Chapter 406: Sudden Change in the Human Race, Warriors Thundering, Requesting to Rejoin the Team!

Chapter 406: Human Crisis, Warriors Stir, Requesting to Return to the Ranks!

The God-Chosen Battlefield, human stronghold.

The air hung heavy with the faint scent of ozone, the residual energy of a recent skirmish against the Spirit-race chosen.

Qin Feng stood at the perimeter of the outpost, his automated mining drone factory running at full capacity. Cart after cart of crimson copper ore was fed into the converter, transmuted into energy keystones to reinforce the stronghold’s defensive field.

To a Venerable who had once stood at the pinnacle of the cosmos, such rudimentary construction was tedious and dull, yet Qin Feng performed the task with meticulous precision. He knew that this seemingly crude outpost was, at this moment, the lighthouse toward which all humanity gazed.

Just then, the cold, mechanical chime of the God-Chosen System shattered the silence of the sky.

[Warning: High-energy reaction detected in the geological strata beneath the stronghold.]

[Triggering regional hidden mission: Trial of the Lost Civilization.]

[Mission Description: Buried 3,000 meters directly beneath your stronghold lies a logic-lock core left by a "Pre-Epoch Civilization." The core is currently accumulating energy and is expected to detonate in 15 minutes, with a yield sufficient to erase the entire crimson copper vein region.]

[Mission Objective: Crack the logic-lock and disarm the self-destruct sequence.]

[Constraints: Violent destruction is prohibited (Forced entry will trigger immediate detonation). Solution must be derived via intellect/computational power.]

[Current Difficulty: Grade A (Intellectual).]

No matching hostile race.

This was a test purely of "civilizational heritage."

Reality Universe, Terra Council.

"An intellectual-side mission?"

A white-haired scientific advisor pushed up his glasses, cold sweat streaming down his face. "This is the most troublesome type! Logic-locks in the God-Chosen Battlefield usually involve higher mathematics, multidimensional geometry, or even chaotic algorithms. Fifteen minutes... even if all our council’s supercomputing centers were linked, we might not even parse the introductory algorithm!"

"Venerable Qin’s combat power is peerless, but this puzzle-solving..."

On the screen, Qin Feng moved.

He showed no panic, nor did he summon his think tank (though the rules permitted external aid). He simply joined his fingers into a blade and traced a line across the rock beneath his feet.

The ground parted like water, and Qin Feng’s figure vanished into the depths.

Three thousand meters down.

A vast hollow revealed itself, with a silver metallic sphere ten meters in diameter suspended in the center. Countless complex blue light-paths flowed across the sphere’s surface, shifting a hundred million times per second; each transformation was an encryption algorithm of immense complexity.

This was the "logic-lock."

Qin Feng hovered before the sphere, his "Eyes of Returning Ruins"—capable of seeing through all falsehoods—slowly opening.

In his vision, this was no longer a metal sphere, but a tangle of intertwined rule-lines.

"So, a variant algorithm of the 'Metatron Cube,' infused with a Level 3 civilization’s energy circulation loop."

Qin Feng’s voice echoed in the subterranean void, chillingly calm.

"Things like this were toys I dismantled in the Ancient Luo King’s Ruins back when I was merely at the Planetary level."

He extended his right hand. His fingers did not touch the sphere, but danced rapidly in the void.

With every rhythmic movement, a strand of divine intent precisely pierced a node in the light-paths.

External live broadcast room.

"Calculating... the human chosen’s finger frequency is 300 beats per second. Is he inputting code? No, he is directly modifying the energy flow!"

"Warning: Logic conflict! His method defies standard algorithms, but he is bypassing the verification steps!"

"This is impossible! This requires at least 100 quintillion floating-point operations per second. How could a carbon-based brain withstand such a load?"

Qin Feng, of course, had no need for calculation.

Because he mastered the "rules."

Just as a primary school student must solve an equation step-by-step, while a mathematics professor knows the answer at a glance.

This was the disparity of dimensions.

"Open."

Qin Feng commanded softly.

8th second.

The blue light on the silver sphere’s surface froze, then shifted into a gentle green glow.

Click—

The sphere bloomed like a lotus, revealing the core item within.

[Mission complete.]

[Time elapsed: 8 seconds.]

[Evaluation: S-Grade (Perfect resolution).]

[Rewards obtained:]

Civilizational Artifact: Blueprint for Primary Anti-Gravity Engine (Complete Version).

Special Resource: High-Energy Compressed Crystal x100 (Can serve as defensive tower energy).

National Destiny Feedback:

Technological Leap: Scientific research speed across all human territories +10%.

Mental Clarity: Logical thinking ability of all human citizens +3%.

Qin Feng tucked away the glowing blue blueprint, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"Anti-gravity engine... though it’s a low-spec version, it is the exact piece missing for humanity to step into deep interstellar space."

He did not know that this cascade of rewards was triggering a world-shaking qualitative change in the distant reality universe.

...

Location: 9th Star Sector, wasteland colony planet "Grey Rock-4."

