Chapter 684 - 431: Illuminating All Things

Chapter 684: Chapter 431: Illuminating All Things

Immense Energy powered the Artificial Sun, and the cold, dead star of steel gradually turned a scorching red. The thick frost covering its surface melted and vaporized in the intense heat, transforming into billowing clouds of white steam.

In an instant, the Artificial Sun, which had lain dormant for ages, erupted with an infinite blaze of light.

A golden solar corona appeared, expanding wildly and burning with boundless intensity.

A brilliant, fiery light blazed forth, instantly radiating across the entire World.

The immense power of light and heat tore through the gloomy clouds, pierced the torrential rain and gales, and transformed into thousands of brilliant golden rays, once again illuminating a mortal world that had not seen it for ages.

It dispelled the Darkness.

It calmed the storms.

Under the light of the majestic sun, the Abyssal Power plaguing Gaia evaporated as quickly as melting snow, and all chaos was swiftly brought to heel.

In a city shrouded by black clouds and torrential rain.

Crowds of refugees were temporarily sheltered on the streets. Numbness and Fear were written on every face. Only when volunteers came to distribute food would a flicker of life return to their eyes.

People looked up at the sky, only to see oppressive, gloomy clouds and a seemingly endless downpour.

"The rain’s been falling for three days. Who knows when it’ll stop," a man in the crowd sighed. "I’ve never seen a storm this bad in my life. If it weren’t for the Defense Barrier here, we probably would’ve drowned by now."

"I heard the rainfall has reached a terrifying level, equivalent to dozens of Gannari Lakes pouring down every hour... It’s a miracle we’re still alive."

"If this rain keeps up for another week or two, I doubt the Barrier can hold."

To the crowd, the Barrier overhead was just a thin film, unlikely to hold for long against such terrifying forces of nature.

Despair, helplessness, and confusion had long since spread through the crowd, casting a pall over everyone’s hearts.

Just then, without any warning, a ray of light tore through the clouds like a sharp blade. It shot down like a gleaming golden thread, illuminating a tiny corner of the street.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to it. They stared dumbly at that sliver of light, unsure of what was happening.

After a long moment of silence, someone spoke in disbelief.

"Is that... is that sunlight?"

"No way! How could it be sunlight!"

"Have you ever seen sunlight?"

"I haven’t, but I’ve read about it in books. My gut tells me this is what it is..."

A murmur went through the crowd. A braver soul approached the beam of light and cautiously reached out a hand.

The brilliant light illuminated a rough, dirty palm, bringing with it an unprecedented warmth.

The entire city erupted. That extraordinarily dazzling beam of light was simply too conspicuous; everyone saw it.

Though it was as thin as a golden thread, it seemed to have become the very axis of the World.

After a brief silence, thousands of golden arrows suddenly tore through the dark clouds, painting the entire sky a brilliant gold, streaked with a myriad of radiant beams.

Just like that, the torrential rain ceased. The dark clouds scattered, and the world was instantly filled with a dazzling, magnificent light.

To their astonishment, the people discovered that day had broken.

The blue sky and white clouds, which had only existed in legends, now appeared before their eyes.

So clear, so magnificent.

And...

The golden, dazzling, warm—Sun!

"There are two Suns..."

Someone shouted in bewilderment, "There are two Suns in the sky!"

One Sun was pitch-black, like a smear of black paint on a canvas. It was an eyesore and gave off a vaguely unsettling feeling. The other Sun, however, released a dazzling light that shone upon the land.

At this very moment, all of Gaia saw that blazing star, and countless people were shaken to their core.

「Satellite City.」

Jiang Che stared in disbelief at the image on the monitor.

’The Artificial Sun... it’s been lit?’

"How did he do it?" Jiang Che furrowed her brow.

’Back then, the Dwarf King and the Giant King had to throw themselves into the Artificial Sun as kindling to ignite this great creation. What did Zhou Chen do to light it?’

’Don’t tell me... he threw himself in as kindling too?’

"He’s fine. I just don’t know what method he used to ignite the Artificial Sun," Tang Ling spoke up. "Let’s get to work. We’re about to be swamped."

"What is there—"

Jiang Che had just started to ask what there was to do when a piercing alarm blared. The satellites had detected high-concentration fluctuations of Abyssal Contamination, and it was rapidly approaching Sun Cliff Mountain.

"Don’t forget, the Abyssal Contamination in the game belongs to the Ancient Darkness. It is inherently opposed to the Sun. The game’s final boss has obviously inherited these traits. Lighting the Artificial Sun is something that It, and any Abyssal Demon, would never allow."

"Can we intercept it?" Jiang Che stared at the high-speed Energy Source on the screen, but in the next second, she came to her own conclusion.

’It’s too fast! We can’t intercept it!’

"We can’t intercept it, but it will be difficult for the danger to reach Sun Cliff Peak. The solar radiation is strongest there. Any Abyssal Demon that mindlessly charges in would just be asking to die."

Tang Ling said, "Leave what’s happening there to Zhou Chen. I trust he can handle it. We have other matters to attend to."

"With the Sun reignited, we’ve stabilized the situation. We need to get the Players out to grind levels as soon as possible. Every extra person adds to our strength. Beyond that, we have to prepare for the worst. We need to draw up plans for the next hundred years, just in case we fail to unseal Gaia this time. If that happens, the Gaia People will have to endure another century in this apocalypse..."