Post-Apocalyptic Survival Modpack

Chapter 68: The Fall of the Empire
A colossal figure slowly emerged from the southern horizon, its shadow creeping across the land, not because of the arrival of night.

The setting sun still shone with a fiery red light, but that light was mostly obscured by a creature on the horizon.

"this…?"

Wang Ji couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

It was a giant insect, at least thirty meters tall, covered with a hideous, pitch-black, sharp shell. As it walked on the ground, it resembled a massive, self-moving fortress.

This is no ordinary insect; perhaps another name would be more fitting for it:
Titan.

Where did this enormous thing come from?
Not only those in the capital were surprised, but even Wang Ji was somewhat astonished.

Wait, judging from the physical characteristics, body structure, and flesh and blood tissue, this seems to be... an underground insectoid race?
"It's just a relatively large insect, what's so scary about it? It's shameful."

The second seat impatiently pushed aside the high-ranking official who had rushed back in a panic, and flew into the air to take a look.

The horizon was pitch black, and countless enormous figures emerged one after another from the edge of sight, engulfing the land.

He flew down silently.

"Tell me what that is, what is that? What did you bring back?!"

"They are a new species of subterranean insectoids. They crawl out from the depths of the Great Rift and wreak havoc on everything in their path. Their shells are thick and hard, and they are resistant to lightning, fire, cold, explosions, impacts, and magic..."

“Say something they don’t have.”

"Uh…"

This question completely stumped the high-level questioner.

"Useless! No matter how resistant they are, do you think a few spells won't break them?"

"I can destroy them, but I've run out of magic, and their numbers are endless..."

"Where are your magical energy elements? Didn't we allocate you quite a bit?"

"We've used it all up, and... using this will only anger them..."

While eavesdropping on their conversation, Wang Ji quietly hid the magic energy element he had originally planned to use to replenish his mana and put it into his backpack.

But then I thought about it again and felt that something was wrong.

why?
Do insects also need to protect elements extracted from excrement?
I didn't see any swarming of insects when it was being used for breeding.

They can't just squeeze money out of people, can they?
No way, that would be such a waste.

The conversation on the other side continued.

"What about the rest?"

"They are also blocking the underground Zerg army from two other directions."

"Then why did you come back?"

"I can't stop it."

"Tsk."

"Quickly replenish your mana. Keep an eye on that sage to the north of the city. Remember, don't get close to him or attack him. I'm going to stop the insects."

Leaving behind an order, the Second Seat flew into the sky once more, keeping a watchful eye on Wang Ji while waving his hand to unleash a large amount of magic that covered the swarm of insects.

Explosions and hissing sounds echoed continuously among the swarm of insects. Green blood flowed from the broken shells, splattering across the ground and deeply staining the soil. Combined with the deep craters created by the explosions and the huge fragments of Titan insects scattered all over the ground, the scene looked extremely eerie.

This was a one-sided massacre.

Those Titan worms were extremely resilient and had very strong shells, but they couldn't withstand their opponent, a true high-level veteran. With a casual wave of his hand, he could unleash a world-destroying meteor, and with a flick of his finger, he could unleash a series of violent explosions.

The Titan worms were powerless to fight back; they couldn't even touch him.

However, as the previous person said.

There were so many of these insects, far too many, seemingly endless, that one might wonder if they had already taken over all the space beneath the earth.

The swarm was suppressed just like that.

But anyone can see that this is only temporary.

After the swarm, there is still the swarm.

and…

"They are still evolving."

"The more you fight, the harder it gets."

Realizing this, the several high-ranking officials in the capital all felt a suffocating sensation wash over them.

In the north there is an ideal community; in the south there is a swarm of insects.

The community's sages are currently blocking the northern city, while the swarm's Titans are continuously crawling in from the south.

The empire... is doomed.

The second seated man looked towards the palace, gritting his teeth and snarling:

“I really want to go and kill that damn stupid pig right now. He’s not even a fraction as good as his grandfather.”

"Who gave him the confidence to fight on two fronts at the same time?"

While they were complaining, another person suddenly flew back from the southwest.

"calm down."

The second seatmate looked up and his tone immediately became calm.

"You're back, Chief."

He greeted the people who were returning.

Nodding, the person addressed as the chief continued, "There's no use saying all this now, and we can't entirely blame him for this."

"It is indeed foolish to wage war against two unknown forces at the same time, but we all have the right to refuse such orders, don't we?"

"But the result was that everyone tacitly approved of its proceeding."

"Ultimately, we were too arrogant, thinking that the most powerful things in the world were all around us, and we didn't take the ideal community and the underground insectoids seriously at all, thinking that we could make them disappear completely with a wave of our hand."

"As it turns out, we were wrong, terribly wrong, and this mistake is about to cost us everything."

"I already know about the deaths of Joward and Albert. They became arrogant and indulged themselves before mastering enough truth, and they reaped what they sowed."

"The subterranean insectoids are constantly evolving. Our three-person attack has put pressure on them. Those fortress-sized insects are not the end. They are brewing an even more terrifying existence underground. We must not let it be born."

"One doesn't matter, but once there's a template, they'll start mass-producing the same thing, and the world will be destroyed."

"We don't have time to get entangled with that sage right now."

The chief looked at Wang Ji, who had been observing from the sidelines without doing anything, and then addressed the second seat:
“Go talk to him, no matter what method you use, you need to spend three days.”

"Everything else can be discarded, the empire can be dissolved, but the capital cannot disappear. This is the absolute bottom line."

