Chapter 405 - 382: Vigil, Return, Immense Fortune

BWOOM—

BWOOM—

BWOOM—

The highest level of alert sirens blared across every city in Xia Country. An alarm of this magnitude had only sounded three times in history. The first was shortly after the resurgence of the Secret Realms, during a great war that destroyed Kunlun City, though only the cities near Kunlun were affected at the time.

The second was when Gao Yuan City was invaded by the armies of the Dragon Demon Emperor. That incident affected the entirety of the vast Gao Yuan City.

And the third time was when Zuo Xuan appeared. That was a nearly nationwide alert. Every city received the news that Blue Star was facing a great cataclysm, and the doomsday-level warning was seared into everyone’s hearts, never to be forgotten.

Now, the nationwide, highest-level alert was sounding once more. Pedestrians and workers stood frozen in place. Traffic jams, honking horns, and brawling thugs all came to a halt. Countless people gazed up at the heavens, suddenly feeling the sky grow hazy. A storm was brewing. Dark clouds blotted out the sun, and it looked for all the world like another great cataclysm was about to strike.

Some of the older generation who had lived through the last Blue Star cataclysm stared dumbfounded, their fists clenched tight and throats choked with emotion. They were utterly stunned, rooted to the spot. They had no thought of escape, no impulse to run. All that remained was endless despair.

CLICK. A lighter flickered to life, igniting a cigarette. A construction worker sat on a pile of steel rebar, taking a long drag. The ember glowed as red as the sun. Set in his grimy face were two murky eyes, their gaze distant.

He looked up at the turbulent sky. The shrillest of sirens rose and fell in his ears like waves. Nearby, his fellow workers bustled about, fingers tapping furiously on their phones as they shouted their last goodbyes to their families.

Even the site supervisor was panicking, frantically contacting his family, tearfully delivering his last words. The supervisor glanced toward the roadside outside the construction site. A couple holding hands on the street was boldly and brazenly doing things one wouldn’t dare imagine in public. If not for the view being blocked by the worsening traffic jam, he wouldn’t have looked away.

PHEW~

He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, his eyes growing even more distant. ’In the end, I have no one to rely on. Another cataclysm, and I don’t even know who to say goodbye to.’

’No wife, no daughter, no descendants. I live in a shanty house. I work myself to death on infrastructure projects all day, but the pay is pathetic. I’m all alone.’

’After the cataclysm, who knows how many people will take to the streets to rob and pillage? How many will break the law? Even the higher-ups won’t be able to control it. Sigh...’

He took another drag from the cigarette butt. His grimy fingers trembled, shaking off the ash as a sense of helpless frustration welled up within him.

The last great cataclysm had impacted the entire world. It seemed many powerful experts and leaders had stopped appearing on the news. Even various important government departments had ceased their efficient operations. Later, a rumor spread that all the powerful individuals had been taken away.

What did that mean?

It meant the higher-ups lacked the resources to manage the populace. It meant the conflict between the Demon Race and the Human Race would grow sharper—though this didn’t seem to be proven, as the domestic demon situation had been completely turned around after Jiang Qiu dealt with it.

Afterward, everyone had muddled through those difficult days in a daze. Public safety fluctuated, and people left their fates to heaven. Only now had things slowly started to recover.

’But if we’re hit by another great cataclysm, Xia Country will probably be finished. The other countries too. We’d really be thrown back to a primitive society...’

All sorts of conjectures spread through the worker’s mind. At this moment, with a half-smoked cigarette butt dangling from his lips, he was like a profound philosopher gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle. The light of foresight seemed to gleam in his eyes, a stark contrast to the grime ingrained deep in his work-weathered skin.

RUMBLE—

The dark clouds in the sky finally coalesced and swirled, just like in the great cataclysm five years ago when the world was swallowed by darkness. A bolt of lightning tore through the void, and a black vessel emerged from the tear. It was massive. Though not as majestic as the Eight-direction Reversing Ship from before, its sun-blocking, sky-blotting presence wasn’t much weaker. It was clearly another behemoth.

"So, it’s finally here, just as I thought," the worker sighed. The cigarette butt between his fingers had been smoked down to the filter without him realizing it. He flicked it to the ground, then pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He tore it open and felt around inside. It was empty. He paused for a second, then bent down, picked up the butt he’d just tossed, wiped it off, and stuck it back in his mouth. "Sssip~"

"Just go ahead and wipe me out too!"

That shout took all his strength, like a nearly melted candle suddenly engulfed in a great fire, flaring up with the brightest flame of its life. But it was all for naught.

The next second, the dark clouds in the sky began to disperse. The tear in the void gradually mended itself. The vessel that had appeared began searching for a place to land. There was no predatory declaration, nor did an ugly image of a Foreign Race member like Zuo Xuan the Venerable suddenly pop up in mid-air.

A quarter of an hour later, even the highest-level alarms went silent. Everything was just as it was before, as if nothing had happened. The sky was clear and bright. No one could possibly imagine what had just transpired, or what that thing was!

Although textbooks on the worldview of the Great World Community were already in print, very few teachers actually understood the content in detail. They themselves were still in the process of learning. Even the higher-ups might not have a profound understanding of what the Great World Community was.

That went double for the workers down below. They didn’t even have the opportunity to go to school now, so they certainly had no clue what the Great World Community was. Nor could they comprehend where the suddenly-appearing Zuo Xuan the Venerable had come from. They just assumed he was an alien.