Chapter 1010: Kidnapped by Aliens?

Chapter 1010: Kidnapped by "Aliens"?

"Whoa? Bro, you're not online?"

The bedroom door burst open with a bang.

Watching her brother charge out of the room, Ye Jiu, who was gnawing on a chicken foot, was startled, nearly dropping the half-eaten claw.

"Bro, it's not what you think, I actually did call you..." Seeing her brother's dark face, Ye Jiu muttered guiltily in a low voice, but noticed his attention wasn't on the already-opened takeout box at all.

"I can't get back in."

"Can't get back in?!" Ye Jiu froze, murmuring to herself, "How come you always run into all the good stuff..."

"Good my ass, it's not good at all."

Plunking down onto the sofa, Ye Wei had no mind for takeout, only staring at his sister and urging.

"Quick, try your helmet—see if the server crashed."

"Pfft—do you really think that's possible?"

"Just try it."

Unable to resist her brother's nagging, Ye Jiu, who had just logged off, reluctantly put the helmet back on her head.

Watching his sister reconnect, Ye Wei fidgeted anxiously for five minutes, each one stretching like an hour.

Seeing Ye Jiu sit motionless, he already knew the answer in his heart, but he still clung to that one-in-a-million hope that the problem wasn't just his.

But alas.

That hope had become impossible.

A moment later, Ye Jiu took off the helmet.

Before she could speak, Ye Wei asked stubbornly.

"Well? Is it a server issue?"

Ye Jiu rolled her eyes at him and tossed the helmet aside.

"Obviously, it's you."

"..."

Ye Wei sank deep into the sofa, finally abandoning the unrealistic fantasy of a server failure.

Since the disconnection, he had tried over a hundred times, only to fail to reconnect.

First he couldn't log off, and now he couldn't log back in.

Ye Wei was at a loss, both amused and exasperated.

"Damn, why do all the crappy things happen to me?"

"I'm wondering too—my closed beta feels fake, I've never hit a single bug..." Ye Jiu muttered, then suddenly thought of something and looked at her brother. "Hey, aren't you tight with Brother Guang? Why don't you ask him?"

Ye Wei sighed and said.

"I asked him. He said it might be an abnormal status... and that the new map five light-years away is still in testing, not his department. He told me to find a chance and come back as soon as possible."

Honestly, he felt Brother Guang cared more about that Orion-class missile cruiser than about him.

The only comfort was that Brother Guang said he was still alive—no doubt about that.

But thinking of Jiang Xuezhou alone five light-years away, his anxiety spiked.

"Five light-years... I can't even pass a message for you," Ye Jiu said, glancing at the ceiling, then turning to him. "So how did you end up in an abnormal status? Eat a poisonous mushroom?"

Ye Wei: "...No way."

Not even a mushroom.

Even the water he drank was from his own supplies; he hadn't touched a single bit of the natives' "tribute."

"Then what happened..." Jiu Jiu scratched the back of her head, also confused.

Mainly, given her brother's perception stats, being ambushed was already ridiculous enough—and now he couldn't even get back online.

Ye Wei calmed down and thought for a moment, then said in an uncertain tone.

"I think it might be hypnosis..."

"Hypnosis?!" Jiu Jiu's eyes went wide. "But... no... what's the point of hypnotizing you?"

Ye Wei shot her a glance, ignored her, and calmly analyzed.

What's the point...

The point was huge.

Everyone saw the "Ancestor" descend upon Doma City and witnessed the incredible miracle he performed.

His identity was beyond doubt.

Then, in the name of the "Ancestor," he declared his decree—

The sacred relic from the heavens had fallen to the mortal world, landing in the hands of the sinners in the Forbidden Forest Valley.

If that relic wasn't returned to the sky, it would bring disaster upon the entire world.

This was the perfect excuse for war.

The leader of Doma City could use this not only to attack the "sinners" in the Forbidden Forest Valley but also to rally all the "warlords" across the forest.

Ye Wei felt his brow twitch violently.

"Damn... using the emperor to command the princes?!"

There wasn't just one power armor; there was an old set in his room.

Though it was broken, as long as you had enough strength, you could still walk a few steps in it.

These barbarians had strength to spare.

Next, that Tun Nan—whatever his name—didn't need to do anything. He just had to keep turning a blind eye—or close both eyes entirely—and then find someone to impersonate him, or even impersonate him himself, and the whole plan would go smoothly.

But the question was, how the hell did these people hypnotize him?!

