1: Chapter 1 Eternal Continent

(New author, writing for passion, mindless power fantasy, leave your brain at the door. Welcome, dear readers. Slow-burn, single female lead.)

The afternoon sun was like molten gold, splashing across the crowded streets. Lin Tian twisted the handle of his little electric scooter, weaving through the traffic. His delivery box contained three orders of Malatang and a cup of pearl milk tea that was nearly overflowing. Humming a pop song out of tune, sweat beaded on his forehead under the helmet, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up. After all, once this order was delivered, he would have enough for next month's rent.

At this moment, he was scratching his head over an order with a vague address. The navigation clearly showed "Destination Reached," but before him was only a row of half-demolished, broken buildings.

"Great, another 'ghost neighborhood'." Muttering to himself, he pulled out his phone. Just as he was about to call the customer, the sky suddenly darkened without warning. It wasn't clouds blocking the sun; it was more like someone had splashed ink across the entire heavens. Even the sun vanished instantly, like a snuffed-out cigarette butt.

"What's the situation? Was a total solar eclipse announced early?" Lin Tian looked up at the sky, only to see the streetlights flicker on all at once and then explode with a series of pops and cracks. Dogs by the roadside barked frantically and hid in the bushes, while an out-of-control shared bike slid into the middle of the road on its own.

He instinctively shielded his delivery box: "Oh no, if the Malatang spills, the customer is going to give me a bad review..."

The darkness grew thicker, and tiny purple specks of light floated in the air, like the omen of an ancient demon descending in a movie. Even the little electric scooter beneath him let out a "zizzy" whine, its dashboard spinning wildly as if having a seizure. He couldn't help but complain: "Buddy, hang in there! Whatever you do, don't start glitching on me!"

Before his voice could fade, a crack shining with purple light split open beneath his feet. Lin Tian felt the ground give way, and his whole body plummeted downward as if he were on a slide without safety measures! "Holy crap! My delivery!" This was his final obsession; his hand instinctively struggled toward the food containers that were tumbling to the ground.

Immediately following that, something even more heartbreaking happened: that cup of pearl milk tea he had just taken a big sip of, along with the three orders of Malatang in the box, were silently decomposed and vanished the moment they fell into the light, as if erased by an eraser.

Vanishing along with them were his beloved electric scooter, helmet, phone... "What a massive loss! Not only did I run this delivery for nothing, but my bike is gone too!" This was Lin Tian's strongest thought amidst the sensation of weightlessness.

A few seconds later, Lin Tian landed with a thud on a patch of soft grass. He was knocked dizzy and scrambled up, grimacing in pain, immediately looking down to check himself.

Fortunately, he was fine. The old work clothes and jeans he was wearing were still intact. It seemed this transmigration portal was quite humane, at least leaving him with an outfit.

Standing up and looking around, he saw a completely unfamiliar primeval forest landscape, the air so fresh it was almost choking. Lin Tian brushed the grass clippings off his pants and grinned: "Alright, free room and board is out of the question, but starting with a laborer's outfit and rushing into otherworldly infrastructure from scratch? ...This script is pretty hardcore!"

Just as Lin Tian was taking in the fresh air and trying to familiarize himself with his surroundings, he noticed a blue-white crystal that had appeared next to where he fell. Suddenly, a grand voice echoed in his mind.

[Welcome, Lords, to the Eternal Continent. I am the system created by the Heavenly Will of the Eternal Continent. Here, as long as you have strength, the strong will achieve everything they desire, while the weak will lose their right to survive. Work hard, everyone, and strive to stay alive.]

[Everyone starts with a Territory Core. Activating the Lord's Core will grant initial resources. For everything else, please explore on your own.]

[During the first 7 days of territory development, the Territory Core will generate a protective shield immune to all damage! Monsters and anyone without the Lord's consent cannot enter the territory.]

[Nights on the continent are extremely dangerous. During the novice period, the protective shield will fend off monsters that attack at night. You must return to your territory before dark; do not linger, and certainly do not attempt to fight them, or you will die a miserable death!]

[After 7 days, the protective shield will disappear. Simultaneously, the territory will face its first beast tide. If the Territory Core is breached, the Lord will die directly. There is no resurrection after death.]

[Finally, a reminder once more: please hurry and develop your territory during this period. Dead means truly dead. I wish you all survival to the end!]

