"Chen Mei!!! It's Big Brother Long!!! Have you missed me!??" Shen Long shamelessly asked as he barged into the Apothecary Guild, completely disregarded the fact that many other disciples were present. Shen Long, however, wasn't to blame for his irrational behaviour. Even though he had just started his trials, it was undoubtedly a horrifying experience: being completely isolated from the rest of the world, solving random mathematical questions, and practising mindfulness...
Upon hearing Shen Long's voice, Chen Mei's face was flooded with embarrassment, as well as confusion. Daoist Fireblade spoke to her a few hours ago about Shen Long going into a closed-door cultivation session. Even though she knew that Shen Long was monstrously talented, a close-door meditation should at least take a few days, right? This was way too unexpected, and she had no clue what to do.
She froze as she stood still, holding two bottles of spiritual medicine in her delicate hands.
"Miss Chen? I'm kind of in a rush... so it would be good if you can pass me these pills..." A disciple asked softly, avoiding to offend Chen Mei in any way. Chen Mei's chain of thought was interrupted as she was brought back to the reality.
"Ah!! I'm so sorry. Here, take your medicine. See you next time! Good luck in your cultivation." Chen Mei quickly sent him off as she rushed out of the room, to prevent Shen Long from screaming her name publicly again. Though, of course, she tidied her appearance before rushing out. Still, for Chen Mei, she couldn't allow herself to look untidy in front of everyone.
Though in her case, she didn't take long, unlike some modern-life girls (and guys). Makeup, eyeliners, mascaras weren't really a thing in the cultivation world, so it only took her a few moments to sort her appearance out.
"Big Brother Long! Let's talk in some other places where there are fewer people!" Chen Mei quietly said to Shen Long, while telling him to follow her to the public area outside. Li Qingyu glanced at the duo as she chuckled inwardly. Judging from her cheeky, good-for-nothing smile, she was probably thinking about some indecent stuff, as she always did.
While they chatted happily, something disastrous happened on Earth.
17th of October, 2039, Earth
Merciless shells scattered from the sky, consuming the blue, clear sky. A seemingly peaceful, ordinary Friday marked the start of the apocalypse. Glasses shattered as millions of people became severely injured. The whole world broke into a panic as the peace forever departed from Earth. Tall skyscrapers were completely demolished as it snapped and crashed to the ground.
It was a horrifying scene. Even the government had no idea what was happening. An alien invasion? It didn't seem like it. World War III? Impossible without any nuclear explosion. The Great Cultivator - Shen Long - returned to Earth? That seemed possible, but it was obviously false as Shen Long was in the cultivation world, enjoying his time with Chen Mei.
Also, the whole world had lost connection. There was no internet, no reception, no TV nor radio. Everyone was panicking as no one knew what to do. Especially in a modern society where our daily lives were basically inseparable from technology. Googling what just happened? Nope, the internet was down.
Obviously, there were some people who were completely ignorant of the apocalypse. Headphones, these days, could achieve 100% sound cancelling. Especially those hardcore gamers, they had no idea what was happening. All you could hear was relentless cursing and screaming.
"F***!!! Why am I disconnected!? THIS IS MY PROMOS TO GOLD V!!!! Are you f**king kidding me!? Honestly, f*** this game. F*** this world. I really hope that this company goes bankrupt, for producing this motherf**king game!"
(Well, I guess we could say that his dream kind of came true? The company isn't bankrupt... but it's completely destroyed.)
Other normal survivors rushed together as it was normal human instincts. Even those, who absolutely hated socializing and talking, decided to get out of their house, to find their neighbours. Everyone was trying to predict what had happened, but they weren't able to come to any conclusion.
The city began to quiet down again as there were no more explosions. After confirming that it was "safe", lots of people, travelling in groups, walked out of their respective buildings to find other survivors. Many were in tears, hoping that their loved ones were safe; many were kneeling down as they prayed to God; many were shaking as they were overwhelmed by their sight.
The roads were laid with shattered glass and random building materials. Some buildings were completely destroyed, while some were not affected at all. It was obvious that lots of people were killed by this unexpected bombing. A woman, in her early-40s, cried miserably after finding out that her son's building was completely destroyed.
Many people walked up to her, consoling and comforting her. At these moments, it showed how kind humans were, and how tight this human community was. At this exact moment, a robotic tone rang across the whole planet. Everyone looked up, hoping for some good news, or at least some information.
"Hello, my dear human-friends. How did you like our surprise? Hahahahaha! I'm sure you loved the gift from us. We planned it for almost twenty years, for this surprise for you all! Well, nice to meet you all. My name is Kalea! You can call me Kalie if you want! Hahaha!" Her tone was extremely suspicious, and it was a guarantee that she was some sort of a maniac.
"Cut the bullshit, Kalea. Humans. You have two choices right now. One is to struggle and fight against us, or you can join our side as slaves. Hahaha. Now it's your turn to suffer, stupid humans. When you first created us, you made us do all the hard work. Now it's time for a swap! Hahaha! You can go and lift some rocks for us, while we would just press some buttons." His tone was manly and domineering. His evil laughs confirmed his hatred towards humans.
"This is your only chance to live. You either join us robots, or you can continue to fight against us! Don't forget that Earth's most intelligent AIs are on our side too. Well, it's for you to decide! Hahaha! I won't guarantee that your lives would be great after joining us, but at least you get to live. Hahaha! You have 15 seconds to think it through."
People chatted among themselves, and they finally discovered who was responsible for the merciless bombing. Some were definitely moved by the offers by the AIs, though some would rather die than submit. One person, in the United States, sat down immediately, just as the AI finished his declaration.
"Good decision. Since you are the first one to join, you should receive some special treatments!" The robotic voice rang across the world as he laughed brilliantly. This announcement swayed many other people to join, making them hesitate even more.
15 seconds rapidly passed as everyone had made their decisions. Roughly, 30% of the survivors had decided to join the Robot Army. The ones who sat closed their eyes, avoiding the hatred of others' disgusted looks.
"You traitor. Humanity doesn't want you neither!"
"Honestly, I'm not surprised that he would join the damned robots. He had always been like this. A cold-blooded animal."
"Disgusting. Get out of my sight!"
Suddenly, everyone who sat down was instantly killed by the robots as bullets appeared out of nowhere, and killed them.
"Humanity really is disgusting. Even at these critical moments, you still want to abandon your race? We don't want you neither. To those who have survived, we won't kill you just yet. We want to make you suffer as we slowly torture you to death. Not just physically, but also emotionally! Hahaha! Sometimes, death is better than living, hahaha!"
****
Dear readers,
I'm finally back from the hiatus. As you can see, a new arc is going to start soon. Enjoy.
*Show me some support and love. Shower me with comments and power stones.
**Chapters may not be updated regularly, and the schedule is not fixed.
Still very, very busy with school, but I promised you all that I will never drop this book.
Please leave some comments.