The End of the World, and You're Still Waiting

"Is our world... really going to be destroyed?"

This thought rose uncontrollably from countless hearts, and the entire mountain range fell into an indescribable silence.

At this moment, whether Evolver or refugee, all were overcome with immensely complex emotions.

There was reluctance, and also anticipation.

In days past, the vast majority of them had deeply hated this land.

Radiation had destroyed most people's health, and the harsh environment forced every living thing to struggle with all its might just to survive.

Yet now, watching the sky shatter, endless rain fall and flood in, as if about to drown the entire world, they felt a sense of reluctance rise within them.

After all, this was still their homeland.

On the other hand, the "Heavenly God" had reappeared and promised to lead them to a New Continent—this was undoubtedly what most of them longed for.

"Boom..."

Rain hammered the earth. Countless buildings were washed away and submerged. Snow melted on the wasteland, trees toppled. In the sky, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed endlessly.

The last traces of civilization on this land were drowned beneath the water.

Heaven and earth turned upside down—a scene of doomsday.

All humans and Mutant Beasts, faced with such heavenly might, trembled in terror, growing ever more fearful, unable to muster any will to resist.

"Rustle..."

No one knew how long had passed before the entire continent was submerged, leaving only a few high peaks still standing above the waterline.

The Western Mountains were among them.

At Lishan Martial Arts School, Lin Tuo returned the bucket to the courtyard, then subconsciously wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and let out a slow breath:

"Mm, the deterrent effect should be enough."

Flooding the land served two purposes: first, to reduce social complexity, and second, to display "heavenly might," making it easier to manage these lives going forward.

"Next is the transfer." Lin Tuo thought briefly, then finally picked up the large Potted Plant in his hands, briefly placed it into the "Isolation Shield," and then took it out again.

"Sha..." With an extremely faint sound, under the Isolation Shield's "disinfecting" effect, some small insects in the pot died in that instant, but the tree itself remained unaffected.

Then, Lin Tuo set the Potted Plant down on one corner of the long table where the Sandbox continent was placed.

It should be noted that the sandbox didn't fill the entire table—some space remained at the edges. He placed it here to use the Evolution Sandbox's power to avoid certain problems.

In fact, through observation and experimentation over this period, he had discovered that around the entire Sandbox, aside from the Isolation Shield tightly wrapped around its boundaries, there existed another invisible "barrier" at a slightly farther distance—outside the long table itself.

It had existed ever since Lin Tuo first activated the Evolution Sandbox, following some complex, unanalyzable set of Rules, isolating the Sandbox from the outside.

On one hand, it blocked stray insects or particles that might accidentally wander in, while on the other, it did not obstruct items Lin Tuo actively placed inside.

This was also why Lin Tuo had to get close when speaking into the Sandbox—once he left that invisible barrier, any sound he made would not interfere with the Sandbox's internal operations.

Moreover, it seemed to be precisely because of this barrier that only Lin Tuo, as the "host," could see the Sandbox and affect it.

In the view of others, or cameras, the Evolution Sandbox was completely invisible, let alone something they could interfere with.

"To avoid potential trouble, it's safer to keep the Potted Plant inside the barrier. This position won't disturb the Sandbox's interior either."

Silently setting the Potted Plant down, Lin Tuo turned and picked up a few wooden chopsticks and a spoon—all just found in the kitchen.

"Heh, let's start transferring the animals first, while the hypnosis effect hasn't worn off."

Lin Tuo muttered to himself, reaching the spoon toward the Western Mountains.

Wasteland, Western Mountain Range.

The torrential rain in the sky had stopped, but the earth was already a vast ocean.

The climate shift had stirred up stronger winds, forcing the humans on the mountaintops to huddle together and lie flat to keep from falling.

"The New Continent has not yet opened. The living beings of this world shall first go to the Transit Hub."

In the sky, a thunderous, supremely majestic voice fell once more, accompanied by a strange "Flying Boat" descending from above.

Made of unknown material, it crashed down with overwhelming pressure, exuding an aura of destruction.

The humans remained relatively calm, knowing this was the power of the gods.

But the Mutant Beasts, unable to understand the words, were thrown into panic, yet dared not resist—their limbs went limp as they collapsed to the ground.

In the time before, as the continent's living beings had gathered here, the various races had already undergone a differentiation.

Just as humans instinctively sought out their own kind in the face of disaster, the other Mutant Beasts, driven by instinct, had also separated into groups—which greatly convenience Lin Tuo.

The people watched as the strange "Flying Boat" slowly descended onto a distant mountain peak. Although the beasts Lin Tuo could hypnotize were not as intelligent as humans, in the natural world, they had already begun to awaken a dim awareness.

With the earlier "exercise" on the "White Paper Continent," before Lin Tuo could even forcefully drive them, some of their leaders crawled into the spoon first, and then the entire group followed their leaders inside.

"Up."

Lin Tuo carefully lifted the spoon, brought it out of the sandbox, and placed it into the "potted plant" not far away.

"Mm... to prevent future conflicts, herbivores and carnivores also need to be separated." Lin Tuo muttered to himself, placing a wooden chopstick horizontally into the flower tray to artificially divide the area.

By switching his will, he used his avatar to judge the categories of different beasts.

Thus, the humans on the Wasteland saw that mysterious "Flying Boat" appear from time to time, taking away some living beings, and then returning after a while.

Through regulation, Lin Tuo divided the flower pot into several zones. For example, he put all herbivores in one area and set humans apart in their own zone.

As for carnivores, he divided them multiple times based on predator-prey relationships—thanks to his days hunting mutated beasts on the Wasteland and his conversations with Hua Xi, Lin Tuo was quite adept at classification.

