LWGP - Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Radiance
Amidst the reactions of Wang Shu and the others, one thought undoubtedly unified them—who was it? Who was showing off?
Looking around, it didn't seem to be any of them.
Wang Jiu was surprised by the arrival of this radiance. Her first thought was that someone had used some kind of ability, but she immediately dismissed that possibility.
The dazzling and scorching quality of the light transmitted through space was like a divine radiance from beyond the heavens, reaching for thousands of miles, leaving no place untouched by its brilliance.
This wasn't a spectacle that current players could create.
Could it be that the Dog System's programming had glitched and it was having a fit of conscience?
Under such radiance, the rats that dwelled and bred in the darkness shrieked in terror and fled frantically, including the young rat.
No one noticed that a faint brand had been left on its body.
Wang Jiu paid no mind to what she had done, as her attention was captivated by the change behind her.
She turned around and, like everyone else, looked toward the dazzling radiance.
What was that?
A rescue method to drive away the rat tide?
Or…
After her eyes adjusted to the brightness, and as the descending light began to contract, she finally saw it clearly.
In the realm of darkness, a vast and majestic spacecraft hung suspended in the starry night sky. It possessed the ultimate sense of cosmic technology seen in science fiction films. It had arrived, and as it covered the firmament, countless points of light detached from its body.
The points of light began to grow larger, and larger… shooting off in all directions.
Perhaps it wasn't just one ship, nor just these points of light. The places they were descending upon weren't limited to 443 Novice Village or its surroundings, perhaps not even just the Ninth District.
They were descending shuttles, and they were getting closer.
What would they do once they got close?
With her 560 Agility, Wang Jiu was the first to get a clear look at the small approaching spacecraft.
These small spacecraft were about seven or eight meters long, with an exquisitely beautiful and streamlined form, exuding a futuristic, metallic, and mechanical feel.
With a single glance, Wang Jiu felt that the technology of these spacecraft could thrash Earth's highest historical level ten thousand times over.
By the time Wang Jiu saw them clearly, the others had also more or less noticed their presence.
"What is that?"
"They look like spaceships."
"Fighter craft? They look like the aliens from The Avengers."
"To hell with you, can't you say something positive? The arrival of aliens in The Avengers is never a good thing. Galactus, Apocalypse, Thanos—none of them are good news."
"But they came to save us, they even drove away the rats…"
As the crowd was exclaiming in joyful wonder, Xie Lu's pupils contracted. He saw ports open on the hulls of the fighter craft as light energy began to accumulate…
"Not good, take cover!!"
By the time Xie Lu's voice rang out, no one could hear it clearly. They were watching the countless fighter craft fire beams of light energy. In an instant, the beams traversed several thousand meters to reach the ground, piercing through mountains, buildings—all matter was penetrated, bombarded, and destroyed. In the blink of an eye that everyone was too horrified to even perform, the beams went from appearing to arriving.
All they had time to do was instinctively shut their eyes against the overwhelmingly brilliant and scorching light.
Boom!
A dull, deafening roar. Everyone's eyes ached and their eardrums felt raw.
But after the silence, there was an eerie quiet.
It was a quiet that seemed to come from being isolated, from the outside world's commotion being weakened.
They weren't dead?
Opening their eyes, they saw that a luminous barrier, like a sealed-off space, had appeared at the edge of the novice village at some unknown point.
It was similar to the light of the homestead, but stronger and more complex, with countless strange patterns flowing across its surface.
Wang Jiu had seen it appear.
Because she was the only one among them who hadn't closed her eyes or dropped to the ground for cover.
She stood on the roof of the homestead, watching the events unfold before her, a light in her eyes.
Was it wonder, astonishment, or doubt?
The light ahead was too dazzling, too domineering.
The fighter craft had now descended in front of them, and everyone could finally see it clearly.
Even a five or six-year-old child could vaguely sense it—they had come for the novice village.
