Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 268 Moving Forward on the Serpent's Back

Galactic calendar year 20763, Last calendar year 1862, Around the World.

"Let's see what interesting things have happened recently... Hmm, two galaxy ages ago, the famous planetary sculptor Yu Lulu unveiled her latest work, a planet transformed from a gas giant. But interestingly, what makes up this planet isn't soil, but candy. On this wondrous gourmet planet, everything is said to be edible: the desert is an endless expanse of sugar, the volcanoes spew forth red bean paste, the ocean is composed of massive amounts of beverages, and what falls from the sky isn't rain, but fine wine..."

"Yu Lulu stated that her purpose in sculpting this planet was to fulfill her childhood hobby and create her ideal culinary paradise. One has to admire this master's skill..."

In the message, a man appears to be chatting casually with a friend, laughing and joking, while the audience laughs and responds.

"RimWorld: The Story," a popular show, features a man known for his wit and humor, emphasizing a relaxed and casual style. He has influence in many regions of the world. The reason Ranran likes this show... is because the world it depicts is too peaceful.

It's so peaceful, so peaceful that it's hard to imagine that you and he live in the same world.

Watching the virtual images, Ranrande remained silent. Although he liked the show, he never interacted with the men like other viewers.

Silently shutting down the images displayed in his mind by the auxiliary brain, the soldier took a deep breath. The scorching air, exceeding two hundred degrees Celsius, rushed into his artificial lungs through his throat. The nanobots inside his body continuously processed these external overheated gases to prevent the mechanized organs from being deformed and damaged by the high temperature.

"Temperature abnormality... Please remain calm..."

The auxiliary brain calmly analyzed the soldier's physical condition. Through neural transmission, a voice that only it could hear rang in the soldier's mind, but the soldier paid no attention. What was this temperature compared to a gamma beam? Could it be more serious than the artificial brain and auxiliary brain being nearly destroyed? Could it be more dangerous than being shattered in half by an orbital cannon, leaving only the head?

Perhaps due to past experiences, the soldiers have become extremely insensitive to these minor matters.

Looking up, beneath the gloomy sky, the world was shrouded in darkness, with only a thin, long line visible in the distance. The warrior knew that this was the rest of the ring world. Unlike spherical planets, where you can only see the horizon and sea level, standing on the ring world, everyone could discern that faint, thin ribbon in the distance.

Just then, a weak psionic energy fluctuation came from beside my feet.

"Those who do not believe, you will surely..."

"Snapped!"

With a single stomp, he easily crushed the head of the Serpent Worship Cult follower who had just been speaking. Mechanical parts mixed with flesh and blood exploded all over the ground. Among the fragments, there were also some extremely tiny nanobots that were trying to continue repairing the head, which was beyond repair, according to their programs.

Looking around, there was scorching lava, countless craters, and all sorts of strange mechanical fragments. And in front of the warrior was an abyss that seemed to have no end and no bottom.

Of course, this is the result of being vertically struck by the Second Republic using space weapons.

"Snake cub."

Looking at the Serpent Worshippers at his feet, Ranrande cursed and spat on them. Due to organ damage from the recent battle, some of the fusion-material blood that had not yet fully reacted was expelled with Ranrande's actions, corroding the mutilated corpse and creating small holes.

After venting, Ranrande fell silent and reverted to her usual expressionless face.

Not far away, a shuttle flew through the dim sky and finally landed slowly in front of Ranrande.

……

The exact time when the Serpent Cult emerged is unknown, with many different opinions. The only certainty is that it was a terrorist organization that was born alongside the World Eater and lay dormant for hundreds of years.

Evil, despicable, insane, ruthless, a mob, weak yet disgusting...

The Rimworld is vast, so vast that its inhabitable area is equivalent to hundreds of millions of ordinary habitable planets. However, such a large area also means that even if the Second Republic of the Rimworld were to be created, it would be impossible to control all areas.

In this ring world, many regions are prosperous and stable, unaware of danger, while others resemble the most insane purgatory. Numerous opponents clash with the Second Republic in this wondrous world, infiltrating, corrupting, controlling, and ultimately battling the Second Republic's security forces.

In terms of sheer strength, no one can rival the Second Republic. If sheer numbers were effective, the Second Republic wouldn't have eliminated the soldier profession. However, faced with complex and corrupt administrative regions, even the most powerful army is helpless. The Second Republic can only rely on security forces and mercenary units to clean up these disgusting rats.

Among them, the Serpent Worship Cult is the most terrifying one in the last few centuries.

These cult followers, who worship the World Eater and believe it to be the only God, have used their various strange abilities to corrupt and infiltrate countless administrative regions. Across the Ring World, hundreds of millions of administrative regions have already been destroyed by these serpent cubs, affecting trillions of people. And these are only the regions discovered after their infiltration was exposed; the exact number of regions still under their control is likely unknown even to the Second Republic.

Ranrande was born in an administrative region that was completely controlled by the Serpent Worship Cult...

