The Era of Gods

Standing still, they closed their eyes and remained silent for a while until the taller one opened his eyes and said,

“He is indeed dead.”

The shorter one also opened his eyes and said,

“The Fields are fully interfaced—who killed him?”

The two exchanged a look, both seeing the surprise and confusion in each other’s eyes.

“According to the rules, we can have conflicts, but we cannot engage in full battle, especially not to the extent of a deadly fight with fully interfaced Fields. Who would dare to break the taboo?”

“No!”

The taller one shook his head and said,

“It shouldn’t be an internal strife. According to the rules, Nightmare’s Will would not allow them to have fully interfaced Fields—that’s impossible. There’s only one possibility: an outsider has come to this world.”

The shorter man pondered for a moment and nodded before asking,

“Who could it be? Humans or the Soul Race?”

“The Soul Race is too far from us. It was said that a True God of the Human Race was discovered in the nearby Chaotic Void a long time ago; I suspect some humans have infiltrated here.”

“That’s unlikely. If there were humans here, our Lord would have given us a sign.”

“But aside from this possibility, there’s no other explanation. This world isn’t a Field civilization. And the lack of a sign from our Lord doesn’t mean nothing has happened, perhaps…”

Before they could finish, both closed their eyes. After a short while, they opened their eyes and looked at each other, unable to hide the surprise in their gaze:

“The Dominator!”

Outside the world, the Void Battleships of the Nightmare World that pervaded outside the bizarre World Crystal Wall had disappeared, all gathered around the central Nightmare Sovereign seated on the throne—his white lightning still flickering, but dimmed by more than a hundredfold compared to before. However, the focus of the Nightmare Lords, who could rival a True God, was not on this Sovereign with Powerful Divine Power, but on another side of the bizarre world.

On that side, divine light flooded the skies, obstructing most of the Void Sea and bringing down an unimaginable great divine power, which cleared out the Chaos Energy in billions of kilometers of space, forming a clear expanse.

Across from the infinite divine light that covered half of the Void Sea was the equally enveloping Nightmare Origin Force covering the other half of the world.

But the main reason they dared not move from their position in the rear was the presence of Nightmare’s Will and Gaia Will in the corners of this Chaotic Void, imperceptible to them.

All three elite warriors from the list of prodigies felt disheartened as the prompt arrival of Powerful Divine Power assistance came too late, incensing Gaia Will. Thus, the incarnation of the closest great divine power descended near this Chaos Sea of Void. If it weren’t for the constant vigilance of Nightmare’s Will on this world, the Nightmare World might have lost a Sovereign comparable to a great divine power.

The two great incarnations confronted each other for a long time, the atmosphere seeming extremely tense. However, anyone with clear sight knew that a fight would not break out.

A battle involving great divine powers and the Nightmare Sovereign could easily spiral out of control into a full-scale war between two powerful Field civilizations. Since neither the Nightmare World nor human civilization were sure of defeating the other, naturally, they would not lightly start a war.

After a standoff between the two great existences for a while, with the arrival of many True Gods of humanity and increasing attention focused here—including fearsome beings hidden in the Chaos Sea of Void and great existences from other Crystal Wall Universes—the pressure led both sides to quickly come to an agreement.

Before long, a host of elites from various top-level colleges arrived. Using the power of Gaia Will, they established a descent pathway in this bizarre world and began to descend.

Aboard the Shining High School Department’s Giant Void Ship, several True Gods were briefing over thirty senior elites from the first and second years about the precautions they needed to take upon their descent, handing out a treasure to each that could counteract the current world’s shielding against the Divine Realm.

Not far off, Jin Sisi was among them. Once the preparations were complete, she waved to Xiong Chumo nearby, signaling her to come over.

She handed Xiong Chumo a Jade Brand identical to the ones handed out earlier and said,

“Chu Mo, if you find your junior, give this to him.”

She nodded and took it, replying,

“If I find him, I will give it to him. But this world is too complicated—I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to find him.”

Jin Sisi spoke understandingly,

“Do your best.”

Then, the power from the great divine power descended and opened a descent pathway into this bizarre world, with streaks of light flowing into it.

On the other side of the world, more Children of Nightmare began to descend as well.

All this was unknown to Lin Xiao; by then, he had long since left Pearl Island and was on a ship that was transporting him and a few hundred other prisoners to a desolate island called No. 35 Mining Colony.

According to the rule that the lower the number, the closer it is to Pearl Island, the No. 35 Desolate Island was very far away; they had been at sea for nearly a month and were still on the ship.

Compared to having a private room as the second officer aboard The Explorer, now he shared a room with a dozen others, a mélange of sweat, foot odor, and the stench of people not bathing for a month mingled together—the sensation was uniquely sour and exhilarating.

At first, he could not stand it, but as time passed, he grew accustomed to it.

“`

The cargo ship was sailing along a fixed route. The ship was quiet — even below deck in the cabins there wasn’t much noise, just a low murmur of whispered conversations.

Lin Xiao sat alone in a corner with his eyes closed, gathering his strength. The room was crowded, but no one dared to sit next to him. He had earned this respect through force.

The moment the great divine power opened the channel for Descend, he faintly sensed something, but he couldn’t be sure whether it was because it was too far away or the world rules were too strict. There was only a slight throbbing, and nothing more.

There was no response from the Divine Realm, either. Since that battle, he hadn’t felt any connection to the Divine Realm, suppressed completely.

After meditating for a while, there came a series of thuds from outside his door, as someone with a hoarse voice said:

“Time for air, cabin one, you have ten minutes.”

There was a stir below deck, the prisoners both excited and somewhat fearful.

One by one, the cabins were let out and then returned, and soon it was their turn. After a while, the cabin in front went out.

But this time, before ten minutes were up, the deck door was thrown open. A commotion mixed with curses came flooding in, and accompanying the jailers who were wielding their whips were several prisoners with terrified faces hurried back. Everyone noticed a few of them were missing, and those who returned were covered in blood.

The jailer locked the remaining few back in the room and said to everyone else:

“Keep an eye on them, and notify us immediately if you notice any changes.”

The prisoners at the bottom deck understood what had happened. They looked at those in the cabin with wariness, while the prisoners inside were crying out, begging not to be locked in with the others.

After such an incident, the rest of the ‘air time’ was naturally cancelled. The prisoners didn’t dare ask, only looking at the jailers with pleading eyes.

The jailers, paying them no mind, closed the door and left. The remaining prisoners looked towards the cabin with a mix of caution and fear, while those in the adjacent cabins on either side squeezed as far away as possible.

Lin Xiao didn’t move, just narrowed his eyes and observed the prisoners who were scattered in the corners, looking wary of the others, his own vigilance heightened.

He didn’t know what had happened on the deck during ‘air time’, but according to his senses, there was something off about these prisoners.

Not the people themselves, but…

His gaze fell on the bloodstains on their bodies; on an exploration ship, such bloodstained clothing would have been stripped and discarded or burned at the first opportunity, not still worn.

While everyone watched, the prisoners showed no changes, everything seemed normal. But Lin Xiao noticed that the bloodstains remained fresh for such a long time, which was highly abnormal.

Thinking it over, he knocked on the wooden wall, quickly drawing a guard over. He pointed at the fresh bloodstains on several people and said:

“It’s still fresh.”

As soon as he spoke, all eyes turned in that direction. Under everyone’s gaze, the fresh bloodstains began to wriggle and seep into the fabric beneath them. The prisoners convulsed, their faces twisting into strange smiles as their facial muscles began to contort and deform.

“Clang clang clang…”

The alarm was sounded, and a group of warriors charged down.

The leader, frowning, gestured and a spatter of gunfire ensued. The bullet-riddled prisoners twisted and flopped about, but the onlookers’ expressions grew graver and graver.

The leader on the ship observed for a moment and then shouted loudly,

“Freeze them!”

Someone brought over a strange gun connected to metal tubes and aimed it inside. A freezing mist was sprayed into the cabin, and the place was quickly engulfed in cold.

It didn’t take long for the mist to clear, revealing the now frozen cabin interior.

After waiting for movement and seeing none, the leader turned to the prisoners in the adjacent cabins. His gaze swept over the sturdy figure of Lin Xiao, pausing briefly before moving on and giving an order to the others:

“Go in and bring everything on deck.”

The prisoners looked at one another uncertainly, not daring to move forward. Then, with a few threatening shots, they reluctantly approached the door. After being whipped, they were forced to enter.

And then, one by one, frozen and twisted monsters in human form were carried out and placed on the deck. Below deck quiet returned, punctuated only by low whispers.

Before long, crew members in protective suits came down and sprayed something special to defrost the cabin, revealing a corroded interior, pockmarked and eaten through in some parts.

Lin Xiao watched with a frown but said nothing.

In the following days, calm was restored to the ship. A week later, they arrived at Pearl Island, docking number thirty-five.

Lin Xiao stood on the deck, gazing out at the massive black island. If everything went as planned, he would live here for some time, until he got his own ship to make his escape.

The island was desolate; even the only dock was rudimentary. When they arrived, there was nobody on the dock. It wasn’t until some time after the ship docked that a convoy came from within the island, and before they entered the dock, a squad was sent to meticulously inspect it, indicating the dangers of this world.

Then came the handover. The prisoners were herded off the ship and onto the shore. Lin Xiao remained on the deck for a long time, his gaze fixed on a cold-eyed military man standing atop a steam armored vehicle on the dock.

“Another Child of Nightmare!”

“`