At the same time, inside Oasis City.
Ye Xing and Caoyuan, disguised as natives, walked into the pyramid temple.
The temple had high ceilings and was a long, rectangular space. Inside, there were rows upon rows of benches, and at the very front was the altar. A monk was sitting by the altar, quietly talking to a brightly dressed believer who was clearly a noble.
At nine o'clock in the evening, many people came to pray.
"Do you feel like this place is actually very much like a church?"
Caoyuan found an inconspicuous spot to sit down and whispered to Ye Xing.
"Yeah, from the outside it looks like an Egyptian pyramid, but the inside is exactly the layout of a Catholic church. I wonder if it's inheritance or coincidence."
After sitting for a while and confirming they hadn't aroused any suspicion, Ye Xing began to act, sitting next to a young man who was praying.
"Brother, excuse me for asking, but what are you doing here..."
The other person looked at him for a moment, slightly dazed.
"I'm praying for my father. His stomach and intestines have been uncomfortable lately. I hope it's not a malignant tumor... Excuse me, is there a problem?"
"No, no, just showing concern! Whether your father has a malignant tumor, you need to take him for a scan. Coming back to pray after the scan won't delay anything!"
Ye Xing activated his 'making friends easily' skill, chatting with the native about everyday things, and then gradually changing the subject.
"Um, I don't come here often. What are those rooms for?"
He pointed to the doors on either side of the main hall and asked.
"Those are rooms where nobles hold family ceremonies."
"Have you been inside?"
"No, but I've seen inside a few times when the doors were open."
"How big are the rooms?"
"About ten-odd meters wide and ten-odd meters long. Why do you ask?"
"Ah, just curious~ Are there any passages leading underground or to the top of the tower? I'd like to take a look!"
"There are, but only monks and priests can go in. We're definitely not allowed."
"Oh... that's a real shame."
Ye Xing returned to Caoyuan's side.
"This damned place, the space open to devout men and women only accounts for a small part of the whole building. The unseen areas definitely hold significant secrets!"
"I can see that." Caoyuan looked straight ahead. "Just in time, that clergyman is free. Go keep him occupied and subtly probe for information. I'll go to the side and scan discreetly."
"Okay!"
Ye Xing set off again and found the monk on duty.
"Good evening, Reverend."
"Good evening, my child," the other party said kindly. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes, there is!"
There had to be.
Ye Xing knew he was a new face, so he didn't bother pretending to be a believer.
"I recently got a girlfriend. She's a believer and hopes I will believe too, but our thoughts aren't very aligned..."
The monk smiled leisurely.
"Do you have doubts about the divine?"
"It's not that, mainly I'm an Engineer, and I find it very hard to understand the idea that the reservoir is a gift from God. Objectively speaking, isn't it just a lake? There's nothing supernatural about it, right?"
"Yes, you are very right."
The monk was unhurried and confident.
"It is just a lake, a lake that has existed since Oasis City was founded 300 years ago. But I must remind you, the reservoir has no water source, and it simply does not rain in this Desert. Under the scorching sun, even a body of water ten or a hundred times deeper than this should have dried up within these 300 years.
"Yet the reservoir has always existed, and the water level has barely dropped. So, my child, as an Engineer, how would you explain this phenomenon? Isn't this clear proof that the city is blessed by the divine?"
"Ah, this..."
Ye Xing really couldn't answer.
Thinking about it carefully, it was very strange!
The Aral Sea on Earth was much larger than the Oasis City reservoir, but due to drought, it had basically dried up within a few decades.
He had thought this large body of water was just something the planners and artists threw together casually, purely for scenery, but he hadn't expected there was plot to uncover.
This game is good!
However, he wasn't here today to debate scriptures with an alien monk.
While they were debating, Caoyuan had already finished the scan while pretending to admire the murals on the wall.
The scanner was hidden in the sleeve of his native robe.
Caoyuan, having completed his task, quickly left and returned to the Lakeside Bar staff area.
The scan results showed many vertical cables and pipes within the temple walls, and there was a considerable current in the cables.
A moment later, Ye Xing also returned. After discussing, the two believed that in the upper part of the pyramid, in the areas only accessible to monks, there should be a piece of equipment that consumed a lot of electricity, while the generator was located underground.
