Lord of Prayer

“Here’s the information on Zone 009. Take a look for yourself.”

A few minutes later, Jiang Che compiled the intelligence into a folder and sent it to Zhou Chen’s phone.

Zhou Chen leaned back on the sofa, petting his cat as he opened the file and began to read it carefully.

Zone 009 was one of the first Restricted Areas discovered in the early days of the New Era, hence its low number. It was immense, twice the size of the already unsealed Laine Kingdom.

Under the influence of the Restricted Area’s mysterious mist, the World Rules inside Zone 009 were completely twisted, turning it into a game-like World. Twenty years ago, it exhibited an abnormal Energy reaction for the first time. Overnight, it sent out a total of three hundred mysterious invitations to Ascenders and ordinary people across the globe.

All who received an invitation were called “Players.” Among them were battle-hardened Ascenders as well as ordinary people who were expert gamers. It was clear that Zone 009 sent the invitations in the hope that someone could successfully clear the game and thereby unseal the Restricted Area.

The invitations could be transferred, but each person only had one chance to enter the Restricted Area.

Invited Ascenders were Tier Three or below. Tier Four, Tier Five, Demigods, and even Gods could not enter the Restricted Area, even with an invitation. If a Demigod or a God tried to force their way in, they would trigger a violent reaction from the mysterious mist.

Zone 009 opened every year in May, with three hundred slots for the game.

Time flows differently inside the Restricted Area compared to the outside World. One year outside is equivalent to a hundred years inside. As a result, strategies from previous expeditions were unsuitable for the next, so the information in the file consisted of basic data, the world-building, and the subsequent effects caused by the Players’ repeated explorations.

Zhou Chen spent an hour reading through the world-building and history from start to finish. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and couldn’t help but sigh.

‘It really is on Hell difficulty…’

It was once a world of extreme prosperity, where countless powerful races lived on a land called “Gaia.” In ancient times, a great being known as the “King of Kings” launched several massive wars, eventually unifying all of Gaia and establishing the dominance of the human race. He thus became the first King of Gaia.

Under the leadership of the King of Gaia, the entire land thrived and prospered.

But soon, the unexpected happened.

—The Sun was slowly dying.

The light was dimming. One day, it would no longer be able to illuminate the world. When that day came, cold and Darkness would sweep across the Gaia Land, bringing despair and death.

The first King of Gaia and the other Kings tried many times to reignite the Sun, but none of their attempts ended well. Instead, they only pushed the World step by step into the Abyss.

Finally, they gathered all the Power in the World to strike the world barrier, attempting to forcibly unseal the Restricted Area.

According to ancient records, on that day, the heavens and the earth of Gaia were torn asunder. A torrent of blood and carnage rained down as the world itself cried out in sorrow. Hurricanes, tsunamis, thunderstorms, earthquakes, plagues, volcanic eruptions… countless disasters swept across the entire World.

When the cataclysm ended, the King of Kings was nowhere to be found. Some said they saw him shatter into pieces amidst endless light; others claimed he was cast into the depths of the earth. Still others said he successfully passed through the world barrier and vanished. But in truth, everyone knew in their hearts that the King of Kings had fallen.

In addition, the Ancient Dragon King fell. His colossal corpse transformed into the Valley of Miasma, bringing widespread devastation to the south of Gaia.

The King of Dwarves fell. Before his death, he and the Giant King forged their very bodies into an artificial sun, extending the life of the World for several hundred years. But now, that artificial sun has long since burned out.

The Star Empress, the White King, the Black King, the Night King… all the Kings fell in that cataclysm. After that, the Sun continued to die, and Gaia entered a dark age. War, schism, plague, natural disasters, the rule of Tyrants… the entire World became bleak and chaotic, like a fragmented and lifeless apocalypse on the verge of annihilation.

Until one day, Players from the outside appeared without warning, bringing hope to all of Gaia.

Through the efforts of generations of Players, some life finally returned to Gaia. Many factions rallied, offering aid to the immortal Players, who were themselves eager to clear the game and liberate the entire Restricted Area.

The real pain in the ass was that this was an open-world game with no clear quest guidance whatsoever. Players had to figure out what to do on their own. With a severe lack of intelligence, a ridiculously huge map, and max-level monster difficulty, many Players hadn’t even left the Newbie Village by the time the game ended…

Things only took a turn for the better when that now-fallen Sun entered the game.

At that time, he was at the Tier Three Peak, just one step away from becoming a Tier Four·Crowned King. He entered the game carrying a large number of powerful Forbidden Objects. He overcame every obstacle, constantly exploring and deciphering secrets, gathering all sorts of hidden information, and gradually uncovered the World’s truth.

—It all originated from the Abyss’s invasion.

A massive Abyssal Power existed within Zone 009, and it was gradually corrupting the Sun. The only way to end it all was to kill the incarnation of Abyssal Power hiding beneath the Gaia Royal City.

But he failed to clear the game. He had wasted too much time gathering clues, leaving him no time to travel to the depths beneath the Royal City.

After leaving the Restricted Area, he advanced to become an Uncrowned, and then, at an incredible speed, he was crowned a King, becoming the one and only Sun King.

Thereafter, every time Zone 009 opened, the Sun King would find a large number of Players and bestow upon them a “blessing of light,” enhancing their Abilities.