The sound of gunfire in Yangcheng's East District echoed continuously until dawn.
Although these corrupted looked terrifying and were stronger than ordinary humans, they were still no match for bullets.
The Yangcheng garrison, along with the inspectors and the Security Bureau—tens of thousands of personnel in total—fought through the night. Only after they had gunned down nearly a hundred thousand corrupted did the gunfire finally begin to subside.
On a street near the edge of the East District, smoke was still wafting from the tank barrels. The surrounding soldiers had bloodshot eyes, and their hands trembled slightly.
Even men made of iron could not withstand firing weapons continuously for an entire night without pause.
The street before them was riddled with craters and soaked in green and black blood. Severed limbs and shattered remains of the corrupted were piled over a meter high.
Behind the street, a large black truck pulled up. Inside its cargo container was the temporary command post.
Wang Hai leaned back in his seat, his eyes bloodshot. “Any news? Have we established contact with the Capital?”
“Team Leader Wang, the electronic equipment that was jammed by those monsters was repaired a few hours ago,” the communications agent in front replied. “We sent a message to the Capital immediately, but there has been no response.”
Hearing this, Wang Hai felt a heavy weight settle in his chest.
The higher-ups had long known that they had been controlled by the Church of the Earth Mother. Now that the Church had been driven out of Yangcheng, he wasn't sure if the higher-ups were still willing to accept them back.
Beep, beep, beep!
Just then, the communication console chimed. The agent answered it, his expression instantly turning respectful. He quickly turned to Wang Hai. “Team Leader Wang, it's Minister Lu on the line!”
The events in Yangcheng had already spread across the globe. Photos of various battles and monsters were popping up all over the internet.
Even outside of Qiandu Forum, a massive number of videos were circulating. It was no longer something any official authority could suppress.
Naturally, the most active hub remained Qiandu Forum. A large number of supernatural-related posts had already been circulating there before, and now, foreigners were downloading the app in droves.
Among them, the most popular post had already surpassed two billion views.
The post contained only a single photo: a massive, winged silver dragon-man.
Old White: “The world is changing. Where can I find an opportunity to become supernatural? I want to be one too.”
Shiva Bless: “Is this dragon-man real? It's so massive. Why have we never heard any news about it before?”
Archangel: “I looked at other threads, and so many people died in Yangcheng. Thank goodness this didn't happen in our Coalition, or we'd be doomed.”
Bean: “Now that these things have appeared, what are we ordinary people supposed to do? Just the aftershocks of their battles could kill us. Word has it that the Nanming Kingdom's government previously used nuclear weapons against an evil god called the Earth Mother and still failed. Is humanity facing an existential crisis?”
The post's traffic was still growing by tens of millions of views per hour. Within this single day, even the most underdeveloped regions of the world had come to realize that the world was about to change.
While everyone in the world was worrying about the future, a different scene was unfolding elsewhere.
By a seashore, the massive body of the Lord of Evil was pinned to the ground.
It glared viciously at Zhao Jin.
But Zhao Jin ignored it. He cast his gaze over to his Destiny Force.
After making the wish to bring about changes to the world, his Destiny Force had surged even higher than the feedback the Earth Mother had brought him.
Destiny Force: 8,960,000 strands!
The number was still climbing. With a global population of 5.7 billion, the subsequent changes that would unfold would undoubtedly bring him even more.
“At this rate, it might break ten million, or even reach twenty million. But that will have to wait until a month from now, once the altered air has completely enveloped the globe.”
Watching the steadily rising Destiny Force, Zhao Jin muttered in his mind, “I wish that my consciousness can connect to a space exclusive to me. Time within this space must be frozen, and it must be capable of storing both living and non-living things. Let the upper limit of Destiny Force be set at one hundred thousand.”
The Destiny Force shimmered slightly, and one hundred thousand strands vanished.
In the next instant, Zhao Jin felt a peculiar speck appear in his mind.
He sank his consciousness into his mind, and right beneath his status panel, a golden speck of light emerged.
Zhao Jin's consciousness touched the speck.
Hum!
The surrounding space suddenly shifted, and he found himself standing in a vast, empty white space.
The white space stretched out endlessly, with no end in sight.
Before Zhao Jin's eyes, a new ability manifested.
【Conscious Space】: A space measuring one million meters in length, width, and height. It can collect and store any items and energy that can fit inside. All items and energy within this space are in a state of frozen time!
Looking at the ability, Zhao Jin nodded in satisfaction. One million meters translated to one thousand kilometers. If he wanted to, he could easily store the very land beneath his feet.
Zhao Jin's consciousness exited the space, and he glanced at the Lord of Evil, who was still glaring at him.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he released the Gravity pinning the Lord of Evil's mouth. “I'll give you a chance. Follow me from now on.”
Strictly speaking, this thing was a god. Furthermore, the Destiny Force it had lost would slowly recover over time. If it took the initiative to orchestrate major incidents, it could even accelerate the process.
Hearing this, rage flared on the Lord of Evil's face. “This King once ruled the world and slaughtered gods! You opportunistic bastard, I will never bow my head to you!”
Looking at its unyielding expression, Zhao Jin's smile remained unchanged. With a mere thought, he activated his power.
Gravity seized a single dragon scale on the Lord of Evil's body.
Splat!
