LWGP - Chapter 95
Chapter 95: Extermination
After the light faded again, Xie Lu opened his eyes and saw the mecha BOSS take a deep look in their direction.
For some reason, he felt it was looking at one person.
Wang Jiu.
But it left quickly, turning into a silver light and flying back to the starship in the sky.
The other fighters also flew back, entering the ship's hull.
The starship ascended, blending into the thick clouds, and would probably soon leave the atmosphere.
Gone, just like that?
However, some of the more perceptive people noticed a change in the thin veil across the sky. It seemed to have thickened, as if it were repairing itself.
Everyone was lost and bewildered. Those with more composure began contacting the System to ask questions.
But the System didn't answer anyone privately. Instead, it made a unified announcement.
"Don't private message me. I'm busy. I don't have time to answer you one by one."
"Unified answer: The newcomers are the Eternal Mechanical Race, one of the pinnacle races in the universe. They came today to exterminate all life on Earth."
"Today was their first descent in this era. Due to the repair of the planar rules, they can only descend for one minute at a time."
"Another reminder: The Eternal Mechanical Race is an extraterrestrial race and is not bound by the rules of the Wilderness Civilization game. Their attacks target HP, and being killed by them results in permanent death."
"The following is tonight's death report for Earth's living player creatures."
Then, all players received the System's report.
The report was divided into two parts.
The first part covered deaths within Novice Villages, which were caused by threats other than major non-human races like the rat swarms and locust plagues. These deaths didn't target HP but rather the resurrection points. A total of 658 Novice Villages had been wiped out, resulting in 5.33 million permanent deaths.
The second part covered deaths outside the Novice Villages, caused by the descent of the Eternal Mechanical Race. The total was one hundred and thirty-five million people.
Added together, the total was nearly one hundred and forty million people. This was the loss for the human race; other living races received their own respective death reports.
It was an absolutely terrifying statistic.
For a moment, everyone in the resurrection point fell silent, as quiet as cicadas in winter. A dead silence descended.
Then, the System concluded its report on the night's two disasters in an extremely cold tone.
"Wars between races will be common from now on. Mutual annihilation, the destruction of a Novice Village wiping out thousands or even tens of thousands of people—this will become common knowledge. Today was the first night. You'll get used to it."
"The wars between player races are a minor matter. What you will truly have to face in the future is the Eternal Mechanical Race."
"But the descent of the Eternal Mechanical Race won't happen every night. The frequency is irregular, because it's not easy for them to come here. My Wilderness Civilization world has a rule: the night the Eternal Mechanical Race descends is known as Eternal Night."
"Beneath the Eternal Night, all life is exterminated."
"This is the new wilderness world you must truly face. Digest this information well. I wish you good luck."
No, we can't digest this! What kind of broken world is this!
Internally, there are terrifying racial struggles like the rat swarms, countless wild monsters, not enough food or clothing, and on top of that, we have to face fucking alien attacks.
Almost everyone wanted to transform into a large brown bear standing on a clifftop, screaming and roaring at the vast world.
Ah—
I'm going to explode!
Plop. Wang Shu sat down hard on the ground, his face crestfallen, his voice almost a sob.
"Damn it. I originally thought that with HP, as long as I was a bit lucky and didn't run into a Bloodthirsty Beast, I'd basically be immortal. Plus, with attribute increases, even sick people would become healthy. It didn't really seem like an apocalypse. At worst, it just meant we had to work hard and start over, just like our ancestors."
"But now I know. This is the fucking apocalypse."
Nearly one hundred and forty million people... what did that even mean?
How many people were there on Earth to begin with?
Seeing his dejection, Xie Lu reached out, patted his shoulder, and said frankly, "The losses tonight were heavy, mostly due to a lack of experience. First, people didn't know about the rat swarm invasion and didn't think to take shelter in the resurrection point. As for the Eternal Mechanical Race, the System had already warned us to stay inside the Novice Village, and it did indeed block their attacks. Whether it can block them in the future is another question, but for now, it's safe. The hundred million-plus who died tonight were probably those who didn't listen to the warning and stayed outside. After this, everyone will take it as a lesson, and there won't be such heavy losses again."
"As you said, a hundred years ago, hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, our ancestors faced barren lands and yellow sands. They were displaced, their families were shattered, but in the end, someone always rose from nothing to found a dynasty. Dynasties rose and fell, eventually forming the brilliant human civilization. And they started from scratch. Now, we have resurrection points and Novice Village shields for protection. We're already very lucky."
A person's thoughts can change, but their core values will accompany them for a lifetime.
Xie Lu's upright and spirited nature was like a small sun. His words were righteous and full of power, instantly igniting hope in many of the grieving people.
Wang Shu looked up, seemingly moved. Qiao Xuejing glanced at him and suddenly asked, "Do you have any family?"
Wang Shu: "Huh? My parents died early, but it was from natural causes. They went quite festively."
Qiao Xuejing: "Oh. Then you're quite lucky."
