Chapter 115: A World Certainly Better Than Yesterday! 2
A sun rose in the lower realm, where there was no light.
The news spread quickly.
To the people of the lower realm, who relied on neon signs and old streetlights powered by stolen electricity, the radiant light that poured out from all directions was blindingly bright and marked the beginning of a revolution.
The lower realm had no artificial sun and was entirely shrouded in darkness.
In a realm of darkness, human activity and vitality naturally diminished, and with no distinction between day and night, human life became impoverished.
In such a place where distinguishing day from night was impossible, the creation of an artificial sun began to transform the chaotic lives of the lower realm.
First, the artificial sun made crop cultivation possible.
With the distinction between day and night restored, human work hours and rest times began to take clear divisions.
The boundaries between dangerous and safe areas became even more defined, with dangerous zones shrinking significantly thanks to the light.
Monsters and criminal organizations, who roamed freely in the darkness, began to avoid illuminated areas.
As the activities of monsters and criminal organizations that harmed humans diminished, the domain and mobility of the lower realm’s residents naturally expanded.
Most importantly, the artificial sun served as a signal.
Even Ark was now watching over the lower realm.
The artificial sun could only be designed with Ark’s advanced technology and forbidden blueprints, which were managed exclusively by its central command.
The creation of the artificial sun signified that the central leadership had finally begun to manage and oversee the lower realm, prompting criminal organizations to restrain themselves.
As a result, the economic situation of the lower realm and the activity levels of its labor force underwent massive changes.
Merely granting light brought about a rapid improvement in human lives.
Of course, most people in the lower realm harbored deep resentment toward the upper-realm citizens and the central leadership.
“You left us to die all this time, and now you’re giving us a sun to flaunt your generosity?”
“There must be a sinister plot or conspiracy behind this move by the central leadership.”
“Don’t rejoice. They might take away this light at any time.”
If Alice had heard those words, she might have responded like this:
“We have to start now, at least. We have to be better than we were yesterday. It’s far too late, but we can’t just stand still.”
The greatest effect, however, was the eradication of the Blood Contamination Zone and vampires.
Originally, blood contamination had spread across the entire Caracas Heavy Industry Zone.
Most of the criminal organizations and some of the poor who originally inhabited that area became infected with blood contamination or transformed into vampires, and their numbers had grown beyond what Alice and her 50 dolls could eliminate entirely.
Victory in a head-on battle wouldn’t have been difficult, but vampires also possessed human intelligence.
Word of Alice’s ability, “Drain,” which allowed her to easily hunt vampires and terminal-stage infected individuals, had spread widely.
As a result, vampires eventually stopped appearing directly before Alice, choosing instead to flee to other areas or hide entirely.
“Kyahhh!”
“Argh! Spare me!!”
“Screeech!!!”
“My skin… it’s burning…”
But then, an artificial sun was constructed in the heart of the Caracas Heavy Industry Zone.
Though artificial, and not as potent as the real sun beyond the outer walls, it was a massive sun capable of illuminating the entire Caracas Zone and adjacent areas.
And as expected, vampires were vulnerable to sunlight.
Even if it wasn’t the real sun, the artificial sun, created with Ark’s cutting-edge technology and forbidden magic-engineering, was a genuine small-scale sun.
Though true ancestors, the origins of the vampires, might not die from sunlight, weaker vampires would inevitably be incapacitated when exposed to the sun at such close range.
Vampires, unable to endure the pain inflicted by the sunlight, began crawling out of underground spaces and buildings.
Most vampires succumbed to the light, their skin and organs burning away until they perished.
Those who survived tried to escape the area, but Mel, an orphaned girl, shared detailed geographical knowledge of the zone’s alleys, Plum Blossom Cave, and escape routes with Alice.
There wasn’t a single vampire that could escape Alice’s domain, which had already engulfed the entire industrial complex.
When a vampire attempted to leave the area, Alice merely gestured with her hand.
In response, the machinery within the industrial zone moved of its own accord, assembling new barriers to block the exits.
“This is a dead end too…”
“All the paths are blocked…”
“If we stay like this, we’ll die anyway!”
“Destroy it… destroy that thing!”
“Let’s destroy the artificial sun!”
