Chapter 160

Chapter 160: The Revelation (Part 1)

Outside the floating island.

Dishiti was still bickering with the envoy sent by the Prevention and Control Center. "Isn't it normal for tracking to fail in a pollution zone? Blame your own tech department's incompetence! Why come after me? I swear I didn't lay a finger on Lu Yan!"

The Center's envoy was Michael, who happened to be able to fly and was closest to the Third Sector.

The small wings on Michael's back fluttered incessantly. "Then why did Lu Yan's signal vanish in this very area? Your Fifth Sector has been up to no good for a while. Who knows what tricks you used to get him alone out here in the middle of nowhere to finish him off."

Dishiti threw his hands up. "I can't even beat him!"

Michael tightened his grip on his holy sword. "He's just a widowed healer! Who knows what underhanded methods you might have used."

"If I'm lying," Dishiti roared, "may I never see the sun again!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

The sky visibly darkened, plunging into absolute blackness within a few breaths.

All argument ceased in an instant.

Michael's expression turned grave, his brow deeply furrowed.

Dishiti's eyes widened in shock. "...Why is it actually dark!? The observatory didn't mention a total eclipse today?"

It wasn't just the Third Sector. Every region across the globe seemed to have fallen into a polar night.

Countless faces tilted upwards, expressions filled with dread.

This was the third polar night phenomenon in a year. And it had arrived more violently, more suddenly, than the previous two.

Darkness always symbolized fear and the unknown.

The light had been snatched away without warning, a chilling echo of the first two calamities.

In the sudden dark, many who had lost loved ones during the previous two Blood Moon events broke down sobbing.

The Prevention and Control Center's phone lines were jammed again, their massive communications room descending into chaos.

"Any explanation from the higher-ups?"

"Prioritize public reassurance! Broadcast emergency bulletins, ramp up psychological support!"

"Report! Mass suicide incident in City A!"

Three celestial anomalies in one year had shattered the defenses in many hearts.

Never before had humanity felt the touch of a true cataclysm so intimately.

Ning Huai took a slow drag of his cigarette, chatting idly with his liaison officer. "What's happening this time? Any pollution source detected?"

His current liaison was the daughter of his previous one.

Ning Huai had stayed in the Divine Kingdom too long. By the time he returned, his old liaison had passed. Her young daughter had taken over the job, saying she'd grown up hearing stories about him.

The young woman's voice was calm. "Report, Captain Ning. No pollution source detected. Only the polar night phenomenon so far, no Blood Moon."

Ning Huai thought for a moment. "And Lu Yan?"

"Headquarters dispatched Michael to search. Still no contact with Mr. Diting. Search efforts are being intensified."

It was the same last time he'd gone missing, though that time Lu Yan had vanished into the eye of the storm.

A new layer of worry settled on Ning Huai's features.

*

The polar night had also descended upon the floating island.

Song Tianyu paused, then spread his wings and flew to the breeding chamber.

"Lu Yan, you okay? Something's happening outside."

He knocked. No answer.

Using a spare key, Song Tianyu opened the door.

To prevent hatchlings from escaping, the breeding chamber had no windows, only a central ventilation shaft.

The room was now empty, as if no one had ever been there.

……

……

The night persisted, with no sign of dawn.

No moon, no stars. All natural light seemed severed by a black curtain.

While the darkness had sparked unrest in many places, the human species was nothing if not adaptable.

By the third day, people had grown accustomed to living by artificial light, day and night becoming meaningless.

The only thing to be grateful for was that global pollution levels showed no abnormal spike.

Those three days saw varying degrees of chaos erupt worldwide.

Talk of the apocalypse ran rampant. In regions with weaker governance, crime rates surged visibly, social order teetering on the brink.

A disaster hunter missing an arm tipped his head back, gulping vodka, cursing under his breath. "Damn it all. The world might end tomorrow. Why bother showing up for work?"

Headquarters drafted several emergency protocols for handling the polar night event.

Previously unthinkable, they now prepared for the possibility that the sun might never rise again.

In this era of great upheaval, anything was possible.

With no sun for a full 72 hours, even equatorial temperatures became cool and pleasant, let alone the poles.

Vast stretches of ocean began to freeze.

For the first time since excessive carbon emissions triggered global warming, polar bears had access to such expansive ice fields again.

With work and schools suspended, player numbers for Zhou Qiming's company's games skyrocketed. He found no joy in it.

"The seas are freezing. Projections suggest surface temperatures could drop to minus 200 degrees Celsius within a month. Are we really going to have to move underground?"

Compared to the Pollution Disease, this was the true end of the world.

Before the might of nature, no one was spared.

"No idea where Doctor Lu has gone off to this time…"

Zhou Qiming stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, lost in thought, instinctively glancing up at the sky.

Against the black expanse, faint lines of text seemed to shimmer.

[The Revelation]

[Visitor from the Abyss]

Zhou Qiming rubbed his eyes, disbelief plain on his face. "I didn't pull an all-nighter gaming yesterday…"

The next second, a sliver of light pierced the oppressive darkness at the horizon.

On the ground, everyone noticed the anomaly.

Zhou Qiming pushed open his door, running out into the street, staring dumbfounded at the sky.

He wasn't alone.

Countless others threw open windows or rushed to open fields.

Busy lives had left many with no time for the scenery; the sun, moon, and stars were just an eternal backdrop, their absence never contemplated.

Only after experiencing the polar night did humanity realize the preciousness of that light.

All living beings on the ground now gazed upon the same moon.

Zhou Qiming heard others around him weeping with joy. "The moon! The moon is out!"

