Remnants of the Old Days

The smoke cleared, leaving devastation everywhere.

Although they had successfully defended the area, the price had been terrible.

"Bzz... bzz..."

Amid a teeth-grinding screech of fatigued metal, the black Mecha that had charged through the sea of fire again and again crashed to its knees. The cockpit hatch barely sprang open, releasing a pungent burnt smell.

Vanguard Across the Realm crawled out, filthy and bedraggled. Looking at the nearly melted heap of scrap metal before him, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

[System Notification: Your Mecha "Titan's Fist" has suffered a core engine meltdown. The left-arm transmission system has been scrapped.]

[Repair Assessment: Requires 2,000,000 Bio-Energy + vast quantities of materials.]

[Appendix: Materials List]

[Recommendation: Scrap it directly.]

"Five million to build it, and it lasted four hours before going bang."

Vanguard Across the Realm's heart bled. The thing had indeed been fierce and helped them withstand the most difficult first wave of impact, but its attrition rate against high-temperature enemies was simply outrageous.

"Brother Feng, out with the old, in with the new."

Beside him, Dragon Fighting in the Wild's Mecha was also battered beyond recognition, its coating completely stripped away. But because it was a heavy-duty model, its frame remained intact. He smugly patted the Mecha's leg. "Looks like piling on armor still works. As long as it doesn't fall apart, it can still be used after some repairs."

Vanguard Across the Realm ignored him and looked instead at his wildly flashing experience bar.

This defensive battle, combined with the massive experience from killing the Flame Demon Lord earlier, had finally pushed him past that threshold.

[System Notification: Congratulations, you have leveled up! Current Level: LV.27!]

[Potential Points Gained: 1.]

[Remaining Potential Points: 2.]

Chen Feng took a deep breath and opened the Talent Tree.

At LV.20, he had unlocked [Neural Sequence] and decided to go all in with ten points. At LV.23 and LV.25, he had respectively invested in [Bullet Time] and [Micron-level Manipulation]. Now, two enhanced versions of first-tier talents remained.

[Talent Tree - Neural Sequence (Second Tier)]

[Spend 2 Potential Points to unlock Talent: [Intermediate Synaptic Acceleration]]

[Intermediate Synaptic Acceleration]:

Description: Your neural signal transmission speed has surpassed the limits of carbon-based organisms. Your brain can process multiple threads simultaneously.

Reality Projection: Your thought speed will exceed that of ordinary people by twice as much. The world will forever appear in slow motion to you. You can even see a bullet spinning inside the chamber.]

"Buzzz—"

As the talent point was spent, Chen Feng felt a roar erupt from the depths of his brain.

The previously chaotic battlefield suddenly became layered and distinct in his ears. The movement of the distant wind, the vibrations of Zhao Kuo's Mecha engine, even every speck of dust drifting through the air—all of it was infinitely magnified and analyzed by his senses.

He casually grabbed a handful of ash and released it.

In his vision, the ash fell at an astonishingly slow speed. Before it reached the ground, he even had time to draw his dagger, flick the larger, incompletely burned particles away in midair, then sheathe the blade again.

By the time the ash landed, the particles he had knocked away had only just bounced up.

"Whew..."

Chen Feng let out a breath of stale air, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. The frustration of his Mecha exploding vanished completely.

"No need to dwell on it. Surpassing Mecha combat power is only a matter of time."

At the edge of the battlefield, the distribution of [Titan Blood] had already concluded.

On the other side, the [Silver Wing Sentinel] lingering on the battlefield became the new center of attention.

Like after the previous battles, most Silver Wing Sentinels left without looking back. But these several hundred [Silver Wing Sentinel Rangers (LV.20)] with golden symbols above their heads coldly watched the players.

[Employment Contract]

[Price: 100,000 Bio-Energy + 10 [Blue Flame Crystals]]

[Feature: Unlimited employment. As long as you can afford it, you can bring an entire company of sentinels.]

[Ability: Potent Enzymolysis (Armor Break).]

"One hundred thousand each? And they're only LV.20?"

