Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Pan Tuo's territory is located in the core inland area of ​​the Dead Sleep Palace forbidden zone.

The closer you are to the core of the forbidden zone in the lost territory, the richer the resources become.

Those who were able to occupy a place there were all nobles with ancient bloodlines, great power, or outstanding achievements.

Pan Tuo's family is one of them.

However, at this very moment, in this core area that symbolizes the glory of the nobles in the forbidden zone, orcs have appeared!

They emitted a savage, noisy waaaaa roar, distorting reality, crashing into cities and fortresses, and slaughtering countless humans in forbidden zones.

When this message was transmitted to various places via the emergency communication device.

All the powerful figures in the Dead Sleep Palace who received the intelligence, whether they were legion commanders directing the battle or overlords or supreme beings stationed in the rear, felt a chill run from their tailbone straight to the top of their head, and their scalps tingled!
They were well aware of the orcs' terror!

The historical records passed down from the ancient ancestors of the Dead Sleep Civilization contain only fragmentary accounts of an epic war that spanned the stars and lasted for countless years.

The ultimate war between the Lincang civilization and the ancient orc civilization. That war affected the entire known universe.

The records mention that the ancient orc civilization was the only terrifying force in that distant era that could rival the peak Lin Cang civilization on the battlefield and even gain the upper hand at certain stages!
Although the ancient orc civilization was later defeated, the entire race underwent an irreversible degeneration, evolving into the orcs we know today.

Even though they have weakened, they are still considered by many ancient civilizations to be a calamity capable of destroying the world!
And now, this calamity has actually appeared in the core area of ​​the Dead Sleep Palace.

While they were doing everything they could to deal with the calamity,

In the temporary command room, Supreme Lord Chique looked at the intelligence on the communications and felt his hands and feet turn ice cold.

Calamity offspring and orcs... how could two world-destroying calamities appear simultaneously in the forbidden zone?

why?
Why play such a cruel joke on the Dead Sleep Palace?!

Orcs... how did they come to be?
Could it be that orc spores have been lurking in that area for a long time?
Why haven't Rimbaud, Thorne, and Red Eyes returned yet? Were they not hunting pure-blooded humans, but investigating orcs?
What role did they play in all of this? Why weren't warnings issued sooner?

Could this also be a tactic employed by pure-blooded humans?
Countless questions and terrifying associations clashed wildly in the mind of the Supreme Lord Chique.

But he was, after all, a supreme ruler who had been through many battles, and he forcibly suppressed his momentary daze.

No! Now is not the time to investigate the causes and assign blame!
The most fatal problem is that orcs and calamity offspring appear at the same time!
One is an orc with the reality-distorting ability of "I think power," which evolves rapidly with the war and has an extremely strong ability to mass-produce troops.

One is a twisted nightmare, a scourge, that relies on meme infection and 'collective advancement' to snowball and pollute everything.

What would happen if they met, collided, and fought on this battlefield?
One side evolves rapidly in battle, learning from its opponent and even devising more terrifying weapons.

One side infects its opponents in the killing, turning the enemy's flesh and power into its own, driving the entire race to advance madly.

Before the eyes of the Supreme Being of Blazing Blaze, a vision seemed to appear, causing his soul to tremble:

A legion of twisted calamity offspring, numbering over a million and possessing individual strength reaching the sixth level of enlightenment, swept across the land like a murky black tsunami. Just how far will these powerful nodal calamity offspring grow?
On their opposite side is an even larger and more bizarrely equipped horde of orcs, who will unleash a deafening 'waaaaa', and their mountain-like orc leader will defy the laws of physics!
Two destructive torrents will collide violently on the territory of the Dead Sleep Palace!
This terrifying conjecture chilled the heart of the Supreme Emperor of Chique.

"No! We must not let them make contact!"

"Immediately notify the Holy Palace that all registered overlords, whether resting or on standby, regardless of their family affiliation, must immediately enter the highest-level combat sequence! Tell them that this is a war concerning the survival of the forbidden zone, and anyone who dares to shirk or delay will be treated as a traitor!"

"Contact Supreme Lingjian on the first battlefield... Tell him that he has to bear the pressure from the main attack direction of the Calamity Heirs himself! He won't have any reinforcements! Tell him to communicate with the forbidden zones like the Devouring Light Sea and the Throat of Returning Ruins, even if it means giving up some benefits, to unite their forces and keep the main force of the Calamity Heirs firmly pinned down at sea! We absolutely cannot allow them to land on a large scale and spread inland!"

