Chapter 695 — Humanity’s Origin

Liora’s vision abruptly shifted.

It was as though she had appeared within the River of Time, with countless scenes flashing before her eyes.

They were all scenes of Nova Terra, following the planet’s history from its beginning to the present.

As Liora digested this information, she noticed something amiss.

At first, everything seemed fine, with Nova Terra’s civilization developing as usual.

Yet when Liora traced its history millions of years into the past, she made a surprising discovery.

Nova Terra... was different.

Ordinary planets within the Human Federation had been colonized by humans countless years ago.

Whether through organized colonization or the actions of a few organizations or even a single person, humans were not native to these planets.

It was like Liora entering the Mechanical Race’s territory and conquering a few galaxies. In a few hundred years, humans might prosper, and those territories would become part of the Human Federation.

Yet the humans there would not be native to those planets. Even if their identity was forgotten, it would be the same.

Every planet Liora had visited so far had been like that.

From the planet where the War Academy was located to those she had passed along the way to Nova Terra.

But now, she discovered that this tiny planet was different.

No matter how far Liora traced its past, she could still see humans living on this planet.

Even millions, billions, or more years in the past, it was still the same. This was true long before the Human Federation had even been established!

Soon, she understood why.

Humans were actually native to this planet!

Unlike the other planets in the federation, they had not arrived here at a later time but had naturally evolved here under the influence of billions of years.

However, this was not what attracted Liora’s attention the most.

Rather, as she followed Nova Terra’s long history, she discovered something else. Something perhaps even more important.

Countless Awakeners had been born here throughout history.

Most of them remained ordinary and stayed on the planet, becoming kings or emperors.

However, the most talented individuals among them would break through the planetary shackles, entering the universe and venturing out.

Such talented people were rare.

However, over the course of billions of years, their numbers had unknowingly grown to an astonishing level. There were thousands of them.

Even so, none of these beings had ever returned to Nova Terra.

Liora’s eyes narrowed as she watched this.

It was fine if this had been the case for one or two people. It could be explained by them being cold-blooded and forgetting their hometown.

However, when none of them came back, an absurd guess couldn’t help but be born inside her mind.

"Is Nova Terra the mother planet of humanity in this world? Are these people the first ’space colonizers’?" she couldn’t help but think.

This was an absurd guess, but it could answer one of Liora’s strongest doubts.

Where had humanity in the Cosmic Universe come from?

After all, although it was now one of the four Apex Civilizations, humanity could not have simply appeared like this.

It had to have an origin.

The Human Federation itself had no answer to this question.

Some scientists believed that humans had been born in many places at the same time, only later banding together under the banner of humanity.

Others believed that humans had a true hometown that had been lost long ago.

There were even some who assumed that humans were aliens to this universe, having invaded in the distant past.

Liora had always regarded the third theory as ridiculous and leaned toward the first.

Now, however, she began to believe the second theory.

Was Nova Terra truly the birthplace of all humans?

But if that was the case, how had no one else discovered it? Why was it so ordinary?

Liora’s eyes narrowed.

She had a feeling that if she could find the answer to this question, many of her doubts would be resolved.

To do so, there was only one way.

Under her command, the power of her Throne was stimulated even further.

Her gaze pierced deeper into the vast river, soon reaching the very birth of the planet.

Under normal circumstances, one would expect to witness the natural birth of Nova Terra under the power of cosmic energies.

Yet when Liora’s consciousness descended into the past, she witnessed a completely unexpected scene.

The galaxy was empty.

From the flowing energies, it was clear that this scene took place not long after the destruction of the previous Era and the beginning of the new one.

The place was silent. No planet had been born yet.

But just as it seemed that this silence and peace would last forever, an overwhelming power crashed upon this world.

The space was torn apart.

A giant opening formed on the fabric of the universe, and from within it, an enormous hand reached out.

It was holding a tiny speck of light.

But as it descended into the universe and lowered itself through the dimensions, the speck of light grew larger and larger.

Before long, it had become the size of a small planet.

Only then did the hand let it go.

Several more streams of light descended from the opening, landing on the newborn planet.

When the light retreated, it revealed their true forms.

Standing on two limbs and upright, they were none other than humans.

Liora observed this scene closely.

But just as she was waiting to see what the enormous hand would do next, the arm actually began to retreat.

Soon, space itself began to mend, binding the broken parts together.

Only the tiny planet filled with the dumbfounded humans remained behind, as though serving as evidence of the enormous arm’s appearance.

Well... that, and a lingering sigh filled with helplessness.

"This place is good enough to become humanity’s final hope."

"If our world can no longer hold on, these people can become kindling, carrying the flame of human civilization."

The moment these words fell, Liora sensed the unfathomable figure on the other side of the Cosmic Universe retreat in a hurry.

Soon, silence returned to the desolate universe.