Chapter 529: Evacuation

If the entire mission was arranged by Yu Tian Di, then he indeed thought very thoroughly.

The amethyst forest is remote, devoid of life and predators, and its upper layers are suspected to connect to magma layers, continuously heating the crystal columns.

The nascent mechanical civilization can obtain cheap, long-term electrical energy through technologies similar to molten salt thermal storage, sufficient for them to grow into adulthood and re-climb the technological tree.

(Copper-plate engraved books have generated within the city's buildings, their technological level roughly equivalent to Astronaut Wil's era—radio communication, chemical engineering, mechanical manufacturing, all present; with effort, they could assemble nuclear power plants and artificial satellites.)

The entire process may take ten to several decades; after that, they must rely on themselves.

Li Cheng gazed thoughtfully down at the town; Yu Tian Di had not left the mechanical civilization overly advanced technology, for mastering technology to drastically alter the environment would draw attention from other Killing Fields entities and invite danger.

It's better to develop slowly in a secluded corner.

As for information about sudden misfortune, extinction, or annihilation—the Information Integration Glasses saw clearly: the tower at the city's center, disguised as a clock tower, was in fact a towering war colossus, sleeping like a high-level transcendent.

If an outsider discovered this city, deemed its defenses weak, and attempted to invade,

the war colossus would suddenly awaken, rise from within the clock tower, and obliterate every hostile target within sight with terrifying firepower composed of naval guns, torpedoes, missiles, lasers, even hydrogen bombs.

'In the Civilization Game, villagers shared with you that nuclear fusion technology was real.'

Li Cheng silently mocked in his mind, then casually instructed the mechanical civilization not to reveal their location to the outside world—including himself—and boarded the Edge Fighter with Hui Yu, leaving the amethyst forest.

As they departed, adhering to the principle of seeing things through to the end, he and the Frog God used levitation engines to relocate tens of thousands of tons of amethyst rock back to their original positions, sealing the passage opened by the light-speed elbow strike.

By the time the mechanical civilization can drill their way out of the rock layer themselves, they will likely have gained sufficient self-defense capability within the Killing Field.

Flying back along the same route to Dreamland, Li Cheng and Hui Yu stepped calmly from the fighter; only Wan Li Fengdao, the Griffin, and Mian Yue remained. 'Where are the others?'

'Claudia left after completing her mission. Lei Yesi and White Horse Tomb suffered severe injuries and returned to Earth first for Killing Field medical aid. They set up the beacon and left.'

Wan Li Fengdao, missing one arm and drenched in blood, bit open a tube of adhesive, smeared it over the stump of his shoulder to staunch the bleeding, and declined Li Cheng's offered goblin arm.

At this moment, the colorful mist of Dreamland once again spread, swallowing all the metallic structures that had fallen from the Alpha Python.

A kilometer beyond the mist, a modular structure resembling a small signal tower stood upright.

This was the beacon—GOC product, inexpensive, capable of emitting radio signals like an aircraft black box.

The difference: a black box operates for only three months after power loss, while this beacon transmits a signal every few hours, extending its operational life to two years.

If sunlight, geothermal energy, or any other power source is nearby, it can operate for over ten years without supervision.

It aids exploration teams scattered across the Killing Field, increasing the chance they'll find this location.

Upon discovery, the beacon's setter receives rewards based on the site's value.

The Griffin gazed at the giant metallic structures faintly visible within the mist, then reluctantly withdrew his gaze and said seriously: 'The Fungus King and Centipede have also evacuated. Thank you all for your help.'

She and Mian Yue exchanged intelligence and learned this mission was actually a triple-combined one—the appearance of the Alpha Python was no accident, but an integral part of the mission itself.

The players barely survived; completing the mission was pure profit.

'Just mutual assistance.'

Li Cheng waved his hand; without the non-human players providing gas cylinders and drawing fire, he wouldn't have cleared it.

'By the way, I'm still a bit curious.'

Mian Yue, sitting on a rock, squinted and asked: 'What did Astronaut Wil finally say to you?'

It was known that Dreamland was Wil's memory, and that Wil, after his homeland's destruction, became a Level 40 transcendent, and even after death, spanning tens of thousands of years, he still implemented a certain plan.

She wasn't worried about Wil's resurrection—first, they had no conflicting interests; when Wil became a transcendent, Mian Yue's world had not yet been selected by the Killing Field. Second, a timespan of tens of thousands of years was too vast; even if Wil could resurrect using residual essence, he would no longer be the former Level 40.

'Well,'

Li Cheng laughed it off, 'In his final moments, he asked me to find his computer left somewhere, reboot it, and delete his browsing history.'

'So rebooting like that? Trying to leave a clean reputation behind?'

Wan Li Fengdao rolled his eyes—he knew Li Cheng was lying—but since he didn't want to say, fine. 'I'm leaving. Talk in the friend channel if anything comes up.'

'We'll set up a beacon and leave too.'

Mian Yue rose from the rock, pulled from her inventory a straw doll hanging on a wooden frame, and planted it on a low slope beside the mist.

The straw doll appeared crudely made, wearing a ill-fitting handmade sweater, but intermittently emitted spiritual energy signals, broadcasting hundreds of kilometers away.

Though the two worlds followed different technological paths, their thinking converged: both used beacons to guide exploration teams.

Laymen see the spectacle; experts see the mechanics. From the frequency and range of the straw doll's spiritual broadcast, one could tell that the Griffin's world and modern Earth had no technological gap.

'So this is convergent evolution?'

Hui Yu's expression was wise as he squinted thoughtfully: 'Whales and dolphins among mammals, ichthyosaurs among reptiles, evolved streamlined bodies like fish to adapt to aquatic environments;

the pangolin of Asia and the anteater of Nanmeizhou evolved identical long, slender tongues to feed on termites;

when I play games, I always meet teammates just like me.'

?? You're proud of that, are you?

Mian Yue, Wan Li Fengdao, and others wore strange expressions, exchanged brief farewells, and vanished from the spot.

Hui Yu, seeing Li Cheng still standing there, asked in confusion, 'Aren't we leaving?'

'One last thing.'

Li Cheng pulled out an NFC card, swiped it against the Heat Death Corridor, summoned the Frog God, and instructed him to face deep into Dreamland's mist and release an anti-gravity field.

Boom—

Massive metallic structures, like mountains, floated upward, slowly drifting out of the colorful fog under gravitational guidance.

The Alpha Python's majority of its exoskeleton had been absorbed by Dreamland, erased as if wiped by an eraser. Even so, the salvaged metal components totaled twenty million kilograms.

'Top-secret extraction from Dreamland: 48 hours, 200 million kilograms of Dreamy evacuation.'

Li Cheng rubbed his hands eagerly, directing the Frog God to load all metal components into the 3D warehouse, then called Hui Yu back into the electronic pet egg.

Before returning to the real world, he glanced around and tossed both the signal station and the straw doll into Dreamland's mist, lest explorers discover the site and jeopardize the distant nascent mechanical civilization.

Dreamland returned to stillness. Half a minute after Li Cheng vanished, a humanoid figure wrapped in tattered rags, face obscured, stepped forward slowly.

It stared at the spot where Li Cheng and Hui Yu had disappeared, silent, then suddenly raised its wrinkled hand.

The signal station and straw doll, already discarded into the mist, floated back into the air and were re-planted into the ground.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Electromagnetic waves and spiritual energy signals still echoed across the wasteland.