The Great Worm Lich

Zhang Lisheng’s had undergone countless of refining and had long become tenacious. When he saw Maddie’s bright eyes that held a hint of concern in it, his heart suddenly gave a jolt. Suddenly, as though having a deep winter cold rain showered down on him, he snapped back to reality at once.

After seeing the young man suddenly awakening and that his air had changed abruptly, the girl stood stunned for a while before asking, “What’s wrong with you, Lisheng? Are you okay?”

“Very,” He pondered for a while. Zhang Lisheng guessed that the reason his will suddenly weakened for no reason must be a side effect of his absorption of Wizard Li’s faith not long ago. He secretly and vigilantly took note of this in his heart as he replied, “I’m very well, Maddie. It’s just that I just saw the title ‘The ancient prophecy have realized today. 1000 worlds appeared on Earth, so where shall the human go? The ancient prophecy has realized today…’ on the Internet, so I’m feeling a little blue. What’s going on actually?”

“Lisheng, how long have you been away from Earth?” Upon hearing the young man’s question, the girl did not answer immediately. Instead, she stood, touched his face, and went to the refrigerator to take a can of iced Coke. After handing it to him, she asked.

“About half a year,” Zhang Lisheng did not have anything to hide from Maddie as he replied. “You must also know that I have been disguising myself as a deity to fool and rule a group of natives in the Shrimp World No. 2 to carry out conquests these past few years. I’ve recently made a breakthrough and occupied over ten islands. I was first very proud, but I didn’t expect myself to return to a New York that is entirely shrouded in smog as soon as I returned to Earth.”

“The smog in New York is caused by a foreign world that has appeared at Tamdon Town about 570 kilometers west of the metropolitan area about four to five months ago. It’s called ‘Sandstorm,’ and the yellow sand is always blown up by the wind all day long…”

“Sandstorm?” Zhang Lisheng took a huge gulp on the iced Coke and interjected, “How big is the sandstorm there? To think that it can actually span a distance of hundreds of kilometers through the world’s gate that has just appeared for less than half a year and cover the entirety of New York.”

“Baby, when the passageway of the Sandstorm World connecting Earth appeared, the diameter is already over 200 kilometers wide. Fortunately, according to the official statement so far, there’s nothing there except sand and typhoons, so it’s not dangerous.” Maddie gently pushed his hand and sat on the young man’s desk before answering under her breath. “In fact, the few foreign worlds that appeared in the past few months all have a huge contact area with the Earth. They have already changed the Earth’s ecological environment significantly.”

“Changed the Earth’s ecological environment? Ha, why have I even forgotten that such danger would exist after the emergence of the Colossal World?” Zhang Lisheng remained stunned for a while before sighing. Trusting in luck, he asked, “Maddie, the title of the news online stated that 1000 worlds have appeared on Earth now. Don’t tell me that the number of foreign worlds discovered on this planet we’re standing on has already reached 1000?”

“You know, baby, satellites couldn’t detect the world’s gate. Nevertheless, in the past two months, because of the constant deterioration of our global environment, all countries have been forced to publicly announce the exact number of foreign worlds discovered through their domestic investigation. I have set a reminder function on my mobile phone,” The girl picked up her delicate and small purse made from pearl gourami fish skin and took out her mobile phone to swipe the screen. “The latest number shows 991, two more compared to yesterday. As for this figure of 1000, it’s actually an inference that scholars made. In the past six months, some historians and theologians had inferred from ancient myths, legends, and ancient civilizations that Earth once underwent an era when it merged together with 1000 foreign worlds. That time our planet was called the Colossal World!”

“991 is not much different from 1000. The remaining 9 foreign worlds must have not yet discovered for now,” Zhang Lisheng quietly finished his iced Coke in a gulp and crumpled the aluminum can up. All of a sudden, no longer trusting on his luck, he asked, “Has the governments of each country come up with any new countermeasures for the constantly deteriorating situation?”

“Of course, at the global level, the UN Security Council has signed an ‘Earth Cooperation Defense Treaty’ after four months of urgent consultations. It stipulates that all other countries must join forces and dispatch troops for intervention if a foreign world invaded any country on the planet. Not only that but the concept of ‘global defense integration’ has been put on the agenda as well. In the future, Earth will appear as an entity in the face of the foreign world civilization…”

“I don’t want to hear things that have yet to happen, Maddie.”

“In that case, I’ll talk about the present. Take the US, for instance, the Noah Project has become the most favorable weapon for evading the dangers from Earth. The twelve oases the federal government has built using the national budget have become the new Washington…”

“New Washington? “Zhang Lisheng stayed stunned, prompting him to interrupt the girl’s words, “Oh, you mean the White House has moved to the Noah World?!”

