A research center of the Golden Shell Heritage.
The aging principal sat with his legs crossed on a chair beside a small lab table, looking at the research documents in his hands with a cheerful mood.
Knock, knock. The door sounded.
“Come in. “
A slim, graceful woman with the codename “Anna Beiru ” entered the room, dressed in a black long-sleeved top and long work pants.
A hint of displeasure was written on her face.
“What’s wrong, Little Anna? “
“Principal. ” Anna Beiru let out a breath of air and tapped the file against her chest. She glanced at the three people in the lab who were busy doing manual work.
They bent iron wires and iron sheets into various shapes, then cut them according to the design blueprints. And besides wearing a special kind of dark, dull armor, each of them, without exception, had a Chrono Weapon placed at hand beside them.
This has already become the standard equipment for any laboratory aspiring to be considered high-end nowadays.
Anna Belle placed the documents on Kim Fireman’s desk, saying uneasily, “The number of Iron Thistle Eruptions today has increased again. And… some small-scale eruptions have appeared. “
“How can that be, ” Kim Fireman said, picking up the documents and reading.
“Where did those small-scale Iron Thistles come from? Don’t they only appear in places with lots of the dead? Now that many people have entered the ‘Legacy Zones’, they shouldn’t be able to… “
Kim Fireman fell silent. He had already seen the data.
“Animals… “
“Yes, Chancellor. “
The three people in the room turned their heads to look over. Anna Belle glanced at them, then turned to the older man and said, “Respected Chancellor Kim Fireman. When today’s experiment is finished, shall we begin the evacuation procedure? “
“What? ” said the older man, who upon realizing something looked up from the data, which recorded the newly added report of animal deaths.
“Has the time foretold in the prophecy finally come? “
“That’s right, Principal, but there’s one thing to be proud of. Based on current observations, through the seawater backflow plan to reclaim land, our Golden Shell Heritage Action plan to designate refuge areas, and the confidence the World Ark has continuously instilled in the people—of course, along with the efforts of many other groups to maintain the order of the disaster relief transfer—we’ve actually managed to rewrite the scale of the disaster’s outbreak. Perhaps… “
“Perhaps? “
“Perhaps while we were planning for the evacuation of personnel, we’ve simultaneously shrunk the scale of the vine outbreak. ” Anna Bayrou comforted him.
“So, although we’re now facing an outbreak of the Doom Vines specifically targeting animals, this just goes to show that the legendary Doomsday might have already begun. But its power has been divided by us, and weakened. “
The Older Man’s mouth opened and closed a few times in shock. “What you said might indeed be possible. ” He looked at the three people who were already watching them. “Alright, class, secure the parts. Let’s get ready to move out. “
……
A rock quarry located near a nuclear radiation zone.
The trees here were all destroyed, with even the rocks coated in a layer of black dissolved matter.
A worker gathering stones to build a refuge shelter was shaking, his hand gripping an iron pickaxe.
On the rock wall in front of him, several dusky vines were slowly growing out from the cracks. The surfaces of these vines were covered in fine, metallic bristles that reflected a cold, harsh glint under the sunlight.
“Chief, we need to get out of here. ” The man’s voice trembled with fear as he dropped his pickaxe with a sharp cry and lunged desperately into the distance.
“Run! The Iron Vines are here! “
Some of those who had come to work paused, setting down their tools in alarm:
“There aren’t even any dead bodies here, so why—! “
Before the words could finish, a vine suddenly lashed out, coiling around the arm of a man standing by the truck like a snake. “Ah! ” He screamed in horror as the metallic hooks sank into his skin. Blood trickled down the vine, only to be instantly absorbed.
The crowd immediately panicked, rushing toward the truck, but with a few sharpthumps, the truck tires went flat, deflated and torn.
A cry of agony followed as another person was swiftly impaled through the body by Iron Vines rising from the ground, the tendrils lifting him slightly, almost stretching toward the sky on tiptoe.
Amid the flowing blood, more and more Iron Vines burst forth from the crevices at an alarming speed. The terrified crowd kept looking back, only to be quickly entangled by the relentless tendrils.
Suddenly, an aircraft swooped low with a roar. Two figures dangling from the rope ladder underneath it urgently tossed down a soft rope ladder, blinking with faint red-and-white light strings. “Grab hold, quick! “
The people at the front scrambled to reach out. Some snatched the soft ladder brushing their hands, while others swung wildly but missed by a hair, always hanging just out of reach. That one miss was all it took—countless metallic vines were already wrapping around them.
The unstoppable plane swayed as several dark figures clung to it, buzzing away into the distance.
“No one died, so why are these things erupting…“
“This is bad.“
……
Vice President Wage stood in the sweltering courtyard, surrounded by a crowd of people speaking with accents from all over, discussing the affairs of their current lives.
