Game: Civilization Paradise

"Phew~

Long Ming let out a long breath, his eyes firm with resolve.

'I'll risk it. I'll know if I made a mistake or not after the injection by checking my stats.'

Long Ming tapped his wristband and took out the cryo-box.

He opened the cryo-box, took out the Genetic Potion, and injected it into his arm.

Once the potion had fully entered his bloodstream...

Long Ming felt a deep chill spread through his body. His blood seemed to freeze, and it felt as if countless ice shards were piercing his internal organs.

The intense pain nearly made Long Ming pass out.

He gritted his teeth, enduring with all his might.

Just then, Long Ming's skin began to lose its vitality, turning shriveled and dry before cracks started to spiderweb across its surface.

Long Ming was horrified as he watched this unfold.

But he continued to endure.

The seconds ticked by.

More than half an hour later.

The intense pain gradually subsided.

A wonderful sensation washed over him. Long Ming felt better than ever, though his skin was still a mess of cracks.

He gently picked at a piece, and it flaked right off.

Long Ming immediately went to the bathroom, stripped off his clothes and wristband, and turned on the shower.

WHOOSH~

As the warm water rained down on him, the cracked skin washed away, revealing fair, new skin underneath.

Long Ming looked at his reflection in the mirror, and the corner of his mouth twitched. 'I look even more like a pretty boy now.'

It didn't bother him much, though.

A little over ten minutes later.

After his shower, Long Ming walked out of the bathroom and raised his wristband to check his character screen.

Template One.

Name: Long Ming (Genetic Defect) (Symbiotic State)

Race: Carbon-based Human

Genetic Level: Type II

Profession: None

Power: 26

Agility: 27

Physical Strength: 27

Intelligence: 26

Remarks: In Genetic Defect state, stamina is reduced by 20%. Susceptible to infection.

Long Ming looked at the numbers on the screen and broke into a wide grin. 'Looks like my gamble paid off!'

'The data was real after all.'

'But just how strong am I now?'

A sudden urge to test his newfound strength washed over Long Ming. He changed his clothes and walked over to the nearby neural link pod.

He opened the neural link pod and lay down inside.

WHOOSH!

When Long Ming opened his eyes again, he found himself in the deserted Starry City.

Long Ming opened his safe and equipped the Red Demon mecha.

He chose the Red Demon because, as a bio-mecha, it could self-repair, which would save him a lot in maintenance fees.

Furthermore, aside from its inability to fly, the Red Demon was in no way inferior to the Gale.

Of course, those weren't the most important reasons. The main issue was that there was no one here to operate an armor-swapping platform.

Next, Long Ming took a Level 4 Civilization Invitation Letter from his safe.

He stared at the invitation in his hand, his gaze flickering with contemplation.

'All I have now is this invitation and some unused Level 1 Civilization trial coupons. Even if I wanted to buy more, there's nowhere to do so.'

'Entering a Level 4 civilization is a bit reckless, but a lower-level instance wouldn't be enough to test my current strength.'

'Besides, if I'm careful, I might even be able to swipe a few things on my way out.'

With that thought, Long Ming activated the invitation in his hand.

WHOOSH!

Long Ming transformed into a streak of white light and landed on a deserted teleportation platform.

He raised his wristband to check the details.

Teleportation Platform No. 001.

Activated Civilization: Beikate Civilization.

Civilization Level: Level 4

Participants: 1/1000.

...

Long Ming waited in silence.

Half an hour later, the mechanical pillar on the teleportation platform erupted in a dazzling light.

WHOOSH!

Long Ming vanished in another flash of white light.

When his vision cleared, he found himself floating in a dimly lit room.

Surprised, Long Ming glanced around.

Old stainless steel cups, screws, wrenches, and other debris floated around him.

'Zero gravity?'

Long Ming was surprised to see the floating objects.

He tried exerting a little force, and the Red Demon mecha immediately sank, allowing him to land on the floor.

Just then, he noticed a metal panel on the far wall of the room. It looked a lot like the window shade on an airplane.

Long Ming pushed aside the floating debris, kicked off from the floor, and floated over to it.

He reached out and slid the metal panel open, revealing a window.

A look of astonishment crossed Long Ming's face as he peered out the window.

In the vast expanse of space.

A massive, ring-shaped space station floated in the void.

The entire space station was shaped like a massive ring. Its surface was a mosaic of countless honeycomb-shaped alloy pods, with pale blue ribbons of energy flowing through the seams. Extending inward from the ring's edge were colossal struts, all anchored to a spherical metal hub at the very center.

'A Level 4 civilization, indeed. To think they'd actually bring me into outer space.'

After composing himself, Long Ming drew his blood blade and turned, floating toward the door.

He opened the door and floated out into a dimly lit corridor.

All the lights here were out, and debris of all sorts drifted through the air.

'A civilization of this level should definitely have an artificial gravity system. It must be malfunctioning or destroyed.'

Long Ming floated forward cautiously.

'This is my first time in a Level 4 civilization instance. Who knows what kind of freaky monsters will show up?'

Soon, he came upon a series of rooms lining both sides of the corridor.

Long Ming floated to the nearest room. The metal door was ajar, and he pushed it open to peek inside.

The narrow room was a complete wreck; the tables and chairs had been smashed to pieces.

Black bloodstains coated the floor.

Long Ming cautiously entered and searched around for a moment, but found nothing of value.

Slightly surprised, he left the room and moved on to the next.

Over two hours later.

Long Ming looked down at the single blue-grade accessory and white-grade book he had managed to find, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.

'How can this place be so poor?'

'This can't be right!'

Long Ming immediately opened his map to check the areas he had uncovered, and he instantly spotted the problem.

Based on the path he'd explored...

'This space station seems to be circular, and I'm in the outermost residential sector.'

'The rooms in this area are all cramped. If I'm not mistaken, this must be the workers' quarters.'

Long Ming decided to head toward the central area to explore.

He began floating down the main corridor, cautiously observing his surroundings.

The entire space station was silent—deathly so. But the terrifying claw marks on the metal walls and the bloodstains on the floor served as constant reminders of the danger lurking here.

Soon, Long Ming spotted a damaged sign on the wall.

B7 Central Corridor · Turn right in 300 meters.

After seeing the sign, Long Ming followed its directions, passing by many more rooms along the way.

He gave them only a brief glance before moving on, however.

'It's not that the space station has nothing of value. Any piece of equipment from a Level 4 civilization would be a treasure in the Star Alliance, so the equipment here has to be worth a fortune.'