Chapter 27

To the ancients, the vast Milky Way was truly boundless; its diameter of one hundred thousand light-years was impossible for mortals to cross, even if they walked to the end of the universe.

And on the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, a tiny planetary system suddenly underwent a far-reaching transformation.

In the Solar System, the blue planet, which accounted for only 0.0003% of the mass, suddenly swelled thirtyfold in volume, as if being inflated like a balloon.

Like a marble turning into a ping-pong ball.

From space, winds churned and clouds surged across the blue planet; continents expanded continuously, and oceans grew ever larger.

Miraculously, no matter how the blue planet changed, the continental shelves did not sink, sea levels did not drop, and the air did not thin.

As if all the added mass had been generated out of nothing.

On the surface, the drastic environmental changes triggered massive earthquakes.

Waves hundreds of meters high rose on the seas, and mountain ranges in uninhabited lands collapsed and rose repeatedly.

Only regions inhabited by humans, protected by the force of cosmic laws, were spared major crustal movements.

Yet even there, immense changes occurred.

The distances between houses, between buildings, steadily widened.

First, concrete roads were torn apart; newly formed land gradually spread from the center, filling the gaps between buildings.

Even more miraculously, the newly appeared land came naturally with flowers, grass, trees, vines, thickets, and even birds and beasts.

As if shaped by nature itself.

Simultaneously, countless spatial fissures began appearing across the blue planet; existing ones rapidly expanded, and silver radiance began dotting the earth.

Innumerable extraterrestrial creatures began streaming through the spatial fissures, piercing the silver disc, drawn by the abundant cosmic law energy of the blue planet.

They rushed excitedly toward individual human survivors.

Survivors located on the longitude of East Asia's China region were fortunate—it was midnight, and no one dared go outside.

The extraterrestrial creatures could not enter buildings nor damage them, causing little loss of life.

But survivors in non-Chinese East Asian regions and the Western Hemisphere suffered terribly; some bold individuals were hunting zombies outdoors.

The sudden transformation left them stranded far from home, then torn open, disemboweled, and dismembered by the surging extraterrestrial creatures.

It was a horrific toll.

…

"Max, how was your haul today?" a tall, Gao Daweimeng white man wielding a club asked another white man dressed in Tang attire.

The white man in Tang attire was equally muscular, wielding a broadsword as he slashed through zombie crowds with wide, sweeping strikes.

"William, don't call me Max—call me Tang Sancai."

No sooner had he spoken than a slash severed a zombie's head, sending it rolling to the ground.

William chuckled, smashing the skull of the zombie before him with one blow: "You're China's number one wanted criminal, and you still use that name? Whatever, I'm too lazy to argue. I'm just two hundred experience points away from leveling to 3—soon I'll surpass you."

"Heh, really?"

Tang Sancai's feet tapped rapidly; he leapt like a bird, weaving through the zombie horde, his broadsword swinging—five zombies before him fell like cut wheat.

He cleared all zombies from the path ahead of the two.

"I'm only a hundred experience points short."

William's eyes revealed envy: "Your Chinese martial arts are impressive—what's that called? Eight Steps Chasing Cicadas? And you even formed a specialty."

William and Tang Sancai were both instructors for the U. S. Enders Corps.

Enders—literally meaning "those who end all things"—was a secret special forces unit of the United States.

They specialized in assassination, subversion, arms trafficking, and other covert missions.

The regime changes of many small nations could be decided by a single order from the Enders Corps.

Naturally, anyone chosen as an instructor within it was extraordinary.

William, for instance, mastered Magma Arts and possessed physical strength nearing human limits; his strength alone reached 16 points.

A single arm swing delivered 240 kilograms of force; an ordinary person struck by his punch would suffer broken bones and torn tendons, and if hit in a vital spot, would die instantly.

Tang Sancai was even more legendary: he grew up in China, trained under a Chinese martial artist, then killed his master and betrayed his sect.

Later, he joined the Enders Corps as an instructor, using Chinese martial arts to train Enders operatives, and repeatedly carried out assassinations of Chinese scientists in the United States.

He was one of China's most wanted targets.

Unfortunately, his Wu Gong was formidable—not only did his strength reach 16 points, but through integration of Chinese martial arts, his agility was no less, also reaching 16 points.

Coupled with his long-term concealment within Enders bases, China had almost no opportunity to strike.

Do not underestimate 16 points of agility—just that one trait made him the king among Enders instructors.

Theoretically, 15 points of agility is already the human physiological limit—a 0.1-second reaction speed.

The theoretical maximum of 18 points exists only to sustain that limit longer.

After all, reaction speed is affected by focus; each point beyond 15 extends the duration of the limit state.

Of course, Fang Shi was an exception—he could perfectly unleash agility beyond 15 because he was no longer human.

After the apocalypse, William and Tang Sancai happened to be in a small town.

Their long-standing military discipline kept them calm; after capturing several zombies and studying the apocalypse, they began their monster-hunting and leveling journey.

Due to lack of information on Fang Shi, their zombie-killing process remained orderly and unhurried.

Combined with studying zombies, analyzing the apocalypse, attempting contact with the outside world, and the United States' vast, sparsely populated terrain:

Even with higher initial stats and teamwork, their leveling efficiency fell far short of Fang Shi's.

Yet even so, they were nearly at level 3.

"Boom—!"

In China time, at dawn, the town began to change.

First, the road between William and Tang Sancai suddenly tore open; expanding land separated and isolated the two.

This was nothing much—Maxi simply took one stride and was beside William in an instant, eyes wide with astonishment as he watched the strange change.

But immediately after, ten meters away from them, a spatial rift abruptly appeared and rapidly took shape.

A creature with a triangular head, jaws gaping wide in a bloody maw, front claws forward, hind two limbs standing, dragging a long tail, burrowed out.

This was precisely the Terror Claw Dragon that had been ravaging this small town.

"Not good!" Maxi cried in alarm—how could a creature that only appeared at night actually show itself in broad daylight?

Terror Claw Dragon, creature level 3, with 15 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 19 Constitution, 3 natural Armor, and 34 Health Points.

It possesses the feats of Improved Initiative and Run.

Their claws are razor-sharp, their bite force is astonishing, and their killing power is extremely strong.

The tail can move nimbly, keeping the body balanced, granting rapid turning ability, and when necessary can become a weapon—a single tail-swipe is a heavy blow.

Such terrifying killing creatures, William and Maxi naturally did not fear.

Fang Shi had the ability to take on this kind of creature one-on-one, so why couldn't they?

But killing this kind of creature costs time and effort, especially at night—Terror Claw Dragons with darkvision are far more agile than humans in the darkness.

The energy spent killing one of them could kill dozens of zombies, with far less danger.

Moreover, Terror Claw Dragons have one fatal trait: they always move in packs—where one appears, there are at least two more nearby.

The reason they hadn't dared try to kill a Terror Claw Dragon before was largely because of this factor.

Sure enough, after this Terror Claw Dragon burrowed out of the spatial rift, in an instant five more Terror Claw Dragons followed right behind it.

And it wasn't over yet—new Terror Claw Dragons were poking their heads out of the spatial rift.

William and Maxi had long since turned tail and fled the moment they saw the second one appear.

This was absolutely not the time to play hero—if you don't run, what else are you going to do?

But before they'd run far, there was another spatial rift up ahead, and three Terror Claw Dragons had already burrowed out of it.

They spotted William and Maxi, let out a roar, and lunged straight at them.

"Fu**."

Turning to look back, the Terror Claw Dragons on the other side had also caught up.

……

"Splash splash splash."

Fang Shi was in the bathroom, holding a water bucket and washing his body.

Over these three days his whole body had long since accumulated a thick layer of grime—any casual rub and a thick layer of mud came off.

Fang Shi washed for a full hour before his fair, clean skin finally reappeared.

As for the occasional tremors of the house, he wasn't flustered in the slightest, methodically enjoying a rare bath in the apocalypse.

The strange changes in the world outside, he had long since known full well—wasn't this just the first Impact? He'd seen it in his previous life too; there really was nothing to make a fuss over.

There would still be a second, a third after this—this was merely the beginning.

As for the principle behind it, it wasn't something his current self could investigate either.

His worry about the first Impact was, to a large extent, about the threat from the surge in alien creatures, not the expansion of the world itself.

But this did not mean the expansion of the world was harmless.

After the world expanded, it physically isolated the surviving humans, turning each city into an isolated island.

Even within the same city, the same neighborhood, the distance between survivors was stretched.

Add to that the increase in monster numbers, and this physical isolation was further intensified.

Human survivors found it harder to organize, and harder to bring out the strength of the collective.

"Next is to make preparations—first thing tomorrow morning I'll activate the Mystical Realm key. Hopefully I'll get randomized into a Mystical Realm rich in monsters, best if it lets me level up to 4."

As for the rating on the Mystical Realm key, Fang Shi scoffed at it.

What lair does a wyrmling have to speak of? They basically haven't left their parents' side yet. If the level weren't restricted, whether you could come back alive after going would be a matter of luck.

In his previous life he had never heard of anyone using an Iron Key to go to a Dragon's Lair—a Silver Key would be more like it.

Still, the appearance of the Mystical Realm key, to a certain extent, gave Fang Shi a new option—he didn't have to immediately face the fierce first Impact head-on.

On this single point alone, it could be called a great opportunity.