Chapter 158 Humanity last chance of surviving

Chapter 158: Chapter 158 Humanity last chance of surviving

Mr. Davis was given the podium, and the entire audience immediately fell silent. For the first time that evening, every pair of eyes was fixed solely on him.

Behind him, the enormous projector screen flickered to life. Then the image appeared.

The world. Or at least what remained of it.

A map of Earth was displayed across the screen, but it looked nothing like the world they had once known. A huge portion of the planet was covered by an unnatural blackened sea. The water stretched across lands that had never been meant to exist beneath an ocean. Entire regions had disappeared beneath its dark surface, and no one could explain where the water had come from or why it continued spreading.

It wasn’t normal seawater. Even from the image, it looked wrong. The surface was almost completely black, with strange movements beneath it that suggested something enormous was swimming underneath.

Several people in the audience gasped. Others whispered among themselves.

But the projector continued.

The next image showed the sky. Day and night no longer followed the twenty-four-hour cycle humanity had depended on for centuries. The sun appeared when it shouldn’t. Night arrived too quickly. Sometimes darkness lasted for hours longer than it was supposed to, while other times daylight returned only moments after sunset. The world had lost its natural rhythm.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

The next image appeared. Huge dimensional gates. Portals. Dungeons. Rifts. They were scattered across the world, some floating in the sky while others had opened in the middle of cities, forests, oceans, and abandoned settlements. Some were small. Others were enormous.

And they were multiplying. The faster they appeared, the more creatures came through them.

Flying tyrants. Abominations. Flesh-eating monsters. Mutated beasts. Creatures that looked nothing like anything that had ever existed on Earth. Some were so enormous that their bodies could cover entire buildings.

Humanity had initially tried counting the number of species appearing from these gates. Eventually, they stopped. There were simply too many.

The projector changed again. This time, the image showed the world without humanity. The difference was horrifying.

Without humans maintaining cities, buildings had begun to decay. Paint had peeled away from walls. Windows had shattered. Roads that were once packed with vehicles had become overgrown with vegetation. Trees and vines pushed through cracks in concrete. Grass covered abandoned streets. Roots crawled over buildings and slowly swallowed them.

Civilization was disappearing beneath nature.

Yet even nature itself was struggling. The strange black sea that had spread across the planet seemed to interfere with vegetation, preventing plants from growing as quickly as they normally should.

For once, humanity wasn’t the only thing struggling to survive. The entire planet was changing.

Bonnie stared at the screen without blinking. Ava couldn’t even force herself to look anymore. Her heart felt like it had been torn apart.

She glanced toward the area where her brother’s body had been taken away. Thomas had been executed in front of everyone. His body had been treated like nothing more than garbage afterward, thrown onto a trolley and wheeled away. Her mother had suffered the same fate. Madison’s broken body had been tossed onto another trolley as if she were nothing more than a discarded object.

Ava’s lips trembled. There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t save Thomas. She couldn’t save her mother. She couldn’t even protect herself. ℯ

Now she was left with nothing except a sick father who couldn’t even move on his own. She stood there among hundreds of people and somehow felt completely alone.

Mr. Davis stepped closer to the podium. His expression remained serious as he faced the audience.

"All of these things are happening right now."

The murmuring slowly died.

"And humanity is now at a greater disadvantage than ever before." He pointed toward the images behind him. "We are no longer at the top of the food chain."

His words settled over the crowd.

"We are the weaker species now. Every day, more creatures evolve. Every day, more dangers appear. And if this continues..." He paused. "...humanity will eventually become extinct."

A heavy silence followed.

"Based on our research, our observations, and everything we have gathered from across the remaining territories, we may be the last surviving human civilization on Earth."

The urgency in his words immediately changed the atmosphere. People who had been whispering moments earlier were now completely focused on him.

Mr. Davis continued. "When humanity was at its weakest, the awakened among us rose."

The projector displayed images of awakened fighters battling monsters.

"They became our greatest weapons against the creatures threatening our survival. Their powers allowed us to survive situations ordinary humans could never have survived." He slowly shook his head. "But that advantage didn’t last."

The images changed. Some awakened were shown fighting increasingly powerful monsters.

"The same way humanity is evolving, the creatures around us are evolving as well." He looked directly at the audience. "And unfortunately, our awakened humans are no longer evolving fast enough to keep up."

The president and Chris Walton stood behind him, both watching attentively. They nodded in agreement.

Davis took a slow breath. "So we had to find another solution."

The projector changed again. This time, it showed the laboratories. The tanks. The experiments. The mutated bodies.

Several people in the audience looked uncomfortable. Others remained silent.

"Our answer was evolution itself." Mr. Davis raised his voice slightly. "If humanity cannot naturally evolve quickly enough, then we must force that evolution."

His expression hardened.

"We began using awakened essence, combining abilities, transferring energy, modifying bodies, and creating humans capable of surviving the conditions of this new Earth." He paused. "And after countless failures..."

