6. Intro to Civilization
Sept. 15, 2022
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"Wow!"
Zooming through the trees, you, Senku, and Kohaku were riding another contraption that Senku had created with the leftover materials from the pulley. It was a makeshift vehicle on three wheels, and it carried the jug of water in front. Kohaku seemed to be having the most fun, and you were worried that it wouldn't hold too long since the terrain was rough.
"Making such a thing on the spot! So convenient!" Kohaku cheerfully exclaimed with her arms out wide.
"Shouldn't we slow down?! We're gonna end up crashing and dying!" You cried out, holding the vehicle tightly.
"We can't lose time now, slowpoke! Lioness, which direction do I go?!" Senku hollered. He was behind you, controlling the wheels.
"Right!" She answered. Senku turned, but she yelled out, "Not that right!"
The vehicle crashed due to the terrain getting rougher and tree roots getting in the way. You were able to roll forward to soften your landing, though Senku had face-planted into the ground.
"This was another near death experience. Oh God, why so you love to torture us so?" you sighed.
"We're here!" You heard Kohaku announce. You and Senku stood up to see a village full of people below the cliff you stood on. The land that the villagers settled in had been separated by two islands with rope bridges connecting them both. There were a few huts, but everyone looked lively just from a glance. "Welcome to my village."
"There are loads of people here..." you breathed out.
The scientist questioned the lioness as the three of you began to walk towards it, "How many are there?"
She replied, "I forgot the amount of elderly and children, but there's just about forty!"
As Kohaku led you and Senku towards the village, Senku spoke to you.
"Kohaku and the rest of these people...they don't know anything about modern civilization," he told you. "In order words, that means the villagers are the descendants of those who have been de-petrified. There must've been a first-generation in which a few men and women were freed all at once."
You questioned him, "But, how? Could there have been a scientist like you who could've made a revival formula?"
"If that's the case, they didn't pass down the formula or the knowledge of science to this generation."
"Then, who are they?"
As you all approached the bridge to enter the village, two figures that stood by it quickly took their weapons and were about to attack you and Senku. You stood in front of Senku with your arms out to defend him, and Kohaku stopped them both with her inhumane speed.
"Cease your violence, Kinro, Ginro! They're the benefactors who saved me!" Kohaku ordered.
"That's no good, Kohaku-chan, that's no good. You already know the rule; outsiders are forbidden from entering the village. The chief will get mad," one of them said. He had medium-length blonde hair that covered the left side of his face, along with a pair of green eyes. His clothes were similar to Kohaku's, except he wore pants. He looked quite feminine.
The other boy had the same colored eyes, but he had short, brown hair with a lock of it hanging between them, a scar underneath his right eye, and a more muscular build. His clothing was the same as the blonde boy's, except he had a rope around his sleeveless shoulders that showed off the muscles on his arms. He was quite handsome, now that you thought about it. But he had a scowl on his face when he spoke, "I'll put it simply. Rules are rules."
"There's nobody outside of the village, so any outsiders are criminals that have been exiled in the past," the blonde explained.
The brunette agreed, "There's no way we'd let them in, whether they're your benefactor or not."
Kohaku's expression turned into something threatening mixed with taunting. "Oh, is that how it is then? Will you fight me right here, right now? Isn't this a two against one? You two will be at an advantage!"
Senku then walked to the jar of water and began to rub the soap in his hands as the three villagers watched. "Isn't that an explosive situation? Don't make such a scary face. (Y/N), come here and join me."
You took the soap and began to rub your hands in the water with it as well. The scientist then blew bubbles through his fingers, which startled the boys. You did the same thing, and the brunette began to pop them with his spear while the blonde was confused by the bubbles.
"So, that's the level they're at, huh?" Senku said with his pinky in his ear."
"They're very behind... I would expect at least some advancements," you mentioned. You would imagine the villagers to be a little ahead, considering that their ancestors come from modern civilization.
Then again, the humans might not have had enough knowledge to build anything, or they could have died quickly due to other factors before teaching the next generation anything. With everyone being frozen and depending on where the first generation had de-petrified, simple resources may have been difficult to obtain. You then thought.
You heard Senku let out a snicker and turn to him to see his evil smile. "Kukuku...I'll take them all. With science, I'll get the manpower--all forty of them. I'm all fired up."
You then smile a bit and let out a small laugh. Then you saw Kohaku staring at the both of you, disturbed.
"The one who shouldn't be making a scary face is you..." she told Senku, then looked at you. "How can you smile at that? Anyways, if this is the case, you should talk to Chrome."
"'Chrome?' Who's that?" You asked.
"Fufufu...he's a helpful guy and the laxest," Kohaku answered you.
