Chapter 373: Mechanical Mana Era

The conversation ended. The laptop slowly closed, and Keni solemnly stood up. He still trembled with fear from that immense and boundless power; only by being so close to this ancient deity did he truly comprehend its terrifying nature. Yet, he stood tall and straight. Like a soldier, he bowed slightly and said, "Respected ancient deity! Thank you for offering assistance to us, the Ishudar people. Regardless of the outcome, we are immensely grateful!"

Xu Zhi simply smiled, watching Keni leave. Levi had indeed chosen an excellent successor. It was the first time he had encountered a race and civilization that did not worship or believe in deities. Every previous civilization, upon realizing the existence of deities and witnessing miracles firsthand, would quickly prostrate themselves in worship. This civilization was different; they were unique.

Keni left, but outside the milk tea shop, television stations and major news outlets hesitated, unsure whether they should—or dared to—enter and interview the ancient deity. Xu Zhi stood up, left immediately, and vanished from the spot.

"He vanished!"

"My God! What kind of power is that?!"

The reporters outside were stunned, then frantically rushed inside.

"Hello everyone, this is Xu Na reporting for Central Channel 1 of the Eastern Nation Television. We have clearly seen that this mysterious ancient deity has disappeared! We are now going to interview the bikers inside the milk tea shop!"

A beautiful reporter immediately interviewed a biker, asking how long the mysterious deity had stayed in the milk tea shop and if there were any unusual behaviors.

"He... the deity likes milk tea!" The biker, still immersed in excitement and unable to fully recover, suddenly shouted, ecstatic as if he had discovered a sensational, once-in-a-century news story. "The deity likes milk tea! Oh! That's incredible!"

The reporter was speechless.

*Coming to a milk tea shop and not drinking milk tea? Were they there just to use the restroom?* However, despite their confusion, they understood. They admitted that they, too, would have been scared senseless and overwhelmed with excitement.

Someone also interviewed a bewildered Caroline, eagerly thrusting a microphone towards her: "Excuse me, what is your relationship with the deity?"

"We're just ordinary friends who met at the milk tea shop and occasionally chat," Caroline quickly replied.

Furthermore, new groups of bikers rushed in. They immediately seized the table and chairs by the window, strapped them onto their mechanical motorcycles, and sped off, shouting, "We're rich! Auction! The deity's seat!!"

The commotion was intense.

When he reappeared, Xu Zhi had changed his attire and found himself on a modern street, like a time traveler wandering through the entire contemporary city. Cheers erupted all around him. They had witnessed a deity and marveled at the terrifyingly vast miracle, finding it wondrous. Although some regretted missing out on such power, no one felt any worry. In shops, crowds gathered around televisions, discussing the deity's greatness. Yet, no one blamed Mr. Levi; they firmly believed he could never make a mistake.

"This is a confident race. Their national spirit is almost entirely embodied by Levi," Xu Zhi mused as he walked slowly, unable to help but admire Levi's talent. "Levi is a remarkable individual. He possesses both ability and sufficient prestige to make decisions for all of humanity. The most astonishing thing is that everyone actually feels Levi can represent them!"

His prestige was almost beyond belief. For them, Mr. Levi was already a god. He had ushered in era after era of civilization: the era of electricity, the era of mechanical steam, the internet era... To them, it was now simply one god conversing with another. Their god, the leader of their civilization, made decisions that were beyond question. And now, Levi was merely choosing the path for humanity's next era. Was there any need to question that? No! So many eras had already come before. With civilization having progressed so far, they couldn't simply start over.

A hint of anticipation appeared in Xu Zhi's eyes. "So, how far will you go?"

Three months passed. The Holy Dragon Emperor Michael, after several probing attacks, no longer held back upon seeing that the ancient deity had completely vanished. It launched a fierce offensive and even provoked humans on their social media, aiming to demoralize them. Large numbers of human soldiers died.

Meanwhile, in the ancient land of lava. Deep within a hidden underground cave, amidst a pile of machinery, a frantic cry suddenly rang out: "So that's how it is!"

The old man, with wild, disheveled white hair and a look of fervent intensity, like a mad scientist engrossed in research, exclaimed, "C language... is the primal language of everything, the language God used to create life, forming the fundamental code of existence. It's like a string of keys, capable of deciphering any obscure, encrypted information, and unraveling what they call 'demon cores'! Demon cores are the crystalline brains of transcendent beasts, eight-faceted crystal prisms that store their souls and power... And I can write in C language to modify their brains!"

