Chapter 290: Overcharged and Exploded
Although the murals on the wall were intuitive, they weren't necessarily completely understandable, because Ian noticed some symbols with unclear meanings among these patterns, so he could only guess and infer as he looked.
From the patterns, he could see some cloud-like drawings. After the Moon People abandoned their homeland "Birka," they came to this blue planet, staying above these clouds. Below the cloud patterns were some wave-like designs, which probably referred to the ocean below, because Ian saw some animal patterns resembling Sea Kings on those wave patterns.
That is to say, after the Moon People arrived on this planet, their first choice was to live on Skypiea. Ian could see from the murals that they built various structures on the Sky Island above Barron Gray Terminal and developed a civilization.
However, the area of this Sky Island was still too small, so the Moon People began to split off. They boarded flying ships and started heading to other Sky Islands.
The Skypieans were descendants of the Moon People—there was no doubt about that. But Ian could tell that the original Moon People were actually divided into three races. They all had wings on their backs, but one race had smaller wings and also had two antennae-like features on their heads. This immediately reminded Ian of the people on the Sky Island where Enel was located in his memories.
Another race seemed to have larger wings, likely the Skypieans of the Urouge the Monk's race.
As for the last race, they also had smaller wings, but they wore different animal headdresses. This directly made Ian think of the Golden City Shandora. This race was probably the Shandorans, because Ian could tell from the murals that when they left, they didn't go to other Sky Islands but instead headed down to the Blue Sea below!
Yes, this branch of the Skypieans didn't go to other Sky Islands but went to the ground. Ian could see that they were descending while holding balloons!
Those Shandorans were also descendants of the Moon People!? Ian was surprised by this, but why, when their island was swept up into the sky by a sea current, didn't they recognize the Skypieans on Angel Island, who also had wings like them?
Ian pondered for a moment and guessed it might be due to the long passage of time. He had no idea when the split shown in the murals had occurred—it could have been over a thousand years ago. If that were true, then the Shandorans who fell to the ground and developed their civilization might have experienced that blank one hundred years of history. That was likely a disaster that caused a break in their cultural heritage, so they knew nothing about their ancestors' affairs.
No wonder, no wonder. Ian had always wondered why the people of the Golden City Shandora, who clearly lived on the ground, also had wings on their backs. The real reason was right here!
Ian continued looking at the murals. He found that after the split, the later murals only recorded the events of this Sky Island. From the murals, he could see that after the Skypieans on this island had lived for a while, they were suddenly disturbed by outsiders.
Those were Blue Sea people who had accidentally wandered in from below. And amusingly, the Blue Sea people recorded in the murals were on a pirate ship! Because Ian could see a skull-and-crossbones flag pattern on that ship.
Although they were pirates, these Skypieans didn't mind. Instead, they were very friendly to them, entertained them, and later sent them back to the Blue Sea.
From the murals, Ian could tell that the Skypieans had a high level of technology. He saw on the drawings those round hollow sphere instruments he had seen earlier. These instruments were arranged on the Sky Island and could use electricity to drive windmills, allowing the Sky Island to move freely. In this way, they sailed above the world's oceans, searching for islands on the sea surface and communicating peacefully with the Blue Sea people.
However, just as Ian was enjoying the viewing, the murals came to an abrupt end!
What the hell!? What comes next!?
Ian looked around, hoping to find more about the later events in the hall. But unfortunately, there really was nothing more. The hall clearly had enough space reserved for murals, but those later parts were completely smooth and blank!
Not just Ian, even Baby-5 was stunned. She had also been guessing and inferring with great interest.
"Why didn't anyone paint murals for the later parts?" Baby-5 asked Ian.
"Maybe some major upheaval occurred!" Ian could only guess like this: "Generally speaking, this kind of sudden break in historical records can only mean a serious disaster happened, so people had no heart to continue carving."
"Is this the reason why the people on this Sky Island suddenly disappeared?" Baby-5 said. "There are traces of battle on the island, indicating they might have encountered a powerful enemy!"
Ian nodded, agreeing with her statement. He thought this was likely the case; otherwise, such a sudden break couldn't be explained.
That is to say, after the Moon People arrived on this planet, they went through three stages: one stage where all races lived on this island, another stage where they split off, and after that, a stage of a major catastrophe. Currently, it seemed highly likely to be a serious war. The island not only had traces of battle but also signs of looting, suggesting they ultimately failed and could only flee this Sky Island.
Ian thought of the balloons at the bottom of the clouds. Perhaps the original Skypieans used those balloons to leave.
As for who their enemy was, it couldn't be guessed for now. But it was clear that the enemy wasn't interested in the Skypieans' city. After occupying it, they took everything they could carry away, leaving only an empty, ruined city. Over time, this Sky Island lost all its energy and eventually evolved into a Sky Island that could only drift with the high-altitude air currents...
So, when did this disaster occur? If the Skypieans escaped, didn't they come back to check after the enemy left?
The history was too distant, so distant that many things couldn't be verified, leaving too many mysteries.
Ian turned his gaze to the rows of small dwarf mechanical soldiers standing in lines. Clearly, these mechanical soldiers had also lost their energy and could no longer move. However, since Ian himself could control electricity, he wondered if he could inject energy into these mechanical soldiers to get them moving again. Maybe he could learn something from them, though he didn't know if they could speak...
Ian looked around the hall and finally found another hollow sphere instrument in the distance. He could also see some transparent pipes connected from the instrument, spanning across the positions above all the dwarf soldiers.
He didn't know if it would work, but Ian still wanted to try. So, he once again mobilized his own Psychic Power value and released a Thunder Spear at the hollow sphere.
When an electric plasma ball appeared inside the hollow sphere again, the instrument finally activated. Large amounts of blue electric current began to spread through the transparent pipes.
A crackling sound arose. Above the positions of those dwarf soldiers, there were lightning rod-like things that received the current from the pipes. As the instrument activated, the current instantly injected into the bodies of these soldiers.
Ian and Baby-5 watched the charging process of these soldiers with anticipation. Ian was even thinking that if he charged these soldiers and got them moving again, maybe he could use them! There were at least five hundred such mechanical soldiers in this hall. If their combat power was decent, then...
However, before Ian could finish his daydream, the creaking dwarf soldiers, now moving, all turned their heads in unison to look at Ian and Baby-5.
Baby-5 hid behind Ian, pulling his arm and whispering, "Captain, am I hallucinating? Why do I see that these little dwarfs have red eyes?"
"You're not hallucinating; they are indeed red!" Ian's alarm bells rang loudly in his heart. He instinctively felt something was wrong.
Sure enough, the next second, these dwarf soldiers all raised their spears in unison, aiming at Ian and the others.
"Intruders! Eliminate the Blue Sea people! Guard the ruins!"
An electronic voice rang out, and these dwarf mechanical soldiers launched an attack on Ian and the others!
"What the hell! I've caused a problem!" Ian shouted, quickly saying, "Baby-5, don't hold back!"