94: Chapter 94 The Call

The third day since the launch of the [pangu project].

The edge of the Abyss had completely turned into a sleepless steel hell.

The towering flames of the creation furnace scorched the gray sky into an eerie orange-red. Tens of thousands of players, like the most diligent worker ants, were engaged in a high-stakes race against time around the skeletal frame of the giant that was just beginning to take shape.

Deafening hammer strikes, the humming of rune etching, and the excited roars and crude banter of the players wove together into a wild and magnificent creation symphony belonging to the fourth calamity.

Ninth Prince stood on the highest watchtower of the sanctuary. Every time he looked down at the scene below, his Dao heart suffered a violent impact.

He saw [Immovable as a Mountain], the commander of the Pot Lid Army, bare-chested, using a giant shield engraved with 'Quality Inspection Exempt' as a makeshift forging anvil. He allowed the ten-thousand-ton hammer of an engineering puppet to slam down, and amidst the flying sparks, he was actually using this force to temper his body-protecting divine ability.

He saw [Liver Emperor V87], the chief engineer, who hadn't closed his eyes for three days and nights. His eyes were bloodshot, yet he remained fixated on the waterfall of data cascading down the light screen, muttering, 'The pressure at the No. 3 nerve bundle interface is 0.2% overloaded. Lower the ratio of Star Mithril by three microns and replace it with Deep Sea Sinking Gold! Quick! I need extreme stability!'

He even saw a group of life-skill players, led by [Skillful Hands Mending], surrounding the ankle armor of the [pangu project], arguing about whether to carve a green dragon or spray it with 'Long Live the Decepticons' paint to maximize 'intimidation' and 'aesthetics'.

This scene was filled with an absurd vitality that felt completely out of place in this doomsday wasteland.

These outlanders... It was as if they were born with the ability to turn despair into fuel and fear into power.

'Your Highness, what are you looking at?'

A calm voice sounded from behind him.

Ninth Prince turned around; it was [Outlaw Zhang San].

He didn't know when he had also stood on top of the tower, his gaze also cast toward the bustling construction site.

'I am looking at... hope,' Ninth Prince smiled bitterly. 'A kind of hope I have never understood, yet have to acknowledge exists.'

[Outlaw Zhang San] did not reply, simply pulling a wine flask from his bosom and handing it over.

The flask had a peculiar shape and a crooked label stuck to it that read—'Cures Unstable Dao Heart'.

Ninth Prince took it and tilted his head back to take a swig.

The spicy liquid burned his throat, but unexpectedly, it calmed his chaotic thoughts a little.

'Can it... the [pangu project]... really fight against the false gods?'

'I don't know,' [Outlaw Zhang San]'s reply was crisp and decisive. 'But before the results are out, we choose to believe. This is the biggest difference between us and you. You believe in history, in heritage, in established laws. We only believe... as long as you grind, anything is possible.'

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

'Hum—!'

A hum, so low it didn't sound like a sound, as if it originated directly from the depths of the soul, resonated throughout the entire Abyss without any warning!

It was not a sound wave transmitted through the air, but a resonance of a higher dimension.

Inside the sanctuary, whether it was the players working frantically or the local cultivators meditating and regulating their breath, the movements of all living beings froze at this moment.

Immediately after, a scarlet system prompt box popped up on the retinas of all players:

[Warning: World-class law resonance detected...]

[Warning: The core of the God Prison is decaying, seal integrity - 0.1% ...]

[Main Quest Update: Coordinates locked! Reach the World Hub before the last echo of the creation furnace dissipates!]

On everyone's map interface, in that area representing the deepest part of the Abyss, eternally shrouded in black mist, a faint red dot suddenly lit up, though it was dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The expressions of [Outlaw Zhang San] and Ninth Prince changed drastically at the same time.

Inside the meeting hall, the blurry spiritual body of the Ancestor projected a clearer image amidst violent flickering—it was a giant furnace whose magnificence could not be described in words. It floated silently in the endless chaos like a broken heart.