The industrial zone, overtaken by Alice, sealed walls, blocked cracks, and closed off paths, leaving the vampires only one option: to destroy the artificial sun created by Alice.
But, as one would expect, the vampires neither reached Alice nor touched the artificial sun’s core.
“Vampires confirmed.”
“Confirmed.”
“Confirmed.”
“A total of 11 detected.”
“Three terminal-stage infected individuals with blood replacement rates of 98%, 96%, and 88%.”
“The rest confirmed as fully transformed vampires.”
“Marlang!”
Even as Alice overtook the industrial complex and stabilized the artificial sun, her 50 dolls and Marlang tirelessly hunted vampires.
Vampires that peeked above ground in search of a way to survive were not only hunted by Alice but were also riddled with magic-engineered steel bullets from the dolls or shredded by Marlang’s strong claws until their regeneration halted.
Three days after the artificial sun was created.
“Haaa, the adjustments are finally done…”
Only then could Alice finally open her eyes.
The mechanical tendrils embedded in the power spire, rigid like fossilized vertebrae, began returning to Alice’s main body.
The immense reward money received from the Saya Guild, along with all the savings she had painstakingly accumulated, had vanished in an instant.
Countless iterations were required to replicate and reassemble the design of the artificial sun, eroding the heavy industrial complex in the process.
For three days, Alice’s consciousness spread throughout the artificial sun and the entire Caracas heavy industrial stairway.
It could hardly be called an easy process, even as an understatement.
“So bright.”
But Alice was able to smile as she looked at the artificial sun.
It had all started in a fit of anger, to drive away the darkness of this land.
In truth, her decision to create the sun was impulsive, without any concrete plan.
She had been infuriated by the academy students who treated others as less than human.
She was also angry at herself for regarding such individuals as less than human in return.
Even after killing all those nameless orphans, the Ark’s central authority neither rebuked nor disciplined her, leaving her filled with doubt and confusion.
Was this really the right way to live?
Killing simply because she disliked something was already questionable to her, yet the realm and society she lived in absurdly affirmed it, leaving her feeling neither accomplished nor justified.
Instead, she felt only that something was deeply wrong.
Even to herself, her actions seemed entirely without reason, driven purely by the flow of her consciousness.
‘Not even knowing what’s bothering me, and yet creating a sun just because everything in the realm feels off… hah.’
【As long as there’s no loss, does it not matter?】
[Alice, I helped too.]
Ah, that’s right.
The power for the artificial sun came from Gaia’s roots.
The sprout, which was originally destined to grow into a biological factory, had instead become the precious energy source for the artificial and eco-friendly sunlight.
Without Gaia, it would have taken considerable time to secure the power for the artificial sun.
“Thank you, Gaia.”
[H-h-huh…! A-Alice thanked… thanked m-me… huuuhhh…!]
Ignoring Gaia’s exaggerated gasp, I looked back up at the sun.
The industrial machinery once used for drug production had now been converted into auxiliary cooling systems to dissipate the heat of the artificial sun.
The equipment in areas previously used by criminal organizations for weapon production had been repurposed into prism dispersers to better distribute sunlight to the lower tiers.
Thanks to the artificial sun, the vampires had oxidized, and the blood-contaminated zones were being incinerated in real time.
Now, apart from the outer plants that produced food for the outskirts, the Caracas heavy industrial stairway operated solely for the artificial sun.
No drugs remained.
No criminal organizations, no vampires—only the sun existed.
For the record, not all industrial facilities were reassembled and rearranged solely for the artificial sun.
The criminal organizations that had occupied the heavy industrial complex had prioritized their drug and weapon production plants while treating the food production plants for the lower tiers as mere afterthoughts.
Some of these plants had been left idle due to lack of power, while others had never been operational at all.
However, as I corroded and hacked the heavy industrial complex, the drug, contraband, and weapon plants were reduced to auxiliary facilities for the artificial sun.
Now, the only intact facilities were the food and essential goods plants on the outskirts, ensuring uninterrupted supply to the lower-tier residents.
Unless someone destroyed Gaia’s main body, both the artificial sun and the food production plants on the outskirts could operate indefinitely.
“Theresa, do you think this will make the lower-tier realm a little better than yesterday?”
