Translator: AnubisTL
"Not yet," the guard replied, his face grim. He looked young, perhaps in his late twenties. "But the Guardian Association has been preparing for this city's defense for a long time."
"They've anticipated every possible contingency."
"The strip search is a necessary procedure."
"Besides the risk of surgically implanted bombs, the insect race might also inject Zerg eggs into human players' bodies. A whole range of other threats could arise."
"Without thorough checks, recklessly allowing them into the city would have unimaginable consequences."
"They've thought of everything," Scar Dog muttered, glancing at the long queue stretching into the distance.
Human players armed with rifles were systematically striking each emerging player with their gun butts, using the impact to distinguish between human and mechanical race players.
When a human player attacked or was attacked by a mechanical race player, the words "Player" and their name would appear above their head.
If a mechanical race player stepped through the light gate...
When a human player was struck with a gun butt, the word "Player" would appear above their head, making it easy to distinguish them from mechanical race players.
They walked for a long time—nearly an hour and a half.
Finally, Chen Jiang and his group spotted Kindling City, the city mentioned in the global announcement!
"Whoa," Scar Dog exclaimed, his eyes widening as he gazed up at the massive city walls. "These walls must be over fifteen meters tall!"
They hadn't noticed the walls when they emerged from the light gate.
Chen Jiang stood rooted to the spot, studying the city before him.
Five long queues stretched from the city gates, their ends disappearing into the distance. The lines moved steadily inward, each person pausing briefly at the entrance.
Frankly, the city's defenses seemed rather weak.
Apart from a few machine gun bunkers at the gates, there were no other visible fortifications.
Still, Chen Jiang assumed the true defenses were hidden. After all, a city couldn't possibly rely solely on a handful of machine gun bunkers for protection.
"What are these people doing?"
Chen Jiang raised an eyebrow, glancing with mild curiosity at the long, dragon-like queues.
"It's like this," the guard standing beside him hurriedly explained. "These people are registering their innate abilities."
"In addition to the human race's racial innate ability, 'Phoenix Nirvana,' each human player also possesses a random personal innate ability."
"Once these abilities are registered, they'll be assigned to roles suited to their strengths. For example, those with combat abilities will be sent to the front lines, while those with logistical talents will be assigned to support roles. The goal is to ensure every human player can contribute effectively."
"I see," Chen Jiang said, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. After a brief pause, he turned to the guard. "Alright, you can leave now. We'll just take a quick look around and head back."
"But—" The guard hesitated, then pulled out a token from his tunic and handed it to Chen Jiang. "This is a passage token issued by the Guardian Lord. With this, you can freely enter and exit Kindling City."
"Hmm, thanks." Chen Jiang accepted the token, tucked it into his tunic, and waved dismissively. He continued to gaze at the long queues stretching into the distance.
"Scar Dog."
Chen Jiang gazed at the long queue stretching into the distance. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Do you understand what this human city represents?"
"Um..." Scar Dog hesitated before replying, "It means the human race finally has a foothold, but it will also face fierce attacks from alien race players?"
"No." Chen Jiang shook his head slightly. "The human race's advantage over the mechanical race lies in our possession of both a racial innate ability and a random personal innate ability."
"However, these random personal innate abilities often come with limitations."
"For example, my innate ability, Unrestrained Modification, requires the consumption of one-star items. Your innate ability, Energy Drive, requires energy blocks. Li Hao's innate ability, Map Manifestation, consumes mental power."
"Zhao Ritian's limitations are even more obvious."
"Yet it took us three months after descending into this world to begin using our innate abilities."
"Why is that?"
"Because we lacked sufficient one-star items and energy blocks."
"There must be countless human players like us, possessing powerful innate abilities that remain dormant due to current limitations."
"But if this human city stands here for more than a month..."
"And we unite all players to focus on development, do you realize what will happen?"
Chen Jiang paused before continuing, "Millions of people will be working to overcome the limitations of their innate abilities."
"Take Zhao Ritian's slime, for example."
"Imagine a city of millions, each person spitting phlegm for Zhao Ritian every day. How many slimes could be produced in a single day?"
"In other words..."
"If this city isn't destroyed within a month—no, even half a month—the human race's strength will surge dramatically."
A flicker of shock flashed in Scar Dog's eyes. "Brother Jiang, now I really want to see what innate abilities are listed on that registration table."
But at that moment—
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion erupted behind Chen Jiang!
A violent shockwave blasted outward from behind him!
By the time the sound reached them, the shockwave had already struck.
Caught completely off guard, Chen Jiang and his companions were sent sprawling face-first into the ground.
All except Chen Jiang.
His feet remained planted firmly on the ground, unmoving. Though his body was involuntarily pushed forward a short distance, his back remained ramrod straight.
This was the gentleman's cane.
Even at the epicenter of a nuclear blast, it would not allow him to fall.
Even in death, he would stand tall.
Such was the way of a gentleman.
The shockwave had already been largely absorbed by the human players behind them, causing minimal actual damage to Scar Dog and the others.
Reacting swiftly, Scar Dog crushed an energy block.
Instantly, a phantom gate materialized beneath their feet.
The next moment—
Chen Jiang and his companions found themselves standing atop the city wall.
Only then did they grasp the situation unfolding before them.
Missiles were continuously streaking through a dozen light gates, crashing into the densely packed crowds below.
Violent flames, mingled with crimson mist, instantly engulfed the sky.
The population density near the light gates was extremely high.
