I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

The Mirage Cloud Dragon vanished, and so did Lu Yuan.

Members from "Sky Fortress" returned to the city in tears, hurrying back.

By that time, people realized that Sky City had also hastily taken off, now suspended at an altitude of 50,000 meters.

The disaster was spreading continuously, affecting an area of 50 million square kilometers of ocean due to the influence of the "World Furnace" volcano, with the land starting to shatter.

What did this mean?

It was akin to the Eurasian Continent on Earth being devoured by a volcano!

"Exploration Team has escaped back! Wait, where is Commander Lu?!"

Jin Dongliang slapped his head, also in a rush: "Commander Lu said he was going to find a way to survive the Epoch Disaster, and at that moment, he followed the Mirage Dragon into the magma."

Everyone looked at each other, thinking how the hell could anyone survive with the ground itself about to erupt.

The thought of Lu Yuan possibly being dead sent shivers down everyone's spine.

How would Sky City function without him?

Would the Insect Soldiers still obey orders?

With one fewer patron, wouldn't the societal support just collapse?

In the end, it was Old Cat who broke the silence, looking at everyone with an exasperated gaze: "Do you really think he's that stupid? Let's just take care of ourselves."

Miss Conch also snapped out of her daze: "Yes... Mr. Lu will be fine, I'll pacify the Insect Soldiers, don't worry."

"Activate the backup Ideal Energy system, and don't skimp on that bit of Spirit Essence!"

A biological exodus was occurring in the ocean, but by now it was too late, as countless creatures were cooked alive in the boiling seawater, even burnt to a crisp.

Luckily, nine months prior, when the volcano was on the verge of erupting, humanity's Orca friends had already fled.

"Maximize the power of the Anti-gravity system, we must continue to ascend!"

With Lu Yuan not around, Old Cat had to step in as the temporary commander.

Morale was indeed low, as humans had ultimately failed to rescue the Mirage Cloud Dragon, and many were still worried about Lu Yuan's safety. How could anyone survive this kind of natural disaster?

Truth be told, this big family was indeed built around Lu Yuan.

For example, only Lu Yuan and Conch could command the Insect Soldiers; the insects worked for humans, not entirely obedient to humanity.

Only Lu Yuan could command the Tree of Life.

True, the Opium poppy belonged to Miss Conch, but Conch Girl wasn't human either. Frankly, it was due to Lu Yuan's relationship that the Opium poppy was offered to humans at no cost...

With this mainstay trapped in a volcano, everyone couldn't help but feel panicked.

"He has Different Space and Storage Space; he won't die even if we're all wiped out!" Old Cat no longer bothered mentioning things like "resurrection," "If you're worried, go observe the Tree of Life. Lu Yuan can send simple messages through it."

Soon, Worm King · Lu Da reported: "The Tree of Life wrote two characters with vines on the ground: Safe."

Seeing those two words, everyone relaxed a bit.

"Let's take care of ourselves!" Old Cat said sternly, "This disaster is a legacy from a previous Epoch; observe carefully, so we can be better prepared in the future."

Sky City climbed ever higher, soaring up to 100,000 meters in the blink of an eye.

The air grew even thinner here, making the Idealist Interference severe. The oxygen content dropped to just 50-60% of its original level. Humans could barely cope, but a mass suffocation of ordinary livestock began.

Weaker children started showing signs of oxygen deprivation as well.

They had no choice but to take shelter inside flower buds temporarily.

"Mr. Cat, we can't ascend any further... any higher and we could reach layers where Idealist Interference is too intense, and the physical stamina of ordinary citizens would struggle," reported a scientist.

Old Cat nodded, saying calmly, "Then let's maintain this altitude."

"Ladies and gentlemen, this disaster is a significant test for us! Forget about the dragon for now; managing ourselves is how we talk about the future."

"Suspended at an altitude of 100,000 meters, the city's burden is immense, and it's unsustainable in the long term."

"Furthermore, toxic gases from below keep rising ceaselessly, leading to widespread death among animals and plants. Our city isn't a spaceship; it can't sustain its ecosystem indefinitely. We must escape the volcanic region at once!"

"I'll take charge of that." Professor Desert from the Great Engineering Institute said, "Hydrodynamic Engravings have been activated."

"The large vortex jets are somewhat overloaded, running at 112% of their rated power... We will arrange for more personnel and strengthen the shifts."

"The large propellers will also be restarted to speed up the movement of the city."

Old Cat nodded again, then added: "With the disaster unleashed, only by soaring into the sky can we survive. Who knows what bizarre things, in their desperation, could scramble up to our City; we must be vigilant."

"We'll tighten the patrols." Jin Dongliang, Guo Dafeng, and a few other Level Six and Level Seven Experts took on the responsibility.

"Harvest the crops urgently."

