Chapter 1692: Zul Empire

Transmission completed, the Hunter is about to arrive at the Ghost Continent (3-star reward world).

Since the Hunter has exceeded the prerequisites for fifth-rank promotion (9/10), you may choose one of the following compensations.

1. World affinity increased by 2 points.

2. Identity of the Extreme King's second son (no actual power, noble status, small chance of being assassinated by ghosts, demons, and strange beasts).

3. Steam and Machinery Scholar (requires mastery of relevant abilities, otherwise high chance of exposure).

4. Awakened One (awakening level below 5%, extremely high-risk profession).

5. Deputy Legion Commander of the Execution Agency (under suspicion of official misconduct, this option carries risk leading to the Hunter's death).

……

Five choices, options 1 and 2 are clearly stable, conventional; for such a primitive world, choosing stability is directly pass, Su Xiao is not a newcomer, at his level still being overly cautious, that's not caution, but cowardice.

Option 3 is directly discarded; besides weapons and traps, Su Xiao can't even fix an electric rice cooker, how could he pretend to be a scholar.

Options 4 and 5 are obviously more hardcore; option 5 looks like a higher position at first glance; as for 'under suspicion of official misconduct,' it's worth noting this is only suspicion, not that this Deputy Legion Commander of the Execution Agency has already been imprisoned.

After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao chose reward 5; obviously, a position called Legion Commander is absolutely not low, although this 'Execution Agency' doesn't look like it can command troops, and the Legion Commander is still a deputy.

But compared to basic rewards, noble son, scholar, these professions, option 5 better fits Su Xiao's code of conduct; in an unfamiliar world, if he lacks early advantage, he basically has no chance with S+ rewards.

That's also the main reason Su Xiao chose reward 5; he wants to gamble; if he achieves S+ reward, he can obtain the Shadow of Extinction ability controllable with 100 attribute points.

After Su Xiao made his choice, the surroundings remained pitch black, as if black mist was surging; this is obviously not the Ghost Continent.

The black mist ahead gradually dispersed, white light flickered from behind the mist, outlining lines of text.

【Entering World; Ghost Continent】

Current Location: Outside the Atmosphere

World Difficulty: lv. 15～lv. 47 (Native World)

World Source; 0% (This is an unexplored native world, obtaining the World Source is extremely difficult).

Therefore, as a 3-star reward world, you have freely mastered this world's language, and will forget it after leaving this world.

World Introduction: To be unlocked.

……

Su Xiao has entered similar native worlds before, so he is very familiar with opening the world introduction; not opening this will prevent subsequent transmission from continuing.

The black mist ahead surged, soft white light particles emerged, forming a screen several meters in size; through fluorescence, Su Xiao saw Bubu Wang, Am, and Benny near him.

The scene in the light particle screen is a bird's-eye view, like aerial photography; unpolluted green mountains and clear waters are picturesque, various migratory birds inhabit here, full of vitality; just looking at this scene gives a sense of refreshment, this is the beauty of nature.

With a whoosh, two black claws burst from the water, firmly gripping a pure white swan; no matter how the swan struggles, cries, it cannot escape being bitten until covered in blood, infected by the black bodily fluid of that leopard-cat-like creature; this leopard cat…… is absolutely unnatural.

The screen sped up tens of thousands of times; a magnificent palace rose from the ground, the entire process less than two seconds.

【Year 12 of the Zul Era, the Zul Empire was established, the Ghost Continent restored peace; this was not achieved through war unification, but through the 17th predecessor's truce, because…… they had a greater enemy.】

【Year 107 of the Zul Era, the Zul Empire fully developed pastoral agriculture; the following year, the Zul Empire's total population decreased by one-tenth; ghosts, demons, and strange beasts increased dramatically.】

【Year 115 of the Zul Era, the Zul Empire's total population remained only 60% of the founding era; however…… they had no way, not disease, famine, or war, but the continuously increasing numbers of ghosts, demons, and strange beasts.】

Ghost: A sentient creature with extremely strong predatory and symbiotic traits, and extremely strong appetite for humans.

Demon: Half-energy body/half-material species, possessing extremely high intelligence and talent, fond of consuming human flesh and souls.

Strange Beast: Lower-intelligence sentient creature, stronger aggression, numerous varieties, mostly omnivorous, possesses relatively excellent learning ability, can be tamed, cannot be artificially bred (after artificial breeding, strange beasts degenerate into ordinary wild animals).

【Year 128 of the Zul Era, human numbers remained only three-tenths; the same year, Awakened Ones were born.】

【Year 572 of the Zul Era, human numbers surged, the Zul Empire nearly fully occupied the Ghost Continent, Awakened Ones became the Empire's main military force.】

【Year 770 of the Zul Era, the Zul Empire fully explored the Ghost Continent and ceased expansion; even with surging human numbers, the Ghost Continent's resources remain inexhaustible.】

【Year 980 of the Zul Era, ghosts disappeared from the continent; the same year, internal conflict erupted in the Zul Empire, war imminent.】

【Year 981 of the Zul Era, the Extreme King tore the alliance pact, civil war broke out.】

【Year 982 of the Zul Era, ghosts reappeared, numbers exploded, total once exceeded human total (68 million), human civil war halted, the Zul Empire nearly collapsed several times.】

【Year 1030 of the Zul Era, war ended, the Zul Empire announced ghost numbers were under control; the same year, Awakened One numbers were less than one-tenth of those in Year 981 of the Zul Era.】

Awakened One: When a human's mental state undergoes major fluctuation, and during this period consumes ghost flesh and blood, there is a low probability of becoming an Awakened One, gaining supernatural abilities, and gradually strengthening through battles with ghosts (this is Zul Empire public information).

True information: Any human consuming fresh ghost flesh and blood may become an Awakened One, mortality rate over 70%; after an Awakened One kills a ghost, their physical quality and awakened ability significantly increase; the higher the awakening level, the more dangerous the Awakened One's situation; when fully awakened, the Awakened One becomes a demon.

The boy who once slew dragons, due to dragon blood on his body, gradually grew scales, now become an evil dragon; this is responsibility, also fate and sorrow.

【Year 1209 of the Zul Era, the Zul Empire's culture gradually developed, steam engines and trains appeared, the ruling class formed a parliamentary system and voted to elect the first monarch; however, those ghosts hidden among humans have always been something humans cannot cleanse; war and natural disasters are the opportunities they await; only then can they reproduce at astonishing speed.】

【World, Begin.】

……

Su Xiao closed the world introduction; the Ghost Continent's layout is interesting, because ghosts, demons, and strange beasts exist, humans rarely have internal warfare; firearms, tools for internal conflict, are still at a relatively backward stage in this world; to deal with those ghosts, mystical cold weapons + Awakened Ones are the most effective means.

It can be said that on the surface of the Ghost Continent now, residents are humans, appearing to live in peace and prosperity; actually, those ghosts and demons hide among civilians; as long as there is no fighting, they are no different from humans.