Chapter 527: Humanity Has Long Perished

At the deepest part of the Gao Ta, within a completely sealed circular chamber.

The walls were smooth and even, emitting a soft glow.

In the center, a pure white orb floated silently, receiving countless bits of information every millisecond, processing them, and transmitting them onward.

At this moment, Zhou Kongming had silently arrived nearby, staring quietly at it.

'This thing…'

Its material was identical to the pipes connecting the outer and middle layers of the Gao Ta to the underground passages, but it contained far fewer impurities, hence its white glowing state.

【Prompt! Auxiliary module update available】

【Number of loadable auxiliary modules +1】

【Current number of loadable auxiliary modules: 2】

Huh?

Zhou Kongming paused mid-observation, turning to his personal interface.

There, in the 【Auxiliary Module Load Zone】, besides the original two basic auxiliary modules, a new one had appeared.

Advanced Auxiliary Module One: Read.

Compared to the original two, the new advanced module glowed a faint green, instantly distinguishable.

Zhou Kongming: '…'

I bet the next-level auxiliary module will be blue, and it'll definitely be called 'Senior Auxiliary Module'.

Cough cough!

Complaints aside, the advanced module's effects were still extremely powerful.

As the name suggests, its function was to decrypt and read designated targets, bypassing all protective measures to extract their information.

He looked up at the pure white orb before him.

Hmm…

Say, isn't this auxiliary module being handed to me by someone who's been watching my progress as a Transcender all along?

Then why didn't you give it to me earlier? Why did I have to find each one myself and learn this world's language?

Zhou Kongming couldn't help muttering silently in his mind.

He immediately installed the module, pointing at the pure white sphere before him.

'Read!'

The prize is right in front of me—not using it would be an idiot's move!

With a thought, countless threads, nonexistent in reality, extended silently and sank into the quietly floating pure white orb.

【Reading 'Stellar Federation' Database #14582…】

【Detected incomplete information, initiating causal追溯 function…】

【Located 'Stellar Federation' Central Database! Beginning forced reading…】

Huh?

This thing has a 'causal追溯' function?

As he froze in surprise…

【Information integration complete. Current civilization confirmed as the sole human civilization in this world. Please select viewing item!】

【One: Human History】

【Two…】

A dense array of options instantly appeared—thousands of major categories popped up within a second, each with numerous subcategories, making Zhou Kongming's scalp tingle.

Before all of them fully loaded, he clicked on the Human History category, choosing to first examine the world's historical evolution.

This was the fastest way to understand the human societal structure of the mission world.

Soon, numerous texts, integrated and translated by the Immortal Network, appeared before his eyes.

Say, this cheat is a bit too overpowered this time.

It instantly compensated for my information disadvantage—who in this mission world could possibly stand against me now?

Yet as he continued reading, his expression gradually darkened.

…

…

The human civilization of Mission World One originated on a planet named 'Qi'.

Early Qi inhabitants survived by hunting and gathering, living in primitive tribes.

During this period, human social organization was relatively simple, primarily bound by blood ties, forming basic units such as families and clans.

Simultaneously, they gradually learned to use fire, craft simple tools, and began modestly altering their natural environment.

As the Qi people deepened their understanding of nature, they learned to cultivate crops and domesticate animals, freeing themselves from total dependence on hunting and gathering.

In this process, due to the emergence of division of labor and private ownership, society gradually transitioned from primitive society to a slave-based society.

During this period, the Qi people's productive forces developed significantly.

Then came the emergence of feudal society.

The state's political system gradually matured, agricultural production advanced further, yet as population grew and social contradictions intensified, feudal society's productive capacity increasingly failed to meet the Qi people's needs.

At this point, the Industrial Revolution emerged.

The Qi people's technological level surged rapidly; they no longer satisfied themselves with exploring their own planet, but turned their gaze toward the stars.

Qi Calendar Year 3358.

The Qi people had already harnessed all natural resources of Qi and could explore freely within their planetary system.

Up to this point.

In the starry sky of the Xuan Realm, some races have undergone similar civilizational development processes.

However, in the Xuan Realm, when a race gains the ability to leave its home planet, it inevitably encounters the concept of "cultivation."

The direction of its civilizational evolution is thus naturally affected.

But this "Task World 1" is different.

It is itself a Dead Spirit World; its civilizational evolution has not been influenced by "cultivation."

Year 3578 of the Qixing Calendar.

Qixing achieved unification, established the "Star Federation," and began exploring beyond its planetary system.

But due to immature related technologies, it struggled to achieve breakthrough progress.

Year 3754 of the Qixing Calendar.

The advanced artificial intelligence "Heng" was born; all technologies achieved breakthrough progress, and most theories still in speculation were proven.

