92: Chapter 92 The Origin of the Fallen Abyss

"Director Liu, they are the ones who saved us."

Zhang Xuan said, "The leader is Mr. Su Mingyuan, captain of the Longyan Squad, and this is Dr. Tao Zhe."

Director Liu struggled to sit up to show respect, but was stopped by Su Mingyuan.

"No need for formalities. Your body is still very weak, just lie down properly."

Director Liu gave Su Mingyuan a deep look, then smiled bitterly, "Being able to survive is already a great fortune. Is there something you all want to ask?"

"Director Liu, I heard you used to be an Advanced official from the Royal City. You should know more about the 'Starfall Event' and the 'Heavenly Fall Abyss' than Zhang Xuan and the others."

Tao Zhe got straight to the point, "Now all the Seven Major Cities have fallen, and human civilization in your world is in imminent danger. We need to understand the truth of this world to better fight the giants."

Director Liu was silent for a long time.

He looked at the top of the tent, his eyes complex.

"Actually... I don't know very much either."

He slowly opened his mouth, "The Starfall Event happened a hundred years ago. Specific details are only known to the eyewitnesses and core members of the royal family back then. But regarding some things, as the former Junior Vice Minister of Works, I still know a bit."

"Please speak."

"The Heavenly Fall Abyss is located one thousand kilometers north of the former Royal City." Director Liu's voice was very low, "That is not a canyon or abyss in the pure sense... but a place smashed out by a meteorite shower."

"A meteorite shower?" Tao Zhe frowned.

"Right!" Director Liu nodded, fear flashing in his eyes, "On that night of the Starfall, the sky was torn apart. Countless meteorites fell from the sky, pouring down like a torrential rain. The entire area north of the Royal City, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land, was completely covered by meteorites."

"Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers..." Su Mingyuan drew in a sharp breath.

What kind of concept was this?

This was equivalent to the area of three or four entire Shanlu Provinces!

"What's even more terrifying is," Director Liu's voice grew lower and lower, "that meteorite shower lasted for a full month."

"A month?!" Tao Zhe abruptly raised his head.

"That's right, exactly a month."

Director Liu closed his eyes, as if recalling some terrifying scene, "My great-grandfather was once a garrison soldier of the Royal City, and he witnessed that scene with his own eyes. The sky burned every day, meteorites fell like raindrops, the earth trembled day and night, and the firelight illuminated the Royal City for thirty whole nights."

"During that month, all towns, villages, and farmland north of the Royal City... were completely destroyed by meteorites. Tens of millions of people died in that disaster."

"And when the meteorite shower finally stopped, the north of the Royal City had already turned into a purgatory."

Director Liu opened his eyes, his eyes filled with despair.

"The surface of that area was completely altered. Countless meteorite craters connected with each other, forming a wasteland stretching thousands of li. And in the center of the wasteland, that largest meteorite—a giant meteorite with a diameter of over fifty kilometers—smashed out a bottomless abyss."

"That is the origin of the Heavenly Fall Abyss."

"At the bottom of the abyss, red mist lingers all year round," Director Liu continued. "Those mists are highly toxic, and ordinary people will suffocate and die if they get close. Moreover... the entire wasteland area is full of giants."

"How many are there?" Su Mingyuan asked.

"I don't know." Director Liu shook his head. "No one has ever returned alive from the bottom of the abyss. But according to the estimate of the Royal City Survey Corps... there are at least ten million."

"Ten million..."

The tent was silent.

"Moreover, the giants in the abyss... are different from the ones outside." Director Liu's voice was even lower, "They are larger, stronger, and more... intelligent."

"Intelligent?" Tao Zhe keenly caught onto that word.

"Yes." Director Liu nodded. "The giants outside, although they cannot be killed, only instinctively chase humans and have no intelligence. But the giants in the abyss... it is said that some already possess intelligence. They can set traps, use strategies, and even... speak."

Giants that could speak?

Su Mingyuan and Tao Zhe exchanged glances once again.

Matters were even more complicated than they imagined.

"Then, is the appearance of the Starfall and the giants related?" Tao Zhe asked the most critical question.

Director Liu took a deep breath: "Yes. The giants appeared after the Starfall. At first there were only a few dozen, and then more and more, more and more... until now, the entire world has been occupied by them."

"The Heavenly Fall Abyss is the source of all this."

His voice was filled with despair.

"All the giants crawled out from there."

Director Liu's words plunged the tent into a long silence.

Tao Zhe slowly took off his glasses and pressed his brow with his fingers.

As a scientist, he was already used to analyzing problems with rationality and logic, but this world... reeked of weirdness and unreasonableness everywhere.

"Director Liu," Tao Zhe put his glasses back on, "regarding the giants, to what extent has your research reached?"

Director Liu gave a bitter smile: "Research? We can hardly even manage to kill them, how can we talk about research?"

"But you at least know their weakness," Su Mingyuan said. "The back of the neck. Who discovered that?"

"Tian-Gong Academy." A trace of respect flashed in Director Liu's eyes. "After the Starfall, the Great Qing Dynasty established the Tian-Gong Academy, specialized in researching skyfall steel and giants. It was Mo Tian-Gong, the first president of the Tian-Gong Academy, who discovered the fatal weakness of the giants—the back of the neck."

"As long as that part is destroyed, the giant will die."

Tao Zhe rapidly recorded on his tablet: "Then, besides the weakness on the back of the neck, do you know other characteristics of the giants? For example, classification, abilities, behavioral patterns?"

"Yes." Director Liu nodded. "After a hundred years of bloody battles, we also have some understanding of the giants."

He paused, organizing his words.

"First is the size classification."

"Those under thirty meters, we call them 'Ordinary-grade giants'. These are the most numerous, accounting for over eighty percent of all giants. They move quickly, have huge strength, but are relatively easy to deal with. The elite warriors of the Survey Corps can team up to hunt them down relying on the Cloud-Treading Machine and skyfall steel blades."

Zhang Xuan nodded silently from the side.

He was the captain of the scout team specializing in hunting Ordinary-grade giants.

"Those from thirty meters to sixty meters are called 'Elite-grade giants'."

Director Liu continued, "This kind of giant is not only larger in size, but its speed and strength also increase exponentially. What's more troublesome is that their regeneration ability is stronger. When an Ordinary-grade giant has its arm cut off, it takes a few minutes to regenerate, but for an Elite-grade... it only takes a few dozen seconds."

"Going further up, those from sixty meters to ninety meters are the Colossal Giants."

Director Liu's voice became heavy.

"Giants of this level can no longer be fought by ordinary soldiers. A single punch from them can easily destroy city walls. Their trampling can make the earth tremble. The Survey Corps once organized a hunting operation, dispatching eight hundred elites, and in the end, fewer than fifty people returned alive."

"Moreover... their regeneration speed is terrifyingly fast. A chopped-off arm can regrow in less than 3 seconds."

Tao Zhe recorded the data on the side, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

This kind of regeneration speed had completely surpassed the scope of biology.