PGVCW 21

Playing God in Various Catastrophic Worlds

Chapter 21: Stampeding Provisions and the Skyward Vessel

If every surviving human within the dimension of mutated flora held a deep-seated terror of the dreaded [Famine Tides], then the desperate populace of Blue Star experienced the exact polar opposite—a state of overwhelming craving and joyous anticipation.

Yet this extreme hunger for survival resources did not cause the central command to recklessly order an all-out, indiscriminate assault to claim the incoming harvest at any cost.

In reality, long before the curtains rose on the [Wangtian City Famine Tide Dungeon Event], every cross-functional task force had already entered a state of complete operational readiness.

Surrounding the primary spatial anchor point, an array of high-grade medical infrastructure was mobilized in an extremely tight timeframe. Even the KJI Medical Monitoring Suite—notoriously difficult to transport—was routed directly from the Central China sector after overcoming immense logistical hurdles.

Elite medical practitioners from both domestic and international institutions, capable of addressing every spectrum of physical trauma, internal hemorrhaging, and severe thermal burns, stood permanently stationed on active alert.

Beyond this meticulously engineered medical apparatus, a strike force of thirteen multi-role fighter jets provided continuous aerial escort. They safeguarded a high-yield ordinance platform—a weapon considered extraordinarily lethal even during the pre-apocalyptic era—escorting it directly to the spatial anchor.

The supreme command had prepared for the absolute worst-case scenario: should tactical parameters degrade unexpectedly, they were fully prepared to completely abandon all Faith Power harvests within the mutated flora plane solely to guarantee Xia Wang'an's absolute physical safety.

Even Nation F—the state suffering the most acute caloric deficit and harboring the most desperate urge for immediate agricultural relief—voiced zero objections to this protective protocol.

In truth, regarding this forward deployment to Wangtian City, internal dissenters had been far from few. Among them, the representatives from the four foreign states newly integrated into the Salvation Plan voiced the most vehement opposition.

Xia Wang'an was simply too paramount.

Her core value lay not in agricultural yields, nor in advanced military hardware, nor even in the pristine natural resources that could be extracted back to Blue Star.

Her true value rested entirely within her singular person.

By bypassing the campaign at Wangtian City, the state would merely forfeit a localized Faith Power yield. But if she ventured into the epicenter of a Famine Tide, what if she encountered fatal combat variables? What if an irreversible tragedy befell her?

She was the sole entity capable of executing transdimensional travel; she alone served as the solitary pillar capable of delivering Blue Star from total extinction.

Upon the grand scales of existence, Xia Wang'an rested on one side, while the collective lives of all human beings across Blue Star rested upon the other.

To put it plainly: if she were to encounter mortal peril at this very second, every single person present—including the supreme heads of state of every participating nation—would hurl themselves forward in succession, utilizing their own flesh and blood as shield barriers to absorb all incoming lethal force on her behalf.

Yet presently, while she marched toward grave hazard within an alien dimension, they could do nothing but sit behind monitoring displays in agonizing, helpless anxiety.

"Negative! We should abort the campaign altogether!"

A senior security expert from Nation G was sweating profusely across his forehead, his nervous system stretched to its absolute limit. His anxiety was entirely justified—having just been briefed that Xia Wang'an represented the solitary hope of human civilization, he had learned in the very next breath that she was currently striding directly into a catastrophic warzone:

"Even if our temporal window is constrained to a mere ten years, we can afford to wait until technological advancements permit us to deploy larger strike teams into the foreign realm before attempting large-scale Faith Power harvests!"

"We cannot understate the lethal risk of a Famine Tide simply because we suffer from acute starvation, nor can we ignore the intrinsic hazards merely because we have engineered extensive tactical preparations!"

"Those preparations are far from absolute! Furthermore, she is operating effectively as a solitary operative—a sixteen-year-old girl, completely alone!"

Meanwhile, within the dimension of mutated flora—

"Wang'an, here, have a boiled egg."

Yuanning handed a half-peeled egg over to Xia Wang'an.

