Chapter 106: The State of the World

The most pressing global issue at present is the uprising of the undead. Europe, with France suffering the worst, is plagued by what the world calls the "Undead Catastrophe." Originally numbering six million skeleton monsters, their population has now swelled to eight million, growing with every battle.

Though these skeleton monsters are considered among the more fragile of the undead—vulnerable even to firearms, artillery, or an ordinary baseball bat—humanity continues to suffer relentless defeats. This is because within their ranks are entities like the Green Poison Skeleton King, capable of transforming living humans into skeleton monsters upon killing them. Some powerful skeletons even possess the ability to resurrect shattered skeletons.

Since the outbreak occurred in Paris, nuclear options are off the table—unless they are willing to sacrifice the capital, a cost they cannot bear. Helpless, France has sought aid from the Roman Curia. The holy knights and priestly forces have already set out for Paris, and it is hoped that the undead disaster will soon be brought under control.

In the Americas, the devastation is primarily caused by the undead armies of indigenous peoples, with the ghosts of the Mayans serving as their core force. The perpetrators of the massacres against Native Americans are now facing retribution. Truly, the heavens observe cosmic justice; no one escapes unpunished, only the time had not yet come. Now, evidently, it has.

After suffering significant economic losses and casualties, they too have called upon Protestant Christians to address the problem. Protestantism is distinct from the Roman Curia, just as the Daoist sects Zhengyi and Quanzhen differ. Christianity itself has three major branches: Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy. The Roman Curia belongs to the Catholic Church.

Despite denominational differences, their methods are quite similar, all wielding the elemental power of light, which is highly effective against the undead.

Africa’s main threat comes from the greatest Pharaoh of Egypt, Ramses II, who has emerged from his pyramid and leads an army of mummies in a struggle for survival space against the living. Fortunately, African shamans are formidable and have not needed to seek help from other sects.

As for Asia, the primary menace arises from the spectral soldiers and generals haunting ancient battlefields. The northern warrior nation, the Moscow Principality, suffers mainly from the ghosts of the Tatars and Huns.

The greatest threat to the Grand Xia Empire comes from the revival of restless souls of warriors from chaotic times. Those vengeful spirits who died during unified eras are merely a minor nuisance because they are fragmented and lack a unified political goal. A reasonably skilled Taoist can purify large areas.

The spectral soldiers and generals are different—they possess organization and discipline, are formidable in battle, and share a unified political objective: to seize the mortal realm and turn it into a ghostly domain.

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Li Yunfei found himself somewhat puzzled. It is said that the world is divided into Yin and Yang; if there is a Yang realm, there must also be a Yin realm. Even if Blue Earth, for some special reason, lacks a celestial or underworld bureaucracy, surely the Yin realm must exist.

Why then do these spectral soldiers and generals risk their souls’ annihilation to compete for living space with the living? Wouldn’t it be better to establish their own ghost kingdom in the Yin realm or even form their own underworld?

Each nation faces its own problems, and currently, every country is busy sweeping its own doorstep, striving to quell internal turmoil.

Yet, for all countries, this is both a crisis and a valuable opportunity for training and experience.

In battling the undead, human supernaturals have undergone tremendous tempering.

The powerful weapons humans have created to slaughter living beings offer little advantage against the undead. Nuclear bombs are terrifying, indeed—their main destructive power lies in energy attacks; light and heat radiation are lethal to most undead.

But if you drop a nuclear bomb, the undead simply burrow deep underground, rendering your efforts futile. Aside from damaging the ecosystem and making the environment more suitable for the undead, nuclear weapons are useless.

Clearing the undead requires supernaturals.

In this regard, the Grand Xia possesses a unique advantage and can be said to be the most composed, best-prepared, and least damaged country in handling the undead crisis.

First came the establishment of the Grand Xia Purple Cloud Society, uniting the vast majority of supernaturals nationwide into a cohesive force, working together with one heart and mind, united against a common enemy.

The ethnic cohesion of the Grand Xia shines brilliantly in this widespread crisis.

Moreover, the leadership of Purple Cloud was farsighted, decisively isolating areas experiencing anomalies in ancient battlefields early on, and deploying massive formations to prevent the spectral soldiers from spreading, tightly containing them in place.

Purple Cloud also distributed free talismans and spiritual items for protection against ghosts to the populace. Local geomancers and wild Taoists banded together to form volunteer organizations, rushing to the worst-affected areas, doing all they could to exorcise and save people. They came to be known as the most valiant responders.

A campaign urging citizens "not to trouble the nation" nearly erased nightlife in the Grand Xia. After seven in the evening, people returned home promptly, refraining from lingering outside, thus denying the undead opportunities to possess hosts or multiply.

In short, the Grand Xia had laid a solid foundation to tackle the crisis from the outset.

In contrast, the Western extreme liberal countries have no unified management of supernaturals. Awakened individuals act recklessly, disregarding governments and even opposing law enforcement.

The African American communities in the Americas have, at last, found cause for pride. Their long oppression has resulted in a much higher proportion of awakened individuals than among white populations.

Now, they only lack a “Magneto.” Once someone organizes them, the white-dominated governments will surely have a hard time.

Of course, where there is a Magneto, there will likely be a Professor X and those “with great power comes great responsibility” superheroes.

But that’s none of the Grand Xia’s concern. Others’ affairs are their own; as long as we don’t cause trouble, all is well.

...

By the time Li Yunfei had gathered sufficient information, dawn had broken outside, and the clock neared nine. It was time to attend to matters.

Li Yunfei left the hotel with Honghong and went to buy various items: small porcelain bottles for pills, a portable safe, and a precious wooden box.

Though citizens stayed indoors at night, daytime life continued unaffected; society functioned normally. After all, no matter how terrifying the ghosts, they dared not appear openly in broad daylight.

Having collected all the items, Li Yunfei sold them as a bundle to the system’s marketplace, making future use convenient.

Next, he went to a specialty vehicle dealership and purchased a medium-sized refrigerated van.

He declined the dealer’s offer to handle registration, instead driving off with a temporary paper license plate.

The off-road vehicle was stored in his system package. Li Yunfei took the refrigerated van to a secluded spot, activated its refrigeration at minus twenty degrees Celsius, and began hanging pieces of wild boar monster meat on the racks.

Freezing the monster meat prevented the spiritual energy contained within from dissipating.

Returning the van to the hotel parking lot with time to spare, Li Yunfei spent the afternoon with Honghong at an amusement park, indulging in all the junk food favored by human children.

Around four in the afternoon, they returned to the hotel. Li Yunfei unpacked the newly purchased items and began preparing a gift for Zhang Ziying.