Chapter 241

[Player Count: 1,129,357]

Online Players: 942,239 online.

Players on Death Cooldown: 122,268.

Quantity of Contained Primordial Traits: 58.

Sacrificial Power Output Per Hour (Real-time Update): 4.7373 million (rising month-over-month).

Average Level of Players' Highest Soul Souls: 34 (rising month-over-month).

Contained Resource Territories: 42.

Spatial Nodes: Emperor Tomb Mountain Range (Main City), Colorful Mist Coast, Winter Snowfield, Underground Cave World, Senluo Forest Realm.

Contained Territory Rules: Emperor Tomb Village (Flesh Reshaping), Crystal Hall (Gathering), Wan Sen (Enlightenment), Divine Turn.

Functional Buildings: Testing Tower, Resurrection Point (Teleportation Plaza), Guild Hall, Armed Vehicle Factory, Pet Shop, Divine Rule Pillar, Cultivation Tower, Weapon Forging Room.

Primordial Altar.

A torrent of data generated by the players flashed through Qi Sheng's mind.

With the rapid growth in strength of the five hundred thousand players recruited in this latest cycle, the output of Sacrificial Power rose accordingly.

Just recently, two more Primordial Monsters were successfully contained.

The first monster was the third-generation Primordial: Wind Breaker, contained by a squad led by the player "Slap Back with Both Hands" in the Senluo Forest Realm region.

This is, to date, the first aura-type Soul Soul trait in the contained Soul Soul repository capable of granting buff effects to a group of nearby players.

The trait effect significantly boosts the movement efficiency of all targets within the aura's coverage, regardless of friend or foe.

The increase in movement efficiency is influenced by the Soul Soul level and the intensity of mental strength.

Lacking any exemption mechanism for enemies, the Wind Breaker Soul Soul trait effect appears quite useless at first glance.

In reality, however, it has performed remarkably well during testing.

It can be used to improve a team's travel efficiency or to assist our front line in launching charges and closing distance with opponents quickly during war Cultivation Mode.

Especially during pursuits and hunts.

Many monsters possess intelligence and will choose to flee when facing danger; Wind Breaker plays a significant role in such moments.

The only drawback is that when used during confrontation, it synchronously increases the movement efficiency of both allies and enemies.

The Wind Breaker Soul Soul is more suited for support-stream players, with melee-stream players being secondary.

The second monster was the third-generation Primordial: Spirit Seal, contained by the player "Big Brother Star Net, Accept My Bow" in the Senluo Forest Realm region.

This is the second sealing-system Soul Soul trait in the existing Soul Soul repository.

Its effect involves injecting vital energy into the target's body through attacks, causing a restriction on energy circulation; the specific effect is influenced by the Soul Soul level and the player's vital energy intensity.

It is suitable for melee-stream players, especially assassin-stream players.

Guide-party players discovered during evaluations in the testing space that the Spirit Seal trait could be used to interrupt a target's spellcasting rhythm.

For example, if an opponent wishes to release a Fireball and is currently accumulating fire element energy, applying the Spirit Seal trait at that moment instantly interrupts the rhythm of fire element accumulation.

Secondly, when used against melee opponents, the speed at which they release vital energy will also slow down under the influence of Spirit Seal.

This is a Soul Soul trait that seals an opponent's abilities through its trait effect, demonstrating very high intensity in actual combat tests.

The Star Vein combination with the most likes on the forum was posted by the player "Just Love Playing Assassins" and named: Shadow Kill.

The Star Vein combination consists of: Spirit Seal, Twilight Shadow, Black Armored Snake, Blade Ban, Mighty Axe, Clone, Qi Devour, Star Shift, and Extreme Speed.

The intensity of this Soul Soul set can be described as breaking the current version's balance.

While it appears to be merely the simplest assassin-stream arrangement, its actual combat performance is invincible in one-on-one duels.

In the combat test video, the guide-party player, transformed into an assassin, used Twilight Shadow to stealthily approach the test target, then activated Clone Cultivation Mode, summoning six clones to attack the target simultaneously.

Black Armored Snake and Blade Ban dealt special effect damage, while the clones' attacks also carried the trait effects of deadly poison and Blade Ban.

Mighty Axe increased output damage.

The Spirit Seal trait stood ready to release at any moment, cutting off the opponent's means of output.

Most terrifying was the combination of Extreme Speed and Star Shift.

