"That's pretty sophisticated; you even include a setting in your storytelling."
Hela looked around at the incredibly realistic scene and couldn't help but sigh.
"But why hundreds of years ago?"
"The birth of the Variant involves many complexities, but I will try my best to explain it to you in a concise way."
As he spoke, he glanced around at the surroundings. "Do you recognize this place?"
Hela carefully observed her surroundings and discovered that the place was very ancient, with many houses made of wood.
Most of them were only one or two stories high, with no tall buildings, and it seemed that no machines were found.
The only relatively recognizable feature is the church not far away.
A few pedestrians walked by every now and then.
They all had Western-looking faces, and their clothes were also quite unusual.
Hela seemed to have seen these things in some books, and after a moment's recollection, she remembered them.
"This looks like United States in the 17th or 18th century."
Nan Tian nodded, then shook his head. "The time is correct, but the location is wrong."
"This is not United States, it's Britain."
" Britain?" Hela tilted her head. "What's that? I've never heard of such a country."
"It's normal that you haven't heard of it; after all, this country has already perished because of war."
Hela blinked. In all her knowledge of humankind, she had never heard of any country being destroyed, nor had she ever heard of the word "war."
There were originally nearly a hundred countries in the world.
"Oh, I see. Why did you bring me to see Britain?"
Hela wasn't interested in why there were only five countries now, so she didn't delve deeper into the topic.
Nan Tian smiled but didn't answer directly. Instead, he led Hela into a dilapidated little warehouse.
There is a basement passageway inside the warehouse that is covered by wooden planks.
He lifted the wooden plank, then stepped into the void at the cave entrance, falling into darkness under the force of gravity.
Hela peered inside, then rolled over and fell in as well.
The feeling of weightlessness kept coming, and the surrounding darkness was like having my eyes closed.
When her vision returned, Hela found herself in a huge, somewhat bizarre cave.
In the very center of the cave grows a giant tree that resembles a skyscraper.
The tree seemed to be inlaid with many fluorescent gems, shimmering faintly in the endless darkness.
Hela estimated that the tree's radius was almost a hundred meters.
"This is the Tree of Terra." Nan Tian said solemnly, gazing at the large tree before him.
"It is the center of the entire world, and it exists to regulate the entire world."
Hela stood behind him, listening quietly to him speak.
Nan Tian slowly leaned forward and placed his hand on the massive tree root. "The power of the Tree of Terra is actually quite simple: it converts energy."
Seeing that Hela didn't seem to understand, he gave another example.
"It's like burning coal. It converts the energy in the coal into heat energy."
"It can convert any object into its purest form of energy without producing any other matter, and its energy conversion rate is the highest to date."
"Whether it's harmful, harmless, or even common, ubiquitous waste, it can be transformed into energy."
"Actually, it had already been discovered by the Britain by this time, but they just thought it was a rather large sacred tree."
After all, the Industrial Revolution hadn't happened yet.
The surrounding scenery began to slowly disintegrate, then reformed.
Soon they returned to the outside world.
Unlike before, the buildings outside now look more luxurious, as if it weren't a rural area, but a relatively developed city.
And at this moment, countless people were gathered around a single spot, as if they wanted to witness something.
Nan Tian led Hela through the crowd to the very center.
On what appeared to be a newly repaired, rudimentary railway track, a steel beast lay prostrate.
Is this a train?
"That's right, this is the world's first train."
On the locomotive at that moment, a man in an old-fashioned suit was raising his arms and shouting something.
Amidst cheers from the crowd, he gripped the control lever and pressed it down forcefully.
Qi--!
As thick fog billowed from the chimneys, the epoch-making train slowly moved forward amidst the cheers of everyone.
"In 1676, Britain officially entered the Industrial Revolution era."
"At the same time, this is also a landmark year."
The scene flashed before their eyes, and the two found themselves once again before the Tree of Terra.
This time, however, a large crowd surrounded the Tree of Terra, staring at the giant tree in disbelief.
In front of them was a very ordinary steam engine.
However, the power source for this steam engine is connected to the Tree of Terra.
"The year after they invented the steam engine, humanity finally understood the purpose of the Tree of Terra."
Nan Tian's eyes were devoid of any emotion, like those of a narrator without feelings.
Time seemed to have been sped up, and the scenery around the Tree of Terra began to change rapidly.
People moved about, and numerous industrial buildings rose around the tree, soon encasing the sacred tree in metal.
"Energy is of paramount importance to a civilization; possessing the Tree of Terra is practically equivalent to possessing unlimited energy."
"In just one year, Britain developed rapidly, quickly reaching a level that other countries couldn't even dream of."
Nan Tian walked slowly backward, pushed open a metal door, and came to a bustling street.
Hela came to the street and was startled by what she saw.
The streets were lined with all sorts of glamorous buildings, and the pedestrians were all adorned with gold and silver.
All sorts of steam engines can be seen everywhere.
Steam buses packed with people, steam elevators perched atop buildings, and even automatic doors with steam engines at the entrance.
This advanced scene, which seemed to have been developed at an off-track, filled Hela with immense curiosity.
He casually picked up a whole roasted chicken from a roadside fully automated restaurant and began to eat it in large bites.
" Mingming so powerful, why did they perish?" Hela mumbled, her mouth greasy.
"Because as a country becomes powerful, its ambitions also grow."
Bang--!
Bang--!
Bang--!
Loud gunfire rang out all around.
A group of well-equipped Britain soldiers, armed with rifles, swept away the enemies blocking their path.
They wore gas masks, stood on steam vehicles, and were backed by countless pieces of sophisticated equipment and supplies.
This contrasted sharply with their enemies, who were still armed with cold weapons and whose only firearms were muskets.
This is a one-sided battle.
The British army, like locusts, quickly turned the entire country into ruins.
Later, they expanded their territory on the occupied lands, seized all the resources for themselves, and enslaved the original inhabitants.
Ugh--!
The heavy creaking of the cruise ship echoed from the shore.
East Asia farmers who were fishing on the beach stared in disbelief at the monster approaching from the other side of the sea.