Xia Wang'an nibbled on it in tiny, delicate bites. Feeling slightly parched from the dry yolk, she paused, prompting Linke—who resembled a loyal spirit beast presenting tribute to its sovereign lord—to step forward with absolute solemnity. He offered a canteen, having painstakingly wiped the drinking nozzle clean with a silk handkerchief: "Hydration."

Back in the home plane, the security expert from Nation G continued his impassioned tirade:

"In that world, setting aside the terror of a Famine Tide, mere terrestrial travel constitutes an immense existential hazard! I can barely comprehend how many agonizing trials and lethal ambushes she will encounter along this journey!"

Observing the expert's sweat-drenched brow and his near-hysterical state of panic, a Great Xia specialist couldn't help but gently pat his shoulder to soothe his nerves:

"Rest assured. Should true catastrophic variables manifest, Wang'an can instantly execute transdimensional transit back to our plane. Furthermore, did we not equip Wang'an with a high-tier transportation platform?"

Yet the security expert from Nation G derived zero comfort from the statement:

"Yes, we provided her with a transport platform! But is that truly sufficient?! Does that erase the agonizing hardship of her journey?!"

"Besides, that transport platform cannot guarantee one hundred percent operational safety!"

In the foreign dimension, Xia Wang'an gulped down a full canteen of water with satisfying chugs (gurgle, gurgle) before gazing contentedly into the far distance.

"It appears we are nearing our destination."

"There remains a slight spatial distance; by the topological markers, we are approaching Wuwang City..." Miao Xinghe's voice trembled slightly. After delivering her report, she hurriedly appended a formal honorific: "Grand-Auntie... you have endured great hardship on this journey."

Miao Xinghe had historically stood as the most composed and steady disciple within the entire Wheat-Excision Sect—a designation that encompassed her unreliable Master and Martial Uncles, as well as the eccentric, uninhibited Patriarchs and Elders occupying the upper tiers of institutional hierarchy.

The Sect Master of the Wheat-Excision Sect—her very own Grand-Master—had once joked that Miao Xinghe's cold, unflappable composure rendered her far more suited to belong to their rivals, the Rice-Excision Sect.

Yet presently, Miao Xinghe found it physically impossible to maintain her classic composure.

Standing beside the upper balustrade, she could clearly observe the writhing, monstrous ocean of emerald flora sprawling beneath them. Predatory vines, sensing the biological aura of living humans, slowly coiled up the massive arbors, attempting to unleash lethal strike vectors.

Under conventional circumstances, Miao Xinghe would have drawn her weapon in hyper-vigilant readiness.

Yet observing the scene now, she harbored zero anxiety regarding the threat posed by those carnivorous tendrils.

Simply because their current elevation maintained a spatial cushion of over a hundred meters above the canopy.

In a state of trance-like disorientation, she couldn't help but cast her gaze across their immediate surroundings once more.

The blazing sun hung high in the azure sky as the morning mist dissolved into nothingness.

A magnificent [Flying Vessel]—shaped like a grand celestial warship, forged from gleaming silver, adorned with a soaring dragon prow and etched with intricate, mysterious talismanic arrays—glided effortlessly through the sky, sailing with absolute stability toward Wangtian City.

The entire sequence felt like an impossible, surreal dream—

Rewinding time to the moment prior to their departure: the disciples of the Wheat-Excision Sect had fully prepared themselves for an agonizing, long-distance foot march. They had produced newly stitched shoe soles and tightly wrapped linen leg-bindings crafted feverishly overnight.

This reflected the hard-won survival wisdom of seasoned terrestrial travelers. Given the contemporary wilderness terrain—riddled with jagged rocks and predatory botanical hazards—wearing down one's footwear was an absolute certainty. Without tightly bound leg-wraps, a short march would induce agonizing muscular fatigue in the calves, alongside frequent thorn attacks delivered by encroaching flora.

"We must humbly request Grand-Auntie and the Senior Immortals to moderate your flight velocity slightly. We shall sprint at our maximum pace to minimize operational delay."

Having learned of their home sect's terminal crisis, the junior disciples had abandoned all casual banter and lighthearted playfulness. Every countenance had hardened into resolute determination; they were fully prepared to march without sleep or rest, resolved to trek all the way back to Wangtian City even if their feet bled through their boots.

