I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Many of them never saw clouds, rain, let alone storms and downpours in their entire lives. People gathered on the edge of the city, gazing at the horizon where the sky meets the earth.

Some have even begun to prostrate themselves in worship there, yearning for the divine gaze to bring a glimmer of salvation to this desolate land.

In the city, legends about a savior gradually began to circulate. The legend said that the savior would come to the world riding a six-legged steed, bringing the first spring breeze to the wasteland. From then on, the wasteland would flourish again and become lush and green once more.

Of course, Lu Ban considered these legends to be utter nonsense.

It's unclear whether it was spread by spies from other city-states or simply the delusion of some mentally unstable individuals.

Lu Ban scoffed at this.

But with the storm approaching, Lu Ban's mission has entered its second phase.

Currently, the Academy still hasn't gained much support, while the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sands enjoys the highest support rate.

Meanwhile, the Quicksand Council is engrossed in doing good deeds and still lacks competitiveness. Of course, even if they wanted to be competitive, these brats who have already sided with the evil god would be besieged by the other three factions.

As for the Wild Wolf Guard, they are still plotting something, hoping to turn the tide and reverse the Sand Brotherhood's advantage in the end.

As scheduled, in three days, the Senate will elect the next saint to succeed Plato.

Lu Ban is more worried about this storm than the election.

He and Feng Yu rode insects to the outskirts of the city.

Although this insect has wings, it cannot fly. It moves quickly across the desert by flapping its wings. It is fast over short distances, but lacks endurance, so it is only used for patrolling around cities.

Outside the city, traveling merchants were in their tents. Some were hesitating whether to pack up their tents and go into the city to take shelter from the rain, while others gazed at the wind and rain, full of anticipation.

Lu Ban and Feng Yu approached the storm. The dampness in the air grew heavier, and Lu Ban sensed something was wrong.

"It seems that there is something not so good in these water vapors."

He felt a burning sensation in his lungs, like the heavily polluted winds he breathed on the island.

"It's an illness."

Feng Yu slowed down the insects beneath him. A storm was just a hundred miles ahead. At this moment, most of the sky in their field of vision was occupied by dark clouds, and deep green lightning snaked above the piled-up clouds.

The strong wind whipped up sand and gravel, which mixed in with the wind, making it difficult to breathe.

She raised her hand, and at her fingertips, where she touched the damp wind, a slight change was spreading.

Feng Yu's finger skin began to wither, and then a fungal colony grew. The fungal carpet continued to spread, trying to spread to other parts of Feng Yu's body, but as she closed her two fingers together, the newly sprouted contamination was extinguished.

"The rainwater carries pollution-level diseases; this is ominous rain."

She said, looking at Lu Ban.

Lu Ban followed suit, imitating Feng Yu, and saw green hairs growing on his fingertips.

He observed it carefully, then licked his fingers.

"It doesn't taste very good."

Spitting out the mold from his mouth, Lu Ban commented.

"..."

Feng Yu's lips twitched slightly before he spoke.

"This rain is not a natural force, but rather the result of intervention by other chosen ones. We need to find the source of the pollution."

"The taste is somewhat familiar."

Lu Ban was still savoring the smell of the mold.

He thought of the "Heavenly Father" he had seen in the basement of the Quicksand Council.

If the "Father" is not a true deity, but rather a deception created by the chosen ones to obfuscate the connection between the two statues, similar to the island, then this rain can perhaps be explained.

"This rain cannot reach Utopia. If ordinary people come into contact with the rainwater, they will inevitably be severely polluted and directly mutate into monsters."

Feng Yu said.

Although she has a clone of Leopard, she has no interest in Utopia and it's hard to say whether she will take the opportunity to protect the people in the city.

As for Du Danping, even if he, as a chosen one, can protect this place for a while, he cannot protect it forever. In the end, he will still have to return to reality and face his own destiny.

Sun and Moon Splendor

If this plague, hidden within the storm, is not stopped, the entire wasteland will gradually be eroded and eventually fall.

Perhaps Lu Ban was chosen to be sent to this utopia at this time to prevent this rainstorm.

He looked up at the sky, which was not yet obscured by clouds.

In that azure sky, it seemed as if some gaze from distant stars, transcending time and space, was projected upon us.

They watched every move here as if it were a grand drama.

A heavy rain is coming.

Lu Ban shooed away the insects and sped toward the center of the storm.

Chapter 879 Uruk

The world where the octopus people live is not a wonderful place.

Pollution had already arrived when the planet was still a wild wasteland, before life had even appeared.

Within those fiery, molten lava flows, pollution blossomed, gradually cooling these ceaseless torrents.

Thus, the earth was born.

On the rocks, the pollution did not stop its progress, but continued to expand, growing stronger with the rain.

Lightning provided the energy needed for the transformation of matter, and pollution circulated within it. Matter known as "organic matter" was born from the cold, primordial ocean. Through some wondrous reactions, and driven by the initial impulse of pollution, consciousness was born.