【Even if it doesn’t improve, it doesn’t matter. Building the artificial sun didn’t violate any taboos of the Ark’s central leadership, nor does it constitute rebellion. Anyone with common sense would rightly praise Alice.】
That’s right—Rilstia had said it.
Do as you please.
Follow your desires.
Don’t bother with others. Stop thinking.
Installing an artificial sun, which brought no direct benefit to the shadowed lower tiers, was just another example of Alice following her whims.
Just a little better than yesterday.
Let this realm, and the forsaken lower tiers, face a tomorrow that’s better than today.
Wouldn’t a realm with sunlight be better than one shrouded in darkness?
Murmuring to herself, Alice quietly gazed at the radiant artificial sun.
It was warm, radiant, and as a mechanical being, she could stare directly at it without harm.
It was simply a beautiful light to behold.
【One thing is certain… it’s definitely brighter than yesterday, Alice.】
“Isn’t it?”
It was brighter than yesterday.
No longer would the lower tiers have to rely on old streetlights and eye-straining neon signs.
Now, they would enjoy a sun that rose and set naturally.
★
★
★
★
The true ancestor formed a pact with the Ark.
It might seem impossible that the Ark, a protector of humanity, and the true ancestor, a calamity itself, could strike a deal, but there exists an official sealing document to prove it.
The true ancestor originated as a virus and now exists as an entity with self-awareness and rationality.
However, the true ancestor’s numbers are infinite.
Every true ancestor virus particle observable under a microscope holds endless potential to mutate and evolve into a human form.
Even if a true ancestor in reality is killed, its essence remains viral, ensuring it will soon reincarnate and descend anew.
Thus, humanity has yet to fully grasp the true ancestor virus’s ecology, identity, or even its numbers.
While one true ancestor dies and another is born, countless humans perish, and massive sections of the Ark fall into ruin.
No matter how many are killed, they never truly end, and even the act of killing them demands enormous resources and exacts heavy casualties.
In essence, the true ancestor is the most catastrophic threat facing the Ark.
Then, an administrator proposed an unconventional idea.
Let’s negotiate.
The true ancestor and the Ark can coexist.
Let’s hand over the forsaken lower-tier population to the true ancestor.
While it was termed coexistence, it was closer to human sacrifice.
The Ark neither managed nor paid attention to the lower tiers or its residents.
The lower tiers’ inhabitants were numerous, far too many, and they often died at the hands of criminals or fellow humans, even without the true ancestor’s involvement.
Wouldn’t it be better for them to serve as sustenance for appeasing the true ancestor rather than dying meaningless deaths?
It was a humiliating and horrifying notion, but astonishingly efficient.
Thus, a new zone called “The Abyss” was established within the lower tiers.
The Abyss was the result of negotiations with the true ancestor and countless other calamities.
The Ark acknowledged that they, mimicking humans with self-awareness and rationality, existed and granted them the land of the Abyss.
In return, they must not ascend.
Do not approach the upper layers or the central regions. Your domain is there and nowhere else.
If satisfied, remain confined there forever.
The true ancestor and other humanoid calamities accepted the proposal.
They understood that they, who relied on humans as sustenance, would inevitably face extinction without humans.
Thus, in the lower tiers, deeper and deeper into its recesses…
So dark and profound that no one could approach, monsters began to dwell.
The true ancestor found the Abyss agreeable.
It was dark, deep, and silent.
Anything they desired could be obtained, and they could hold feasts with human flesh and blood.
Of course, hosting feasts every day quickly grew tiresome, so occasional indulgence was preferred.
Then, light began to penetrate the Abyss.
Although sunlight does not harm or kill the true ancestor, they are creatures of hypersensitivity.
Accustomed to and comforted by darkness, the presence of the artificial sun was unbearably irritating to them.
Even with their eyes closed, they could see the light.
Their skin prickled and burned as though searing in the heat.
Outwardly unscathed, their skin, long adjusted to the shadows, burned and regenerated simultaneously under the artificial sunlight they had not encountered in ages.
“Haaaaa….”
A true ancestor irritably left its dwelling.
It hesitated to step outside due to the magnetic rainstorm pouring down, but the light of the artificial sun was far more unbearable.
“Who’s there?”
The true ancestor’s eyes turned crimson as it glared at the sun.