Chapter 318: A Hundred Years in an Instant, He Has Returned

Although he had lost his body, because he had been injected with the third-generation gene drug, as long as his brain wasn't damaged, he could still survive.

Shangguan Ying said nothing, picked up his head, and threw it toward the spherical device.

Zizzi—

The entire head was burned to ash by the protective energy field surrounding the device.

Shangguan Ying again used the previous method, striking the sphere with palm after palm; the sphere finally cracked, its outer energy field vanished, revealing a piece of unknown substance inside, the size of a pigeon's egg and flickering with a faint light.

Just as Shangguan Ying was about to take out the unknown substance, it suddenly shot a golden beam upward; the beam pierced straight through the hall and even the statue, disappearing into the sky.

After emitting the light, this piece of substance quickly turned into a pile of dry ash.

"Is it completely destroyed?" Shangguan Ying froze for a moment, but a strong unease welled up deep inside her.

The next second, in the high-altitude clouds just illuminated by the newborn morning sun, a blinding beam over ten meters in diameter suddenly descended, striking the statue vertically.

Boom!

The entire statue shattered into pieces, and even Statue Island was devoured by the light!

Above the sky, at the spot where the beam appeared, a vortex almost as large as half a major city quickly formed; the cloud layers were rolled by currents of sparkling light, seemingly containing endless terrifying energy.

Countless United Defense Force personnel on the scene witnessed this with their own eyes, and the same scene was displayed on the big screen in the Combat Command Headquarters.

"General Shangguan! General Shangguan!" someone in the headquarters shouted into the communicator.

But there was no response at all.

What followed left everyone's minds completely blank.

Within the vortex, a huge unidentified flying object shaped like a pyramid slowly descended, its whole body emitting an indescribable metallic luster.

The senior officers in the Combat Command Headquarters were all dumbfounded.

What's going on?

Have aliens appeared?

As the pyramid-shaped unidentified flying object descended to only a few hundred meters above the ground, a pattern of a masked man in a robe appeared on its surface; only then did people realize it wasn't aliens, but the force that had always been in contact with the Descending Association… it had come back……

This meant that the operation to destroy the spacetime portal had ended in failure!

The United Defense Force entered combat mode once again.

Countless missiles flew toward the sky.

However, even missiles carrying nuclear warheads, when they struck the pyramid-shaped flying object, merely resembled fireworks.

High-level officials from all countries couldn't help feeling chills from head to toe.

The enemy's technology has actually developed to this extent? How can we still fight?

Inside the huge flying object, in a magnificent gilded room, Ning Hai stood on a fully transparent platform, looking down at the Saint Pu Imperial Metropolis below, which had almost become ruins.

He still wore a white robe of gold silk, with a gold mask on his face, but his hair was now white and his body stooped.

"Time really flies— a hundred years… is just a snap of the fingers… I have finally returned……"

From beneath the mask came a hoarse, aged voice.

For the original world, from the moment of breaking into the statue until now, only a few hours have passed.

But for Ning Hai, in another world, a full hundred years have elapsed.

He relied on absolute rule and the highly efficient, ruthless operation of his entire force, which functioned like a machine, to slaughter the Earth of the world he was in, dominate the globe, and frantically plunder worldwide resources to develop military technology.

Doing this resulted in a double-edged sword.

The technology he possessed advanced in this hundred years to an unimaginable degree, even being able to treat the Moon as a mine.

But this also caused the world's indigenous people, whom he used as slaves, and Earth's resources to be exhausted, and the Moon's resources were likewise mined out.

The entire Earth had become as barren as the Moon.

And the Moon had almost become an empty shell.

Yet at this time, his technological level was insufficient to support sending people to mine and transport resources from other planets in the solar system.

However, his spacetime travel technology had reached the required standard.

He therefore chose a time point, opened the spacetime portal, and brought his legion back.

"Daughter… let me greet this world." Ning Hai said softly.

"Yes, Father." Ning Yao, standing beside him, skillfully activated some kind of instrument.

Now Ning Yao is also over 130 years old, yet she looks only about forty, her whole body exuding the aura of a mature woman, her appearance even more beautiful than in her youth.

As she activated the instrument, signals all over the world were cut off.

Furthermore, on every turned-on TV or any kind of screen, Ning Hai's image appeared.

"Cough cough… everyone from the original world, hello, long time no see……"

His voice at this moment spread across the entire globe.

