City of Disaster

Bai Yi found a spot to sit down and smiled. "Lord City Lord, I've encountered a small bottleneck. I plan to leave the city for a while."

"No!" Eric immediately refused, cutting him off.

"Are you kidding me? A genius of your level, if word gets out to the old men in the parliament, some of them will move into Dongwu City within minutes. If you leave, the Federation will implode!"

Bai Yi paused, then spoke seriously. "I understand your concern, but I have a strong feeling that there's an opportunity for a breakthrough outside the city."

Eric frowned, thinking for a moment before asking, "Is it really necessary to leave?"

Bai Yi's gaze was earnest. "Yes. I wouldn't joke about my life."

Eric thought it over and said, "Fine, I'll go with you."

Bai Yi sighed, spreading his hands helplessly. "What about Dongwu City?"

"Heidinger will be here tomorrow. He can handle things in the city while I take a break. It's been ages since I've had a chance to get out." Eric's tone was firm.

"Alright, let's head out tomorrow then." Bai Yi thought for a moment, then agreed.

The mission didn't require him to single-handedly destroy a country. He had originally planned to gather intelligence first, then decide whether to take action on his own or call in the army to subdue it.

Now, it would be far simpler. He could just bring along a level 77 magic swordsman. With the Ancient God Kingdom still not in the legendary stage, they might not even need to deploy the army.

As Bai Yi left the City Lord's Mansion, a peculiar thought crossed his mind.

Did this count as finding a proxy for task training?

Shaking the thought off, Bai Yi returned to the pharmacy and enjoyed a rare, peaceful sleep.

The next morning, without delay, Bai Yi contacted Eric. After saying their goodbyes to Heidinger, they mounted the mechanical dragon and flew out of Dongwu City.

As the dragon's speed reached Mach 5, the earth stretched into a blur, and a strange landscape unfolded below.

It was the first time Bai Yi had ventured so far from the city.

Now a level 78 wizard and principal of the Magic Vocational School, he was destined to help make Dongwu City more prosperous.

Bai Yi often marveled at the way the Federation worked in this world. Talent alone could earn unimaginable rewards.

Eric gazed down at the desolate land below, his cloudy eyes filled with nostalgia and longing.

According to records, in the age of the gods, despite the constant struggles, the world was teeming with vitality.

In this age, little had changed on the surface, but the land tainted by the abyss spoke of a dying world.

At least, order was dying.

In the era of the ancient gods, chaos was the rule, and the only law was: "Wait for death."

The ancient gods were the farmers, and all living beings were livestock, existing only to reproduce, serve, and sacrifice their souls to their masters.

The creatures who had experienced the New God era were desperate to avoid returning to such a life and had been resisting ever since, hoping for the New God's return.

As the mechanical dragon flew over mutation zones, disaster zones, and areas tainted by the ancient gods, Zero was mapping their locations.

A map centered on the Dawn Federation was unfolding, and the land's features were becoming clearer.

Bai Yi stood at the top of the dragon, taking in the beautiful and tragic landscapes.

As the dragon passed the 4,000-kilometer mark, intelligent creatures began to appear in Bai Yi's field of vision.

These creatures weren't hostile to order, but simply couldn't find it.

The world was vast—vast enough that the three major federations could only accommodate a fraction of its population. The Dawn Federation was just a remnant of a collapsed order.

Elsewhere, the law of the jungle reigned, and the lack of inheritance had plunged these lands into darkness.

After flying 7,000 kilometers, Bai Yi saw small gatherings of intelligent creatures, with humans forming a significant portion.

Humans were unique in that they had no inherited memory, a short lifespan, but remarkable resilience.

"You can find humans anywhere," Bai Yi mused.

"Lord City Lord, perhaps we could try spreading the word about Dawn? Don't you think they yearn for order as well?" Bai Yi suggested calmly.

Eric had been observing these scenes. Leaning back in his seat, he asked, "You have a bone dragon to get here, but how many people could it bring back in a day? And how many could make it here without gold?"

Bai Yi fell silent. They had passed through hundreds of mutation zones and disaster zones. Every few hundred kilometers, they encountered one or two zones.

Without Mach 5's gold-tier speed, they wouldn't have made it so smoothly.

