Chapter 188: The “Door” of Departure
Most of the time, Xu Zhi wasn’t the stubborn sort. Seeing that the dark clouds in the sky neither dispersed nor continued to gather—only rumbling now and then with low thunder—she obediently went to the warehouse, took out the cloak, and put it on.
After all, what if a bolt of lightning decided to strike her, an innocent bystander?
Once she pulled on the cloak, Xu Zhi was surprised to find that the gazes coming from It noticeably lessened. She’d known the cloak could lower her sense of presence, but she had assumed that before It, she would have no way of hiding at all.
Was it simply that Its attention wasn’t on her right now? Most of Its focus must have been elsewhere at the moment.
When the thunder finally faded, It resumed its unfinished action. The blood-red array hovering behind It began to turn slowly, and the channels etched into the ground of the Midnight realm started to bubble faintly, as if called by something unseen. Supernatural energy in the air surged toward both the array and It, forming visible streams of power.
The array devoured the energy of the land like a whale swallowing the sea—indiscriminate, relentless. Xu Zhi could feel the extraordinary energy in the air rapidly diminishing. Even Cloud City was being drained dry; the outside world surely had little left.
“This thing’s planning to drain everything completely?”
Every bit of life and extraordinary power in this world—It intended to consume it all, to achieve Its goal.
Fortunately, the vast amount of elemental cores Xu Zhi had stockpiled in her warehouse were unaffected. That reserve, richer than the federal treasury itself, let her breathe a little easier. Whatever—she couldn’t absorb ambient energy that well anyway.
But… it wasn’t just that.
As time passed, Xu Zhi gradually noticed that not only was the supernatural energy vanishing, but the trees and plants outside were also wilting. Even the life of vegetation wasn’t spared.
Across the entire Federation, every plant had withered; every living thing was dying. This was truly the end of the Federation.
The once-prosperous nation had become a cold, silent wasteland—only the lifeless skyscrapers stood as proof that human civilization had once existed here.
Under the array’s plundering of “life,” even the defensive formation built by Zhong Lingfan and the others couldn’t hold much longer.
Realizing that their energy was being drained too fast, Zhong Lingfan made a decision.
“Abandon part of them.”
They had to shrink the formation, or it would collapse completely.
And the first to be abandoned, of course, were those who had entered Cloud City from the Federation.
By nature, Zhong Lingfan treated both Cloud City residents and outsiders equally—they were all lives to her. But now, abandoning the “outsiders” made the most sense. At least this way, the people inside Cloud City would immediately stand united, and no internal conflict would arise.
Many had fled into Cloud City during the Federation’s final moments. Now, cutting them off would drastically reduce the array’s energy consumption.
Those abandoned could only watch as their protection vanished. Fight back? They were no match for Cloud City’s supernaturals. Beg for help? In the face of annihilation, the citizens of Cloud City were far more ruthless—after all, they had lived through this once before. Rebel collectively? They wouldn’t last that long—within ten seconds of losing protection, even the extraordinary ones were shredded into blood mist and absorbed by the black sun.
Seeing what happened to those who’d been cast out, even the prepared residents of Cloud City couldn’t suppress a chill in their hearts. They knew too well how their administrator worked. Everyone understood that if abandoning the outsiders still wasn’t enough, she would unhesitatingly abandon another portion of Cloud City’s own people next.
And she’d probably already decided which part.
Now, only the citizens within Cloud City were still alive—and all of them had moths implanted by Xu Zhi. They might not be aware of it, but it meant one thing: internal rebellion was impossible.
Yet even without unrest—how long could these people live? They weren’t Xu Zhi. Without the formation’s protection, they too would be devoured by the apocalypse array.
All they could do was pray that it would all end soon.
Once every trace of life and energy outside the formation was drained—leaving only the black sun still hanging in the sky—the rest of the apocalypse unfolded.
The Federation was surrounded by ocean. Xu Zhi had always known this but never thought it odd—until now. A landmass that large couldn’t possibly be an island, and yet it had floated like a puzzle piece on the sea. No one had ever questioned it before—it was an “unshakable truth.”
Now, as if some balance or seal had been broken, the calm sea suddenly surged. Tides rose, flooding inland. Within half a day, the entire Federation would be swallowed by the sea, erased from existence.
It had truly left no retreat—whether It succeeded or failed, the Federation would be gone.
Not only the living— even within the Midnight realm, the silent tombstones began to dissolve, corroded by the boiling blood in the channels.
In the end, the Midnight realm was left barren—bare ground slick with blood that had “eaten” everything.
And then, when the blood was finally sated, droplets began to float up from the channels, converging into streams that flowed into Its body.
This deepened Its connection with Midnight. Suddenly, It raised Its left hand—the one nearest the heart. Tentacle-like fingers stretched toward the sun, and all the heads and eyes on Its body turned in unison to stare at the black sun.
Then, as if pulled by an unseen force, the black sun began to fall from the sky.
“…What the hell is it doing now?!” Xu Zhi exclaimed, rare fear flickering in her voice.
That was not something that could land! What was It trying to do?!
The handheld console in her hand vibrated faintly. Xu Zhi glanced down.
[It is trying to find the Door.]
“The Door? That’s how you find it?!”
Xu Zhi was baffled.
“You don’t look any better, though…”
Even in shock, she noticed the console’s cracked screen—and its battery icon still barely filled.
[It doesn’t matter. What’s left is enough for me to use.]
It explained, then shifted the topic.
[Listen. You need to survive until the moment the Door appears. When It tries to approach the Door—that’s when you act.]
[This place is sealed off, but the instant the Door opens, it will be detected.]
[If—if you manage to leave—then until you have enough power, never speak of this place to anyone.]
