This feeling...
Each pounding heartbeat was like rolling thunder, brimming with surging vitality.
Luo Shu lowered his head and panted, his eyes filled with shock. He keenly sensed his body changing; his metabolism alone had accelerated by hundreds or even thousands of times.
It was as though he had shattered the invisible shackles binding him. The entire world became brighter in his eyes.
Not only had his five senses been enhanced, but even the speed of his brain had increased a hundredfold.
He was now practically an overclocked computer. The calculus and geometric diagrams from his previous life were mere child's play to him now. Any data could be effortlessly processed by his current brain.
Luo Shu felt terrifyingly calm.
Calmer than Sage Mode, his heart as still as dead water, without the slightest ripple.
It was far too difficult for humans to achieve this. As creatures born with all manner of desires, no one could maintain absolute calm. Most of the time, it was merely an adjective; for anyone to truly become calm...
Yes, truly and completely calm—it was almost impossible.
Yet he had done it. It was as simple as breathing, etched into his genes.
Just as a newborn knew to drink milk, absolute calm was his instinct.
Luo Shu quickly sat before his computer, his gaze tranquil.
After considering it from several angles, he decided to write Nasu Kinoko's short story "Steel Land," localizing it to some extent in order to make it more immersive.
Steel Land: as its name implied, it referred to land as hard as steel. It metaphorically suggested that the earth had become barren and steel-colored. Humanity's endless consumption and exploitation had caused the planet to lose its vitality and enter death.
Food could no longer be grown, and the atmosphere was no longer as suitable for animal survival as it had once been.
Most of the continents had become cracked wildernesses, while the sky was covered in gray and murky white clouds.
Earth had reached its end, becoming a dying planet.
This novel also had an apocalyptic setting, and compared to other doomsday theories, it was closer to reality.
Existing apocalyptic theories were often Christian "Great Flood" extinction theories, as well as "comet strikes Earth" theories, "zombie apocalypse" theories, and so on...
Since billions around the world believed in Christianity, flood apocalypse theories had the largest market.
This was also related to genetics. Ancient peoples all lived near rivers, and had unforgettable memories of floodwaters overflowing and destroying everything. Every ethnic group had legends of world-ending disasters, and that fear had endured into modern times.
However, the popular doomsday theories on the market all carried a sense of needless worry.
That was why Luo Shu had decided to write a more interesting apocalypse—one that would send chills down people's spines and make them worry it might really happen.
At the same time, he was writing Steel Land because he loved this work, where all humanity was great.
The world was dead?
No problem. Humanity could keep going!
The world thought it was bad for humanity to live before it died, so it found someone to wipe humanity out?
No problem. They would strike back directly. Humanity had even cut down a few Ultimate Ones as powerful as planets!
Even if this continuation could only be maintained through "species modification" of humanity, it was enough to make people incomparably proud. The spirit of unceasing self-improvement shone like gold, illuminating the long night ahead of humanity!
Especially the setting of the Slash Emperor—destroying the world in order to protect humanity. That was the attitude humanity should have toward the world.
There had never been any savior, nor could they rely on gods or God!
To create humanity's happiness, they had to dig for it with their own hands!
Luo Shu took a deep breath.
He opened Twitter, registered an account, put on a pseudonym, chose the nickname "Merlin," and used Divine Authority Jade to alter and conceal himself.
He clicked in.
The post editor.
Gender: Confidential
Age: Confidential
Occupation: Confidential.
Hometown: Confidential.
Bio: No guarantee of completion, no guarantee of filling plot holes, no answers, no friend requests, no publication...
I write, you read. Please be quiet.
Then.
Luo Shu slowly closed his eyes. Countless sparks of inspiration burst through his mind, eventually combining with his memories to form the most exquisite article.
Amid rapid clattering keystrokes, lines of black text appeared across the screen.
Humanity's Final Ending · Part One: Steel Land.
Chapter One.
Act One—Gaia's Death.
That day, the aurora was dazzling.
That day, the end arrived.
Bone-deep despair, suffocating sorrow—at the end of resource depletion, where was humanity's path forward?
Before their eyes stood a modern city, prosperous and bustling, with people coming and going, chatting and laughing.
Everything appeared peaceful.
Yet beneath that dazzling splendor, humanity had burned away its own future.
Moments later, the blue sky formed a twisted black vortex.
In 2012, a magical ritual was performed. Humanity drained the vast amount of magical energy contained in the atmosphere, causing Earth to be sucked dry and the Greater Source to wither away. The destruction of Earth meant the extinction of all life dwelling upon it.
Gaia, the consciousness of Earth, calmly accepted the fate of being killed by humanity.
It had given birth to children, only to be killed by those very children. It would perish alongside humanity. Gaia considered this reasonable and accepted it without regret.
Earth had originated from deathly silence, and it should return to deathly silence. That was its inevitable end.
Luo Shu narrated the story at an unhurried pace, and a desolate sense of ancient sorrow naturally emerged.
But as he looked at the words on the screen, he frowned slightly, feeling that something was missing.
Suddenly, the young man came to a realization. He immediately materialized master-level artistic and musical skills.
Under the effects of NTZ-48, he instantly absorbed the knowledge poured into his mind.
Next, Luo Shu began drawing the illustrations he wanted. His right hand moved wildly across the mousepad like a tentacle. Simple lines quickly covered the screen, followed by color rendering...
Soon, a lifelike animated image appeared, pushing the oppressive atmosphere to its absolute limit.
It was as though it had not been fictionalized, but captured from some real world.
8. Even the reviewers were dumbfounded. Could a human really make this?
Then came the soundtrack.
The low, somber music carried restless, unsettling notes that wandered through the bass register. The intervals seemed discordant, yet conveyed an increasingly profound sense of anxiety.
The orchestra foretold the coming disaster, as though someone were sobbing and whimpering.
This was a grand masterpiece combining text, imagery, and music. The moment it was born, an epic had descended.
After the aurora.
An endless white mist enveloped the planet's surface, its intense toxicity proclaiming the destruction of everything.
The first illustration.
A magnificent city of steel, where huge crowds collapsed amid dense plague and poison.
An atmosphere of panic and terror spread.
A torn black vortex still hung in the sky—the remnant of the magical ritual. The entire world sank amid mournful cries.
One brilliant civilization after another was destroyed. The poisonous mist slaughtered every race on Earth without distinction.
Humanity fell from its position as overlord into the abyss, barely clinging to life amid despair and struggle.
Faced with the crisis of racial extinction, every nation set aside its prejudices against one another.
All humanity united for the survival and continuation of their race, striving to develop genetic engineering technologies and carrying out all kinds of unidentified modifications and mutations on their own kind.
Then came the next-generation primates known as the "Ali-hundred Species," along with some evolved "new humans" adapted to the poisonous environment. Though none were pure humans, they tenaciously survived on Earth.
Watching its children outlive its own death and continue to exist filled Gaia with bone-deep terror.
Thus, it sent one final SOS signal throughout the solar system:
"Please exterminate every primate that continues to live upon my corpse after my death!"
The other planets accepted Gaia's request. As the strongest agents of each planet's will, the Ultimate Ones, or UO, would descend upon Earth and cleanse the new primates occupying Earth's corpse.
That was the prologue of Steel Land, a story of a wasteland world.
Then, the main story began with a cute angel possessing golden hair and pure white wings, introducing the "Ali-hundred Species" living upon the dead star. There was the ugliness and resilience of human nature, as well as the immortality of spirit and faith...
In this wasteland world, people did everything they could to keep living tenaciously.
Luo Shu wrote furiously, his hands striking the keyboard so quickly that they formed afterimages.
Suddenly, his body stiffened, his fair hand suspended in midair.
The effects of NTZ-48 had worn off.
He had only completed half of Steel Land.
Having fallen out of that omnipotent state, even with his unwavering will, he still felt a trace of regret and disappointment.
The him under the drug's effects and the him now were practically two completely different people.
"Later, I just need to earn more Divine Authority Jade and strengthen myself to that level."
Luo Shu muttered to himself, comforting himself.
That feeling was too wonderful—almost addictive.
Then, as he looked at the vast amount of text on the screen, Luo Shu could not help rubbing his eyes in astonishment.
Did I fucking write this?
The writing style was grand and majestic, the story's core thought-provoking, and the illustrations perfectly integrated...
The combination of images and text created an incredibly strong sense of immersion. Faced with humanity's courage to sacrifice itself for survival, readers would feel the tragic grandeur and could not help shedding tears.
A divine work. Absolutely a divine work!
Luo Shu was certain that Steel Land would cause a sensation online and earn him a massive amount of Divine Authority Jade.
It would lay the foundation for his next plan.
After he clicked send, the Twitter account named Merlin displayed the novel.
"I hope I'll see good news after I wake up."
Luo Shu muttered to himself. His eyes were somewhat weary, and he soon lay down on the bed.
He closed his eyes and slowly entered a light sleep.
Meanwhile.
Tokyo, Twitter headquarters.
"Damn, are newcomers this arrogant now?"
A young review editor was thunderstruck, staring dumbly at the screen.
Twitter post editor—
"Steel Land" (Pending Review).
Bio: No guarantee of completion, no guarantee of filling plot holes, no answers, no friend requests, no publication...
I write, you read. Please be quiet.
Before you continue