The Rich Rely on Technology

"Medicine... please give me some medicine..." Ling Shaomei whispered.

"The tropical plants in Area A. Go pick some triangle maple yourself and apply it externally to stop the bleeding. Then boil this bit of Chinese medicine into a decoction and drink it. It can drive the insect eggs out of your bodies." Wu Hen still had some Chinese medicine left in his pocket, so he casually tossed it to Ling Shaomei.

Old Man Ling mostly had external injuries. He just needed to stop the bleeding.

He wouldn't die.

The main thing to worry about was whether they had insect eggs inside them. Get rid of the eggs, and they had a good chance of surviving.

"Oh, oh... thank you, Wu Hen," Ling Shaomei said excitedly.

"See how many of your relatives are still alive. If you're all right, clean up this Tropical Pavilion. Then put fresh vegetables inside the double-control door every week, and check the surroundings at a set time every day. Report any hazards or changes immediately." Wu Hen promptly told Ling Shaomei what she needed to do next.

Ling Shaomei committed every instruction to memory. Although she'd worked in Wu Hen's household for several years, she now seemed to have finally embraced her role as a housekeeper, imprinting every word Wu Hen said firmly in her mind.

"Finally, put that bleeding heart of yours away. Otherwise, someone like you won't survive past the opening credits in the Desolate Dust." With that, Wu Hen turned and left.

Ling Shaomei stood there in a daze. Only now did she realize how irrational she'd become, refusing to accept her housekeeper job. She'd actually believed the man before her was a good-for-nothing heir who lived off his family.

What Ling Shaomei found hardest to accept was that the young master, who used to be so brazen with his words and shamelessly lecherous around her, had never been interested in her at all. Not before, and not now. So what right did she have to act so haughty?

After dealing with the hazards around the safe house, Wu Hen could finally go back and rest.

There was still hot water in the safe house. Soaking in the warm bath, Wu Hen relaxed all over.

He narrowed his eyes and unconsciously raised his right arm. A series of dark-gold, python-scale patterns slowly surfaced on his skin, like a tiny dragon-drake curled up on his arm, breathing in a steady rhythm.

Steam rose from the water, swirling like mist around Wu Hen's face. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the vapor condensed into droplets an inch in front of his face. The tiny beads eventually outlined another face, as if an invisible mask had settled gently over his own, giving him an air of mystery and nobility.

"Now, even Meiqing Muxiu would have to scrub my back, wouldn't she?" Wu Hen murmured.

The Desolate Dust was strange and terrifying. He needed to be strong enough.

Wu Hen felt he was already pretty tough.

But the moment he thought of Zai Wu, and of the being that could blot out Zai Wu's brilliance and create a solar eclipse, he quickly put aside his little bit of pride.

He still had to work hard. Humanity was like a bird in a forest, released into a truly primordial wilderness. He'd only glimpsed an insignificant corner of the Otherworld Desolate Dust. How much more power and the unknown lay ahead...

After all, humanity was in its current predicament because the Nuwa Divine Terminal had been damaged.

And whatever could bring the Nuwa Divine Terminal to collapse had to be a terror beyond humanity's meager understanding. He had to prepare for the day the Nuwa Divine Terminal truly fell apart, so that he and his family would still have a peaceful place to call home!

"Ming Yi's team really is strong. Once I reach the Nuwa Divine Terminal, I should do my best to join them." Wu Hen settled on a direction for his journey.

This time, he'd returned to his home directly through Yuan You, so there was no time limit.

Wu Hen planned ahead, gathering as many supplies as he could from the surrounding area to make sure his family could stay inside the safe house for a long time.

On the tenth day after returning home, another terrifying piece of news arrived.

"Wu Hen, come take a look," Wu Yingting said as he walked over to Wu Hen, who was practicing with his weapon.

Wu Hen immediately sat down. The family turned on the television, which had finally received a signal.

The TV was reporting apocalyptic news. Qiucheng, the city next to their Licheng, had fallen!

Yes, it had been completely wiped out!

Everyone in the city was dead!

"We've discovered that Qiucheng has been completely overrun by Desolate Dust parasites. They're gathering into a parasite army and attempting to break through our Silver Dome Project. So we had no choice but to send the human Order Guardian Ice Phoenix, along with ten Cryo-Fighters, to freeze Qiucheng!"

The TV showed a live feed from one of the Cryo-Fighters.

It was a bird's-eye view. Though Qiucheng was smaller than Licheng, it was still an important energy city. But now it looked as if it had been swallowed by a gigantic alien hive, and was already unrecognizable.

High in the sky stood a striking man, his body covered in a dazzling array of icy feathers. A crown of feathers like a white phoenix adorned his head. He hovered above the entire city with a noble air that seemed almost otherworldly!

A torrent of frost feathers fell from a massive vortex above him, sweeping across the entire city.

No matter how many parasite half-humans were inside the vast city, they were all frozen within a gigantic ice city. From a distance, it looked like a magnificent glacier in the polar wilderness!

"Everyone, please don't give up hope. Believe that we will protect the Nuwa Divine Terminal!"

Facing the camera, the Order Guardian known as Ice Phoenix clenched his fist, giving hope to the vast majority of people across the country who were suffering.

There was no denying that the divine power he displayed shattered many people's understanding of the world. Only then did those who'd been slow to catch on realize that a person could undergo such a transformation after entering the Desolate Dust and surviving!

That was an entire city! Even with ten Cryo-Fighters helping him, the power he displayed still shone in the eyes of the world like a dazzling god!

