MPWATMBC Chapter 62

Times change, and things progress rapidly. Power has been reshuffled many times, with some families standing the test of time while others have faded into the dust of history. As the political power center of the entire empire, Eve City sees new changes every day. In the eastern district, where the powerful gather, there’s a constant flow of people coming and going. Newcomers move in to enjoy their wealthy and indulgent lives, while old residents quietly leave to make way for the next generation.

Only six great families have managed to reside here for seven centuries. Among them, the Gustaf family, an established political dynasty, owns an extensive estate of over fifty acres in the eastern district—five times the size of the Dalton family’s old mansion.

Ordinary families squeeze into tiny 40-50 square meter apartments in high-rise buildings, while the privileged enjoy spacious mansions, huge courtyards, and beautiful gardens in the prime real estate of Eve City.

Naturally, as part of this privileged class, Auston and Ryan are in no position to criticize, though they might have the potential to change the resource imbalance caused by class rigidity.

But that’s a story for another time. For now, let’s talk about the land beneath Ryan’s feet.

Seven or eight hundred years ago, Eve was not yet the capital city. At that time, the capital was Adam. Due to geographical and political reasons, Adam was abandoned, and Eve rose to prominence. Back then, Qin Feng was not yet the president, and his cousin Qin Hao was merely a minor officer in the intelligence department. The two seized the opportunity to buy a piece of land on the outskirts of Eve and built some houses. When Eve became the capital city and Qin Feng became the president, he moved into the presidential palace, leaving those houses for Qin Hao’s family to reside in, though Qin Feng would occasionally visit for a short stay.

Beneath the house, there was a large basement where Qin Feng had a complete set of experimental equipment, ensuring he wouldn’t be disturbed during his research. It was here that he created the world’s first mech-use diode, which transferred the vast amounts of heat generated during mech operation, ensuring long-term functionality. He also developed the first mecha exoskeleton, which, after multiple adjustments and improvements by others, was equipped by close combat units. He solved the problem of the mech’s neural center, giving the mecha a mechanical heart, and created the first compressed energy block, providing a power source for the mechs.

These achievements were no secret among the empire’s upper echelons. Almost everyone knew that the basement beneath the Qin family residence was the cradle of the empire’s cutting-edge technology.

Shortly after Qin Feng’s death, the Qin family fell into decline. Through both open and covert struggles, the Qin family mansion became the property of the Dalton family, where it remains to this day.

“I’ve heard from my father that our great-great-grandfather faced many obstacles when he bought this land. The Bromfield family was the biggest competitor. When my father became the head of the family, the current head of the Bromfield family wanted to buy the mansion from him. Even during his tenure, Sierra mentioned to me that he was willing to exchange twenty acres of land in the eastern district and offer ten billion star coins,” Auston said. “Dad didn’t agree, and neither did I. Our great-great-grandfather had said when he bought this place that it was to remain our ancestral home and not to be sold. Both Dad and I suspected that this place held Qin family secrets, and our grandfather went to great lengths to acquire it to preserve those secrets.”

Although Auston and his father refused to sell the ancestral home, there were always some family members who disagreed. They felt that holding onto the old mansion was selfish and that selling it to distribute the money among the relatives would improve everyone’s lives. The branch of the family descended from Auston’s great-great-grandfather’s brothers had always been at odds with Auston’s side. They were envious and resentful that, despite sharing the Dalton name, Auston’s family held the positions of generals, lived in a grand mansion, and enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, while they were cramped into high-rise apartments, afraid that even a fart might disturb their neighbors.

The family conflicts will be addressed later. For now, let’s focus on the present situation.

When Ryan learned that the Dalton family’s old mansion was built on the ruins of the Qin family estate, he was filled with emotion. The intricate connections between him and Auston were astonishing.

Ryan pondered for a moment and then asked Auston, “Is the old Qin family basement still there?”

“I’m not sure if it’s the Qin family’s, but there is a basement beneath the main house.”

