Chapter 155 Ancient Humans

As Vane canceled his transformation, his system chimed.

[Quest: Slay the God of the Kyrieloids (Completed)

Rewards: Celestial Orrery x1, Skill Book: Retrograde, Lucky Block x1, Titan Iron Golems x20, +1500 EMC Points, Ring of Invisibility x1, Teleportation Ring x1, Majestic Elytra x1, Nimbus Amulet x1, Campaign Progress +1%, Title: Destroyer of the Kyrieloids.]

Vane pulled up his inventory, quickly scanning the item descriptions.

[Item: Celestial Orrery]

The pinnacle creation of the Necrons and the C’tan. A reality-warping artifact fusing absolute physical science with cosmic authority. Capable of violently adjusting or completely annihilating the orbits of any celestial body within the galaxy.

System Note: “The power of creation, and it’s basically a toy.”

[Item: Titan Iron Golem]

Deployable summon. Spawns an Iron Golem exceeding 50 meters in height.

System Note: “Ever seen a golem punch a hole through a mountain?”

[Item: Ring of Invisibility]

Grants complete invisibility upon equipping. Undetectable by all technological sensors, including thermal and electromagnetic scans.

System Note: “Tokyo’s favorite accessory.”

[Item: Teleportation Ring]

Stores multiple spatial coordinates. Allows instantaneous teleportation to any saved location.

System Note: “Basically a Linking Book, but lighter.”

[Item: Majestic Elytra]

Allows completely silent gliding.

System Note: “Float like a ghost. They’ll never hear you coming.”

[Item: Nimbus Amulet]

Grants the ability to double-jump mid-air.

System Note: “Pair with the Elytra for the ultimate stealth build.”

“The Celestial Orrery? Are you kidding me? This quest system is absolutely busted,” Vane muttered, pulling the glowing map of the cosmos out of his inventory. “If I dropped this in DC, it would be an absolute cheat code against Superman.”

Superman relied entirely on yellow sun radiation to maintain his god-like powers. The Celestial Orrery had the literal power to unmake stars. Snuff out the sun, and the Man of Steel was just another punching bag for Gotham’s rogues’ gallery.

While looting the remnants of the Kyrieloid dimension, Vane stumbled across another stabilized portal. According to the data caches they had secured, this portal led straight into Dimension C-10—a universe currently protected by an Ultraman named Teo. The Kyrieloids had apparently been actively debating whether or not to launch an invasion.

“Ultraman Teo?” Vane stroked his chin in thought.

If he recalled his lore correctly, Teo was a refugee Ultra from Planet H-12, a world that had been completely wiped out by an armada of space monsters before the horde set its sights on Earth.

Suddenly, a new prompt flashed in his vision.

[Quest: Defeat the Ruler of Darkness, Gatanothor, and Travel to a New Dimension.

The Ruler of Darkness, Gatanothor, is rapidly awakening. Dimension B-17 is about to face an apocalyptic threat. Slay this abyssal horror, then proceed to the new dimension.

Rewards: Godzilla (Space Form) Template, French Fries x100, Cola x100, Ender Slime Staff x1, Shurikens x20, Campaign Progress +10%, +5000 EMC Points, Title: ‘The Ruler of Darkness is My Bitch’.]

“Finally, the system gives me something actually useful,” Vane chuckled, eyeing the fries and cola. The food items ported over from the Farmer’s Delight and related culinary mods were absolutely incredible—easily outclassing anything the real world had to offer.

“Let’s fall back for now. We’ll wipe out the Ruler of Darkness, Gatanothor, and then check out Dimension C-10 where Ultraman Teo is stationed.”

After ordering the strike team to thoroughly loot the Kyrieloid dimension, Vane led the expeditionary force back to Earth.

Over the next few weeks, the Emperor fully flexed his presidential authority, issuing an executive order to permanently merge GUTS with the newly established Earth Defense Force. Next, he relentlessly pushed for the full-scale militarization of Earth’s orbit. The goal was simple: build a planetary defense grid capable of intercepting extraterrestrial threats in the vacuum of space, rather than letting them constantly crash-land on the surface and cause catastrophic property damage and civilian casualties.

Under the Emperor’s aggressive initiatives, the Earth Federation entered an unprecedented golden age of technological explosion and rapid development.

But just as humanity was hitting its stride, a bizarre anomaly began sweeping the globe. A peculiar, unknown species of flower quietly began blooming across the world. Anyone who inhaled its pollen instantly fell into a deeply euphoric, comatose dream state.

Right in the middle of the crisis, a small, highly advanced spacecraft breached Earth’s atmosphere. The occupants—a father and daughter—claimed to be ancient humans from a lost civilization.