The light cannons charged again. Boom! They struck once more.
Bombardment!
The novice village's protective shield trembled again, the flowing patterns on its surface once more displaying their fluid and ancient power.
Wang Jiu watched the countless patterns flowing across it. Due to her sensitivity, she didn't know if it was an illusion or real, but she felt that she had seen a few of the patterns before.
Miao Mountain, the sacrificial cave.
That was indeed one of the ancient civilizations that transcended the ages.
The civilization of the Witches.
Wang Jiu was lost in thought when she heard the terrified shouts of others. Her gaze shifted just in time to see that while the light cannons aimed at the novice village couldn't break through, the diverging attacks were blanketing the surrounding ground.
Hillsides were leveled, sections of the river exploded, ruins turned to ash, mountains collapsed…
If the destruction on the day the game fully loaded was subtle and silent, then the scene before them now was a cataclysmic, violent, bombardment-style annihilation.
Domineering, ferocious, utterly annihilating.
Even with the novice village's barrier isolating them, they could hear the sounds from outside—screams.
"Look, Huize Mountain!!"
The nearby Huize Mountain had already collapsed. Many screams came from within, and a dense, dark flock of birds flew out from the summit.
"That's a level 15 Silver Gleam Vulture. When I went up there, the system warned me the summit was its territory, so I fled." Liao Luo had once scoured Huize Mountain for people to kill and had naturally tried the summit, but the system's warning had scared him off.
It was because he knew how terrifying a Silver BOSS was that he had been so panicked when he later provoked the little fox, fleeing for his life at all costs.
But now, they watched as the strongest Silver BOSS in Huize Mountain took to the sky with a flock of level 10 vulture minions. They formed a massive dark cloud, a shocking sight at first glance, but just as Liao Luo finished speaking, they saw a beam of light connect.
The powerful Silver Gleam Vulture, capable of wiping out their entire novice village in a short time, didn't even have a chance to dodge.
It was hit, along with the other vulture minions.
Its body, with a wingspan of over ten meters, was instantly reduced to little more than a faint silhouette of black ash within the beam.
It was the final carbon-calcium outline of a skeleton, left after the living flesh had been incinerated.
But that too quickly vanished, completely destroyed by the light, leaving not a single trace behind.
Not just one Silver Gleam Vulture, but the entire flock.
Annihilated into dust in an instant.
However, what did that even count for?
As the crowd shouted, they discovered an even larger flock of wild sky monsters flying in from the southern horizon. The one in the lead didn't have a silver glow, but… a golden one!
"A Golden Boss!!"
The Golden BOSS's radiance was dazzling, and its flock numbered in the tens of thousands. They blotted out the sky as they sped along, trying to escape the supreme killing intent descending from beyond the heavens.
But they were terrified.
Because ahead of them was the novice village, and there were countless fighter craft near the novice village.
Because of the distance, they couldn't yet make out what species the massive, golden-grade avian BOSS was, but they could see it wanted to turn around.
Unfortunately, it didn't have time to turn.
"What is that?"
High in the sky, amidst the clouds, an incredibly fine silver line of light suddenly shot out from the hull of the colossal, majestic spacecraft suspended at the apex of the firmament.
It instantly sliced through the sky, a fleeting, graceful flash, and cut into the distant flock of birds. It seemed to split apart, a fission of light, and at first glance, it looked like a single move had shattered to form a dense spiderweb, ensnaring all the birds.
Over ten thousand avian minions, along with a Golden-grade Boss.
In just that one instant.
They shattered. All of them shattered.
Wiped out in the blink of an eye.
As their bodies fell from the sky, the silver light vanished as if teleporting. Only brief segments of silver light flashed in space for a second before it reappeared, phantom-like, in front of the novice village.
Right there in front of them.
Less than a meter from the luminous barrier, and only a few hundred meters in a straight line from the resurrection point.