"Although there are many orcs so far, no leader has emerged yet, and their weapons and equipment are primitive... This is the best opportunity to eliminate them!"

"The mopping-up operations on the second front cannot stop! The border troops... especially the border legions bordering Paradise Lost, cannot be moved a single soldier! We and those restricted areas are ultimately only temporary partners, not allies. We must not let them see our weakness, and we must not give them any excuse to take advantage of our vulnerability!"

"Except for the nobles whose territories directly border the second battlefield, immediately draw upon the guards and private soldiers of the other noble territories... Yes, draw half of them! They will be unified and commanded by my directly subordinate 'Burning Legion' to form a new 'Beast Extermination Legion' and rush towards Panto's territory and the surrounding area at the fastest speed! There is only one target!"

"Eliminate the orcs completely before they gain power, before they come into contact with and collide with the remnants of the Calamity Legion in the interior!"

That night, the entire forbidden zone seemed to come alive, with large numbers of legions being mobilized.

On the other side, Li Yelai and his two companions, having completed the release of orc spores, fertilization, and even left behind a large number of weapons, also arrived at the gathering place of the tides.

It was a natural canyon located near the coastline, with a unique landscape. It seemed as if some great force had forcibly torn apart the solid land in the distant past, allowing the surging seawater to rush in and form a narrow waterway that stretched several kilometers inland. On both sides were steep cliffs hundreds of meters high, with jagged rock walls.

The most striking feature is the dense array of seabird nests on the cliffs and land.

This is an extraordinary bird unique to the Lost Lands. It is huge, with a wingspan of several meters, and has a fierce temperament. It feeds on fish and small marine mammals.

They live and breed here, and every day they rush into the sea in groups to hunt, emitting loud and piercing cries.

Their presence also caused the entire canyon area to be filled with a unique stench that was a mixture of fishy smell and bird droppings.

Over the years, countless bird droppings have accumulated, forming a layer more than a meter thick, resembling a snowfield.

The pungent smell and filthy appearance deterred even the most arrogant creatures from venturing into the forbidden zone.

This, in turn, became the ideal natural cover for humans to hide their tracks and establish secret ports.

"Actually, this guano is quite good fuel. The resources in the Forbidden Zone are so abundant that they don't even bother with this kind of material. But we humans, naturally, don't care." Chu He led the two deeper into the canyon, explaining, "We originally had three of these port-type settlements, but unfortunately, they were all discovered and destroyed by the Forbidden Zone's hunting teams more than a decade ago. I am one of the survivors."

Pure-blooded humans have never given up their dream of escaping this land of despair. However, technological gaps, a lack of knowledge, and extreme resource scarcity have made building large ships capable of sailing the deep sea an unattainable dream.

The original intelligent AI sent by the Giant City government, now the Awakened Machine Soul - Forging General, perfectly makes up for this.

Countless materials, including metals, wood, and special minerals, painstakingly collected from various parts of the lost lands or obtained through Ark trade, were piled up like mountains, categorized and arranged.

The modular casting units, which unfolded in place, emitted a deep rumble, and the production line operated efficiently under the precise control of the machine spirit.

Thick pipes were welded, and huge propeller blades underwent final balancing adjustments…

In the canyon, Li Yelai saw the five warships being adjusted. They had sleek lines, heavy armor, menacing rams mounted on their bows, and the gun emplacements on their decks were faintly visible.

The Forging General had clearly detected Li Yelai's arrival.

A forged mech appeared before Li Yelai, emitting a clear electronic voice: "It's a pleasure to see you again, Ninth Champion. The system has detected a qualitative leap in your psionic wavelength, and the data comparison matches the characteristics of the Overlord level. Congratulations on your advancement to Overlord."

It was clearly a synthesized voice, yet it carried respect and sincerity.

"General Forging, it's been a long time." Li Yelai nodded.

The original Terror Demon AI was killed by Li Yelai with the Machine God Core, thus becoming the current Machine Soul Forging General.

From this perspective, Li Yelai can be considered its second parent.
"How much longer until we can depart?" Li Yelai asked.

