Chapter 148: The Ruins of Civilization
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The 3D projection shifted again, covering the dome of the hall. Overhead, a bright full moon hovered in a starlit sky.
“This is a recording of the night sky on ancient Earth,” the speaker said, “and with animation technology, we have reconstructed the moon, restoring it to how it might have looked tens of thousands of years ago when primitive humans first beheld it.”
“There has long been debate in the aerospace history community over when human space exploration truly began. Some believe it started with the Ark Fleet era, when interstellar voyages began in earnest. Others say it began with the launch of the first satellite. But I believe it began the first time a human looked up at the sky and saw the moon.”
“From the very beginning, what drove humanity to reach into space wasn’t just the need for resources or the hope of finding alien life—it was a deep, innate curiosity.”
“That is why we are here today,” she said. “Not only for colonization, conflict, or trade… but for the unshakable romanticism of our homeland, Earth.”
The hall fell into reverent silence. Then applause burst forth like a wave. Even the extraterrestrials clapped—some with tentacles, others with appendages unlike anything human.
The speaker paused to let the applause subside before continuing with a deeper, more technical report on the history of ancient Earth space travel.
StarNet Lazy Scholars Forum
Our motto: Preserving ancient Earth’s culture while goofing off and gossiping!
Post: Did you guys watch the Ancient Earth Conference livestream!!!
1st comment: Professor Su’s part about the moon—oh my god, I cried!!!
2nd: Watching it live. I’m sobbing over the beautiful moon!
3rd: Humanity never forgot the moon!
4th: +1 to that! Our political capital is called Crescent District! Who could forget the moon?
5th: Speaking of which—did you know Capital Star’s satellite Endymion is named after a figure from ancient Earth mythology? He was a shepherd boy so beautiful the moon goddess Artemis fell in love with him. But Zeus, not wanting a mortal to love a goddess, put him into eternal sleep. Since then, the goddess has kissed him goodnight every evening.
6th: Endymion is home to the Imperial humanities institutions—like the Ancient Earth Natural Science Museum. Eternal sleep, eternal romance!
7th: That was beautiful, but… didn’t Professor Su mention that Earth’s moon was eventually struck by a human spacecraft, creating an irreparable crater? Romance means little in the face of survival.
8th: Hot take: the moonstone ring belt looks gorgeous in the footage. Like a diamond belt! But in a few hundred years, it might recombine into an asteroid. Hope I can visit Earth before that!
9th: In reply to 7th: Learn from 8th’s perspective—cold damage is part of the romance too.
10th: As Professor Su said: “The inner tension between fear and awe.”
The moon speech seemed to set a strange tone for the presentations that followed. Sociologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists all began their talks on ancient Earth’s civilizations with an emotional undercurrent.
“Ancient Earth cities were vibrant and driven by an inner momentum to expand.”
“Before languages unified, Earth was not ruled by killing and betrayal. Its cultures were diverse and harmonious.”
“From flickers of firelight, humanity broke through natural and social constraints with sheer will, reaching industry, the oceans, and the stars.”
Among the many galactic civilizations, humans were among the physically weakest. They couldn’t withstand cosmic radiation naturally. Even under ideal conditions, they suffered illness and had short lifespans. Yet, when extraterrestrials first encountered humans, they were already an interstellar civilization with cross-galactic travel.
Stretching their view back to the primitive days of Earth, many alien species found it hard to believe such a fragile creature had become the powerful Imperial before them. StarNet’s livestream comment section was flooded with wonder from extraterrestrials:
“Amazing humans!”
Inside his cat-pack, Yuanxiao perked up his ears to listen, catching a few of the non-specialist terms.
[Papa, want to go to Earth.]
Lin Xu glanced down and responded, lips tight: [We’ll go someday, if we get the chance.]
He paused, then added: [Earth is where Papa used to live.]
[Home! Yay!]
The speeches continued. After each one, time was left for questions from attending experts. A climate scientist and a sociologist had just finished presenting on the link between Earth’s climate changes and urban development, triggering a wave of intense discussion. One by one, questions were asked and answered. Only after half an hour did the hall return to calm.
The host took the stage again. The lights dimmed, and a spotlight illuminated the speaker. A square-shaped hologram appeared above the podium. It looked familiar. Lin Xu squinted. It was a scaled projection of the Monument!
“Next,” the host announced, “please welcome Dr. Lin Xu, senior researcher at the Ancient Earth Natural Science Museum and renowned scholar of ancient Earth studies. He will be speaking about the past and present of this monument inscribed in Huaxia script.”
The spotlight swept across the room and landed squarely on Lin Xu, displaying his face to the entire audience. Even the emperor turned to look at him.
StarNet comments exploded:
“It’s Dr. Lin!” “Is he carrying Little Varlan again?!” “So excited for Dr. Lin’s talk!”
Lin Xu’s expression turned icy, like melting frost. This wasn’t part of the plan. But under so many watching eyes, escape wasn’t an option. He handed the cat-pack to Zhou Pingbo, buttoned his suit jacket, and descended the steps. Inside the pack, Yuanxiao poked his head out curiously, his eyes following Papa.
StarNet again filled with shrieks:
[The little dragon is too cute! I want one too!]
