Chapter 106: The Countdown

Tianhai, Portal Base.

In a mere thirty days, a small town had sprung up here. Two types of people were most commonly seen: soldiers with stern expressions and strict discipline, and those who appeared casual, disregardful of rules, yet exuded a dazzling aura at every moment. Clearly, the latter were psionic cultivators. Furthermore, they were psionic cultivators who had been reborn or possessed special abilities.

These were the ones. Under Ji Ning’s leadership, they had joined forces with the military, using their respective skills to participate in construction, engage in preliminary work for Artificial Divine Realm 1909, or train those who had absorbed psionic power.

Though called a small town, it was essentially a militarized fortress. "A guard every five paces, a sentry every ten" was no exaggeration. Whether it was the visible firepower or the hidden micro-drones, everything was designed to prevent dangerous creatures from emerging from Artificial Divine Realm 1909 when the portal opened and causing destruction in the main world.

Two supernatural entities had invaded from an unknown Artificial Divine Realm. They had driven the Star Han Empire to such a state of blood-eyed fury that they were hunted across the globe, which was proof enough that whatever emerged from the Artificial Divine Realm was not necessarily benign. Compared to many other Artificial Divine Realms, the psionic cultivators of the main world were, at the very least, moral paragons. Of course, these moral paragons did not include outliers like "Old Demon Lan," who kept on killing incessantly.

It had not been officially announced yet, but among psionicists and the current high-ranking elite, Lan Yi was the true master of the Jianghe region. When he asked for atomic clocks, let alone five thousand, even fifty thousand would have been prepared long before he arrived in Tianhai. Moreover, atomic clocks were nothing compared to the series of nuclear power plants and laboratories Lan Yi had previously requested.

Now, as he returned, Lan Yi had new demands. He required an urgent shipment of the small, dual-purpose sea-and-land geomagnetic station devices he had commissioned to be sent to Tianhai. These were his Daoist magical artifacts. When deployed in tandem with his Thunder Soldier Domain, they could harness the geomagnetism throughout three thousand stations. His power would no longer be limited to lightning; he would become a veritable natural-disaster-level weapon of war. In the "Red Alert" Artificial Divine Realm, this was known as a "Super Weapon." That he would even bring such a level of artifact showed that Lan Yi was truly playing for keeps.

Meanwhile, in the dark corners of the town, a group of prisoners—who had endured a month of hellish torture and were now reeking, ragged, and delirious—were dragged from the underground to the firing range.

They no longer possessed their past arrogance, refinement, or pampered ease. Like dead dogs being dragged along, they suffered from incontinence and incoherent speech, whimpering and begging for mercy. Today was the day of their final release, and also the day they would descend into hell. Their doom was at hand, and they displayed every manner of pathetic behavior. Some kowtowed and begged, some angrily denounced the trampling of the rule of law, some cursed Lan Yi, some wailed loudly, and some railed against tyranny, predicting its inevitable collapse.

But regardless of their actions, they were met with three clean shots: one to the head, one to the heart, and one to the neck. Gunshots rang out like raindrops across the firing range, drifting high into the air. They likely never dreamed that one day, they would meet their end at the end of a barrel.

"At death's door and still so stubborn. Commander Lan Yi is merciful; you're lucky he didn't implicate your beneficiaries," one executioner remarked, shaking his head and feeling a sense of grim satisfaction afterward.

This executioner was a microcosm—a microcosm of Jianghe today. Where there were those who hated Lan Yi, there were naturally those who loved him. Psionic cultivators had taken over the power of the "Omnipotent Wish Machine," and since their strength was tied to wisdom and will, a large number of young people were promoted beyond their rank, even rising rapidly. This created a virtuous cycle, directly causing the majority of civilian "reborns" to side with Lan Yi.

If the future was to be a "Philosopher King" style of shared world, then having the ruler of the world be a "world-destroying demon" was perhaps a bit abstract, but upon reflection, it didn't seem impossible. It came back to the same point: Lan Yi was strong enough to suppress the monsters and demons of the main world. As long as he did not destroy the world, then under his leadership, Jianghe would surely flourish, and the main world would inevitably experience rapid development. In just a year—or perhaps even a few months—all kinds of infrastructure and megastructures could be manifested by the psionic cultivators. By then, they would be able to explore the Artificial Divine Realms with a posture faster and stronger than the last time.

Perhaps this ideology had taken effect. In any case, in this lifetime, the group of people suffering from "Neural Web Psychosis"—which had been breaking out everywhere since the first Artificial Divine Realm trial—had diminished significantly across Jianghe and the oceans, and some of the more heinous crimes had not occurred at all. However, beyond that, regions like the "Dark Continent" with its elite matching mechanism, Northern Europe lost in its high-welfare state, and South America—too far from God—still followed the trajectories of the previous life. Their suffering and plight could not be changed or reversed by one or two reborn individuals.

...

On the bridge of the aircraft carrier as it entered the harbor:

"Junior, what are you looking at?"

"Executing death row inmates."

"Did they deserve it?"

"I suppose so. If it weren't for them, there wouldn't have been such heavy losses in the future. For instance, Senior, you wouldn't be able to see that tomboy who is always screeching." Lan Yi looked at his now-dead enemies, feeling a subtle sense of detachment—a feeling as if he were separated from the world by an age.

"Eh? I see. Then after they die, will the future get better?" The "Saintess" Senior sighed. She didn't pity these heinous criminals; after all, if the tomboy didn't exist, she would be sad too. At the very least, there would be no one to help her share the burden in bed. As an ordinary person, she would be absolutely worn to death by Junior Lan Yi—physically worn to death.

"What the future is like, only by seeing it for yourself will you know."

"Then, this time, let me accompany you to see it. That way, Junior won't feel bored." Si Lingluo hugged Lan Yi's shoulder. She suddenly felt very happy. Even if she could only change a little bit, perhaps that was exactly what Junior Lan Yi was missing?

A Saintess paired with a Demon King? What a combination they had managed to come up with.

Lan Yi neither agreed nor refused. His sharp gaze turned toward an open space in the harbor, where the atomic clocks and geomagnetic station devices he required were already prepared. The accompanying network node devices had also been delivered into his hands.

Simultaneously, Lan Yi's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked ahead.

"Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to... truly live?"

"Is it here again? That invitation we can't see?" Si Lingluo, who had long since shared everything with him, waved her hand in front of Lan Yi, as if to drive away the bad thing that was trying to lure him away.

"Senior, I'm setting off." It was a farewell. Lan Yi's eyes were as cold and firm as ever.

"Come back early, okay?" Si Lingluo made a heart shape with her hands.

"Don't forget me! Say goodbye to your brother properly!" The tomboy's head popped up from below.

Countdown to the second Artificial Divine Realm trial: two hours.