Chapter 468
Chapter 468 - 448: When the Death Knell Tolls
1,437 words
•
8 min read
Save? How to save? There’s no way to save.
Is this a secret? Lu Ping’an didn’t think so. The task of "finding the main cause of world destruction" hanging over every explorer’s head, with no rewards, yet it always caught people’s attention.
This is no longer a hint, but a clear indication of "I cannot say, but you must find and discover it for yourself"...Whether you find or not, doesn’t affect anything.
Is it difficult to find? When Lu Ping’an first saw the Earth Ritual, he vaguely felt something was wrong.
Then, more facts were only verified after that.
They filled the "pollution" into the earth, using the power of the Earth Mother to strengthen the seal, turning the entire planet into a "sealed object"... Admittedly, in a sense, this is a genius idea.
A drop of poison thrown into the ocean is almost meaningless. In front of a sufficiently large "dilution capacity," even the most potent "pollution" cannot cause a catastrophe.
The known "Earth," "Moonlight," "Sun," and "Sealing" are the four forces that constitute the world’s 3D defense. Still, clearly, the most significant is the "Earth."
As long as the additional pollution is continuously poured into the "Earth," the world’s pollution concentration will not rise, remaining in a relatively stable low-pollution state.
"But pollution is not ordinary poison; it is a never-ending radioactive source...."
On this level, humans and the local race developed fatal disagreements.
To the locals who have been "sealed" for countless years, this has been unchanged for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. It was okay before, and it will naturally be okay in the future.
Perhaps some scholars have put forward different opinions, and some people have produced evidence to prove that this approach may have hidden dangers. But under the divine rights and needs of the whole world, this "hypothesis" becomes meaningless since there’s no way to verify it with facts.
"After all, there is a limit to the planet’s capacity. The infusion of infinite pollution has turned droplets into rivers and seas. Finally, the day will come when it overflows...."
Can inorganic objects be infected and decayed? Of course, they can. Otherwise, how could Fang Wen’s mechanical creations and Tamer’s controlled objects work?
The planet... or perhaps the Star God, has gradually decayed over time.
Where does the apocalypse come from? It comes from the world beneath our feet, from the gradually awakening behemoth of pollution.
As for the Earth Mother Goddess? Perhaps, she once existed. Maybe she has become part of the massive pollution, or perhaps, she never existed in the first place... But this does not matter anymore. Including Lu Ping’an, no one among the Informed-person cares about her survival or existence.
"Your Excellency, it seems that we have to do other tasks first?"
At this moment, Ben, the knight, interrupted Lu Ping’an’s thoughts. They had tried to seal the creature, but failed many times and temporarily gave up.
Seeing Ben’s helpless face, Lu Ping’an patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him a bit... He was also somewhat helpless. He could never say to the Knight Commander, "give up, it’s hopeless."
But even at this moment, the knights had not just walked away.
They used the Earth Sealing Skill again, completing a seal... This time, the target of the seal was the "stream," the derivative of the tree.
And this time, accompanied by a flickering green light, the sealing skill succeeded.
The "stream" once again seeped into the ground and entered the earth’s veins.
Earth Sealing Skill is not without requirements. It demands that the "sealed object" not only be "immobilized" in the general sense but also "loses its self-will."
It is incredibly effective when dealing with "ownerless pollution". In a sense, it is like garbage disposal, opening a hole and entrusting everything to Mother Earth.
Beyond the initial use, it is often employed in multiple seals, such as sealing a potent monster, demon, or ghost first into a dependent object and then performing an "earth" seal reinforcement... It is said that powerful super-devil needs to undergo nine seals before being accepted by the Earth, and only the top-level sealing masters possess this skill.
What the knights couldn’t understand was the reality that the static and stable "forest" couldn’t be sealed again.
The operation... the sealing was very successful, and the "stream" in front of them disappeared instantly, seemingly restoring peace.
Watching this scene, Lu Ping’an felt a mix of emotions, not knowing what to say.
He thought about saying that the sealing was meaningless since, in a few days, new streams would form anyway, or that they were just deceiving themselves and everything would soon spiral out of control.
"If someone told you that your daily routine of eating and going to work would lead to the end of the world, would you believe them? If someone told you that by improving your abilities as a professional, you’re leading the world to its demise, would you believe them?"
The big cat that was hidden in the courtyard marveled at the current scene.
It’s evident that the lifeforms of this world have gone off the rails, but that doesn’t mean their experience and technology are worthless. On the contrary, the big cat was very interested in this "Earth Sealing Skill".
"Actually, it’s somewhat similar to when our courtyard swallowed a Rule-Level item. Their power system is quite interesting and practical. Do you notice that their powers and the system of human professionals complement each other and don’t conflict?"
Just because the Earth Sealing Skill had a problem doesn’t mean the entire sealing system is useless. On the contrary, there are already tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of explorers coming to "harvest it".
"You mean sealing weapons?"
"Not just that, but also the ability to seal pollution within one’s body, acting as a designated weapon. Like that Holy Fire Knight."
After completing the sealing, the party returned to their previous campsite. The knights’ morale was very low, since they rarely encountered a situation where the Earth Sealing Skill completely failed.
"...We could try multiple seals when we get back, but for a forest like this, what kind of powerful seal would be required? With so many such areas and not enough resources for sealing, I don’t know what the lord will say..."
Throughout the journey, Knight Ben was discussing softly with Miss Catherine, but he didn’t notice that the female Knight’s face had turned pale and she had been looking lost since the Earth Sealing Skill’s failure.
"Interesting, has she guessed it too?"
"Heh, don’t underestimate the ’natives.’ No one is a fool. She’s been specifically talking to our group recently, focusing on our basic materials. While you were learning sealing, she was also studying your theory."
Lu Ping’an shrugged and laughed mischievously.
He was curious about what the female Knight would do after finding out the "truth." Would her belief collapse? Would she cry helplessly or give up hope?
Or maybe, it would be written in the stars, a savior hero story?
Don’t get him wrong, Lu Ping’an wasn’t just cracking a joke. It had been confirmed through recent exchange among the "explorers" that as long as you make a "grand vow," like "I want to save the world" or "I want to rid the world of all pollution," cultivation and breakthroughs would be smooth, even seemingly divine.
But at the same time, the high-level ones warned newcomers not to casually sign world-level contracts of cause and effect... it could easily get you dragged into hell by this world.
At this point, they also noticed that among the natives, there were many "children of destiny."
Some had normal aptitudes but suddenly grew at an astonishing rate.
𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Some had special backgrounds and were mysteriously surrounded by heroes, forming teams for no apparent reason.
Some people suddenly awakened ancient bloodlines and made leaps in their combat abilities.
The one thing they all had in common was finding out the "truth" through various indirect channels without being informed by outsiders, and they tried to resist it.
Apparently, this world was already desperate and trying to create a "savior"... but for Lu Ping’an and the others, it was a good thing, a great thing even.
"Doomsday heroes are also extremely precious resources to harvest. Miss Catherine, I hope you won’t let us down."
— End of Chapter 468 —