Chapter 101: Atlantis

On the morning of April 15, 2118, in Nanjing.

Hua Feng and Yun Meng had been back for less than an hour when Hua Feng's parents, who had been waiting patiently for a long time, served a steaming plate of freshly wrapped dumplings onto the table.

"Quickly! Xiao Meng, Xiao Feng, eat them while they're hot. They say nothing beats a good dumpling. You've been away for so long this time, who knows how you got by? You look so much thinner than before. Were you too busy running around on official business to eat properly?" Hua Feng's father warmly urged them, his eyes shining with the gentle affection of a loving father looking at his children.

"Yes, indeed! Your father and I were busy all morning. Knowing you were coming back, we rushed to the morning market at dawn and stood in line for ages just to get this limited-run, organic meat and fresh produce."

Hua Feng's mother had not yet fully adjusted to her role as a mother-in-law. Although for years she, like most parents, had longed for Hua Feng to marry and settle down so she could hold a grandchild and enjoy the warmth of family life, now that this happiness was right before her eyes, it felt somewhat surreal and dreamlike.

"Alright, alright, Dad, Mom, don't get too excited. The dumplings just came out of the pot. Let them cool down a bit first, otherwise how is Xiao Meng supposed to eat them?" Seeing the slightly reserved look on Yun Meng's face beside him, Hua Feng explained to his parents with a smile.

As a new bride, Yun Meng hadn't felt much discomfort when she was alone with Hua Feng, but the moment they returned home, the unfamiliarity of her new status washed over her. The transition from the girl next door to a daughter-in-law was still somewhat foreign to her, and she couldn't quite adapt to this awkward feeling all at once.

"Um, Uncle... Dad, Mom, you should eat too." Yun Meng managed to change how she addressed them. Changing her way of speaking without a formal wedding to ease the transition was still a bit difficult for her. Having grown up calling them "Uncle" and "Auntie," she now felt a bit lost facing Hua Feng's parents, who were now her father- and mother-in-law.

"Yes, yes, let's eat together. If there's not enough, there's more in the pot. Once you're done, I'll slice some fruit for you." Hua Feng's mother's enthusiasm remained undiminished.

***

And so, Yun Meng, Hua Feng, and his parents finished lunch in this slightly awkward atmosphere. Although they had spent a few days getting used to each other before, returning home meant they had to rebuild the familiarity they had worked so hard to establish.

In the afternoon, inside Hua Feng's room, Yun Meng and Hua Feng sat cross-legged on the bed, either practicing their respective cultivation techniques or attending to their own affairs. This quiet atmosphere, where not a single word needed to be spoken to feel at ease, brought a sense of peaceful comfort to them both. Each handled their own tasks, and their occasional exchanges were brief and light, like dragonflies skimming the water, before they drifted back to their own thoughts.

As evening approached, Hua Feng suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, Xiao Meng, did we forget someone?" Hua Feng asked as he gathered the clothes scattered around him and put them into the wardrobe, turning to face Yun Meng, who was painting her fingernails.

"Oh... I think we did. Do you mean Bai Feng?" Yun Meng looked up.

"Yes. We didn't bring her along for this mission. Now that it's over, we've both leveled up to Level 15, and I'm sure many people know our names by now. There's no telling what kind of challenges we'll face next. Bai Feng's current strength is close to ours. If we can team up with her to complete missions, we won't be in such a tight spot if we run into something like last time." Hua Feng walked over to the window, opened the refrigerator, took out two bottles of juice, and handed one to Yun Meng.

"I'll send a message to Bai Feng now. Maybe we can go check out the surrounding area together sometime soon. I keep feeling like something is about to happen lately. Let me show you some files." Yun Meng opened her laptop. A voice read aloud:

"Atlantis, also known as the Great Western Continent or the Great Western Kingdom. In the ancient Mexican codices preserved in the Vatican City State—namely the Vatican Codex—and the surviving works of the indigenous Mexican civilizations, similar accounts exist: 'Four generations of humanity have appeared on Earth in succession. The first generation of humanity was a race of giants. They were not residents of this world, but came from the heavens. They perished of starvation. The second generation of humanity was destroyed by a great fire. The third generation of humanity was ape-like humans, who perished by killing one another. Later, the fourth generation of humanity appeared, living in the era of "Sun and Water." The civilization of this era was destroyed by a cataclysmic deluge of towering waves.'

Modern science has discovered that before the great deluge, there may have existed a continent on Earth that possessed a highly developed civilization. In a global catastrophe, this continent sank into the Atlantic Ocean. The disaster was triggered by massive earthquakes and the tsunamis that followed. Volcanic ash plunged the entire Mediterranean region into darkness for weeks, and even plants as far away as Britain were affected. The power of the earthquake was equivalent to four thousand times the explosive yield of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. For nearly a century, prehistoric ruins found by archaeologists at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean seem to support this hypothesis. People refer to this landmass as the 'Great Western Continent' and the nation that nurtured this prehistoric civilization as the 'Great Western Kingdom.' The scientific community uses the name proposed by Plato—Atlantis. According to the prophecies of the Mayan calendar, the world inhabited by humanity has a total of five cycles of destruction and rebirth—each cycle known as a 'Solar Era'—and it is believed that at the end of each era, a dramatic tragedy of destruction unfolds.

The fourth Solar Era was Tzontlilic (the Atlantean civilization), also known as the Civilization of Light, which inherited the previous civilization. The word 'inherited' is used instead of 'continued' because the Atlanteans were colonists from Orion. They possessed the power of light, which brought about the destruction of the earth under a rain of fire. Atlantis was established as early as the Lemurian civilization. Later, a war was fought between these two civilizations.

Atlantis. In the ancient Mexican manuscripts preserved in the Vatican City State—namely the Vatican Codex—and the surviving works of the indigenous civilizations of the United Mexican States, similar accounts exist: 'Four generations of humanity have appeared on Earth in succession. The first generation of humanity was a race of giants, who perished of starvation. The second generation of humanity was destroyed by a massive fire. The third generation of humanity was ape-like humans, who perished by killing one another. Later, the fourth generation of humanity appeared, living in the era of "Sun and Water," whose civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic deluge of towering waves.'

Modern science has discovered that before the great deluge, a continent might indeed have existed on Earth, possessing a highly developed civilization. In a global catastrophe, this continent sank into the Atlantic Ocean. For nearly a century, prehistoric ruins found by archaeologists at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean seem to support this hypothesis. In folklore, people call this landmass the 'Great Western Continent' and the nation that nurtured this prehistoric civilization the 'Great Western Kingdom.' In fact, the scientific community has long since named this mysteriously vanished continent, using the name proposed by Plato: Atlantis.

The architecture of Atlantis was arranged in concentric circles, separated from one another by channels for vessels. The deeper one ventured, the stricter the restrictions on status became. The innermost circle contained the most important temples and sanctuaries. The city's architecture was so beautiful that it evoked the rhythm of music. Depending on the wind and temperature, the gilded domes would emit harmonious sounds, usually consisting of three syllables. For Atlantis, the number three was one of its defining characteristics: lines would repeat three times, architectural complexes were composed of three similar structures, and pyramids stood in clusters of three."