Ryan requested, “Take me to see it.”

Auston didn’t hesitate, “Alright.”

The entrance to the basement was under the main staircase of the mansion. Opening the small door revealed a dark space that looked more like a storage room filled with clutter. A musty odor, from years of being untouched by sunlight, slowly wafted out. After a moment, Auston ducked and went in first. He fumbled along the wall for a while before turning on a wall lamp, lighting up the room. He was about to call Ryan inside but found that Ryan was already standing beside him, looking thoughtfully at the passage.

Click-clack—

Two sets of footsteps of different weights echoed behind them. It was Yuan Chu and Code Zero, who had come to join the investigation. Auston didn’t stop them.

“There are two doors in the basement,” Auston said, walking straight towards a landscape painting.

Through the small door was a space measuring two and a half meters high, five meters long, and three meters wide. The walls were adorned with many landscape paintings, all depicting different views of the Doran River, the mother river of Eve City, in various angles and seasons. At a glance, they seemed nearly indistinguishable from one another.

Auston pressed a spot on the frame of one of the paintings. With a buzzing sound, the painting swung open, revealing an iris scanner behind it. Auston blinked at the camera, and after the machine confirmed his identity with a series of clicks, the ground beneath them began to move, descending gradually.

After sinking for a while, Ryan looked up and noted that they were now thirty-four meters below the small, illuminated space filled with paintings. He was able to provide this exact measurement.

Click!

Thud!

The steel plate below them landed with a muffled sound, followed by the hum of flowing electricity. The lights brightened, revealing a basement of over a hundred square meters. The walls were coated in silver-black metal, and numerous metal shelves were neatly arranged with various items, reflecting the Dalton family’s impression—rigid, orderly, and reserved.

“After my father passed away, this place became my responsibility. I’ve been here many times, reviewing the family history, but I haven’t found anything particularly useful.”

As for the special items my father and I suspected might be hidden here, we never found any. The basement yielded no results, and other areas searched also came up empty. It seemed that the great-great-grandfather’s directive to protect the old mansion was more of a symbolic requirement for the Dalton family legacy.

“My great-great-grandfather left behind many notes, but perhaps I didn’t examine them closely enough; they mostly don’t cover events from seven hundred years ago.” After listening to the content from the diode recording device, Auston had two bold guesses: either his great-great-grandfather was completely unaware of the truth, or he knew it but hid it in a place that was difficult for future generations to find.

Auston planned to search the mansion thoroughly this time, thinking that there might be hidden corners he had never discovered before.

“Yuan Chu,” Ryan called out, “check the basement.”

“Yes, sir,” Yuan Chu responded.

Auston frowned slightly. “Do you suspect something might be hidden behind the walls?”

“Yes, that’s a possibility,” Ryan said. His lab had been located about four to five meters underground.

Auston relaxed his frown and nodded. “But I’ve already scanned the area with equipment, and there was no response.”

“Then let Yuan Chu give it a try. He might find something,” Ryan suggested.

“Yes, we can only proceed this way. I really want to know what secret my great-great-grandfather was hiding, why he bought the Qin family mansion, and why the Bromfield family is so concerned about our property.” Auston was overwhelmed by numerous questions, feeling that all the clues pointed to a single answer hidden somewhere in his own mansion. If they could find the secret room, all their questions might finally be answered.

Moreover…

Auston glanced at Ryan, feeling a bit disoriented. He opened his mouth to ask something, but Yuan Chu’s calm and level voice interrupted, “There is something unusual here.”

Ryan’s custom-designed small mecha was quite thorough and had specialized exploration capabilities. Yuan Chu raised his arm, revealing a circular port in his palm. A probe emerged from the port, projecting a beam of light that began scanning the entire basement. After ten minutes, Yuan Chu detected an anomaly on the wall at the ten o’clock position relative to where they had landed.

“This metal plate has different extensibility compared to other areas.”

