101: Backup plan!

The technician's fingers trembled slightly, then pressed down hard on the striking crimson button.

The next second, the interior of the metal giant egg was filled with a dazzling red light, and a sharp alarm pierced the eardrums like a blade.

“Self-destruct sequence initiated, countdown 30 seconds.”

The cold electronic voice echoed repeatedly in the cabin, as if announcing the arrival of the apocalypse.

Shaodun slumped back into his seat, his gaze fixed on the three figures on the monitor screen that made his teeth ache.

His lips slowly curled into a twisted, hideous smile:

“Go to hell together, you monsters!”

At the same time, the situation on the battlefield suddenly became tense.

The North Cold Great Emperor was locked in fierce combat with the enemy when he suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation.

He spun around abruptly, looking towards the metal giant egg, his pupils instantly constricting.

“Damn it!”

He roared, his golden longsword transforming into a streak of light and returning to his hand, the pentagonal compass spinning rapidly.

“These lunatics actually plan to blow me up with it?”

The Lord of Corruption gently fanned her six black and white wings, surrounded by a layer of energy shield.

She watched the distant metal giant egg with interest, letting out a soft hum:

“Oh? It seems they're starting to panic too.”

However, the Lord of Deception clearly wasn't in the mood for small talk with her.

He teleported beside her, grabbing her wrist:

“Stop playing around, this thing is about to explode!”

The Lord of the Underworld still floated in mid-air, his eyes beneath his mask glinting with excitement.

“Has this tortoise shell finally opened?”

As the few of them conversed, the cracks on the surface of the metal giant egg began to erupt with dazzling white light.

The entire giant egg rapidly expanded as if being stretched open by an invisible force, and its outer shell twisted and deformed accordingly.

“5, 4, 3…”

A strange countdown sound emanated from inside the giant egg, lingering long in the air above the battlefield.

The North Cold Great Emperor rapidly retreated, the pentagonal compass unfolding behind him into a massive protective light barrier.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the distant main worm body also gradually sinking, seemingly trying to avoid the impending devastating impact.

“2, 1…”

As the final number fell, a deafening explosion roared, shaking the heavens!

The location of the metal giant egg instantly transformed into a white sphere of light with a diameter of a thousand meters, and terrifying energy shockwaves spread outwards in a ring.

Wherever they passed, whether rocks or buildings, everything was reduced to dust.

The sea surface was forcibly pressed into a deep depression, and the surrounding seawater was evaporated by the high temperature before it could even flow back.

Distant cities collapsed like building blocks, and where the shockwave passed, even the air began to twist and deform.

The North Cold Great Emperor's pentagonal compass light barrier swayed violently under the fierce impact, its surface covered in fine cracks.

He panted softly, a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Although the main worm had already submerged into the deep sea, it still couldn't completely avoid the astonishingly powerful shockwave.

Its carapace was cracked, and green blood slowly seeped from the wounds.

As the white light gradually dissipated, a huge crater several kilometers in diameter was left at the center of the explosion.

And the metal giant egg that had stood there was now gone without a trace, not even a single remnant left behind.

“Cough… cough…”

The North Cold Great Emperor emerged from the swirling smoke and dust, his golden robe already tattered.

He looked towards the explosion's center in shock, only to find three unharmed figures suspended there.

The Lord of the Underworld's ghost mask shimmered with a cold light in the smoke and dust, and he was enveloped in a dark green energy barrier.

The Lord of Deception leisurely patted his clothes, which had no dust on them, while the Lord of Corruption yawned lazily.

“Is that all?” The Lord of Corruption shook her head in disappointment,

“I thought it would be a bit more interesting.”

The North Cold Great Emperor's expression instantly became extremely grim.

Such a powerful explosion, even with his strength, he had to go all out to barely survive, yet these three weren't even scratched?

Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound came from the bottom of the sea.

Everyone simultaneously turned their gaze downwards, only to see tiny cracks appearing on the hard shell covering the Netherworld Projection.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Accompanied by continuous shattering sounds, the surface of the World-Destroying level Critical Point at the bottom of the sea, known as the Netherworld Projection, rapidly spread with spiderweb-like cracks.

Aquietblue light shone through the cracks, dyeing the surrounding seawater a eerie fluorescent color.

“Finally… is it about to open?” The Lord of the Underworld's voice held unconcealed excitement, his eyes beneath the mask suddenly lighting up,

“But why has it only cracked this much?”