You heard the blonde boy yell out, saying he would use his secret technique since the bubbles you and Senku blew were not going to disappear any time soon. He ended up running away, leaving it to someone else, but cried out, "Hey, we've got sorcery here, Chrome!"
"Don't be alarmed, Ginro. I'm already prepared. I've been watching them from the shore, which is why I came prepared!"
Suddenly, another figure popped out of nowhere. It was a boy with brown spiked hair and round eyes of the same color. He had a rope tied around his head like a bandana and donned a cloak that matched the color of his clothes.
"Yo! I, Chrome, the genius sorcerer, am gonna blow your mind!" He announced.
"Sure, buddy. I'm Senku, the scientist, and this is my assistant and slowpoke, (Y/N)," Senku gave a weak introduction. You nervously waved at him.
Chrome turned and shouted at the two boys, "Kinro, Ginro, don't be frightened by these cheap parlor tricks! You can make these all you want with charcoal lye!"
Kinro retorted, "I wasn't frightened. I was just confused about seeing something out of the range of my knowledge. Besides, why did you even come here? I don't plan on relying on the likes of you or your sorcery, Chrome!"
"That doesn't concern me," Chrome replied smugly, then threw his cape off. "But this is the one thing I won't back down! I'll never lose when it comes to sorcery! Don't you dare interfere! Now, it's going to be dangerous if we fought here, as the village might be caught up in our battle. Let's head somewhere else."
Chrome looked at both you and Senku with determination in his eyes, but he was more focused on Senku. Ginro looked as though he was going to piss himself. But the "sorcerer" motioned all of you to follow him, and you walked until you made it to a hut on stilts near the bridge. He then had all of you stop in front of it.
"Okay, hang on! Wait right here just for a moment!" He told all of you, then ran up into the hut, making him seem lame. Chrome then ran back down and lit a massive campfire. "Feast your eyes on my extraordinary sorcery! Rainbow bridge! I can control my flames, freely at will!"
Chrome raised his arms above his head, and he looked like he was throwing some materials into the fire. Soon, they were changing to all the colors of the rainbow. Kohaku, Ginro, and Kinro looked frightened, but Senku was not impressed. But you were smiling, seeing how beautiful the flames were in front of your eyes. It reminded you of one of the first experiments that Senku taught you and used for one of your first dance recitals.
You lightly clapped you hands together. "Oh, I remember this! It's the same concept when you think about fireworks."
"Correct, (Y/N). "Rainbow bridge," my ass, these are color flame reactions. You took salt, copper, and sulfur and threw it into the flames, one after another," Senku informed them. "As for copper, you could have used copper sulfate or something? Not like you'd understand anyway."
You added, "You could probably find it in a cave somewhere, huh?"
"Ten billion percent correct again."
You looked at Chrome, his expression of confidence fading into shock. But he tried to save face.
"What's that? You couldn't possibly think that a cheap trick like that was all there was to sorcery?! Wait right here, I'm going to blow your minds this time!" cried Chrome, and he ran back into the hut and brought out a giant ball of rock.
The boy began to rub the ball with his hands furiously, then touched Ginro. You noticed a bit of electricity coming out from his fingers, which shocked the blonde.
"Ow, that hurt! What was that attack?!" Ginro screamed.
Senku snatched the ball out of Chrome's hands to inspect it with you. "A sulfur ball?"
"This is the sulfur you threw into the fire earlier, huh? You took the bits and melted them down into an earthenware pot and broke the clay once it had hardened. What a great method, Chrome. You've got me excited!" Senku beamed. "Hey (Y/N), did you know that the sulfur orb static electricity generator was initially invented in the 17th century?"
You shook your head. "No. But can't we use the flag to make some static electricity?"
"Yup. Get a load of this!"
Senku began to rub the flag of science against the sulfur ball, which made his hair stick out in different directions. He then touched Chrome, which electrocuted him more than Chrome had done to Ginro. He handed you the ball, and your hair stuck up and got frizzy.
"Doesn't this remind you of all the little science lab experiments we did together as kids? Collecting bits and pieces of material, testing different things to get all types of reactions... It kind of feels nostalgic, doesn't it, Senku?" you gently told him.
"Yeah...it does," he replied as the expression on his face softened. He then turned to Chrome. "Those materials gathered in the storehouse, did you collect those on your own?"
"That's right! So what if I did?! Give that back!" Chrome snapped and snatched the ball out of your hands. "I always liked collecting things as a kid! Taking things, smashing, mixing, or burning them together! But if any crazy stuff happened, then that was sorcery!"
That proved to you that science would rise again, no matter how many times it falls.
The scientist had a wicked smile on his face. He turned to Chrome with his hands on his hips and told him, "Lemme tell you something, Chrome. At this rate, you are one of the people that Tsukasa will kill by ten billion percent. You're only choice is to join our kingdom of science."