Inside the United Defense Force General Command Headquarters, everyone had not yet emerged from the grief over losing Shangguan Ying, and now faced this extraordinary situation.

Huaxia's top-level members went straight to the headquarters, staring fixedly at the masked elder appearing on the screen.

"Who is he?" someone asked.

"I was once also a person of this world, and even a citizen of Huaxia Guo." Ning Hai's voice sounded again.

Everyone was greatly startled, only then realizing that the other side not only controlled all communication signals but could also hear what was being said here.

The high-level officials immediately spoke directly with him.

"Who exactly are you, and what do you want to do!"

"Who I am is no longer important; you may call me— Heavenly Sovereign of Descent. My purpose is simple: let my Descending Legion rule this world, make all of you my slaves, and I will build here a new world of absolute rule."

As soon as these words were spoken, the headquarters fell into a deathly silence.

Thus, disturbances broke out worldwide, and ordinary people everywhere suddenly felt panic and unease.

A Huaxia high-level member gritted his teeth and said: "Since you were once one of our Huaxia Guo people, you should know that you are acting contrary to the proper order."

"Going against the proper way?" Ning Hai laughed, "Rather than that, let me give you a piece of advice—those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish. Moreover, don't even think of trying to cozy up to me; I used to be a citizen of Huaxia Guo, but not anymore—I am the supreme ruler you must submit to, without exception."

"Come, daughter, show them what we're capable of, otherwise they'll still think I'm joking." Ning Hai said to Ning Yao.

Ning Hai said to Ning Yao.

Ning Yao nodded and casually pressed a button on some instrument.

A pyramid-shaped flying object nearly as wide as half a big city directly emitted a beam of light 100 meters in diameter, instantly flattening one-third of the area of the city below.

Prior to this, due to the war, this core city of the Holy Pu Empire had become ruins, but at least there were still some towering skyscrapers.

But after this beam struck, one-third of the city had no ruins left, directly becoming a barren, flat expanse of scorched earth.

Such destructive capability plunged the entire world into despair.

Even if all the world's armed forces were gathered, they could not match it; the technological gap is simply too vast.

The high-level officials of Huaxia Guo simply could not fathom how the other side could possess such technology.

"How... do you think there's still any need to oppose me?" Ning Hai's voice rang out.

The high-level officials of Huaxia Guo clenched their fists, "We need a little time."

"All right," Ning Hai readily agreed, "If you comply, it'll save me trouble—I'll give you three days, and after three days give me a clear and accurate answer."

Having said that, the image on the screen returned to normal.

The members of Huaxia Guo's high-level officials looked grave.

Although they had secured three days of time, … but what should they do?

Submission is out of the question, but with only three days, how can they find a countermeasure?

"We… could we really have lost?" a battle commander asked in despair.

"No, not yet!" Shangguan Ying's voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned toward the sound in unison, and instantly their faces lit up with joy, as if they'd been injected with a shot of adrenaline.

The high-level officials of Huaxia Guo hurried forward to support her.

At this moment, Shangguan Ying was covered in wounds and utterly exhausted, but her gaze remained steadfast.

Barely having made it back alive did not cause her any fear or compromise inside.

In the few seconds before the beam struck, she had used an emergency teleportation gate set up in advance beneath the statue, returning just in time; otherwise she would have perished then.

"How are you? Shouldn't you go get treatment first?" the high-level officials asked.

"I'm fine, I'll go later," Shangguan Ying licked the corner of her mouth, which was covered in dried blood, "Listen to me, we haven't reached the final moment yet; hope still exists."

The high-level officials said in unison, "Where is our hope?"

Shangguan Ying uttered three words, "Ning Jinli."

A high-level official said solemnly, "Relying on her alone probably won't be enough to deal with the masked man's legion."

"Of course it's not just her alone; there's also us, our Repair Plan Team, and Huaxia's millions of soldiers and several billion people," Shangguan Ying's eyes grew even firmer, "The Repair Plan Team is already researching a new theory of spacetime travel; if it succeeds, our world might not lose."

The high-level officials asked curiously, "Although we don't understand this kind of cutting-edge scientific theory, could you tell us what the new theory you mentioned is?"

Shangguan Ying said word by word, "Spacetime displacement theory."

