Chapter 380: Fumira

Within minutes, Long Ming was outbid on the invitation.

Long Ming frowned and checked the auction timer. Those merchants had set it for eight hours.

He tapped his wristband a few times to set an alarm, then went to wash up and get some rest.

「The next morning.」

BEEP BEEP~

Long Ming’s eyes snapped open at the sound of his alarm. He raised his wristband to check the auction prices.

The invitation to the Level 3 Fevard civilization had been bid up to 6,000 Star Coins, a ridiculous price.

Meanwhile, the price for the Level 4 Ancalent civilization’s invitation had been driven up to 44,000 Star Coins.

After a moment of thought, Long Ming raised his hand and tapped his wristband. He upped the bid on the Level 3 invitation to 7,000 Star Coins and the Level 4 invitation to 45,000. Instantly, the bidding war stopped.

The auction ended soon after. He had successfully won both invitations.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Long Ming got out of bed, washed up, and walked over to the nearby neural connection pod.

He opened the hatch, lay down, and logged into Civilization Paradise.

WHOOSH—

When Long Ming opened his eyes again, he was in Starry City.

The entire city was bustling with activity, crowded with people everywhere.

Clad in his Blade Blood Demon mecha-armor, Long Ming took out the Fevard invitation. He activated it, dissolving into a beam of white light that descended upon teleportation platform #322.

Immediately after, countless other beams of white light followed suit.

The entire platform was packed with people.

Long Ming checked his wristband. 361 people were already on the platform. It seemed everyone who had bought an invitation was afraid of being left behind and had used it immediately.

“Why are there so many people?”

“Holy shit, just how many invitations did that damn profiteer sell?”

…

The crowd cursed and complained.

Just then, several beams of white light landed in the center of the platform.

A four-meter-tall machine slowly materialized. It was a Fourth Generation Mechanical God, the Hunter. Its entire body was covered in gray metal armor, with a four-pointed halo embedded in its chest and a particle cannon mounted on its shoulder. It wielded two particle Light Blades and had two pairs of gray mechanical wings on its back.

At the same time, two custom Third Generation Mechanical Gods, five standard-issue “Destroyer” model Third Generation Mechanical Gods, and numerous personnel in second-generation exoskeletal mecha-armor also appeared.

“A Fourth Generation Mechanical God!”

“Isn’t that Major Fumira from the Third Legion?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“We’re screwed!”

…

Terror filled the faces of the crowd as a commotion erupted across the platform.

Long Ming’s expression darkened at the sight of the Fourth Generation Mechanical God.

‘I thought wiping out a Level 3 civilization with my Blade Blood Demon’s specs would be no problem,’ Long Ming thought. ‘But now a bunch of military grunts have shown up, and they’ve even brought a Fourth Generation Mechanical God.’

It wasn’t like the last time he had taken down that Fourth Generation Mechanical God, the Jailbreaker.

‘Before that mecha fought me, it had already been through a bloody battle with a Type-IV Alien. It might have killed the Alien, but it took heavy damage in the process.’

Just then, Fumira’s helmet retracted, revealing an arrogant face with blond hair, gray eyes, a high-bridged nose, and full lips.

He scanned the players on the platform and spoke with contempt.

“The Third Legion is taking over. If you know what’s good for you, get lost. Otherwise, we’ll just wipe you all out.”

Hearing Fumira’s words, the faces of the crowd turned ashen. But not a single person dared to talk back.

He was, after all, a Major in the Third Legion. His rank was already ridiculously high, and he even commanded his own independent battle fleet—to say nothing of his family background.

Anyone who dared to cross him wouldn’t just be finished here; he’d have their entire family line erased from existence.

“If it isn’t Lord Fumira!”

A short, shrewd-looking man stepped forward, his voice dripping with flattery.

“And who are you?”

Fumira looked down at the man from his towering height.

“My name is Yin Mu. I’m a relative of Major Bolite of the Third Legion. This is just a small token of my sincerity. Please, accept it. I hope you can look out for a little guy like me and not… you know, clear us out.”

With an obsequious smile, Yin Mu produced a thick envelope and stuffed it into Major Fumira’s hand.

Fumira glanced at what was inside the envelope, then patted Yin Mu’s shoulder with a satisfied smile.

“Ah, so you’re one of Bolite’s relatives. Everyone, get a good look at this man. Make sure you don’t ‘accidentally’ harm him once we’re inside.”

“Yes, sir!”

His subordinates responded in a deep chorus.

Seeing Yin Mu’s successful bribe, others in the crowd hurried forward, producing all sorts of items to curry favor with Fumira.

“Lord Fumira, I’m a friend of Captain Sasa! Here’s a little something for you, please accept it!”

…

“Mm, very thoughtful.”

Fumira’s expression was exceedingly arrogant. He didn’t deign to look at the gift-givers, merely glancing at his subordinates.

They stepped forward to collect the offered gifts.

They might not remember what you gave, but they would know exactly who gave nothing at all.

Long Ming overheard a few nearby players muttering among themselves.

“What should we do? Should we still enter the instance?”

“Of course we’re going in! We spent so much money on these invitations. We’ll lose a fortune if we back out now.”

“But we’ll drop our gear if we die!”

“We have to risk it!”

“Sigh, how did we get so unlucky!”

…

Hearing this, Long Ming quietly backed away, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Fumira’s crew.

「More than half an hour later.」

The mechanical pillars on the teleportation platform lit up, and everyone dissolved into beams of white light and vanished.

When Long Ming’s vision returned, he found himself standing on a dilapidated street.

He turned to survey his surroundings.

Damaged concrete buildings filled his view. The streets were littered with wrecked vehicles, and the ground was pockmarked with craters.

The city had clearly been ravaged by war.

This was all to be expected.

But when Long Ming looked up at the sky, he froze.

The sky wasn’t blue, but a pale red.

A notification popped up in his vision.

“Air Humidity: 86%.”

‘A coastal city,’ Long Ming guessed, looking at the notification.

He headed toward a nearby shop.

He entered an abandoned electronics store to find it completely ransacked. The shelves were overturned, but there was nothing on the floor except for a few bits of debris.

Long Ming crouched down to search but only found a few broken, cheap components. He didn’t even see a single blue-grade item.

He left the store and moved on to the one next door.

「More than half an hour later.」

After searching a wide area, Long Ming had only found a single blue-grade earring. ‘This is weird,’ he thought.

‘They’re both unexplored Level 3 civilizations.’

‘Kamoto, the City of Machines, was so loaded with loot, but this place feels incredibly poor.’

Still, Long Ming patiently continued his search down the street.

「On the rooftop of a distant skyscraper.」

A man in gray second-generation mecha-armor, his face covered in pockmarks, cursed in frustration.

“Fuck! What is this shithole? I’ve been searching for half the day and haven’t found a single decent thing. Don’t tell me that goddamn profiteer scammed us!”