“Not only the White House but the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, CIA, and more followed suit. In short, all federal rights agencies you can think of are moving to the Noah World. The federal government also opened to the state governments to choose what oasis they want for them to establish their city in Noah according to the order of their applications. Soon, New California, New New York, New Texas, and so on will appear in the Noah World.”

“New California, New New York, and New Texas have already appeared, so what would happen to the old ones?” The young man asked with wide eyes.

“Hey, baby, the new 51 states and the old 51 states are legally integrated. It is the freedom for their citizens to choose where to live,” The girl explained. “As long as the elections are under the framework of the Magna Carta, then we can maintain the order of the country. It’s just that the state elections and national elections can be slightly more cumbersome than usual.”

“Oh, I’ve forgotten that all US states have their own independent constitution, and each city has its own independent administrative system. The territory of the entire country has originally spread out across two continents.” A pang of realization hit Zhang Lisheng before muttering under his breath, “In this case, God does indeed bless America. To think that she actually managed to find a foreign world with no intelligent creatures nor supernatural creatures to become her migrating land at the very last minute…”

“The country which is equally lucky is your hometown—China.” Upon hearing the young man’s muttering, Maddie chuckled. “They also found a foreign world without any master nor terrifying creatures that is rich in freshwater and natural resources. They even gave a strange name to it, ‘Kunlun.’ Also, they are implementing the immigration plan. By the way, the ‘family planning policy’ there has also been abolished.”

“A foreign world that is suitable for large-scale immigration has also appeared in China? Could it be that there are actually many ‘worlds’ like this?” Zhang Lisheng asked in astonishment.

“Of course not, there are only two among the 991 foreign worlds, and they just happen to be in the most two most powerful countries on the planet.”

Upon hearing the girl’s words, Zhang Lisheng smiled and said, “Actually, think about it, so what if they occupy it? It’s not that easy to build a civilization from scratch in an empty ‘world.’ Immigration of hundreds of millions or even billions of settlers is not something a country can possibly bear, no matter how powerful it is. To most proletariats, the role of such a foreign world is mostly to bring psychological comfort. By the way, just for your information, Maddie, the name Kunlun is not strange. In ancient Chinese mythology, it is the name of the holy mountain where the gods live. It can be said as a place where our Chinese heaven is located.”

“Oh, so it’s actually heaven,” The girl said with a smile. “It’s no wonder that Asian countries such as India, Japan, and North Korea are putting pressure on China to open up the Kunlun World to Asia.”

“Is that so? Then I guess they’ll have to wait for a long time. ‘The Great Unity’ will always be a fantasy of the future. Just like the US, politicians in China are not all idiots and criminals.” Zhang Lisheng shrugged and said, “Oh yeah, Maddie. Isn’t LS invited to participate in the basic urban construction of the first batch of twelve oases in Noah World too? I had an appointment with Charlie to go there to launch the newly built slaughterhouse… Oh, speaking of it, I’ve been late for nearly two months now. How is it now? I didn’t cause much trouble, right?”

“Of course you did. Your lateness of two months has caused LS to lose at least 30 million USD of green waste disposal fees. Charlie has become so worried because of this, I’m sure he would faint out of happiness when he knows that you’ve returned,” The girl said with a smile.

“Ah, is it? Then go tell him that I’m back and immediately prepare the plane as fast as possible. I want to fly directly to New Mexico.”

“The route to New Mexico is completely on fire now, so I’m afraid we won’t be able to get a slot. You may have to go with civilian flights.” When Maddie heard the young man’s instruction, she informed him and immediately called the LS Group’s sly general manager. Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, composed himself and stared at the computer screen, browsing the news of the last six months from the Internet.

The pieces of information showing up on the screen confirmed Maddie’s words. The young man was clicking on the TV interview of a world-renowned jungle explorer and ancient ruin archaeologist, McKesson Kale, about the Colossal World. That was when the girl’s slightly hoarse and seductive voice resonated in his ears. “Like I said, Baby, Charlie was so happy that he literally jumped when he heard that you’ve returned to New York. He has been waiting for you in Feren City in New Mexico all this while. It’s less than 50 kilometers away from Noah World’s world’s gate. Unfortunately, the Air Traffic Control Authority has already shut down the private air route booking to New Mexico. Not only that, but many civilian flights heading there have even canceled their first-class seats for the sake of accommodating more passengers…”

“I always ride the clouds and fly wherever I want to go to the Shrimp World No. 2. Now, I’ll be delighted if I can get a business class sitting.” Zhang Lisheng smiled and looked at the screen as he answered without looking at her.

“Great!” Maddie tapped on the screen of her mobile phone and paid for the ticket online. “The flights for the next two days are all full, so I have booked two business class seats to New Mexico on Friday.”