The Record of Unusual Creatures

The world that was shrouded in darkness gave everyone a foreboding feeling, but thankfully, the darkness was slowly fading away. A huge, operating plasma reactor was in front of them and the radiant glow from the engines lit the skyline, breaking the veil of darkness.     

Vivian suggested that they check out the area near the reactor, and Hao Ren allowed the car's autopilot system to determine the best route forward as they went on an upward slope along the metallic mountain range. As they closed in on the reactor, the details of the facility appeared before them. Hao Ren saw many other spiraling roads etched on the surface of the conical facility. A faint light was darting along the road as the pinnacle of the reactor spew light, which stretched for miles on end. They noticed a steel bridge of the far end, not knowing exactly what it was for.     

As they were halfway through the reactor's side, the Northstar's computer suddenly beeped. At the same time, Y'zaks frowned. "Looks like there's something up ahead."     

Hao Ren immediately stopped the car by the roadside and Lily immediately leaped on all fours as she sneakily crawled forward to scout the area. She scooched down on a giant metallic board and popped her head up before she turned back to the rest, motioning earnestly.     

The group immediately went towards her as Lily pointed at the road. Her voice was hushed. "Look, a supply convoy!"     

Hao Ren looked dumbfoundedly at the straight road, which stretched to the top of the reactor. The road was lined with glowing, light blue strobes. They probably served as some sort of guiding mechanism as lines of transport vehicles like caged cars traveled back and forth on the road in a very regulated manner.     

"There's no signs of life..." Vivian frowned before she tossed one of her bats towards a transport truck. Due to the reactor's operation, the atmosphere around the area was not stable, and Vivian's little bats finally had some use.     

Speaking of which, she had not used her bat sensors for quite some time...     

The little bat struggled against the wind as it moved forward. Soon after, it latched on unceremoniously to the roof of one of the trucks. It looked around above the roof, skittering about to look for a gap. Any zoologist would have probably started to question themselves if they had seen a bat doing that. But alas, the bat returned disappointedly as the entire vehicle was sealed except for the cargo hold.     

"There's a hopper on the back, and it's filled with something that looks like fuel for the reactor," Vivian said while she assimilated the bat back into herself, frowning as she continued, "There's no entrance, or signs of life as well. Seems like it's automated."     

Hao Ren pondered for a bit before he made a rather daring decision. They were to tail the cargo transport.     

Lily had also mustered her courage as she scampered around the vehicles. She realized that there was no reaction to her antics, and there were no patrol robots or the likes on the tracks. Thus, all of them concurred that the automated system was "blind". Hao Ren as well as the rest got into the car and started to tail one of the trucks that left the reactor. They went through the steel roads for a good while, and a few corners later, a steel forest of facilities appeared before them.     

The steel forest was blocked by a mountain range prior, and no one had seen it on their way up.     

Hao Ren carefully drove the car into the area while massive clanking rang around him. The area was filled to the brim with huge, black machinery and buildings as if the city itself was a factory proper. Large numbers of trucks and other vehicles followed the track from the reactor to this area, zipping through the steel forest. Large mechanical arms raised and lowered as they coordinated with the arriving trucks, filling the hoppers without ceasing even for a moment.     

A thunderous noise came from above and a startled Wuyue looked up. What she saw was a steel block, about ten square meters, moving across the air with the help of thrusters. It slowly slotted itself into a "mountain block" not too far away. By the looks of things, it was probably an automated storage system.     

The whole factory city was in full throttle as the whirring of machines and passing of vehicles were all over the place. Under the guiding strobes and high-powered lighting system, the area was as bright as day. But... there was no one there.     

Hao Ren led everyone out of the car and they investigated the bizarre area before them. They did not worry about an alarm system summoning guards. They did not expect to see anyone there in the first place. Y'zaks even planned to pull a meteor down to blow the place up in hopes to startle the locals into appearing, but that plan was nipped in the bud by the rest.     

Lily drew out her Frostfire Claws as she led the team on high alert, sniffing the path as she went forward. "There's only steel and oil scents here..."     

The group passed by an operational manufacturing dais and beside it was something like a control room. The door was ajar. Nangong Sanba raised his crossbow as he cautiously approached the door to check what was behind it, only to find a room with lit lights and grumbling machinery.     

"No one here." Nangong Sanba came out of the control room, shaking his head. "The entire system is automated."     

Hao Ren sighed. "Forget about it. I think the entire planet is automated."     

But just as he spoke, a sharp wail came from behind them!     

Hao Ren immediately turned around, alarmed. However, what he saw was a small, inverted triangular machine coming towards them at top speed. The machine seemed to be a patrol bot as it swiftly circled the group. It let out a series of buzzes before finally speaking normally. "Civilians detected."     

Nangong Sanba subconsciously responded, "Pardon me?"     

A series of buzzing noises came from the robot again as it spoke, "Civilian detected. Condition: Excellent. Please follow me to the examination station. You may access the shelter after decontamination."     

As it finished, the robot turned in another direction and sped off. After a few moments, it turned back, realizing that Hao Ren and his group had yet to move. "Civilians, please follow me to the examination station. If not, coercive measures will be taken."     

Y'zaks had formed a kill curse in his hand, pondering if he should blast the robot to smithereens or not. Hao Ren motioned for him to stand down. "Let's follow and see what the robot's up to."     

The group then followed the robot as they navigated through the area and headed towards the deep end of the steel forest. Passing through even more automated factories and machinery as they went, they also saw more unmanned vehicles and transfer platforms moving about. The scene was so bizarre as if the machines were programmed to continue working tirelessly even after their masters were long gone. Finally, the group was brought into a rectangular building and only then did the noise outside dampen.     

The building was clean and well lit. The first half of it was a giant hall, and the scale of it reminded Hao Ren of an airport's departure hall. There were advanced robots busying themselves in the hall, cleaning and maintaining the place.     

Lily quickly retracted her claws, worried that she would dirty the place. At the very least, she was better than most normal huskies in this respect. "I never thought this planet would have a place like this."     

"A sealed man-made facility could always lead someone to forget about what's going on outside," Vivian said as she realized something. "I remember sleeping in the old king's tomb before and waking up to find my surroundings still pretty much the same, thinking that the world had not really changed. But once I stepped out of the tomb, the country itself had already been blown to bits... If someone's been living here for 10,000 years, he probably wouldn't even know how the world's changed outside."     

Things that made Vivian sigh were always things that no one knew how to respond to. So Hao Ren could only shrug as he followed the robot towards the hall. Just as they approached the door on the far end of the hall, the sidewall lit up and a human silhouette appeared on it!