CHAPTER 717: CHAPTER 583: MAKE A MOVE!

Dark Void.

A figure flitted by at an extremely high speed.

Finally.

This figure landed on a desolate planet full of cracks, showing its form.

— It was none other than the Duke of Abyss.

No sooner had he appeared than he showed a look of worry, taking out a glass bottle covered in dust and examining it carefully.

Inside the bottle,

the old blind man and the bizarre insect on his back were motionless.

Only then did the Duke of Abyss breathe a sigh of relief, whispering softly,

"What tremendous power... but soon this power will be mine..."

He muttered something to himself.

Behind him, the infinite abyssal shadows emerged.

— It was indeed the power "Abyss of Devouring" bestowed by that great entity long ago!

With this power, the Duke of Abyss could devour everything!

"Come, give me all your power."

He was clearly excited, shouting urgently,

"My power comes from you, it should also be able to devour your power—let me become an existence that surpasses you all!"

The dark abyssal shadow surged forward, instantly engulfing the old blind man and the insect.

A moment.

Two moments.

Three moments.

The Duke of Abyss closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and ecstatically raised his hands as if to embrace something.

"How incredible, beyond imagination, such power exists in this world!"

He was almost screaming with excitement,

However, he did not see—

The void behind him silently opened, and another insect crawled out.

— If Wu Xiaode had been here, he might have recognized that this was the insect that was kicked out from the Babylon Pillar.

However, Wu Xiaode was not here.

There was no one else around.

The Duke of Abyss, Sarrens, was immersed in this unprecedented mysterious power.

The insect floated in midair, watching the Duke of Abyss, and then the surging abyssal tide.

It remained silent for the time being.

Until—

The Duke of Abyss let out a painful cry, clutching his head and kneeling on the ground, groaning,

"What... what’s happening to me?"

His skin and hair fell off, growing a carapace and jointed limbs, his eyes began to bulge outward, showing a grid-like pattern.

It was then that the insect gently rested its six sharp limbs on the Duke’s back.

It opened its sharp mouthparts, and with one strike, smashed the Duke’s head.

The long mouthparts then extended into his skull, making a "sizzling" sound, beginning to absorb everything inside.

Simultaneously,

The abyssal fog completely dissipated.

The old blind man and the insect both woke up.

The insect did not move on his back.

The old blind man, however, looked towards the Duke of Abyss and calmly began to speak,

"What happened, why did you come here?"

The Duke of Abyss had no head, yet still managed to speak,

"I was driven out from Babylon, originally planning to return to the swarm, but sensing something was wrong, I traveled through time and space to arrive at this moment."

"Someone actually managed to drive you away?" the old blind man continued.

"Yes, we must not allow Babylon to be re-established. We need to take action together," said the Duke of Abyss.

The insect on his back gradually melted into an intangible liquid, sinking into his body.

Both insects had now merged into the body.

The Duke of Abyss and the old blind man walked towards each other, their figures gradually merging together, becoming massive and cumbersome like a giant, yet with insect-like elongated limbs.

Two heads appeared on the neck of this body.

Old blind man, Duke of Abyss.

The expressions on their faces no longer resembled that of common beings.

Together, they emitted a short, sharp sound,

"Depart!"

The figure broke through the void, instantly disappearing without a trace.

...

A dizzying sensation,

The scenery around whipped away like a wind-swept cloud, vanishing into nothingness.

Wu Xiaode fell downward, stepping on a protruding brick to stabilize his stance.

At this moment,

he had returned inside the Babylon Pillar.

— The secret passageway that had led to that world had disappeared.

But a card gently fell down.

The face of the card depicted the scene of the Royal Capital, but this time, the Royal Capital was no longer as Wu Xiaode remembered.

Four Magic Towers stood at the four corners of the Royal Capital.

In the sky, people were flying freely on broomsticks.

In the central fountain of the city, dazzling magic light twinkled.

Several lines of small text appeared in the void,

"Civilization’s Lament."

"The source of all things’ guardianship, the Truth Card, the fifth of ’The Tomb of Laws’ deck."

"Description: Restores all damaged creations, no matter what they are."

"—The era of prosperity will never end, unless it reaches a certain critical point."

Wu Xiaode chuckled bitterly and shook his head.

If civilization is merely a prelude, and beings merely tools for the ceremony, then everything is ultimately dangerous.

"If civilization is kept in a state of ignorance forever, will it never reach that critical point?"

he asked.

Gray shadowy text quietly emerged,

"Ignorance is also part of the ceremony, and it may likewise activate the corresponding critical point."

Wu Xiaode felt somewhat depressed and decided not to think about these negative issues anymore.

— He had already collected five cards.

Only two more to go!

There was no need to think about ceremonies and mysterious species—the task at hand was to complete the deck, finding ways to counter all calamities.

Destroy calamities.

Then alter civilization’s perspective.

By doing both, it might be possible to prevent the arrival of the insects!

With a sudden clarity of mind, Wu Xiaode looked up towards the top of the Babylon Pillar.

— It was time to continue climbing!

With a flicker of his form, he flew towards the top with all his might.