Every single one of them harbored the unshakeable resolve to march until they vomited blood before halting.

The atmosphere had been thoroughly soaked in tragic, desolate martyrdom.

It was precisely at that poignant moment that Xia Wang'an had uttered her casual, thoroughly perplexed inquiry:

"Why on earth would you walk there?"

The Senior Brother had offered a bitter, self-deprecating smile. He now understood that Xia Wang'an had been taken in as a direct lineage disciple by the Sect Master of the Heaven-Saving Sect during early childhood, spending her formative years cultivating within the secluded mountain sanctuary. Consequently, her worldview was defined by high-tier immortal practitioners effortlessly soaring through the skies.

In fact, upon her initial descent from the sanctuary into Ming County, she had genuinely assumed that local markets sold spiritual flying swords as commercial commodities.

"Grand-Auntie, we are merely mortal cultivators of modest refinement; we lack the transcendent martial realm required to execute [Sword Flight]."

"You cannot execute Sword Flight?"

The maiden had responded as though stating the most self-evident law of the cosmos: "Then why not simply deploy a Flying Vessel?"

Before the disciples of the Wheat-Excision Sect could comprehend the concept of a 'Flying Vessel,' they witnessed Xia Wang'an's slender fingers weaving an incredibly powerful, complex series of hand seals.

To this day, Miao Xinghe retained a vivid memory of how mesmerizingly intricate and breathtaking that hand-seal sequence had been.

Along with that ringing incantation that shook the very soul, radiating an aura of infinite, primordial authority:

"Boundless Heaven and Earth, borrow power from the Supreme Dao!"

"Flying Vessel—Descend!"

Accompanying the incantation, as Xia Wang'an completed her magnificently radiant hand seal, her form vanished into thin air.

The very next second, this colossal Flying Vessel materialized out of empty space upon the clearing, with the black-haired maiden standing proudly upon its forward deck.

Of course, the empirical reality was simply that Xia Wang'an—possessing a vast surplus of Faith Power—had briefly executed transdimensional transit back to the home plane, retrieving this mechanical Flying Vessel that the engineering division had worked round-the-clock to fabricate.

The disciples of the Wheat-Excision Sect had been utterly struck dumb by the colossal vessel manifesting before their eyes.

Knowing intellectually that these were immortal practitioners was an entirely different psychological experience from witnessing high-tier celestial arts manifested directly before one's physical eyes.

Setting aside the grand, majestic contour of the Flying Vessel, the opulent splendour of the multi-tiered pavilions seated upon its deck, and the incomprehensibly exquisite clockwork mechanisms rotating slowly along its hull—

Simply the instantaneous manifestation of such a colossal construct out of thin air had completely shattered the cognitive boundaries of every disciple present.

What rendered it even more terrifying was that this 'Flying Vessel' actually possessed the capability of speech!

Even now, its voice resonated across the deck once more:

"Proceeding on a straight vector—no aerial obstructions detected—maintaining straight vector—"

The acoustic signature clearly mimicked a human voice, yet it was completely devoid of emotional cadence, sounding entirely soulless. It instinctively impelled observers to wonder: could there be a human soul bound within the core of this mechanical artifact?!

The fact that Miao Xinghe was merely speaking with a slight stammer was a testament to her exceptionally resilient psychological baseline.

As for the other Wheat-Excision Sect disciples, ever since boarding the vessel, they had huddled tightly in a corner like terrified, silent quail, completely lacking the courage to utter a sound or make the slightest movement.

"Wuwang City..."

Xia Wang'an leaned over the balustrade, gazing down with curious intrigue: "Is it a major metropolis?"

"Affirmative. Wuwang City is vastly larger than Wangtian City. It is said that during Wuwang City's golden era, its domain expanded across a thousand li. However, those were glory days of the past; presently, Wuwang City can only maintain operational control over a ten-li radius surrounding its primary walls."

Although the central imperial court had long since collapsed, several regional feudal lords still maintained territorial holds. Wuwang City represented one of the rare strongholds where a martial Feudal King personally commanded an army to garrison the realm.