The dragon scale was violently ripped off. The Lord of Evil's expression didn't even flicker as it sneered, “Do you really think this King fears your torture? I'll say it again: this King will never serve as a subordinate to any existence!”
It was no joke; it had been born from malice itself. Even if its physical body died, it would at most have to wait a thousand years before resurrecting from malice once more.
“Well, there's no helping then. I don't like forcing people, so I'll just have to put you to good use as raw materials.” Zhao Jin extended both hands, a sinister look on his face.
At the same time, a thought crossed his mind: “I wish that when I attack immortal existences, their immortality effects will vanish. Let the upper limit of Destiny Force be set at five hundred thousand!”
He knew how unique the Lord of Evil was, so he did not skimp on Destiny Force.
Hum!
The Destiny Force shimmered slightly. In the next instant, Zhao Jin's brow furrowed.
The Destiny Force had not been successfully deducted. Instead, a line of text materialized before him.
【The defined ability targets the source directly, far exceeding the set limit of five hundred thousand Destiny Force. The required Destiny Force for this ability is one million two hundred thousand. Do you wish to proceed?】
“Proceed!” This was the first time he had encountered such a situation, but fortunately, he had more than enough Destiny Force to spare.
The Destiny Force shimmered once more, leaving him with 7.66 million strands.
A new ability appeared before Zhao Jin.
【Origin Slayer】: All of your attacks can ignore the target's immortality, resurrection, and clones to directly execute their origin!
Looking at the newly acquired ability, Zhao Jin's smile widened so much his face almost split. “So this is what a million-level ability is like? Truly terrifying.”
He resumed his assault on the Lord of Evil.
Splat! Splat!
The dragon scales on the Lord of Evil's body were ripped off one after another, and its wings were severed by a Slash. The moment these parts left the Lord of Evil's body, they vanished, collected directly into his Conscious Space.
Zhao Jin's dismantling speed was incredibly fast. The Lord of Evil felt a wave of excruciating pain wash over its entire body.
Before it could even process what was happening, its limbs vanished, and its dragon tendons were forcibly extracted by Gravity.
“Roar!” The agonizing pain forced a roar from the Lord of Evil, and an unprecedented panic welled up in its heart.
This kid was actually dismantling it—and doing so while it was still alive! Even the silver blood flowing from its wounds was being collected, without a single drop going to waste.
Splat!
The Lord of Evil's back was sliced open, the incision running all the way down to expose its shimmering, silver spine.
Splat!
Gravity yanked the spine out, tearing away large chunks of dragon flesh along with it.
“Roar!!!” The Lord of Evil screamed in agony, its dragon head thrashing violently against the ground, its eyes wide with terror.
At this moment, it was truly terrified. It could feel its very connection to malice being peeled away.
This unprecedented sensation was far more terrifying than having its bones and tendons ripped out.
Staring at Zhao Jin's sinister smile, the Lord of Evil quickly cried out, “I'll follow you! Stop, please! I'll follow you! I'll be your subordinate from now on!”
At this moment, it no longer referred to itself as “this King,” nor did it put on a tough front.
Yet, Zhao Jin acted as if he hadn't heard its pleas, continuing with his Slashes and Gravity.
Flesh vanished, organs vanished, and the massive dragon-man was soon reduced to nothing but an eleven-meter-long dragon head.
“No, stop! I can still be of use!” The dragon head thrashed wildly on the ground.
The Lord of Evil screamed frantically. Its connection to malice was almost entirely severed, and the prospect of true death filled it with absolute dread.
Zhao Jin looked at it with a faint smile. “And here I thought you'd stay stubborn until the very end. I didn't expect you to break so quickly.”
The Lord of Evil forced a smile that looked uglier than crying. “It's not that I'm weak-willed... I've simply been awed by your supreme power. It is an honor for me, the Lord of Evil, to serve as a lackey to a powerhouse like you.”
Zhao Jin looked down at it and said calmly, “Wouldn't it have been better if you had just submitted sooner? I won't be returning your physical body to you, but I will allow you to regrow it.”
With that, a thought stirred in Zhao Jin's mind: “I wish that one percent of the Conscious Space can have its time flow freely adjusted, with added functions to restore physical body, spirit, and destiny. Let the cost be set at one hundred thousand Destiny Force!”
The Destiny Force was successfully deducted, and text materialized before Zhao Jin once again.
【Conscious Space】: New effect: One percent of the area can have its time flow freely adjusted, with a maximum acceleration of one hundred thousand times. Any living being within this area will receive comprehensive healing! (The space will automatically absorb various external energies to fuel the healing process!)
Seeing Zhao Jin fall silent again, the Lord of Evil quickly added, “It's fine, it's fine! As long as you spare my consciousness, I will eventually return to my peak!”
“Stop babbling and get in,” Zhao Jin said with a thought.
The Lord of Evil suddenly felt its surroundings shift. It found itself inside a pure white space of immense proportions.
Hum!
Translucent currents of air spontaneously formed in the surrounding space and began to merge into the Lord of Evil's head.
At its neck, tiny fragments of white bone slowly began to form.
At the same time, the time flow within this area was dialed up by Zhao Jin to its maximum of one hundred thousand times. For every single day that passed in the outside world, one hundred thousand days would pass inside.
Rate on N.U.