...

Just as Ye Shi was racking his brains, at the entrance of the temple at the root of the sacred tree in Doma City stood a group of fully armed guards.

These guards were the elite of the Doma tribe, their knotted muscles as solid as granite, their wooden vine armor inlaid with pieces of dark green crystals, their raised spears like the horns of a fierce beast.

In both equipment and strength, these men displayed top-notch quality.

Not only that—

As temple guards, they possessed abilities ordinary warriors lacked.

That was psychic ability.

This special power not only granted them the talent to communicate with all living things but also the skill to implant psychological suggestions and negative emotions into their targets.

For example, lifting the spirits of a despairing warrior, or making a restless wild deer bow its head meekly.

As for hypnosis—

It was nothing more than basic fundamentals.

Catching them completely off guard, they could make the "subject" entirely unaware they had even fallen asleep, only realizing the truth when they found themselves already standing within a dream.

And if they cast the spell using the "Tree of Ein Sof" as a medium, they did not even need to stand face-to-face before their opponent.

It was precisely for this reason that, even if wiping them all out required nothing more than a single strafe from an assault rifle, that premise required one to have the chance to pull the trigger in the first place...

Looking at the "iron armor" being carried out from the temple, a sliver of dread involuntarily crept onto Saqui’s weathered face.

Initially, when they could not strip that armor off, he had thought Tunnan would let the matter drop, but he never expected the man to directly borrow the power of the Tree of Ein Sof, drawing upon experiences from the past to ultimately figure out a method to force a termination of the power.

It had not been that difficult.

It required nothing more than pressing down on a few critical mechanisms.

Hesitating for a moment, Saqui finally could not bear the inner torment any longer; looking toward the chieftain beside him, he spoke in a trembling voice.

"...You have laid hands upon the First Ancestor."

Tunnan’s face remained expressionless, not wavering in the slightest due to Saqui’s dread.

"The so-called First Ancestor is merely a slightly stronger human... Indeed, his understanding of the Tree of Ein Sof is inferior to yours and mine, and his strength is far less than ours."

Since the descent of the Second Judgment Day and the departure of the First Ancestors, hundreds of springs and autumns had already passed.

Throughout these long ages, the people of the Doma tribe had always kept the teachings of the First Ancestors close to their hearts, never slackening in their communication with the Tree of Ein Sof.

Yet, when the First Ancestor spoken of by the tribal elders truly descended before him, Tunnan’s initial ecstasy and astonishment gave way to nothing but disappointment left in his heart.

It felt...

Like nothing more than this.

The ability to summon wind and rain was certainly striking to him, but they had played that same trick a long time ago, and after the passage of hundreds of springs and autumns, it was still the same old routine.

The First Ancestor's capabilities seemed to end just there.

Tunnan’s disappointment did not stop at this.

Not only was their First Ancestor’s ability as weak as before, but his understanding of the Tree of Ein Sof had also been left far behind by these descendants.

To this day, the First Ancestors still had not grasped the ability of spiritual communication, to the point where they still had to try to comprehend that language which had long been abandoned—even rejected—by them, trying to understand those incomprehensible cries just like communicating with beasts.

This was all that Tunnan saw in that man.

Those people who had once warned them not to slacken in their study of the "Tree of Ein Sof" were now living like the sinners in the valley, even more ignorant than the latter.

Looking at the sharp-eyed leader, Saqui lowered his head and said with a bitter expression.

"The Tree of Ein Sof tells me that this may bring calamity to our tribe; I saw the future, fire across the heavens and the earth, and countless corpses..."

"I likewise saw the images you saw, except what I saw were the corpses of our enemies. We will return the holy relic of the First Ancestor to its original owner, but it will be in our way, not at their beck and call."

Bearing an indifferent expression, Tunnan uttered these words in a flat tone.

He had already triumphed over a god, and soon he would also triumph over those sinners abandoned by the gods.

The myriad tribes within the forest would be unified into one, and he would become the Human Emperor, passed down and praised by tens of thousands of mouths.

Such a future existed just the same.

And it was something he had seen with his own eyes upon those millions of leaves, looking through the branches of the Tree of Ein Sof.

Seeing the unmoved leader, Saqui gave a soft sigh, closing his mouth and speaking no further words.

The possibilities of the future were many, as numerous as the leaves of the Tree of Ein Sof.

The Tree of Ein Sof had granted them eyes to glimpse the entire canopy, yet who would have thought His cleverest child would have his eyes blinded by a single beautiful leaf...

