Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

The scene before my eyes is an endless, desolate wasteland of ruins. What used to be a thriving city is now utterly destroyed, as if struck by an asteroid. Shapeless debris of buildings covers the ground, and the roads are twisted and broken. As far as the eye can see, there is no complete shape to be found.

Where have I been taken to?

For a moment, I thought I had returned to the Southern City, but upon closer inspection, I noticed discrepancies. The Southern City, ravaged by repeated scorches and bombings by Xuanming and me, is scarred with signs of flame burns and has many glassified terrains. Even the city center, once protected by the 'Outer World Wall,' was later engulfed by my Fire Sea. However, the signs of destruction here seem to lack such characteristics.

Could I have been transported to the already destroyed Eastern Coastal City? But that place is shrouded by the Doomsday Chaos Space-Time and Gua Tianshi's Fatian Xiangdi, and I can't observe such signs in this space-time either.

Similarly, it's impossible that I accidentally returned to the Post-mortem World mimicking the Doomsday Era. If it were the moon from the Post-mortem World, it would be much larger; but the moon here is of normal size, adorned by stars in the surrounding night sky. Stars cannot be seen in the Post-mortem World. It can't be that I have traveled to another world, right? At least from my observation of the time-space order, this is definitively the real world.

Aside from this, I can't seem to recall any other city being destroyed so tragically. If something similar happened before I entered the Post-mortem World, I would certainly have known about it... Could it be that while we were dealing with the Evangelical Institute in the Post-mortem World, some monumental event occurred in the real world?

My first thought was of Shan Liangyi. To confirm the time, I pulled out my phone from the flames. Since I returned to the real world, my phone connected to the network and automatically calibrated the date and time. The weather forecast also showed my current location.

The date is early July. It's been about a month since I entered the Post-mortem World.

Good, at least it hasn't been years. It's only about a month, which is quite fortunate. Perhaps it's the Unfortunate people power taking effect, I should be thankful for this power.

The specific time is half past nine in the evening, and the weather is clear. That's why the moon and stars are so visible. Then there's the location... I almost thought I was seeing things; it says "Saltwater City," the city where I was born and raised.

I looked again at the surrounding scene and then back at the name displayed on my phone. No matter what, it's hard for me to associate this scene with Saltwater City as I remember it.

But I can only accept this fact. I have already extended my perception to a very distant area. With my current range of perception, it's a breeze to encompass not just a small city but the entire territory of the country.

The range of my perception continues to expand rapidly, encompassing the whole of Asia, and even extending globally.

Once, Old Fist God told me—he had an extremely powerful hearing, capable of hearing most things happening on Earth.

Now, I can do the same on a similar scale.

Looking down from a planetary-level view, I can observe my position. Playing dumb won't work; the place where I am standing is precisely where Saltwater City used to be.

Meanwhile, it's not just Saltwater City that has suffered such large-scale destruction.

I flew to a high altitude and looked farther into the distance. Countless pieces of information entered my vision. I forced myself to calmly accept the reality and swiftly integrated and organized the results of my observations.

In just about a month's time, the world seems to have become unrecognizable. Starting with the domestic situation, the capital is in far worse condition than Saltwater City, with the city and its surrounding areas completely flattened and vanished from the map. At the very center is a deep abyss several kilometers in diameter.

In a 'coincidence' on the Earth's southern hemisphere land, an abyss of similar diameter can also be observed.

Because I am not viewing a world map directly, I am not quite accustomed to this perspective, so it's hard to discern which country's territory it is—perhaps Brazil or Argentina? The crater in the capital isn't entirely vertical. Analyzing the entry angle and the surrounding destruction leads to the easy conclusion: an immensely powerful force blasted through Earth, from the capital reaching the other side of the globe.

Other parts of the world have also suffered apocalyptic devastation to varying degrees. Even from outer space, it's evident that one-third of Europe has been shattered by an unknown force, and the neighboring British Isles are simply gone. Signs of destruction are scattered across other continents, and it's unknown how many countries and governments will collapse because of this.

Why such horrific disasters occurred, I more or less have an idea.