Each missile detonated with its full destructive force.
In an instant—
The scene before them resembled a living hell.
Limbs, shredded flesh, and a crimson mist painted the scene.
The acrid stench of gunpowder mingled with the aroma of cooked meat, assaulting Chen Jiang and his companions' nostrils.
It wasn't just players who could enter the light gates.
Missiles could too.
No deduction was needed to realize the swarm of missiles hurtling from the dozen light gates was the work of the mechanical race.
In less than fifteen seconds, the once-crowded area before the light gates had transformed into a living hell.
Some corpses vanished, resurrected.
Others lay permanently fallen on the ground.
Yet the missiles seemed endless, their red trails streaking through the air as they poured from the gates and slammed into the ground.
The human race was utterly defenseless.
"Brother Jiang, I'll go," Scar Dog said, his face grim.
With proper coordination with Li Hao, he could activate over a dozen phantom gates in rapid succession, positioning their entrances directly before the missile-spewing light gates.
This would divert the missiles' trajectories, sending them crashing into the wilderness a kilometer away.
However, this maneuver would consume vast quantities of energy blocks.
Chen Jiang frowned slightly and paused. "Go ahead, but be careful."
"Yes, sir."
Before Scar Dog could even rise, a human player suddenly leaped into the air from the crowd near the light gate, his face contorted in a ferocious roar as he spread his arms wide.
"Absolute Defense!!!"
The moment the words left his lips, a radiant halo exploded outward from the human player, rapidly expanding in all directions.
The massive barrier enveloped every human player near the light gate.
The missiles slammed into the halo like firecrackers dropped into a pond, emitting only faint sparks before detonating in the smoke, their fragments clattering to the ground.
In an instant—
This single player had blocked the entire swarm of missiles hurtling from the light gate!
Scar Dog, who had been preparing to move, watched the scene unfold with a flicker of astonishment in his eyes. "Is that a personal innate ability or an item?"
"One person stopped the entire missile barrage?"
But that wasn't all.
The instant the halo appeared, another player moved with wind-like speed, sprinting from the city toward the light gate. Just as he reached it, he leaped into the air and slammed his fist into the ground.
"Wild Vines!"
The player's punch cracked the ground.
As his shout echoed, thick vines erupted from the fissures at blinding speed, forming an impossibly sturdy wall of vines that blocked the light gate.
The women trailing behind the player channeled multicolored light into their hands, channeling it into the vine wall.
The light acted like a stimulant, causing the vine wall to swell rapidly.
At that moment, the first player's protective aura shattered.
Yet the massive vine wall intercepted every missile.
"Damn it," Scar Dog muttered, scratching the back of his head as he watched the scene unfold. "This feels just like fighting a boss in a Blue Star dungeon."
But then—
The missiles stopped firing.
Missiles continued to streak out of the light gate, but it was clear this barrage had been merely a probe or harassment.
The vine wall slowly dissipated.
The battlefield had descended into chaos.
The exact number of human player casualties couldn't be tallied, nor was there time to do so. But a rough estimate suggested at least seventy to eighty thousand human players had perished in this sudden calamity.
Among them, some could be resurrected.
But these players would never choose to resurrect in the same spot. Instead, they all revived at the location they had been 24 hours earlier—somewhere on the other side of the light gate.
Whether these resurrected players could make it back to the light gate, or whether they would even have the courage to pass through it again to reach Humanity's Kindling City, remained unknown.
Even after the missile bombardment, human players continued to stream through the light gate into this world.
In fact, some human players had been crossing the light gate even during the missile strikes, arriving in Humanity's Kindling City unaware of the ongoing bombardment.
By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.
When these newly arrived human players saw the hellish scene of devastation before them, their faces froze in shock, a flicker of fear in their eyes as they stood rooted to the spot.
After all, they had come to the light gate and Kindling City seeking refuge, not to die.
"Let's go," Chen Jiang said calmly, his gaze sweeping over the scene.
"Where to?"
Scar Dog instinctively replied, "Those dozen light gates just now all fired missiles from the mechanical race. That means there are mechanical race cities behind them. We should scout them out first."
"We don't want to end up like we did during the blood sacrifice event, searching for mechanical race cities for ages without finding a single one."
"Understood," Scar Dog nodded solemnly.
At that moment, a voice echoed in the ears of all race players worldwide:
[Global Announcement!]
[The global event, Mist Paradise, has concluded. All players have successfully exited Mist Paradise.]
[Given the players' overall enjoyment of the Mist Paradise event,]
[and the human player Liu Yiping's establishment of Humanity's first city, Kindling City,]
[a temporary global event—Protect Kindling City—has been activated.]
[During this event, all race players except humans will earn kindling points for each human player they eliminate.]
"Human players can also earn kindling points by eliminating all alien races."
"Kindling points can be exchanged for extremely rare items."
"Furthermore, during this event, human players who eliminate all alien race players will earn 1 race merit point. Conversely, alien race players who eliminate human players—regardless of whether their race has declared war on humanity—will also earn 1 race merit point."
"This event will last for 24 hours."
"During this event, alien race players who eliminate human players will acquire a random personal innate ability from the defeated human player. If multiple human players are eliminated, the alien race player can choose one innate ability to retain."
"However, this randomly acquired personal innate ability will only remain active until the event concludes."
"To permanently retain the ability, players must pay 100 kindling points."
"Event start countdown—"
"02:59:59"
(End of the Chapter)
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