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

"Miss Conch, open the door!"

He called out several times, but Miss Conch, who was always talkative, did not respond at all.

Even if she were secretly crying, she should have responded in theory, given her polite nature. It was impossible for there to be no reaction...

Lu Yuan felt a sudden chill in his heart.

He quickly ran to the nearby Star Sea Snail, trying to forcibly open the lid.

Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to open it from the outside.

He exerted all his strength, veins bulging on his forehead, yet he still couldn't manage to open it.

It was only possible to smash it with brute force, but that might damage the Soul Gem inside Miss Conch.

"Damn it, always complicating things."

"Is it that hard to reply?"

Lu Yuan suddenly had an inspiration.

He tried to put the Star Sea Snail into the Storage Space.

Objects with "self-consciousness" could not be put into a Storage Space.

Yet, this time, he easily pushed the big shell inside...

This meant that Miss Conch's soul had indeed disappeared.

Lu Yuan's pupils dilated and he clenched his fists.

"She was taken by the illusion realm, damn it... When did this happen?"

"Did she... go willingly?!"

A heart sank to the seabed.

Yes, it was very likely voluntary.

The crazy obsession was just to continue the "Ascension Ceremony." If Miss Conch went willingly, there was no need to continue attacking others.

After realizing this, Lu Yuan silently turned around and walked under the Tree of Life, feeling a nameless rage building within him.

In the yellow-brown sandstorm, this vibrant green tree stood solitary, the ancient city becoming more and more desolate in this dusty world.

In his mind, he recalled Miss Conch's soft crying.

And her father's final words: "Decide your own fate, revel in the freedom of being yourself, that is the ultimate refuge for our souls."

"Is this the fate you decided?"

"To die, to save all of us?"

"You are such a fool, damn it!"

The world is vast, filled with helplessness.

Even he, Lu Yuan, couldn't return home and was stuck here mingling with villagers out of helplessness...

The sandstorm intensified at that moment, the coarse sand scratching his face like sharp blades, bringing bone-deep pain.

It really hurt.

Lu Yuan looked toward the distance once more.

The "Ascension Ceremony" was no longer possible. Discover exclusive content at empire

As Miss Conch aged, her "Mind Control" ability had long since fallen from its peak state.

The Opium poppy had only a single root left.

The "Spirit" was nothing more than leftovers from a feast.

In the "Green Grass Paradise," only some lingering obsessions remained.

Everything was no longer as it once was.

She would not only die, but in an extremely painful manner—her soul would mutate, turning into a horrifying monster.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan's fury grew even more intense.

He couldn't bear it!!

"Did I ask you to save us? Do I need you to save us?"

Listening to the roaring wind, Lu Yuan realized he had no other choice and quietly returned the Tree of Life to his mind.

He sensed his attitude gradually changing, transforming into those peaceful sand dunes.

He made a decision.

If there are enemies,

then cut down the enemies and rescue the people.

If there are no enemies, and Miss Conch went willingly, then scold her. Nobody wants to owe you favors; don't fucking think about sacrificing yourself!

Your father wanted you to live a happy life; is this how you repay your father?

Lu Yuan's expression was cold as he breathed out softly, getting his weapons ready for battle.

All the firearms were in the Storage Space, having been maintained just a few days ago; they should be usable.

Cold weapons were ready for use at any time.

"A million monsters in the middle of the city, overturning ten thousand would be good too."

"But if you rescue Miss Conch, what about The Sha Li Clan? Do you let them die off?"

Old Cat calmly jumped onto Lu Yuan's shoulder, just like in countless previous battles.

"I'll cut the roots of the Opium poppy, and that will be the best of both worlds," Lu Yuan said firmly.

The Undying Giant Turtle, not understanding what had happened but hearing that Miss Conch had been captured, was also furiously yelling something like, "That's my brother's sister."

Lu Yuan put on his finest gear and raced toward the distant horizon.

In the desert's rare cloudy day, a few fish-scale clouds obscured the sun, bringing a rare coolness to the vast land.

"Comrades, can you hear me? Comrades!" Lu Yuan shouted as he ran, picking up an eyeball and launching a telepathy.

"I—hear—" came a very slow response from the other side.

"I'm going to be in a dangerous battle. If I don't call for a long time, assume I've been defeated and don't worry about me anymore."

"The Pangu Continent was inherently risky; anything could happen."

"Survival and death, I was already mentally prepared."

Lu Yuan ignored the other party's sluggish questions and hung up the phone.

The closer he was to a life-and-death crisis, the clearer his mind became.

His speed kept increasing as he sprinted through the ruins.