Person: Old Xu, 68, a first-generation pioneer veteran.

Grey Rock-4 was a planet tormented by acid rain and radiation. The sky was forever lead-grey, and the soil a sickly purple-brown.

Old Xu knelt in his greenhouse, his knees sinking deep into the hard, parched earth.

His spine had been damaged in a mining disaster thirty years ago, and combined with chronic radiation sickness, he could only hunch over like a withered shrimp.

"Cough, cough..."

Old Xu coughed violently, staring at the sparse, straggly "acid-resistant wheat" before him.

This was his family’s ration for the month. But because the pH of the recent acid rain had dropped again, the wheat leaves were turning yellow and curling, on the verge of death.

"Oh, Heavens..." Old Xu’s clouded eyes welled with tears. "Are you cutting off our only path to survival?"

Just then.

An invisible ripple swept across the entirety of Grey Rock-4, passing through the dilapidated greenhouse and through Old Xu’s broken body.

This was the first wave of feedback from the God-Chosen Battlefield: [Grain yield +5%] (Conceptual-level blessing) and [Constitution +1%].

A miracle had unfolded.

Old Xu stared in wide-eyed astonishment.

He watched as the wheat, which had been on the verge of death, straightened its stalks at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The withered, yellow leaves seemed infused with a mysterious vitality, instantly turning a rich, vibrant green. The once-shriveled ears of grain swelled, ripening into a heavy, golden bounty within mere minutes, drooping low under their own weight.

This was not merely a five-percent increase in yield; it was a fundamental leap in the essence of life—these crops had adapted to the acidic soil.

"This... this..."

Old Xu leaned in, trembling with excitement, only to freeze in place.

He realized his perspective had shifted higher.

Instinctively, he reached for his lower back. The spinal joints, which usually burned with the agony of rusted gears, were now flooded with a warm, soothing current.

The heat flowed along his spine, mending necrotic nerves and nourishing his withered marrow.

[Total national physique +1%].

For a powerful warrior, one percent was negligible. But for an ordinary man like Old Xu, teetering on the edge of collapse, this one percent was the boundary between life and death—the straw that broke the camel's back had transformed into a lifeline.

Crack.

A crisp sound echoed.

Old Xu straightened his back, slowly and with trembling limbs.

For the first time in thirty years, he stood tall without the aid of a cane.

He pushed open the greenhouse door and stepped outside.

The world, once gray and dim, was now impossibly clear. He saw his neighbors rushing out, their cheers echoing across the barren land.

"We survived..." Old Xu gazed toward the sky in the direction of Terra; though he could not see that figure, he knew who was shielding them.

He raised his right hand, trembling, and executed a military salute—long forgotten, yet perfectly standard.

"Salute!"

...

Location: Human home planet, Central Academy of Sciences, Third Physics Laboratory.

Character: Lin Qianqian, 24, a brilliant intern researcher. The lab was buried under discarded drafts, and the electronic whiteboard was dense with complex formulas.

The air was stifling, heavy enough to choke.

"Still nothing."

Her mentor slammed his stylus onto the desk in a fit of rage. "The energy overflow problem of the 'curvature stabilizer' has been stuck for fifty years! If we cannot solve this system of equations, our ships will never fly beyond this local group! Humanity is nothing but a frog locked at the bottom of a well!"

Lin Qianqian huddled in the corner, staring at the set of nonlinear partial differential equations known as the "Death Lock."

Her brain felt like mush. After three consecutive nights without sleep, her mind had stiffened; every digit seemed to dance, mocking her incompetence.

"Perhaps the professor is right... human intelligence has its limits," Lin Qianqian thought in despair. "We are not, after all, the natural-born computational machines of the Mechanical Race."

Just as she prepared to close her notebook and surrender, the feedback from the third and fourth waves of the God-Chosen Battlefield arrived simultaneously.

[Mental potential +2%].

[Newborn intelligence +5] (Though she was not a newborn, the national destiny covered all age groups with a subtle boost).

[Logical reasoning ability +3%].

[Scientific research speed +10%].

Hum—

Lin Qianqian felt as if a layer of paper deep within her brain had been pierced.

Her chaotic, noisy world of thought suddenly turned crystal clear.

The once-obscure formulas now seemed to dismantle and reassemble before her eyes, transforming into beautiful musical notes.

"Wait..."

Lin Qianqian snatched up her pen.

The sensation was marvelous. It was as if she had been groping through a fog, and now, with the mist dispersed, a clear path led directly to the destination.

Her pen tip raced across the paper without a single pause.

Derivation, substitution, inverse operation, reconstruction.

Calculations that would have required a supercomputer three days to process were completed in her mind in an instant.

"Professor!"

Five minutes later, Lin Qianqian stood up abruptly, her voice hoarse with excitement.

"I solved it! It's not about increasing the energy shield, but changing the frequency! Introducing the third quadrant variable of the imaginary number i... look!"

The mentor walked over, frowning, and cast a casual glance.

The next second, his pupils contracted violently.

