Chapter 1 The Dark Abyss

In the pitch-black, gloomy underground cave, three colossal entities were deeply mired in the silt, like rats hiding in the mud, afraid of being swallowed by the beasts outside.

This was the Arctic, far removed from the human world.

Beneath the deep sea, all was silent, as quiet as a midnight graveyard.

Glimmers of fluorescence emanated from the seabed silt, as if the luster of some metal was shining. If one were to approach, they would discover that the outer sides of the three miracle buildings were covered with a dense layer of small metal robots, repairing the severely damaged structures.

A few hours prior, the three Apostles had fled the spiritual link of humanity in a disheveled state, piloting their miracle buildings. They ran all the way to the end of the sea, stopping at a barren and desolate area.

The power exhibited by the human race had shocked them. That incomparably strong spiritual connection had left them in a state of deep depression.

The three Apostles shared the same thought: until their technological weapons were fully restored, no matter what happened, they would absolutely not show their faces in the world!

* * *

Crack...

Crack...

In the silent seabed, the sound of shattering steel echoed.

It was the sound of small metal robots dismantling the damaged outer shells of the miracle buildings. This time, the external damage to all three miracle buildings was over twenty percent. Even the Giant City of the Night Apostle, known for its defensive capabilities, had suffered severe deformation and twisting of its outer shell, looking like a rotten piece of wood pulled from a fire...

"Damn bastards!"

"Li Tianran, I will peel your skin and pull out your tendons!"

The Ocean Apostle's furious roars echoed in the seabed, sending countless ripples through the water.

Inside the giant ark, the Ocean Apostle's eyes were bloodshot. All three of its heads were roaring, venting its rage.

This defeat had pushed its volatile personality to the brink of eruption. It wished it could accelerate the flow of time by hundreds of times, immediately reaching the date when the technological weapons would be unlocked, so it could inflict a cruel revenge on the human world...

No, a massacre!

Although the spiritual connection power of the human world was indeed strong, this kind of attack method, which required a long time and a large number of people to prepare, could not be used multiple times in war. Because once the Apostles' technological weapons were unlocked, a single shell could destroy a city and kill millions of people.

The time from preparation to launch of a shell might not even take a few seconds, but spiritual connection required a long time to prepare, and if there was a mistake in the middle, it had to be started all over again...

It was a powerful, yet extremely slow, means of killing.

In modern warfare, whether it was the ancient civilization or Li Tianran, their weapons were not lacking in destructive power. Speed had become the standard for determining victory or defeat!

No matter how strong your spiritual connection is, before it is fully formed, a laser cannon or a compressed nuclear bomb fired over will completely destroy your entire city. What's the point of even playing?

Therefore, spiritual connection could only be effective in specific situations.

This was also why the ancient civilization had not been committed to developing this method of attack. They had discovered this power several eras ago, but had not used it in war, because they had long understood its drawbacks and shortcomings.

"Our resource storage is decreasing, with less than fifty percent remaining! Last time, in order to send the Gale Apostle into Gale Island, we consumed a large amount of resources. Repairing the miracle buildings also requires a huge amount of resources..." The Night Apostle's voice also sounded, "We need to conserve!"

The Ocean Apostle's roar gradually subsided, but its breathing was still extremely heavy.

This was indeed a very serious problem.

Whether for human civilization or ancient civilization, resources were the first thing to consider. During this period, they had consumed too much of their resource storage. If this continued, one day their resources would be exhausted!

Now, resources on Blue Star were depleted. The only place to obtain resources was the human world.

Only through plundering could resources be seized from the hands of humans.

But... they didn't dare to attack the human world now, and didn't even have the courage to leave the sea, because Li Tianran was like a knife hanging over their heads. As long as they dared to show their faces, this knife would fall at any time and cut off their heads!

"Conserve... I have been trying my best to conserve." The Ocean Apostle hissed hideously, "But once the miracle buildings start running, there are many unavoidable daily consumptions, unless we fall into slumber again!"

"..."

The three Apostles fell into silence.

Of the countless resurrections after great destructions, only this one had made them feel extremely unsuccessful. In previous eras, after their resurrection, they would very quickly destroy the civilization born on Blue Star, take over Blue Star, and wait for the arrival of the resource upsurge period.

