and see what we can do." ”

"Talking about the future?" Albert and House asked with interest, bewildered and curious.

Para hurriedly explained to the two, "Yes, remember the 'Foreknowledge Magic' we mentioned earlier? ”

"Fortune telling!" House scoffed, but quickly motioned for the other party to continue.

"After voting for a showdown with the teacher," Parra continued, "we wanted to use 'Foreknowledge Magic' to see how it turned out, but we didn't expect the teacher to come back early......"

"So you don't have any experience?" House said mockingly.

"Yes." Para bit her lip and said, "This 'prophetic magic' of mine is recorded in one of the teacher's notes, and it seems that it was copied from somewhere else, and...... There is no record of successful casting. ”

"It seems complicated." Albert squinted sarcastically.

Para was not discouraged: "It may be difficult for one person to cast spells, but the strength of several people ......" Her words made the eyes of the people next to her light up, "Why don't you try it now?" Umi and Daniel nodded.

"Come on!" Albert replied as if he did.

In the room, Para, Umi, and Daniel sat around, while Albert and House watched. Perhaps because the spell was too complicated, the trio took turns chanting several times without any magical reaction, and they were already sweating profusely.

"Not focused enough?" Umi wiped the sweat from her forehead and said.

Para shook her head: "No, it may be that the strength of our chanting is still not enough, or it may be that there are not enough people...... Anyway, you can't gather the elements of magic. ”

"Is there any way to do it?" Seeing that the three of them were so serious, Albert also wanted to find a solution for them, but his tone sounded like cynicism.

"Eh, why don't you use that spell stone that can be 'enhanced'?" House reminded.

Daniel's eyes lit up suddenly: "That's right! If you apply that spell stone to magic, it might work! Para and Umi were also overjoyed, and it seemed that this solution was indeed feasible. Without further ado, they quickly disassembled the remaining four "enhanced" spell stones.

Umi cautioned: "We must be cautious when using them one by one. The three of them chanted the incantation again—

(preceded by an ancient language that House and Albert could not understand) ...... show us the way if the 'curse of the stars' can be lifted...... (another ancient language that I can't understand)" I saw Para put a spell stone in the center of the three people sitting around, and the spell stone emitted a pale blue light, and after a brief flicker, the light dimmed—

"It doesn't work, add another one!" Daniel hurriedly picked up the second spell stone and placed it in the center, and the two spell stones emitted light together, even brighter than the previous one! But it didn't last long, and the brightness of the two spell stones diminished again, and they looked like candles were extinguished—

"Quick! Plus! Umi was in a hurry, and he took the third spell stone directly from Para's hand and quickly placed it in the center...... This time, the pale blue light became bright and brilliant, like the shadow of sunlight through the blue glass. House and Albert on the side stared at the light with bated breath, for fear that it would dim and fade again, and their hearts would rise to their throats!

"Plus?" Para asked cautiously, but soon, they noticed that a flickering pale blue light was gradually floating up from the spell stone, like a ball of light, floating to its heights!

"Success, success, success!" Para said excitedly, and everyone in the room exclaimed, "Great! "What's next?" "Quick, let us know what the future holds!"

Daniel couldn't wait to ask the ball of light, "Please tell us how to avoid the 'Curse of the Stars'?!" ”

The pale blue ball of light danced in place, rhythmic like a heartbeat, but irregular...... In the expectant eyes of everyone, the unexpected finally happened-

The ball of light made a sound! Responded!