Chrome looked utterly confused but shrieked when Senku began to climb inside of his warehouse full of what could be science materials.
"No way I will, asshole! Get down from there! AH, this is so lame! But there is no way I can back down from this, even if it kills me!" He pointed at Senku. "I challenge you to a final duel, so face me one-on-one! If you lose, you'll both kneel before me to apologize and never set foot in the village again! If I lose, then I'll give you everything: me and the warehouse!"
"A duel?" Senku looked uninterested once more.
Chrome pointed at him. "I'll show you some crazy sorcery. I've never lost once in my whole life! I challenge you to arithmetic! A battle of numbers!"
You slowly dropped your mouth open and tried so hard not to laugh. You held it in but the boy still noticed.
"Why are you laughing?!" He questioned with a red face.
You coughed, "No, no, I'm not. Don't worry. Please, go on with your battle of numbers~."
Senku smirked. You knew for sure that scientist was going to win. After all, the former had been counting for over 3,700 years.
.
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[ACQUIRED CHROME AND WAREHOUSE]
.
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Senku had completely obliterated Chrome with his arithmetic. He took the time to go inside the warehouse, with you following, and you saw many pots, jars, baskets, and bags holding many essential materials and items. Kohaku and Ginro, who had followed the three of you into the warehouse, were uninterested. They did not see anything useful to them, nor did they know its importance. So, they left the moment they had entered.
"Wow, this must've taken you years, Chrome," you mentioned. "All these items...they can be difficult to find."
Chrome smugly replied, "Oh, so you can both see how awesome I am now! Although during our sorcery match, I may have gotten crus--I mean, I have not been in my best form, but I cannot be beaten when it comes to my collection!"
You saw your friend's eyes sparkle with excitement. He began to show you all the materials, as if he was a child who had entered a candy store for the first time. He began to name all of them by heart, "Look at this, (Y/N)! He's got malachite, chalcanthite, corundum! He has galena to make some lead! HE EVEN HAS THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE!"
You smiled warmly. Whatever made Senku happy made you happy as well. He then gave you an empty clay pot sitting in the warehouse, along with a few pieces of dry wood and some long pieces of stone.
"Light this up for me by the bridge near Kinro and Ginro. I'll be down there after bringing some stuff to melt," he told you. "Don't strain yourself too much."
"Don't worry; I'll be alright. If I need to, I will rest," you assured him and put the wood and stone inside the pot so it would be easier to hold everything as you climbed down the ladder.
"Now that I think about it, what kinda relationship do you guys have? Are you guys close friends? Are you related? Are you guys in love with each other?" Chrome puzzled as you were climbing the stairs. You almost slipped just hearing that so suddenly but caught yourself before anything in your hands could fall.
"Love is the most illogical answer, especially with the situation we are currently facing," you heard Senku reply. "We're not related by blood. She's my little assistant."
"So, is she just your friend?"
"You could say that."
You quickly climbed down the stairs after hearing that. Of course, you two weren't in love, especially Senku. You both needed to focus on the task at hand, which was taking down Tsukasa. Maybe then you would find love. But who knows how long that would take?
You took the supplies Senku had gotten you and brought them to Kinro and Ginro. You took everything out of the pot and began to set it up.
"What do you think you're doing? More sorcery, I assume?" Kinro questioned you.
"It's science, Kinro," you answered him as you placed the pot over the stacked rocks. "Of course, I don't have the materials for it yet, but Senku and Chrome will come and bring some."
You heard Ginro comment, "Who knew that pretty girls can do sorcery too?"
"Anyone can do it, Ginro. Even you. You just need the right guidance, that's all," you said, lighting the wood underneath the pot using two sticks.
"She's right, even though she's a bit of a slowpoke," you heard Senku say. You turned to see that he was holding what looked like to be the philosopher's stone that he showed you earlier. Chrome was following him from behind. The scientist took the stone and broke it apart, placing it inside the pot afterward. "Cinnabar, also known as the philosopher's stone, can be heated up to become liquid metal or mercury. It even popped up in Dragon Quest."
"There he goes with the sorcery..." Ginro nervously smiled.
Kinro stood his ground. "As long as it is outside the village. However, if you take one step on this bridge, I will cut you down. Rules are rules."
"In that mercury, we can put a bit of gold dust like so..." Senku grabbed Kinro's spear and dipped the tip into the liquid. "Don't inhale the smoke, or it'll kill you."
Once the liquid had cooled down, Kinro's spear tip shined with gold.
"Whoa! It's a gold spear!" Ginro cried out.
Chrome's eyes were as big as plates. "Holy crap!"