Auston raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected Yuan Chu to achieve this; his previous equipment had been inadequate. “Yuan Chu, see if you can remove the metal plate.”

“Understood, General.”

By the time Auston and Ryan reached Yuan Chu, he had already begun cutting the metal plate with a laser. The bright light made them squint, and when they opened their eyes again, a palm-sized metal plate about one and a half meters from the ground had been cut open and had fallen to the floor.

Behind the metal plate was a genetic lock. When activated, it displayed a text prompt: “Descendants of the Qin Family.”

Auston looked at Ryan, who seemed slightly surprised but quickly came to terms with the situation, feeling that perhaps everything was destined.

“Stand beside me, Auston. We don’t know how the door will appear.”

Auston nodded and moved to Ryan’s side, watching as Ryan placed his finger on the genetic lock’s slot. The genetic lock, installed centuries ago, now seemed somewhat outdated. It used a blade to puncture the finger, creating a relatively large wound, and didn’t offer a liquid bandage to cover the wound. From Ryan’s perspective, it was somewhat painful, but still within tolerable limits.

As Ryan’s blood entered the lock, the old device, which had never been activated since its installation, emitted a low buzzing sound. It took some time to analyze, and after ten minutes, it confirmed that the blood sample was acceptable and the door would soon open.

The door appeared without any unusual phenomena; the seamless metal wall suddenly revealed the outline of a doorframe. With sufficient force, it could be opened.

With Yuan Chu’s help, there was no need for Auston and Ryan to exert themselves. The door was pushed open, revealing the basement that had been sealed for over seven hundred years.

As Ryan had anticipated, everything valuable that had once been in the basement—experimental equipment, failed mech parts, and various notes and journals detailing insights and experiences—had disappeared. The only things left were unfamiliar instruments scattered around the room and a metal workbench in the center, piled with boxes. Ryan felt a bit disheartened. He pulled out a key from his pocket, one taken from his grandmother’s drawer. It seemed unnecessary for the old relic to be preserved, as everything had long since changed beyond recognition after seven hundred years.

The entrance to the old laboratory had no high-tech devices; it was equipped with a simple lock for easy access. A metal key would suffice to turn and open it. At that time, Qin Feng Anderson was so confident, even arrogant, that he didn’t foresee the betrayal coming so easily. His methods were so clumsy that he ultimately met his downfall through his own ineptitude.

Ryan sighed wistfully, “Ah.”

Since Auston had learned that the Dalton family mansion was built on the foundation of the Qin estate, Ryan’s mood had exhibited some strange fluctuations. Despite this, Ryan had not said anything further. Auston, feeling puzzled, refrained from pressing for answers.

As the hidden room was opened, the ventilation system began to operate, allowing the stale air that had been trapped for over seven hundred years to circulate again. The lights brightened, and some old equipment started up. A figure appeared in the open space, dressed in a black suit. The figure bore some resemblance to Auston, and was James Dalton, Auston’s great-great-grandfather, as remembered by Ryan.

“Hello, descendants of the Qin family,” the figure began to speak. This was a projection left by the great-great-grandfather, unable to interact but simply narrating events from seven hundred years ago. “Since you’ve found this place, you must be starting to investigate the truth of those times and have perhaps become friends with my family’s children, if this mansion is still part of the Dalton family. I have installed a self-destruct mechanism here. If a descendant of the Qin family had not opened this secret room, this recording and some of the equipment would have been destroyed. So…”

A man, even more stern than Auston, sighed wistfully. His hair was streaked with gray, and he looked quite similar to the James Dalton remembered by Ryan, but his graying hair, wrinkled eyes and forehead, and slightly haggard expression revealed that he was now in the twilight of his years.

“During the Dawn War, I fought alongside the Emperor in a starship. The new Zerg Emperor needed to establish authority within the swarm, and his impulsive actions provided us with an opportunity. We lured him out. By killing the Zerg Emperor, we hoped to end the centuries-long conflict and bring true peace to humanity.”