The assassin player could switch positions with their clones at any time, wandering around the target like a ghost, making it nearly impossible for the test target to hit the guide-party player.

The entire battle ended in a manner akin to toying with the opponent.

Subsequently, this guide-party player set up an arena stage at the Colorful Mist Coast to test the actual combat effects.

The result was ten consecutive victories without a single defeat, with several opponents having higher average Soul Soul levels than the guide-party player.

Facing the guide-party player and their clones shifting forms and positions, combined with the highly efficient movement of Extreme Speed, they were forced to passively take beatings throughout, unable to even touch the hem of a garment.

Theoretically, this Star Vein combination is also applicable on the battlefield.

Stealthing to the enemy's rear line to effectively intercept and eliminate fragile enemy units.

Stealth, clones, special effect strikes, position swapping, extreme speed movement, sealing... this combination brings an epic-level buff to the assassin stream in this version.

The assassin stream, previously at the bottom of the version, leaped to first place on the duel rankings across all major streams.

Especially for magic-system players.

A Spirit Seal position-swapping assassin can easily kill opponents above their own level, leaving them unable to mount an effective counterattack.

The only thing capable of posing a threat to assassin-stream players is a niche branch within the magic-system stream: the Domain Stream.

By using a domain to unleash indiscriminate elemental bombardment on the surroundings, yet even this is easily interrupted by the Spirit Seal trait cutting off the domain's expansion; once closed in on, there is only death.

It belongs to a mutual-countering instant-kill relationship with the Spirit Seal-stream assassin.

If a Spirit Seal assassin gets close, death is certain; if the elemental torrent is unleashed before they get close, the Spirit Seal-stream assassin is instantly killed.

After the debut of this assassin-stream Star Vein, it was widely adopted and used by numerous competitive-party players.

It is foreseeable that this Star Vein combination will surely shine brilliantly in the Ancient God Arena.

If one must mention a drawback, the flaw of this assassin-stream gameplay is the excessively violent consumption of vital energy during combat.

Even if the opponent cannot touch them throughout the entire fight, it is still very easy to deplete one's own health bar.

It requires players to precisely control the healing speed of Qi Devour and the frequency of releasing vital energy-based Soul Soul traits.

The guide player who posted the thread stated that, for the sake of sustainability, one could try slowing down the combat rhythm.

Using the method of constantly combining Star Shift and Extreme Speed to boost output, even with the support of level 35 Qi Devour, one can only sustain high-burst output for three minutes.

Furthermore, the emergence of the Spirit Seal Soul Soul has resolved a major shortcoming for assassin-stream players, finally allowing them to effectively restrict targets during assassinations and improve assassination efficiency.

The Star Vein combination with the second-most likes on the forum is a support-stream arrangement.

By combining the Spirit Seal trait with the Bind trait, one can restrict the target while also limiting their ability to drive internal energy for countermeasures.

Although the two most recently contained Soul Souls are both third-generation, the popularity of Spirit Seal far exceeds that of the Wind Breaker aura.

After all, the moment the Spirit Seal Soul Soul debuted, it was already a core Soul Soul for a stream capable of causing earth-shaking changes to the intensity of the assassin stream.

Whereas the Wind Breaker aura is only suitable for war teams, has many limitations, and holds very limited appeal for ordinary players.

Immediately upon its debut, it was listed by forum players as belonging to the sewer tier of the version.

As for when the Wind Breaker Soul Soul might rise to prominence, that depends on whether future newly contained Soul Souls will appear that synergize with it to form a powerful gameplay style.

After reviewing the feedback from the player community regarding the two newly contained Soul Souls, Qi Sheng's gaze shifted.

A newly published post on the forum was seeing its popularity rise rapidly.

[Regarding the production methods for Special Soul Souls, I have organized all available reference materials and interpreted them based on my own understanding.]

Poster: Paper Umbrella Man.

Content:

Recently, I noticed many voices on the forum asking how one can obtain Special Soul Souls.

The main reason is that some players discovered the president of the top-tier team, Kindergarten Group, actually possesses five hundred Dark Race Warriors whom he can command at will.

He even crafted these Dark Race Warriors into a Soul Soul, allowing him to carry them to any region.

He can be described as the strongest summoner of the current version.

This also reminded me of a meme from ancient times.

If you were given ten thousand utterly loyal death warriors, what would you use them for?

Some said to send them to work on assembly lines, paying each one hundred Meng Yuan per month for oneself; others said to have them study and serve the country, along with various other interesting meme segments.

