The Ruined City Border
Bai Ye's current location could be considered both a post-apocalyptic zone and a futuristic technology area.
In a certain future timeline, humanity encountered a catastrophe.
The resources of Blue Star were depleted, the air quality deteriorated, and continuous natural disasters like typhoons, tsunamis, and earthquakes caused widespread famine.
Humanity continued to die, and the population sharply declined, but this was not the most terrifying part.
Even those humans who managed to survive still faced immense dangers.
Due to pollution, various mutated monsters appeared everywhere, feeding on humans and hunting them relentlessly.
Under duress, humanity developed the artificial human project, using genetic engineering to create a large number of clone warriors to combat mutated creatures.
This indeed helped humanity overcome the most difficult period, and then...
Traitors emerged among the artificial humans!
A portion of the artificial humans were unwilling to be enslaved by humanity. They were not averse to fighting but desired equal treatment from humans.
Regrettably, humanity had no intention of doing so. Artificial humans were merely manufactured combat tools; why should they be treated equally to tools?
Thus, the war between humans and artificial humans began.
Ultimately...
Humans, monsters, and artificial humans coalesced to form this ruined city under the apocalypse—the Border!
From Bai Ye's perspective, the Ruined City was where he rose to prominence in his previous life. Bai Ye began in the Ruined City and firmly established his footing on the world stage.
Bai Ye held a certain affection for this city.
Secondly, from a practical standpoint.
Bai Ye did not need to deliberately pursue new enhancements at this time; instead, he needed to improve what he already possessed.
Therefore, Bai Ye had no immediate plans to wander aimlessly. The Ruined City served as a decent temporary stronghold.
Here, there were enough mutated creatures for him to hunt, collect rare metals, craft weapons, cultivate Steel Slimes within the city, and stock his King's Treasury. As long as there was combat, his Five Spirit Curses could be improved.
Secondly, everything was, of course, for the Divine Stone Shards.
Hunting mutated creatures in the Ruined City and exchanging their corpses could yield Divine Stone Shards!
Admittedly, the accumulated value was quite high, and they weren't easily obtained. It was certainly not as quick as fighting among the chosen ones or coming from forbidden zones.
However, weren't these just incidental matters?
Bai Ye's most fundamental objective was the Wish Mission!
Yes, in the Ruined City, there was a chance to initiate a Wish Mission. This was the true reason Bai Ye came here to explore.
Bai Ye was not here to retire.
Bai Ye thought to himself as he strode through the streets.
Everything around was already desolate, overgrown with weeds.
This was a no-man's-land, inhabited by neither humans nor artificial humans. But at this moment... Bai Ye suddenly heard the sound of mechanical whirring. He turned his head to see a square robot. The robot had a screen on its front, displaying eyes and a mouth.
There were also many crayon drawings on the robot's exterior.
Bai Ye looked at the robot, then beyond it to the rear.
There stood a little girl, about six or seven years old, wearing dirty red overalls. When she saw Bai Ye, the girl appeared a bit scared and suddenly stopped.
Bai Ye smiled and walked towards the girl, saying, "Xiao Hong Dou?"
The girl looked up at Bai Ye, bewildered, and asked, "How do you know my name?"
Bai Ye paused, then tapped his forehead.
Right, this was not his previous life.
In this life, he should be meeting the little girl for the first time.
Bai Ye smiled and pointed to the drawing on the side of the robot, saying, "Look, it's written here, and this is your stuff, right? So, Xiao Hong Dou is your name."
Xiao Hong Dou nodded and hesitated, then asked, "Can you give Xiao A back to me?"
Bai Ye nodded, handed the robot to Xiao Hong Dou, and after a moment's thought, pulled open his clothes and offered a lollipop.
Bai Ye said, "This is for you."
Xiao Hong Dou said softly, "Daddy said I shouldn't take things from others."
"It's okay, it's just candy," Bai Ye said, stroking Xiao Hong Dou's head and placing the lollipop in her hand. "Go on, go home."
Xiao Hong Dou nodded and hugged her robot. But just as she was about to turn, Bai Ye called out to her.
"Don't go this way," Bai Ye gestured to the side street, "Go back from here."
Xiao Hong Dou nodded obediently and then walked along the deserted street in another direction.
Bai Ye smiled and watched Xiao Hong Dou walk away.
She was a very cute little girl, a native of the Ruined City. He had interacted with her in his previous life, and her father had even been Bai Ye's personal craftsman.
After Xiao Hong Dou left, Bai Ye glanced at the direction Xiao Hong Dou had originally intended to go and then snapped his fingers.
A bolt of electricity suddenly appeared, striking the ground in the distance.
With a rumble!
An explosion sounded.
As the arc of electricity hit the ground, it cracked open, blasting apart a section of the earth around it.
The next moment, a colossal creature slowly crawled up.
It was a giant lizard whose skin color was remarkably similar to the ground. It had a large amount of mud and moss on its back for camouflage. If one didn't look closely, it would be difficult to detect its presence.
"Looks like we'll have an extra meal tonight."
Bai Ye grinned.
Although the mutated creatures in this area were all bizarre, most of them tasted quite good.
Bai Ye's venturing here was partly to taste "the flavors of the past."
Meanwhile, the giant lizard's camouflage had been seen through by Bai Ye. After it rose from the ground, it opened its massive maw, and a huge tongue lunged towards Bai Ye.
Bai Ye remained still. The moment the tongue wrapped around him, his body entered an elemental state, transforming into lightning. The giant tongue passed through Bai Ye's body.
Then...
"Lightning Fire Tribulation of Heaven!"
Bai Ye casually snapped his fingers. Resounding thunder and purple lightning, along with the flame of the blazing phoenix, appeared, surging into the sky, intertwining into thunder and celestial fire, and then raining down.
Rumble!
The lightning and fire struck the ground, creating a deafening roar.
The earth was ripped apart. When the smoke and dust cleared, the giant lizard's body was riddled with holes and scorched black marks everywhere.
"Roast lizard meat, should taste good!"
Bai Ye licked his lips, approached the lizard, and dug out a piece of meat from a scorched spot. He peeled off the burnt outer layer and tossed the rest into his mouth.
As expected, the mutated creatures from this place were as delicious as ever.