He continued his in-depth research, looking at a modified lava-steam aircraft. "I can now use that Tier 4 demon core as a weapon, writing neural commands to unleash 'talent attacks' and activate their innate abilities! And the demon cores can be charged using human methods—lava generators. Here, I can only modify aircraft... but over there, they can fully construct exoskeletal war armor!" He continued to ponder, then suddenly burst into laughter. "The next era after the Internet Age will be the Mechanized Arcane Age!" He immediately sent the blueprints and design ideas back.

At this point, the two great human empires had already paid a heavy price with their firearms, shooting down many transcendent beasts to obtain their demon cores. They rapidly began construction based on the mechanical blueprints.

Boom! A towering mechanical giant, seven or eight meters tall, swiftly ran across the ground. It was assembled with four Tier 4 demon cores, a quad-core drive, its combat power surpassing ordinary Tier 4 beasts. Capable of rapid charging, it instantly plunged into the battlefield, becoming a formidable weapon of terror.

"What is that!"

"How can it possess our beastly talents!"

Some transcendent beasts began to panic, standing atop mountains and overlooking the entire battlefield. The war began to shift. Humans started using the beasts' crystal cores as weapons, relentlessly overwhelming them to create even more powerful war machines, fighting to sustain the fight.

"Before you die, try to self-detonate your demon core!" Michael began to grow uneasy.

Soon, the presidents of the two human empires, along with high-ranking officials from major conglomerates and corporations who had become senators, launched a plan called "The Human Redemption Project" to rescue Levi, the Human God. They intended to rescue Mr. Levi, who was still wandering outside! This was a highly irrational act. Mr. Levi was now too old, with less than ten years left to live. Sending their main mechs deep into enemy territory was virtually a death sentence, risking the human-controlled battlefield, which they had barely managed to stabilize, back into crisis, potentially leading to humanity's extinction.

However, the Ishudar people, fiery as magma, were also fanatical and stubborn!

"Save Mr. Levi!"

A team of humanity's elite forces, forming a Tier 5 demon core unit linked to four Tier 4 demon core mechs, secretly crossed the border, infiltrated enemy territory, and covertly contacted Mr. Levi. This was destined to be a brutal war, with humanity suffering significant losses. Finally, after a full month of arduous travel, Levi, the Human God, successfully returned to the modern city. The entire human society cheered! It was a sleepless night!

Year 167 of the Empire. With Mr. Levi's return, the two empires established Mecha Academies and formally began recruiting soldiers. In the same year, due to the war's stalemate and slowdown, internet culture became fully prevalent. The internet and online games emerged, ushering in an era of internet explosion. An online game called "Legend of Beasts" led to the official appearance of the term "internet addiction." Internet café culture also gradually flourished. In many internet cafés, one often saw lively scenes: middle and elementary school students, unable to afford the internet fees, would gather around one person playing on a computer, collectively instructing them on how to play.

Year 168 of the Empire. The Holy Dragon Emperor, Michael, once again issued a statement on social media. A screenshot was posted, showing a golden dragon sitting in front of a computer, holding a mouse and playing a game.

"I secretly scouted your camp and found that not only is your internet interesting, but this game is also really fun... Who will top up my 'Legend of Beasts' account? My ID is: 9B86, Mage class, character name: Humble Human... If you don't top up my account, I'll completely conquer your human nations and enslave all of you! I'll remember those who top up my account and grant them merits."

For a dragon, and indeed for all beasts of the lava land, their long lives were extremely monotonous. They didn't even need to cultivate. Simply eating, drinking, and walking every day allowed them to become incredibly strong, reaching Tier 5 and 6 upon adulthood. Such a life was incredibly boring, and human internet, society, and especially games, could utterly enthrall them.

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The comments section below the post erupted with curses.

"Get lost! How can that ancient lava world steal and use our human civilization's internet?!"

"By the way, the military's computers are so good, how come they haven't broken down after all this time!"

"I strongly suggest the military implements real-name registration for the internet to prevent outsiders from secretly connecting!"

"Southern New Human University declares war on Michael! (Fat Dragon Die.jpg)"

The Ishudar people were very hot-tempered and immediately began to retort. The screenshot of the golden dragon sitting at the computer quickly turned into various meme-like emoticons. With the development of the internet, chat emojis naturally emerged.