Returning to the main topic.

This Soul Soul, named "Dark Race Legion," cannot be purchased and socketed by other players in the Soul Soul repository; they can only view its trait effects.

Many brothers who favor the summon stream suddenly found their own control Soul Souls unappealing after comparing them to the Dark Race Legion.

The Director leads a legion and can continuously increase the number of warriors; it is simply the peak of summon-stream gameplay.

In the future, the Director only needs to follow the damage-soaking and group-buff Star Vein routes to possess a super army buffed by Soul Soul traits.

Therefore, many voices are asking exactly how to craft Special Soul Souls.

The Guide's answer is rather complex, so I will interpret the specific method for everyone here.

Let us take the two existing Special Soul Souls as references.

Within the player faction, the first to craft a Special Soul Soul was the Pain Brothers (at that time, I had not yet obtained qualifications; before posting, I thoroughly reviewed early threads, so if there are any errors in my description, corrections are welcome).

The Soul Soul they crafted was: Touch of Pain.

Its effect allows the target to feel extreme mental agony through a mental connection.

The output of this Soul Soul is not considered high by current standards.

However, its advantage lies in dealing true damage, ignoring the target's armor and physical defense to directly cause damage on the mental level, while also interfering with the opponent's emotions, creating an effect of damage plus emotional influence.

It counts as a relatively powerful half-output, half-control ability.

But for our player system, a single Unyielding Soul Soul can effectively counter it.

It belongs to the category of Soul Soul traits that are strong against outsiders but weak chickens against insiders.

The method of creation was this: an elder from the Misty Coast once inscribed a brand upon two brothers; they could not grow through hunting, but could elevate their Soul Soul rank by feeling pain, categorizing them as Pseudo-Rule class strength.

The second special Soul Soul is the Darkblood Legion, which has recently seen its discussion popularity skyrocket.

Comparing these two special Soul Souls, the gap in strength is actually quite large.

The Darkblood Legion belongs to the high-growth type of special Soul Souls; before the Director crafted them into Soul Souls, the Darkblood warriors had already accumulated a solid foundation.

Every Darkblood warrior has undergone hundreds or thousands of death-based stat allocations, so their attribute values are already very high; after resurrection, they only need simple cultivation to be usable, and in my view, their potential is limitless.

There is even no need to painstakingly build a war system; as long as the Darkblood warriors' hunting ranks are raised, they will automatically comprehend the innate abilities they exchanged for with War Merit in their previous lives.

The method of creation was that the Director obtained a fragment of the Reincarnation Rule in advance and then crafted it into a Soul Soul.

It belongs to the category of fully formed Rule-class strength.

Comparing the two, the Darkblood Legion far surpasses the Touch of Pain in both potential and current strength.

But the funny part is that the Touch of Pain seems to be able to perfectly counter the Darkblood Legion.

The Director has already established a spiritual connection with the Darkblood Legion and can convey his thoughts to them via a faith connection, similar to a local chat channel.

The strongest aspect of the Touch of Pain lies in its conductivity.

Theoretically, if the Pain Brothers were to fight the Director, the Pain Brothers would only need to release the Touch of Pain on the Darkblood warriors to kill the Director from across the void (whether this is actually feasible remains to be verified; this is merely a conjecture based on my reasoning).

This kind of systemic counter is very interesting.

Even Rule characteristics have weaknesses that can be exploited, and methods to target them can be found.

The Touch of Pain can even deal damage to command-type Evil Spirits through Evil Influences; its only shortcoming is that its growth potential is too low, and without accumulating enough power of pain, the damage dealt is easily endured.

The elder who granted the special Soul Soul to the Pain Brothers had also accumulated hundreds of years of pain, which allowed him to instantly kill the Evil Influence in the previous Evil Moon scene with a single strike.

Therefore, low growth potential is a fatal flaw; even if ordinary players possess it, they will find it difficult to unleash its power.

The restriction that one must endure pain to increase Soul Soul strength is something no normal person can bear.

Having analyzed the specific effects of these two special Soul Souls, let us now discuss how to craft a special Soul Soul.

At the current stage, there is only one confirmed method.

That is for players to obtain a Pseudo-Rule or a Rule-type ability while exploring the Monster World.

At that moment, a hidden mechanism within the game can be triggered.