Speaking of this topic, Miao Xinghe's tone regained a slight trace of spirit:

"When our delegation marched toward Ming County, we carried our Sect Master's official petition letter to pay a formal visit to the Wuwang Feudal Manor. Upon our departure the following morning, I discreetly gathered intelligence and learned that the Wuwang Military Forces were actively mobilizing troops, presumably preparing to march toward Wangtian City to deploy relief forces."

Yuanning narrowed his eyes slightly: "If allied reinforcements are already mobilizing, why do you still characterize the situation as a terminal, extinction-class crisis?"

Miao Xinghe's demeanor plummeted back into deep gloom. Throughout her long trek toward Ming County, she had mentally simulated countess tactical scenarios to resolve Wangtian City's siege.

She had desperately hoped that Feudal King Wu would dispatch his full military force to rescue them, yet ultimately, she had been forced to confront the cold, mathematical reality that such a salvation route was fundamentally impossible.

"The troop deployment from the Wuwang Military Forces is intended merely to evacuate a portion of the civilian populace back to Wuwang City. The incoming Famine Tide is overwhelmingly massive; to completely repel it would require mobilizing over half of Wuwang City's entire military garrison..."

"Wuwang City barely maintains its current territorial stability precisely by relying on those military forces. Should Feudal King Wu commit those troops elsewhere, Wuwang City itself would fall into immediate mortal peril."

Xia Wang'an nodded in agreement: "Protecting one's own sanctuary naturally supersedes defending an external territory."

However, she harbored intense curiosity regarding the historical thousand-li expansion: "Since Feudal King Wu previously possessed the power to command a thousand-li domain, why is he incapable of doing so today?"

Should not an individual's cultivation realm and martial strength continuously progress over time? Why had this Feudal King's power undergone such severe regression?

Miao Xinghe hurriedly clarified: "The sovereign who historically expanded the domain across a thousand li was the late Feudal King—Imperial Princess Heng."

Xia Wang'an asked: "Was she extraordinarily powerful?"

Miao Xinghe clearly harbored profound reverence for this historical figure; her head nodded repeatedly, and her vocal pitch rose with animated admiration:

"I heard my Grand-Master recall that the Imperial Princess once personally commanded a grand army of a million soldiers, completely purging the monstrous botanical horrors that plagued our dynasty. During that era, humanity did not suffer the agonizing hardship we endure today, nor did people harbor such overwhelming terror toward mutant flora. Wuwang City was a pristine, uncorrupted sanctuary. Back then, the Seven Great Sects were anchored under the leadership of the Imperial Princess, taking a sacred oath to permanently eradicate this Famine Calamity!"

"Regrettably, fifty years ago, the Imperial Princess fell in battle, yet the Famine Calamity remained unquenched. The Seven Great Sects progressively declined one after another, until even Wuwang City lost the capacity to extend military support to neighboring cities."

Miao Xinghe let out a long, poignant sigh: "Sigh..."

If only the Imperial Princess had not fallen. Given her transcendent prowess, Wangtian City would surely be defended with ease.

Xia Wang'an let out a parallel sigh: "Sigh..."

If only the Imperial Princess were still alive. Given her transcendent prowess, engaging her in martial sparring would undoubtedly trigger immense breakthroughs in her own combat realm.

Linke let out a third sigh: "Sigh..."

What on earth are these two talking about? I cannot comprehend a single word. How did the popcorn run out so quickly? I must remember to pack a larger supply next time.

Yuanning: ...Should I conform to the group dynamic and voice a sigh as well?

After concluding her sigh, Xia Wang'an suddenly queried:

"However, when you speak of the Imperial Princess, why do you specifically utilize the terminology 'fell'?"

Miao Xinghe was caught off guard: "Is there an anomaly with that terminology?"

Xia Wang'an ticked off her fingers to break down the linguistic rules:

"Under conventional imperial protocol, mortal rulers and royalty passing away are referred to using formal terms like demised, passed into the clouds, or departed the mortal realm."

"The term 'fell' is reserved exclusively for martial dao masters and immortal cultivators."

Miao Xinghe was completely stunned by the realization: "I... I do not know the underlying reason. My Grand-Master utilized the term 'fell' when recounting the history to me, so I simply committed it to memory."

Xia Wang'an pursued: "When members of your sect pass away, do you also state that they 'fell'?"

