"Alpha… kssssht… calling HQ, I have entered the kssssht main wing."
"HQ, receiving. Alpha, your voice isn't very clear, please check your transmitter."
"Roger… kssssssssssssht Transmission headset is functioning kssht normally, the transfer stone is intact. We suspect something is blocking the ksssssssssssssssssssssht."
"Alpha? Alpha? We still can't seem to hear you. Connect your transfer stone to the ley line, I repeat, connect your transfer stone to the ley line."
"kssssht Alpha, roger, now kssssssht. Beep-beep Calling HQ, connected to external communication ley line, interference cleared."
"Very good. Continue exploring the main wing, their most important thing should be somewhere here."
"Echo, calling HQ, scanning for life signs complete, no life signs detected… by Kondraki's beard… these people must have died a pitiful death."
"Bravo, calling HQ, I've found the source of the divine energy communication interference… it's metal ingots! A few metal ingots!"
"HQ, receiving, can you bring them back to the site?"
"No, I can't draw on the divine energy near the metal… ah, fuck!"
"Calling Bravo, what's happened?"
"I've found a list of stock, it says here "Telekill alloy - 300 kg". If this is really that telekill…"
"If that's the case, those bastards probably took most of it. Bravo, collect the source of divine energy interference. Echo, follow Bravo, bring the source of interference back to the isolation box at the start. Others, continue searching."
"Delta, calling HQ, I've discovered the instrument they use to store data, it's completely burnt out."
"HQ, receiving. Fox, can you retrieve the stored information?"
"No problem, the external casing is fried, but the inside doesn't seem to have souls. Give me fifteen minutes."
"Echo, calling HQ, exploration complete, no information of value extracted. They've really cleaned up after themselves. All the remaining corpses are all their lower-ranking personnel, all killed by our poison-gas coil."
"Fox, calling HQ, I've retrieved the information. Most of it is notes by the researchers. One of the notes is written in divine script. I can't read it. I've sent it back."
"HQ, receiving, we've received the information. This… this is brilliant. Omega-16, exploration complete. Bring back the remains of that magical device, then burn the whole base down."
"Charlie, receiving, currently placing delayed detonation coil. Countdown set to 20 minutes, I'll be done with it in one. Comrades, get to work!"
"Scholar Scarlet, we have good and bad news. The good news is that research on SCP-3148 has reached a breakthrough. The details on the experiments have been sent to your books."
"I received it two hours ago. I'm guessing the bad news is, because the new results contradict our original conclusion, we need to redesign the containment procedures, yes?"
"That's right. Please have the new special containment procedures ready and handed over to the committee for review by noon tomorrow."
"Got it, I'll deal with it tomorrow. Ah, one more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Go to hell, you fucking bastard!"
Scarlet slammed his book shut, cutting off the divine energy communication.
This is really pissing me off, Scarlet thought.
Two days ago, one of the most elite task forces the Zhujihui had, Omega-16, had wiped out one of the workshops of the enemy organization "Prometheus Group", or as they called it, a "lab".
Even though this secret society was using divine powers stranger than any other, operating their workshops like a scholar's tower of the Zhujihui, they were still no match for Omega-16. In the end, their work had been brought to a halt by Omega-16's poison-gas coil.
The most valuable thing they'd gotten out of this Prometheus lab raid was these metal ingots designated SCP-3148. According to the members' description at the time, the metal could interfere with the flow of nearby divine energy, causing significant impairment to nearby technological implements.
And according to the research report Scarlet had just received, this kind of metal could even slowly erode their users' intelligence and, yet worse still, slowly self-replicate. That's great, now the whole containment procedures have to be rewritten, and the class would probably have to be raised as well.
"Fucking hell." Scarlet wrote the last period, finishing the new containment procedures. Looking out the window, the sky was beginning to darken.
"sudo, mail, mode 1, council C, 3148.scp, SEND. Done." He gave the command to send to his multitome; the words on the page lit ablaze, then disappeared, leaving a blank page with only the text "Text Editor" on the top.
Now it was finally time for a rest — just as Containment Officer Scarlet thought that, the multitome he'd closed shook, alerting him with a "ding-dong", and the red gem on the cover shone with a piercing red light, signaling that one of his higher-ups was calling him.
Scarlet slammed that precious tome on the table.
