Chapter 186: The eternal city

Standing beneath my shielded dome, I find myself sitting idly. Directionless. “What do I do?” The world is crumbling around me. Slowly eroding away. Resources ungathered, destroyed. Relics, history, civilization, being erased.

I’ve done everything I can to save those I can. They are in a safe place, preservation of humanity if you will. At least some form of them will exist, if only in an empty void.

But now, I won’t be able to gather more books. The phone lines will eventually fall quiet. Slowly as the world erodes, people will die to the elements. The people outside of the dimension will live, but in what capacity? Homeless, at risk. They will all likely die eventually until the last vestiges are snuffed out.

And I don’t know what to do. How can I help? I’ve got significant personal power, but I can’t rebuild a planet. I’ve not got the time. What’s the point in being able to lift mountains if no one will witness it?

Thankfully Cassie and Jengal and their immediate family are safe. It’s something, I suppose.

Guess I’ve got a lot of time to think, that’s for sure.

“Bang…. Bang….” I snap my head towards the dome, seeing a humanoid figure outside of it. They are fully covered in silver armor with trimmings, encrusted with gems on the chest, leg, boots, and helmet. It has an almost draconic feel to it.

They stopped knocking, having seen that they had my attention. They float backward a meter before waving as if on the other side of a fence.

Curiosity piqued, I approach them. Traveling through the shield to meet the humanoid.

They beat me to the punch, speaking. In a very formal tone, “Hello, good sir, might I come in for a break. The wild winds have grown strong in the last hour.”

He wasn’t wrong; it was difficult to hear him over the overpowering whooshing sound of the wind.

I immediately teleport him inside, causing a pang of concern to pulse through me at the thoughtless action. He didn’t directly drop a bomb on my home, but the anxiety is already punishment enough.

He tumbles to the ground, “lovely little oasis, you got here,” he mumbles. “Make it yourself?”

Composing myself, “hu? Yeah, I did.”

“Wanna make me one? I’ll pay you.” He just throws out.

“Pay me with what,” I enquire.

“Materials got a lot of iron and gold.”

“Of no use to me, sorry.”

“A shame.” He says with a weary smile.

“So, what you doing out in the storm?”

“Scavenging, looking for items to sell.”

“You have someone to sell it to?”

“Yeah, living in an underground city at the moment. The market loves a bit of scrap. You wait until they hear about this island in the sky.”

“Do you really have to tell them?” Not like they can bust the shield but better safe than sorry.

“Well, I suppose not.” He says with a shrug.

He totally will.

“Can I come to visit this underground city?”

“No.” He says, crossing his arms.

“Might I ask why?”

“Stranger danger, dumbass.”

“If I was a danger, you would be fucked given you can’t leave my house without me teleporting you out.”

He creases his brows before his face opens up in realization. “I still can’t, but please don’t murder me.” He says with a wry chuckle.

Rolling my eyes behind my helmet, “just go, I will teleport you out.”

“Wait, wait. I can tell you how to make a handy item.”

“Go on.”

Details how to make a lucky block. “Just a bunch of gold, easy.”

And honestly, this man was lucky for not getting a single unlucky event from a lucky block.

“Thank you for that information; now allow me to show you the door.” Almost rushing to get him out. If he decided to demonstrate the block and accidentally nuked my house, I would be red with rage.

Anything that involves good fortune is off the table; I’m not lucky enough.

Now, I could try and follow him back to the underground city. But he has some kind of advanced gear that lets him fly; it seems risky. And a colossal dick move.

Checking my phone and going through several videos, I come across a spattering set in an underground city setting. Sandwiched right between videos of people begging for help and a few lucky ones untouched by the red atmosphere. For how long? Anyone’s guess.

I would help those requesting it if I could actually reach them. But with the world having been split into so many fragments, maps are useless.

And that is where I began to fall away from the outside world. Focusing inside my home, friends, and families. The monotony is a good distraction from the hellscape forming outside.

Over the months, the world slowly eroded deeper and deeper. Where once dirt lay, now only bare stone and exposed caves appear. I didn’t get any more visitors.

With the odd few nether portals scattered around, the nether quickly suffered the same fate as the overworld. And those unwise enough to leave dimensional portals open gave it access to those planes too. The end is likely the only genuinely untouched dimension due to the infinite nature of the void sucking up all the mist.

It was heartbreaking watching the world crumble. Only leaving to see how badly the damage has increased.

On more positive news, those I saved have spent nearly 2 years in their new home. Months for me, years for them. They have flourished inside that little bubble of theirs. Expanding rapidly in all directions. Building what would have taken me a long time through sheer quantity of workers.

They make choices based on a majority vote. For every 100 people, they select one to represent them. When most of that 100 want to make a change, the leader pitches it to the others. If another agrees it’s a good idea, it comes under a vote. A few ground rules were founded, such as if it harms the living space. So no “using lucky blocks in your house.” Because that was at one point brought forward and rejected.

They have a dedicated dead zone to be opened at your own peril. You must wear good armor, though. Better to not lose any genes at the moment.

With so much time on my hands, I started sleeping more. Finding peace in the black. Virtually everyone in the little bubble is immortal, so time kind of slipped away. I think I had children at one point.

At some point, the strange state I was in fell away. Around me, the shield was crumbling. Island being eroded. The mist on the outside was no longer red but a dirty black. Like acid, it ate away at everything. Within moments, I grabbed everyone on the island, storing them inside stasis objects. I then teleported us to the black spot. Now just bedrock with a floating portal. It quickly sucks us inside. Ejecting us into a tunnel of black mist.

Pushing to the edge, we break away from it. Seeing the floating city dazzlingly in the background. They had long since abandoned the barricade around the portal. It had eroded away the moment the mist got through.

The city has become a sight to see. Towering bubbles of glass reveal cities and structures aplenty. Creativity flourishes as people build beautiful buildings. Luck-based blocks having provided that which I couldn’t.

Looking around, you will also see satellite cities not directly connected to the interconnected massive biodomes. Villages and towns in the countryside in a way.

Coming towards the monumental city, we are intercepted by a flying ship. Hastily taken into the bowls of the ship using a tractor beam. A man in a spacesuit and cowboy hat approaches us.

“Howdy, what yall doing out in the void?”

“Sightseeing,” I say with a smile.

He chuckles, “odd hobby you have there. Let me drop you off at Milra.”

And so he does, driving us towards one of the giant biodomes. Some country-like music played from the cockpit of his modest ship.

Entering the city, I realize I’ve found a safe place. Thankfully I have long since stored virtually everything I own inside my golden bag. Even most of my clones, like the vampiric one.

With a smile, I release my family and start a new, mundane life.