35: Chapter 35 The World's First Map Unveiled

In the Great Xia Live Stream, the bullet chat was like a flood bursting through a dam.

Everyone was frantically cheering for Lin Ye's maneuvers!

[Brother Eye is going on a killing spree! Is this a move a human can actually pull off?]

[This little sequence of moves was smoother than when I mash buttons for combos!]

[A solo kill just like that? I didn't even see what that ghost thing looked like before it kicked the bucket?]

[This is too insane; with this psychological fortitude, I'm willing to call him Great Xia's number one assassin!]

[Does the Archaeology Department really teach this? Is it too late for me to go and change my college applications now?]

...

Disaster Prevention Administration, Third Research Group Laboratory.

Lu Chen leaned over the table, his face almost pressed against the display screen.

The pen in his hand hadn't stopped moving since the first frame the monster appeared.

Halfway through writing, he suddenly stopped and slapped the table in bitter frustration.

"What a waste of god-given treasures!"

"If only we could get that corpse back for a dissection—forget the whole thing, even if you just gave me a vial of blood or a tissue sample..."

He scratched his hair irritably. "Forget it, that kid isn't working for me."

...

Deep within the cavern.

Lin Ye did not let the victory of a single solo kill go to his head.

He pulled out his dagger, gave it a couple of casual wipes on the Pale Species' corpse, then stood up and picked up his torch again.

His left eye blinked, quickly calibrating the positions of the other two red dots.

If you can't afford to mess with them, you can afford to hide; Lin Ye decisively bypassed those two areas.

After navigating through the dark, winding labyrinth for over ten minutes, he finally emerged from that cramped passage.

Presented before him was a massive underground hollow space, several times larger than the previous one.

Lin Ye looked up.

The height of the dome was at least over a hundred meters.

And in the middle, an irregular natural skylight had cracked open.

Light from the outside world poured down through the rift.

The scene below made his eyelids twitch.

Appearing before his eyes was actually a field of city ruins buried underground!

Buildings had collapsed, utility poles leaned haphazardly, and asphalt roads were broken into countless fragments.

Among those ruins, one could even see dilapidated signs with a Japanese style, hanging precariously from the ruined outer walls.

It was as if a modern city block had been uprooted by some force and casually tossed into this underground space.

Just as Lin Ye was in a state of shock, the announcement of the National Destiny Challenge rang out in the ears of everyone on Earth and all the Challengers.

[Great Xia Challenger Lin Ye is the first to discover a Lost Land (Miniature).]

[The danger level in this area has surged; Challengers, please enter with caution.]

In an instant, the entire Blue Planet was in an uproar.

The number of viewers in Lin Ye's exclusive livestream skyrocketed by the millions, like a rising rocket.

[Holy crap! A Lost Land? Did Brother Eye stumble upon a hidden map?]

[Global first reveal! Great Xia is awesome! Brother Eye is awesome!]

[Isn't this a damn cave? Did the supreme will move a city from Blue Planet over there?]

[Zoom in! Look at the characters on that sign; this is definitely some city ruin from the Island Nation!]

[Brother Eye: You guys thought I was just trying to survive, but I was actually revealing the map. That's vision!]

Under global scrutiny, foreign IDs flooded into the Great Xia Live Stream like they were smelling blood.

Especially those people from the Island Nation; after seeing that iconic Japanese-style ruin, they collectively lost their minds.

[Island Nation: Baka! That is our sacred territory! Great Xia person, get out!]

[Island Nation: Protest! We strongly demand the supreme will strip this Great Xia person of his discovery rights!]

[Island Nation: These are our ruins; all the resources inside belong to us! Great Xia people have no right to touch them!]

At the commentary desk.

Commentator Chen Guofeng's eyes went wide, and he slammed his hand down with a "bang," splashing water from his cup all over the table.

"Oh ho! Getting anxious now, are we?"

His booming, energetic voice exploded in the livestream:

"This is the map of the Endgame Simulation. It's currently right under our Great Xia Challenger's feet, so that makes it our Great Xia's spoils of war!"

"Sacred territory? Your sacred territory is now just an underground latrine!"

"If you have the ability, go crawl into the cave yourselves to claim it! Oh, right, your people are still busy 'training' that Kimchi babe. What a bunch of useless trash!"

