Star City Shelter.
Resource Vault.
Feng Qi was still anxiously waiting.
By now, Suction Cup had emptied all the metal containers of their plant-based spirit liquids.
She shifted her gaze to the neatly stacked spirit stones, but after taking a single nibble, she seemed dissatisfied with their taste and instead lunged toward the food storage.
Crashing through the transparent glass, she began a new round of feasting.
Her body was undergoing changes as she ate. The originally cracked and dim rune crystal embedded in her arm had already been half-repaired, and as energy continued to pour in, it began to emit a scarlet glow.
Even her dull, lifeless eyes began to regain a hint of vitality.
While munching on corn kernels, Suction Cup suddenly turned her head to look at Feng Qi. Her cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk, giving her an adorably goofy expression.
"Feng Qi? Yummy... eat!" she mumbled through her stuffed cheeks.
"I don't need to eat. Hurry up and focus on restoring your strength!" Feng Qi quickly urged her as soon as she paused.
The expansion of the domain field was accelerating, and it was only a matter of time before the Mist Lord arrived.
Even though the specially designed stone monument outside the Star City Shelter had locked the exits, the hidden dangers of Flesh Sacrifice had not been resolved.
Once the Mist Lord activated the "switch," the human survivors within the shelter would become no different from puppets. They would be forcibly driven out of the shelter, sacrificing their flesh and blood to nourish the Mist Lord.
Aside from the uncertain factor of Lin Ran, Suction Cup was Feng Qi's only viable method of countering the Mist Lord.
Realizing Feng Qi wouldn't eat with her, Suction Cup sulkily buried her head back into the corn kernels. She wiggled around like a bulldozer, her rear sticking out as she devoured the pile of corn at an alarming rate.
The mound of kernels visibly diminished as she moved through it.
While spirit stones were a far better option for healing Suction Cup's injuries—given their abundant and concentrated spiritual energy—her unconscious state seemed to have inherited Mu Qing's gluttonous tendencies.
With no sense of urgency regarding the impending apocalypse, Suction Cup simply followed her instincts, choosing flavorful grains over tasteless spirit stones.
Watching from the sidelines, Feng Qi felt an overwhelming urge to grab some spirit stones and force-feed them to Suction Cup to hasten her recovery.
[Why not give it a try? Sure, you can't beat her in a fight, but Suction Cup won't hurt you either!]
Hearing the narrator's suggestion, Feng Qi froze for a moment before deciding to act.
No harm in trying.
Without hesitation, he headed to the area where the spirit stones were stored. Grabbing two high-purity golden stones, he jogged back to Suction Cup and yanked her out of the corn pile.
Holding the confused and pouty Suction Cup, he stuffed the spirit stones directly into her mouth.
"Swallow them."
Suction Cup obediently chewed twice.
For a moment, Feng Qi thought his plan was working—until Suction Cup abruptly opened her mouth and spat them all out.
"Ptooey!"
[Tsk tsk, what a picky eater! Spoiled rotten, no doubt. You should give her a good beating... oh wait, you'd lose.]
Staring at the shards of spirit stones Suction Cup had just spat out, Feng Qi sighed in exasperation. Reluctantly, he tossed her back into the corn pile.
As Suction Cup continued her feast, Feng Qi turned his attention to the large metal door at the end of the resource vault.
Waiting around felt like a waste of time. Perhaps there was something behind that door—something with higher energy content.
With this thought in mind, he made his way to the heavy iron door and pushed against it.
The door was incredibly thick, and even with his strength, opening it proved to be a daunting task.
Switching to his Combat Form, Feng Qi felt a surge of power course through his body. The previously heavy resistance now seemed insignificant, and under his brute force, the door slowly creaked open.
A wave of scorching heat surged outward.
What greeted his eyes was a radiant golden sphere, glowing like a miniature sun. It hovered mid-air, spinning rapidly within a circular frame adorned with electromagnetic coils.
Thick cables lined the walls and floor of the room, extending out in every direction.
"Hey, Narrator, is this golden sphere the energy core powering the shelter?" Feng Qi asked, squinting at the brilliant light.
[Pardon my limited education, but this thing's emitting energy at an absurdly high frequency. Your guess might be correct. That said... wait a minute. Something's off.]
[Not only is this thing radiating energy, but it's also transmitting a signal—one that resembles a spatial coordinate beacon.]
"What do you mean?" Feng Qi asked urgently.
[Do you remember when I mentioned sensing faint spatial node coordinates far to the east?]
"Yes, is it related to this golden sphere?"
[I'm starting to suspect that the signal I detected back then might have been emitted by an energy aggregate similar to this golden sphere.]