It was then that rows of gray shadowy text emerged:

"You destroyed the perpetual motion machine and completed the initial task on the True God of Chaotic’s path,"

"The chaos you created in history possesses great power and has been absorbed by the Chaotic Sequence."

"You have received the initial reward."

"Reward 1: All your cards have been ’chaotically’ charged and can be used immediately."

"Reward 2: Peace Lover."

A black object fell down, caught by Wu Xiaode.

— It was a revolver.

The Book of the Dead and the Chaotic Sequence both offered explanations for this revolver:

"Peace Lover."

"Gun (can be advanced)."

"Ability: 1, Produces one bullet every ten seconds;"

"2, Every three shots fired, one will definitely hit the target;"

As Wu Xiaode ascended, he toyed with the revolver and shook his head, saying:

"Not bad for restoring the power of my cards, but this gun is too weak—"

"This gun couldn’t be the power you mentioned to counter bugs, could it?"

Two lines of grey text appeared before his eyes:

"Don’t rush."

"I’ve been weak for too long; everything is just beginning."

Wu Xiaode thought so too.

If he didn’t load it, it would almost sink into eternal silence.

At the beginning, it’s better not to ask for too much.

After all, it helped him restore all the power of his cards.

So among the five cards—

Wait a second!

He put away the revolver, hovering midair.

He had already flown to the top of the Babylon Pillar, surrounded by an endless mist, nothing visible.

Something wasn’t right.

The pillar was covered in black dust, as if it had been through the baptism of war.

Many bricks were fragmented.

— Could it be that this pillar was broken?

The voice of Kaling Yekatina from Babylon rang out again:

"Little Wu, ’Babylon’ has been destroyed once; it now needs to be repaired."

Repair...

Isn’t that the fifth card, "Civilization’s Lament"?

Wu Xiaode pressed the card against the wall of the giant pillar.

The pillar shook suddenly.

Dense bricks revealed illusory worlds one after another.

In those illusions, human civilization continuously proliferated and grew, heading towards dazzling developments.

A sudden epiphany struck Wu Xiaode.

This pillar—

It actually represented countless human civilizations!

The next moment.

One by one, new bricks silently appeared, beginning to construct a new pillar on the broken one.

The entire pillar’s breach was repaired, once again stretching towards the depth of the mist above.

Suddenly, Wu Xiaode remembered something.

"Ye Jiana, if I hadn’t completed a 100% Exploration Level and obtained the card ’Civilization’s Lament,’ what would have happened?" he asked.

Ye Jiana smiled, "You would need to personally gather special materials to repair the pillar before you could reach the location of the sixth card—it’s hidden too high."

Wu Xiaode broke out in a cold sweat.

It was good that he was slightly obsessive-compulsive and hadn’t just casually stopped exploring.

Otherwise, he would be laboriously stacking bricks upwards right now.

Suddenly.

The entire pillar, all civilizations, issued a cry of anguish, shaking the surrounding Void.

Wu Xiaode felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.

What had happened?

The phantom image of Ye Jiana suddenly appeared before him, speaking solemnly:

"Little Wu, you need to climb up faster; I’ll use the still-existing world civilizations on the entire pillar to slightly fend off that monster."

"What monster? Is it bugs?" Wu Xiaode asked.

Ye Jiana gestured, and immediately, light gathered to form an image.

A two-headed giant was seen standing at the base of the Babylon Pillar, just placing its hands and feet on the pillar, beginning to climb upwards.

The giant had two heads, one being the old blind and the other the Duke of Abyss.

The entire pillar, every brick sensed their presence and instantly burst into billions of cries of anguish.

— The two monsters had merged!

The Chaotic interface constantly displayed lines of explanation, showcasing the origins and composition of the beast to Wu Xiaode.

Wu Xiaode felt his mind empty, waves of helplessness washing over him.

An old blind was already hard to deal with.

Now it was two bugs and the old blind, the Duke of Abyss, merged together—

"Quick, climb upwards!"

Ye Jiana shouted frantically.

She kept making various gestures.

On the entire Babylon Pillar, the bricks seemed to come alive, emitting various attacks.

However, these magic attacks hit the monster, only slightly delaying its movements.

— They couldn’t harm it at all.

Wu Xiaode took another look.

This time even the Chaotic Sequence popped up a line:

"Run, you’re no match!"

You’re no match...

Yeah, it’s funny.

Even though he tried his best to collect all five cards...

Wu Xiaode’s body tensed, preparing to fly upwards, but he involuntarily turned around and headed straight towards the base of the pillar.

"Little Wu! What are you doing!" Ye Jiana cried out.

The wind roared in his ears.

Wu Xiaode took a deep breath and yelled at all human civilizations on the pillar:

"Watch closely—"

"We’re not some ritual, nor are we some prelude to nonsense."

"Anyone who treats us humans like a meal on a plate—"

"We’ll kill them all!"

The longsword at his waist erupted into a fierce hum, "clang" flying out of the scabbard, grasped in his hand.

Infinite Sword Intent burst forth from his heart.

The sword.

Was coming!