"That's all I have to say. These two days, I've been clogged to shit with clerical work, and now they want me to go out and do fieldwork too? This is murder; how is this not fucking illegal?!" In the darkness of the night, thirty thousand feet in the air, Scarlet sat in an uncomfortably shaking seat, riding a turbulent dragon-ship, venting out his frustrations to the leader of Omega-16, codenamed Alpha — a high-level combat agent named Milk.
Scarlet had been called to Scholar Darklight's tower two days ago and given instructions to join Omega-16 by the leader of the tower itself for a field mission, ruining his long-awaited vacation.
Even Milk, who was sitting across from him, could feel the anger radiating from his body.
"There's no helping it. New anomalies are popping up faster than ever; the breakaways, the schools' alliance, and even Prometheus Group are all hungry for the things we've contained. We're low on manpower. And it's not just you; we've just finished a mission, and here we are getting sent out again. Instead of complaining about the inhumane working conditions at the Zhujihui, why don't you just get to work and get it over with?" Milk said, wiping down her staff.
"Oh, um… alright. O-16, listen up!" Milk's words had reminded Scarlet; he used the loudest sound-line to get the attention of everyone in the cockpit. Then he began his briefing.
"We are soon arriving at Divine Ruin #19. Five hours ago, we lost contact with this location. Your task is to search the ruins, destroy any enemy forces there, and then search for —"
"Ksssssssssssssssssssht" — Suddenly, a burst of noise and shaking interrupted the speech. The bright lights of the cockpit flickered.
"Alpha! Our engine has been hit by interference, we're going down!" The voice of Agent Chen, codename Bravo and the pilot of the dragon-ship, rang out from the front of the ship.
"Brace for impact!" Milk commanded, assuming the brace position. While everyone was in position, the vibrations from the dragon-ship shook the whole cockpit.
Without knowing what had happened - perhaps it had clipped something - the dragon-ship crash-landed, Scarlet's forehead struck the ground, shielded only by his arm, and he went out cold.
"Scarlet, though the mission is to seize the artifact, it's not so simple. There's more to do."
"Not so simple? The SCPs we find in the divine ruins, these divine artifacts, which of them are simple?"
"Oh, Scarlet, you're a third-level scholar, so you should know SCP-001, right?"
"Oh, please. The origin of the Zhujihui, the "Legacy of the Gods"? Even the new recruits can read part of it. At my clearance level, I can read the whole thing."
"It's related to that. The thing I want you to retrieve, Scarlet, is that Legacy of the Gods. Not the divine ruin in the document. The True Legacy."
A cool wave of divine energy was directed into the containment officer's mind, bringing him back to reality. At the same time, it brought back the pain all over his body. He heard a female voice:
"Scarlet? Scarlet? In King's name, wake up!"
"Ah… It's fine, it's just a mild concussion combined with excessive fatigue. A basic recovery spell is all it'll need." The source of that female voice removed her hand from his forehead, pointed her wand at his chest, and let the cooling divine energy flow in. His fatigue was gone.
"Thanks, Orchid. Ah, yes, what is the situation now?" Scarlet got up. The dragon-ship carrying them had crashed through the outer wall of the building before him and gotten stuck.
"Our dragon-ship crashed into the wall of the ruin while falling and completely broke down. Looks like they used some sort of anti-air installation." Orchid, the team's military doctor, codename Delta, said, pointing upward. Scarlet followed the direction of her finger and saw a structure in the middle of Divine Ruin #19, a square spire made of multiple steel bars rising up, with a familiar light marking a device at the top."
"Normal anti-air isn't this strong, but it looks like they used 3148 to enhance it. At least it doesn't affect divine energy flow on the ground." The containment officer stared at the anti-air device enhanced with SCP-3148, then looked at Orchid: "Besides me fainting, how's everyone else?"
"Everyone else's fine. The dragon-ship's head was crushed into a mass of scrap on impact, and the pilot got hit, but he'll be back up in two or three minutes." Besides Chen, who was still being held by Milk, the rest of Omega-16 was uninjured and checking their equipment.
"It's really worthy of the legendary title 'immortal', huh…" Scarlet looked at the broken-down dragon-ship's shape in the wall, the blood-splattered cockpit, and wiped away a cold sweat.