"Damn it!"

"Damn it!"

"They even made me ugly!"

Sitting in front of the computer, it immediately became enraged. The dragon's pride and the dignity of a superior being felt immensely humiliated. Although this dragon possessed high intelligence, it was ultimately naive about the ways of the world. How could it know the importance of image rights? It immediately suffered a huge loss. Although this world didn't yet have "troll" netizens and maintained a simple, straightforward reputation, the Ishudar people's fiery tempers instantly made them excited. What a rare opportunity to bring glory to their nation, simply by wielding a keyboard! With such a great opportunity, who wouldn't seize the moment to act?!

Michael, fuming, sought to relax by logging back into its "Legend of Beasts" character. A smile appeared on its face as it discovered a large sum of money had been deposited. After all, some humans had secretly topped up its account; with such a massive population, there were bound to be a few traitors.

"I'll remember your game IDs."

It was immediately satisfied, but no sooner had it appeared in the main city than it found a crowd gathered around it, furiously typing and spamming the chat:

"Oh! Here he is!"

"Our foreign friend from the distant East, he's here, quick, get him!"

"Hahahahaha! Our friends from the West are also very enthusiastic! We've been camping for three days and three nights, and I've finally waited for him!"

Michael: "????"

It stared blankly at the computer screen, utterly bewildered. Could it even play the game properly anymore?! But with a thought, it relaxed and sneered. There was no PvP in the city; this wasn't the wilderness, so they couldn't do anything to him.

But the next second...

A system notification appeared: "Due to today's special circumstances, city PvP mode has been activated."

Michael's face instantly darkened! It furiously pounded the keyboard and roared:

"This is cheating!"

"This is cheating!"

"These despicable, shameless, lowly humans!"

It was simple-minded and straightforward. In this ancient land of lava, strength was paramount. It was supreme, possessed powerful talents, and its society was a simple beastly one with virtually no scheming or backstabbing. It had never seen a situation like this before.

"Corpse-whip him!"

"Quick, screenshot and take a group photo!"

"Hahahaha, I skipped class! As soon as I heard the news, I took leave and came to the nearest internet café to 'push the boss'!"

"Me too! Our boss told us to drop everything and everyone log into the game!"

"Brothers, the game's official statement is out! Anyone who topped up his account will have their personal information handed over to the state and be charged with treason! They'll be locked up for a few years, at least!"

In an instant, it was surrounded and furiously slaughtered by a swarm of characters from various professions, lying on the ground as a corpse. And then, something even more infuriating happened: the moment the death screen flashed red, a notification popped up: "Ding, you damned dragon, your account has been permanently banned from this game!"

Michael gnashed its teeth, veins bulging.

"Damn humans!"

Hatred. Hatred that almost made it roar.

On this day, Michael personally led the charge, and war erupted once more. The battle was brutal, with countless lives relentlessly rushing to the battlefield. It was historically known as the "Legendary Blood City Battle," a tribal war sparked by the humans' malicious PvP against the Holy Dragon Emperor Michael's game account, escalating from the computer network.

The Ishudar people remained fearless. They were numerous and highly reproductive, and frankly, a bunch of lunatics! The war raged for six full months. The Ishudar people lost a staggering 130,000 soldiers, but humanity's reproductive capacity was terrifying. This numerical exchange was an advantage that transcendent beasts could never hope to match.

"They're not afraid to trade lives! They're insane! Truly insane!" Michael felt as though it could hear their roars, unable to fathom the pride and stubbornness of this race. They had no fear of the current generation's sacrifices, believing it was for the sake of their descendants' future. In them, it faintly saw Levi's shadow. They were influenced by Levi's charismatic personality; the people of this entire era possessed such a strong character and spirit.

"One person influencing the spirit of an entire era?" As a supreme golden dragon ancestor, for the first time, it began to feel fear because of a group of insignificant ants, because of this mysterious old man, Levi.

"They are truly an extraordinary form of life... Each one is incredibly weak, even weaker than beasts, yet they wield unimaginable weapons called 'technology.' Wielding it, even weak ants possess terrifying power." For the entire ancient land of lava, this was an unexpected form of species.

In this war, Michael began to retreat. It withdrew its troops first, acting very rationally. There were seven other lives as powerful as itself in the Great Stone Wall region, and if its strength were too depleted, its own death would not be far off.