"Save a stock of livestock such as pigs, cows, and sheep that can breed! Slaughter the rest immediately!"

"Stuff the Extraordinary Creatures into Hibernation Chambers to preserve them."

"Ordinary citizens, take refuge in the Sanctuary."

These matters were being arranged one by one in an orderly fashion.

Just then, from a distant direction, a brilliant light shone, illuminating the increasingly dim Earth as if it were daylight.

This was a supermassive volcanic eruption that, in an instant, produced an energy level equivalent to ten billion hydrogen bombs. The eruption spewed out massive amounts of magma, instantly evaporating the oceans.

All the Observers were left with a buzzing in their heads, minds going completely blank.

The temperature below had long surpassed 5000 degrees Celsius.

Only at an altitude of 100,000 meters did the temperature stay at around 50 degrees Celsius, which was still tolerable.

The Earth burned, and as the oceans evaporated completely, the thick continental shelf beneath was exposed.

The soil and rocks were directly melted into magma by the intense heat, creating steam-like black smoke... actually, it couldn't really be considered steam, but rather pure atoms.

Then, something even more exaggerated happened!

The once long silent "God" actually made another appearance at this moment.

From the very end of the universe, the starting point of endless time and space, a voice came: [Detected a major ecological extinction event on Pangu Continent, Ninth Epoch.]

[The Ninth Epoch may have already reached its mid-Era.]

[All civilizations are advised to quickly adapt to environmental changes and develop themselves so as to achieve a higher probability of survival.]

"What?!" Everyone was dumbfounded.

Old Cat actually couldn't hear this voice, but it was explained to him by a doctor next to him. Even as calm as it was, it froze on the spot, thinking... are we already at the mid-Era?

It's only been less than a hundred years, and it's mid-Era already? Won't it be the end in another hundred or two hundred years?

What's even the point of playing then!

[Opening the Civilization Points Exchange Store. Civilizations may exchange points for resources, legacies, and Spirit Essence at the remnants of some high-level civilizations.]

[Wishing all civilizations good luck.]

The conference room fell silent for a long time, no one speaking.
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...

...

"What the hell?! We're in the mid-Era already! What's the frickin' point?!" Lu Yuan, trapped inside the White Jade Hall and as a sentient being of the Ninth Epoch, naturally heard the voice of "God" as well and was immensely shocked.

But at this moment he couldn't even ensure his own safety, as the enormous palace was tumbling wildly with the magma underneath the Earth's surface!

The world spun, and the gears made eerie sounds, uncertain how long the hall could hold.

Lu Yuan held onto a column, struggling not to be thrown out, but his mind raced: "The first possibility, is it really the mid-Era already?"

"As long as there is one massive disaster, it's considered a classic sign of the mid-Era. Does it also mean that the lifespan of the Ninth Epoch might be very short?"

"Second possibility, this unintelligent God is bugged again, because this massive volcanic eruption is actually a relic of the previous dynasty, unrelated to this Epoch..."

"God lacks the ability to discern, so it mistook it as the mid-Era."

The more Lu Yuan thought about it, the more likely it seemed the second possibility was the case. That idiotic "God" had made a mistake more than once after all—it was just a programmatic intelligence.

Additionally, the anomalies of this Epoch remained inactive and not very powerful... The emergence of that new "Demon" outside the human mother civilization's Safe Zone showed just how foolish it truly was.

If this was the state of the mid-Era, it'd be too absurd.

However, this misjudgment by "God" was absolutely... far-reaching!

Many civilizations that had been taking their time must now become anxious and open the Safe Zones early!!

After all, how many civilizations could know that this damned volcanic disaster was left by the previous dynasty?

"Damn it, the future is going to be a bloody storm."

"What will humans choose?"

"I can finally use Civilization Points. How many do I have?"

Lu Yuan was racking his brains, thinking about the Milestones he had achieved.

Suddenly, a terrifying Huge Power came from deep within the Earth's Core. The nearby magma formed into a fast-rotating whirlpool and the entire White Jade Hall seemed like it was thrown into a washing machine, rotating dozens of times per second. A huge Crack slowly spread across the walls,

"Crack!" The swiftly spinning gears also started to show signs of collapsing.

The force from the Earth made Lu Yuan's heart race as he watched magma seep in through the cracks, and the gears began to shatter all around him.

Every "crack" sounded like a death knell.

"This is really it, I'm really going to die!" Lu Yuan's heart pounded as he bit his dry lips.

He felt he might be beyond saving.

If the White Jade Hall were to be destroyed, even if he used the Different Space to protect himself, he couldn't escape from this depth under the Earth.

Once the air was used up, he would suffocate to death.

And in such a situation, humans couldn't possibly save themselves, let alone come to his rescue...

"Since I'm going to die, should I dig up more treasures..." Lu Yuan murmured to himself as he looked at the raging magma.