Chapter 474

Chapter 474: The Final Gathering

“Ji Yongxing, the security authority of the research institutes has been delivered to you and [Skydome]. Ensure all projects proceed normally. Supplies will be specifically provided, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Received.”

The electronic voice belonging to [Skydome] came through, followed by Ji Yongxing’s youthful tone.

“Luke, command of the city defense army has been delivered to you. Go find Wencheng’s aide. All city defense forces in the outer city are to begin contracting inward, evacuating all civilians along the way into the inner city.”

“Understood.”

Luke’s reply was mixed with the sound of rushing wind, a background noise unique to the city walls.

“Fulan, relay to Wang Xiao: the two of you must lead the exploration team back as quickly as possible. If you’re not fast enough, you will encounter the beast tide. You can use any gate except the North Gate.”

“Received, meow~”

Due to the interference present on this planet, Lin Qingliu could not directly contact Wang Xiao.

Thus, unlike previous commands, this voice was delivered directly into Fulan’s mind.

At that moment, she was leading her cohort of reformed extraordinary beasts alongside Wang Xiao, exploring outside Hope City to fill in the gaps on the map.

In terms of distance, they were the most at risk at that moment.

Arthur took a deep breath and began to issue instructions to the final believer:

“Infinite Scroll, reserve seven percent of the spaceship’s energy. The rest should be allocated to the exoskeleton and biomass battery production lines.”

“Executed.”

“Open all Shelters in the inner city and deploy all emergency teams.”

“Executed.”

“Finally, the entire Hope City must immediately enter the highest level of lockdown. All agencies should stand by for evacuation.”

“Executed.”

“Friends.”

Arthur’s tone suddenly elevated:

“The balance has been broken. Get mentally prepared; we are about to face our final battle.”

In the past six months, as research deepened, Lin Qingliu had led the preparation of several contingency plans for unexpected situations.

The third plan specifically addressed biological field corruption, aiming to weaken the erosion by increasing population density and keeping all humans alert.

This was also why Lin Qingliu chose to abandon the outer city; although nearly ten million humans could not live indefinitely in the inner city, it was necessary to prevent Lachesis’s corruption from spreading widely.

The existing supplies would allow everyone to survive for over six months in the inner city with a lower quality of life. If they could not defeat mycelium life within this time frame, the war concerning humanity’s survival would ultimately end in failure.

And no matter how charming Arthur might be, those forcibly evacuated from the outer city into the inner city would definitely harbor various grievances.

After all, their properties were in the outer city, and there would certainly be numerous accidents during the relocation process.

At this moment, Lin Qingliu recalled his feelings from his past life playing strategy games—

Stability is genuinely difficult to maintain. If tasks cannot be completed within the designated time, Hope City could realistically be detonated from within.

With the orders given, the alarm sound began to accompany “Infinite Scroll’s” voice from every speaker.

Whether they were students in school or workers in factories, everyone instinctively wanted to head to the nearest Shelter.

As residents of Hope City, this was their inherent skill.

But today’s alarm was special; the voice within commanded everyone to stay put and wait for evacuation.

If it were just a normal trip to the Shelter, there would be no need for a professional to lead them…

Many quick-witted individuals realized this, and a sense of confusion and tension began to spread slowly.

—

At the junction of three mycelium landscapes, Lachesis shared the intelligence she had gathered while infiltrating with Clotho and Atropos through the mycelium she had long since set up.

Despite things spiraling out of control and the human response exceeding expectations, Lachesis still did not propose a request for a collective self-examination.

The three consciousnesses gathered in the consciousness space, and unlike before, they now had vague forms.

This came from their self-awareness in their consciousness.

Clotho’s image resembled that of a loving woman, Lachesis appeared as a successful person in formal attire, and Atropos resembled a wise old man.

The three consciousnesses in the consciousness space were first surprised by their companions’ changes, then they realized something and began to reflect on themselves.

Silence then enveloped the entire consciousness space, causing the temperature between the three interconnected consciousnesses to drop continuously.

After a long while, it was the elder-like Atropos who spoke first:

“I believe our last gathering may have been the last time we were truly honest with each other.”

No consciousness responded to him; both Clotho and Lachesis seemed to fall into a feeling of guilt.

“We should celebrate; this is a great step in our evolution.”

Atropos was unconcerned and continued to convey his thoughts:

“Although we have drifted further apart in consciousness, in terms of race, we remain one.

“So there should be no guilt. Let us begin our final communication.”

Moments later, Lachesis was the first to indicate she wanted to speak:

“I have completed a certain degree of Iteration. While eroding humanity, I can also use their brains to enhance myself. However, due to the recent encounter with that human leader, I was exposed. I can see that the human city has fallen into chaos.

“This is quite reasonable; they cannot afford to take risks. To avoid erosion, humans will definitely shrink their defenses. Taking this opportunity to launch an attack is our best chance, perhaps even our last chance.

“Regardless of what you think, I hope we can initiate an attack together and completely obliterate humanity.”

Lachesis primarily spoke to Clotho, as the latter was the consciousness responsible for reproduction, and only she could produce extraordinary beasts in large numbers.

For Lachesis, her powerful erosion abilities mainly manifested in battlefield situations where the opponent stepped into her territory, while Clotho was different; a tide of typical extraordinary beasts could sweep through everything.

Clotho sensed the implications in Lachesis’s words and sent a message through the sea of consciousness:

“I have recently gained new insights into life. Creation is also a fascinating experience. In order to allow my children to live freely on this planet, I will launch a full-scale attack against humanity after this meeting, leaving no room for mercy.

“When the time comes, you can find the opportunity to coordinate with me, and together we will break through humanity’s defenses.”

She was speaking to Lachesis, who commanded erosion.

Seeing that both sides had already expressed their intentions, Atropos, who oversaw learning and evolution, began to wrap up this final meeting.