The harsh spotlight trailed Lin Xu like a snowfall of ash and light. As Lin Xu passed the frontmost seats, the emperor’s face remained shrouded in shadow, making it impossible to read his expression.
It wasn’t until Lin Xu stepped onto the stage and adjusted the lighting through the control panel that the entire venue brightened—only then did a faint, almost imperceptible smile flicker across the emperor’s face.
The stage lights were intense. Aside from the front row, Lin Xu couldn’t make out anyone’s features beyond that. Everything past the first few rows dissolved into shadow.
A projection of the monument rotated beside him. Lin Xu tapped to pause it, aligning the front face of the monument with the audience. He had no script. No notes. No preparations.
“This stone stele stands eight meters tall, five meters wide, and forty-five centimeters thick,” he began evenly. “It was discovered along the eastern coastal region of the ancient Eurasian continent on Earth. At the time of discovery, it was deeply buried beneath silt, showing no significant erosion or oxidation. Its preserved state is excellent.”
Though his face was cold as stone and devoid of a smile, his tone and posture remained calm, assured—as if he’d rehearsed the presentation a thousand times.
StarNet comments streamed in live:
[Dr. Lin’s pale gray eyes sliced me like a blade of knowledge. I’m reborn.]
[Someone get a close-up of Dr. Lin’s face! Once this moment’s gone, it’s gone. You know Marshal Chu’s not generous enough to show us his wife!]
“The language inscribed on the monument is ancient Earth Chinese,” Lin Xu continued. “After translation, it was confirmed to be a public commemorative monument. Based on dating techniques and content analysis, we can determine the monument was created during Earth’s so-called ‘Cold Period.’”
He deliberately avoided the term “nuclear winter.” He’d noticed that no current scholars mentioned ancient Earth’s nuclear war or its aftermath. Whether this was due to a lack of imagination or deliberate omission, he couldn’t say.
All of today’s speakers seemed to share a pointed reverence—a romanticized awe—for ancient Earth and human civilization, regardless of whether its history had been one of prosperity or brutality.
Maybe it was just their personal beliefs. Maybe no one had orchestrated it. But Imperial likely had its own agenda in gathering this particular set of scholars—those with aligned views—to bathe the entire symposium in nostalgia and reverence.
Even if Lin Xu had proposed the nuclear winter hypothesis now, it would’ve been treated as an unproven theory, not accepted fact. There was no need to complicate things. He simply borrowed the existing “Cold Period” theory as a frame.
“There is a poem inscribed on the monument,” Lin Xu said. “It’s three thousand words in full, but I’ll only share a selected portion here.”
When the wind cuts like knives and shadows block the sky,
I know this is the winter of civilization.
I see guns, collapse, and plague,
Eyes that held firm, hands that lifted, legs that pushed onward.
…
A mother who once knew spring told me: the winter will end,
That spring will find its way to me,
Swallows will return, rice shoots will soften, the sky will clear.
She said: remember spring—and remember those who never saw it.
“After the Cold Period, human civilization on Earth never recovered,” he concluded. “Humanity crossed a silent darkness and traveled to the Einstein Galaxy. There were no swallows. No seedlings. If there was a spring, it would’ve looked very different.”
…
“My presentation ends here. Thank you all.”
The host stepped onto the stage, preparing to moderate the Q&A session—but Lin Xu didn’t pause for even a moment. Without a word, he turned and walked off the stage. The host was left standing there, frozen in place. The audience hadn’t expected it either. The entire hall fell silent, unsure of what Lin Xu intended to do next. But he simply returned to his seat.
Suddenly, a burst of applause rang out in the quiet hall—sharp and abrupt. Lin Xu turned his head in surprise… It was the emperor who had started clapping. The people seated near the emperor quickly followed suit, and a wave of thunderous applause rippled through the hall like a storm. By the time Lin Xu sat down, the deafening tide of applause was nearly strong enough to lift the dome off the ceiling.
The host immediately picked up the thread, recovering with, “Thank you to Dr. Lin Xu for that outstanding presentation.”
A scholar seated in front of Lin Xu turned to offer congratulations, only to freeze mid-sentence upon seeing that Lin Xu’s face held no joy, no humility. With an awkward pause, the scholar silently turned back around. Lin Xu didn’t agree with the metaphor of a “civilizational winter.”
Ancient Earth was a ruin—nothing remained but dust. It could only be remembered, mourned. The spark of civilization had long since scattered across the stars, each ember vanishing into the countless galaxies. The camera caught Lin Xu’s face one last time before shifting its focus to the next speaker.
StarNet’s comment section exploded again.
[Dr. Lin is SO cool, I’m crying. I’m getting myself a beta tomorrow.]
[What does Dr. Lin has to do with betas…]
[Cold-faced beauty is eternal god-tier! I’m seriously in love—I’d fight Marshal Chu for his wife.]
[Can you all focus on the content for a second? Didn’t you find Dr. Lin’s speech incredible? Clear structure, no emotional fluff, but somehow piercing straight to the core. Cold reason is the sexiest thing alive.]
[You say that, but you’re still thirsting after Dr. Lin. Go put on another pair of pants.]
[I kind of want to learn Classical Chinese now.]
[Think carefully! In the whole Imperial territory, you could count the people who study Ancient Chinese on one hand—and most are at elite universities on Capital Star. What normal person could even get accepted?]
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