One can spend Sacrificial Power to seek guidance, having the Pseudo-Rule or Rule-type ability in hand crafted into a special Soul Soul that can be socketed into a Star Vein slot for use.

Seeing this, many brothers will likely feel confused.

What exactly is a Rule, and what is a Pseudo-Rule?

First, let us interpret Rule-type abilities; such abilities generally have three characteristics.

First, they form their own logical system and cannot be interfered with by external forces.

For example, Ink Flame, Running Thunder, and other series of elemental damage; the damage value depends solely on the Soul Soul rank and the player's spiritual strength. The damage and effects are not weakened by any external force; whatever the damage should be, that is what it is, with no concept of attribute counters.

Every Rule possesses an unchangeable logic.

This is fundamentally different from other substances in nature.

For instance, certain substances can react on an elemental or chemical level through fusion.

But Rule characteristics do not; they do not react with any substance in the natural world, forming their own independent system.

Second, they possess a vessel.

Every Rule has a clear carrier.

The carrier for Soul Soul characteristics is the Primordial Monster, while the carrier deeper still is the Rule within the world's operating framework (which can be understood as clauses of the world's laws).

Others include the Evil Moon controlled by the Black Black Tide; the Evil Moon is also a concrete carrier of Rules within the Monster World.

The Reincarnation Rule of the Darkblood Legion also has an external carrier resembling a Rubik's cube crystal.

Rules like Fighting Soul and Extreme Bliss are similar.

Third, uniqueness.

Every Rule ability in the Monster World is one-of-a-kind; there are no two completely identical Rule abilities.

At most, their effects may be similar, but their core mechanisms and Rule carriers will differ.

Next, let us introduce Pseudo-Rules, which also have three distinct characteristics compared to Rules.

First, a Pseudo-Rule does not necessarily possess a physical carrier.

The Touch of Pain used by the Pain Brothers has no concrete carrier; it is an energy brand existing on the mental level.

The second point is that the effects of a Pseudo-Rule ability can be interfered with or weakened by external skills, items, or environmental factors, unable to remain completely unaffected by the outside world like a true Rule.

Taking damage values as an example: if Ink Flame deals 50 points of damage, then it is 50 points.

If the opponent's defense is 0, it directly inflicts 50 points of damage.

If the opponent's defense is 60, it cannot penetrate the defense, so the damage is 0, but the base damage value is still 50 points.

For the Touch of Pain released by the Pain Brothers, the damage value is similarly 50 points.

If the opponent's spiritual defense is 0, the damage directly inflicted is approximately 50 points.

If the opponent's spiritual defense is 49, the effective damage of this strike may not necessarily be 1; in all likelihood, it will be 0.

This is because the damage calculation for Pseudo-Rule abilities includes many unknown variables.

For example, the opponent's willpower, or damage distribution and sharing mechanisms the opponent might possess.

It cannot produce effects directly like Rule characteristics; the damage calculation formula is extremely complex.

The third point is that Pseudo-Rules possess replicability.

Seeing this, some brothers might be confused: aren't the Soul Souls we players master also replicable?

Wrong; this is not replication, but sharing.

Just like the War God Seal of the Counter-Black Tide Legion: only Counter-Black Tide masters the War God Seal, while other warriors obtain a portion of his War Rule's characteristics through Counter-Black Tide's bestowal.

But Pseudo-Rules are different; these are things that can be completely replicated.

In fact, the number of Touch of Pain abilities mastered by the Pain Brothers is two; each possesses one, rather than sharing a single Touch of Pain Soul Soul together.

Finally, Pseudo-Rules have the potential to grow into Rules, but the difficulty of crossing this threshold is extremely high.

The Guide's answer is that a world is needed to bear this power; one can even understand a Rule as the core law of a world.

Every Rule is a clause stripped from the laws of a world.

To create a Rule, aside from natural nurturing during a world's birth, one must possess the ability to create a world, molding a world like a Creator God to bear this Rule power.

Rule-level forces descending upon the Monster World basically strip Rules from their native worlds and then carry them down during their descent.

The above concludes this sharing of strategy interpretation.

One final note: theoretically, all brothers have the opportunity to possess a special Soul Soul; the Monster World holds infinite possibilities, containing vast numbers of Rules and Pseudo-Rules.

Obtaining just one allows it to be crafted into a special Rule.

However, I must still remind all brothers that Pseudo-Rule characteristics are truly not as strong as the Soul Souls of our player system.

