70: Chapter 70 Devouring a Sixth-Order Human Civilization

Secret Room No. 1.

Su Bai stood on the metal platform, looking at the slowly expanding faint blue portal in front of him.

On the other side of the portal was a gray sky.

And countless steel buildings towering into the clouds.

The moment the passage opened, Su Bai stepped inside.

The New Era Realm.

He floated in mid-air, overlooking this world.

The sky was gray, with heavy clouds hanging very low, and lightning could be faintly seen weaving through them. The air was filled with a pungent smell of industrial exhaust, mixed with the scent of rust and decay.

Beneath his feet was a massive city.

Or rather, it used to be a massive city.

Among the skyscrapers towering into the clouds, some were intact while others had collapsed. Countless abandoned vehicles and machinery were scattered across the wide streets. Huge billboards still flickered with faint light, playing advertisements that had been outdated for countless years.

In the distance, several other cities were faintly visible, equally dilapidated and deathly silent.

But in the deepest parts of those cities, there was still the breath of life.

Su Bai's gaze pierced through the clouds and landed on the largest city.

There, a massive circular building sat like an inverted bowl, covering an entire district. The building's surface shimmered with the light of an energy shield, and people could be faintly seen moving inside.

That was the last bastion of this world.

Su Bai closed his eyes, his consciousness sweeping across the entire world.

Three to five million humans were gathered in those final cities. They relied on surviving energy systems to stay alive, automated factories to produce supplies, and artificial intelligence to manage everything.

But internally, they had already split into countless factions.

Some factions controlled the energy systems, some controlled the weapon factories, and others controlled the food production lines. They attacked, plundered, and killed each other.

Civilization was already on the brink of collapse.

Su Bai opened his eyes.

Behind him, gray-white Yin Qi surged like a sea.

Nine portals opened simultaneously.

The Ten Great Yin Marshals.

The four great races.

Over four hundred thousand units.

They covered the sky and the earth.

Su Bai stood at the very front, overlooking the steel city.

He raised his hand and gave a gentle wave.

"Kill."

The Ghost King was the first to move.

He didn't rush toward the city; instead, he floated in mid-air and raised his hand.

[Yellow Spring Road] unfolded.

A gray-white path extended from the void, leading directly to the city's energy shield.

Wherever the path passed, the energy shields began to tremble violently. Those barriers condensed from high technology were like paper before the Yellow Spring power.

Boom!!!

The energy shield shattered.

The city was exposed before the Netherworld army.

Inside the city, alarms blared frantically.

The technological humans poured out of the buildings, some wearing exoskeleton armor, some piloting mechs, and others controlling drone swarms. The light of laser cannons flickered, and energy bullets poured down like a rainstorm.

But they were facing the Netherworld.

Facing Yin Qi.

Facing ghosts.

Facing existences from another dimension.

Shadow Demons vanished from their spots, appearing among the mech swarms in the next second. Their claw blades pierced the mechs' armor, and shadow energy corroded the pilots inside. The pilots discovered in horror that their high-tech weapons were completely ineffective against these eerie creatures.

Mushroom People's spores drifted down, landing on the drone swarms. The spores took root and sprouted on the metal surfaces, growing wildly and quickly causing the drones to lose control and crash.

The Ice Crystals' Extreme Cold Domain unfolded, freezing the temperature of the entire street. The movements of the humans in exoskeleton armor began to slow, their armor started to ice over, and finally, they froze in place, turned into ice sculptures.

Naga dove down from the sky, their tridents piercing the armed personnel who tried to resist. Their speed was as fast as lightning, and their strength was as massive as a landslide; the technological humans were powerless before them.

Black and White Impermanence did not act, simply standing in the void and coldly watching it all.

But two hundred Soul-Hooking Ghosts had already rushed out. Their chains wove through the streets, and every time they ensnared a human, a shrill scream followed. The souls of the humans caught by the chains were forcibly ripped from their bodies and dragged by the Soul-Hooking Ghosts toward the Hall of Impermanence.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face also did not act, simply standing behind the Ghost King and staring toward the deepest part of the city.