Miao Xinghe answered without hesitation: "No, we do not. However, when my Grand-Master spoke of our Great-Grand-Master, he similarly stated that he 'fell'."

A look of sudden, total enlightenment washed over Xia Wang'an's face: "I deduce that back then, the ones who perished alongside the Imperial Princess were not merely your Great-Grand-Master, correct?"

She articulated her conclusion with absolute certainty: "An entire generation of top-tier powerhouse cultivators coexisting in the era of the Imperial Princess fell simultaneously within the exact same narrow timeframe!"

Miao Xinghe gasped in utter shock: "How could you possibly know that?! That constitutes a classified institutional secret of our sect; I haven't uttered a single word regarding it!"

Beside them, Yuanning similarly stared at his childhood friend in overwhelming astonishment. Ever since Xia Wang'an's rebirth, she had consistently exhibited a vacant, dazed demeanor, completely lacking the hyper-intelligent, deeply analytical mind she possessed in her past life, routinely struggling to grasp basic daily affairs.

In fact, during the initial phase, she had adamantly insisted that the psychological recording staff fetch her mutant beast skulls to use as room decorations, prompting psychological experts to conduct rounds of evaluation before arriving at the formal diagnosis that her foundational cognitive-logic framework had suffered total disintegration.

Yet presently, relying merely on a few fragments of conversation from Miao Xinghe, she had accurately reverse-engineered an ancient historical truth buried in the distant past!

Yuanning was filled with immense joy: "Wang'an, how were you able to deduce that?"

Xia Wang'an cast a bizarre look at him: "My brain might be damaged, but I am not an idiot."

Yuanning: ...So you are actually self-aware that your brain is damaged.

Xia Wang'an, however, maintained an entirely unabashed demeanor, completely unbothered by her cognitive impairment:

"Relying merely on a army of a million mortal soldiers is mathematically incapable of purging all mutant botanical horrors. During that era, there definitively existed a specialized group of individuals who possessed transcendent power vastly exceeding conventional limits, allowing them to lead the populace to victory against the botanical surge."

"I estimate that those individuals belonged to the Seven Great Sects. Otherwise, those sects wouldn't have fallen into concurrent decline. Furthermore, the way you describe your sect's history sounds extraordinarily powerful—it doesn't sound like exaggerated bravado, meaning your lineages truly possessed supreme glory in the past."

In truth, she had refrained from deep intellectual processing for a long time—not because her cognitive capacity had vanished, but simply because she lacked the internal willingness to think.

As for why she was unwilling, Xia Wang'an had forgotten the underlying cause.

Yet presently, standing upon the deck of this soaring Flying Vessel, feeling the gentle atmospheric breeze against her face, having just consumed a delicious boiled egg, flanked by Yuanning and Linke, with 007 wildly chanting "Host is supreme! 666!" inside her mind, Xia Wang'an suddenly felt a spark of internal willingness to engage her mind once more.

Miao Xinghe stood frozen in awe: "How can you be so absolutely certain?"

Not even her Grand-Master had articulated such historical insights; could it be that this Grand-Auntie had learned of these ancient secrets directly from the archives of her immortal sect?

Xia Wang'an offered a look of absolute, unshakeable confidence:

"Because if that specialized group of powerhouses hadn't existed back then, this world would have suffered total annihilation long ago."

Having traversed through countless worlds and witnessed the terminal collapse of far too many civilizations, she possessed exceptionally rich empirical experience in evaluating the precise timeline of planetary extinction.

Take this world as an example: if the combat capability of humanity during the initial outbreak of the Famine Tide two hundred years ago had been identical to their present feeble state, they would have been mathematically incapable of surviving to the present day.

There existed only one viable explanation: in the very beginning, there existed a cohort of extraordinary powerhouses who—much like the ability users of Blue Star—utilized their sheer, unyielding power to forcibly drag the world back from the precipice of extinction, stalling the planetary collapse.

"Then why... do you deduce that they fell simultaneously?"

Xia Wang'an looked down toward the terrestrial expanse below, where untamed green flora was crawling and expanding with wild, unchecked aggression:

"They had taken a sacred oath together to permanently eradicate the Famine Calamity."