All of this was almost effortless, but this time, not only had they failed to smoothly destroy humanity, but they had been forced to hide in the dark seabed.

Even an Apostle and a miracle building had been destroyed!

"What about the Gale Apostle? We spent a lot of resources and paid a huge price to get it into Gale Island, but it hasn't given us any return..." The Ocean Apostle shook its female head and said in a sinister tone, "It hasn't even sent us a single message!"

"Do you think it might really take this opportunity to completely join Gale Island and become Li Tianran's vassal?"

The Ocean Apostle's words caused the other two Apostles to fall into thought.

This was a terrible guess. If it came true, not only would all their previous efforts be in vain, but the Gale Apostle knew everything about them. If it really joined Gale Island, its threat to them would be even greater than the Triangle Tower, which had always had an ambiguous stance!

"Although survival is a huge temptation for each of us, I believe the Gale Apostle will not willingly submit to Li Tianran. What it wants most is definitely not to help Li Tianran destroy us, but to maintain a balance between us and Li Tianran. Only in this way can it live longer and continue to show its value in front of Li Tianran." The Star Apostle, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke. Its face was a little pale, "The Gale Apostle has slaughtered many human cities. If we are destroyed, it will lose its use to Li Tianran..."

"At that time, no matter who it is, no one will allow it to live."

"So now I think the Gale Apostle's attitude is... whoever is weaker between us and Li Tianran, its heart will lean towards that side, and it will help that side! Because only if both of us exist can it exist!"

The Star Apostle's analysis was approved by the other two Apostles.

"According to the current situation, it is clear that we are the weaker side... so we don't have to worry about its position changing. It will definitely help us." The Star Apostle smiled.

"But what can it do for us now? I'm afraid it can't get too many permissions on Gale Island now..." The Night Apostle said in a muffled voice.

But at this moment, a prompt from the signal monitoring area resounded within the three miracle buildings.

"Lord!"

Inside the bronze palace, a follower rushed over, its expression excited. It knelt down in front of the Star Apostle, its voice extremely excited: "We just captured a piece of information! It's from Gale Island!"

The Star Apostle raised its eyebrows: "From Gale Island?"

"Yes, it's an encrypted message, and we've copied it down!" The follower handed the screen display device in its hand to the Star Apostle.

A whole row of extremely strange characters appeared on the screen.

The Star Apostle's eyes swept over, and its pupils suddenly contracted, as if it had seen something incredible.

Then, it stood up from the throne with a whoosh and said to the other two Apostles: "Ocean, Night! The Gale Apostle sent an encrypted message from Gale Island! The content is..."

"The resource upsurge period has appeared, and Gale Island has discovered a new type of metal resource mineral!"

Boom!

A huge wave was stirred up on the seabed!

The Ocean Apostle and the Night Apostle's huge bodies appeared in the sea. They had also received this message!

The three Apostles stared at the encrypted characters on the communicator at the same time, their momentum constantly rising. The seabed became extremely oppressive, and even the mechanical creatures that were repairing the outer shells of the miracle buildings stopped. The empty seabed was only filled with the sound of frantic heartbeats.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

The drum-like beating sound came from the three Apostles, representing how excited and frantic they were at the moment.

The Star Apostle's eyes shone like the sun.

The volcanic patterns on the Night Apostle's back became more and more dazzling, as if they were about to completely erupt in the next moment.

The most violent Ocean Apostle roared again, its huge body stirring in the seabed, making a piercing roar: "The resource upsurge period has appeared? Why is it ahead of schedule this time? In the past, it would only appear after the aftershocks of the Great Destruction ended!"

"This time, there are still three days left before the end of the weapon sealing device of the Great Destruction's aftershocks! This is too abnormal!"

The Ocean Apostle roared. The Star Apostle was silent for a long time, and then said, "Could the Gale Apostle's message be false?"

"Could this be a trick by Li Tianran to deceive us into leaving the sea, showing ourselves on land, and then killing us?"

The Night and Ocean Apostles were silent for a long time. They felt that this matter was not normal, but they could hardly resist the temptation of the resource upsurge period. After thinking for a while, they finally said:

"If the Gale Apostle says the resource upsurge period has appeared, then let it give us proof!"