A figure ran over.
“Vice President Wage, there’s a letter for you.“
“A letter for me?” Wage found it odd. He glanced at the man extending the envelope towards him, then looked at the letter, and accepted it.
“Do you guys offer a service now where you proactively deliver signed letters, besides the usual courier service?“
“Heh, I saw it was your letter, and thought I might as well bring it over to you. May I ask…” The mail carrier glanced around and smiled. “Does the World Ark happen to have any small jobs that need help?“
“Oh, jobs? Just ask around nearby; you’ll find a ton of people looking to pour out their grievances.“
After saying this casually, Wage took a few steps and tore open the envelope in his hand.
A graceful figure with sleek, straight black hair walked out from inside the building. Veronica Augustus approached, her bright eyes open, and seeing her President friend, who usually grumbled all day, now beaming with delight, she asked, “Is it a reply from the Chairman?“
“Yes, huh?“
He stared at Yang Buchen’s reply in his hand, then his mouth twitched violently several times…
A trap… had exploited a loophole in his own dual-guild alliance agreement with Chairman Yang…
“No way, I want to protest! ” His face instantly turned the color of liver.
The maiden beside him tilted her head in curiosity, staring at the man whose emotions had suddenly shifted from shock to a somewhat dazed bewilderment.
“Hmm? “
“But… it seems… ” Wager’s already closely connected eyebrows knit together in deep frustration.
“At that time, it seems… the inn did remind me… “
But because of a sudden stranger appearing, and someone inexplicably bidding inside the room—completely unaware of when the room had been invaded… himself…
He chose not to go back… choosing the safer option instead.
He took another careful look at the letter. Two heads and four eyes scanned the text on it, and Wager suddenly folded the letter, staring warily at the delicate face of the woman beside him.
“This is my private letter, miss. “
“I’m also a member of the World Ark, you know, even one of its founders. I’m qualified to read a letter the President sent to a Vice President I nominated, right? “
“Haha, this is just a personal correspondence between friends. “
Veronica Augustus’ soft arms crossed over her chest, staring at the man’s receding figure as he walked out of the courtyard.
“A cookpot? ” She gently tossed her hair, pursing her lips and frowning in thought, unable to grasp the meaning at all.
And she hadn’t clearly seen what was written below; it only seemed to contain words about technical drawings or something similar.
……
Yang Zicang spent the morning observing the distribution of people near the farmhouse.
From the arrangement of the villagers in this house, there are five people who are always busy moving things, chatting, greeting each other, and other daily chores, while maintaining a constant encirclement of the house.
At noon in the forest, Yang Zicang, wearing the Medwiser mask, pulled out the “Trajectory Master ” business card from his hand. After calming his mind, a faint gray-white ethereal flame flickered to life.
Draped over his shoulders was a windbreaker used for staying warm at high altitudes during the night; his black pants, suitable for movement, and the loosely cut, wide-collar white shirt with folded lapels ruffled rapidly around him, creating ripples of air waves, as if he had vanished into a transparent curtain of water, disappearing in place.
After opening his eyes, in the surrounding fluorescent world, the small wooden cabin ahead, which appeared somewhat abstractly deformed, held nothing peculiar.
“Is it because they’re afraid I’ll notice something unusual, so they didn’t use the ancient artifact statue to isolate this place? “
Just after taking a few steps forward, Yang Zicang suddenly sensed something abnormal.
The ground further ahead and the surrounding area, which had seemed fearful, both appeared unexpectedly solid.
If this vast land were a place of ethereal fluorescence, patched with haphazardly interwoven colors like coagulated paint, then the wooden cabin ahead and the ground around it both appeared relatively regular.
Yang Zicang instantly thought of Soldier No. 4’s formidable mental power. Because of the Soldier’s presence, the image of the real world, as witnessed by him, was projected through emotion and will into the Aether-force field, making the nearby terrain much clearer.
This person before him was also someone powerful enough to influence the Sub-Aether Field through their mind alone.
This slightly clearer area gradually moved toward him. Holding the business card, yet with a body as ethereal and handsome as an immortal spirit, Yang Zicang’s refined consciousness body cast a narrow glance that seemed to split open to his temples. He swept his gaze agilely, sensing something approaching in the distance.
“I’ve found him. He can perceive me through his mind as well. “
“Trajectory Master! ” Yang Zicang moved his feet, his body retreating like lightning. The surrounding patches of ground that had become slightly clearer slid rapidly closer.
—｛Distributor February. Di’an is watching my current life experience.｝
Like a ghostly thread of light, Yang Zicang darted faintly along the edges of several glowing rings closing in, charging at high speed toward the small wooden cabin in the distance.
Inside the wooden cabin in reality, Lu Wen sensed a nearby presence of a refined Sub-Aether entity. His figure suddenly appeared in the Sub-Aether Field Space.
However, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a massive mental-energy monster, its head reaching out like that of a tiger or wolf, charging straight at him to swallow him whole.
“Hmph! ” His expression calm, his hand unleashed a powerful wave of energy, with a force that seemed capable of shattering a mountain, striking toward the White Shadow Mind Dragon that had crossed dozens of meters in an instant.
Just at that moment, Yang Zicang suddenly deactivated the Aether Walk, his body crashing down into a room on the second floor. Before anyone nearby could even see clearly, he grabbed Jean Ussy, while a grenade rolling under his feet was caught and pinned by his boot.
With a thunderous bang, a huge hole split open in the floor.
“Ah! ” As the people in the upstairs bedroom tumbled down, Yang Zicang swept a glance with his Musing Night, and a silk scarf shot toward Kim Crest, who had been waiting downstairs for a long time without seeing anyone come. The young man turned his head just in time to see a stranger dragging a bewildered Jean Ussy as they dropped from the shattered ceiling above, followed by the muffled thud of air trembling, and in an instant, he was wrapped in a giant carpet.
A tremendous rush of air pressure surged from outside the building as if the earth itself had swelled like waves. Yang Zicang steered the flying carpet with a lurch, pulling Kim Crest into a leaping flight, and at that moment, he had already spotted Ma Shuo — who was crouching outside the house with a figure clutching a bouquet of plants. Only now were the two beginning to realize what had just happened.
All of this occurred within a second or two. Suddenly, Yang Zicang felt a mental shudder- the White Shadow Mind Dragon had shattered.
He drove the flying carpet at high speed, crashing through a window and hurtling outside the house. Yet in the very same breath, a glimmer of a magic barrier shot up from those five men on the periphery, its light surging, already on the verge of coalescing into the sky.
“Ma Shuo!“
Yang Zicang shouted, and the Flying Carpet instantly spread out, enveloping the two on the ground and Kim Crest, who was being pushed toward the ground by the air pressure, just as the barrier was about to converge.
“Rise! “
He, while clutching Jean Ussy, who had just blinked twice, collided with the giant carpet. The carpet’s surface deflected them, causing another explosion, and granular smoke rapidly spread out.
Boom!
The small wooden house violently exploded entirely. The ground within a radius of two hundred meters was shattered with roaring tremors, as if detonated by high-explosive bombs buried underground, and surging waves of temporal energy carried flying mud and soil, scattering across the sky, blotting out the sun.
Except for a few villagers wrapped in energy, the homeowner and the other rescued individuals were all blown to pieces.
“Damn it! “
Ruwen landed on the ground, with dust and debris continuously falling on his shoulders and head.
Several others rushed over. A dark-skinned man with a thick neck and a sweat towel draped over his shoulder said in a deep voice, “He escaped. That man is definitely Yang Zicang. “
“What a pity. We wasted a coordinate for the adult’s return. Not only did we fail in the task assigned to us, but we also lost the key target that was supposed to be eliminated immediately. ” The man said with great regret.
“It can’t be helped. To lure the fish to the hook, you need bait. “
The barrier quickly dissipated. A man in a sleeveless blue-striped long robe walked over, barefoot.
“Ambassador Kai, ” several people said with a hint of respect.
The barefoot man’s gaze was cold:
“Unfortunately, as a lone walker, I couldn’t get close enough to set the net with you all. Otherwise, neither the fish nor the bait would have been lost at the same time.“
Luwen waved his hand, sending the dust around him trembling, and swept his eyes over the mud stained red nearby:
“It could be worse. At least it confirmed one thing—Yang Zicang already possesses the ability to recall the discarded pieces of history from the altered fragments of fate.“
Ambassador Kai nodded slightly.
A man dressed as a villager spread his hands and said, “We never expected that Yang Zicang would only show up here when the end is almost upon us. We were careless.“
“True. We all thought the future had already been changed by the letter we intercepted.“
“Ambassador Kai, with time this tight, he shouldn’t be able to succeed, should he?“
Ambassador Kai paused for a moment, then gently shook his head:
“The sudden emergence of the Golden Bell inheritance has drastically altered the eruption power of the End-of-Days Ivy. We’re no longer certain whether the apocalypse will persist or fade after the outbreak.“
Those around grew anxious. “So you’re saying Yang Zicang still has a chance? Then can we go and stop them again?“
“We can’t find many long-term points of regret in those people. Especially that one called Kim Christ—a guy who makes a living selling fake antiques and odd trinkets across the lands. Forget him; aside from here, I can’t find a single other coordinate for him. But…“
“But what?“
Ambassador Kai looked around at the gradually shaking ground, where faint, almost intangible metal vines began to pulse beneath the soft surface of the earth.
“However, we can take the risk of facing him directly and anchor his future fate. “
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