Ten Years Gone By

Spring, summer, autumn, winter—each vanished in the blink of an eye.

Before anyone knew it, ten years had passed without a sound.

To most long-lived beings, ten years was very, very short.

In Infinite City, all life was divided into two categories: intelligent life and non-intelligent life.

Those two categories were further divided into highly intelligent life, minimally intelligent life, mobile life, and stationary life.

There was another way to classify life, using lifespan as the measure: short-lived species, long-lived species, and ageless species.

Short-lived species were easy to understand. Any creature with a lifespan of no more than a thousand years belonged to this category. Most humans, without question, were classified as short-lived.

Long-lived species had lifespans exceeding a thousand years—sometimes ten thousand, a million, or even a hundred million. Their defining trait, however, was that even if nothing unexpected happened, they would still die one day.

Simply put, long-lived species could still die of old age. Their lifespans had limits.

Ageless species were simpler still. Barring an accident, they could live forever. Their lifespans had no limits.

The Looting Emperor was a long-lived being. His lifespan was extraordinarily long. Though he would die one day, that day was still far, far away, and he had plenty of time to make breakthroughs—or squander it.

The Black Demon Fish, on the other hand, was ageless. Lifespan meant nothing to it. As long as no one killed it, it would go on living.

For players, ten years was no short time. Many had advanced on the front lines of the Sea of Heroes, while others had gone bankrupt through bad luck.

The Sea of Heroes had become something like a dungeon to the players. Every day, players came to farm monsters.

The Black Demon Fish and the Looting Emperor both realized