At this point, Milk, too, saw that Scarlet had awoken. "Ah, Scarlet, you're awake. In that case, we're all here. Let's go. The dragon-ship broke a hole in the wall, so at least we don't have to find the entrance. Orchid, read a protection spell for Scarlet." As soon as she finished speaking, she pointed her staff at the destroyed dragon-ship and a glowing ball of divine energy shot out of the ruby on its end, blowing a person-sized hole in the wreckage.
Orchid read the "immunity from harmful vectors" spell for Scarlet. "Those who work with vermilion become red, those who work with divinity become bright, those who work with ink become black."
At Milk's command, the seven members of Omega-16 entered Divine Ruin #19 through the hole.
Divine Ruin #19 was not the nineteenth divine ruin discovered by the Zhujihui. Its name comes from the fact that when it was first discovered, the explorers discovered a plaque bearing text in the divine language at the entrance. As the standard of archaeology was not very high at the time, they could only read out the part that represented a number: "19".
Known as "Site-19" in the Language of the Gods, Divine Ruin #19 was the largest divine ruin found by the Zhujihui, with countless SCPs inside; all information about this place is sealed in the Zhujihui's archives with the highest degree of secrecy. God knows how Prometheus Group found out about this place. And God knows why they're so fixated on a place that has already been looted.
Omega-16 had entered through the east wing. The lack of lights -they'd failed long ago - forced Milk to light up a ball of infrared on her cane to allow her to see through her specialized goggles.
At the same time, she pressed her transmitter, trying to contact the Zhujihui team that was stationed here, but to no avail.
"Fuck, they might all be dead," Milk said.
At that moment, Akarin, codenamed Echo, raised her left hand and the approaching squad stopped. Through the transmitter, Akarin whispered: "Echo, calling O-16, I've detected life signs; 200 meters ahead, round the corner, two humans and two unidentified sounds."
"Alpha, receiving. Echo, you go check it out. If they're enemies, deal with them. Golf, your chance has come. Go help Echo."
"Golf, receiving. Going over now."
"Echo, receiving. I can do this without help, but alright."
Golf was Scarlet's temporary codename in Omega-16. He left his original position and slipped behind Akarin. The sound of divine implements she'd mentioned was clear, drip by drip.
"I'm here, is there anything you need help with?"
"To be honest, now. But you're already here, help me with the receiver."
"Alright. But that sound makes me a little concerned. Mind if I take a look?"
"You can hear it? Then go ahead, don't scare them."
"Of course not, it should be fine with the light level here…" Scarlet said, cutting his palm and throwing the blood forward. The blood, manipulated by divine energy, became a fine mist and disappeared in the darkness. He also took out his multitome from his pocket and flipped to the page with the map of Divine Ruin #19.
"sudo, map, trace, details=7" he commanded the book as he ran his finger over the map, wiping the blood on the page, which split into four clumps The bloodstains rose up and formed four models, two of which were guards using long divine implements, and the other two were using tripods on which were mounted divine implements he'd never seen before.
"Those two are holding Prometheus Group's usual guns. Enemies. The other two, I'm not sure, but under them is a thermal lens that can see in the dark, that means it must be a sentry's weapon. Thanks, Scarlet."
"With such a dark battlefield, it was a good opportunity to use it. The bright blood is eye-catching," Scarlet said, shaking his head.
"Then, Scarlet, I need your help. Pull away those two guards. I'll handle the rest." Akarin's body disappeared into thin air — this was the shadow-technique, allowing one to blend in with the darkness.
"No problem. sudo, map, exit, sudo, remote, num=2, go!"
With that, the darkness stirred for a moment, and the two sentry devices were pointed at their respective targets — a warm mass of blood. As the two guards kept their weapons, their necks were snapped by hands reaching out from the darkness. The hands then tore the thermal lens off the sentries, and the two tripod-mounted implements dipped down and went quiet. At this point, Akarin appeared from the darkness, noticing a passage behind the two guards.
"Echo, calling Alpha, objective located. Prometheus Group guards, all dealt with, safe to proceed. Also, I've discovered an underground passage not found on the map."
"Alpha, receiving. Coming over."
Soon enough, the whole of Omega-16 was standing in front of the passage. Milk let Scarlet use the blood-mist to explore the shape of the passage. Two minutes later, Scarlet pointed to the map on the page and spoke. "From what I can detect, the total length of the passage is 300 meters, and it's sloped so that it ends 60 meters below the ground, which is equivalent to the lowest level of Divine Ruin #19. All the way down was a well-kept dirt road with no guards or sentry turrets. It looks like there's a light source down there. If I go down, I'll be exposed."