The Pseudo-Rule held by the Pain Brothers is quite special, belonging to an overpowered mechanism, but its growth potential is too low.

It is a method conceived by an old man who painstakingly researched for hundreds of years, specifically designed to counter the Black Black Tide.

For other ordinary Pseudo-Rules obtained, it is recommended to directly sacrifice them to Di Zhao for decomposition in exchange for a windfall of wealth.

Unless the mechanism of the Pseudo-Rule in your hand is as powerful as the Touch of Pain, in which case you might try cultivating it, or even ask the Guide how to advance it into a Rule-type ability.

This concludes the interpretation of Rules, Pseudo-Rules, and the crafting of special Soul Souls.

Welcome everyone to follow me; I am an exploration-party player, sharing interesting exploration tales on my homepage daily, and occasionally supplementing with background information and hidden game mechanism settings.

After finishing the post on crafting special Soul Souls, Qi Sheng was about to browse the player comments when he suddenly received a prompt from the Guide.

He immediately switched his perspective to the real world.

Moon Eclipse City, Safety Center.

Beep!

After the detection passed, a green light on the side wall of the room lit up.

The heavy metal door retracted into the wall, and Administrator No. 2 passed through the gate.

Entering the Safety Center room felt like being in the hub of the universe.

The room featured a huge circular dome, embedded with countless flickering energy crystals like stars in the night sky, casting soft and shifting light into every corner of the interior.

In the central area of the room floated a holographic Earth image model dozens of meters in diameter, emitting a dim blue glow as it slowly rotated.

On the model's surface, countless fine lines shuttled back and forth like electric arcs.

This was real-time monitoring data information on global energy fluctuations.

The thickness and color changes of each line represented energy intensity feedback from different regions.

Surrounding the Earth holographic model were consoles in blue and white tones; they had no traditional buttons, only flickering orbs of light and constantly shifting patterns.

This system was jointly built by the Moon Eclipse Clan and the various races of Earth.

Monitoring stations were established in various regions across Earth to monitor energy feedback fluctuations on the planet in real time.

Its core function is to observe whether any alien race suddenly descends.

If unusual energy fluctuations are detected, the Safety Center will sound an alarm, transmitting the warning to the Moon Eclipse Clan's rotating Administrator to judge whether to enter a state of war.

After all, whether a descending force is friendly or not is entirely unknown.

The Earth Alliance has already experienced multiple descent wars; this is a necessary precautionary measure.

Of course, aside from invading forces, many new forces have also integrated into the Earth Alliance, becoming part of this big family.

Administrator No. 2 approached the control console and gently waved his hand, interacting with the floating orbs of light.

Instantly, the walls of the Safety Center flickered, revealing several huge display screens.

These synchronously displayed high-definition real-time footage from monitoring points all over the globe.

Along the edges of every screen, a long string of complex energy parameters scrolled.

These parameters updated in milliseconds, ensuring the Security Center constantly grasped every subtle energy change across Earth.

Just then, a humming sound arose.

The computer cluster operated at full capacity in the background, analyzing and comparing the massive volume of energy data.

The holographic Earth model also enlarged at this moment.

In the image, Earth was covered by countless fine grids, each flashing with different data streams.

Atmospheric pressure, geomagnetic intensity, radiation levels... all information converged here, like an invisible net shrouding the entire planet.

The real-time footage on the walls shifted continuously with a wave of Consul No. 2's hand.

From the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench, from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon Rainforest, polar ice caps, equatorial rainforests, deep-sea thermal vents... even magma activity deep within the crust could not escape the Security Center's monitoring.

Every monitoring node on Earth was collecting data around the clock.

Energy fluctuations, temperature changes, biological activity—all information was transmitted here in real time, forming an energy spectrum covering the globe.

Suddenly, a blinding red light flared up at a certain point on the holographic Earth.

The intelligent assistant's voice echoed within the Security Room:

"Abnormal energy fluctuation detected. Coordinates: 63°29′ N, 78°30′ W. Energy Level: 12.7."

As the voice faded, the holographic Earth rapidly zoomed in, clearly displaying the target area.

The screen presented the sky above the Arctic, where a spatial rift was twisting and swaying.

The view focused, and relevant information appeared.

[Black Black Tide Rift (Confidential - Undisclosed)]:

Situation Analysis: Gradually expanding. Time node estimation for spatial tunnel formation: Unable to acquire more spatial rift information; unable to determine.

It had been nearly a year since this spatial rift appeared.