Once awareness emerged, the spread of pollution accelerated even further.

Evolution, like a virus, began to spread across the entire planet.

Life is influenced by the environment, and in turn, influences the environment.

Cold stones and a warm sea, a starry sky, and wondrous creatures brewing within.

At this moment, some beings that roamed among the stars noticed this place.

The mere sight of these great beings caused devastating disasters; over 90% of creatures vanished forever from the annals of history simply because of a fleeting glimpse of them.

The remaining ten percent all underwent an unimaginable transformation.

The ancestors of the octopus people appeared at this time.

Just as the common ancestor of most creatures on Earth had five fingers, the octopus-man's ancestor also inherited the characteristic of tentacles.

In the ocean, jellyfish with countless tentacles swarm together, forming clouds in the sea.

Above the sky, those lithe creatures that moved by their tentacles gradually took over the sky, blotting out the sun.

On the earth, slippery, wriggling creatures used rocks to form shells, gradually taking their first steps as living beings.

Over millions of years of evolution, the three different types of octopus-men eventually became three distinct creatures.

The three civilizations have completely different structures, technological developments, and ideologies.

Perhaps because the planet was so vast, these creatures didn't realize each other's existence until civilizations gradually took shape.

After the initial tentative exchanges, the war began.

The protracted war lasted for millions of years, countless cities were destroyed, and countless compatriots died in various machines specialized in killing.

The octopus-man in the ocean ultimately triumphed.

They developed biotechnology, gaining an advantage through extremely exaggerated body modification techniques and bioengineering, and created a marvelous biological machine.

These biological machines are extremely small; even cells are enormous to them.

However, this machine is extremely flexible, capable of continuously self-replicating and multiplying in a short period of time, eventually controlling all the cells of the organism and altering its consciousness.

On Earth, such machines are called viruses.

In the world of the octopus people, such machines easily defeated their enemies. Eventually, the octopus people took to the land, occupied the sky, and even ventured into the universe, among the stars.

Having endured an excessively long war, the octopus people have become a civilization dominated by war. They are all born for war, and through biotechnology modifications, every cell of the octopus people has been armed into a weapon.

Not only can they flexibly control all advanced weapons and equipment, but they also possess psionic energy, which allows them to influence the real world with their consciousness and enter the realm of the extraordinary. They have powerful bodies, unwavering wills, and even after death, their bodies can decompose rapidly, spreading a virulent virus that can corrode all organisms. In the hundreds of thousands of years after unification, the octopus people have traveled almost all over their star system.

They have witnessed all sorts of civilizations, but for the octopus people, conquest is the only path.

These powerful life forms are a devastating blow to most civilizations. Even if some civilizations have reached a level of technological development comparable to the octopus-men, those civilizations have not experienced millions of years of war. Therefore, before they could even prepare a response, these civilizations were conquered, destroyed, and crushed.

At their peak, the Octopus-men in their universe were capable of single-handedly destroying a civilization that had mastered controlled nuclear fusion and low-level supernatural powers.

Many octopus-men came into contact with the deepest darkness in the universe, fell into the abyss, and drifted away from civilization.

Some octopus-men were corrupted by an indescribable, great being and transformed into their own kind and puppets.

Ultimately, the spying of some octopus-men attracted the attention of those supreme beings.

The entire civilization suffered immense damage in an instant. More than 99 percent of the octopus people were reduced to dust in a storm that spanned over a million light-years. The once brilliant civilization, the technology, the magnificent home planet—everything was wiped out.

The remaining octopus-men could only eke out a living in the wilderness of the universe by relying on machines whose principles they themselves did not understand.

Fortunately, he encountered some unspeakable gods, and this octopus named Urukk survived a cosmic monster attack, entered another realm, and through continuous progress, finally arrived at his current location.

Urukk swam in the sea, the changes brought by the rain making him feel extremely comfortable. Although he had never seen his home planet and did not know what the deep sea looked like, the cold rain now gave him a feeling of returning home.

Although that hometown no longer exists, he has never been there.

On the edge of the storm, an army of undead marches tirelessly, undeterred by the fierce winds and torrential rain. This army is capable of destroying any city-state in the wasteland, and, most terrifyingly, as the plague-laden raindrops fall, all of humanity will be transformed into undead, providing the army with a constant stream of reinforcements, making it stronger with each battle.

One day, this planet will become a vast ocean, and perhaps new life will emerge in the sea.

However, this has nothing to do with Urukluk.

He had no intention of making the octopus man great again; he only wanted to live his life well and be present in the moment. Especially after witnessing the traces of many great beings and learning about the oppressive power of the Great Old Ones through his journey to other lands, Urukk only wanted to live a relatively peaceful life.

For this mission, he simply chose the method least likely to cause problems.

Once all enemies are eliminated, no one can stop me from completing my mission.

For the octopus people, conquest is the only theme.

Urukuk rose from the water and looked ahead.