"Looks like they dug a passage all the way down there. What do you think, Lyn? And how is the inspection of the inplement?"
"If that is the passage they used to go down, it's likely to be an important position. We should use the attack formation." Lyn, codename Charlie, pointed to the implement. "The tripod and thermal lens are broken, but my analysis says it's a rapid-fire version of a weapon they call a "rifle". If there are enemies down there, we'll probably have to deal with many of these. Jellyfish, have you gotten any information?"
"I've got some. These two guys, they were the low-ranking soldiers working with their boss, they used an "excavator" to dig down there, wanting to reach the railroad that leads to the secret of the gods. They got the short end of the stick and were just posted as sentries." Agent Jellyfish, codename Fox, replied, two translucent objects slowly dissipating.
"I'm looking up 'railroad', it's a fast mode of transportation in the era of the gods… Milk, we'd better speed up, or we'll be eating their dust!" Lyn exclaimed.
"Then let's go! Offensive stance! Scarlet, you're in melee position, do whatever you can!" Milk ordered. Agent Chen drew the staff wrapped in red cloth on his back and rushed down the tunnel, Lyn and Scarlet following. The rest of the team, led by Milk, followed behind.
The three-hundred-meter distance flew past. At the end was a hall, about forty square meters, with objects scattered everywhere. A large machine was lying near the exit of the passage. They were greeted by ten or so soldiers, who were, as expected, holding a smaller version of the sentries' weapon. While they were surprised to hear the noises coming from the passage, realizing that the enemy had attacked, by the time they rushed to their fighting positions, the three agents had already entered the fray.
Chen rushed to the front and waved his staff. The three soldiers in front of him were swept to the ground, and as the staff unfurled, it was soon clear that it was a red banner. As he waved it, the soldiers, who had been aiming for Lyn and Scarlet, turned their guns towards Chen and started firing. The rapid-fire spells clanged against Chen's body, but only produced minor scratches.
Lyn and Scarlet had not been affected by the red flag's effects — they had been protected by the "immunity from harmful vectors", and Chen was only a mass of shadow in their eyes. They took the opportunity to sweep up the remaining soldiers - Lyn's gloves, with coils embedded in them, burned the internal organs of anyone she struck, while Scarlet's blades, made of blood, flew around, slitting enemy throats. By the time Milk and the rest entered the lobby, Chen had stabbed the last man through the heart with his flagpole.
"Phew, that was quicker than I expected. I thought one of us would mess up." Jellyfish, who came in last, applauded the team's work.
"No time to celebrate. Lyn, what's the position of the railroad? Take us there," Milk said.
"Chen, go this way, the platform's just there." Chen followed the instructions and went down the stairs on the left side of the lobby, but as he came out of the last corner, he was struck by a shell and sent flying with his flag into a wall.
Lyn, who was behind him, pulled him back behind the wall, and the spot where he just was was bombarded with a rain of bricks and tiles.
The shell ripped a large hole in Chen's armor and made a medium-sized hole in his body. Orchid tried to save him, but the divine energy was going out of control on reaching the wound.
"There's a bipedal demon statue crouching outside! Fuck, a piece went in! My self-healing isn't working where I got hit!" Chen covered his wound and grimaced.
The exit of the stairway lead to one side of the platform. On the other side of the railroad was a large, ramshackle demon statue guarded by many soldiers, with a cannon on its left arm and a multi-barreled rifle on its right arm pointed at the entrance.
"That's their 'orange suits'. They use divine implements to transform the weapons. It's a special toy for powerful people," Lyn explained.
"That shell must have been laced with SCP-3148! Be careful of the shards!" Scarlet shouted. Another shell was fired at the staircase and exploded, and the group ducked to avoid the shrapnel.
"This isn't working! Orchid, illusionary interference! We'll talk when we get out of this staircase! Stay here to help Chen get rid of that shard." Milk ordered.
"Got it, boss! Long live the Zhujihui!" Orchid pulled out a wand and swung it, and a large swarm of phantom images with the same image as Orchid rushed out, shouting "Long live the Zhujihui!" and shooting bullets everywhere. The enemies, including the demon statue, were in disarray, shooting at the phantoms rushing them; once one was brought down, another came to take its place.
