Energy, the cornerstone of civilization.

As an entrepreneur who runs a real business, Liu Wu Dai instantly understood what Li Ang meant.

Judging solely from the data, the amber-like substance was undoubtedly a superior substitute for petroleum and gasoline.

Considering the size and history of the Lost World,

the production process for amber energy must have been perfected,

and the overall reserves were beyond imagination.

If they could find a way to produce amber energy and bring it back to the real world, it would inevitably trigger a new round of energy reshuffling, and even have a strong and far-reaching impact on the current world structure.

The economic benefits contained within were almost astronomical,

and even if they withdrew from the competition directly after obtaining the production process, they would still be making a steady profit.

Liu Wu Dai's mind raced, and he calmed down.

If they could discover this, there was no reason why other players couldn't.

The goal of seizing and monopolizing amber energy... could only be regarded as an incidental option. The players' task was still to survive to the final fifty and advance to the Gate of Trials.

Having figured this out, Liu Wu Dai's slightly furrowed brow relaxed a little, and he asked, "Confidential equipment?"

"Such as hibernation pods that still preserve the indigenous people;

seed banks storing all the plant seeds of the civilization;

gene banks preserving all the animal DNA samples;

databases recording all the scientific and technological knowledge from the Stone Age to the Atomic Age;

these are the real treasures."

Li Ang said calmly, "The location where I was teleported was a discarded hibernation pod area.

The hibernation pods there contained creatures that were half-human and half-animal. The exterior of the pods had conduits similar to those on the walls at the edge of the Lost World.

There is reason to believe that the passages inside the boundary walls are responsible for transporting amber energy between the floors,

while smaller pipes and conduits transport amber energy to different areas within the floors.

However, for some reason, the energy transport functions of the pipes and conduits have been abandoned,

leaving only the passages in the boundary walls still functioning normally..."

He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then looked at the analysis results again,

and gently tapped the test tube filled with the amber energy liquid he had just snatched.

He extended plant tendrils, thinner than hair, to test the composition of the amber energy.

The Lost World had become a desolate wasteland, with only the wreckage of mecha-beasts remaining. There must have been some kind of dangerous and sudden large-scale disaster,

causing a civilization capable of building magnificent cities and advanced creations to be destroyed in a very short period of time.

Perhaps amber energy was a factor behind this.

Liu Wu Dai nodded and asked, "So, what do we do now?"

"Three options."

Li Ang replied, "First, stay here and do nothing. Anyway, we have Ming Huang Chi Yan's belts, so we won't be short of the powder from the identity verification device in the near future.

Second, take the initiative to find other players. Defeat the enemies we encounter, and team up with the allies we meet to continue completing the Gate of Trials.

Third, the most dangerous but also the most rewarding option. Follow the passages to find the source of amber energy. Personally, I think the possibility of it being downward is higher."

"The first two options are not very feasible."

Liu Wu Dai shook his head and said, "Staying still obviously violates the system's mechanism of encouraging players to kill each other, and may be subject to some kind of hidden penalty.

Continuing to search for players is equivalent to abandoning the hard-won energy clues, as well as the rich rewards contained behind them.

As for the third point, why is the possibility of it being downward higher..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Wu Dai figured out the answer himself and immediately said, "You mean the sounds from upstairs...

The Lost World is too vast, and the entire stage lasts for seven days. If players maliciously hide, it is very likely that no one will find anyone.

Therefore, the system will set up identity verification belts, and settlement will be based on performance scores and other restrictions.

If this is not safe enough, then the system can only actively compress the players' activity space, forcing them to meet each other in the later stages of the stage.

The sounds from upstairs are likely to be sounds made to limit the players' activity.

Since the sounds come from upstairs, the possibility of secrets being hidden downstairs is naturally higher."

"That's right."

Li Ang nodded, silently retracted his finger. The swamp divine power's detection results showed that the amber-like substance did not have anything particularly suspicious about it.

It was not a parasite like Imulsion (the energy in the game *Gears of War*),

nor did it have a memetic curse.

Li Ang quickly calculated in his mind that the calorific value of amber energy far exceeded that of an equal amount of gasoline,

and it was very gentle on flesh and blood creatures.

The Zerg units could directly use diluted amber energy with slight modifications.

As for the security guards who had been guarding the walls at the edge of the Lost World...

With the Zerg's current forces, they could pay a price and win.

If that was the case, then let's act.

Divine power spread out, penetrating the thick ground, and forming a connection with the hand-made models in the lower Zerg nest.

Li Ang's will was transmitted and spread throughout the entire Zerg nest in the form of divine power fluctuations.

In an instant,

whether it was the Overmind lurking deep in the Zerg nest to dismantle machinery,

the Zerg Lord undergoing biological modification and adjustment,

or the low-level worker and soldier Zerg who had no self-awareness,

they all fell into stagnation.

Bang!

Spore chimneys spewed out a large amount of green smoke, as if blowing some kind of horn.

The worker Zerg seized the time to transport biomass to the digestion pools,

the pyramid-shaped hatching Zerg nest continuously produced a massive number of Zerg eggs,

and the huge film covered with metal waste on the periphery of the junkyard, which served as camouflage, automatically peeled off,

exposing hundreds of thousands of Zerg units of all levels.

Buzz—

The psionic fluctuations of the Overminds echoed passionately in the Zerg nest,

and the dense, endless swarm of hideous Zerg crawled out of the openings in an orderly manner, marching toward the edge of the Lost World.

In the dark, confined space, there was only the dense sound of rain,

or rather, the sound of crawling as the feet brushed against the metal surface...

————

Lost World, 10th floor.

More than thirty drones hovered in the air. The searchlights mounted under the drones illuminated the dark space as bright as day,

and also illuminated the "Golden Horses" quartet composed of Luo Ri Rong Jin, Ge Chan Luo Xing, Tie Ding Neng Ying, and Hei Se Mu Ma from the Whale Song guild.

The several small teams under the Whale Song guild were really unlucky. They all fell in the Boundary Corridor stage. The players who were most likely to advance all encountered strong players on the list such as Yabo and Anboli, and were tragically eliminated.

On the contrary, the Golden Horses, who were not favored by other members of the organization, were lucky enough to successfully pass the Boundary Corridor stage and enter the next round, becoming the only spark of the Whale Song guild.

The helpless Whale Song executives had no choice but to increase their investment, purchasing equipment for the always poor four and increasing their strength, hoping that they could achieve the top fifty.

And now, the four of them were squatting on the ground, using various instruments to analyze a circular metal security door with a diameter of twenty meters embedded in the ground.

Chapter 1 The Beginning
作者：辰东
Chen Dong