Kinro looked at you and Senku. "And what use does this sorcery have?"
"It's not useful for crap," replied Senku. "But you're Kinro, right? That means 'Golden Wolf.' So a gold spear fits perfectly, doesn't it?"
Kinro furrowed his eyebrows. "I was afraid that's what you had in mind, with this pointless waste of time. And what, did you think you could buy my favor over with this?"
"Damn." Senku looked annoyed after hearing that answer.
"That won't work on Kinro. All he ever says is 'rules are rules', and he's super stiff," said Chrome.
"Of course. Rules are rules," Kinro repeated. But then added as he began to walk away, "Though, I don't see the need to remove it."
Senku and Chrome cackled as they grabbed each other arm in arm, and then both of them gave you a high-five. Kinro only needed another push before he could join your kingdom of science.
Ginro, as hopeful as he was, asked, "Is it possible to make a silver spear, too?"
You took his hands and replied with a confident grin, "Of course, we can! All we need are the materials for it."
The boy's face turned red, and his eyes widened as his hands were in yours. You then felt yourself being pulled back by the collar of your top. Senku immediately took your wrist when you turned around to see who pulled you and began to drag you back to the warehouse with Chrome trailing behind the two of you.
"If you played Monster Hunter, you'd be one of those guys that hordes materials," Senku told Chrome as he looked at many more things that he had collected over the years. He spoke as he saw a pot full of plants and roots, "This slowpoke over here would collect so many of them."
"You can never have too many healing potions and flash bugs, Senku. Especially since you wanted to fight the Nergigante so many times," you said as you puffed your cheeks out. Chrome looked confused.
"I still didn't have materials enough for the weapons I wanted. And flashing the Nergigante so many times was fun. Anyways, you've got a lot of plants and herbs too, with ginger, daylily, canker root..."
You pointed out, "Aren't all of these Chinese medicinal herbs? That means we have medicine. Especially for the basic stuff."
You saw Chrome's eyes widen, but a distant expression appeared on his face a second later.
"Yeah... I wasn't sure if they would work or not. I was the only one crazy enough to try it on myself. If I could heal Ruri's illness, then I'd collect anything. That's the reason why I became a sorcerer," he told you. You assumed that Ruri was Kohaku's older sister since she told you and Senku that she was sick. His eyes widened. "Wait! Isn't there some kinda sorcery--I mean--science that could help cure Ruri?!"
"I won't know until I see her. There is a kind of cure-all that exists, but we don't have everything we need to make it," said Senku. He then looked at you and then Chrome. "Chrome, we should tell you everything. All about what the world was like 3,700 years ago before it got destroyed."
You and Senku explained how the world was before then. You told him about the large cities with tall buildings, many tall enough to touch the sky, and the tiny homes and underground bases. You explained to him the different types of people worldwide with hundreds of languages to be spoken. There was travel with cars and vehicles through miles and miles of land, flight in the skies with planes, sailing across the seas and oceans with large ships, rockets shooting people to the moon. The most significant advancements were peaking, as many different technologies were being built, such as AI, supercomputers, prosthetics for those with disabilities, machines to aid with illness. Of course, entertainment, music, and art were also assisted with none other than science.
But alas, all of it was wiped out. Every single person on Earth had been petrified. Nothing was left behind other than the descendants of those before you.
After hearing everything, you noticed that Chrome had tears running down his face and snot coming out of his nose.
"Why are you crying? That's totally out of character for you," Senku puzzled.
"I'M NOT CRYING! ACTUALLY, YEAH, I'M BAWLING!" Chrome admitted. "Who is the person who did that?! I'll kill them! Doesn't it tear you up inside that our human ancestors built so many things up for a million years, only to be wiped out in a second?! How could it not?!"
You and Senku paused, feeling solemn that petrification had reset humanity's hard work to zero.
"You're right. How could it not? The thought has been eating away at me since Senku had saved me. Everything that we loved has disappeared with the snap of a finger," you said. You felt emotional.
"It wasn't completely wiped out, slowpoke. It's still well and intact. Did you forget?" Senku snickered as his red eyes gazed upon you.
You looked at him, and then the sudden realization hit you. It wasn't gone. It was right there in front of you. He was right there in front of you.
"Of course. I remember now," you laughed softly. You put your two fingers on Senku's forehead. "It's right here."
You then put your fist on Chrome's chest. "It is in here as well. Curiosity always gets passed down, allowing for more determination and science to come. Right?"
Chrome looked pumped up after hearing those words. "Yeah! You're right! I've decided that I'm gonna build up a kingdom of science with you two and make up a crazy cure to stamp out Ruri's illness!"
-To be Continued-
A/N: Added the image of all the villagers with their names so you won't forget who they are.