“That thing self-destructed and only made such a small crack; it seems it's nothing special after all.”

The Lord of Corruption said disdainfully, her six angel wings slowly unfolding behind her, black and white energy intertwining in the air.

“Do I need to open it myself?”

The Lord of Deception smiled at her words: “Of course you do. Isn't our purpose for this trip to open this thing?”

At this moment, the North Cold Great Emperor's face became even more grim.

The golden longsword in his hand suddenly vibrated violently, as if sensing some ominous aura.

The light on his compass began to flicker unsteadily, sometimes strong, sometimes weak.

“Damn it…” He grumbled under his breath, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the three Lords and the Critical Point that was about to be unsealed.

Where was the promised support from Daxia and Beacon Country?

Why was he the only one present?

To make matters worse, he had also suffered a self-destruct attack, greatly reducing his strength, rendering him powerless to stop this catastrophe.

…

Meanwhile, ten kilometers away from the sea level, five figures stood.

These five were the Space Grand Magister and Time Archmage from Beacon Country, as well as Zhou Chao, the second-ranked in Daxia, Zhu Yan, the third-ranked, Lu Yuan, the fifth-ranked, and Wei Long, the sixth-ranked.

At this moment, Zhou Chao turned his gaze to Beacon Country's Time Archmage, questioning him:

“What is the meaning of you holding us back here? Their target of attack is the Critical Point you are responsible for guarding!”

In Shaun Chronos’s silver-white pupils, it was as if a river of time surged, and the hourglass in his hand suddenly shattered into countless crystalline fragments.

“Because…” The Time Archmage's lips bled,

“In my premonition, no matter which future, if we go to stop them now, we will have no chance of winning and will only die in vain.”

“We need to let them open the Netherworld Projection, let the monsters and Evil Spirits inside consume their strength first, so we will have a chance to win.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chao’s pupils suddenly constricted.

Behind him, Zhu Yan's crimson hair moved without wind, Lu Yuan's heavy profound iron sword hummed lowly, and Wei Long was surrounded by intertwining tortoise and snake phantoms.

“This is utterly absurd!” Zhou Chao took out a bronze Candle Dragon Token from his sleeve,

“If we wait until the Critical Point is fully opened, then besides the island nation, the closest will be our Daxia's Donghai coastline. By then…”

“Three hundred million people will die.” Shaun wiped the blood from his lips, and eerie green spatiotemporal cracks spread beneath his skin,

“But if we act now, we will also die, and the Critical Point will still open.”

He suddenly coughed violently, and the blood he spat out shimmered with starlight,

“This is the only chance for us to survive and achieve victory in all the futures I have seen.”

Just then, a thousand-meter-high giant wave suddenly surged from the sea, and everyone turned their heads in shock.

They saw the Lord of the Underworld slowly extend his pale hand and place it on the striking crack of the Netherworld Projection.

Streams ofquietblue energy poured inwards along his arm, and the spiderweb-like cracks continued to expand rapidly, even clearly visible as they devoured the entire barrier moment by moment.

“There’s no time.” Zhu Yan gritted his teeth, his fingernails digging deep into his palms, his voice low but firm,

“Old Zhou, give the order.”

Before his words finished, Wei Long suddenly let out a muffled groan and dropped to his knees.

The profound armor on his body began to show countless fine cracks, as if it would completely shatter in the next second.

“Something… is coming out…” He spoke with difficulty, his face ashen.

At the same time, a piercing tearing sound came from the seabed, as horrifying as steel being forcibly ripped apart.

Immediately after, a ten-kilometer-diameter section of the sea surface suddenly collapsed, forming a huge funnel-shaped vortex.

Hundreds ofquietblue light pillars shot up from the water, piercing the sky, dyeing the entire sky an eerie hue.

The Lord of Deception's laughter followed, tinged with madness and triumph.

At this very moment, a pale, almost transparent ghostly hand emerged from the edge of the Critical Point, its fingertips firmly gripping the boundary of reality, seemingly trying to break free from some invisible restraint.

“Candle Dragon—” Zhou Chao’s voice boomed like thunder, scattering the clouds, “Open your eyes!”

Instantly, an ancient and vast aura erupted from Zhou Chao, a pressure that seemed to originate from the primordial era, making everything around him tremble.

The Time Archmage, witnessing this scene, looked solemn, understanding that everything was irreversible.

He sighed deeply and resolutely activated the backup plan—another possibility leading to the future.