Chapter 1 The Noisy Arena

In the real world, the sky arena resounded with clamorous noise.

At this moment, most of today's player rematches had already concluded. The audience's attention shifted to the ongoing matches, including the one between Li Ang and Aim.

Since Aim had retreated into the sea after preparing, without releasing skills or using items, remaining motionless like a sleeping coral, the Killing Game camera automatically focused on Li Ang.

And now, Li Ang had also rushed into the mushroom cloud and disappeared, leaving only the whistling wind in the picture.

"Mushroom cloud... mushroom... fungus... mushroom soup... red umbrella, white stem, eat it and sleep in a coffin."

Chai Chai sat in her seat, seemingly lost in thought, not at all worried about Li Ang. Instead, she inexplicably associated the mushroom cloud with mushroom soup, and couldn't help but drool.

When Li Ang first activated his divine power and became the Lord of Swamps and Flesh, he often cultivated various novel creatures in the automated pet feeder, including a large number of colorful mushrooms of unknown toxicity.

In order to test the composition of these mushrooms and evaluate their potential,

Li Ang used instruments stolen from the Aberration World to perform molecular testing on the mushrooms,

And fed the mushrooms to large mammals such as cattle, sheep, and pigs.

Some of these mushrooms... were really fragrant. Even without any cooking, just slicing them into sashimi would release a sweet, meaty aroma like top-quality beef.

Once, Chai Chai couldn't resist sneaking some mushrooms to make soup for herself behind Li Ang's back. As a result, she got food poisoning, and experienced bizarre hallucinations of jumping and dancing little people. If she hadn't separated from the Qing'e Armor in time, escaping her body,

She might have become the first fierce ghost in history to die from mushroom poisoning, nailed to the pillar of shame to warn future generations not to eat mushrooms of unknown origin.

"But ordering a portion of mushroom takeout from the game square should be fine, right?"

Chai Chai muttered, swiping her phone screen. Wang Congshan and Liu Wudai, who were sitting next to her, glanced at her, their lips moved slightly, but they didn't say anything.

Destroying a world, withstanding a nuclear airburst... were these normal things?

If it were before, even if Li Ang could emerge unscathed from the arena, he would be met with suspicion, vigilance, and dread from all sides, right?

The technology level of the insectoid world in the arena was basically the same as that of the real world before the Killing Game arrived. If the [Pale World] he released could destroy a planetary civilization in a few years, then Earth in reality would not be spared.

Even though things were different now, with the Special Affairs Bureau relocating large numbers of people, the United States consolidating a few large cities, and Europe becoming increasingly closed off, everyone was finding a way out given the increasing number of stargate worlds and the increasing danger to Earth.

Chai Chai's calmness, her lack of concern about Li Ang exposing a weapon of civilization-destroying level, was either heartless, or very strange.

Liu Wudai silently shook his head. This master and servant had always been strange. What needed to be cared about now was something else.

Thump, thump, thump.

Footsteps came from behind the audience seats. Dawn, with a group of agents from the European Heavy Industries Group, walked over and greeted them somewhat awkwardly.

In a sense, she was here to "beg forgiveness." The reason Aim was able to devise countermeasures against Li Ang's [Pale World] in this rematch was largely due to the information she uploaded about the [Deep Sea Behemoth] script mission.

"...I personally uploaded the [Deep Sea Behemoth] script mission to our European Heavy Industries' internal confidential server, and only a few people have permission to view it.

Since European Heavy Industries and the Federal Bureau of Investigation do not share information, Aim must have used some other method to steal this part of the content."

Dawn said awkwardly: "After today's schedule, I will conduct an internal investigation within European Heavy Industries to find out where the leak occurred. I hope you can convey my apologies on my behalf after Mr. Li comes out."

"Convey them? No problem."

Wang Congshan nodded hesitantly. She didn't actually know whether Dawn was really unaware of the leak process. In fact, it was very common for high-level players to privately buy and sell information about other teammates in team cooperation script missions.

Whether it was selling other people's information on the black market,

Or exchanging information for information, it was very common.

Dawn said this probably to clear her name, so that Li Ang wouldn't misunderstand her – it was one thing to be caught selling information, but it was another to be framed when she didn't sell the information.

"That's good, sorry to bother you."

Dawn nodded gratefully, turned around, and led a large group of European Heavy Industries players out of the audience seats.

Perhaps, another group of people would die in European Heavy Industries today.