"We need to do something," Bai Yi said after a pause. Today was June 7, 1537, in the Dawn Calendar, marking 1,537 years since the Federation's establishment.

That was enough time for a human to reincarnate over ten times, meaning ten generations had passed. Would people still understand the writing and language of Dawn?

He had once thought that printing maps and distributing them could inform people about the last orderly kingdom. Maybe some would be lucky enough to reach Dawn.

But now, that seemed unlikely. History had been interrupted, and with that interruption, knowledge, language, and writing had changed.

Creating a machine that could speak the old magical language would be prohibitively expensive. Even the entire Dawn Federation might not be able to afford it.

"Once you break taboos and rise above them, you'll be qualified to make the rules," Eric sighed. "Isn't that just another form of civilization?"

A strange sound pierced the air—crows, cawing loudly. The AI calculated that they were now thousands of miles from the Federation, and the landscape had grown even more desolate.

A massive black bird with dozens of meters of wingspan, a twisted body, and six heads seemed to have been provoked by the mechanical dragon. It screeched as it lunged at them.

The dragon's flight wobbled slightly. The shriek was more than just a sound—it felt like a mental assault.

Bai Yi didn't feel the attack. A burst of mental power erupted from him, and as the dragon passed by, it drained the bird's spirit and soul.

Bai Yi casually chewed on the bird's soul, tasting its rancid essence.

"You've slain a level 40 Cataclysm Crow with your mental power. Due to the immense level difference, you gained 200 experience points."

The giant bird dropped from the sky.

Eric twitched his eyelids slightly, sensing the reason for Bai Yi's remarkable mental strength.

"The souls of disaster-affected creatures tend to be corrupted. Be careful," Eric warned.

"I can smell the rot in my soul," Bai Yi grimaced. He popped a soul crystal into his mouth to dull the aftertaste.

Eric remained silent, though he suspected Bai Yi was more than just an ordinary person—perhaps even a lich in disguise. But given his abilities, Eric chose not to probe further.

The mechanical dragon's wings gradually slowed. Bai Yi spotted a faint outline of an earth city in the distance, his curiosity piqued.

Eric's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "A city? This is impossible."

"It's an ancient god city," Bai Yi replied. As the dragon flew closer, the city grew clearer.

This was version 2.0, a city belonging to the Ancient God Kingdom. Its fame came not from strength, but from weakness. In a realm where warriors were legends or demigods, the god's favored ones were middle-tier golds, a far cry from the powers that once ruled.

The city had been obliterated in the early days of 2.0, with no intervention from the Federation's legendary heroes.

Bai Yi's mission this time was simple: target the weak.

Eric's voice grew serious. "Ancient gods? If the magic power is recovering, some creatures near the disaster zones could be drawn to their call."

"The mutation zones are tainted by the abyss, while disaster zones are remnants of the ancient gods," Bai Yi explained. "Creatures entering these zones lose their sanity, their bodies rot, and they become monsters, like that bird. They are completely beyond saving."

Bai Yi didn't know how the gods chose their favored ones, but the Federation and players had almost no data on them. The only thing they knew was that these favored ones were originally from Xia Continent, and exposure to disaster zones could grant them god-like power.

Eric stood, his aura intensifying.

"Wait," Bai Yi interrupted.

The mechanical dragon halted mid-air. Eric looked puzzled, but held his position.

Bai Yi's eyes narrowed as he focused his vision on the city below. A figure was approaching.

Charles.

Bai Yi's eyes widened in surprise. The follower of the Lord of Darkness—how was he here?

Even from a distance, Bai Yi could see Charles' confusion, but it quickly turned into calm resolve as he walked toward the city.

"Golden median, under 30 years old..." Bai Yi muttered.

Eric's face darkened. "Another SSS-level potential? And from the ancient god camp?"

"Yes," Bai Yi replied. "As the world's magic recovers, those near disaster zones may be drawn to the ancient gods' call and grow rapidly in power."

Bai Yi glanced at Eric and decided to investigate further. After all, with a level 77 magic swordsman by his side, he felt safe to move forward.

The dragon ascended once more, heading toward the mysterious city.

The city of the ancient gods awaited.