The clergy were extremely confident about the city being "blessed by the divine," to an abnormal degree. Therefore, it was a reasonable inference that the unknown equipment at the top of the pyramid was the key to the reservoir not drying up.
Unfortunately, the scanner's range was not large, only a 30-meter "range," making it impossible to explore thoroughly.
............
In orbit, inside the industrial ship.
The exploration team successfully entered the bridge and first saw the holographic star chart table in the center, as well as a circle of people sitting motionless around the table.
"The heartbeat detector shows no reaction," Ma Lou reported to Lu Yuan. "They must have died a long time ago."
"Okay."
Lu Yuan took the lead and flew over.
There were 6 bodies. Their spacesuits were undamaged, indicating they didn't die from external injuries. In front of one of them, a paper notebook was floating.
"What's written inside?"
The players were immediately intrigued.
"Someone who can articulate clearly, read it out for everyone."
With everyone's unanimous recommendation, Nan Guo de Xue, this half-foreigner, took the notebook, took a deep breath, and began to read it aloud for everyone.
"...Today is a day to remember. We escaped the hunt and fled through a wormhole to an unfamiliar frontier galaxy. Honestly, I didn't think I would survive. The star sector is definitely finished and will become a breeding ground for 'Devourers' within a year...
"Our connection with the core territory of the Earth United Government was cut two years ago, and all the stargates were emergency-detonated. There's a rumor that the vast Human Alliance has been cut into hundreds of isolated factions fighting on their own. This is the real apocalypse..."
"Apocalypse? Wait!"
Nan Guo de Xue reacted, looking at the six bodies with a shocked expression.
"They aren't 24th-century Cangyuan employees, they are... survivors of the apocalypse!?"
Lu Yuan nodded slightly.
"It seems so."
"Was it them who dismantled the nuclear fusion generator?" The other players hadn't expected this either. "Why didn't they let the industrial ship land directly?"
Don't ask me, I didn't build it...
Lu Yuan signaled for quiet and had Nan Guo de Xue continue reading.
"...We rejoiced too early. The situation on the target planet is terrible. Almost the entire surface of the planet has been deeply scorched, with only a small patch of Desert spared. But no matter how harsh the environment, that Desert will be our home from now on."
"...Heaven had mercy on us. We actually found an abandoned industrial ship built by Cangyuan in orbit! It's an old relic, but it's in good condition, enough to build a prosperous planetary colony! Haha!"
"...Incredible, our good luck continues! Near the landing site, we actually discovered planetary colonization supplies left by Cangyuan, just a few kilometers underground! These supplies have been sealed for centuries, including a giant underground reservoir with a capacity of 15 cubic kilometers! Father Anderson insisted we were guided by God! Honestly, everyone else felt the same way!"
According to the diary, there were a total of 116 survivors in this group, with 4 leaders.
They were the owner of the diary, name unknown, who called himself "Captain."
First Mate Anderson, who also served as the ship's chaplain.
Lieutenant Colonel Sato, UEG Earth United Government Space Force.
Mr. Ke'er, UEG Earth United Government, Frontier Star Sector Official.
Clearly, this last gentleman, Mr. Ke'er, should be the ancestor of the current City Lord Cole. Ke'er is a surname.
In 2891 AD, the survivors' spaceship and the Cangyuan industrial ship landed in the Desert simultaneously. They immediately began building their own camp and, over the next three years, successively took in over 500 surviving natives, becoming the "saviors" of Li Star.
In 2895, the "Captain" ordered the water from the giant underground reservoir to be pumped into the dry river valley, forming a vast lake.
The camp was also officially renamed "Oasis City," and the "Captain" was elected as the first mayor with a high number of votes.
"From the perspective of water extraction and use, doing this wasn't necessary, but no one can deny that a large body of water is beautiful. It can boost everyone's morale and make our lives more comfortable! In the future, the reservoir will be the common property of all Oasis City residents. Everyone can play and fish by the water!"
When the "Captain" wrote this passage, the handwriting was noticeably more flowing than before, showing strong confidence and happiness.
"We dismantled the two Zero Element Furnaces on the spaceship, as well as the zero element reserves on the industrial ship. This should prevent the reservoir from evaporating under the scorching sun! The effect should last at least 700 years, which, of course, also means both ships cannot escape the planet's gravity."
Until 2899, Oasis City developed rapidly in harmony.
After that, disagreements arose.