Every flicker seemed to be the last, feeble breath.

An ancient and weary consciousness poured directly into the minds of all decision-makers:

'It's too late... The remnant soul of the "Furnace Keeper" is about to be completely assimilated by the Evil God, and the source fire of the "creation furnace" is about to go out...'

'How much longer does the [pangu project] need?' Zhang San's voice carried a hint of urgency for the first time.

[The Romance of the Science Guy] pushed up the non-existent glasses on the bridge of his nose, and a stream of data flashed rapidly in his eyes:

'Report to the Commander-in-Chief, the basic skeleton completion is 72%, energy circuit laying is 41%, and weapon system mounting is 17%. At the current maximum efficiency, it will take... at least eleven more days.'

Eleven days!

But that light spot on the map probably wouldn't last even three days!

'We cannot wait,' [Outlaw Zhang San] decided decisively, his tone resolute.

'Order! From this moment on, form the [Expedition Vanguard]! It will be composed of the top combat players from the entire server and volunteer Alliance cultivators. Our mission is not a decisive battle; it is to force an advance, to carve out a bloody path to the World Hub for the subsequent main force and the [pangu project]! We must activate the external beacon of the "creation furnace" before the light spot goes out!'

Once the order was given, the atmosphere of the entire sanctuary instantly switched from the frantic 'infrastructure mode' to the cold 'war mode'.

In less than half an hour, a vanguard of five thousand elites had assembled in the square.

At the very front was [Immovable as a Mountain] and the three hundred members of the 'Pot Lid Army' under his command, all covered in heavy alloy armor, with 'Cures All Disobedience' engraved on their shields.

They were the most indestructible moving Great Wall of the Alliance.

Behind them was the 'Divine Wind Battalion' led by the PVP god [Charge to the End]. The eyes of every member were like unsheathed blades, filled with a desire for battle.

In the ranks, a petite figure stood out—it was the intelligence officer [Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet].

She was whispering with a few players skilled in stealth, assigning reconnaissance tasks one by one.

No one noticed that a nondescript communication ring on her fingertip, hidden by her sleeve, flickered imperceptibly.

Ninth Prince, along with that white-haired elder whose Dao heart had shattered and reformed, his eyes now incomparably determined, also stood in the ranks with over a hundred experts from the local cultivators.

They might still not fully understand the players, but they understood that this battle concerned the life and death of everyone.

'Set off!'

Following the order of [Outlaw Zhang San], this vanguard, carrying the hope of the entire Alliance, like an arrow shot into the darkness, charged without hesitation into the unknown chaos deep within the Abyss.

...

Deep in the Abyss, there was no sky, no earth, not even stable space.

This was the graveyard of laws, the scar of reality.

Huge, broken continental plates floated in the void like isolated islands, with ruins of the civilization from the previous epoch remaining on them.

Strips of 'space-time turbulence' flashing with colorful light, like hideous giant snakes, wove between the islands. Any matter touched by them would be instantly decomposed into the most primitive particles.

'F*ck! To the left! Everyone get the f*ck away from that light strip on the left!' [Immovable as a Mountain]'s roar rang out in the communication channel. 'Just now, some unlucky guy got grazed and disappeared from the database for ten minutes! The resurrection cost is a permanent 10% drop in all attributes! This isn't just a level drop! It's data deletion!'

This cruel reality made all the players put away their playful smiles, their expressions becoming unprecedentedly grave.

'Sizzle—'

On the flank of the team, the ground under the feet of a 'Divine Wind Battalion' rogue player suddenly turned into a pitch-black mirror surface without warning. A tentacle made of pure negative energy suddenly reached out from it, wrapped around his ankle, and dragged him in!

'Help...'

He only had time to shout one word before he was dragged into the mirror surface. That space rippled like water for a moment, then returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Another permanent loss.

