21: Chapter 21 Forced Return

The air in the underground command room was freezing.

The holographic screen was split in two. On the left, thousands of missiles trailed long plumes of fire, like a migrating meteor shower, densely carpeting the sky.

On the right, a rolling black tide of zombies spread across the flat, desolate land on the outskirts of the city, blotting out the sun.

Everyone stared at the countdown, their breathing suspended.

Just as the first ray of the missile rain pierced the clouds and was about to reach the epicenter, a sudden change occurred!

Millions of wandering, stumbling, mindless monsters froze in the exact same millisecond.

All the zombies turned in unison, raising their heads to look at the meteor-filled sky.

The next second, countless pitch-black, rotting, jagged palms were raised from the zombie horde simultaneously.

They were clumsy and stiff, yet carried an astonishing sense of unity, like a black forest growing from the ground, rising slowly and firmly.

Before the missile rain arrived, they simultaneously aimed at the enemy reconnaissance plane that was circling and transmitting real-time data in the sky.

There was no sound, no roar.

This was Mo Yufei's control. He made this group of zombies, which should have destroyed the world, salute humanity in a posture that was extremely absurd yet incredibly solemn.

Mo Yufei thought to himself, if anyone saw such a pathetic move from him, would they call him an idiot?

—

Time returned to before the missile launch.

Mo Yufei was controlling a large number of zombies to gather toward the Tianzhu District when a system prompt suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Detected that upgrade energy is full. Secret realm upgrade requires the Master of the Secret Realm to return. You will be forcibly teleported back to the Secret Realm in 30 minutes."

The sudden mechanical voice struck his heart. Mo Yufei looked up at the smoke-filled battlefield before him.

It was so sudden; he had no idea this would happen. He felt like there were still many things left undone.

He had originally thought about helping the country more, clearing out more zombies, and letting more people survive.

But now, the system left no room for negotiation. The forced teleportation for the upgrade cut off all his thoughts.

This was the last thing he could do for this land and for these people guarding their home.

He didn't know when he could return, or even if he could return at all.

Mo Yufei took a deep breath, complex emotions surging in his eyes—reluctance, regret, and, even more so, a final determination.

He used his Mental Energy to issue the final order, which led to the scene under the missile rain.

The Commander and the drone operators in the operations room who witnessed this scene were stunned, looking at this eerie yet solemn sight with shock.

Floating above the zombie horde, Mo Yufei looked at the devastated city, then toward the blurry survivor base in the distance. His lips moved slightly, silently saying two words: "Goodbye."

In the command room, there was dead silence.

The operations officer's pen fell onto the table with a clatter. Even the Commander's hand trembled slightly, and his pupils constricted.

That was a group of monsters. They raised rotting arms, but they were giving a soldier's salute.

The countdown hit zero.

The sky exploded with fire. The missile rain poured down, instantly swallowing the zombie tide that had raised their arms.

Flames soared into the sky, smoke obscuring half the horizon. In the command room, everyone's eyes were locked on that sea of fire.

After a long while, the Chief Scientist spoke slowly, his voice hoarse:

"It... what is it telling us?"

The operations officer responsible for monitoring Mental Energy signals tightened his expression and reported to the Commander in the main seat in a low voice.

"Report, sir. That strange Mental Energy controlling the zombie horde... has completely disappeared."

The Commander's fingertips paused slightly. His gaze fell coldly on the empty radar screen, a hint of deep thought flashing in his eyes.

He already had a guess in his heart. Being able to control the entire zombie tide from a distance, yet having the mental consciousness abruptly dissipate into thin air—the opponent might not have been completely annihilated.

It was highly likely that it was a special zombie that still retained human reason and emotional consciousness.

For now, they could only wait and see, waiting for the other party to reappear.

If there was no movement after this, it meant that the unique consciousness had completely exhausted all its Mental Energy and was thoroughly annihilated within the zombie shell.

On the other side, Mo Yufei returned to the Secret Realm. After a period of chaos, before Mo Yufei could even open his eyes, he felt a wave of exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

"Secret Realm space is starting to upgrade. The environment is about to change."

After only a moment of silence, the cold, mechanical system voice echoed clearly in the depths of Mo Yufei's mind again, without the slightest ripple.

"Secret Realm upgrade is complete."

I don't know how much time passed. Mo Yufei slowly opened his heavy eyelids. The first pleasant surprise he discovered was that his physical body had recovered.

Then, he saw a brand-new landscape that overturned the previous one.

The thick gray mist that had shrouded the sky of the Secret Realm all year round had completely dissipated, and golden sunlight poured down without obstruction, sprinkling across the land of the Secret Realm.

Mo Yufei looked up. The barren land beneath his feet, which had previously been withered, cracked, and lifeless, had long since changed its appearance.

Clusters of tender green weeds broke through the soil, their leaves full and spread out, stained with crystal-clear dew. When the wind blew gently, they swayed with the breeze, exuding vigorous and vivid vitality.

Even the low shrubs in the corner that looked withered had sprouted tender yellow buds, completely devoid of the dead silence of the past.

The simple, temporary dwelling he had built with his own hands stood peacefully. The small pond beside the house had completely transformed.

The pond had widened dozens of times, and the original small stream had become a small river. The water was clear and bright, flowing slowly. On both sides of the river, green aquatic plants and unknown pale flowers had quietly grown, the scenery gentle and healing.

Mo Yufei stood up, focusing on sensing everything around him. He could clearly perceive the spatial boundary of the entire Secret Realm extending into the distance, larger than before the upgrade.

Looking at the warm light spilling across the sky of the Secret Realm, a doubt arose in Mo Yufei's heart. A piece of core information about the Secret Realm's upgrade clearly surfaced, instantly resolving his confusion.

It turned out that this was not a light source generated by the Secret Realm itself, but a rule unique to his Secret Realm. As long as he was in any world outside the Secret Realm, the sunlight from the outside world would use him as a medium, cross the spatial barrier, and be fully projected into this Secret Realm, becoming the skylight that nourished the Secret Realm.

The Secret Realm had completed its upgrade and fully activated its internal complete ecological cycle system, which allowed this sunlight that crossed space to take effect, letting the dead Secret Realm break ground and be reborn.

As the spatial connection with the outside world was completely disconnected, this strand of projected sunlight would also slowly dissipate. The system information flow also accurately marked a time limit—it could be maintained for at most three days.

After the three days were up, the Secret Realm would return to a sunless state. Only when he stepped out of the Secret Realm and into the outside world again, re-establishing the spatial connection, would the sunlight of the new world pass through him again and shine into this independent space that belonged to him.