Three seconds later, they discovered the "enemies"' light bullets were completely harmless, but by that time the team had already rushed in under Orchid's cover and began their counterattack.
Akarin and Jellyfish shot light bullets at the heads of the soldiers cleaning up the illusions; the divine energy within vaporized their skulls completely. Until they died, they were sure they were illusions just like the rest.
At the same time, a two-meter-long red projectile flew in and hit the chest of the demon statue, but after it shattered the lacquer, it melted into a mass of liquid and scattered to the ground.
"The whole armor is made of 3148, how the fuck—" The demon statue's counterattack covered Scarlet's cursing and the nearby illusions, covering the entire four-meter-tall tunnel in a dust cloud.
At this point, a blast of light shot out from the corner at the ceiling above the demon statue, breaking the upper structure of the platform above the demon statue. Falling rocks came from the ceiling, bringing the demon statue to the ground and causing the SCP-3148 armor to fall apart. The demon statue, which had been upgraded with an ancient divine artifact, couldn't take any more damage and slowly lost its power, buried in the falling rocks.
"This metal can't invalidate falling rocks. Threat neutralized, you can all come out now." Milk came out from behind a pillar with her staff, and Orchid's illusions came to a halt. With the exception of Omega-16, the platform was completely empty. Chen, who had taken the shard out of his chest, staggered out of the stairwell with Orchid.
Lyn continued forward, pulling the rocks away with the power of her gloves, opening up the cockpit of the statue, and pulling out the man inside.
"It's confirmed, this is Ares, a #4 member of Prometheus Group. We got a big one."
"Then we just need to find the original staff, and we're done! We'll be out of here in a… wait." Milk looked around. She saw most of her members were still alive, and then a small pool of blood near the statue, which was…
"Wait, has anyone seen Scarlet?"
No response.
The situation had been so chaotic that in the swarm of Orchids, they'd lost track of the containment officer.
"The True Legacy? It feels like I'm starting to get into things I shouldn't be allowed to know."
"The information you're about to hear has been authorized by a level 4 scholar — that is, me — so you don't need to worry. To put it simply, the legacy left behind by the gods is not Divine Ruin #1, that spreads divine energy throughout the world. That was not even built by the gods, but by our ancestors, who had knowledge given by the gods."
"So, their legacy is not the divine ruins that produce divine energy, but the means of producing divine energy itself?"
"No, that's not right either. We'd already understood this kind of technology a long time ago. Do you remember the document you just gave us?"
"SCP-3148's containment procedures? What of them?"
"When Omega-16 was retrieving the metal, they discovered documents left behind by Prometheus Group. One of them was written in divine script. We translated it, and it apperas to be a letter. Directed to us. It described a place that could only be reached by the "Site-19 underground railroad"."
"Which is to say, Divine Ruin #19."
"That's right. The most important thing is, in that letter, there was a word that was used many times. "Legacy"."
"I see. So you think the real SCP-001 is in that godforsaken place?"
"It's possible. I need you to check it out. Two hours ago, we lost contact with Divine Ruin #19, most certainly because of the original owner of 3148. You are to follow the search team in, and while they search for the gods, you are to take the chance to seek out that area. This is something only you, me, and the Sages' Council knows. Once you are done, I will give you a long break, and you will become a great scholar like me if it goes well."
"And why did you choose me?"
"The main reason is that there's a major shortage of manpower in the Zhujihui, and among the possible candidates, you have the best individual mobility. I trust you won't let me down."
"Don't disappoint me. Nobody can save you if you fail."
As Omega-16 was fighting the "orange suit", Scarlet had already braved the gunfire and smoke and rushed down the railroad tunnel, leaving the scene of battle and throwing aside his communications earpiece.
In the dark tunnel, a sheet of blood flew forward, and Scarlet sat on it, pale-faced, holding his multitome. The sheet flies according to the directions in the book, illuminated by the faint light.
After crossing the five forks in the road, Scarlet slowed down the craft. At the side of the tunnel was a door illuminated by a spell, with the emblem of the gods on it. The location the translated text was speaking of.
He hopped off the blood-sheet and landed before the door, the sheet dissipating back into his body. He opened the door, but before he could see what was behind it, his vision went black, accompanied by a painful headache. Clutching his head, Scarlet could only hear the lifeless voice of the gods playing in the room. "LIVING INDIVIDUAL DETECTED, ACCORDING TO PASSIVE SECURITY PROTOCOL, LANGFORD-SORT LETHAL MEMETIC AGENT ACTIVATED…… LIFE SIGNS CONFIRMED. Welcome, authorized personnel."