"At the fastest, it will take 42 hours." After a brief synchronization, the Forging Mech conveyed the Forging General's voice: "Based on a comprehensive assessment of the ship's structural strength, power system integration, defensive rune loading, and life support unit testing progress, it will take at least 42 hours. This is the maximum compression time without significantly increasing the risk of failure. Further forced compression may increase the probability of critical system failure during navigation by 17.3%."

"Speaking of risks, Lao Li, be careful after you board the ship. Your vehicle assassin is too dangerous," Chu He warned. He knew all too well the power of Li Yelai's vehicle assassin.

After all, you can see that Old Ma has numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven.

Do you really think they're retired? They were all ridden to death by Li Yelai!

If it weren't for Old Eight, Old Ma No. 8 was originally the corpse of the Annihilator King's Terror Demon, with strong vitality, and would have been eliminated long ago.

He truly lives up to his name as a vehicle killer!
Chu He dared not let Li Yelai trigger the curse on the ship.

Brothers may be brothers, but if Li Yelai's curse is triggered, he'll still drag Li Yelai out. If he can't win, he'll swim back with him.
"Hmph, so you're already looking down on me?" Li Yelai grinned and complained, "Don't worry. Without the mask, the curse won't be triggered. And once I use the mask, I naturally won't stay on the ship."

Little Mad King seemed to understand a little, and tightened his grip on Li Yelai's arm.

This surprised Li Yelai, who looked at her in surprise and didn't understand what she was trying to say.

“She probably means she won’t look down on you.” Chu He chuckled and changed the subject: “Right now, the higher-ups in the restricted area are probably terrified and can’t spare the resources to deal with us for the time being. But if we leave port, we will inevitably run into the border legions of the restricted area. Do you have any thoughts? In the current environment, we probably won’t be able to fool them with the identification signals of Lambo or Thorne anymore.”

“I’m not really the kind of person who thinks things through. If we encounter them, I plan to wipe them out. But once our fleet is exposed, even if we sail at full speed, we won’t be able to escape the pursuit of the restricted area. Compared to the psionicists, the fleet is too slow,” Li Ye said.

With Li Yelai's current strength, annihilating a forbidden zone legion wouldn't be difficult. Especially after activating—of course, referring to activating the Anomalous Phenomenon: Tribulation and Fate.

Li Yelai can kill them with meteorites, or he can start a hunting feast with Tindaros hounds.

However, even though Li Ye is strong, he cannot possibly protect five ships at the same time. There's even a possibility that they might be affected.

If the fleet gets bogged down, it will be very troublesome.

No one can be sure what kind of enemies they might attract.

“At present, there really aren’t many perfect options…” Chu He pondered, his fingers unconsciously tapping the cold rock wall beside him.

As the leader, he had to consider more: "A direct assault to break through is extremely risky. Perhaps... we can distract them first."

"Should we go ourselves? Or release some more orcs?" Li Yelai asked.

“Let’s go ourselves. If we send in the orcs, they’ll react defensively and send a large army, which would be bad,” Chu He said.

“Alright, let’s find an opportunity to drop a meteorite on their base and run.” Li Yelai nodded.

Their gazes, without prior arrangement, turned once again to the five steel ships that were making their final preparations.

The sea breeze swept through the canyon, carrying a salty, fishy smell, and also bringing with it the turbulent noise of the forbidden zone.

"We're almost at the final step," Chu He sighed. "I never thought I'd actually get this opportunity. I originally planned to use the Ark to keep getting stronger and challenge for a spot. Second ring, first ring... until I could directly bring all my compatriots onto the Ark for transfer. But we all know that was just an illusion I was chasing."

Yes, that was an illusion.

It wasn't a question about Chu He's talent, but rather because the challenge for a seat on the Ark was extremely difficult; to even attempt a first-level challenge, one had to at least become a Spirit King.

If Chu He could become the king of the lost land, what would he have to fear?
The problem is, when he advances to the Supreme level, he will inevitably be discovered by the forbidden zone, as he hasn't reached that level of maturity.
Moreover, what about challenging for a seat?
He knew it was a fantasy, an unrealistic and beautiful fantasy, but how could he, as a leader, despair?
Even if it's fake, he has to try his best to maintain this hope.
Now, the opportunity to escape is right in front of us.

"Old Li, is your champion team still short of players?" Chu He asked with a smile.

“Of course,” Li Yelai replied.

The two exchanged a glance and smiled. (End of Chapter)