True Apocalypse Game

In the final days, as the lands of human civilization were gradually submerged by the sea and devoured by tsunamis, the Salvation Army had already abandoned its fight against the World Beasts, turning instead to the construction of aquatic shelters.

All of humanity fell into utter despair.

The World Beasts didn't even need to exterminate them. As the waters rose, humanity was like ants in an anthill, drowned one by one.

The surviving humans began a great exodus, all fleeing toward the world's highest mountain ranges and plateaus.

During this time, brutal slaughters broke out over the right to survive.

The Salvation Army fought to maintain the last vestiges of order, doing its utmost to get the remaining humans to the mountaintops and plateaus.

Finally, the sea level stopped rising. The survivors secretly rejoiced, and were even ecstatic to discover they could use these mountains and plateaus as new continents to rebuild their civilization.

But just as this thought took root, a rainy season lasting for years began. Violent tsunamis followed, submerging nearly all the remaining land and extinguishing the final embers of human civilization.

Some World Beasts, whether out of curiosity or for some other reason, even climbed onto humanity's last pieces of land, destroying the few remaining machines and buildings.

The last humans finally discovered that even though they still possessed enough knowledge, they no longer had the tools or materials to sustain a civilization built on information, electricity, or even steam.

Human civilization collapsed completely, falling into a dark age that lasted for a hundred years, until now.

The Savior and his Salvation Army were either scattered across the Cosmos or lay slumbering at the bottom of the sea. All that remained among humanity was an epic about them, and the damaged Holy Corpses that testified to their great struggle.

A struggle against fate.

Beyond that, there was nothing.

"That is the *Savior Heroic Epic*, the wellspring of my strength to live on." After reciting the history of this great, doomed war, the Minstrel's face was streaked with tears. She let them fall freely as she spoke slowly.

Shen Feng sighed. 'A war destined for failure... It's just so tragic and grimly heroic...'

'Come to think of it, the Shen Feng of this world must have also realized that human civilization was nowhere near strong enough to survive this catastrophe. That's why he chose the most dangerous path.'

'Victory or death.'

'But in the end, he must have failed.'

Shen Feng pondered for a moment, then asked,

"Did all the Salvation Army Warriors perish? Is there truly no legacy left behind?"

In the Gray Tide World, he had once borrowed the power of the Salvation Army. It would be for the best if he could find the remnants of the Salvation Army in this Water World as well.

After all, this world was so vast. For him to complete his missions alone in the boundless ocean would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

It would be much more convenient with the help of the Salvation Army.

Besides, those warriors would surely need some spiritual comfort.

Hearing this, the young female Minstrel before him gave a proud smile. She extended a finger, tapped it gently on her chest, and said,

"Standing before you is a true Salvation Army Warrior, heir to the legacy of the Salvation Army's Third Brigade."

Shen Feng was taken aback. He listened as the young Minstrel explained,

"When the world was almost completely destroyed, the Salvation Army was nearly wiped out. Only three Salvation Army Warriors survived the great tsunami: Li Tongchen, Nick, and Vasily. They gathered on Hidden Island, the last Mainland Island. Heartbroken by the destruction of human civilization, and to prevent all its heritage from being lost, the three of them became the very first Minstrels. They traveled the endless ocean, carrying the message of civilization to people everywhere. The Minstrels they trained have passed down their legacy from generation to generation."

Then, a solemn and dignified expression appeared on the young Minstrel's face. She said slowly,

"The Savior once said that every person is their own savior. For us Minstrels, the Savior lives forever in our hearts. We *are* the Savior, we *are* the Salvation Army. As long as we continue to pass down our civilization, humanity will one day recapture its former glory."

Though her face was still youthful, her expression was one of solemn gravity, showing she believed this with all her heart.

A warmth spread through Shen Feng's chest. He finally understood why a profession like the Minstrels—who could be lost to the sea at any moment—existed.

It was all a seed planted by the Salvation Army.

Before he could reflect further, the young Minstrel once again tapped the glass lens in her hand and began to chant the third epic.

The *Epic of the World Beast*.

Unlike the detailed and lengthy first two epics, the *Epic of the World Beast* was much shorter.

This epic primarily recounted the world's destruction from the perspective of the World Beasts, followed by all sorts of detailed descriptions of them.

For instance, the physical structure and tissue composition of common World Beasts, their habits, their unique characteristics, and even brief introductions to specific World Beasts that had been particularly notable in the war against humanity.

This included the first Ten Thousand Meter Level World Beast, and the World Beast that had destroyed the most Holy Armors.

If it hadn't begun by recounting how the World Beasts destroyed the world, Shen Feng would have thought the epic's original title was *The Encyclopedia of World Beasts*.

'But it makes sense, when you think about it.'

The ones who composed these epics must have been the first Minstrels—those three Salvation Army Warriors.

They didn't write these epics merely to ensure that modern humans wouldn't forget the former glory of their civilization. Their main purpose was to maintain humanity's fighting spirit, so that one day they could restore their honor and defeat these monsters.

And because of that, this epic contained everything humanity at the time knew about the World Beasts.

Later on, the young Minstrel even began to chant various chemical formulas and methods for extracting and preparing elements in a very strange tone.

She clearly had no idea what she was reciting, yet she had memorized these Spell-like things word for word.

It was easy to imagine just how arduous and moving this method of passing down knowledge was.

Shen Feng and Jingwei listened intently, and from the content of her recitation, they quickly understood what it was.

It was the extraction method for that decisive element—Beast Gold.

Shen Feng couldn't help but nod slightly. From the epic's narrative, he now understood the source of Beast Gold: it came from within the bodies of the World Beasts themselves.

Perhaps the element was native to the Shield UY Star Realm, or perhaps the cosmic rays emitted by the red supergiant star, Shield UY, had caused the World Beasts' bodies to mutate, synthesizing the element known as Beast Gold within them.

In short, to extract Beast Gold, you needed the corpses of World Beasts.

During the past war between humans and World Beasts, the main reason the resistance faction insisted on fighting—and on building the Super Giant War Armor—was to obtain the Beast Gold from within the World Beasts.

It was like drinking poison to quench thirst. Only by obtaining Beast Gold could humanity survive; the generation ships needed it, too. Yet, the only way to get Beast Gold was by killing World Beasts. And to kill World Beasts, one had to use large amounts of Beast Gold to build Super Giant War Armor, only to then obtain more Beast Gold through combat.

In short, combat was unavoidable from the very beginning.

Shen Feng nodded slightly. 'To complete the system's mission, I need to get ten grams of Beast Gold. It looks like I might have a chance now.'

Reciting three major epics in a row was incredibly draining, both physically and mentally. The young Minstrel had collapsed onto the floor. She preciously took out a valuable white handkerchief to wipe her sweat, then drank a cup of tea brewed from seaweed.

Shen Feng mulled it over for a moment, preparing to ask if she knew any other epics.

It seemed these epics were not just chronicles of events, but also vessels for the transmission of civilization. They might contain a great deal of useful information.

BOOM! Just then, a massive explosion sounded from outside. It was immediately followed by screams and the urgent blare of horns from the Floating Island Market.

A shrill voice cried out from outside:

"The Ghost Pirate Ship is attacking! The Ghost Pirate Ship is attacking! The Ghost Pirate Ship is attacking!"