Chapter 0 “Extreme Deep Cold”

“《Extreme Deep Cold》, huh?”

In the insect nest located within the Earth’s Pacific Ocean trench, Li Ang raised his eyebrows slightly as he watched the images projected on the living screen.

The Cang Snake Dragon and the B-movie-esque monster scenes on the screen were naturally the work of the insect nest.

The insect nest first dispatched cloaked scout insects to monitor the Atoka sailing ship for some time.

Then, using some special forces insects, it conducted remote, gradually intensifying mental intrusions on each sailor on board.

After confirming that the Atoka held no more secrets, it followed the captain's plan, releasing sea beasts to sweep away all the sailors, using the sea beasts' abdominal cavities as temporary bases to study the sailors and the ship.

This world did indeed have intelligent civilizations. Their main races closely resembled humans, with almost no discernible difference in appearance.

The difference lay in the presence of a tubular organ adjacent to the lungs in their chest cavity, used to filter toxic chlorine gas from the air.

Besides humans, this planet also had beastmen (possessing both animal and human characteristics, of various kinds, with varying degrees of transformation, and vastly different levels of civilization; some had already established empires, while others still lived by drinking blood),

halflings (only half the height of normal humans, living nomadic lives similar to gypsies on Earth),

underground dwellers (pale-skinned, weak-sighted, constantly seeking to counterattack the surface),

and merfolk (with fish tails, living in the sea).

These intelligent humanoid creatures were widely distributed across the planet's continents, each forming civilizations and nations.

Whether due to a universal law of intelligent beings, or because species similar to humans were particularly warlike,

the known history of this planet was also a history of wars between civilizations.

From the earliest historical records four thousand years ago to the present, low-intensity, high-frequency wars had never ceased.

The Age of Exploration, which began two hundred years ago, allowed for communication between continents, while also giving rise to colonial activities, colonial wars, and the slave trade, just like on Earth.

"In general, this planet has six continents, a civilization history of over four thousand years, and a population of about one billion.

The overall technological level is close to the mid-蒸汽时代 (steam age), having already developed steam-powered engines, and invented factory production, assembly lines, fertilizers, textile machines, and steam trains and ships.”

Li Ang looked at the results of the mind-reading organized by the brainworms on the screen, and thought silently: “At the same time, according to the memories of Jonson Good and others, this world possesses extraordinary power.

Ordinary people can sense the Qi contained within their bodies through hard training or bloodline inheritance.

Cultivating to a high level allows one to tear apart steel with their bare hands and kill magical beasts.

The West Duchy, to which Jonson Good belonged, had a special academy that taught how to use this Qi.

Noble families also possessed ancestral secret manuals and cultivation methods.

Besides Dou Qi (fighting Qi), there were also hermitic mages and 천선자 (those chosen by the heavens, similar to Druids) living in the mountains.”

Li Ang paused for a moment and said: “The various kingdoms nominally worship a pantheon consisting of fourteen deities.

This pantheon includes the Earth Goddess, the Storm Goddess, the God of War, the Dragon God, and so on.

Half of the fourteen deities are no longer worshipped, having lost their temples.

Of the remaining deities, the most revered is the Goddess of Life, whose temples and clergy are spread throughout the world.

The goddess has never explicitly bestowed divine grace in history, but her priests are able to perform divine arts that heal injuries.

In general, this is a worldview similar to a modern fantasy setting, with steampunk elements, knightly Dou Qi, magical divine arts.

Weak 초반자 (transcendents) are only slightly stronger than ordinary people, able to deal with a few armed thugs,

while powerful 초반자 can destroy buildings with a single blow."

Li Ang finished reading Jonson Good's memories. Judging from the expressiveness in the memories, the peak of human extraordinary power in this world was roughly equivalent to an ordinary Lv20 player.

The gods, although widely believed and with many stories, had never truly appeared.

For large organizations in the real world, invading this kind of planet is indeed relatively troublesome.

The various kingdoms on the planet have been at war for a long time, and their war memories and philosophies are not backward. Moreover, the entire population has long been influenced by 초반 (transcendent) power culture, and the army and transcendent power system are well-integrated.

The West Kingdom, where Jonson Good was located, as one of the upper-middle-tier countries in the world, maintained a regular army of 200,000 men and a navy composed of 400 warships without being militaristic.

Among the navy, there were both steam-powered sailing ships and ironclad ships,

as well as airships driven by mages using magic – mages trained in imperial academies would serve in the army for several years to repay their high school loans. Mages from noble families did not have this concern.

When a certain number of ships gathered together to form a fleet, their combat power became quite considerable.

For the real world, for the Earth's 초반 (transcendent) organizations,

invading this kind of planet requires long-term and cautious planning. One cannot underestimate them just because their technology tree is skewed. A slight carelessness could lead to a protracted war.

However, Li Ang and the insect nest did not have such concerns.

Accurately speaking, the information provided by Jonson Good instead gave the insect nest more confidence in its expansion—

Previously, the insect nest's expansion was slow, not only because the natural environment in the windless zone was too harsh and the wild creatures were too powerful,

but also because it was concerned about the possible presence of intelligent civilizations on the planet, fearing that the insect nest's appearance would alert the other party.

Now, after generally understanding the technological level and overall strength of the intelligent civilizations on this planet,

the insect nest no longer needed to deliberately suppress and conceal itself.

"Brainwash Jonson Good and the others, turn them into spies of the insect nest, and then send them and that sailing ship back to land.

Following the model of the real world, deploy gene stealers and conduct covert expansion."

Li Ang made a decision and casually instructed the brainworms who were listening attentively on both sides: "Brainwash, parasitize, paralyze, corrupt, win over, control.

You are allowed to use any means to infiltrate the upper and middle levels of various kingdoms in the shortest possible time,

collect key intelligence, collect biological samples, and covertly control the situation.

Most importantly, figure out one thing.

Whether there are real gods on this planet.

If there are no real gods, then go ahead and do it."

"According to your will."

The brainworms inside and outside the stargate bowed their heads together.

Li Ang nodded, turned and walked out of the insect nest, leaving the scene to the brainworms.