The Black Black Tide had not yet shown any signs of invasion.

But the existence of this spatial rift was like a fishbone stuck in the throat.

It was like a signal marker before an invasion; the terrifying Black Black Tide might descend upon Earth at any moment through the spatial tunnel generated after this rift expanded.

At that time, Earth would Iron Face an unprecedented challenge.

"I want the spatial energy fluctuation data of the Black Black Tide rift from the last month."

Hearing Consul No. 2's command, the Security Center's central brain automatically retrieved the relevant content, then displayed it as a table in the form of a light screen.

"Display it as a curve."

Immediately, the listed data transformed into a curve chart.

It was very clear to see that the expansion of the Black Black Tide rift showed an overall upward trend, with wave-like undulations throughout the process.

But relying solely on the trend changes of the curve, it was impossible to predict the timing of the Black Black Tide's descent.

From the curve trend chart, Consul No. 2 selected six time nodes with significant fluctuations for comparative review, but ultimately gave up in helplessness.

With a gentle wave of the hand, the data light screen before him dissipated like ripples.

Consul No. 2 redirected his gaze to the holographic image of Earth suspended in mid-air.

His eyes swept over the monitoring nodes in various regions, checking the energy fluctuation data of each area one by one.

Just one hour ago, he had received feedback from the Security Center indicating that abnormal energy fluctuations had been detected on Earth.

However, these abnormal energy fluctuations lacked a clear marker point.

Therefore, he had come specifically to investigate, intending to use the live monitoring footage to try and locate which region the abnormal energy fluctuations originated from.

He reached out and tapped.

The holographic Earth image enlarged once again.

In the East Asia region, a dense cluster of light points flashed with a steady blue glow.

This was one of the core zones of global basic industry, where energy fluctuations presented regular peaks.

Zooming in on the region, the roar of factory machinery, urban power consumption, and the operation of transportation networks... all activities were converted into data streams and fed into the space station's database.

The live footage moved rapidly via satellite; wherever it scanned, the node monitoring for that region would simultaneously provide data.

Shifting to the vast plains of central North America, the energy fluctuations presented another pattern.

This was the intersection of agriculture and resource development; huge clusters of wind turbines rotated slowly across the grasslands, with energy readings rising and falling with wind speed.

Through data comparison, no anomalies were found. The screen shifted again, arriving at the African continent.

On the edge of the Sahara Desert, the crystal power station newly constructed by the Ji Po Clan had already been put into use.

Energy fluctuations had shown an upward trend recently.

The live footage zoomed in; in the holographic image, tens of thousands of energy crystal slabs resembled a silver ocean.

Comparing the data with the footage revealed no abnormalities. The holographic image shifted to the depths of the Amazon Rainforest in South America.

Energy fluctuations here were unusually calm, except that compared to the beginning, there were now a few additional energy activity nodes.

These were three clans that had joined the Earth Alliance ten years ago, currently building small cities here.

Energy readings at the forest edge climbed slowly every year, and the traces of the three clans gradually encroaching upon the rainforest were clearly visible.

The roar of logging machinery, new road construction, urban expansion—all activities could be clearly observed by comparing energy fluctuations.

Through the holographic Earth image, data on which clan was developing secret weapons could also be monitored at any time.

Unless the process of forging such a weapon produced absolutely no energy fluctuations.

After shifting through several regions in succession, neither the footage displayed in the monitoring nor the data information showed any problems.

But since the Security Center had issued an alert, it proved that abnormal energy fluctuations must exist.

The so-called abnormal energy fluctuations referred to unknown energy exceeding the scope of monitoring.

Urban power consumption, factory machinery operation, natural wind, rain, and thunder—all energy fluctuations rose and fell within expected ranges... even if there was a trend of gradual amplification, as long as the trend was stable, it could not be judged as an abnormal fluctuation.

Just like a typhoon, which would display violent energy fluctuation data.

But the formation of a typhoon inevitably had a clear trend.

Even if the final form was a super typhoon above level 16, before the super typhoon formed, it would start from a tropical depression and gradually increase in intensity level.

As long as the Security Center detected energy fluctuations at the initial stage, it would automatically deduce and simulate the subsequent intensity.

Real-time monitoring of the trend of a typhoon strengthening meant that even if it eventually formed into a level 18 typhoon, it would not count as an abnormal energy fluctuation.

Earthquakes were the same; the Security Center could also detect the trend of intensity increase.