There, the most powerful existence of this world resided.

The Day Patrol Envoy and Night Patrol Envoy floated in mid-air, their eyes sweeping across the entire city. Any human trying to flee, any resistor trying to hide, could not escape their gaze.

Leopard Tail let out a low roar, and the beasts domesticated by the humans suddenly broke free from control and turned on their masters.

Bird Beak let out a sharp cry, and all the birds suddenly lost control, crashing into each other.

Fish Gills raised his hand, and the water flow in the city's underground pipe network suddenly rioted, flooding one underground bunker after another.

Wasp's compound eyes flickered with light, and the resistors hiding in the shadows were discovered, tracked, and besieged by countless insects.

The battle lasted for a full six hours.

When the last resistor fell, the entire city had turned into ruins.

But Su Bai's goal was not destruction.

He stood in the central square of the city, looking at the survivors kneeling on the ground.

Of the three million humans, 1.2 million had been killed, and 1.8 million were taken prisoner.

They knelt on the ground, their eyes full of fear and despair.

They looked at the eerie existences floating in the void, at the ghosts they had never seen before, and at the young Creator.

They knew that their fate was no longer in their own hands.

Su Bai raised his hand.

[Brand]

Gray-white light swept across the entire city.

All 1.8 million humans were marked with the Brand of the Netherworld.

[Devouring Commencing]

The steel forest began to collapse.

Those skyscrapers towering into the clouds, the complex transportation networks, and the precise industrial facilities were all torn apart, devoured, and converted by the gray-white Yin Qi.

[Devouring Complete]

[Obtained Power Of Faith: 5,800 points]

[World Diameter Expansion: 1,450 km → 2,100 km]

[New Map Generated: New Era Ruins]

Su Bai stood at the world core, looking at the new map emerging in his palm.

It was an expanse of ruins.

A vast stretch of steel, cold, and deathly silent ruins.

On the ruins stood countless dilapidated buildings, twisted steel, and broken machinery.

In the depths of the ruins, 1.8 million technological humans gathered together, looking blankly at this unfamiliar land.

New Era Ruins.

Two thousand one hundred kilometers in diameter.

1.8 million technological humans.

Su Bai looked at that number and remained silent for a long time.

1.8 million.

It was more than six times the sum of all his previous races combined.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over those Hero Units.

Their auras were climbing frantically.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face had been promoted to Rank 4.

The Frost King broke through from the peak of Rank 3 to Rank 4, his aura stabilizing at the mid-stage of Rank 4.

The Mushroom King also broke through from the peak of Rank 3 to Rank 4, his purple eyes growing deeper.

Sadako broke through from Rank 3, 4-Star, to Rank 4; in those hollow eyes, there was now a bit more of an indescribable wisdom.

The Day Patrol Envoy and Night Patrol Envoy had just been promoted to the peak of Rank 3, their auras steady.

Leopard Tail, Bird Beak, Fish Gills, and Wasp leaped from Rank 1 to Rank 3.

Black and White Impermanence finally rose to Rank 5.

The Ghost King, Rank 6, remained motionless.

Lan, Rank 5, 5-Star, also showed no change.

Su Bai looked at these changes and nodded with satisfaction.

His gaze finally fell on the newly generated ruins.

1.8 million technological humans.

This was the first time the Netherworld World had a human civilization.

Although they were technological humans with countless chips and nanorobots implanted in their bodies, their essence was still human.

They could think, create, feel fear, and have hope.

They would reproduce, develop, and establish a new civilization.

Su Bai took a deep breath.

Evolution.

They must evolve.

He raised his hand, his consciousness sinking into the world core.

[Time Flow Adjustment]

[Adjustment Target: New Era Ruins]

[Consumed Power Of Faith: 1,000 points]

[Duration: 1,000 years]

Amidst the gray-white Yin Qi, the steel ruins began to blur.

Su Bai sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

One thousand years.

He wanted to witness with his own eyes how this human civilization, reborn from the ruins, would take root in the Netherworld, how it would evolve, and how it would become the other sharpest blade in his hand.