Chapter 541
Chapter 541 - 521: The Road to Desperation
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9 min read
"If you want to stay alive, listen to what I have to say."
Lu Ping’an spoke calmly, with a hint of a bitter smile in his helplessness.
He actually hadn’t expected the situation to escalate so quickly, the difficulty level soaring in three quick jumps, rendering many of his plans useless.
Now, it seemed they would have to resort to one of the backup plans.
"Some of you might already know about the limited boat tickets, right? Let me be honest—the tickets are real and limited, and I won’t give them to those without value. But for others, there might still be a sliver of hope for survival..."
Lu Ping’an did not lie; though the path to survival was akin to human purgatory, there was still hope.
This world was beyond saving.
With the start of the Third Disaster, countless deceased and mutant creatures would be born on the earth, and all mortal beings would face catastrophe.
The Fourth Disaster was even more severe—a final hellish feast for the gods and their trials. Low-level professionals would become expendable, and the Extraordinary would face purgatory.
Yet even these disasters paled in comparison to the Fifth Disaster.
The Fifth Disaster—the Earth’s Disaster—would befall the entire world. The earth would begin to crumble, continents would break apart and become "Floating Islands." A comfortable independent residence would not save you, for at this point, there would be no chance for mortals to survive.
Essential resources such as the air, water, and land would become coveted, and by then, death itself might offer relief.
If you were still alive at this point, you might be able to witness the end.
The Sixth Disaster, the World’s Disaster, would be more than one level worse than the Earth’s Disaster—even though they sounded similar.
By the end of the Fifth Disaster, the world would have long been shattered, leaving only fragments and meteor-like debris, akin to scraps of succulent meat in a hot soup.
Predators that saw the world as delicious preys would come.
Some of these predators were "worlds" themselves, others were Deities on a global scale, and yet others were even more inconceivable—colossal sources of pollution who would gorge on flesh and blood, completely devouring everything.
As for the Seventh Disaster? Its details remained unknown, but it was said that after the complete annihilation of this world, a conceptual "pursuit" would follow. All life that had been part of the Silent Mountain Range would suffer from the pain of the world’s end.
"By this point, there’s no going back. The only way to escape is to leave. However, the number of boat tickets in my hands is limited..."
Lu Ping’an’s words were both brutal and plain.
On his journey so far, he had prioritized boarding for those who had "tickets."
These people included powerful fighters and their families, as well as skilled professionals with valuable abilities.
There were still tickets available, but compared to the disaster-stricken masses outside, these were insignificant.
"...However, there are still other paths to survival."
This was also a part of the plan. No one could predict the desperation of the locals who would be backed into a corner with only a few boat tickets available.
At least one life-saving path remained... or perhaps, there were three.
𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
"Some Quasi-Gods need sacrifices at the time of their Ascension...particularly those extraordinary Quasi-Gods from other places. During the Fourth Disaster, you might still have a chance."
The chaotic multiverse offered only the safety of divine kingdoms.
Going through a star-zone passage? Lu Ping’an had access to the Shepherd Silver people’s information and didn’t believe mortals could make it through. Just one toxic atmosphere and average temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius on a planet along the way would be enough to kill most mortal life forms.
"...Stay alive, seek refuge in large cities and powerful factions. As long as you’re alive, mortal lives will inevitably become a resource, a consumable for ascension..."
Did Deities need believers? Not necessarily, but some of them did.
For example, the Sun God, who was also a part-time Dragon God, gathered its race to become obedient believers for the newly founded divine kingdoms, even if only to prevent them from being empty.
Some Deities, like those embodying concepts of family and culture, required believers to validate their concepts. Their Ascension depended on having enough of them.
This sudden Third Disaster had disrupted many Quasi-Gods’ preparations for Ascension, and they might require additional believers to compensate.
Lu Ping’an wisely refrained from elaborating. Was becoming a believer for the Ascension truly a good thing?
For example, Evil Gods like Da Mao, who wanted to turn believers into "spectators" during Ascension—could being part of that be considered fortunate?