Such massive impacts would've originally resulted in global extinction-level shockwaves.

The reason it didn't end up that way is that the perpetrator of all this consciously concentrated their power. The so-called 'shockwaves' are the power that got dispersed and wasted. The perpetrator's efficiency in using power is clearly beyond standard comprehension.

Additionally, I sensed some unfamiliar Great Impermanence Level beings operating outside the Luo Mountain power zone.

There are "Great Impermanence" beings beyond Luo Mountain... I know this as knowledge, but it's the first time I have actually confirmed it.

I have ventured abroad before. When Liu Shuying and I went to the Taoyuan Village Headquarters to assassinate Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang, it was outside China, but still within Luo Mountain's influence. Although I knew mysterious organizations and Great Impermanence Level beings existed beyond Luo Mountain, and sometimes thought of investigating and contacting them, it always inexplicably ended unfinished.

It wasn't just me; even those around me only barely mentioned it when necessary. Usually, they didn't even seem to think about it, as if areas outside Luo Mountain's influence were Demon Realm, subconsciously avoiding exploration. Only now, having opened the third door, do I feel something strange about my past self.

I wonder if it's because Liu Shuying had certain ideological inclinations during the New World's reshaping, that the mysterious organizations outside the Luo Mountain sphere grew less. This unconscious neglect might also signify Liu Shuying's invisible bias. "Hope all primary conflicts occur here," the New World might have such potential design.

Even the Divine Seal Fragments don't seem to have dispersed to other regions. Tai Sui might've been influenced or, knowing this design existed, utilized it, concentrating Void Envoy candidates in related areas.

This dissonant 'forced tendency' might also be one of the sources of the Doomsday process.

As I turned my gaze back domestically. Due to the destruction of the capital, the political center, and the severe societal impact, the whole nation is in a Doomsday state. Luo Mountain seems to be taking over to maintain social order, with many demon hunters openly using supernatural powers to uphold security in front of the ordinary population.

Due to the lack of experience, in many places the law enforcement appears to be carried out through violent suppression, with some regions even using Spiritual Domain Power to brainwash the populace into absolute obedience. Needless to say, absolute power leads to absolute corruption; even the Transcendentalism Mountain demon hunters have shown signs of decadence and corruption, not to mention the ones from the World Governance Camp.

Originally, Luo Mountain intended to seize control of secular governance, but never anticipated it would happen so quickly. Initially, they likely planned to gradually take over the existing ruling structure and then proceed step by step... But now, not only is there severe inadequacy in preparation, there's also a manpower shortage, which likely has led to chaos in many areas, with poor coordination between the front and rear lines.

Perhaps Fa Zheng knows how to resolve the current situation; he impressed me as someone skilled in organizational operation. I'll have to quickly summon him, Jian Feixian, Mazao, and Zhu Shi back... But first, I need to ensure that the issue with Shan Liangyi is settled.

I wonder if certain ideological inclinations existed while Liu Shuying was reshaping the New World, leading to unconscious partiality for Luo Mountain. "I hope the major conflicts occur here," the New World might have such an implicit design.

I don't know if it's because of Liu Shuying's inclination during the creation of the New World, because there is some kind of latent arrangement in the new design, or because Tai Sui knows of such a design and used it consciously. The choices of the Void Envoys have all centered in related areas.

Last time when we dealt with the Evangelical Institute in the Post-mortem World, was there some significant incident in the real world? There's no time to waste, I must ensure the Liangyi issue is attended to before I call back Shan Liangyi, Jian Feixian, Mazao, and Zhu Shi….

"Did you see that, Zhuang Cheng?"

In the voice resonating in my ear, Tai Sui made a heartfelt statement, "This is the world now."

Using mana, monsters, and other elements of fantasy upon Earth, especially allowing great powers and strange creatures, the history of this world still continues just on the verge of a catastrophe.

"Why, despite seeing all this, are you still undeterred?" Tai Sui's voice resonated in my ear, expressing grief. "Even after witnessing all of this, do you still remain unshaken? Still so self-centered, unconcerned about the world and others?"

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