Many ordinary players immediately backed off. The price was higher than most The Ancient, and these things looked fragile. They did not seem nearly as durable as The Ancient.

But for high-end players, they were divine artifacts.

"As long as they can break armor, they're daddy!"

Zhao Kuo waved his hand grandly and directly brought out his entire fortune to hire twenty sentinels.

"Daddy!"

"Come on, form two lines! From now on, when we head out, you'll be responsible for peeling off the monsters' hides, and I'll be responsible for smashing them to death with one hammer!"

Soon, a strange sight appeared on the battlefield:

High-end player groups were often followed by crowds of silver sentinel bodyguards, shining wherever they went. Ordinary players, meanwhile, could only bring a few blue Slimes along to pick through the leftovers.

After finishing their repairs and rest, several first-echelon players discussed the matter and decided not to continue deeper into the Duan Bronchus for the time being—

Preliminary estimates suggested that there were at least LV.40 boss units inside. At the current stage, however many players went in would probably die.

Chen Feng opened the map and pointed at a side passage branching off from the Duan Bronchus.

"If the main route won't work, let's check over there. The scouts reported that the airflow there is strange. It's completely still."

"It seems the Crimson Boat can't pass through. We'll need some special method."

Coordinates: Right Lower Lobe - B-404 Side Bronchus Exterior.

"There's no road ahead, Guild Leader."

The scout pointed forward.

The rushing Crimson Galaxy abruptly ended here, like a waterfall plunging off a cliff. Ahead was a pitch-black Void, with only the faint blue B-404 area visible in the distance.

"The Red Blood Cells can't enter. How are we supposed to cross?" Dragon Fighting in the Wild frowned.

"Walk a tightrope."

Vanguard Across the Realm checked the intelligence provided by the earlier exploration team and pointed at several gigantic gray-white cables connecting both sides of the Void—those were [Hardened Collagen Fiber Bundles] left behind after necrosis.

The enormous fiber bundles stretched into the endless Void, their lengths impossible to determine.

As tough connective tissue, necrotic vascular fibers would not collapse. Instead, they formed countless gray-white Hardened Collagen Fiber Bundles as thick as cables on a sea-crossing bridge, spanning the dark Abyss and connecting the distant regions.

This was a Sky Road built from fibers!

"Artisan Group! Make [Bone Pulleys] on the spot! One for each person!"

"Hook them on! Slide across!"

"Hold tight! If you fall, you die!"

After a long, nerve-racking slide, everyone finally set foot on solid ground.

When the joint exploration team of roughly five hundred people from the three major guilds entered this area, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

There was no howling wind, no sea of fire, not even the roar of monsters.

There was only deathly silence.

The mucosa beneath their feet was no longer healthy pink or restless crimson. Instead, it had become a lifeless gray-black—this was [Necrotic Tissue].

"This place... is dead."

Data Maniac looked at the detector. "There's no oxygen exchange and no blood flow. All the cells here have already undergone apoptosis."

The group continued deeper. Within the dim Necrotic Tissue, faint blue lights unexpectedly flickered.

"This is..."

As they drew closer, everyone finally saw what lay before them—

It was actually a city?!

It was a cluster of buildings constructed from countless glowing fungal filaments, calcified bone, and a crystal-like material. They clung to the necrotic airway walls, radiating a soft yet desolate glow.

At the center of the city stood a gigantic, shriveled, broken tower of flesh—it was a [Necrotic Nerve Bundle].

"Someone's here?"

Zhao Kuo tightened his grip on the War Hammer in his hand.

A group of strange creatures emerged from those crystal buildings.

They were only about a meter tall, translucent throughout their bodies and emitting a pale blue fluorescence. Their forms were not fixed, like masses of luminous mist with limbs, and each held an exquisite [Bio-Luminescent Staff].

[Neutral Civilization: Photonic Bacteria (Titan Kin)]

[Race: Mutated Probiotic / Symbiote Civilization]

[Level: LV.1 - LV.35]

[Status: Wary / Weak / Faith Collapsed]

"Outsiders..."

The elderly Luminous One leading them, LV.35, trembled as it raised its staff. Its voice did not travel through the air, but through weak bioelectric waves that rang directly inside the players' minds.