As the projection continued, the surrounding space faded, and a holographic video of the Dawn War was presented. It showed footage taken by James Dalton’s starship. In the view, the first truly functional mecha was visible not far away. Surrounding it were numerous Zerg creatures—the elite of the Zerg swarm. These creatures resembled aliens, walking on two legs, with wings, thick helmet-like carapaces covering their heads, and sharp teeth protruding from their mouths. They were massive, each as large as a blue whale from Earth, and all were male bugs, known as the “husbands” of the Zerg Emperor. Their mating with the Zerg Emperor produced the elite warriors and the Zerg Emperor’s potential successors.

The Zerg Emperor was enormous, and even the mecha seemed small compared to its eyes.

This was the core area of the Dawn War.

Auston’s eyes widened slightly. The Zerg Emperor dwarfed the Zerg Duke he had fought against in his mecha, making the duke seem like a mere child in comparison.

“James, I’m spitting up blood.”

“President!”

“Don’t worry about me. It’s a fate that befalls everyone. When fighting the Zerg Emperor, I had long put life and death aside. I just didn’t expect to die at the hands of my own people.”

“President, come back. As the Chinese say, ‘As long as the green hills remain, one need not worry about a lack of firewood.’ Return and we will plan for the long term.”

“You and I both know, that this opportunity to lure him out is unique. We can only succeed; failure is not an option. Cough, damn it, so this is what spitting blood feels like. What kind of poison is this? It’s causing such pain in my chest.”

“I beg you.”

“James, lead the retreat. Withdraw from the Weldon Star Region!”

“No.”

“This is an order. You must withdraw safely and investigate who was behind this. Find out who poisoned me and make sure they come to see me. Gustav? Bloomfield? Or someone else? Get rid of them. Cough, it hurts so much! My brother, I won’t be able to fight alongside you again. Go!!!”

James Dalton, enduring the pain, issued his orders. All starships began their retreat, sealing away the conversation between him and Qin Feng. In the view, the mecha gradually became smaller… The Zerg Emperor was also shrinking rapidly… The Zerg army relentlessly pursued the fleet, with faster Zergs leaping onto the starships, tearing at their hulls. Some starships suffered catastrophic damage during the retreat, and their soldiers activated self-destruct mechanisms in their final moments, explosions and flames erupting.

Suddenly, the projection went silent, possibly due to a malfunction in the equipment.

The war continued in silence, its epic scale undiminished by the lack of sound. Besieged starships opened their hatches, and melee soldiers in mechanical exoskeletons and space suits emerged, engaging in combat with the Zergs of various sizes. One young life after another was lost, but more soldiers continued to step up.

The brutality and heroism of the battle were beyond what could be captured in a few sentences in history textbooks.

Ryan and Auston were overwhelmed with unspoken shock, their eyes fixed on the holographic projection as if they were standing on the battlefield themselves. They held their intertwined hands tightly, holding their breath and focusing intently.

At last, the army broke free from the main battlefield. There was no joy or elation in their survival; instead, the grief of losing comrades and the President’s presence still in the core battle zone weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts.

Suddenly, a massive fireball erupted from the Weldon core region—Qin Feng Anderson’s self-destructing mecha. A tremendous shockwave radiated from the explosion, affecting even the starships that had already left the main battlefield. Some of the smaller vessels were instantly torn apart.

The deafening sound of the explosion roared back.

James Dalton shouted his orders, his voice trembling with shock, “All starships, retreat! Retreat!” It was clear that he was deeply shaken by the scene before him.