At this moment, a young woman of graceful figure walked out from the entrance of the temple.

Walking before Tunnan and Saqui, Dora nodded slightly and said.

"The First Ancestor is sleeping very soundly, he has not awakened."

Hearing "sleeping very soundly," the corner of Tunnan's mouth curled into a faint, mocking smile, though it was quickly reined in.

Looking at the fair-faced temple maid, he handed down his order without expression.

"From this day forth, you shall attend to his daily life, granting his every request, save that you must not let him leave the temple by a single step. Otherwise, you and your family shall all be executed."

Dora buried her head even lower, speaking with utmost reverence.

"As you command."

...

The atmosphere of war enveloped the entire forest, such that even the birds perched on the branches involuntarily softened the sound of their singing.

In the name of the "First Ancestor," representatives dispatched by various tribes within the forest assembled beneath the Holy Tree of Doma City, convening a meeting through the medium of the spiritual power granted to them by the "Tree of Ein Sof."

Within the meeting, they communicated silently, sharing the revelations obtained from the Tree of Ein Sof and the holy words of the First Ancestor.

In that dream of revelations, they saw the great fire and death that Saqui had once seen, seeing the forest turned to ruins.

Without a doubt, that was the Third Judgment Day.

And according to the oracle handed down by the all-powerful First Ancestor, the beginning of the Third Judgment Day was precisely because of that holy relic lost upon the lands of the sinners.

To avoid calamity, they had to reclaim the holy relic lost from the heavens before everything became irreversible, and wrest back their "Holy Land" from the hands of the sinners!

In truth, they should have done this long ago!

The outcome of the meeting held no suspense; the tribes within the forest all agreed to dispatch troops to the Forbidden Forest Valley, electing "Tunnan" to serve as the leader of the allied tribes.

Just like that, a grand and mighty army began to assemble in the direction of Doma City.

Meanwhile, in order to cope with the invasion of the forest tribes, the Senate of the "State of Qiu" also convened an emergency meeting, mobilizing the young people of various clans to join the army, preparing to resist the invasion of the forest people.

Only when both sides were at daggers drawn did a youth bearing a bow and arrows step into the Forbidden Forest embraced by the mountains.

Owing to the uniquely blessed geographical conditions of being nestled against mountains and rivers, this patch of forest was far more dangerous than any forest outside the valley.

Even experienced hunters would not lightly venture into the depths of this forest.

Qiu Ling actually did not wish to step into this land either.

Yet he had no choice but to do so.

The State of Qiu had reached a critical juncture of life and death; he had to find the holy relic within the Forbidden Forest before everything became irreversible, returning it to the tribes of the forest people to appease the latter's wrath.

This was not only the expectation of the Senate, but also the will of the "First Ancestor."

According to that First Ancestor, only in this way could the living creatures within this forest be saved.

Though harboring a sliver of doubt toward such an optimistic notion, Qiu Ling still decided to complete the "trial" of the First Ancestor.

After all, this was one of the few things he could do at present.

Whether it would succeed or not, he had to give it a try.

Fortunately, the First Ancestor had not left him to face the fierce beasts within the forest all alone.

Under the guidance of that flying silver metal disc, he had found a "divine bow" possessing the power to split mountains and shatter stone upon the plains outside the valley, as well as some "branches" capable of summoning fire.

With these two divine artifacts, he walked through the forest as if on level ground, and relying on his abundant patrolling experience, he quickly groped his way to the location of the so-called holy relic "exuding a sacred aura."

To his surprise, however, what appeared before his eyes was no holy relic at all, but rather that burning palace that had fallen from the sky during the Second Judgment Day!

A flicker of wariness, even fear, rose in Qiu Ling's eyes as he lingered by the pitch-black entrance, daring not to step forward.

In contrast, a burst of excited cheers erupted in the bridge of the Orion-class missile cruiser drifting in synchronous orbit.

“Found it!”

Facing the holographic screen of the terminal, Jiang Xuezhou clenched her fists in excitement and couldn't help but let out a cheer.

Through the drone's camera, she clearly saw the wreckage of the Twin!

Green vines crawled all over the rust-streaked steel hull, yet they could not conceal its majestic bearing.

Watching the bewildered youth lingering at the entrance of the "ruins," she suppressed her excitement and spoke in a mystifying, coaxing tone.

“What we seek is right there... inside the temple before your eyes!”

“Find it!”

“Then, bring it out intact!”