Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Howard sat in the helicopter heading to that mysterious coordinate, watching the ravaged land rush past him.

He gradually moved away from the area inhabited by humans, and a primitive landscape appeared before his eyes. The tenacity of nature's vitality was astonishing.

While devastating humanity, the earthquake nearly destroyed the entire ecosystem. However, nature has been remarkably patient, and countless plants and trees have reclaimed their habitat, allowing life to complete a generational transition.

"The tree seeds that sprouted in the soil have all grown into mature trees, but will humanity still have the opportunity to continue its lineage?"

In the protracted corporate war, Howard had seen far too few newborns, and every death was real. How many of these fragile and rare newborns would grow up healthy remained an unknown.

In any case, hope always needs to be placed in the future. The "Death Cavalry" do their best to ensure the safety of their strongholds, so that the people living there can be free from the ravages of war and gang warfare. Even if life is difficult, even if they die on the battlefield, they will create a peaceful era for the newborns in this world.

The death party always says that humanity will face a second reshuffle, but Howard still believes that what he is doing is not in vain. Without human civilization, there is no meaning to pass it on, let alone the opportunity to revive it.

He also wanted to see humanity achieve true freedom and prosperity, even surpassing the pre-catastrophe era and striding confidently into the stars, and Terence told him that day was not far off.

The sound of the helicopter rotor blades spinning was drowned out by the pilot's voice coming through the noise-canceling earmuffs:

"General, we are almost at the target location. Should we follow the ground beacon to land?"

Howard could already see the figure waiting on the ground, none other than Terrence, the long-absent leader of the Death Faction. He immediately ordered the pilot to land.

Looking around, this was the coordinates Terence had given him. It was desolate, with exposed rocks, looking like an abandoned mine. Some rusty machines lay overturned among the rocks, silently telling the story of this place.

"Welcome, Mr. Jones," Terence said, removing his hood. He looked exactly the same as before, as if time had left no trace on him.

"I've aged so much, while you haven't changed at all. You look like an immortal monster," Howard said, shaking hands with Terrence who had stepped forward, applying considerable force.

Terence smiled and said, "Time will have pity on someone who needs time, and will slow down the clock."

"Come with me to the final destination. Believe me, you will witness the truth of the world and should be proud of this honor."

Howard was led by Terence toward the dilapidated mine entrance, where the signs of mining clearly dated back to before World War I. A rusted kerosene lamp hung from a wooden beam, swaying in the wind.

Soon, they went deeper and deeper. After getting used to the cramped and dark mine, he suddenly realized that the history here was far longer than he had imagined. The uneven walls were ancient marks, the result of digging with pickaxes.

Howard placed his hand against the mine wall, the icy coldness from his palm penetrating to his bones, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

He gently tapped the marks left by the pickaxes and found that the rock here was exceptionally hard, so hard that it was difficult to leave a dent even when swinging the pickaxe. This is why there were so many dense, fish-scale-like marks left here, as if he could see how the miners struggled to advance through the strata back then.

After walking a distance in silence, Terence clasped his hands together, his face devout. He didn't seem to intend to act as a guide and explain the history of the place to Howard; perhaps his heart was now filled with solemnity.

There are some closed off paths in the mine, which is very likely because the workers who were digging here before discovered that they were going in the wrong direction and turned back to dig again. This back and forth would probably take several years.

At a certain turning point, the marks on the wall suddenly became smooth, and the miners seemed to have more advanced mining tools, greatly improving their efficiency.

This confirms Howard's conjecture that the mining history of this mine probably extends for a considerable period of time, enough to mark a significant point on the timeline of human civilization.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Terence stopped in front of an old elevator. He pulled the lever with both hands, and the sound of the machine echoed deafeningly in the mine.

Howard saw no trace of electricity. He and Terrence took an elevator to a deeper part of the earth, where steel beams and gears flashed past him.

The iron fences had to be pulled open manually. In the last stretch of their journey, the walls on both sides were polished smooth and carved with murals that Howard couldn't understand.

Terrence lowered his head, his steps became lighter and smaller, as if he dared not disturb the tranquility. Howard also slowed his pace.

Human skeletons began to appear at the junctions between the murals, in a posture of upright posture with their heads held high and chests out. The most prominent feature was their ribs, and their hands and feet were fixed with iron chains.

"These are all great pioneers," Terence said after a long silence. "They chose this place as their burial ground, chained their bodies to the walls, and warned future generations to uphold civilization and never give up their faith, no matter how difficult it may be."

"Do you remember what I told you before, that Glorious Heavy Industries was secretly searching for traces of our Lord's existence?"

Howard nodded. He would not forget his assassination of Bazel, and while collecting secrets, he also discovered that Glorious Heavy Industries was acting on his orders to search for the historical relics of the Death Faction around the world.

"Initially, Glorious Industries discovered some ancient records, from which they glimpsed the power of our Lord. He even sent troops to raid a cemetery we were stationed at, taking away the stone tablets and relics of our forefathers that we had preserved."

"Subsequently, they devised a plan to build a giant engineering machine, and then use this tool to drill through the earth's crust, advance into the depths of the planet, and discover many special minerals that were produced under the influence of the Lord's power."

Terrence and Howard walked through the mine and finally came to a huge stone door, which was carved with the image of a dragon skeleton. Howard tried his best to look up but could not see the lintel in the darkness.

Terence, who appeared frail, placed his hand on the stone door and slowly pushed it open. Howard, who was behind him, was immediately amazed by his strength, just like the strongman in mythology who pushed a boulder up a mountain.

Grayish-black fluff drifted out from the crack in the door, and the ground behind the door was the same color. For some reason, the first thought that flashed through Howard's mind was that this was the color of the time when living beings could not sleep.

The fire started burning as the two of them entered the door, illuminating the dark and deep cavern. A huge, pure black, flat-topped pyramid that seemed to devour the surrounding light appeared before Howard's eyes.

Howard glanced at it once and immediately looked away. He felt his mind was captivated by the pyramid, as if a thick, dark gray tide had instantly engulfed him, causing him to lose his color and collapse into a pile of cold, lifeless debris, falling endlessly downwards.

"Let me reveal to you the secrets discovered by the pioneers of the Death Party."

Terence raised his head and spread his arms, his posture mirroring the numerous faceless stone figures standing in the hollow walls of the crypt that Howard had seen.

"Our Lord is our common Father, the origin of everything. He resides in the core of our planet, awaiting His awakening from His eternal slumber."

"Supreme, most honorable, most powerful, how can we insignificant humans behold the glory of the Lord? The great earthquake is but a trivial harbinger. On the day our Lord awakens, the planets will offer their sacrifices with their deaths."

Terrence turned his back to Howard, who was frowning, his face appearing somewhat ferocious in the firelight.

"Our forefathers have already revealed the prophecy to us: for the survival of civilization and to protect the planet we live on, humanity needs to offer more deaths, shout with all its might, and send our voices to the far reaches of the earth's core so that the Lord who is about to awaken may hear them."

"This is the death ceremony, it's about to begin, we must hurry, or humanity will perish in an instant."