"Although we still don't understand, but," the high-level officials grasped Shangguan Ying's hand and said solemnly, "But we all trust you; all military command authority of Huaxia Guo and the allied nations has been placed entirely in your hands—feel free to act, and we will cooperate unconditionally."

"All right." Shangguan Ying nodded.

——

With all members of Huaxia Guo's high-level officials holding the fort, and various institutions working together in unity, the populace of Huaxia Guo faced an unprecedented survival crisis, not only not descending into chaos but instead becoming even more united.

Refusing to accept fate, refusing to surrender—this is the most stubborn character etched deep in the Huaxia bloodline; even if it sometimes falls into slumber, it will inevitably awaken whenever a crisis arises.

Indeed, the greater the crisis, the more it erupts with power capable of creating miracles.

By contrast, many places abroad have already seen their social order completely collapse, and a shroud of despair blankets this blue planet.

The next day, the Huaxia Command Center suddenly received a message from the Descending Heavenly Sovereign, demanding that Huaxia Guo find three people to meet with him.

What surprised and worried the Huaxia high-level officials was that these three people were actually Ning Shan, Ye Zhiqiu, and Ning Jinli.

Ning Jinli is the final trump card and hope for all of Huaxia Guo and indeed the whole world—its importance goes without saying.

Ning Shan and Ye Zhiqiu are not only Ning Jinli's parents but also the two main heads of the Ning Group, which has become the world's largest conglomerate, playing an indispensable role in every industry worldwide.

And yet, that so-called Descending Heavenly Sovereign simply named those three individuals.

The Huaxia high-level officials were collectively stumped, unable to guess what the other side's intention really was.

At the high-level meeting, someone said:

"Could it be that the Descending Heavenly Sovereign, through some means we don't understand, realized that Miss Ning's family is important to the whole world—and even a threat to him—so he wants to eliminate them beforehand?"

This is exactly the problem everyone present is worried about.

However, if they refuse the Descending Heavenly Sovereign, given his methods, he might easily wipe out a city or even several as a warning—a disaster no one could bear.

But if the Ning family were to suffer any mishap, that too would be a massive disaster and loss.

Everyone found themselves in a dilemma.

"What I've said above is only one of our speculations," a high-level official mused while speaking, "Perhaps there are other possibilities; given the strength of the Descending Legion, if they truly wanted to harm Miss Ning's family, they could simply use military force to threaten us into handing them over—of course, this is also just my speculation, not necessarily correct."

At that moment, Shangguan Ying spoke up, "Let's also consider the perspective of the parties involved; I'll go talk to Jinli and her parents in person."

Things having come to this, there's nothing else we can do.

After the meeting ended, Shangguan Ying first met with Ning Shan and Ye Zhiqiu.

Although the two felt the Descending Heavenly Sovereign's action was highly abnormal and couldn't figure out why, they were willing to meet him anyway—at least to find out who this incredibly awesome guy really is.

As for Ning Jinli, Shangguan Ying knew even before seeing her that she would certainly agree.

As expected, Ning Jinli's thoughts were much the same as her parents', and she also said that, should things turn unfavorable, she could still protect her parents and make a timely escape.

Thus, at noon that day, the Ning family of three went, as required by the Descending Heavenly Sovereign, to an ordinary small restaurant in Xinghan City.

Everyone in the restaurant was replaced by Huaxia military personnel; all civilians within a thirty-kilometer radius were evacuated, and a large force of armored vehicles and tanks forming a combat battalion was deployed around the area, standing ready.

It was 12:30 noon.

Ning Jinli and her parents sat by the window, waiting for the appearance of the descending Heavenly Sovereign.

Outside the window, the weather was calm and sunny; aside from there being not a single pedestrian and no cars in sight, it looked no different from an ordinary day.

"Do you two have any leads?" Ye Zhiqiu took a sip of tea and asked.

Ning Jinli rested her chin on one hand and shook her head slightly.

Ning Shan gazed at the quiet skyscrapers outside the window and said, "I have a feeling the other party might be someone we know."

"Who could it be?" Ye Zhiqiu asked.

Ning Shan's gaze swept past the skyscrapers toward the clouds, and he said, "It's just a feeling; I don't know who it is, but we'll find out soon."

Hum—

A deep, unusual sound rang out from the horizon; under the sunlight, the white clouds rippled like water, and a pyramid-shaped aircraft, much larger than an aircraft carrier, descended from within and, in the blink of an eye, hovered above the small restaurant.