Wang Shu: "???"
What's up? Did your family die tragically, sis?
Qiao Xuejing lowered her eyes, probably tired as well. After all, she had been fighting all night, her stamina completely drained. She was utterly exhausted. She simply sat down gracefully on the ground, smiled, and said softly, "Before I inherited the family fortune, my relatives fought over a dozen lawsuits for the assets my father left behind. They all tore off their masks, their faces hideous. When I returned from abroad, I was in two car accidents and survived three assassination attempts. I still remember the day I officially received my inheritance; I went to the courthouse in a wheelchair. Later, I sent them all to prison. I wonder how they're doing now."
Behind the noble and graceful facade of a prestigious family, only they themselves knew how much ugliness lay beneath.
"I'm not saying this to be dramatic. Whether you like it or not, what's meant to happen has happened."
"The world has always had its good and bad sides; they just manifest in different ways."
"If you still have time to sit on the ground grieving and lamenting, the situation probably isn't that bad. Just like right now."
Qiao Xuejing was an intellectual beauty, elegant to the bone, with knowledge, ability, and immense wealth. For a socialite heiress nurtured by such circumstances to reveal her own hardships in public—not to elicit pity, nor to wallow in self-pity, but simply to display a calm and resilient tenacity—was remarkable. It was just like the day the game loaded; she hadn't even decided which major region to go to, seemingly unconcerned, and had ended up choosing Luoyang by chance.
After speaking, she smiled and extended her delicate, boneless, jade-like fingers to flick Wang Shu on the forehead.
"With your Master's timely reminders, if we work together, we can survive. The more tragic and dangerous the situation, the harder we must strive. As long as our pace outstrips its pace, there will still be a glimmer of light left in the world, won't there?"
Wang Shu blushed. He seemed to have figured things out. Scratching his head, he said, "Speaking of Master, she…"
He was about to start singing her praises when he saw Wang Jiu on the roof, head down, using a clean corner of her clothes to wipe her glasses. Her casual and leisurely demeanor showed not a hint of concern about the human race's heavy losses or its internal and external threats.
It was as if those glasses were the most important thing in the world.
Noticing everyone's gaze, she glanced up, put her glasses back on, and shot them a condescending look, as if she were looking at a bunch of whining, stupid fucks.
But what she said was surprising.
"Was 444 on the list of destroyed Novice Villages the System just reported?"
Huh? It seems so.
Everyone's attention was drawn back. They checked the System's death report list, and... uh, 444 was indeed on it!
Liao Luo, being black-hearted, didn't care how many people in 444 had died. He subconsciously smirked, about to mock her.
But Wang Jiu beat him to it, saying blandly, "So happy? Is it because your broken-down village 443 is about to get a village belle?"
Qiao Xuejing, the default village belle, raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
Uh, does that mean she's joining 443?
The members of Novice Village 443 quickly received a System notification. It turned out that, having lost her resurrection point, she had accepted the System's suggestion. Since she was physically inside Novice Village 443, she was naturally added to 443's resurrection point.
I don't know about the others, but Wang Shu and Qiao Xuejing were happy.
"Master, you're not just a village belle, you could even be the village tyrant!"
Wang Shu blurted this out, slapping his thigh in delight. The village tyrant, Wang Jiu, gave him a cool look, and he immediately shivered and fell silent, abashed.
"But the System was a real lion, demanding one gold coin from me. Times are tough, everything costs money…"
Her words were calm and unhurried, like flowing chocolate, fragrant and sweet.
Then she came down from the roof, gently pushed up her elegant, gold-rimmed glasses, and her gaze swept coolly over a few specific individuals in the crowd.
"So, when are you going to pay back the five gold coins you owe me?"
With her red lips, white teeth, and the air of a refined scoundrel, she stood in stark contrast to the ruins and the useless people sitting on the ground.
In that instant, all thoughts of apocalyptic crises, the coming Eternal Night, racial wars, worries, and sorrows vanished.
Jiang Kaikai and the others immediately pretended to be busy, looking around and fiddling with things. But under the deterrence of Wang Jiu's formidable power, those who had money paid up, and those who didn't remained in debt.
Liao Luo, for example, wore an expression like his parents had just died.
Even Wang Shu, the village belle Qiao Xuejing, and Dao Dao were now in debt.
After collecting a wave of money, Wang Jiu's account was finally no longer at zero. She was happy, but everyone else was trembling with fear, afraid this Demon King would target them next to squeeze out some more oil.
Just then, the System made an announcement.
"The results of Novice Village 443's first racial invasion war have been tallied. The total experience gained from the enemy's level loss due to kills and the combat contribution points will now be distributed according to labor. Additionally, the top ten contributors will receive the 'Ratbane Hero' title. Please check your notifications."
In other words, the level experience lost by the rat players they killed would be distributed among them.
Distributed according to labor.
In an instant, everyone who had a kill count received their share of experience.
Some more, some less.
But the one who received the most was undoubtedly Wang Jiu.