Scarlet took two minutes to recover from the headache and loss of vision. According to the broadcast, he had suffered a harmful media attack in the name of the God of Words, but was protected by the "immunity from harmful vectors".
He walked into the room - a small room no more than five meters on a side. On the opposite wall, there was a rectangular window emitting light, with a text written in the divine language on it: "Does the black moon howl?"
Thinking back to the translated text, Scarlet replied: "Only when waning."
The text on the window changed to the divine emblem, and a voice was heard: "Now playing audio log."
And what came next was a voice in the common tongue.
Greetings, investigator of the Zhujihui. As I record this message, my lifespan is about to reach its end, and death is an inevitable truth. I am happy to see humanity reborn in this scorched earth in my lifetime, and I am even happier to see that there are humans who wish to continue our mission of containing the anomalous.
In the past thousands of years, which is to say, in what you call the Era of the Gods, we have contained myriad anomalies, shielding civilians from their dangers. But as time went on, the number of anomalies increased, and the number of enemies we made, too, increased. In the end, in an attack by our enemies, a self-aware super-bomb escaped from out containment, creating a nuclear war and taking away everything we had.
Some of us escaped to a safer place and activated the preexisting reset device, but we never thought that the resulting chaos would affect its operation. In the end, what was created was you — the new era's humanity.
I hid in this small room, watching you with the surviving satellites. I am amazed by your civilization; it is almost like the magical civilizations I read of in novels — I understand that in your eyes, our techniques are like magic. But your technology, in our eyes, is also magic, mysterious and unpredictable. Isn't it? The conflict between Prometheus and yourself, to put it bluntly, is only because you regard each other as mysterious.
I also know you will be surprised by the language used in this recording, but in fact, what you call "divine" and "universal" is really just one of the many languages in our world.
You have translated our organization's name, the Foundation, as meaning "that on which something is built", hence "Zhujihui". But I would now like to give you, the Zhujihui, the true meaning of Foundation, which is "that which is founded for a purpose", as well as all the information the Foundation holds. Take this storage device with you, for it is our true legacy. You have one minute.
I am O5-6, one of the Foundation's thirteen overseers. I wish you well, and offer a warning not to repeat our mistakes.
Secure, Contain, Protect.
Gods? Ah, we are far from gods, we are simply poor fools.
The recording ended there, and the spinning logo of the gods, the logo of the former Foundation, changed to a crimson "01:00" and began counting down.
"Fuck!" Scarlet, unable to stand still, quickly searched the room, discovering a skeleton sitting before a rectangular box. He found a small data storage device in the skeleton's hand, grabbed it, and hurriedly ran out of the room and remade the blood-sheet.
By the time he'd boarded the blood-sheet, the timer had reached "00:03". Three seconds later, Scarlet heard an explosion behind him and the sounds of a room collapsing. He drove his divine energy to fly back, reachign the entrance of the passage.
Scarlet dissipated the blood-sheet and took out the storage device. The black crystal shone, safe and sound.
At this time, Akarin's voice rang out. "Hey! Scarlet! We were looking for you! The return dragon-ship is here! If you don't come quick, we'll leave you behind!"
"Coming!" Scarlet quickly hid the crystal and met with Akarin, and together they stepped into the dragon-ship. He saw that several dragons had already taken off, and that one of them had a huge demon statue hanging from it.
"Scarlet, where'd you go? We couldn't reach you! Chen even said you could have been blown to pieces by that big guy!" Milk said after the dragon-ship took off.
"Oh, sorry, I ran into the tunnel and got lost. It took a while for me come back. How'd you think I died?"
"I just thought that pool of blood was yours…" Chen said, shaking his head.
Amidst the laughter, the dragon-ship carried the remnants of the guard of Divine Ruin #19, Omega-16, and their loot back to the main station. What most of them didn't know was that what they were bringing back would bring new life to the stagnating Zhujihui — or rather, the new Foundation.
What Scholar Scarlet brought back was not just the information of all the "divine artifacts" left behind in the era of the gods, but information that would enable the Foundation's scholars and combat agents to better carry out their mission: to secure more surely, to contain more efficiently, to protect more strongly.