"Explain in detail—is this thing good or bad?" Feng Qi asked, still trying to wrap his head around the situation.
[Do you recall the Crimson Research Institute's Reverse Infiltration Plan?]
"I do. The institute aimed to send human elites to the domain creatures' world, locate the spatial source, and sever the link between the domain world and ours to save humanity."
[Exactly. The Crimson Research Institute theorized that the link between the domain world and the real world was one-directional. Since no spatial nodes had been discovered in the real world, they concluded that domain creatures could project themselves into our reality, but the reverse was impossible. That's why they aimed to sever the spatial connection directly in the domain world.]
[However, after seeing this golden sphere, I think their assumption was flawed. The connection between the two worlds isn't one-directional; it's more like a bridge, with nodes on both sides acting as foundations. These nodes are the spatial coordinates, hidden from sight. This golden sphere might just be one of these spatial nodes, which is why it's constantly emitting coordinate signals.]
Hearing the explanation, Feng Qi's expression grew solemn as he stared at the glowing sphere.
"So, does that mean destroying this golden sphere would collapse the bridge, severing the connection and preventing the domain world from encroaching on ours?"
[It's too late for that. Think of it this way: You're a fugitive (representing the real world), and I'm the police (the domain world). I'm tracking you via a locator device (the spatial node signal). If you had blocked the signal earlier, I wouldn't have been able to catch you. But now, I'm already right on top of you, with a handcuff already on your wrist. At this point, turning off the locator changes nothing.]
The narrator's analogy painted a vivid picture, and Feng Qi immediately understood.
[Furthermore, destroying a single spatial node is pointless. Each node functions as an independent and complete signal generator. Unless you destroy all of them, it won't stop the connection.]
With this explanation, Feng Qi's fleeting hope of saving the world by locating and destroying the golden spheres vanished.
However, a new question weighed heavily on his mind: Why had a spatial node—the link between the domain world and reality—become the energy source for Star City Shelter?
He figured the only person who might have an answer was Xia Qian.
Deciding not to dwell further on the golden sphere's mysteries, Feng Qi left the room and closed the heavy metal door behind him. The heat dissipated instantly, and the temperature in the air dropped sharply.
Returning to the resource vault, he saw that Suction Cup had already emptied the corn pile and was now feasting on compressed energy biscuits.
The cracks on the scarlet rune crystal embedded in her arm had almost completely healed, and a soft jade-colored mist enveloped her body, growing thicker with each passing moment.
The changes in Suction Cup were unmistakable. Her eating speed had increased significantly, and her previously dull eyes now sparkled with a faint gleam of intelligence.
However, it seemed she had yet to recover her lost memories, continuing to eat purely out of instinct, absorbing energy to heal her injuries.
Listening to the crisp crunching of biscuits, Feng Qi's anxiety grew.
In his last encounter with a future timeline, he had witnessed the beast tide that accompanied the domain field's expansion. This time, there was no reason to expect anything different.
The human warriors stationed outside the shelter would be unable to stop the tide's advance. And with the arrival of the Mist Lord, the remaining survivors would be reduced to sacrificial offerings.
He couldn't bear to let the same tragedy repeat itself.
"Narrator, how much longer do you think it'll take for Suction Cup to fully recover?"
[I can't say. I have no way of gauging the upper limit of this scarlet rune crystal's capacity. By the time Suction Cup reaches her peak condition, everything might already be over.]
"Do you think Suction Cup, as she is now, could stand a chance against the Mist Lord?"
[Judging by her energy levels, she should be able to put up a fight. But keep in mind, the Mist Lord might have tricks up his sleeve that we can't anticipate. I can't guarantee a victory.]
"Then we'll have to risk it!"
Time was running out. Without hesitation, Feng Qi strode over to the pile of compressed biscuits and grabbed Suction Cup by one leg, pulling her out of the pile.
Suction Cup wriggled in protest, her cheeks puffed up with biscuit crumbs as she flailed her arms and legs like a tantruming child.
However, her movements were restrained, as though she was afraid of accidentally hurting him. She twisted and turned in his grasp, her body resembling a hyperactive shrimp, while her hands made desperate grabbing motions toward the remaining biscuits.
"Eat later! We need you ready to fight!" Feng Qi muttered, hauling her away with determination.
[The Absorption Combat Weapon has been forcibly upgraded. This time, weapon enhancement completed. Level increased by +99, combat power skyrocketed to a figure with too many zeros. However, the weapon is currently protesting strongly, demanding to let the host know: "Dammit, I'm not full yet! Bring me another bowl!"]