The moment Lin Tian's hands touched the blue-white crystal, a warm current flowed from his fingertips throughout his body. While the resonance of the mechanical voice still echoed in his ears, a translucent virtual panel appeared before his eyes, and blueprints for three initial buildings dropped simultaneously.

[Territory Core activated. Welcome to the Eternal Continent, Lord Lin Tian.]

"This opening is as standard as a low-quality game..." Lin Tian muttered, his gaze scanning a light screen that appeared before him. The light screen panel had four sections: Chat Channel, Lord Trading Platform, Personal Information, and Continent Supplementary Information. He first clicked on Personal Information, and the few short lines of text made the corners of his mouth twitch:

[Name: Lin Tian]

[Talent: Fusion Evolution (Primary - Unique)]

[Combat Power: Unranked (Equivalent to an ordinary villager of the Eternal Continent)]

[Territory Level: Level 1]

[Troop Type: Militia - Ordinary Low-grade (None)]

[Assets: Wood × 10, Stone × 10, Iron Ore × 10, Low-grade Spirit Crystal × 10]

"Combat power unranked? Well, at least it's better than being a total weakling; unranked means I can still get ranked." Lin Tian chuckled self-deprecatingly, then clicked into the [Regional Chat Channel]. The screen was instantly flooded with scrolling messages. The top of the channel showed the online count: 10,000/10,000 people, but the messages were as chaotic as an exploded ants' nest.

[Who can tell me how to get back to Blue Star? I haven't finished paying off my mortgage! And what the hell is this Eternal Continent?]

[That voice is definitely a conspiracy by a higher civilization! We need to unite and resist this rat race!]

[To the person above, since we're already here, it's not like you can escape. My place is actually quite nice; there's a big lake nearby, mountains, and water. Maybe I can even catch some fish to eat, hahaha.]

[I'm so jealous. Unlike me, they dumped me in the middle of a desert. How am I supposed to survive!]

[Cool! Brothers, what are your talents and troop types? My talent is 'Plant Acceleration,' and there's a fruit forest nearby. I'm about to achieve fruit freedom!]

[This troop type thing is even more of a scam! Isn't it randomly assigned? Heavens, I demand a reassignment! You gave me a pile of Ordinary troop type Slimes that look like crap. How am I supposed to play? Am I supposed to gross people to death? Give me literally anything else!]

[Don't be pessimistic, person above. Look at me, a freshly minted Rare troop type: Jungle Hound. Isn't it cool!]

[Only Rare quality and you're already showing off? My Superior troop type, the Three-Headed Demon Wolf, can reach Gold-rank strength when it matures, and I'm not even bragging!]

[Wow, big boss is awesome...]

[Starting with Superior quality for a troop type is too strong! Does the big boss need a sidekick?]

[Wuwuwu, I'm so scared. There's no one around me. Big boss, please protect me! I can sing and dance, and I can even warm the bed at night!]

...

Looking at the chat inside, Lin Tian was quite interested at first. After scrolling through a dozen or so messages, he found that aside from the chaos, it was all useless information, so he simply closed the channel. "As expected, even the end of the world can't stop humans from spamming."

However, he was still very interested in the descriptions of troop types, strength ranks, and Lord talents. Clicking into the Continent Supplementary Information, Lin Tian saw the relevant details.

Troop qualities are divided into Ordinary, Elite, Rare, Superior, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, and Divine. Troop strength corresponds to black iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, diamond rank, Saint, God, and True God ranks. Among them, only Mythical quality troops can reach realms above God rank; others correspond to their respective potential levels, with God rank being the only exception.

Ordinary Low-grade troops correspond to a growth potential of black iron 1-3 stars, Mid-grade to 4-6, and High-grade to 7-9. Heroes follow this same strength division, but to increase a Hero's potential, one needs to use Core Energy. Core Energy is produced by killing Infection Sources.

Clearing Infection Sources also grants rewards from the Eternal Continent, and Core Energy can also upgrade the core of one's territory. As for what Infection Sources are, the introduction didn't say anything further.

He shrugged. "Better check out the blueprints that just dropped first!" After closing the panel, Lin Tian examined the three initial buildings before him (the first construction of gifted initial buildings does not require resources; all blueprints must be placed into the Territory Core, and when the Lord needs to use them, they can click to build directly by consuming resources).

After placing them into the Territory Core, with a thought, he chose to build. A flash of white light occurred, and as Lin Tian's command was issued, the three corresponding locations were instantly cleared and leveled. Three buildings suddenly appeared above the flat ground: