That icy countdown was like a chisel without warmth, striking deep into everyone's soul again and again.
10.
9.
8.
This was no longer a threat, but a declaration. Like a farmer declaring which field of wheat he would harvest tomorrow, devoid of emotion, merely stating an established fact.
On the bridge of the flagship Civilization, the atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme. The human generals who had just swept through the battlefield of the Northern Jialu Continent with soaring Fighting Spirit now had all color drained from their faces. They were not afraid, but trembling from a primal instinct for survival.
The diamond-shaped black warship floated silently in the chaos beyond the crystal walls of the Primordial World, like an ancient tombstone that had stood since time immemorial. It did nothing, yet the aura it radiated—purely born for destruction—was enough to shake the Dao Hearts of Golden Immortal experts.
"Sir... what kind of monster is that?"
Earthly Sovereign Youchao Shi, the human leader famed for his composure, had trembling hands. Behind him, the phantom of the Concept Weapon, Majestic Divine City, flickered erratically, revealing the turmoil in his heart. He could feel that his power—his Human Way Power, which he had always taken pride in, enough to suppress the ages—was like a fortress built of sand before the enemy, laughably insignificant.
This was not a difference in power levels, but a... crushing gap in dimensions.
"Gestalt System? Resource Points?" Even the Sacred Fire of Civilization burning around Heavenly Sovereign Suiren Shi dimmed beneath that icy will. He gritted his teeth and forced out several words. "What arrogance! What do they take us for? Weeds by the roadside?!"
Anger was the most immediate emotion in everyone's heart.
They were being scorned, ignored, treated as resources that could be harvested at will. That humiliation was harder to bear than a direct attack.
Only Chen Ran remained standing before the Star Chart. His expression did not change much, but those familiar with him could see a storm gathering in his deep eyes.
He knew what this was.
In the world before his transmigration, countless science-fiction works had described similar things. A highly advanced Mechanical Civilization, taking logic as its highest principle and expansion and assimilation as its sole objective, roamed the universe, either formatting organic civilizations one after another or absorbing them into itself.
They had no emotions, no mercy, only calculation and execution.
They were the most terrifying locusts in the universe.
"Sir, give the order!"
"Let's fight it! Our human race would rather shatter like jade than survive like tile!"
"Even if we die, we'll tear a piece of flesh off it!"
The generals' fighting spirit had been stirred. They would rather die in battle than accept the fate of being treated as "resources."
Chen Ran slowly raised a hand, stopping their requests for battle.
"Fight?" His gaze swept over every one of them. "With what? Our main cannons, to scratch its itch?"
His words were like a basin of cold water, extinguishing everyone's fervor.
That was right. The diamond-shaped warship was several times larger than the Civilization. Judging from the energy readings returned by radar, its shield strength was more than several hundred times that of the Civilization. Even a simultaneous barrage from tens of thousands of their cannons might not leave a single mark on its armor.
Despair began to spread through their hearts.
Having just defeated Demon Master Kunpeng, their pride at being the protagonists of heaven and earth was shattered in an instant. Only then did they realize that they were frogs at the bottom of a well. Beyond the Primordial World, there existed such terrifying beings.
"But..." Chen Ran changed the subject, a smile appearing on his face that no one could understand. "What lies at the end of technology?"
He did not wait for an answer, instead answering his own question.
"Mythology."
He turned, his gaze passing through the bridge's alloy walls toward the deepest part of the flagship.
There, Nuwa's saintly incarnation slowly opened her eyes.
From the moment that diamond-shaped warship appeared, she had sensed it: an icy aura of laws utterly incompatible with the entire Primordial World, one that filled her with intense disgust.
It was a twisted form of power that had pushed "matter" and "energy" to their limits while completely abandoning "spirit" and "Dao."
[3.] [2.]
The icy countdown was about to reach zero.
The bow of the diamond-shaped black warship split apart, revealing a main cannon larger than a mountain as it began gathering terrifying energy capable of piercing through an entire major world. Its light dyed the surrounding chaos a ghastly white.
"Sir..." Even the voices of the Three Sovereigns trembled.
Chen Ran ignored them. His will rang directly within Nuwa's Nascent Soul.
"Your Ladyship, do you remember the 'Dimensional Strike' I mentioned to you?"
Nuwa's incarnation said nothing.
"Technological civilizations cannot understand mythology. They can calculate every parameter of a stellar explosion, yet they cannot comprehend why a single drop of water can drown the Three Realms. They can analyze the formula for the strongest alloy, yet they cannot understand why a blade of grass can sever the sun, moon, and stars."
Chen Ran's will carried an unprecedented vigor.
"Today, let these self-righteous tin cans witness it."
"What a saint truly is."
[1.] [Countdown complete.] [Executing 'formatting' procedure.]
The icy will descended.
That ghastly-white torrent of energy, condensed to the extreme, tore through chaos and blasted toward the human fleet, toward the entire Primordial World, at faster-than-light speed!
Before this attack, even the laws of space became incomparably fragile, while time itself seemed to stretch.
Everyone who saw this scene had only blankness left in their minds.
It was over.
Yet at that very moment.
A figure silently appeared at the very front of the human fleet.
It was Nuwa.
She simply stood there, her palace attire fluttering in the wind, her face devoid of expression.
She summoned no magical treasure, nor did she unleash any earth-shaking aura.
She merely extended one slender, jade-like finger.
Toward that torrent of energy capable of destroying the world, she lightly tapped.
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