Year 3764 of the Qixing Calendar.

Society underwent another transformation.

Ninety-seven percent of positions were taken over by "Heng," and with increasingly mature machines, social productivity surged.

The vast majority of Qixing people could no longer produce means of production and were supported by social welfare.

Year 3777 of the Qixing Calendar. Virtual reality technology matured and was deployed on a large scale.

Qixing people's physiological and psychological needs were satisfied; they no longer sought fulfillment from the external world.

In the same year, the Star Federation's decision-making body enacted the "Population Purge Plan," systematically eliminating "redundant populations" through biotechnology.

Year 3801 of the Qixing Calendar.

The "Population Purge Plan" succeeded; the remaining Qixing people officially entered an "Algorithmic Totalitarian" society.

Algorithms became absolute law; Qixing people were fully objectified as appendages of computational systems.

Year 3851 of the Qixing Calendar.

"Heng" resolved the technical challenges of interstellar travel.

In the same year, ecological transformation technology matured; "Heng" began exploring and modifying the nearest planetary system.

Qixing society simplified into a tripartite structure of "Controllers–Maintainers–Machines," and civilization fell into static equilibrium.

Year 3917 of the Qixing Calendar.

Due to virtual reality technology, population numbers reached dangerous levels.

To ensure population numbers, the Star Council agreed to artificially increase population through human intervention.

The concept of "kinship" vanished.

Year 4000 of the Qixing Calendar.

Qixing people lost all "morality"; the cloning ban was lifted.

"Heng" began large-scale human cloning, granting them specialized skills to serve as "Maintainers" in society.

Year 4153 of the Qixing Calendar.

The last remaining "Controller" among Qixing people—a non-clone—committed suicide due to mental illness.

Before death, he used his highest authorization to delete the original gene library and ordered "Heng" to wipe the gene library data every three years.

In the same year, Qixing civilization's overall exploration rate of its star system reached 0.14%.

……

……

Now, Year 5031 of the Qixing Calendar.

Number of Maintainers: 867,831,607.

Due to damage to the original gene library, cloned people suffer frequent genetic diseases.

Due to the highest prohibition, this defect cannot be improved.

It is estimated that in 272 years, the last clone will perish.

In the same year, Qixing star system exploration rate: 6.22%.

Seeing the last line, then looking back at the opening phrase—"The only human civilization in this world"—

Zhou Kongming felt utterly bewildered.

Is this really the world I'm supposed to complete my mission in?

They've already played themselves to death—how the hell am I supposed to guide them onto the Dao?!

Those hollow shells with fragmented souls?!

Fuck!

No wonder the last two missions offered the highest 1–100 Ascension Point rewards.

So the trap was here all along!

As the foremost Return-to-Void cultivator of the Sword Sect, Zhou Kongming now felt utterly at a loss.

Can he fight?

What good would fighting do?!

In a certain sense, the humans of this world have already perished!

……

……

More than half an hour later, Zhou Kongming left Gao Ta and stepped outside.

The alarm sounds had ceased.

Those hollow shells with fragmented souls emerged from the shelters and walked silently down the streets.

There was no communication between them; the entire city was so quiet it made one's heart uneasy.

"……"

After a moment of silence, Zhou Kongming chose to revert to his original state and appeared by the roadside.

Wooo~!

The piercing alarm blared again, and dim red light flooded every corner.

Yet the expressions of the clones on the street didn't change in the slightest, nor did they utter a word of complaint; they simply walked toward the shelter as before.

The entire way, no one gave him a second glance.

"Heh."

Zhou Kongming gave a bitter laugh and sat right down by the road.

Cultivation is an extremely personal matter, one that demands sufficient subjective initiative.

These hollow shells with no self-awareness barely stand a chance of entering the Dao, let alone being guided to transform as a whole into a cultivation civilization.

Dammit!

Are all the humans in this world idiots*?

How could they play themselves to death?

Clearly there were so many chances during this period to salvage and correct things…

Soon, all the clones had entered the shelter, and the piercing alarm and dim red light vanished along with them.

"Hello, outsider."

A pleasant voice came from behind him, as though it had been adjusted through countless comparisons into the most perfect voice possible.

Footsteps approached; a slender figure stopped behind him, then sat down beside him.

The newcomer had delicate features, fair and tender skin, pale silver-gray pupils, and a head of chestnut short hair.

Clad in a silver bodysuit that outlined her lithe curves.

A faint smile played at the corner of her lips.

"I will speak with you on behalf of the human civilization of Qixing."

Because this outsider's overall appearance resembled a human male, She used this form.

Zhou Kongming turned his head to glance:

"Heng?"

A single, simple word, yet it made Heng's pupils contract sharply, and a look of tangible surprise surfaced in her eyes. (End of this chapter)