Death Notice

“That way, many things could indeed be explained!” Qin Lun nodded gently. “So Atlantis was a floating continent that was teleported as a whole into the Shattered Starry Sky?”

“Mmm!” Mafa seemed to realize he had strayed off topic and brought the conversation back. “Perhaps because of this continent-wide teleportation, Atlantis managed to maintain the world laws of its original civilization, so the humans there did not become Apostles.

However, due to the space-time storms during the teleportation process and its collision with the laws of the Shattered Starry Sky, Atlantis lost over ninety percent of its population when it first appeared. In the first century, the humans on Atlantis struggled on the edge of life and death. They not only had to fight wild creatures and natural disasters, but also endured hunger and the attacks of epidemic diseases!

During this period, the Atlanteans showed unimaginable courage and resilience. They united together and built strong bases on the continent’s plains. Led by the few Apostles who had been teleported to Atlantis, they slowly multiplied and prospered.

Because the sapient races on the other suspended continents of the Shattered Starry Sky did not yet know the star gate coordinates of Atlantis during this time, the Atlanteans did not suffer invasions from other suspended continents and safely passed the first century.

After Atlantis entered its second century, the humans there began a period of great development. During this century, they not only cleared out the large wild creature nests on Atlantis but also built many cities. The population gradually recovered to its peak; at its strongest, it was said there were over ten million humans.

The Atlantis Sacred City at the center of the continent was built during this period! It housed a total of over a million humans and tens of thousands of Apostles. Its strength was no less than any Apostle City.

During this century, the surrounding suspended continents slowly learned the star gate coordinates of Atlantis and fought several continent domination wars with Atlantis one after another.

In these continent domination wars, Atlantis, relying on its immense population base and the sincere cooperation of tens of thousands of Apostles, achieved major victories in all of them. They successively occupied several nearby suspended continents and stabilized their position in the Shattered Starry Sky.

However, when the Atlanteans entered the third century full of confidence, the inexperience of the new race became apparent! Like all the ancient sapient races of the Shattered Starry Sky, they made the same fatal mistake! The Atlanteans ignored the iron rule of how sapient races in the Shattered Starry Sky should interact with Apostles. Or perhaps they simply had not yet had time to understand the cruelty of this iron rule.

They obeyed the High-Rank Apostles absolutely but were overly arrogant towards the Junior Apostles. This led to the High-Rank Apostles in the Sacred City often oppressing the Junior Apostles. As a result, those Junior Apostles had to travel far to other suspended continents to find new places to settle.

Within Atlantis, the humans were also divided into factions. Driven by their respective group interests, they made their High-Rank Apostle teams fight each other, resulting in constant internal strife.

When most of those High-Rank Apostles perished in Quest Worlds and internal conflicts, and the Apostle teams could not replenish new members in time, the Atlanteans’ external wars began to fail one after another. They quickly lost the nearby suspended continents they had occupied, and other sapient races gradually invaded the mainland of Atlantis.

Most regrettably, the Atlanteans’ Sacred City was not destroyed in an external war but perished in internal conflict! Over half of the population in the Sacred City and over ten thousand Apostles were dragged into that civil war. The most brilliant pearl of Atlantean civilization fell!

As a unified civilization, the Atlanteans lasted only three hundred years in the Shattered Starry Sky!” Mafa sighed and shook his head. “They were like a dazzling meteor, emitting only a brief, blinding light before disappearing in the long river of history!”

“What happened later, what happened later!” Qin Lun’s eyes shone, listening with great interest. Seeing Mafa stop talking, he immediately pressed eagerly.

“Later… there was no later!” Mafa had been feeling a bit sentimental, but seeing Qin Lun’s unconcerned expression, his mood instantly vanished. He glared at Qin Lun with annoyance.

“Oh!” Qin Lun smacked his lips, still wanting more. Suddenly, he frowned and asked, “You said so much, but what does it have to do with this card?”

“Atlantis as a unified civilization has basically vanished. But its remaining population, mineral resources, and civilizational heritage have not disappeared! Moreover, although the Atlanteans’ Sacred City was destroyed in the civil war, there must still be treasures of Atlantean Apostles hidden in various corners of the city!” Mafa said with a smile.

“You know, after an Apostle dies, most equipment items fused with Shattered Laws are taken back by the Shattered Starry Sky. However, equipment items that are special treasures themselves remain where they are. Besides, during its peak, Atlantis had several dozen large Apostle teams. They must have possessed quite a few demiplane bases as well. Those team bases contain many good things…”

“So, this card you sent out is… a pass to Atlantis?” Qin Lun pointed at the card and asked.