Even those slightly more powerful Deities who didn’t view believers as consumables would bind their followers eternally with their divine kingdoms after the Ascension ritual. At that point, even the Ascending Deities themselves might not know what they would become.
But at the very least...
"...This path is the easiest to take, at least, while still alive..."
Even if you’re no longer yourself, you’re still alive.
Even if life is worse than death, you’re still alive.
At the end of the world, for ordinary people, this is already the best outcome.
"The second path is taking the star-zone road. I have one in my hands that I can share with you all. You can also look for it yourself after arriving in the big city. At this point in time, there should be many people forming stellar exploration teams and the like. After all, they need losers to pave the way as well..."
Lu Ping’an thinks this path most likely leads to a slow death, a miserable, desperate death after enduring thousands of tortures.
But at least, they could live longer and, at least, have some hope.
"The third path is to try to stay alive until the Sixth Disaster..."
The Sixth Disaster, amid the calamity of the world, the world has disintegrated into small dried-up fragments, and "gourmets" have entered the scene, enjoying the pleasures of a buffet.
The ingredients for these gourmets are quite complicated. Some are disasters, while others are relatively peaceful "worlds."
If luck is good enough, small world fragments might be devoured into the larger world as a whole.
If lucky enough, one could find a land with good feng shui to lie in, waiting to become a resident of the big world.
This kind of outcome is the best, unrivaled.
However, the probability of achieving this kind of outcome is the lowest... low enough to be completely ignored.
First of all, they must survive until the world’s collapse. At the same time, their location must be a "treasure" of the original world, deserving of being swallowed up by a powerful world.
Furthermore, they must survive amidst the fierce world fusion. Finally, the environment of the new world (atmosphere, temperature, etc.) must adapt to their existence.
Last but not least, they must be accepted by the original inhabitants and not end up as new ornaments or scalps.
If they can achieve this series of lottery-level odds, they can do nothing and survive the World Apocalypse.
Three paths, each more challenging than the last. Even the first path, with the highest survival rate, will not exceed 1%, and there will be endless problems afterward.
After taking a deep breath, Lu Ping’an finishes saying these words.
From the beginning, he knew this world was beyond saving. Nothing could save this rotten-to-the-core world, otherwise, those Main Gods wouldn’t have hesitated to abandon everything and flee.
Furthermore, he has repeatedly warned his team not to get too close to the locals without tickets, it’s best not to talk, not to approach... People are not plants, once a bond is formulated, it’s difficult to get out.
However, the time spent together and the encounters in these days have still led many people in his team to establish relationships with the locals. After all, not long ago, they were just students and "safety keepers," not enough to be "professional" and realistic.
When the local situation is mentioned, many people can’t help but show hesitation and unease. The local strongmen who had sought refuge with Lu Ping’an were also very hesitant and guilty.
"Before leaving, let’s do something along the way."
Lu Ping’an did not hide his thoughts, which were both humane and the baseline conscience of his own team.
But Lu Ping’an also did not hide his backup plan. He could leave at any time... Give him a few minutes, and he would be able to complete the entire Plan Zero and begin a rapid withdrawal.
But he and the people on his team also knew that if Lu Ping’an left like this, the remaining people might not even have a 1% chance of survival.
They would exhaust all their survival resources and time in the dark, night of helplessness, eventually falling to the ground in a daze, becoming one of the dead.
A survival rate of 1% does not mean that everyone has a 1% chance of winning and surviving. Rather, it means that all people fight to the end, and perhaps 1% of the most resilient, strongest, and luckiest will survive.
If Lu Ping’an does nothing, they all have 0% survival, and all is lost.
"Have a go and help where we can. At the very least, escort them to the road of escape."
Lu Ping’an knows that at this point, many territories must have suffered a catastrophe.
What decisions would a smart person make? What will the explorers and foreigners without the "God of Travelers" do? They would take everything, choose to go to the largest space-time node... The closest might be the Holy City.
These "refugees" will eventually form a path, a hard and hopeless road to escape.
Perhaps it’s full of thorns. Perhaps reaching the end is still despair. But it is not zero.
"Send them on this path, at least there’s a glimmer of hope for life..."
— End of Chapter 541 —