"Mm, this division should be fine. Each zone has access to a water source... at least for a short while, they'll be safe."

After all, this was just a transit hub. Lin Tuo figured he'd keep them penned up for a few days at most before moving them out.

"Then, the last to transfer are the humans."

Having settled the mutated beasts, Lin Tuo breathed a sigh of relief. In comparison, humans, who possessed intelligence, were the easiest to handle.

When the "Flying Boat" landed again, the dense crowd of humans on the Mountain Range had already formed lines under the organization of the Three Major Powers... which warmed Lin Tuo's heart a little.

"How sensible..."

With a sigh, the hundreds of thousands of humans from the Wasteland were successfully transferred into the "Transit Hub."

"Is this... is this the Transit Hub the deity spoke of?"

When the Wasteland humans stepped out of the "Flying Boat" and set foot on this strange world, similar thoughts arose in everyone's hearts as they looked up, curiously examining this realm.

"The sky here... is so strange..."

At the front of the crowd, the executive of the Burning Fire Company looked up in bewilderment, feeling the lofty, indescribable heights above and the light that seemed to come from nowhere, his heart full of astonishment.

A potted plant was far too small compared to a house, let alone compared to them.

Thus, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't make out the details of the study:

Just as Earth humans, with the naked eye, couldn't perceive the curvature of the planet.

They could feel the light but couldn't see the sun. The edge of the flower tray was already a distant horizon to them.

Let alone the finer details of the room.

"Boss! Look! There's a huge tree up ahead!" In the Floating Apocalypse group, a capable Evolver stared wide-eyed ahead and exclaimed.

Beside him, the middle-aged woman who led the entire organization also wore a stunned expression.

There, straight ahead, between heaven and earth, stood a colossal tree taller than any mountain, blotting out the sky and sun, its sprawling branches covering most of the sky.

"Beyond the Boundary, beneath the Jianmu, at noon there is no shadow, call out and there is no echo—the center of heaven and earth..."

This veteran Evolver gazed at the towering, nearly endless tree and couldn't help reciting a legend recorded in ancient texts.

"Could this be... beyond the 'Boundary'? The place where the deity dwells?"

Similar thoughts surfaced in the minds of the other humans.

After all, even in the Wasteland era, basic knowledge of this world was preserved.

People clearly understood that the land beneath their feet was not the world they knew. Combined with historical legends about the "Boundary" and the Divine Realm, making such a deduction was only natural.

"Is this... the land we'll be staying on for now?"

At the edge of a wooden chopstick, the leader of the Gray Mountain Group slowly crouched down, reached out, and grabbed a handful of warm yellow sand, letting it trickle through his fingers.

As an Evolver with keen perception, he clearly realized that this land was unpolluted.

Trembling slightly, the middle-aged man stood up and looked into the distance. In his line of sight appeared a shimmering lake beneath the "giant tree."

By now, some humans nearby had already run to the great lake, knelt on the dry sandy soil, reached out, carefully cupped some water, and tried drinking it. Their eyes lit up, and they stood up, shouting:

"This is first-grade water! No, it's even purer than first-grade water!"

On the Wasteland, most water sources were polluted to varying degrees—foul-tasting and full of toxins. Only a tiny fraction of humans could afford the repeatedly distilled first-grade water.

But here, there was an entire lake of it.

Hearing this shout, countless refugees ran to the lakeshore and burst into heartfelt cheers.

The sound was so loud that even Lin Tuo couldn't ignore it.

"What are they shouting about now..." Shaking his head, Lin Tuo withdrew his gaze, checked the potted plant to confirm nothing was amiss, and silently noted the time.

He planned to arrange feeding once he was done with this.

After all, whatever he casually threw in would probably last them a long while...

"Mm, should be all transferred cleanly." Looking away, Lin Tuo bent down to confirm, checking the Western Mountains to ensure everything had been moved.

In the desolate mountain range, only the Glazed Lamp remained quietly overturned on the ground.

Casually picking up the Glazed Lamp, Lin Tuo was about to retract his Avatar when he suddenly paused:

"It seems like there's still one person missing..."

His consciousness switched.

The next moment, the eyes of Lin Tuo's Avatar, still stationed in the mountain range, regained their vitality. He looked around and saw only an empty expanse of snowy peaks, the entire world silent and still.

Turning back toward the solitary peak, Lin Tuo soon returned to the entrance of the laboratory.

The wind and snow here had not melted.

Beneath the gloomy sky, outside the cold metal gate, only a small figure sat alone, quietly in the snow, clutching a rifle in her arms.

Staring at the lifeless world, she let out soft sobs.

Hua Xi...

Lin Tuo was startled. He quickly climbed over and arrived behind the little girl, and the sound of her sobbing grew clearer.

"Why are you crying?" Hua Xi, who was wiping her tears with her arms and grieving, suddenly heard a familiar, gentle voice from behind.

She froze, her small body trembling, then abruptly turned around, her tear-filled eyes wide:

"You... I... I thought you abandoned me..."

Lin Tuo was speechless. He walked over, slowly crouched down, and reached out to wipe the nearly frozen tears from the little girl's face:

"Why didn't you leave just now? The Glazed Lamp didn't completely seal this place; there are big gaps all around."

"Sniff..." Hua Xi sucked in her nose hard, then held back her grievance and said, "You... you said you wanted me to... to wait for you here."

"..."

Lin Tuo was silent. After a moment, he gave a helpless smile, ruffled the little girl's messy hair, and said softly:

"That's right. So I came back."

Only one chapter today... but I still shamelessly ask for recommendation tickets...