“A pass?” Mafa was slightly stunned, then laughed. “No, this thing isn’t quite a pass; it’s just an Invitation Letter!”

After Atlantis declined, it attracted the attention of many sapient races and Apostle Cities. Such a large cake could not be swallowed whole by any single sapient race, or even any single Apostle City.

The sapient races needed Atlantis’s population, mineral resources, and civilizational heritage. Apostles needed the special treasures left in the Sacred City. Large, high-level Apostle teams needed the team demiplanes… In short, everyone coveted the Atlantis continent but lacked the strength to obtain all of it.

Therefore, the sapient races and Apostle Cities that had fought against Atlantis could only divide Atlantis among themselves, each acquiring a portion based on their strength. To avoid triggering a century-wide great war, the veteran Apostle Cities of the Shattered Starry Sky adopted the fairest form of distribution. They would send Apostle representatives from their cities to determine their share of the profits based on strength.

This kind of combat competition between Apostle Cities was called the Metropolis Domination War!

“A Domination War between Apostle Cities?!” A glint flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes as he cautiously asked, “Such a contest should be between High-Rank Apostles. Why would someone send me an Invitation Letter for a Domination War?”

“No, the Metropolis Domination War measures the overall comprehensive strength of the entire Apostle City, which includes Apostles of all levels. Legendary against Legendary, High-Rank against High-Rank, and naturally, Low-Rank Apostles are handled by Low-Rank Apostles!” Mafa said with a smile.

“The resource distribution ratio between cities is determined by the number of Apostles surviving at the end of the Domination War. The city with the most remaining members wins the largest share of the cake. And within the cities, the managing races and large Apostle teams similarly use this method to obtain their deserved share of the profits.”

“Heh, so that means only the Apostles fight in the Metropolis Domination War, and you sapient races are just spectators?” Qin Lun teased Mafa, winking.

“You really don’t hold back!” Mafa said with a bitter smile. “A single Metropolis Domination War might result in hundreds or thousands of Apostle casualties. But for the Apostle Cities qualified to participate, the managing sapient races responsible for them must have already sacrificed hundreds of thousands of people in the war! Do you think it’s easy for us?”

“Sorry! But why would large teams send Invitation Letters to outsiders like us?” Qin Lun pondered for a moment before looking up and asking again.

“Heh, you’ve hit the key point!” Mafa looked at Qin Lun appreciatively.

“For an Apostle City to maintain continuous prosperity, the large teams at the top cannot control all the profits. They must even divert a significant portion of resources towards the lower-ranked Apostles. They will only send a portion of their own people. The other Invitation Letters will be given to the small and medium-sized Apostle teams within the Apostle Alliance.

However, the Invitation Letters given to small and medium-sized Apostle teams are different from the one you hold. That kind of invitation is called a wild card. The Invitation Letter you hold should be an internal card belonging to the ‘Lost’ team.”

“What’s the difference between an internal card and a wild card?” Qin Lun asked curiously.

“Wild cards are distributed in two ways. One is distributed by the three major Apostle Alliances of Devil’s Horn to the small teams within the alliances. The other is distributed by the managing races through the Mercenary Guild, basically given to mercenary Apostles with high City Points. Internal cards are distributed internally by large teams like ‘Lost’ and the managing races themselves.

The biggest difference between the two is that Apostles who receive wild cards must go through several rounds of selection in the Apostle Alliance’s demiplane Arena. Apostles who receive internal cards only need to go through one selection: the elimination tournament between the three major Apostle Alliances of Devil’s Horn.” Mafa sighed slightly at this point.

“I originally thought you would need at least half a year to a year before you encountered these matters. I never expected someone to send you an internal card Invitation Letter for the Metropolis Domination War already. You need to be careful; the person who sent it might not necessarily appreciate you—they could be trying to harm you.

You should know, although the Domination War matches Low-Rank against Low-Rank, the difference in strength between someone who has just entered the Low Rank and a Low-Rank Apostle at the peak is still very large. Moreover, in the Domination War, Apostles with wider connections are different from lone wolves like you. They form temporary teams. You’ve only been at Devil’s Horn for two months. Even if you know a few people, they might not be able to help you in the Domination War!”

“Heh, Mafa, if I manage to survive the Domination War, what kind of benefits will I get?” A sharp light flickered in Qin Lun’s eyes as his excitement grew. He opened his palm, then clenched it into a fist again, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.