Liu Wudai looked at Dawn's angry back, thoughtfully. When he turned his head, he saw Chai Chai holding a bowl of colorful and ferocious mushroom soup, slurping it non-stop.

"This mushroom soup doesn't have the right flavor? Didn't they say it would cause slight hallucinations after eating it? Why does it feel like it's not as strong as the wood ear that grows on the back of the bed board in the rainy season?"

Chai Chai frowned and muttered to herself, "Did this takeout merchant cut corners? Using a syringe to inject iced black tea into shiitake mushrooms to pretend they're *jian shou qing* (a type of edible mushroom)? All fake, scamming customers..."

...Putting aside the fact that you specifically ordered *jian shou qing* for takeout, how do you know the taste of wood ear that grows on the back of the bed board in the rainy season?

Wang Congshan and Liu Wudai exchanged glances, suppressed the urge to complain, cleared their throats, and asked hesitantly: "Li Ang... is he okay facing a nuclear airburst head-on?"

"It should be fine... right? Since he did that, it proves he has the ability to do so."

Chai Chai, who had never attended a modern school, didn't actually know the specific power of modern nuclear weapons, but she still said confidently: "He'll definitely be fine. Hmm... judging from his appearance just now, I think this arena match is about to end.

Aim doesn't have much time left."

————

Li Ang was rapidly ascending in the dark mushroom cloud, and the massive amount of radiation all around struck the Shenlong Hongyi (Mirage Dragon Red Mane), causing the scarlet outer garment to burst out with crackling static-like sounds.

If ordinary people stayed in this environment for a few seconds, their limbs and bones would have been submerged in needle-like pain long ago, and they would be blind, deaf, and soon dead.

But Li Ang, whose body had already surpassed the confines of mortals, simply felt that the areas of his face not covered by the Shenlong Hongyi had a faint smog-like sensation.

It felt like riding a bicycle through a factory area before.

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. The mushroom cloud was full of water mist and dust with excessive radiation levels. The large amount of ionizing radiation caused the near-Earth orbit monitoring satellites and laser detectors to lose their effectiveness.

When the insectoid civilization once again captured Li Ang's image, he was rapidly rushing out of the troposphere and heading towards the stratosphere.

"Stop him! At all costs, find a way to intercept him!"

The decision-making layer of the insectoid civilization fell into collective panic. The height of the troposphere was 16km, and the practical maximum flight altitude of modern fighter jets was 20km.

If Li Ang were to rush into the stratosphere, then the insectoids' fighter jets would completely lose their effectiveness – a few fighter jets could reach a maximum altitude of 30km, but the combat power and maneuverability they could exert at that altitude would be close to zero.

A large number of American fighter jets wandering on the edge of Wyoming received orders to chase Li Ang above the mushroom cloud, and more fighter jets drove out of their hangars and took off.

The insectoid civilization didn't know what Li Ang wanted to do. All they could do was try to stop him as much as possible.

Step!

Li Ang, like an arrow leaving the string, continuously stepped on the invisible steps formed by the Ladder Cloud Steps to climb upwards, flicking his fingers casually to release dark green dissociation beams, destroying air-to-air missiles fired at him from outside visual range. Soon, he exceeded the maximum altitude that fighter jets could reach, shaking off the insectoid civilization's elite pilots.

35km.

At this altitude, the curvature of the Earth was already very obvious. The clouds below floated and wandered, and the prosperous city scene turned into a tiny point in the line of sight.

Not high enough.

45km.

55km...

Li Ang rapidly ascended, watching the blue planet slowly shrink in his line of sight, and the surrounding air gradually thinned.

The insectoid civilization had not given up on making a final attempt. They launched a large number of intercontinental missiles into the high altitude like crazy.

Ballistic missiles usually follow the "one-half" principle, that is, the maximum altitude that a missile can reach is one-half of its range.

A range of 1000 kilometers can reach an altitude of 500 kilometers,

A range of 10,000 kilometers can reach an altitude of 5,000 kilometers.

This altitude was still within the range of intercontinental missiles, and because the location was at a high altitude, there was no need to worry about the impact on the ground.

The insectoids launched an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles, like celestial maidens scattering flowers, falling towards Li Ang's general direction.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Li Ang smiled and stepped on the invisible steps, drawing a Z-shaped upward trajectory in the high altitude.