The wind blew on his armor, making a 'ding ding dang dang' sound.

Going head-to-head with a million buds in the city center, he definitely wasn't a match, not even with a cannon.

So, he found a manhole cover for a sewer and crawled in; it was somewhat damp inside, and some crustacean insects were scrambling around in the sewer.

According to the Sha Li People, these insects were bred by an 'Extraordinary Life' called the 'Mother Worm'—these insects were highly poisonous, even contaminating the water source in the sewer.

In the murky environment, Lu Yuan did not slow down but kept moving along the sewer toward a certain direction.

The map depicted by the Sha Li People, he kept it close to his heart.

He saw the massive Mother Worm.

A plump, long worm full of tentacles, like a termite queen, spanning more than a dozen meters, occupying a corner topped by mushrooms.

A pair of ferocious compound eyes stared roundly at their group, and from its mouthparts came a sharp roar.

"Get lost!"

Lu Yuan's donkey head mask radiated a crimson glow.

He raised his Black Iron Longsword in his hand, bending his right leg in a bow stance, preparing to slash—he would really attack in the next second by instant teleportation, exploding with full force to kill this creature as quickly as possible.

Old Cat also spat out the machine gun in his mouth, his eyes cold.

Possibly intimidated by this group's terrifying murderous aura, the Mother Worm issued a couple of cries and then retreated.

This insect might have evolved some subtle intelligence, not troubling this group of almost mad travelers.

Or perhaps, it had just returned to its spirit and was somewhat weakened.

It ran away.

"You're lucky!"

"Splash, splash," they waded through the water, twisting through the complicated sewer.

Some time passed.

Lu Yuan saw a jade pendant on the floor, covered in algae, with a benign human-shaped statue on it—it was probably a god of the Green Grass Civilization.

It had been washed into the sewer a long time ago.

"Bless me, unknown god, I am going to save the last of your people."

"If she dies, the Green Grass Civilization will truly perish."

"If she lives, perhaps she can breed the next generation."

The jade pendant couldn't speak, just remaining silent.

It hung in front of Lu Yuan's chest, swinging and colliding with his armor, silent as though witnessing the destruction of a civilization thousands of years ago.

Finally, Lu Yuan saw the budding pods in the sewer.

They were vibrant and captivating.

The continuous thumping of those pods resonated with his heart, as if trying to violently pull out his soul, the strange illusion once again emerged in Lu Yuan's mind.

Fortunately, there were no creatures among these pods.

They lived in the sewer, and the powerhouses of the Green Grass Civilization would never choose these sewer pods as their dwellings.

These were probably bred later.

"Light Screen!" Lu Yuan muttered silently in his mind.

A layer of dark red glow appeared on the surface of his skin.

The defensive ability of the Level Four Eternal Spark had managed to resist the violent resonance force.

He gritted his teeth and pushed aside a few pods, trying not to harm them.

"Brother, if it really comes to a fight, let Mr. Turtle be the meat shield."

"You save the person and just run away," the Undying Giant Turtle snorted heavily through its nostrils, its eyes bloodshot, "Mr. Turtle won't die, at most just sleep."

"I understand, thanks brother."

Lu Yuan nodded, pried open the manhole cover above his head, and poked his head out.

Pods undulated in all directions, the density of the enemy causing his scalp to tingle, countless pods resonating back and forth, Lu Yuan heard the mysterious voice again [The Ascension Ceremony is about to begin].

This time, if no one stops it, damn, it's really going to start!

He widened his eyes.

He saw the gigantic Opium poppy tree hundreds of meters away!

In a misty haze, only a stump of the Opium poppy tree was left, but it still seemed so majestic, emitting that terrifying aura that made people tremble.

Its original trunk had been torn apart by itself, the wounded area had been sunbaked to a reddish-brown over thousands of years.

But even with its upper body gone, the remaining stump was still about a hundred meters tall, maintaining an extremely vigorous life force.

Countless branches forked off, obscuring the sky.

The millions of buds were part of this enormous entity's extensions.

Compared to the illusion, the Opium poppy tree was more ferocious and less graceful.

These sprawling branches caused Lu Yuan a slight psychological fear, all attributes were undetectable, he could only see one name—[Opium poppy tree·Demon].

He simply didn't know how to fight this immense being.

All attacks were just scratching the surface, even a few nuclear bombs might not be enough to destroy this unimaginable super life.

Fortunately, his task was only to rescue Miss Conch, killing this terror from the previous epochs seemed an impossible task.

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(PS: Mid-month here, asking for a Monthly Ticket!)