"Face the Desolate Dust bravely, and you too can become extraordinary like me!"

"When that time comes, join us Order Guardians and defend the homeland that belongs to humanity!"

If someone had shouted slogans like that in the past, everyone would have switched off the TV immediately. It was the kind of brainwashing marketing spiel that made people's eyes glaze over.

But when the speaker was someone who'd frozen an entire city in midair, and single-handedly wiped out the parasites within it, every word he said was like a holy proclamation, revered by the people.

The world was at its most chaotic, panicked, and disordered. People were lost and helpless. But as more and more people with extraordinary powers appeared, plenty would surely yearn to transform and evolve in their desperation!

Rather than wait for the whole world to sink into the Otherworld Desolate Dust, they might as well venture into it sooner. Perhaps they'd encounter a great opportunity and transform into an immensely powerful being like Ice Phoenix!

"What a shot in the arm! They took the terrifying news of an entire city's destruction and turned it into a declaration to fight in the Desolate Dust. They've even fashioned Ice Phoenix into a heroic figure for humanity... But how did Qiucheng fall? How many people died there? Why didn't the Order Guardians discover it sooner? They're just staying silent about all that, huh!" After watching the report, Wu Yingting fumed.

Wu Hen sat there as his right arm began to go numb.

Xiao Yi was already getting angry.

See!!

That was exactly how they did it!!

They knew the fastest, easiest way to do things. Just think of all those Insect-Eyed Half-Humans in an entire city's nest! How much Yuan You could be extracted from them? How many power sources could be squeezed out???

Wu Hen was helpless, too.

He could only placate Xiao Yi, promising that next time he entered the Desolate Dust, he'd do everything he could to court death in all sorts of creative ways and provoke Desolate Dust behemoths like Zai Wu. As long as he could lure them out, Xiao Yi could feast to its heart's content!

After hearing Wu Hen's promise, Xiao Yi finally settled down a little.

Fine. It would see how he did. If he couldn't even lure out the Great Yama, but started crying "Foster Father, save me!" when faced with some little ghosts and underlings, he'd lose so badly there'd be no coming back from it!

"Hey, don't underestimate me. I'll make a solemn vow: I won't use the Holy Father's power before the Great Yama appears!" Wu Hen swore.

Xiao Yi didn't care whether Wu Hen swore or not.

Whether it stepped in wasn't up to Wu Hen, anyway.

A host who couldn't even deal with little ghosts wasn't worth keeping.

A truly mature sugar daddy wouldn't settle for the measly scraps humans had to offer.

"Bro, isn't that person Gao Huan?" Yu Yu rarely used sign language. Instead, she wrote a line on a piece of paper.

"Now that you mention it... you're right." Wu Hen stared at the screen. At last, he recognized a familiar air in the seemingly carefree, otherworldly figure.

"That kid from the Gao family?" Wu Yingting's tone shifted.

"Honey, didn't we used to visit the Gao family often? Wu Hen and Yu Yu used to play with their kids during summer and winter vacations," Yu Yi said.

"Ah, when I still had money, they were willing to associate with us. I actually got the news about the Otherworld Desolate Dust from them. But I never imagined they were just trying to swindle me out of my money." Wu Yingting let out a long sigh.

"What did they need all that money for?" Yu Yi asked.

"To develop battle suits. Human technology is useful in the Desolate Dust, too. Maybe the Nuwa Divine Terminal protected us like a utopia to give all of humanity time to develop. Maybe it hoped our technology would reach a higher level before we faced the real world..." Wu Yingting said.

"Oh, I've seen a battle suit before." Wu Hen recalled that elegant, valiant figure in scarlet.

"You all know how our currency has gradually shifted toward digital money. Before that happened, controlling currency meant controlling manpower and energy."

"In fact, our currency was linked to Yuanyou Mineral Deposits long ago."

"Yuan You can buy you the Silver Dome's protection."

"Yuan You can buy you a weapon to use in the Desolate Dust."

"Yuan You is also essential for humans to stay lucid and return to their homes..."

"At the same time, when Yuan You is brought back to our home and decoded, the energy it releases is equivalent to that of a thermal power plant or a photovoltaic power base."

"That's why some of our electricity and communications still work, even though the world is in such chaos."

"That's right. Our home is on the brink of disaster, but humanity can also transform by obtaining more of this mysterious mineral from the Desolate Dust!"

Yu Yi and Yu Yu listened intently.

Every so often, mother and daughter nodded in perfect unison.

Wu Hen glanced at his arm, then at the dazzling, high-tech battle suit on the television, and finally summed it up:

"Basically, the poor rely on mutation, while the rich rely on technology!"

Yeah, he was purely on the mutation side!

"By the way, Xiao Yi, can you eat battle suits?" Wu Hen suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Slurp~" Xiao Yi answered with a sound that made it clear: that stuff was delicious!

Wu Hen was overjoyed!

He could have it all, too!

No wonder Xiao Yi had looked at the Order Guardian Ice Phoenix on the TV like a house cat eyeing a white sparrow on the screen, practically drooling!

It seemed the more strong people humanity produced, the more excited Xiao Yi became!

"Xiao Yi, come clean. Are you and I symbiotic because you're playing some grand game of chess?" Wu Hen asked, his suspicion plain.

Xiao Yi disdainfully replied that humanity's meager scraps weren't worth the trouble.

It had simply slipped up in a ditch!

Recommended: Check out the new book by the great urban fiction author Lao Shi.