Zhao Shanxiao, who had leveled up once, subconsciously looked at Wang Jiu. Her expression was calm, making it impossible to tell how many levels she had gained.
As for Wang Shu's group of three...
"I leveled up three times! I'm level 10 now! How did this happen? I didn't kill that many rats." Wang Shu was dumbfounded. In any case, his kill count was definitely no match for Qiao Xuejing's.
But Qiao Xuejing had only gained two and a half levels.
Dao Dao gained exactly two levels.
However, they had all crossed the level 10 threshold.
"There are probably two reasons. One, you have a Homestead, which contributed to preventing the rat swarm from destroying the resurrection point's array. Two, we're all in Wang Jiu's party. The System defaults to us being the main contributing party, so we all get an experience boost. Otherwise, my and Dao Dao's kill counts are lower than Zhao Shanxiao's; we shouldn't have gotten more experience than him."
Qiao Xuejing speculated. But hitting level 10 in one go was a huge leap in all aspects. At the very least, they could now use Spirit Power.
However, she and Dao Dao had no Spirit Power, except for what came with the title.
Huh, this title actually gives 50 Spirit Energy.
That's a lot! It feels like I got it for free.
Wang Shu, Qiao Xuejing, and Dao Dao were all among the top ten contributors.
The rest included Xie Lu, Zhao Shanxiao, and others.
Wang Jiu was number one in both kills and contribution.
The massive amount of experience shot her from level 10 to level 14.
The title she received was "Ratbane Champion," which gave 200 Spirit Energy and was an intermediate-grade title.
With all the additions and subtractions, the Spirit Energy she had lost from learning 《Holy Light》 was restored, bringing her back to 450 permanent Spirit Energy.
But that wasn't all. Wang Jiu also received a reminder from the System.
"Attention. Rare mineral substances containing Spirit Energy have been detected in your inventory. Do you wish to absorb them into the Manor Homestead?"
Wang Jiu had previously noticed the stones dropped by the rat sub-boss, but she had been in a hurry and didn't have time to examine them closely. Looking now, she realized they were indeed rare minerals.
"Is this jadeite?"
System: "Not the jadeite you're used to. The jade from your era had its Spirit Energy drained long ago, leaving only empty shells. This is their true form now, spiritual substances nurtured by time and the Earth's plane."
Fine. Whatever they were, Wang Jiu directly confirmed the absorption.
Instantly, the brilliance contained within these stones was drawn out, and wisps of energy flowed into the Homestead.
However, the jadeite stones themselves remained.
In the blink of an eye, her permanent Spirit Energy rose to 700.
This meant the spiritual minerals dropped by the rat sub-boss had given her 250 permanent Spirit Energy.
But Wang Jiu walked out of the resurrection point and collected the drops from the other small rats.
They were also stones, but not jadeite; they were pebbles.
These pebbles also contained a tiny amount of Spirit Energy. It took over a hundred of them to extract a single wisp. Wang Jiu's kill count had surpassed five thousand, so she had obtained five thousand pebbles.
She got 50 wisps of Spirit Energy.
Permanent Spirit Energy: 750.
As Wang Jiu collected the stones, the others noticed as well. Since the danger was over, everyone started coming out to collect their own spoils of war.
Any words of comfort were empty; tangible benefits were what was real.
With the hard-to-get Spirit Energy in hand, their traumatized souls were immediately soothed after the disaster. Everyone was beaming with joy.
Especially Wang Shu and the others who had just passed level 10.
Now, all they lacked were Class Skills.
But that's so hard. Where could they get them?
"The dungeon tomorrow!" Wang Shu had a flash of insight. He subconsciously looked for his Master, only to find that Wang Jiu had already given a lazy yawn, put her house back in its original spot, and turned to call out.
"Xie Lu."
Xie Lu looked up and saw her speak to him through the dim yellow firelight.
"Your trench coat is dirty. Come get it here at eight tomorrow morning."
Without waiting for Xie Lu to refuse, she went back into her house.
Xie Lu's brow furrowed, as if he were struggling with something.
He had attended military school since he was young and had always taken care of his own food, clothing, and expenses. Other than his own mother, he had never let a woman wash his clothes for him.
This… he was very unused to it.
But she was already gone.
In truth, after the chaos of last night that lasted well past midnight, no one had gotten more than a few hours of sleep. Everyone was exhausted. Even Xie Lu couldn't hold out and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, the ever-disciplined Xie Lu woke up early. Figuring she must be extremely tired, he didn't have the heart to rush her, so he waited until eight o'clock to go over. He arrived at the spot where Wang Jiu's house stood amidst the hazy morning dew and saw a trench coat hanging on a tree branch next to the house.
It was damp. It had been washed.
Although she usually acted inhuman, this was the upbringing the Old Lady had instilled in her.
He took down the trench coat and glanced at the house. No one was inside, and no one was outside. After a moment of thought, he suddenly frowned and sighed helplessly.
"She tricked me again."
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