A faint smile appeared on his lips. "...we finally succeeded."

A few people immediately began clapping. The applause quickly spread. Some people looked uncertain. Others clapped enthusiastically.

They knew what was happening inside those laboratories. They had heard the rumors. They had seen some of the results. But to them, survival came before everything else.

Mr. Davis waited until the applause settled. "Humanity is no longer completely defenseless." He smiled. "We finally have a chance."

More applause erupted.

But then his expression changed. "There is, however, one problem."

The applause died almost immediately.

"Our creation is not perfect."

The audience exchanged nervous glances.

"Something is missing." Davis folded his hands in front of him. "We spent years searching for the missing component. We studied awakened humans, monsters, dimensional energy, dungeon cores, and everything else we could obtain." His eyes narrowed. "Nothing worked."

He paused. "Until recently."

The screen behind him changed. A glowing representation of energy appeared.

"We discovered an energy core."

The audience went completely silent.

"Not an ordinary energy core." His voice became almost reverent. "This energy is more concentrated, more potent, and more powerful than anything we have ever encountered."

Several people leaned forward.

"If we can locate the person carrying this energy..." Davis smiled. "...we can extract the core essence and use it to complete our chosen humans."

A chill moved through the audience.

"Once we obtain it, the experiment will finally be complete."

For the first time that evening, there wasn’t immediate applause. Some people stared at him in disbelief. Others looked disturbed.

They had been willing to accept sacrifices for survival. But this sounded different. This sounded like humanity had become nothing more than material for another experiment.

Someone finally raised a hand. "The person carrying this core... is that person here?"

Davis looked toward the crowd. "No."

The answer was immediate. The small amount of hope that had appeared in the room vanished. If the person wasn’t there, they could already be dead.

Someone else asked, "Then how are you supposed to find them?"

Davis smiled. "Don’t be disappointed." His confidence returned. "I already found a way."

He tapped the side of the podium. "The concentration of energy left behind in the atmosphere has allowed us to track the source. We don’t need to know the person’s exact location." His smile widened. "We only need enough of the energy signature."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

"And that is where our awakened come in." Davis turned toward the screen. "We will send our finalized experiments to retrieve the source." His eyes gleamed. "And I will personally accompany them."

The room became silent again.

"This will also give us an opportunity to test our creations in real combat." His voice became firm. "Their first mission is simple."

He looked toward the audience. "Find the energy source."

His final words echoed across the hall. "We promised you all a new Earth." Davis spread his arms. "Now, humanity has a real chance." He smiled. "We can finally turn the tide."

His voice rose. "From prey..."

He paused. "...to predator."

The audience erupted into applause. Not everyone clapped. Some remained frozen in their seats. Some looked horrified. But enough people believed him. Enough people wanted to believe that this madness was necessary.

For them, the methods didn’t matter anymore. Only survival did.

The president finally stepped forward to close the ceremony. He looked over the audience with a proud smile. "You have seen what our future looks like." He gestured toward the screen. "A new Earth awaits us."

His voice echoed throughout the hall. "We have suffered enough. We have lost enough. But we will not lose our future."

The crowd listened.

"We will create a new world." The president raised his hand. "And we will create new paths for humanity."

The applause returned.

The ceremony finally came to an end. People slowly began leaving the hall in groups. Some discussed the new world with excitement. Others whispered about the experiments. Some were visibly uncomfortable. But nobody dared to openly challenge the leaders.

Ava remained where she was. Her legs suddenly stopped supporting her. She dropped to her knees. Her hands hit the floor as tears finally escaped her eyes.

Her mother was dead. Her brother was dead. Her father was still lying helplessly at home. And she was alone. Completely alone.

Bonnie saw her. For a moment, she looked as if she might walk over. But she stopped. There was nothing she could say. So Bonnie turned around and walked away.

Ava remained on the floor while the last groups disappeared from the hall. No one came to help her. No one cared.

Eventually, she forced herself to stand. Her entire body trembled as she walked away from the stage. Behind her, the enormous screen was still displaying the ruined Earth.

But inside the hall, only three people remained. The president. Mr. Davis. And Chris Walton.

The president waited until the doors closed. Then his expression changed. "How many evolved awakened are ready to be shipped out?"

Mr. Davis’s lips curled into a serious smile. "Fifteen are ready for testing." He paused. "And seventy more are prepared for the final deployment."

Chris remained silent, listening.

"The seventy will be shipped after we locate the energy source," Davis continued. "For now, we use the fifteen. We need to know whether they can actually survive outside and how well they adapt to the new environment."

The president smiled. "Then get it done."

Mr. Davis nodded.

"You know you can use anyone you want."

The president’s expression remained completely cold. "It’s not a problem. Whatever mess you create, we’ll clean it up."

He glanced toward the empty hall. "The project is more important than any individual life." His voice b

ecame firm. "Humanity must survive."

The three men stood beneath the fading projector. Behind them, the image of Earth slowly disappeared. But the world outside remained exactly as broken as before.