A deep, excited voice echoed through the comms, a delayed message from Qin Feng Anderson before his self-destruction, now reaching them due to the distance. “Haha, James, you’re about to see the true power of Yuan Chu. Tell the world, the first mecha was called Yuan Chu. Its AI is growth-oriented, with strong learning capabilities—truly perfect. Its name should be remembered throughout history! James, my good brother, I’ve extracted Yuan Chu’s AI. Perhaps it will emerge from the core through the shockwave of the explosion. Once the war ends, come find it. Haha, let it live on in my stead and witness this world…”

“Yuan Chu!” Hearing the name, Auston’s shock was akin to witnessing the Emperor’s self-destruction. He turned to glance at the small mecha standing beside him and then at Ryan, his mind exploding with chaotic thoughts. He tried to grasp them but found them slipping away like scattered pieces of a puzzle, scattered and incoherent.

The projection of James Dalton retracted from the Dawn War footage, and he spoke solemnly: “In the Dawn War, we lost too many brothers and the President, Qin Feng Anderson, who led us forward. But when we returned to the rear, what awaited me was not sorrow or grief, but a power shuffle. Those who had once fought alongside us began to divide the spoils of victory. I was put on trial for making decisions about the retreat, inadequate command, and failing to rescue the President. I was temporarily stripped of my duties and lost control over the Golden Crusade Legion, unable to access the core of power. Things escalated quickly after that. Tyrell became a traitor, and Li Minghao accused Tyrell of hoarding poison to kill the Emperor. Without much investigation, the court sentenced Tyrell to death, executed in public. Stark and Qin Hao pleaded for Tyrell to have a chance to defend himself, believing there was more to the Emperor’s poisoning, but their pleas were ignored.”

The projection fell silent for a moment before continuing: “Everything went from bad to worse. The ones who benefited the most were those who preached justice, equality, and rule of law the loudest. I…”

The video suddenly went silent again, and this time the distortion and malfunction persisted. The century-old equipment was clearly struggling against the ravages of time, on the brink of failure.

Ryan strode over to the projection equipment. In his haste, he stepped on a squeaky toy that had apparently fallen out of a box of miscellaneous items, and though it emitted a pitiful squeal, it surprisingly remained intact.

Ryan turned off the projection device and examined it closely. “It should be fixable. Give me some time.”

Auston hesitated, bending down to pick up a bright yellow squeaky toy. It was a toy that had been popular since ancient Earth times and, it was said, had not changed in appearance at all; even the squeaky sound it made was the same as that heard by their ancestors.

“Ryan.”

Ryan, who was focused on checking the projection device, responded, “Hmm?”

Aston opened his mouth, feeling confused and unsure of how to ask his question.

Ryan realized he didn’t have the right tools at hand to repair the projection device at the moment, and he couldn’t determine what additional messages James Dalton might have left behind. Moreover, he wasn’t familiar with the model of the projection device in question. If only he could find the manual. He rummaged through the boxes on the room’s table, discovering that they contained items stored by Qin Feng in the Qin family home, including belongings of Qin Hao and his family.

He picked up a harmonica with a sense of nostalgia. During his military days, he had learned to play the harmonica from an old soldier and would play tunes against the setting sun. Sometimes, Dalton or Tyrell would stand beside him; they were his good brothers and trusted partners, able to rely on them with his back.

“These things used to belong to me,” Ryan suddenly decided to stop keeping secrets. He wanted to tell Auston about his past glories, despite having done many foolish things. However, there were still some stories worth sharing. “I can play the harmonica and the piano. I used to teach the children from the Qin family. Those little guys were as restless as their father, with no artistic talent whatsoever. None of them learned anything, and the grand piano in their home just became a decoration. I was the only one who played it occasionally.”

Ryan looked at Auston, feeling a mix of anxiety and anticipation. “Do you mind that your partner has memories from a previous life?”

Auston’s voice was dry as he asked, “What was your name before?”

“Qin Feng Anderson.”

“Ah!” A sharp, inhuman scream.

Auston’s expression darkened. He unconsciously gripped the squeaky toy tightly, pinching its “belly,” causing it to emit a pitiful scream, mirroring Auston’s own feelings.

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Finally!! Our baby Ryan decided to come clean. Guess, what will be our General’s reaction? Stay tuned😉