A tragic atmosphere began to spread through the team.

Just then, [Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet] suddenly walked quickly to the command center and said urgently: 'Report! The reconnaissance team discovered an Alliance signal on a floating island at coordinates (73, -451)! It's the survivors from the sacred land "Tianxuan Peak". They are besieged by a large group of new-type aberrations and are about to collapse!'

There was silence in the command channel.

Making a detour for a rescue would waste at least five hours of precious time and could also cause the team to fall into unnecessary attrition.

But to stand by and watch them die...

'Save them.' A cold, clear voice sounded; it was Ninth Prince.

He clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, 'The Peak Master of Tianxuan Peak once did me a favor. Moreover, they are the sect in the sacred land most skilled in formations and restrictions. Saving them might be of great use for us to crack the defense of the "creation furnace" later.'

[Outlaw Zhang San] gazed at the map through the remote light screen, his fingers tapping gently on the table.

A few seconds later, he made his decision: '[Charge to the End], take one thousand people and carry three hundred holy light grenades to execute the rescue. After saving them, immediately rendezvous with us. Remember, our goal is to travel, not to clear out [the enemies].'

'Understood!'

Meanwhile, on a throne constructed of bones and wails, shrouded in black light.

Fairy Yunshang was lazily reclining, admiring the image in a huge water mirror in front of her.

In the image, it was the tragic state of the Tianxuan Peak survivors being besieged.

However, those 'aberrations' besieging them had strange forms, their bodies covered in a layer of cuticle that resisted all energy, only slightly weaker in defense against physical attacks.

And further away, the player rescue team led by [Charge to the End] was approaching rapidly.

'They really are... cute children,' Fairy Yunshang chuckled, her voice soft and melodious. 'Always full of unnecessary kindness and heroism.'

Her fingertips gently pinched a ['Old Dry Mother' brand holy light grenade] 'copied' from [Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet].

'Let me see just how warm the light you created with "faith" really is.'

She flicked her finger, and the holy light grenade sank into the water mirror and disappeared.

The next moment, on the battlefield of Tianxuan Peak, an identical holy light grenade appeared silently in the center of the army of aberrations.

It did not explode, but slowly melted, turning into a pitch-black, viscous liquid exuding a rich power of faith, which was greedily absorbed by all the aberrations.

'Roar—!'

The aberrations that absorbed this power began to swell violently, and on the cuticles of their bodies, golden patterns emerged that were extremely similar to the runes on the holy light grenade!

They... had been 'armed'!

When [Charge to the End] arrived with his team and threw the first real holy light grenade into the monster group, the expected overwhelming light of purification did not appear.

The moment the dazzling holy light touched the golden patterns on the bodies of the aberrations, it was absorbed completely, as if sinking into the sea.

The aura of all the aberrations did not decrease, but rose instead!

[Charge to the End]'s pupils suddenly contracted.

'Not good! It's a trap! These monsters... can devour our faith-based damage!'

Meanwhile, the main force of the vanguard, having shaken off the rescue detachment, had arrived in an even more bizarre region.

This was a silent ocean composed of pure chaos.

On the surface of the sea, countless huge remains of ancient immortals and gods were floating.

In the center of the ocean, a giant furnace with a blurry outline, exuding an aura of deathly silence, was looming.

'We've arrived...' Ninth Prince murmured, his eyes filled with shock.

Just then, a distant bell chime, as if from before the dawn of time, came from the direction of the furnace.

'Clang—!'

The bell chime struck directly upon everyone's soul.

The SAN value of all players dropped by a full hundred points in this instant!

Countless people clutched their heads and screamed, terrifying hallucinations appearing in their eyes.

The Ancestor's spiritual body fluctuated violently in the meeting hall, and a consciousness filled with murderous intent and sorrow crossed the endless space, clearly transmitted into the minds of every member of the vanguard:

'He has awakened...'

'The last warden, the gravedigger of the God Prison... is also the last prisoner.'