Chapter 1402: Humanity's Predicament

Humanity's Predicament

The faint light of dawn rose from the edge of the horizon.

This night,

The higher-ups of humanity's five great domains remained awake all night.

Above the Hanging Jade Domain, a towering base was floating and spinning in the air. Numerous staff members shuttled through it busily. And on a glass terrace at the very top level, several figures were gazing into the distance amidst the wind.

"Jian Changsheng, are you certain your source of information is reliable?" The person in charge of the Xuanyu Base frowned slightly.

"Absolutely reliable."

Jian Changsheng nodded without hesitation.

"Then why are you unwilling to disclose who the source of the information is?"

Toward Chen Ling, Jian Changsheng had absolute trust. But in the eyes of the other domains, a World-Ending Calamity transmitting an early warning message of a world-ending attack was far too sci-fi.

The several higher-ups of the Hanging Jade Domain exchanged glances, revealing a "just as expected" expression.

Jian Changsheng had stayed in the Hanging Jade Domain this entire time without going out, yet suddenly obtained news regarding the World-Ending Calamities. This in itself was incredibly fantastical. Coupled with the fact that it was widely known that Jian Changsheng's former comrade-in-arms was that Six of Hearts... Moreover, a short while ago, incidents of people being killed in their dreams had apparently occurred in the South Sea Domain.

With all these factors stacked together, the higher-ups of the Hanging Jade Domain had actually roughly guessed who the source of information was. But after careful consideration, they still chose to notify the other domains of this news, making all domains enter the highest state of combat readiness.

"I know what you're worried about." Tian Huai spoke calmly.

"But the Red Star is already close at hand. Calculating the time, it truly is about time they couldn't sit still anymore... Even if there's a possibility of Six of Hearts passing fake intel, we can't afford to gamble. This time, we will choose to believe him."

"But the sun has already risen, and there is still no movement from the Calamities in the Vain Mountains. It's the same on the side of the other domains," another Rank 8 said.

"No movement is the biggest problem. The calm before the storm is always tranquil." The person in charge of the Hanging Jade Domain spoke in a deep voice. "Notify the frontlines, continue to maintain vigilance. We absolutely cannot slack off just because the sun has risen."

"Yes!"

Seeing this, Jian Changsheng's heart relaxed slightly. He had been afraid that these higher-ups of the Human Domains wouldn't believe Chen Ling, but looking at it now, they were still sensible.

From the corner of his eye, Jian Changsheng saw the figure in the Tang suit standing before the railing, frowning as he gazed into the distance. He couldn't help but ask:

"Diamonds, what do you see?"

Sun Bumian looked at the edge of the domain. Golden light and blackness continuously surged within his pupils, as if he were spying on the fluctuations of auspicious and ominous qi.

His expression was incredibly grave.

"... It's nothing, nothing." Sun Bumian let out a light sigh.

"Hey now, don't sigh. The moment you sigh, I start panicking..." Jian Changsheng's heart instantly leaped into his throat again.

"If they really launch a general offensive, can the current Hanging Jade Domain still hold them off?" The person in charge of the Xuanyu Base didn't pay attention to the conversation between Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian, directly looking at Tian Huai.

"... It will be difficult," Tian Huai answered truthfully. "These past few months of a war of attrition have already worn away almost all of the Esoteric Sect's combat power. If not for the reinforcements sent by the Spirit Void Domain and the South Sea Domain, as well as the assistance from General Jian and his team, I'm afraid we wouldn't have even been able to hold out until now...

"If they really stake everything on a single desperate charge, the probability of us being able to hold them off is less than 10%."

"Furthermore, the Calamity of Delusion still hasn't made a move."

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone fell into silence.

If the Calamities of the Vain Mountains were the enemies leaving the entire Hanging Jade Domain battered and exhausted, then the Calamity of Delusion, whose tracks were still untraceable, was the Sword of Damocles hanging over the entire domain's head, keeping everyone's minds in a tense state.

For these past few months, the higher-ups of the Hanging Jade Domain had barely gotten a good night's sleep. No one knew when the Calamity of Delusion would appear, nor when the Hanging Jade Domain would face a life-or-death crisis... This constant, tense sense of extreme danger was far more terrifying than directly facing the Calamity of Delusion.

"They have the Calamity of Delusion, but don't we also have the Lord of Hanging Jade?" Jian Changsheng asked in confusion.

"Summoning a Lord of Hanging Jade from another time isn't such a simple matter." The person in charge of the Xuanyu Base shook his head. "Not only is the summoning process incredibly complex, but the time he can linger in this era is very short. We've already had the Master of the Babel Tower come to the Hanging Jade Domain ahead of time. If the Calamity of Delusion shows up early, we still have time to summon the Lord of Hanging Jade..."

"Isn't the Lord of Hanging Jade right here?" Jian Changsheng pointed at the glass platform beneath their feet. "What if we wake him up directly?"

"Yes, he is right here." The person in charge of the Xuanyu Base paused for a moment. "But once we actually awaken his true body, it means he will leave his dormant state and age at an extremely rapid speed, and the Hanging Jade Domain... will also enter a countdown to destruction.

"The Lord of Hanging Jade is this domain's lifeline, and also our final trump card... When he is awakened, it means we have thoroughly failed. It is the last resort to perish together.

"It's not just our Hanging Jade Domain; it's the same for Hidden Cloud and Spirit Void."

The scene of the Aurora Domain's annihilation instantly surfaced in Jian Changsheng's mind.

Yes, it wasn't that the current Human Domains lacked the qualifications to fight against the World-Ending Calamities. Rather, it was that once they used the trump card of the Nine Monarchs, it meant the irreversible demise of a domain.

Without awakening the Nine Monarchs, humanity couldn't defeat the world-enders; but awakening the Nine Monarchs meant humanity could only watch helplessly as they marched toward the abyss.

This was an unsolvable dead end.

"But the good news is, the Calamity of Delusion doesn't possess strong assault capabilities like the Cessation Calamity, so we still have a chance to gamble it out." The person in charge of the Xuanyu Base seemed to sense that morale was somewhat low and added a sentence.

Woooo——

A low horn sound came from afar. Everyone's gazes focused, abruptly looking toward the direction of the frontlines.

At the edge of the horizon, a dense, pitch-black tide like a restless, churning ocean surged toward the Hanging Jade Domain, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. Its scale was more than several times that of the Calamities that had attacked previously!

Just as Jian Changsheng had warned in advance, the Calamities of the Vain Mountains had come out in full force at this moment.

As the tide of Calamities churned, a hurricane mixed with a foul stench swept across the sky. On the top-level terrace of the Xuanyu Base, the clothes of the several figures were blown until they flapped wildly!

Jian Changsheng spoke in a deep voice:

"... They're here!"

...

Tianshu Domain.

BOOM——!!

Raging giant skeletal beasts, as if they had taken drugs, recklessly launched an assault on the Tianshu Domain in the distance!

As their thick footpads stomped upon the earth, the soil in some areas directly caved in. The electric grid landmines that the Tower to Heaven had laid out long ago were instantly triggered. Countless ferocious bolts of lightning exploded from deep within the earth, directly blasting the several giant beasts charging at the very front to pieces!