Ignoring the narrator's quips, Feng Qi scooped up Suction Cup and, despite her struggling, dashed toward the shelter's plaza.
Suction Cup, perched on his chest, reached out with her tiny hands, making several futile grasping motions toward the remaining food in the resource vault, her cheeks glistening with drool.
As Feng Qi left the vault through the same passage, he noticed that the underground plaza was eerily empty. All the warriors had moved to the surface, and the remaining shelter residents were hiding in the third underground residential level.
Without hesitating, he carried Suction Cup into the metal corridor leading to the surface.
The domain beast tide surged forward like a massive flood, bearing down on the city walls of the shelter. The warriors standing in formation before the stronghold braced themselves for the inevitable clash.
This was destined to be a battle of overwhelming disparity.
Feng Qi's repeated sacrifices across multiple timelines had bought the world a few more moments of reprieve from doomsday, but it was just a delay.
When the beast tide collided with the human defense line, the brutal slaughter began.
In the distant past, some human scholars had predicted the future.
They envisioned that one day, humanity's cultivation system would become so refined that there would be countless five-star-rated techniques to choose from, each with unique features. They believed that the future would then rest firmly in humanity's grasp.
In that envisioned era, future generations would start their cultivation journey far beyond the limits of what present-day humans could achieve in a lifetime.
They imagined a prosperous human race, fearless of domain invasions.
Part of this prophecy had come true in the future of 1,500 years later.
Through over a millennium of development, future human warriors now possessed a well-established cultivation system, granting them higher starting points and greater potential.
But this day bore no resemblance to the envisioned rise of humanity.
Once-thriving cities lay in ruins, the ground fractured and barren. Every plant had withered.
Even the skies bore the scars of devastation, black fissures tearing across it, while the blood moon forced the sun to descend, casting the world into perpetual darkness.
This was a far cry from humanity's ideal future.
The warriors standing at the frontlines of the shelter swung their weapons with all their might, carving out trajectories and unleashing techniques.
They already knew their fate and understood it was unchangeable.
But they transformed their despair into fury, venting it on the oncoming beast tide.
Bodies fell one after another in the chaos of battle.
The ground before the shelter's walls was stained red with blood, which also drenched the statues forged from rune stones.
Within just half an hour, the human defense line had completely collapsed.
The domain beast tide surged forward, shattering the metal walls of the shelter's city and rampaging through its interior.
But the Star City Shelter was not the tide's ultimate destination.
As the domain field expanded, the tide swept through the city like a flood, demolishing everything before continuing toward distant horizons.
After the first wave passed, there was a brief ten-minute reprieve before the second wave of the beast tide arrived.
They trampled over the already devastated city, further reducing it to rubble before resuming their advance in the direction of the expanding domain field.
In the skies, spatial vortices continued to multiply.
Various forms of domain creatures emerged ceaselessly from these rifts.
After the second wave of the tide departed, one of the spatial vortices began to slowly close, leaving behind a final wisp of gray mist that descended and merged with the growing sea of mist below.
Within the mist, countless wailing spirits echoed.
At this moment, a distinct face began to form within the fog, and a hoarse, low murmur reverberated as the sea of mist surged toward the Star City Shelter.
Just as the mist was about to engulf the ruins of the shelter, Feng Qi emerged from the underground passage, carrying Suction Cup in his arms.
The mist loomed over the city, its gray tendrils filling every corner of the horizon. Feng Qi raised his head and roared:
"Lin Ran, get out here!"
As his voice echoed, Feng Qi switched to his human form.
The fog swirled, and the massive face formed from the mist turned its gaze downward, locking eyes with him.
The face moved closer, and Feng Qi's heart tightened with tension.
He clung to the hope that Lin Ran would devour the Mist Lord, that the dream of future timelines could walk alongside him.
The face, constructed from gray mist, continuously twisted and shifted, as though struggling internally.
One moment, it displayed confusion; the next, it radiated killing intent as it glared at him.
As the face drew nearer, its expression contorted even further.
"Qi-ge?" the foggy visage suddenly asked, its tone tinged with uncertainty.
Before Feng Qi could respond, Suction Cup suddenly broke free from his grasp.
Caught off guard, Feng Qi watched as she leaped into the air, her right fist clenched tightly, and swung it at the face formed by the Mist Lord's fog.
The jade-colored mist surrounding Suction Cup's body coalesced into a massive phantom fist in mid-air.
Smack!
A crisp sound rang out as the misty face shattered into pieces.
[Beautiful hit!]
"Damn it, wrong target!" Feng Qi exclaimed.
Feng Qi: …