This full moon looked exceptionally large, exceptionally pure white. Less like a moon, more like a lamp.

Zhou Qiming was a thorough rationalist, never one for sentimental reflection. Yet, for some reason, seeing this moon brought sudden, hot tears to his eyes.

He suddenly remembered where he had seen the title [Visitor from the Abyss] before.

Months ago, in City X. Above Lu Yan's head.

The moon rose slowly, casting an abnormally brilliant light, like shimmering quicksand.

These points of light gently seeped into the earth, healing a world riddled with scars.

Floating Island.

The Rabbit Butcher reached out, catching the moonlight in his palm with a look of confusion, as if catching a snowflake.

Tongtong grew hands like a human child's. The hunger that had plagued him for years suddenly vanished. His blood-red eyes cleared to a lucid color.

Normally, daydreaming during tutoring would earn him a scolding from Lu Jiahe.

But today, Lu Jiahe was uncharacteristically dazed.

The black, charred marks on his face had disappeared.

Karmic fire still boiled in the pot. A small bird pecked open its shell, letting out a chirp.

The newborn hatchling stumbled about, trying to fly towards the moon in the sky.

But the moon departed too swiftly.

The little red bird, its feathers not yet fully grown, couldn't gain altitude and soon crashed to the ground, covered in wounds.

Song Tianyu picked up the bird, cradling it in his palm. The feathers on his back molted, a painful sensation.

This hatchling should have no memory, yet it wept as if heartbroken.

Tongtong raised a hand, suddenly clutching his own head, whispering, "Teacher… is that you patting my head?"

Hundreds of meters away, on the first level of the floating island, the lake's waters stirred into shallow waves.

The cyan-blue water gathered into a deep vortex. White spray coalesced within the whirlpool, forming a translucent human shape. Like a crystal sculpture.

The sculpture's eyelashes fluttered. Eyes opened, remembering a name.

His name was Qiao Yu.

……

……

Third Sector.

Dishiti was seeking to atone for his supposed crimes by searching for Lu Yan.

As he searched, he felt an itch on his back.

Reaching back instinctively, he found the pitted, hole-ridden texture of his skin had healed overnight. Even the extra heads growing from his neck had withered like lotus buds deprived of nourishment.

Dishiti stared blankly, then pulled out a scanner, pointing it at himself.

[Lesion Rate: 0]

[Spiritual Power Threshold: 3000]

After some thought, only one possibility came to mind. "Dammit! The Prevention and Control Center sells such garbage? A scanner bought for 600,000 contribution points breaks in three days?"

Meanwhile, Michael was still in a meeting at the Prevention and Control Center.

The Third Sector's municipal hall was in an uproar, arguing over where to establish an underground survivor base.

In the midst of the shouting, the moon appeared.

All argument ceased instantly.

Michael pushed open a door, looking at the sky. The moon moved with abnormal speed. Its light fell upon his three pairs of wings, causing a faint itch.

His pristine white feathers were tinged with gold.

……

……

Third Research Institute. It housed some special prisoners.

Former staff of the First Research Institute.

The primary culprits of the First Institute had been executed, but not all were deemed beyond redemption.

The researchers, too, were knowledgeable Awakened, now working to atone for their crimes on experimental projects related to Pollution Disease prevention and control.

"Professor Wang," a researcher named Zhao Ke muttered bitterly. "Are we really going to be locked up like this for the rest of our lives?"

"...This is all a political conspiracy by the other institutes!"

"Director Gong's actions were all for a better future. History will prove we were right. Humanity can never coexist with the Pollution Disease..."

Their information was severely limited, confined underground with only weekly newspapers offering glimpses of the outside world.

Professor Wang approached his experiments with a grim focus. The rules were clear: fail to produce valid results within the deadline, and the next meal wouldn't come.

Survival was a powerful motivator. This batch of researchers worked with a desperate zeal. Occasionally, a breakthrough would earn them a few pounds of meat.

Their current status was a world away from their former glory at the First Research Institute. Resentment was inevitable.

Professor Wang ignored Zhao Ke's grumbling, his attention fixed on a cell slide.

The researcher finished venting his spleen and stalked back to his workstation, muttering darkly.

"Just wait until I get out..." The words were a venomous whisper. Then, without warning, a torrent of black blood erupted from his mouth.

Slick, obsidian tentacles burst from his torso, tearing through his lab coat. The stench of a pollutant filled the air.

Screams ripped through the chamber.

The researcher staggered to his feet, his mind horrifyingly clear, which only magnified his terror.

Awakened guards stationed at the entrance rushed in, weapons raised.

"I'm not a pollutant!" he shrieked, hands raised in a futile gesture of surrender. "I'm an Awakened! Don't shoot!"

CRACK.

The gunshot echoed in the confined space.

……

……

Headquarters, conference room.

"Since the moon rose, numerous Awakened have transformed into pollutants and died without warning. Investigations show they all had criminal records. Especially hidden cultists of the Deep Sea Society—they've all been exposed."

"There are also cases of pollutants reverting to Awakened..."

"And pollutants dying outright."

Report after report filtered in, painting a picture that only deepened the collective bewilderment.

"What in the world is happening?"

Ji Wen adjusted his glasses, his voice cutting through the heavy silence. "Purification."

"It's... an old theory. My teacher's teacher. Professor Qiao Yu's hypothesis."

"He said that Judgment, combined with Revelation, would yield a complete Purification."

"Only then, on a global scale, would true evolution occur... The only thing that puzzles me is why the scope this time is so vast? And where did this moon come from?"

The moon, of course, offered no answers.

The brilliant orb continued its journey, its light now spilling over the open sea.