The sweltering summer was drawing to a close, and the weather gradually cooled down, but the streets were still full of people in cool attire walking around, along with the ever-present uncles and aunts.
"Another peaceful day," Fang Jie slowly made his way home.
Having finally had a day off after so long, as a young man in his twenties, Fang Jie didn't feel that exhaustion during holidays that others often spoke of. It was just the thought of having to work the next day that was somewhat annoying.
"Look quick, what is that? Capture it, capture it."
Suddenly, someone on the street yelled in surprise. Fang Jie instinctively looked up, then his eyes widened. "What is this? Such a strange sight, truly uncommon."
Fang Jie, like others, took out his phone and aimed it at the sky.
Where the sky had been blue, it had now turned black—not the kind where you can't see anything, but rather the kind where it seems you've left the atmosphere and are looking directly into outer space.
However, within this mysterious starry expanse, there appeared strangely a large wave of bizarre disturbances.
The white waves twisted bit by bit, forming a large mass, and then a crack formed in the center. The fissure grew larger and larger, as if a giant mouth was opening up in the sky, coming down towards the earth.
"I've thought of a name already, call it 'the Mouth of the Abyss,' what do you think?"
Unknown to them, a streamer nearby loudly spoke to his followers, his face filled with excitement as he watched the sky. They didn't realize that this was not just an image.
At this moment, experts all around the world were nervously calculating various data, continuously observing that vast presence in the sky. This entity, visible from anywhere in the world, was increasingly closing in on the ground, growing larger and larger, and in the end, nothing but emptiness could be seen inside it.
For some reason, everyone felt an immense terror.
Those with weaker psychological resilience began screaming and running around in chaos.
Fang Jie's heart raced, and he could barely keep his phone steady. As he retreated, his right hand flailed around instinctively, trying to grasp something for psychological comfort.
Suddenly, Fang Jie felt like he had grabbed onto something resembling a stick.
But before he could turn around to check, it seemed like the entire sky had collapsed. The huge mouth had devoured Earth in its grip.
From outer space, it would seem like the mouth was munching on a jellybean, engulfing the Earth and then chewing. The massive planet was reduced to fragments, vanishing bit by bit.
The enormous white mouth, as if sentient, twisted left and right; noticing no other imaginable aliment, it too disappeared into the void.
A planet disappeared as if it never existed, and the starry sky returned to tranquil stillness.
As Earth shattered, time seemed to stand still, everything stopped moving. Yet, people's minds still lingered; Fang Jie watched as the world around him fell apart into fragments, piece by piece.
In the end, he too stood on a fragment, unknowing of where he had fallen.
Not long after, Fang Jie felt his body return to normal. Looking around, he found himself in a forest-like environment, yet the ground beneath his feet was still asphalt.
The ground was perfectly jointed, but it looked utterly unnatural.
At that moment, a mighty voice resounded in everyone's mind.
"Welcome to All Heavens Hunting Ground. Your world has been devoured and fragments have scattered across corners of this world. Here, you will encounter creatures from different worlds. Your task is to survive here. As a newly added race, you will randomly receive a unique ability."
The voice was emotionless, almost mechanical, making it incredibly grating to hear.
But at that time, nobody cared about the voice or the attitude; amidst such drastic changes, everyone wanted to know what their fate would be.
After a moment, the voice spoke again: "Your ability is a construction type ability, the Lord's Cottage."
"Cherish your initial ability; it will be your greatest assurance of survival. You will have three days to adapt, after which the protection will disappear."
Behind Fang Jie, the ground trembled as a thatched cottage rose abruptly from the earth, appearing very abruptly.
Following that, a circle with about a hundred-meter radius formed around the cottage, enveloping it completely. This was probably the boundary of the safe zone.
As soon as the safe zone formed, Fang Jie noticed something seemed alarmed and began running wildly into the distance.
Due to the trees, Fang Jie couldn't see clearly what it was. Then he noticed things lingering outside, seemingly peering in at his location.
"This is big trouble," Fang Jie murmured to himself.
Glancing at his left hand's phone, it no longer had any signal. Once the battery died, it would just be a decorative item. Looking at his right hand, in his urgency, he had grabbed an iron shovel left behind by someone.
Fang Jie muttered an apology and then walked towards the thatched cottage.
"No matter what, let's go in and see; this must be the only reliance now."
Entering the cottage, Fang Jie immediately saw a panel appear in front of him.
Lord's Cottage: Level 1
Functional Building: None
Troops: None
"This is too rudimentary," Fang Jie thought to himself, then he noticed a region chat option and quickly clicked it. Suddenly transported here, Fang Jie instinctively wanted to know how the others were faring.
"Is everyone still alive? What kind of place have we come to?"
"Who is playing a prank on me, send me back now, do you know who I am?"
"If someone can guarantee my return, I'll give them five million, I, Wang Xingxing, keep my word."
A myriad of voices issued various statements, flashing quickly in front of Fang Jie, but all essentially aimed at understanding the current situation. Earth had suddenly disintegrated, putting everyone in a state of panic.
"Hahaha, at last, you've come to my world. I am the king of the world, kneel before me!"
Fang Jie's eyes widened, astonished that someone could be so delusional. Sure enough, a slew of curses followed below.