"…it is good."

The second seatman nodded with difficulty, took a deep breath to compose himself, and headed straight for Wang Jifei.

"You heard it all."

Wang Ji nodded slightly, his expression subtle.

"Three days, a three-day ceasefire, name your terms."

Seemingly to express his sincerity in not taking action again, the second seat took the initiative to stand within ten meters of Wang Ji.

For most people, the farther away they are, the safer they are. But with Wang Ji, the closer they get, the more dangerous it is. Given past experiences, this is practically gambling with their lives.

"It seems the situation has now reversed."

Wang Ji found the sudden change somewhat amusing.

The second seat's expression stiffened, and he said, "You can laugh, I'm not angry."

"Tell me what you want."

"If you're willing to talk, everything is negotiable. If you're not willing to talk... then you should know one thing: the Chief's power is even greater than mine."

Wang Ji: "Are you threatening me?"

"That's not what I meant; it was just a friendly reminder."

"If you don't deal with those bugs properly, even if the empire falls, your community won't necessarily fare any better."

Wang Ji shook his head slightly and said, "That's not necessarily true."

"Some things that are a mess that you can't handle well are dispensable to me."

"You say my sense of justice is ridiculous, but I say: good and evil will be rewarded accordingly."

"This is the empire's just deserts, not the ideal of a community."

The second seatman remained silent.

The progress of the negotiations has become somewhat delicate.

However, this esoteric practitioner who dared to stand before Wang Ji did not panic because of Wang Ji's ambiguous attitude.

He knows it all too well.

Such naive and righteous people can even be persuaded to give up some of their own interests if reasoned with.

Kind people are always easy to manipulate and predict.

By taking the current state of an ideal community as a reference, we can infer to some extent the state of the decision-making level. If its leader were a headstrong and irrational person, it would not be in its current state, but would more likely become a second empire.

"Okay, we can talk."

The expected answer brought a sigh of relief to the second seat holder.

"But before that, there's something I'm curious about."

"You speak."

Wang Ji said, "Why are you high-level magic users so determined to protect the capital and serve those foolish high-ranking officials whom you yourselves despise?"

"To be honest, your words and actions have changed my perception of this empire. I almost thought there were no normal people in the entire empire."

The second seat couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Those who can't think will never go very far on the path of power, and don't assume that everyone in the world holds the same view; you are the abnormal one."

After saying that, he looked back at the Four Towers of Miracles, then turned around and said:

"Since becoming a high-ranking official, you haven't set foot in the capital, have you?"

"Come in, and you will know part of the answer."

"I dont go."

Wang Ji refused.

The second seat said expressionlessly, "Believe it or not, I haven't set a trap for you, there's no risk involved."

“If you don’t want to know, then forget it. Things are complicated, and I don’t think either of us is in the mood to sit down and chat for a whole day and night.”

“State your conditions, sage.”

Wang Ji remained silent for a moment.

He glanced at the second seat in front of him, then at the other three high-ranking officials in the city, and was somewhat perplexed.

It seems unlikely that any decisive moves will be made today.

"So…"

"You are not allowed to make a move when I attack the capital with the Ideal Community."

"can."

Wang Ji raised an eyebrow.

Does this work?
I just casually mentioned it, and they actually agreed.

"I will end this empire."

"If you can do that."

The second speaker's tone remained unchanged.

"Aren't you going to make a move?"

"I already agreed before, there's no need to bring it up again."

Watching the sun gradually set, Wang Ji said:

"This very morning, you were about to destroy the ideal community."

"That's due to a lack of sufficient understanding."

The second seat said calmly, "In the current situation, you have occupied the three directions of the empire: east, west, and north. The south is full of insects and has been abandoned."

"Now the entire empire has only one capital city left, and this is the last city."

"It must be admitted that we have made a huge misjudgment, both regarding the insects and you... especially you, and your community."

"On the path of seeking truth, a qualified scholar must be responsible for his or her actions. Failure is failure, and refusing to admit it will not change the outcome."

"An empire may perish, but the capital cannot disappear. This is the bottom line, and I urge you to abide by it. Once it is crossed, we cannot predict the consequences."

"Of course, there might be no consequences. You can take a gamble."

"With someone like you around, the momentum of the ideal community is unstoppable. This is a result we all agree on. Given the current situation, we know we can't stop you from taking the next step. Even if we destroy everything you have, we can't destroy you as a person."

It's no fun to personally turn a righteous person who can't be killed into a villain.

"It's pointless now. The world is destined to change, and there's no need to waste resources."

"how do you say."

After saying this, the second seat fell into a silent wait.

The three high-ranking officials behind them were also waiting.

Waiting for Wang Ji, this seemingly very naive young man, to make his decision.

The fate of the empire was decided during the conversation, without any inquiry into who was in the magnificent palace.

At this moment, Wang Ji suddenly understood a sentence that Ryder had said a long time ago.

"An empire is an empire, but what lies above the Four Towers of Miracles is another matter entirely."

These high-ranking officials don't seem to care much about the empire; if necessary, it could even be a bargaining chip to be given up in order to preserve something else.

However, Wang Ji had no interest in investigating the secrets at this time. He was too lazy to get to know each of these high-level magic users whose attitudes changed inexplicably and who spoke in riddles, nor did he have the mood or time to sit down and chat with them for a day and a night.

All he knew was that the empire's role in this world had to come to an end.

(End of this chapter)