Piercing history (II)

The moon, Birka.

"So that was it. That explained everything..."

When the incoming electromagnetic transmission paused, Reg murmured to himself, finally understanding... Though the transmission was remarkably intelligent, even answering his questions, that did not change the fact that it was merely a recorded message.

Through that message, Reg also resolved his earlier doubts... The Birkans, or "cosmic refugees," who had once lived in this city had migrated here from another planet.

Joy Boy only said that defeat in a war had forced them to leave their homeland. He never identified their enemy, much as Reg wanted to know... After reaching the moon, they had used their limited resources to build an underground city to evade their pursuers, calling themselves Birkans.

What happened afterward was not complicated. The moon had few resources to begin with, and the Birkans had lost too much in the war. After several generations of recuperation, they could no longer sustain themselves and had no choice but to seek a new home elsewhere... That was how "Blue Star," and the pirate world's "Void Century," came into the picture.

The message ended there, but Reg could connect what he knew with the Poneglyphs the Birkans had left behind... Drawing on Gaban's account and his many years of historical research, Dr. Clover had reconstructed the full hundred years.

First, "Joy Boy" did not refer to a particular individual. It was the title of the Birkans' highest leader... much like the kings of other nations.

Having endured a war that had nearly exterminated them, the Birkans who arrived on Blue Star were deeply averse to fighting. They cautiously established Sky Islands ten thousand meters above the surface and rebuilt their technological capabilities, a process that took twenty-one years... At that time, Blue Star had no Red Line, no Calm