Re: Evolution Online

Liam stared at the crystalline object in his hand in utter shock. He had no doubt as to what it was because he could clearly feel the familiar cool and nourishing energy contained within it. However, he still couldn't believe it.

"Inspect." He narrowed his eyes and looked at the object.

The next second, a system notification popped up and confirmed the obvious.

<Ding. Mana Core>

Now, Liam could no longer deny it. "So this is a mana core? But how could this be so big?" The mana core in his hands was definitely the biggest he had seen to date.

Bigger was not always better, but in this case, he could tell that this was not the mana core of some ordinary beast. Not just the size but both the quantity and quality of mana contained within the core were remarkable.

He was pretty sure that his own mana core hadn't reached this level yet. But all of this begged another question? Whose mana core was it?

Liam did not have to think to figure out the answer to this question. This mana core definitely had to belong to the queen!

If the mana core alone was so impressive, then what was the level of this creature? It should be at least 100 or perhaps even more than that!

And the worst part was that it had taken only 2 days for the isons to evolve to such a staggering degree. Was this their limit, or were they going to continue to rise further above?

"No. I need to do something about this soon."

Liam knew that this problem was dire, and if left unchecked, everything could quickly get out of his hands, but what he failed to think was… what if it was already out of his hands?

This mana core might very well belong to a creature of Level 150 or maybe Level 200. How could he possibly stand against something like this in his current state? He was simply not strong enough.

No, in fact, it was worse. While it was taking him weeks to go up just a single level, the isons were evolving at an incredible pace! 

They were out-leveling him at a speed that he would never be able to catch up to. In fact, they were out-leveling him right now while he was still sitting like this and thinking about things.

"Damn it." Liam clenched his fists. If everything really progressed in this manner… then they were once again doomed! There was no way out of this mess. 

Things were not supposed to happen this way. They were supposed to have more time. He was supposed to have more time. Why did everything become hellish like this? Why did the timeline change so much?

Liam gritted his teeth as he already knew the answer to this question as well. It was as clear as day. Only someone naive wouldn't be able to see it, and he was not naive. 

The powerful enemy that he made inside the game, the one who had the ability to change the flow of the entire tutorial, was once more weaving all of their fates.

The one and only person who could be responsible for all of this was definitely that divine temple priestess!

This was definitely her work.

If she was behind the vampire plague and orchestrated everything from the beginning, then this must have also been within her calculations. Perhaps because powerful beings started showing up on the earth, the second wave of the apocalypse changed accordingly.

Instead of facing beasts that were hardly Level 30, they were up against something that only those powerful beings could fight.

Liam silently stared at his soul minions while a plethora of thoughts swirled in his mind. He tried to think of ways out of this nightmare, but everything required time.

And that was something he severely lacked at the moment.

Even if he were to personally visit every single hive hill on this planet, riding on top of Luna, and somehow take them all down, it would still be too late.

Liam clutched his head with his hands as he tried to think through the fog that covered his mind. Every fiber in his being was exhausted, but he couldn't afford to take any break at the moment.

He had to do something, and he had to do something fast. His action right now could determine the course of an entire planet.

But unlike that divine temple priestess, he was a nobody. She has the power to change the fate of his entire world at the snap of her finger. These millions and millions of lives were nothing to her. 

In front of someone like her, though Liam did not want to admit it, he was very much a nobody.

He was an insect trapped in a jar. He could bang himself against the walls of the jar as much as he wanted, but that did not mean he was ever going to get out of it.

His strength was just not enough.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Liam punched the ground next to him vigorously for a few minutes. His recently healed hands once again cracked, and blood trickled down.

However, Liam did not care about this little bit of pain as he stared down at the same spot with a blank look in his eyes.

Luna worriedly snuggled up against him, but she could sense the mood of her master, she lay silent without saying anything.

The two of them sat like that for a few minutes as statues without moving an inch. Time slowly ticked by, and when almost an hour had passed, Liam suddenly moved.

He stood up from the ground abruptly and looked at Luna. "Let's go."

Kyu? The fox cocked her head to the side, wondering where they were going now, and unexpectedly, Liam's answer was… "Let's go back home."

Huh? The fox's eyes widened in surprise, but she did not question him. She immediately puffed up, and then the second Liam hopped on top of her, she began to race ahead at lightning speed.

Liam did not even take the time to address the guild that was stranded in the middle of nowhere. As he crossed past them, he simply sent a soul minion to shout his message. 

"Get back to the base." 

As for the two golems, he mentally commanded them to collect all the remaining orichalcum and then do the same. 

Everyone was completely flabbergasted by this sudden development. What was happening? 

One second, they were out here searching hive hills for training and leveling up, and the next second, Liam was rushing back to the base? What was so urgent that he had to return right back?

"Is brother really okay?" Mei Mei worriedly swallowed. Shen Yue shook her head. Something was not right. She could feel it. Otherwise, Liam would never leave his sister behind like this in a land unknown.

Alex also thought of the same thing, and her expression turned grave. She turned to see that the golems were once again moving back in the same direction that they had just now fled from. She couldn't help but wonder just what Liam asked them to do.

She took a minute and then decisively announced. "Let's first take a detour and then go back to the base." Everyone else was also thinking about the same thing, so the entire guild agreed with her.

The group quickly hopped onto the golems and rode on top of the golden giants to the location of the hive hill. At first, everyone was nervous, but even from a distance, they could clearly see that neither the swarm nor the hive hill was to be seen anymore.

This was a good sign. So they continued riding on top of the golems and soon arrived at the location if it could even be called that.

The moment the area entered the guild's vision, each and every single one of them was stunned silly. Everywhere around them, there was only dead, barren land filled with cracks and crevices. The whole place had now become unrecognizable.

The entire landscape had changed!

Just what had happened here that caused so much destruction? Who was powerful enough to create something like this?

Even if no one dared to speak this out loud, at this moment, every single member of the Crimson Abyss guild who was standing and staring at the dead zone knew the answer to this question.

Who else could it be?

When Rey first mentioned it, though everyone wanted it to be true, deep down, they did not dare believe it, but now it was no longer a theory or just hopeful thinking.

There were no isons in their sight, and the hive hill was blasted apart and shattered to smithereens. However, Liam was still alive and kicking and had even given them the next orders.

So who was the victor here?

The one who was last standing, even amidst so much death and destruction, was none other than their guild leader! The more frightening thing was… he might have even caused all of this single-handedly!