Inside a silver-white spherical room, Ranrande stood silently, while the general in front of him scrutinized him closely.

Even now, he doesn't understand why a general from a space fleet would seek him out, but the general seems to have his own reasons. After thinking for a while, the general begins to read his file.

"Ranrande was born in the TVIK-6386572 administrative district in the Galactic Calendar year 20682... In 20693, the TVIK-6386572 administrative district was confirmed to be a place of full infiltration by the Serpent Cult, and an extermination order was issued. He later moved to the TVIK-6395465 administrative district and worked as a private mercenary... He was extremely hostile to the Serpent Cult and underwent 4239 cybernetic modifications, most of which were illegal. 97% of his body parts are made of machinery..."

Upon finishing reading, the general looked at him and then put the document aside.

Do you know why I contacted you?

Ranran remained silent and taciturn, maintaining her usual expressionless face.

“I have no interest in dealing with private mercenaries like you, but the Republic has a recent plan and you have a quality that fits our requirements.”

"What do you want me to do?"

A strange mechanical sound rang out.

Unlike most people in this era, Ranrande's transformation was so extreme in pursuit of power that even his psychic abilities became very weak, and machines cannot communicate with each other using psychic powers.

"Go somewhere."

"Where?" "On the back of the World Eater."

"..."

Even after Ranrande left, the general couldn't discern any more emotion from the face of that man who seemed more like a machine than a human.

"General, I don't understand why you chose this kind of person?"

A voice came from the side.

"There's a fire burning inside him, a fire of hatred that will only be extinguished when he dies. Perhaps someone filled with hatred is more suited to be a warrior than a calm and outstanding one?"

"Would you erase your own consciousness for revenge? Pathetic fellow."

The general sighed.

Over two hundred years ago, an unprecedented psionic force launched a surprise attack on that monster, but almost all of them perished. The Republic's elite force, nurtured for over a thousand years, was reduced to ashes, causing an uproar. Of course, this is only what the general public knows.

However, in a highly confidential document, it was written that someone actually survived. The person whose identity was blacked out said, "Someone went into the eye..." After that, everything was blacked out.

Eyes, again eyes, just like General Tyloan before them, both mentioned eyes.

What exactly is in that eye?
In order to uncover the truth, a brand new plan has begun: the Republic will send a large number of people to settle on the monster in order to find out the truth.

Now, the Republic no longer expects to find the truth quickly. The plan may be long, taking hundreds of years, but the Republic has enough patience to wait... until the final battle after 1862.

"The final... battle?"

The general could sense that even now, there were still a large number of pro-war factions at the highest levels. The pride of humanity, which had been unchallenged for 20,000 years, did not allow them to back down. But deeper down, some alternative ideas were also surfacing.

Thinking about it, he glanced at the proposal that had just been submitted to him by a technology executive.

"Extragalactic Escape Plan"

……

On the spaceship, Ranran remained silent.

Ever since he grew a little older, he had been fighting in those occupied areas. The gloomy sky and the hellish land often made him forget that most people in RimWorld would not experience these things. That's why he watched "RimWorld: The Story of a Man"—for no particular reason, he actually envied those ordinary people.

Well, he probably thinks he should be "envious".

Scenes from her childhood flashed through Ranrande's mind, but she remained unusually indifferent.

In his memory, a long time ago, every time he recalled these things, a feeling of discomfort and pain would well up, which was once the greatest motivation that supported him to keep going, but now it is gone.

Pain, sadness, sorrow, joy, happiness... As the transformation deepens, with less than 3% of his body parts remaining, these emotions become fewer and fewer. Only when he sees the followers of the Serpent Cult does the invisible sense of disgust remind him that he still has feelings, even if only a little bit of hatred remains.

Now, he is about to see the only idol of the Serpent Cult—the World Eater.

It's a strange feeling, I can't quite put my finger on whether it's hatred or something else, I just feel a little excited? Eager to try? That's probably the feeling.

"About to enter...preparing..."

Accompanied by the AI's voice, Ranran knew that they had arrived at their destination.

Through the window, he could see that incredible behemoth moving through the void.

The sound of psionic energy fluctuations rose and fell around their ears. Not everyone could remain calm in the face of the World Eater. Some of them were seeing this legendary monster for the first time.

The World Eater, its body is still clearly visible even from such a great distance, and in the future, it will settle on the monster's scales with the others on the spaceship, struggling to explore and uncover the secrets of this monster.

Ranrande stared silently at the monster in front of him.

"Ranrande, our war has begun."

Speaking calmly in my mind, it is both to my past self and to my present self.

The soldier stood up, ready to face his fate, but a girl beside him was knocked down by his movement.

"what……"

She plopped down on the ground, wincing in pain.

"Hey! What's wrong with you...?"

The girl, who was angry and looking up, was about to ask the other person to apologize when she realized that the other person hadn't paid any attention to her. She paused for a moment, then became angry and annoyed, and quickly chased after the other person.

"Stop right there..."

The story of a man with facial paralysis and a violent woman unfolds from here.

(End of this chapter)