What could be called an abnormal energy fluctuation must be an unknown energy outbreak that appeared suddenly and whose trend could not be determined.

Such abnormal energy fluctuations were highly likely not from Earth; they were very possibly a sign of alien races opening spatial tunnels before their descent.

Carefully examining yet still unable to find the cause, Consul No. 2 continued.

The ability anomaly fluctuation that appeared this time was a synchronized response from all nodes, making it impossible to determine a specific coordinate location.

But as long as it involved a cross-space tunnel, there must be a core coordinate node.

What Consul No. 2 was searching for was precisely this potentially existing coordinate node.

After several hours of fruitless searching, Consul No. 2 continued his search and screening with full concentration.

The descent of alien races was no small matter; a war sweeping across the globe could break out at any time.

Only by understanding it in advance could sufficient preparations be made.

Twenty-three hours later, with the help of the central brain assistant, Consul No. 2 began comparing detailed footage of local areas.

Just then, the central brain assistant gave an alert:

"Abnormal energy fluctuation detected at 45.6° W, 32.8° N, quite similar to the abnormal fluctuation detected last time."

Consul No. 2 raised his right hand; the Earth image before him rapidly rotated to the back side and froze, then enlarged.

What appeared was the real-time footage of the sky above the Atlantic Ocean.

The energy fluctuations presented an eerie dark red, like a wound tearing through the calmly rotating blue.

Consul No. 2's expression turned grave; he tapped lightly in the air, bringing up the data analysis panel.

The energy readings were climbing continuously and had already breached the safety threshold.

This was clearly not an ordinary natural disaster, nor was it any known type of energy weapon.

"Level Three Alert. Retrieve surveillance from all nearby satellites." Consul No. 2's voice echoed within the empty Security Center.

The screens on the surrounding walls shifted instantly; hundreds of holographic screens unfolded simultaneously, dyeing the entire space a deep blue.

Every screen displayed different data streams: atmospheric composition, geomagnetic intensity, gravitational field changes, and so on.

In the central screen, a twisted spatial rift was moving slowly.

Consul No. 2 acted decisively, connecting communications to the Earth United Command post nearest to the rift.

In the light screen that popped up, the figure of a Moon Eclipse Clan member on duty at the Earth Command Post appeared.

Consul No. 2 wasted no words, issuing a command directly to him:

"Dispatch three unmanned observation drones to coordinates 45.6° W, 32.8° N for real-time monitoring. Prepare to make contact with any clan that might descend."

"Understood." The duty personnel in the command post nodded immediately on the screen.

Seconds later, from the weapon platforms near the coordinates, three unmanned observation drones ascended, approaching the coordinate location.

One hour later, the observation drones entered standby cruise status, flying in a circle around the rift.

But during the wait, the alien race did not descend, and the spatial rift remained in its initial state without showing any fluctuations.

Time ticked by second by second; Consul No. 2 remained steadfastly guarding the Security Center.

Five hours later, the spatial rift still showed no changes.

This differed from previous alien descents; it was more similar to the Black Black Tide. This rift seemed more like a spatial coordinate.

The alien faction on the other end did not seem to have any intention of descending to Earth.

At this moment, below the rift, he had already initiated preliminary war deployments.

Directly beneath the coordinate point, deep in the seabed, a massive deep-sea fortress quietly arrived.

Lights ignited in the base's core region; the energy core entered combat-ready operation, releasing energy fluctuations that pulsed rhythmically like a heartbeat, gradually intensifying.

As energy was injected, the base's outer shell vibrated; bionic scales covering its surface stood up one by one, revealing flowing energy patterns beneath that spread like blood vessels, transporting energy to every corner of the base.

The weapon array system activated.

From the top of the base, several huge mechanical tentacles sprang out, each hundreds of meters long, dancing in the darkness like the tentacles of a deep-sea behemoth.

The tips of the tentacles were high-energy cutters capable of easily tearing through any obstacle; their surfaces were also covered with micro-sensors that collected information and fed it back to Moon Eclipse City.

The base's belly opened shortly after, and tens of thousands of underwater drones swarmed out like a school of fish.

Mimicking deep-sea fish in shape, their streamlined bodies moved flexibly through the water without making a sound.

The drones' eyes were high-definition cameras capable of capturing every detail of their surroundings, while their backs carried sonic weapons and missiles.

As the weapon base fully activated, a translucent energy barrier rose from its top, rapidly spreading outward in all directions.