Intercontinental missiles were difficult to maneuver complexly in the high altitude, and were easily dodged by Li Ang. Even if they were detonated directly, as long as he was not within the light and heat area of the explosion, they could not cause direct damage to Li Ang.

Instead, he could use the shock wave to accelerate his upward climb once again.

"This height is enough..."

The sky was no longer blue and clear, but gradually merged with the cosmic space, becoming dark and gloomy. Li Ang pulled out the Colt revolver, activated Eagle Eye vision, and looked at a faint white dot in the extremely high altitude that was not easy to detect.

It was an artificial satellite in near-Earth orbit, with two solar panels on the left and right. The satellite body was贴 (covered) with an American flag.

Bang—

A flash of fire erupted from the Colt's muzzle.

In the next instant, the two solar panels of the artificial satellite directly shattered and exploded, and a penetrating wound was torn out of the middle of the satellite body.

Li Ang also directly crossed a distance of 500km, and pressed his palm on the wreckage of the artificial satellite.

Here, was near-Earth orbit.

Li Ang looked back down, standing in the exosphere, overlooking the Earth, and saw only a round blue sphere.

Seven billion intelligent beings lived on this sphere.

They had a brilliant and victorious evolutionary history, established a dynasty of intelligent creatures, transformed the surface, transformed nature, and touted themselves as the spirit of all things, the unique in the universe.

However, they did not know that

In the vast, all-encompassing dark universe, their planet was just a lonely spot.

Li Ang slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. His demigod body completely ignored the negative pressure discomfort caused by the thin air. On the contrary, this empty, absolutely silent environment made him feel an unprecedented sense of tranquility.

"Let's begin."

He said to himself, and gently swiped his palm in the void.

A giant semi-steel, semi-plant mecha named [Obsidian] quietly appeared in near-Earth orbit, overlooking the tiny mortal world with Li Ang.

"I wonder if you've ever seen a stick technique that descends from the sky."

Li Ang smiled slightly, flashed into the mecha cockpit, and connected to the drift fluid system.

The terrified insectoid civilization only saw through telescopes and other monitoring satellites in the same orbit,

All the lights on the surface of the Obsidian mecha lit up.

Buzz—

The vector nozzles on the back were fully activated, emitting a bright blue light.

Propelling the heavy mecha, like a Titan giant, to slowly leave near-Earth orbit and descend towards the Earth.

Falling.

The mecha, weighing more than eight thousand tons, fell into the atmosphere, and under the traction of the planet's gravity, it continued to accelerate.

The gradually thickening air whistled past, turning into layers of nets, trying to use air resistance to stop the mecha's infinite fall.

The surface armor rapidly heated up.

The anti-corrosion coating from the Pan Pacific Defense Corps from another world was turning from black to a fiery red.

The temperature increase of the mecha caused by breaking the sound barrier caused a slight alarm sound in the cockpit.

Li Ang twisted his neck, and gently pressed his palm on the control panel, releasing seventh-level psionic energy to his heart's content.

Boom!

On the surface of the giant mecha, an octagonal, sacred and inviolable golden shield instantly propped up.

The intense and turbulent airflow, which could be called *xiantian gangqi* (Primordial Qi), struck the A.T. Field, and slipped away as lightly as flowing water.

The A.T. Field was a magical product that turned the impossible into the possible, distorting reality with personal will.

Even the objectively existing air resistance could be reduced, or even zeroed out.

"An eight-thousand-ton mecha, with an A.T. Field, smashing into the Earth from near-Earth orbit, I wonder if it can detonate Yellowstone?"

Li Ang's soft murmur was destined not to be known by the insectoid civilization, "If it's not enough, then let's add some code..."

His will poured out like a flood.

The plant vines on the surface of the Obsidian mecha suddenly activated, turning into an extension of Li Ang's body, drawing out the stick named Xin Yuan (Mind Monkey) from the void.

"Big."

Along with Li Ang's calm voice, the Xin Yuan stick instantly swelled and enlarged.

Ten meters,

Twenty meters,

Forty meters,

Finally, one hundred meters.

The hundred-meter-long Xin Yuan stick was held in the hands of the Obsidian mecha, like the legendary sea-stabilizing needle, and fell towards the Earth.

Target, Yellowstone Caldera.

The elite of the insectoid civilization on the ground had fallen into complete stagnation.

They looked at the black dot in the sky that was getting closer and closer, with their mouths open and their eyes blank, collectively losing their ability to think.

Too fast, unable to intercept, unable to react.

That was, an object from the sky.