World's Cancer, Ember of Hope

Chen Ran's question was like an invisible shackle, locking down all the flying ships attempting to escape.

The gazes of all Immortals, Gods, Demons, and Monsters were fixed intently on the two images.

On the left was Emperor Withered Bone.

Though he was a skeletal figure, there was a strange sense of "perfection" about him.

Every one of his bones seemed like an artwork sculpted by the Great Dao itself, containing the ultimate mysteries of the Laws of Death.

His existence was the personification of "eternity" and "immortality."

On the right was the Mechanical Immortal.

It was twisted, ugly, and full of the marks of being pieced together and mended.

It was clumsily imitating that form of "immortality" using external force and technology.

Between the two was the gap between a shoddy imitator and a perfect creator.

Everyone understood Chen Ran's meaning.

The ultimate goal pursued by the Star Devourer Civilization, their so-called "Mechanical Immortality," its final form was to become a being like Emperor Withered Bone!

This discovery was more chilling than the appearance of the Underworld itself.

"So... that's how it is..."

Guang Chengzi's lips trembled.

"The end of eternal life is not transcendence, but... becoming a monster."

"This isn't the Great Dao at all!"

An Immortal from the Intercepting Sect roared.

"This is a curse! A plague! Any civilization that attempts to touch eternity will eventually be assimilated by it, becoming a part of it!"

They finally understood.

Why Emperor Withered Bone carried an aura that felt familiar yet terrifyingly dreadful.

Because that was precisely the "immortality" they all yearned for, pursued through countless years of cultivation!

But when this "immortality" appeared before them in its true, ugly form, it brought only endless disgust and fear.

"It's a cancer."

Nuwa's voice echoed in the bridge, filled with deep exhaustion.

"A cosmic-level cancer cell."

"It infects all worlds that crave eternal life, devouring them and turning them into something like itself."

"We... have nowhere to run."

This statement completely extinguished the last shred of hope in everyone's hearts.

Run?

Where could they run?

As long as they still pursued longevity and the Great Dao, they could never escape the ultimate fate of this "cancer cell."

Despair, at this moment, transformed into rage.

A violent, unvented fury needed an outlet.

"It's all your fault!"

A Demon Marshal suddenly pointed towards the flagship, towards Chen Ran.

"It's you! It's you who initiated this 'Bloody Wanted List'!"

"It was you who provoked Old Ancestor Fuhai! You who opened this gate to hell!"

"You who summoned this monster!"

This accusation instantly ignited the entire fleet.

"Yes! Him!"

"A mortal! What right does he have to boss us around!"

"If it weren't for him, we'd still be in the Primordial Era, still guarding our own dojos!"

"Hand over command!"

"Get out of our fleet!"

Angry roars converged into a terrifying wave, aiming to swallow Chen Ran whole.

The alliance members who had just created a miracle under his command now wanted to tear him to pieces.

Guang Chengzi and the Immortals of the Heavenly Origin Sect watched with cold eyes.

Zhao Gongming and the disciples of the Intercepting Sect frowned, but did not intervene.

The order of the alliance, in the face of absolute fear, collapsed once again.

Inside the bridge, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Youchao Shi and the other Human Race high-ranking officials had already drawn their weapons, shielding Chen Ran behind them.

Chen Ran looked at the distorted faces on the screen, twisted by fear.

He felt no anger, nor disappointment.

He calmly brought up another document.

It was the most detailed investigation report on Old Ancestor Fuhai.

He made the report public.

"Look closely."

His voice drowned out all the roars.

"The four locations where Old Ancestor Fuhai established the Blood Sacrifice Array are Mount Kunlun, the East Sea, Mount Nanming, and the North Sea."

"The Heavenly Net System conducted a deep scan of the ley lines there."

"These arrays were not built recently."

Chen Ran's finger swept across the screen.

Groups of ancient geological scan maps appeared before everyone.

"Their foundations are buried thirty thousand zhang beneath the ley lines. The rock layers above them can be traced back to before the Witch-Demon Cataclysm."

"Old Ancestor Fuhai is not the builder of the arrays."

"He is merely a gatekeeper, a key responsible for offering the sacrifice at the final moment."

Chen Ran's gaze swept over the astonished faces.

"You thought that if we didn't hunt him down, this door wouldn't open?"

"You were wrong."

"This door was destined to open from the era of the Witch-Demon Cataclysm."

"Old Ancestor Fuhai's blood sacrifice was merely a trigger, a coordinate."

"Its true purpose is not to summon Emperor Withered Bone."

Chen Ran switched the screen.

On the light screen, the monstrous blood waves of the Netherworld Blood Sea appeared, along with Ancestor Minghe's grim face.

"His true purpose is to send a 'letter of allegiance' to a certain being."

"Ancestor Minghe is not trying to incite chaos within the Primordial Era."

Chen Ran uttered the truth, word by word, that froze everyone's souls.

"What he wants to do is to sacrifice the entire Primordial Era to exchange for the 'favor' of that Emperor Withered Bone, allowing himself to become an 'immortal' being like him!"

"From the very beginning, our enemy was never the Mechanical Civilization."

"But these two, one inside and one outside, are peerless fiends who want to devour our entire world!"

The entire fleet fell into deathly silence.

This truth was too cruel, too heavy.

They thought they were facing a war they could resist.

They never imagined they were already the sacrifices placed on the dining table, waiting to be carved up.

In the midst of this suffocating silence.

A sharp, top-level alarm suddenly sounded.

"Alarm! High-energy life form detected approaching at high speed!"

"Identifying signal... Golden Crow Bloodline!"

"It's Crown Prince Lu Ya!"

This news invigorated everyone.

Xihe instantly rushed to the screen.

A small shuttle was seen desperately rushing from the depths of Chaos.

And behind it, a streak of bloody light was in hot pursuit, emitting a pure aura of slaughter.

It was the Yaksa King!

He wasn't dead!

And he had chased them all the way here!

What made everyone's scalp tingle even more was.

On the shuttle, only Lu Ya's life signal was detected.

Xing was gone.

A weak transmission from Lu Ya, using his last ounce of strength, connected to the flagship.

It wasn't a sentence, nor a word.

It was a single character, repeating in a loop.

"Moon!"

"Moon!"

"Moon!"