The barrier resembled a giant bubble, completely enveloping the base and the surrounding weapon systems.

Around the base, hundreds of plasma turrets rose from the seabed.

The turrets were shaped like spires, with blue electric arcs flickering at their peaks.

Once the turrets activated, the electric arcs quickly condensed into spheres of energy, ready to fire at any moment.

At the base of the base, dozens of vertical silents quietly opened, entering war Cultivation Mode.

On the sea surface at the coordinate point, several floating platforms rose from underwater, their central massive energy focusers entering activation status.

In higher orbits, several space-based weapon satellites synchronized into Level Three Alert; their onboard railguns and energy beam emitters had firing restrictions lifted, allowing them to deliver precision strikes against the spatial rift in the sky above the sea from space at any time.

With all deployments complete, Administrator No. 2 continued to wait patiently.

If the initial contact proceeded without any issues, he would attempt to recruit the newly arrived race into the Earth Alliance.

However, if this arriving force came with a posture of destruction or predatory warfare, he would judge whether to enter War Cultivation Mode or Total War Cultivation Mode based on the combat strength of the invading race.

In the waiting, another 27 hours passed.

The twisted lines in the sky above the sea quietly opened a gap, like a wound in space slashed by an invisible blade.

A thick purple mist surged out from the rift, resembling poisonous miasma; within it, countless tiny creatures could vaguely be seen swimming.

After zooming in on the image, one could discover that these tiny lifeforms resembled jellyfish, emitting a faint fluorescence, their bodies composed of translucent gelatinous substance.

Upon entering Earth, these tiny lifeforms rapidly spread, forming a vast life network; their tentacles connected to one another, releasing a viscous, glowing substance from their ends.

This substance quickly solidified in the air, forming sturdy biological fibers.

As the number of interconnected nodes increased, the fibers wove into complex life structures, with each node releasing energy to maintain the architecture of the life network.

Administrator No. 2 monitored the progress of these changes.

Since no contact or communication had occurred yet, he temporarily considered not deploying any weapons.

The biological network in the image continued to expand, and the feedback fluctuations of information transmission between nodes grew exponentially.

At this moment, the tiny lifeforms within the life network began showing different growth tendencies.

Some of the gelatinous substance hardened to form skeletons supporting their bodies, while other individuals elongated and deformed, developing into locomotive organs... the gelatinous matter gradually differentiated into various functional organs and life structures.

It was just like 3D modeling being performed in the real world.

Each small jellyfish served as a basic module; through assembly and combination, they constructed a giant floating lifeform over a hundred meters in length.

Data on the energy fluctuations emanating from within the lifeform was also displayed in real-time on the light screen of the Security Center.

The crystal chip embedded in the back of Administrator No. 2's neck flickered with a faint glow; upon receiving the command, a robot resembling a member of the Moon Eclipse Race rose from the sea surface platform and approached the giant floating lifeform.

The translation matrix on the robot's chest operated, preparing to establish a mental link with the arriving force to initiate preliminary communication.

Just then, the compound eyes of the floating behemoth suddenly burst forth with blinding red light.

Its massive body shuddered violently; the fluorescent patterns on its surface flashed intensely, lighting up section by section from tail to head as if charging up.

The AI assistant immediately issued a warning:

"Warning! Hostile signal detected!"

The next second, the back of the floating behemoth contracted violently; its surface suddenly cracked open with tiny pores, from which dense crystals were sprayed.

Zooming in on the image, the surfaces of the sharp crystals were covered in fluorescent mucus, automatically flying toward the robot.

In the instant Administrator No. 2's thought turned, the robot urgently activated its energy barrier.

But the moment the crystals approached, they suddenly exploded; the robot's silver-white shell was instantly covered by the fluorescent substance, which rapidly penetrated inward, causing the crystal chip on the back of Administrator No. 2's neck to flash wildly.

The robot in the image corroded and dissolved at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into metal wreckage that fell from the sky onto the water's surface.

Administrator No. 2 did not hesitate even for a moment; he decisively spoke in a deep voice:

"Notify all races of the Earth Alliance to enter a state of war."

At this moment, the various races of Earth, having already received the notification, began to act one after another.

City defense systems activated sequentially; one city after another was enveloped by curtains of energy light.

Although only a single floating lifeform had arrived, the cities of all races had still made preparations in advance to withstand devastating strikes.

(End of Chapter)