"Unless they fell simultaneously in battle, even if a single survivor remained, they would never have permitted the Famine Calamity to run rampant like this."

She glanced at Miao Xinghe: "At the very least, they would never have allowed junior disciples like you—who cannot even defeat a single mutant tree—to venture out into the world to play the role of roaming xiáke."

Miao Xinghe: “……”

(Was that a direct insult aimed at my combat capability?!)

Having completed a long-overdue round of intellectual deduction, Xia Wang'an felt unexpectedly refreshed.

She touched her head—a brain that had long been offline and rarely harbored complex inquiries—when a sudden, critical question flashed through her mind:

If an entire generation of supreme powerhouses genuinely existed in this world back then, what catastrophic event could possibly have occurred to cause them all to vanish simultaneously from the mortal realm?

Xia Wang'an felt an intuitive certainty that this question held supreme operational importance.

As the Flying Vessel glided smoothly through the firmament, her patience wore thin; driven by an urgent desire to reach Wangtian City to uncover the truth, she urged Yuanning, who was operating the vessel controls:

"Order it to accelerate."

Yuanning flashed a gesture confirming execution, yet while he experienced zero operational friction, the Flying Vessel itself presented an issue.

An inorganic, mechanical voice resonated softly:

"Safety remains the primary protocol; velocity remains secondary. Please refrain from hazardous navigation practices~"

Yuanning executed several override inputs across his light-brain console.

The mechanical voice remained unyielding:

"Safety remains the primary protocol; velocity—"

—SLAM!

Xia Wang'an slammed her palm heavily against the central control panel: "Accelerate right now!"

The control panel suffered a brief mechanical stutter from the physical impact.

Immediately following, a rapid acoustic response issued:

"Supreme voice command recognized: Wang'an."

"Understood, dear User~ Executing immediate acceleration protocol! Please remain securely seated, hold firm to the supports, and fasten your safety harnesses~"

The Flying Vessel surged with sudden kinetic velocity, streaking through the heavens toward Wangtian City.

Down below, within the heavily fortified, high-walled stronghold of Wuwang City—

Among the civilians moving through the streets, an individual happened to glance up toward the sky, instantly letting out a sharp, horrified gasp.

"Look! What on earth is that?!"

Hearing the commotion, the surrounding populace looked upward in unison. Merchants forgot their sales pitches, buyers forgot to tender their coin, and even the heavily armed guards standing atop the city gates widened their eyes in utter shock and terror.

Inside the Wuwang Feudal Manor, the Chief Steward burst through the doors of the inner study in frantic haste:

"Your Highness! Pray gaze upon the firmament outside! A celestial immortal ship is sailing through the heavens!"

An silver-haired elder clad in heavy battle armor, who was leaning over a strategic map table, snapped his head upward.

His breathing constricted in an instant, yet he forcibly compelled his physiological baseline into rigid composure. Striding out onto the covered veranda, he looked up just in time to witness the colossal Flying Vessel navigating through the azure sky.

The dragon-prow vessel glided overhead, its majestic dragon-whisker banners swaying gently along both flanks.

As it passed directly above the Wuwang Feudal Manor, the colossal shadow cast by its hull completely swallowed the expansive courtyard below.

Yet before the personnel within the manor could formulate a response, the vessel had already vanished into the distant horizon at blinding speed.

"A celestial vessel..."

"Immortal beings... possess the power to deliver the world from calamity."

Feudal King Wu's hands trembled slightly: "Within this mortal realm... do authentic immortals truly exist?"

The Chief Steward supported his arm: "Your Highness, observing the flight trajectory of that celestial vessel, it is heading directly toward Wangtian City!"

Wangtian City—

No matter how slowly the Famine Tide advanced, it ultimately breached the perimeter threshold beneath the city walls.

Atop the battlements, the Patriarch of the Wheat-Excision Sect and the Matriarch of the Rice-Excision Sect stood with austere, expressionless visages. One raised his heavy agricultural sickle horizontally, while the other readied her long-shafted spear.

The crimson rays of the setting sun cascaded across the horizon.