“Ancient humans? You’re telling me you two have been alive for thirty million years?”

The Emperor personally received the pair in his office, unable to hide his genuine surprise. Even he was only a little over forty thousand years old. Compared to these two, he was practically a toddler. They were true, literal immortals.

“That is correct. Though we no longer possess our original organic bodies. We are cybernetic organisms; our consciousnesses were uploaded into these biomechanical forms.”

The father, Nuke, looked calmly at the Emperor and explained the situation. No matter how advanced their science had been, an organic human body simply couldn’t endure the friction of thirty million years. Because of this, a select fraction of their civilization had chosen to abandon their flesh, transferring their minds into eternal, cybernetic bodies.

“The only reason we have returned to Earth is because the Gijera flowers are blooming once again. We need to harvest a fresh supply of their extract.”

“The Gijera extract contains a unique chemical compound that keeps human brain cells perpetually active. As long as we have a steady supply, we can live forever.”

This was highly classified, extremely sensitive information regarding literal immortality. Under normal circumstances, Nuke would have never revealed this to a primitive civilization.

The problem was that the Earth Federation’s orbital defense grid was currently too tight. If he hadn’t come clean and requested diplomatic clearance, his ship would have been blown out of the sky long before it even reached the atmosphere. Without landing, there was no way to harvest the Gijera pollen.

“So the Gijera can grant humans immortality…” Horii muttered from the sidelines.

His words caused a visible ripple of greed to wash over the human officials in the room.

Immortality? Who could possibly resist a temptation like that?

“I’ve got to admit, you ancient humans are incredibly selfish,” Vane chuckled from his seat, instantly drawing the room’s attention.

“What do you mean by that?” the Emperor asked, looking at Vane.

Vane stood up and walked slowly toward Nuke. “Why didn’t you tell them the rest of it? Why didn’t you mention that the Gijera pollen plunges humans into an inescapable, euphoric hallucination, making them completely incapable of facing reality?”

“An entire civilization can—and will—collapse into total extinction just by breathing it in.”

“Let me guess. You kept your mouth shut because you were afraid these ‘primitive’ humans would destroy the Gijera flowers before they fully matured, right?”

The room went dead silent. The Federation officials stared at Nuke in absolute horror.

“Master… does the Gijera really have such a terrifying side effect?!” Daigo shot out of his chair, looking at Vane in shock.

“If you don’t believe me, I’m switching your training from the Jeep to an eighteen-wheeler,” Vane deadpanned, looking right back at him.

Daigo’s face instantly turned completely pale.

The jeep was already his waking nightmare. If Vane upgraded to a semi-truck, how many times was he going to get run over before his training was complete?!

“Wait, what? You train by dodging a truck?!” Horii’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. No wonder Daigo had warned him the training wasn’t suitable for normal people. One wrong move and you’d be literally flattened!

“What difference would it have made if I told you?” Nuke finally spoke up, his tone utterly calm and detached. “The humans of this era are exactly the same as the ones from thirty million years ago. You haven’t evolved a single step.”

“It is infinitely better to die peacefully, immersed in a beautiful dream created by the Gijera, than it is to stay awake and witness the terrifying darkness that is coming.” Nuke looked straight at Vane. He knew exactly what the blooming of the Gijera heralded for Earth. If extinction was inevitable, mankind was better off enjoying their final moments in absolute, blissful ignorance.

“Oh, you mean the Ruler of Darkness, Gatanothor?” Vane scoffed. “Buddy, we’re literally planning to turn that oversized squid into calamari in a few days. You’re still using that overgrown mollusk as a boogeyman?”

“You know absolutely nothing of the Ruler of Darkness!” Nuke’s calm facade finally cracked, genuine terror bleeding into his voice. “Thirty million years ago, I watched with my own eyes as it descended and completely annihilated our entire civilization!”

“It blanketed the entire planet in absolute darkness! Every weapon we had was completely useless against it! Every effort, every sacrifice—it was all in vain!”

“And very soon, it will awaken again to repeat exactly what it did to us!”

“Arguing with you is a total waste of breath. Listen closely: Earth doesn’t welcome you, and we’re not handing over a single drop of Gijera extract,” Vane stated coldly. “However, we are open to trade. If you have technology or assets that we actually want, we can negotiate an exchange.”

“You can’t do this! Dina and I need the Gijera extract to survive!” Nuke yelled, shooting out of his chair in a panic.

“You literally just said the fate of humanity is none of your business. Well, guess what? The resources of humanity are none of your business either,” Vane said, staring down the ancient father and daughter. “The only thing you can do now is figure out what you’re going to pay us with.”

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