The notebook

Cane spent staggering hours watching and reading every piece of current news that Liz got. He did not understand many of the things that were happening, but he was just relieved to know that the New Earth still had people on it other than him. In fact, he was taken aback by how prosperous this new world was.

'Liz. Filter all information and show only the technology outside.'

Liz took another hour to gather most of the information available to the public. Cane thought that Liz was too slow, but he later realized that Liz gathered everything starting from 270 years ago till the present.

Before he got to skim through the data that was gathered, a feeling of hunger assaulted him. Liz said that the bunker didn't have actual food, but it had a Food Vial as a substitute for food—another liquid technology made by the Green God Company.

Cane was intrigued by the Green God Company because his parents warned him about the organization. He was just confused as to why he was put in a bunker made by the same company but still alerted him about them by his parents.

Left with no choice, Cane drank one Food Vial and was surprised that his hunger disappeared in an instant and was replaced with so much energy.

'This is good stuff. I can't wait to see the outside world. I am sure there are a lot of these wonders from almost 300 years of progress.', his excitement can't be contained anymore.

The thought of living in a new world with so many changes and things to look forward to kept him hopeful, even though he endured a lot of pain from the moment he woke up. After all, he desired a life of adventure. He resumed checking the information Liz had received once he had satisfied his hunger.

'So, this world became New Earth 269 years ago because of biochemical warfare. For an unknown reason, during the first year of the New Earth calendar, an undying virus plagued the whole Earth. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Green God Company stepped up to the plate and devised a solution that used the virus to instill immunity in it while also empowering humans. Five years after the founding of New Earth, humankind either turned into monsters or superhumans. It was the same year that the Genetic Tower was formed to combat the monsters called Failures. In the year 0020 of the New Earth calendar, four academies were founded to educate and standardize the powers from the evolution of the virus in one's body. Today is actually the day of routine recruitment of those academies.', Cane read to himself.

'Wait. Why am I not seeing the news about the phenomenon that forcibly woke me up?'

He quickly asked Liz how old he was, and he turned out to be twenty years old. Cane did not get too surprised by Liz's answer because the world's technology was insane. But he suddenly had an outrageous idea related to him.

'Liz. Please sort through the most widely accepted theories about the birth of the New Earth." Cane was completely unaware that he had been immersed in it for at least ten hours.

'This information was suppressed 120 years ago, but it was later announced by the Genetic Tower to stop human unrest. New Earth has 14 Gods and an Ultimate Deity. Even though no one ever saw these Gods, they manifest every 300 years by magically appearing in the skies as 14 different colors of light. It is believed that the 14 Gods are comprised of the 7 Gods of Deadly Sins and the 7 Gods of Heavenly Virtues. Actually, the news of the descent of these lights a day ago was suppressed for some reason. But since Liz was connected via satellite, Liz had a recording of the phenomenon that was supposed to happen every 300 years. It is what happened yesterday that also might possibly be the cause of your forceful awakening.

270 years ago, a group of scientists tried to capture one of the lights. They successfully captured one, and it turned out to be a disaster. It was believed to be a punishment for the blasphemy the scientist committed. Then, miraculously, there were survivors after that heavenly tribulation, and those people were believed to be the first carriers of the undying virus that plagued the whole Earth.', Liz's robotic voice sounded like a big bomb to Cane's mind.

14 Gods? Ultimate Deity? An Undying Virus? Could my parents be one of those scientists?

'Wait Liz. I have the two viruses you mentioned in my eye and hand. Are they the same as what plagued the planet? Could I already have the virus 270 years ago? So my parents were truly a part of that group? And could I also be present during that time? And how could a 300-year cycle happen 30 years sooner and be timed to my reincarnation?', he asked Liz, as if he was possessed.

'Liz is sorry. Liz does not know the answer. The information about the origin of the virus and the start of New Earth is not proven fact.'

'You are right. It happened 270 years ago. I should not think too much about it. Nonetheless, if my parents were indeed a part of that group of scientists, I should be able to know more when I look at the notebook my father told me about.'

Cane decided to sleep in the wheelchair for the time being. The bunker did not really have a feeling of night and day, so after approximately eight hours of sleep, he got up and tried to walk on his own.

He was finally able to walk successfully, but it took too much effort. Still, he was happy with the progress. He was actually concerned about his health, knowing that he had prematurely woken up, but it turned out to be a worthless worry. After rechecking his vitals, he almost wanted to worship the makers of the Food Vial and Life Potion. He even had a tiny hope that his parents were still alive, considering that they had access to advanced technology.

He slowly walked back to the capsule and asked Liz how to open it. After pushing the button on the side of the capsule, the bed flipped and a platform with a small box slowly rose.

There was a small needle attached to the lid, and Cane followed his father's instruction to drop blood on it.

After the blood landed, the silver-plated box made a 'katcha' sound and opened, showing the notebook inside.

He took out the notebook and saw on the front, "To our dearest son, Cane Astro."

He then turned the first page and started reading what was inside. While taking his time, he got more and more dumbfounded by the contents of the notebook the more he read what was in it.

It had a lot of complicated scientific terms and equations. Cane admitted to himself that he was an intelligent person in his past life, but he should not be able to understand any of the contents of the book. Unexpectedly, he sort of magically understood everything he read.

He did not know the exact reason, but he felt that the original Cane of this world was a genius on a different level than him. Well, if he thought about it some more, his parents surely were geniuses themselves, and it was not surprising to inherit their smart genes. He believed that the only thing that was with him during the reincarnation was his memories, so he was now technically a human with a genius brain. That was the only explanation that he could come up with after being able to understand some of the contents of the notebook.