Chapter 755 - 477: God Loves the World

Chapter 755: Chapter 477: God Loves the World

The moment the apocalyptic war between the current World and the Abyss erupted, the Godslayer plan was put on the agenda.

The plan’s original primary target was the Lord of Joy. As the very embodiment of desire, the Lord of Joy’s influence and threat to humanity were among the highest. Humans will do anything for physical or spiritual pleasure. This fundamental aspect of human nature meant that no God was more alluring than the Lord of Joy.

It wasn’t just indulgence and depravity; everything that brought people satisfaction, excitement, or happiness fell under the Lord of Joy’s influence. The slightest misstep could send someone tumbling into the snare He wove. In their pursuit of joy and ecstasy, they would grow increasingly crazed. Over time, they would abandon all morals and inhibitions, becoming lunatics chasing only the next high.

The Lord of Joy’s corruption was insidious and silent, allowing it to easily infiltrate human society. Its victims often didn’t even realize they had been corrupted. In the most severe incident, hundreds of thousands of people in several cities in Southeast Asia—including the local Star Association branch—unwittingly became worshipers of the Lord of Joy. They held massive orgies and performed rituals to summon His descent, which led to devastating consequences.

This all-pervasive, inescapable infiltration was terrifying. Even after the Dream Lord’s Ascension to Divinity and the creation of a collective consciousness barrier that isolated the Lord of Joy’s influence and prevented such incidents from happening again, the Star Association never lowered the Lord of Joy’s threat level. He was always considered a grave and persistent danger.

That was why the Lord of Joy had been number one on the original Godslayer plan’s list.

Now, however, the primary target of the Godslayer plan had become the God of Contamination, Turbidity.

The collective consciousness barrier minimized the Lord of Joy’s influence on humanity, and even if He did make a move, the Dream Lord was there to counter it. But there was no one who could combat the influence the God of Contamination exerted on the World. The incidents of environmental pollution coming to life were already enough to run the Star Association ragged, to say nothing of the skyrocketing cases of mental contamination.

This recent attack was only the beginning. With the apocalyptic war underway, the onslaught from the Abyss would be relentless. If they could kill even one Abyssal King, the pressure would lessen considerably.

With Alena’s Ascension to Divinity and Chen Baiwei’s awakening, "Godslayer Plan 01" entered its final phase of calculations.

·

Zhou Chen knew nothing of the upcoming Godslayer plan, because it had nothing to do with him. The Star Association would never let him charge into the Abyss to take part in the operation, so they simply kept him out of it. His current primary mission was to accumulate Prayer value, help more High-level Ascenders achieve their Advancement, and search for his own opportunity for Ascension to Divinity.

Performing two Great Miracles had allowed him to climb over fifty steps on the Ascension Ladder. Combined with the Authority Secret Power he gained after the Prayer System was rolled out globally, he had climbed nearly seventy steps in a single day. It was truly godspeed.

According to the records, the shortest Ascension Ladder to ever appear in the World had only one hundred and eight steps. However, that particular Crowned King never finished it; in his entire lifetime, he only managed to climb eight of those steps.

Looking purely at the numbers, Zhou Chen had already climbed more than one hundred and eight steps. Unfortunately, his Ascension Ladder wasn’t that short. It was ridiculously long, with no end in sight. Who knew how long it would take for him to reach the top.

The only silver lining was that the more steps one climbed on their Ascension Ladder, the stronger they became. If his path had thousands of steps, his future power would be immense.

「Gaia.」

The wave of activated environmental pollution had also reached Gaia, but its impact was minimal.

During the twenty centuries it was sealed away, Gaia’s major cities had developed into self-sufficient, clean municipalities due to resource constraints. All energy was recycled and reused, eliminating trash and environmental pollution. As a result, they were spared the worst of it, with only a few small areas experiencing outbreaks of mental contamination.

At that moment, in a gobi desert in Gaia’s northwest region, a secret research project was underway.

The endless desert was a vista of open, lofty space—magnificent, powerful, and rugged, yet tinged with a profound sense of desolation. Thousands of years ago, this had been one of the cradles of Gaian civilization, lush and prosperous. But times had changed, and all of that was lost to the ages, like seas turning into fields.

In this desolate expanse, there was a small town, entirely enclosed by an artificial dome that shielded it from the Sun’s scorching heat.

This was an outpost for the Star Association’s Eighth District, and its primary mission was to locate Divine War Ruins on Gaia.

Zhou Chen suddenly appeared inside a laboratory. The man in charge wasn’t surprised by his arrival and stepped forward to shake his hand. "I’m Qin Gang, the director of this research institute. Mr. Zhou Chen, you’ve come at a good time. We’re in the process of mapping the perimeter of the Divine War Ruins."

’Mapping...’ Zhou Chen’s interest was piqued. "You found the Divine War Ruins?"

"We found it. It’s about eighty kilometers from here," the director said, taking out a tablet to show Zhou Chen a map.

"The Eighth District has already successfully excavated three Divine War Ruins, so our technology in this field has advanced by leaps and bounds. We should be able to finish surveying the general perimeter of this new site in about twenty-seven hours. I’m afraid the scale of these ruins will be immense."

"Why do you say that?"

The director explained, "Our work on the previous ruins has led us to identify a pattern: the more High-level Ascenders there are within a Restricted Area, the more intense the Divine War that once occurred there was. And the more intense the Divine War, the larger the resulting Divine War Ruins.

"I don’t need to tell you how many High-level Ascenders Gaia has; it’s among the highest of all the Restricted Areas. The Divine Fog here even contains the ’Game’ Authority. This all points to the fact that the Divine War that erupted on this land back then was on an unimaginable scale."

Zhou Chen fell silent for a few seconds before sighing. "That’s going to be a problem."

The emergence of Divine War Ruins is always accompanied by a major conflict. A small-scale one would be manageable, but if these ruins are enormous and beyond our control, the newly rebuilt Gaia might face another cataclysm.

"Don’t worry. If it’s that large, the excavation will certainly be postponed. We won’t make a move until we’re sure it’s safe," the director reassured him.

The roar of machinery echoed from the distance. The director said, "The survey is starting. Do you want to stay and watch?"

"No," Zhou Chen declined. He had other things to do.

Leaving the Eighth District’s research institute, Zhou Chen instantly appeared on the other side of the World, hovering above a devastated city.

Ravaged by monsters born from activated pollution, the once-thriving metropolis was now a ruin. Buildings had collapsed, streets were shattered, and entire districts were unrecognizable. Survivors wandered dazedly through the thick smoke, struggling to accept the disaster that had befallen them.

Some sat numbly on rubble, staring into space. Others stumbled about frantically, or cried out in despair. Some even ignored the pain, digging through the debris with their bare hands.

Gazing down upon the suffering mortal world, Zhou Chen closed his eyes. A moment later, a brilliant, fiery light erupted from him. The crown of a King coalesced above his head as a solemn, sacred aura burst forth, spreading in all directions. It descended upon the people below, bringing a hope as precious as gold.

A gentle radiance surged into the sky, flowing like water to illuminate the entire city, blanketing everything.

In the sky, the figure wreathed in luminous flame seemed to become the only thing in existence. His divine radiance illuminated countless pairs of dull eyes, soothing their pain, dispelling the Darkness, and granting salvation equally to all.

In that moment, a line from an ancient scripture came to everyone’s mind—

——God loves mankind.