But what appeared first were pieces of a silver mechanical body. It was those silver lines of light. They appeared, clanking as they seamlessly assembled into a flattened, shuttle-like mechanical disk. Its design was divinely sharp and domineering, gleaming with silver light, its curves and contours as if crafted by the heavens.
You couldn't be sure what it was. A weapon? A flying device?
It was beyond the scope of your knowledge, surpassing all the technology of your era.
When its assembly was complete, a dark figure descended silently. Mecha-clad boots landed on the mechanical disk, producing a crisp, clanking sound.
Then you saw a humanoid mecha, nearly 1.9 meters tall, with light flowing over its body. It spun a single-edged blade in one hand. The blade's edge was chillingly cold, seemingly both infinitely complex, coursing with countless powers, and yet supremely simple—a blade was just a blade, a sharp tool in its hand.
Its face was covered by a mechanical helmet, revealing no features, only a completely mechanical coldness.
It raised its blade, pointing it at the novice village.
Pointing at the area of the resurrection point.
All the fighter craft uniformly changed their angle, aiming their light cannons.
And a supreme power began to accumulate on the edge of its blade.
It was silent, the fighter craft were silent; there was only the light that drove away all darkness.
It filled every last corner of the endless night, a radiance that covered everything.
Light is not necessarily hope.
As terror bloomed from the depths of everyone's souls, there was a rustle!
They hugged each other, or squatted down and cradled their heads, or used their weapons to shield their faces.
Or…
It made all of Earth's living creatures afraid.
Vwoom!
It descended, a dense bombardment landing upon the barrier.
Why did the frenzied rat tide flee?
They were scared away.
With such power, who wouldn't be afraid?
It saw the fear of the people in the novice village, but… there was also one who was not afraid.
Was that a person?
It should be.
The only one standing on the roof, Wang Jiu, did not dodge in the face of such destructive radiance.
She didn't drop, didn't block, and didn't cover herself. From the moment this crisis from beyond the heavens arrived, she had been surprised, but not afraid.
In fact, upon seeing this domineering mecha BOSS descend like the most terrifying of its kind, her eyes lit up.
This light was different from when she saw money, profit, or a target she could blackmail or bully.
This light was soft. She seemed to have thought of something. She wiped her hands clean, then carefully took out a pair of glasses.
She looked down at them for a moment, then put them on.
She looked at the earth-shattering scene of destruction outside, looked at that terrifying mecha BOSS, and their eyes met.
But Wang Jiu stroked the frame of the glasses with her pale fingers, as if superimposing another person's eyes over her own.
There was a smile on her face, her expression endlessly soft.
She was thinking of the person she might not be able to find again even if she spent the rest of her life trying.
Once upon a time, in the warm afternoon light, they had casually discussed the universe in the living room.
Because the Old Lady was a core member of the nation's development, she had access to many classified projects. She said the world beyond Earth was infinitely vast.
Wang Jiu, in turn, said that Earth's own secrets were infinitely vast.
The two discussed very high-minded topics concerning the universe and its secrets, but in reality, they were both slouched lazily on the sofa, watching a mindless soap opera on a laptop.
Soon they forgot about the universe, forgot about secrets, and just roasted the soap opera as they watched.
Those were the most ordinary days of the past.
But would there be more in the future?
"Did you see that, old woman?"
"So there really are aliens."
She smiled, a pure and gentle smile, as if she were still that scruffy little child who had been led out of a remote mountain gully by an old woman, a child who would cherish a single piece of candy forever.
She had never grown up.
Regardless of whether the departed could ever return.
Then, she met the gaze of the world of destruction outside the novice village.
And she met the gaze of that mecha BOSS, whose origins were unknown and whose power was irresistible.
Time flowed under the light. There was no wind, yet her windbreaker fluttered gently. Her hair was like silk, her eyes were calm as still water, and a smile played on her lips.
She was looking at this world.
A world of infinite crisis.
Because she had nothing, she had nothing to fear.
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