That voice was filled with the weight of time and despair.

"Have you come to plunder the last remaining spark as well?"

Chen Feng raised a hand, signaling everyone not to attack, then stepped forward.

"We are Titan Kin, here to clear the infection."

"Kinfolk?"

Confusion flashed through the elder's cloudy eyes of light, only to turn into deep sorrow.

It pointed at the withered Neural Tower.

"Too late... it is too late."

"The Thunder Messenger died long ago."

"Since the Sky Road was severed, we have never heard Father God's voice again. No nourishing rain falls from the sky, and the earth no longer delivers nutrients."

The elder's body hunched over, its glow so dim that it seemed ready to go out at any moment.

"We are Tower Guardians. Generation after generation, we guarded the signal tower here, waiting for the day Father God would awaken."

"But... hundreds of years have passed. There has only been silence. Endless silence."

"Our people... can barely hold on any longer."

Within Titan's body, which could be called magnificent, countless living beings had originally existed, including many highly advanced civilizations. They all shared one identity—Titan Kin.

Living inside it, they received Divine Grace while also shouldering their responsibilities.

But during the God War, the nerve bundles had been severed, Neurons died, blood vessels became necrotic, and the blood supply was cut off. The Photonic Bacteria Civilization had been isolated from the world ever since, struggling bitterly in a region with almost no resources and near-total necrosis.

The crushing sense of a civilization slowly dying in confinement and despair left every player present silent.

—Most of them did not actually understand, but that did not stop them from feeling sorrowful.

In any case, this was a living microscopic race that had held on through despair for countless years.

Data Maniac rapidly recalled his physiology knowledge, roughly understood what was happening, and whispered a few words to Thunder King.

Thunder King stepped out of the crowd with a baffled expression.

The aura of [Thunder Lord] radiated from him, crackling arcs of electricity flashing across his body.

The instant the first strand of blue current leaped through the air, the elder suddenly raised its head. Those dim eyes burst forth with blinding light!

"This... this fluctuation..."

It stretched out a trembling hand, wanting to touch the current, yet looking as though it were making a pilgrimage.

"Thunder! It is the aura of thunder!"

"The Sky Road... the Sky Road is connected?!"

The elder suddenly turned around and let out a heart-rending cry toward the deathly silent city behind it.

"My people! Wake up! Wake up, all of you!"

"Look! A new Thunder Messenger has arrived! Father God has not abandoned us!!"

Buzzz—!

The formerly silent city instantly erupted.

Countless blue lights poured out of the buildings as tens of thousands of Photonic Bacteria gathered in the square. They looked at Lei Zhen with devout eyes, as if a god had descended before them.

[Hidden Epic Quest Triggered: Remnants of the Old Days: Light the Lost Lighthouse]

[Background]: During Titan's long slumber, this region became an island of information due to neural necrosis. The Symbiote Civilization here has guarded the last signal tower in despair.

[Objectives]:

Restart the Sky Road: Have [Thunder Lord] inject a massive amount of electrical energy into the withered Neural Tower, activating the dormant nerve endings.

Clear the Bloodline: Rebuild the Crimson Channel and restore the blood supply.

[Rewards]:

Favorability: Gain the permanent friendship of the Photonic Bacteria race.

Special Unit: Unlock employment authorization for [Light Spirit Mages].

Area Unlock: B-404 will be converted into a high-level safe zone / special plantation.]

"This game..."

Data Maniac pushed up his glasses. Looking at the blue little people crying bitterly before him, even his absolutely rational heart welled up with an indescribable emotion.

"We can actually save a civilization..."

Lei Zhen took a deep breath. "Then let's give them some hope."

"All Thunder Lords, get over here! Charge it up!"

"But how do we repair the Crimson Channel?"

For a moment, everyone was stumped.

Data Maniac, however, revealed a confident smile.

"Call for reinforcements! Life Weavers, as many as possible!"

"Have Life Sages and Flesh Artisans directly reconnect the blood vessels, break through this natural barrier, and build a super project comparable to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau."

"Let's light up this silent Star River once more!"