novelraw Chapter 1688 - 1687 - Gone
Chapter 1688 - 1687 - Gone
Flying was impossible but Lind felt his heart clench as he left Rose City. The instant he went past the walls, which themselves were shocking, he saw fields. Corn, beans, and any plant really as far as he could see.
There were pastures for some animals but he noticed they were not as robust as he was used to seeing. The cows were still large but not nearly as hearty as his memory showed him. Sheep were harder but their faces and legs indicated they were the same.
The crops gave him the clue. They were alive but not nearly as thriving as they should be. He had no reference for the exact date but the heat indicated mid to late summer. There should be tall stalks of corn and other plants bright green but it was all sickly or withered.
In short, it was not good.
Add to that what his enhanced vision caught on the horizon in either direction, he knew space was at a premium.
To the west were mountains way too close to his relative location being Illinois but the east was the real kicker.
There was still an expanse of usable land yet beyond that was a dark curtain of clouds that made his draconic instincts tremble. He had all the clues he needed that he needed to explore that area once he finished his current mission.
The other True Lords could save him time and explain why they were stalled out for over a decade at such a low completion.
He also understood why there were only 10 cities. If all arable land had to be used to keep people alive with such poor results, it was clear the world was still not doing well even with technology.
He would not be surprised if the upper echelons hoarded still yet there had to be a limit due to the severe conditions.
A starved population cannot protect them after all.
Lind knew there was nothing he could do but it still hurt his heart to see what was once his home reduced to such a ravaged land.
Memories of road trips with his mom and dad to see other relatives when he was small flowed into his mind but none of those roads even existed anymore.
If not for a few landmarks still standing, he would think he was not on Earth at all. Maybe other parts of the world endured better but Sgt Keel had made it clear that pretty much all survivors were on their own now.
Texas was apparently destroyed as both the Atlantic and Pacific wave destruction took out most of Mexico, Central America and Texas.
When he got farther south, he would see a new body of water basically where they used to be.
That level of destruction just felt too overblown to him. At least with what she said happened. If it was not an extinction level event, he could just not fathom the destructive fallout from a strike that only triggered earthquakes and tsunami.
They were horrific, no doubt, but the sheer scale across the world seemed both more and less than it should be. It seemed the trial was right. Something else was going on and another clue was the strange metal in his pocket.
He missed his ring but he suspected that even if he had it, the storage space would be off limits.
It took him a day to get roughly where he wanted to be. The main issue was he was trying not to reveal himself and still be nearly unseen as he moved. There were guards everywhere!
The crops and animals were critical but he noticed a shift in uniform colors from orange and blue to a dark brown and crimson.
The guards were hearty but despite the poor crops, he had yet to see anyone unfed.
Another contradiction but one that might be explained away but another piece of hidden tech he did not know.
The major path from one city to the other was even more heavily guarded so he had to avoid it.
Yet, as he got closer, he realized Kalder City was very different from Rose City.
Rose City was clearly an agrarian center but the smell of salt made came with the sound of bells and cloth in the wind.
A port city? It was so far north–
It was only then that he saw the skyscrapers rising on the horizon and the reflection of the setting sun on the ocean!
It was just gone! Even Louisiana should be visible but he realized the other side was underwater!
He could still discern it was there but most of it was gone! There was no way that was caused by an earthquake and meteorite storm!
That kind of destruction would take a Sky Realm in a mortal world!
He was now on a stretch of muddy beach and looked at the ocean life nearby. He could pick out fish and some plants but it was clearly way too empty since it had only happened in the last few decades.
The reality really set in as he did recognize the coast of the Mississippi River now that he was by it.
It was Earth and it was also not. His world was gone forever.
Lind wondered if that was how it was always going to be but there was nothing he could do.
He looked towards the city and scented the air. Sure enough, he detected 2 beasts but he frowned.
One had a lot of blood mixed in but the other had perfumes? Why perfumes?
He quickly scaled the wall which was partially rusted in a few spots near the shore. He saw decent docks but the ships gave him pause.
Just like the personal transportation in Rose City, it was a mix of modern and unknown tech to him. Sails were there but he saw ships made of a material at a glance that did not match anything he knew.
They were neither wood nor metal he recognized. It was even different from the dagger that shattered on his skin.
Just how much technology did people hide from the world?!
He also saw more of the flying pods but the mechanism did not present itself. He itched to examine them. He sighed before moving swiftly to the bloody scent first.
Both beasts were muddled to him to the point he could not identify gender but he could guess between them.
The bloody one should be the male aquatic and the perfume the female one. If not, it made him question the predilection of their captors.
The city was laid out with more open main roads for obvious reasons. They had a set of tracks with cargo trains going right down the middle of the road from the port to the north.
It explained how information passed quickly if a regular train moved back and forth.
The heart of the city had a complex of several stocky white metal buildings with some glass panels on the ground floor surrounding a much taller tower that soared above the rest of the city.
There were much more familiar antennas and dishes rotating at the top.
The spire also was made of steel and stone. He narrowed his eyes as the stone gave him an odd feeling. It was not dangerous but the fact it registered told him it was not simple concrete.
He came close to one of the squat buildings before he ran into his first issue. He could not exactly blend in. He was currently hiding in an alley while looking for any security cameras but that technology did not seem to be present at all.
Still, he made no assumptions given the strange tech he had seen thus far.
He was about to emerge when a new scent entered his nose. He narrowed his eyes as it was clearly a dragon!
He quickly tried to identify it but screams began to reach his ears.
"LET THEM GO, YOU BARBARIANS!" A male voice bellowed followed by figures flying at the wall around the complex. How had he missed them?
Still, Lind could not let things spiral.
He leapt up to the roof of the brownstone he was next to and saw a violet haired man with soldiers at his feet but his emerald eyes narrowed as a little girl was now in his large hands.
"YOU WILL KNEEL TO ME AND OBEY!" The anger was fine but the arrogance made Lind sigh. He saw the same strange energy weapons and was shocked to see the dragon was injured.
He thought about how to approach things and chose to be direct. His figure blurred before the arm of the dragon was gone! The young girl was bruised but alive as Lind stood calmly behind him.
"Go, little one. Quickly." She looked up at him confused before she nodded and ran. The soldiers paused as the dragon roared in pain before looking behind him.
"How dare you–?!" His words froze as Lind stood calmly in his white robes and stepped forward. He looked coldly at the man and while he had no aura, the dragon backed off on instinct.
"Since when do you call someone barbarians while taking a young girl hostage? Since when do you kill wantonly when they have done nothing to you? Is this your roost? Is your clan from this land?" His words pierce the bleeding dragon but Lind noticed the healing factor was faster than his own.
A new arm was already growing.
"They have our fellow–" Lind slammed his fist into the man before he could register it. His body rolled down the street as the soldiers easily moved aside. The precise strike registered with some of the humans.
Their weapons were trained on Lind but he ignored them.
"Remember why you are here. This is their world, not ours. They are already striving to live in this harsh world, do not add to their woes." The dragon looked confused at Lind.
"But this trial is just an illu–" Lind broke his jaw at that point.
"THIS IS EARTH! It is a planet in the Milkyway Galaxy! It is real!" Those words got a reaction as Lind stood over the now unconscious dragon. He looked up at the soldiers as he stood calmly before he internally flinched at his next words. "Take me to your leader."