Su Qinglan adjusted her headset, the smile at the corners of her mouth becoming increasingly gentle:

"I'll also take this opportunity to remind our friends from the Island Nation who are frantically protesting next door."

"Before you're so quick to claim the territory, you might want to use your brains and think..."

"Why would your city ruins appear under someone else's feet?"

"Is this truly your glory, or is it an epitaph carved for you in advance?"

Her little mouth was as if it were coated in poison.

The entire livestream's bullet chat was overwhelmed by the carnival-like celebration of Great Xia's netizens.

...

Great Xia Disaster Prevention Administration, Command Center.

Director Wei Tiejun stood up from his chair.

The entire hall was pin-drop silent, all eyes focused on the city wreckage illuminated by the sunlight.

Zhou Jianping swallowed hard and was the first to speak:

"Director Wei, in the last round, even until the end, no one ever discovered a place like this."

"The announcement specifically noted the word 'Miniature,' which means this isn't the only one."

"On those higher-level Floating Islands, there are bound to be larger, or even complete, city ruins."

Director Wei Tiejun didn't respond.

He grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table, turned around, and strode out.

"Old Zhou, keep up!"

The two of them hurried along and pushed open the door to the Third Research Group.

Lu Chen was currently standing in front of the big screen, with six or seven freshly printed screenshots scattered messily across the table, all covered in red circles highlighting key points.

"Did you figure anything out?" Director Wei Tiejun got straight to the point.

Lu Chen didn't even turn his head; he tapped his index finger on a sign in one of the screenshots.

"The weathering marks on these buildings, the degree of metal corrosion, the depth of concrete carbonation..."

"Conservative estimate: they've undergone at least several decades of natural erosion."

Director Wei Tiejun's brow furrowed deeply.

Lu Chen turned around and threw out his conclusion directly.

"Director Wei, this kid risking his life in the cave, wandering around in such a huge circle—it was definitely not a fluke!"

"I guarantee that from the very beginning, he used that left eye to lock onto this place."

Hearing this, Director Wei Tiejun leaned his hands on the table, his gaze sweeping over the screenshots.

After a moment of silence, he made a decision.

"Effective immediately, the Third Research Group is to be reorganized and expanded. You, Lu Chen, will have full authority. Make a list of whatever equipment or people you need."

He turned to look at Zhou Jianping:

"Old Zhou, screen the people according to the list. Raise the security level to the highest. No matter what unit they belong to, requisition them."

"Yes, sir!"

Zhou Jianping stood at attention and took the order.

Having made the arrangements, Director Wei Tiejun was in no hurry to leave.

He looked at the ruins on the screen and finally voiced the greatest hidden worry that had been weighing on his heart for days.

"The Great Cataclysm announced by the supreme will is set to descend upon Blue Planet in three years."

"But relying solely on those few wild fruits and beast meats the Challengers send back every day..."

He gave a cold laugh, his gaze sweeping over the two men.

"Can that really let us weather a world-ending natural disaster? Impossible!"

"Basic resources can at most only let us linger at death's door and survive a few days longer."

He stared back at the field of ruins on the screen.

"Risk is always tied to reward. This place Lin Ye discovered very likely hides the true bargaining chips for resisting the Great Cataclysm."

"From here on, it all depends on this kid's ability."

...

At the edge of the underground space.

Lin Ye, who was well-versed in the 'Way of Stealth,' did not act rashly.

He stomped out his torch and lay prone behind a giant rock near the passage exit.

Showing only half his head, he looked down at the city blocks below.

To the naked eye, the ruins were deathly still.

There wasn't a sound, and not even the shadow of a rat could be seen.

It was so quiet it made one's skin crawl.

But just because the naked eye couldn't see it didn't mean it was truly safe.

Eye of Destiny, activate.

His vision shifted, and the true face of the ruins was revealed in his left eye.

Dozens of red light dots of varying brightness were lurking inside those buildings, deep in the dark alleys, and beneath collapsed floorboards.

Some were motionless, quietly waiting for prey to fall into their trap.

Others were wandering within fixed areas, as if patrolling their own territory.

And deep within those ruins...

That pale golden light dot that had been attracting him all along was inside one of the ruined buildings.

Lin Ye closed his left eye and reached out to rub his slightly aching eye socket.

"I'm freaking... this trip is a high-level game!"