"This fading sunlight reminds me of the day Master departed the mortal realm." A self-deprecating smile touched the lips of the Wheat-Excision Sect Patriarch: "Among all his apprentices, Master favored me the most. Before passing away, he commanded me to properly safeguard my junior brothers and sisters during his absence."

"Yet I failed to fulfill my vow. Of our five martial siblings, only you and I remain in this world. Junior Sister, today, let us journey together to reunite with Master."

The Rice-Excision Sect Matriarch kept her eyes locked onto the surging wave of mutated wheat rolling toward the gates:

"Senior Brother, since we are both marching toward our deaths, allow me to voice the truth I have held within my heart... In truth, I have always wanted to tell you..."

"Junior Sister, you know my heart. My soul has been deeply bound to Cuihua. Though she harbored no affection for me and loved only Dazhuang, I could never let go of my feelings for her, thus failing your deep affections..."

—SHINK!

A crimson-tasselled spear unleashed a sharp, lethal thrust, utterly shattering a carnivorous green stalk that had scaled the wall, before utilizing the momentum to entangle and snap a fanged botanical tendril snapping toward the Patriarch's ear:

"Senior Brother, your vanity remains as insufferable as ever."

"I intended to tell you that for the past fifty years, I have kept a secret from you. In truth, before Master departed, the final words he whispered to me were that his most beloved apprentice was actually me."

The Wheat-Excision Sect Patriarch: “……”

"Impossible! You are lying to me!"

He executed a massive sickle sweep, severing a vast swath of mutated rice stalks, before reversing his blade to slice through a creeping vine attempting an ambush on the Matriarch:

"Master explicitly stated he favored me the most! I was his eldest, first-born apprentice!"

He opened his mouth to debate the point further, when he noticed that his Junior Sister—who had been unleashing lethal spear strikes a moment prior—had suddenly frozen in place, staring blankly into the far distance.

"Senior Brother... what on earth is that?"

"Junior Sister, at this life-or-death juncture, surely you aren't deploying a cheap trick, pretending to see an anomalous object just to distract my attention?"

The Rice-Excision Sect Matriarch reached out and forcefully yanked his head around.

His head forcibly twisted, the Wheat-Excision Sect Patriarch looked toward the colossal Flying Vessel sailing majestically through the sky toward them, his eyes widening to their absolute physical limits.

Back in the Home Plane—

"Has she almost arrived at Wangtian City?!"

The security expert from Nation G had been forcibly escorted into the psychological counseling suite, where specialists were attempting to conduct mandatory psychological intervention.

"No! I refuse to undergo psychological therapy! I must return to my active post! I must contribute my labor to the survival of all humanity!"

The resident psychiatrist maintained a thoroughly calm, accustomed expression. On modern Blue Star, solar radiation was non-existent, energy grids were severely depleted, and even simulated sunlight technology had been shut down over a decade ago.

Virtually every ordinary citizen suffered from varying degrees of psychological distress—to say nothing of these operational staff members who knew with absolute clarity that their daily tasks directly dictated whether human civilization survived or perished.

Ever since the Salvation Plan had been officially inaugurated, dozens of staff members whose internal pressure had reached explosive thresholds were forcibly brought in for psychological intervention every single week.

—And 'explosive' was not a mere metaphor; it was a literal action verb.

Because an ability user possessing the spatial power [Explosion] had accidentally detonated his own hand under extreme nervous tension.

"Ruist," the psychiatrist offered a practiced, reassuring professional promise: "Once you successfully overcome your acute anxiety symptoms, we shall immediately clear you to return to your operational post."

"How could I possibly NOT be anxious?!"

The security expert named Ruist clutched his head in sheer agony:

"What tactical efficacy does that single Flying Vessel possess?!"

He decried with heartbreaking agony: "It is equipped with a mere twelve tactical air-to-ground missiles, mounted with thirteen multi-barrel autocannons, and carrying a meager payload of one thousand high-explosive artillery shells!"

He bellowed with soul-tearing despair: "At absolute maximum, it can only level one city or perhaps two cities! THAT IS ALL!!"

"CAN THAT GUARANTEE THE ABSOLUTE SAFETY OF OUR SAVIOR?!"

"CAN IT?!!!"