His hands trembled as he picked up the draft paper, holding it as if it were scripture.

"Correct... a logical closed loop... perfectly self-consistent..."

The mentor looked up sharply at the young girl, his eyes filled with incredulous ecstasy.

"A genius... no, this is divine revelation! Quick! Notify the Engineering Department! The curvature engine can be ignited!"

Outside the window, a massive holographic screen was replaying the footage of Qin Feng breaking the logic lock.

Lin Qianqian watched that calm figure and clenched her fist.

"Thank you for giving me this light."

...

Location: Seventh Sector, Frontier Defense Line, 101st Field Hospital.

Character: Lei Dong, 45, former Special Assault Team captain, now a disabled veteran.

The ward was filled with the scent of antiseptic.

Lei Dong lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. His right arm was severed at the root—a medal earned three years ago while repelling the Zerg invasion, and the curse that ended his martial path.

Though the stump had healed, his meridians were shattered, and every rainy day brought pain deep into his marrow.

What drove him to further despair was that, due to his disability, his vital energy had begun to decay, his cultivation falling from the Soaring Realm down to that of a mortal.

"Useless," he whispered to himself with a bitter laugh.

Today was the day all of humanity watched the God-Chosen broadcast, but he dared not look. He feared seeing his people slaughtered, and feared even more seeing the passion he once held cool completely within his broken body.

Suddenly, the young nurse in the next bed let out a cry of surprise.

"Look! God Qin has completed the fourth task! Everyone's physique is enhanced! And... and logical reasoning has improved?"

Before the words could fade, the transformation began.

Lei Dong suddenly felt a violent, tingling sensation erupt from the stump of his right arm, severed three years ago.

No, it was not merely the wound.

It was his Dantian, long dormant within his body.

[National Physique +1%].

The value sounded negligible, yet for a former powerhouse like Lei Dong, this one percent of "primal restoration" was like casting a spark into a parched oil well.

Boom!

A long-forgotten surge of heat pumped from his heart, instantly scouring his withered meridians.

Those acupoints, blocked by years of bedridden atrophy, were breached with unstoppable force under the impact of this mysterious power.

"Urgh..." Lei Dong let out a suppressed growl as his bones cracked and popped throughout his body.

His internal hidden injuries—the genetic-level damage that even top-tier medical pods could not repair—were actually healing!

Though his severed arm could not regrow, he felt his remaining left arm and both legs brimming with unprecedented, explosive strength.

More importantly, his mind had become crystalline.

Obscure bottlenecks he had once encountered while practicing combat techniques were now automatically unraveling into solutions within his thoughts.

The effect of [Logical Thinking +3%] manifested—the Martial Way, too, requires logic!

"Ascension Realm... has the bottleneck loosened?"

Lei Dong sat up in disbelief. He gripped the edge of the bed with one hand and pulled with sudden force.

Creeeak—

The guardrail, forged from special alloy, was twisted into a mangled knot by his bare hand!

"Captain?!" The doctor who had just entered dropped his tray, scattering instruments across the floor.

Lei Dong stared at his left hand; the ash-gray despair in his eyes had vanished, replaced by two fiercely burning flames.

"Doctor, process my discharge papers."

Lei Dong threw off the sheets and strode toward the window, looking in the direction of the recruitment office.

"My arm may be gone, but I still have my legs, my teeth, and this life!"

"Venerable Qin is out there risking his life for us; how can I lie here like a useless cripple?"

"Extreme Warrior Regiment, Lei Dong, requesting to return to duty!"

...

These three stories, occurring in different corners of the universe, were merely a microcosm of the transformation unfolding among billions of human souls.

In places unseen by Qin Feng, a seed named "Hope" was being watered by the nectar of national destiny, fueled by his every victory, taking root and sprouting with wild abandon.

The once-frail human race was awakening.

God-Chosen Battlefield, Human Stronghold.

Qin Feng was unaware of the jubilation his casual task completion had brought to his kin.

He was focused on studying the "Primary Anti-Gravity Engine Blueprint" in his hands.

"The structure is passable, but the energy efficiency is too low."

Qin Feng’s finger traced the blueprint, instinctively wanting to revise it, but he paused.

"Forget it. Given the current technological level of humanity, this 'low-spec' version is easier to mass-produce. Giving them overly advanced tech would only be counterproductive."

He uploaded the blueprint to the stronghold's "Civilization Spark" core.

In the next second, the Spark would quantize the blueprint data, syncing it directly to the human high command in the real universe.

Having finished, Qin Feng stood up and gazed toward the distant wilderness.

The mist there had grown thicker than before.

The Eye of Guixu pulsed slightly, sending a faint, ominous warning.

"It is far too quiet."

Qin Feng muttered to himself.

Ever since he killed the Spirit race’s Huan Xu, the surrounding alien strongholds seemed to have evaporated overnight.

No probing, no harassment; even the roars of wild beasts had ceased.

This did not conform to the cruel laws of the God-Chosen Battlefield.

Unless... they were brewing something massive.

(End of Chapter)