As soon as the system message prompted, a line of small, flickering prompts followed...
[Restoring world architecture matching the disaster...]
[Adjusting ecological structure...]
[Releasing advanced infected...]
[Increasing the level cap of supply crates... and refreshing their quantity...]
[Gravity parameters being readjusted...]
......
After a series of operations disappeared.
Zhang Chen clearly felt his body become slightly heavier.
This indicated that gravity had been increased.
Gravity was not increased all at once to its original state on Water Blue Star, but like the monster suppression, it was increased little by little.
The plants and buildings throughout the world were already existing structures; they would not be affected by changes in gravity.
The only ones affected were the survivors!
Zhang Chen gazed at the lines of small text about to disappear.
No prompt...
Even if Zhang Chen looked at useless things, a prompt would pop up boringly.
But only when Zhang Chen looked at these small texts did the prompts show no reaction.
This world seemed like a game world, changing bit by bit...
But Zhang Chen always felt that this world was definitely not as simple as a game.
It was very possible that some power was presenting it to him and other survivors in the form of a game.
But as for why there was suppression from the beginning, and why the suppression would be released little by little...
Zhang Chen couldn't quite figure it out.
Everything seemed not to be happening by chance, but as if someone was controlling everything from behind the scenes. After all, only when playing games would one gradually level up and become stronger.
The first thirty days were equivalent to a novice village, slowly adapting to the environment and gaining basic survival skills.
Then entering the next dangerous area, continuing to level up and become stronger, exploring the world little by little...
Such growth seemed logical but was actually very illogical!
Because game worlds are designed by humans, they must conform to the player's growth to proceed.
But chance or some mysterious power would not consider so much, or rather, it would not think at all!
Just like the dinosaur extinction on Earth, the impact of the meteorite impact on the environment was not released little by little, giving dinosaurs and other creatures a chance to slowly adapt to the new environment!
The new environment arrived directly, survival of the fittest, extinction of the unfit, it was that simple and brutal!
Therefore... Zhang Chen began to suspect that a powerful force was controlling the world from behind.
Everything was not as simple as a chance transmigration.
Of course, this was just Zhang Chen's speculation.
It was also possible that he and everyone else had their memories erased and were thrown into a game world.
Death would lead them back to the real world.
Lin Qingsong might be sitting in front of his computer, smiling foolishly at other survivors struggling to survive!
Too many speculations, but none supported by evidence.
At this moment, a bold idea suddenly flashed through Zhang Chen's mind: to find the god behind this world.
To understand why he was doing this, and what he wanted to gain from it...
Having made up his mind, Zhang Chen suddenly felt much more relaxed.
In the apocalyptic world, he had found a new goal in life.
To live hard and explore the truth of this world!
Zhang Chen counted his spoils.
Killing the mutated giant mosquito and the six-legged monster worm yielded:
[Energy Core] *9000 (of which 3000 were from kills without Dark Devour) +6600 (80% talent bonus, 20% Dark Devour bonus), [Intact Mutated Insect Wings] *1800, [Mutated Gene Fragments] *130, [Mutated Fertilizer] *1500, [Stinking Bug Meat] *2300, [Sturdy Carapaces] *3500...
[Heart of Insects] *7, [Evolutionary Gene Fragments] *3, [Energy Condensing Cores] *23, [Skill: Basic High-Heat Food Synthesis]...
These ordinary mutated insects could actually drop [Energy Condensing Cores]!
This was an unexpected surprise, but in the face of the massive numbers, 23 Energy Condensing Cores was still terrifyingly low in drop rate!
Killing the young drilling worm yielded:
[Energy Condensing Cores] *10, [Giant Carapaces] *2, [Rotten Stomach Bags] *2, [Scythe Claws] *2, [Quicksand Spray] *2, [Frozen Flower Petals] *2...
[Stinking Bug Meat]: Uncooked bug meat, emitting a nauseating stench. Eating it requires immense courage and perseverance.
[Skill: Basic High-Heat Food Synthesis]: Upon use, can synthesize similar foods, with the total heat equivalent to the sum of the original foods, reducing the time needed for consumption.
[Quicksand Spray]: Can turn any soil, building, or rock into quicksand.
[Frozen Flower Petals]: Damaged petals, indicating that some monsters have passed through the area where the Frozen Flowers were located.
[Rotten Stomach Bags]: Stinking stomach bags, which seem to contain something.
Items without specific descriptions were all materials, likely to be used for crafting props and equipment later.
Zhang Chen focused his attention on the [Rotten Stomach Bags].
Soon, a prompt appeared:
[All indigestible items will remain in the stomach sacs of giant mutated insects...]
[From them, you can obtain many items related to this world's past!]
Zhang Chen threw both stomach sacs onto the ground.
A pungent odor instantly spread, indescribably unpleasant.
Zhang Chen lightly slashed them with the Thousand Bone Saber.
The contents flowed out, mixed with stomach fluid and undigested food residue.
Zhang Chen reached out and touched them, then collected!
With the automatic collection...
It's been so long since I've collected like this... feels a bit nostalgic...
Ding! Congratulations on obtaining [Notebook Wrapped in Scales], [Map Carved on Carapace], [Broken Long Spear], [Blueprint: All Technology 19]!
[Broken Long Spear]: A spear made from some kind of beast bone, now broken.
[Map Carved on Carapace]: A crude and simplified map, with six high mountains at the end. It can be logged into the map system, and it states the year of the New Era 7.
[Notebook Wrapped in Scales]: The notebook of a senior researcher from the Raven high-level research team, containing information about the original world.
Zhang Chen put them all into his storage ring.
These items would need to be studied carefully back there.
He turned around.
At this moment, the survivors at the military base had begun to clean up the battlefield.
Bodies were being carried one by one to an open area.
This sudden thick fog combined with the insect tide attack resulted in the deaths of over 30 combat team members.
Over 100 non-combat personnel had died.
Bodies were covered with white cloths and neatly arranged outside the entrance of the military base.
Zhao Longchuan and others stood before the bodies, heads bowed in mourning.
Suddenly, someone shouted: Look! The bodies... they're moving!