Chapter 118: The Claw Civilization's Invasion Fails

The survivors who received the message locked their hunting targets onto the Iron-String Worms of the Claw Civilization. The Iron-String Worms provided a massive amount of flesh and, once traps were properly set, could be killed with ease. That night, nearly a hundred cities and countless survivors joined in, surrounding the Iron-String Worms deep into the night.

The most formidable aspect was that these people did not activate the "Iron-String Demon Butcher" title, so countless Iron-String Demons crawled into the spatial black holes only to be slaughtered en masse. Zihui’s Myriad-Origin Eye did not remain in just one city. There were over 300 cities in China. Zihui distributed the Myriad-Origin Eyes evenly, with each eye covering three cities; in a single day, the message was spread to every corner of the country. Consequently, over 200 more cities joined the slaughter.

When only Qin Hao and Zihui were blocking the spatial black holes, the other holes could still expel Iron-String Demons to balance their population. But now, with 100 spatial black holes being cleared simultaneously, the numbers were overwhelming. This meant the black holes could never replenish their supply and remained permanently open. The speed at which a spatial black hole expelled Iron-String Demons was at least 1,000 per hour, totaling 24,000 per day. With over 300 spatial black holes across China expelling them simultaneously, 7.2 million Iron-String Demons were being slaughtered every day.

Furthermore, every survivor in China had been driven into a killing frenzy. "Send more people! Quickly, kill 5,000 more and I can redeem a god-tier item!" "Hahahaha, who knew there was such a simple method? These invading civilizations are just here to deliver Star Energy Diamonds to us!" "Kill them! Kill these monsters! I’m going to slaughter them for three days and three nights!"

From that day on, countless cities across China began to act, without sleep or rest. Level 2 Evolvers, possessing ample stamina and a drive to earn Star Energy Diamonds, refused to rest. People in large settlements began hauling away the corpses of the Iron-String Demons, even distributing the meat to the hungry, which led to the emergence of wave after wave of Awakened.

Star Energy Diamonds were within easy reach and were used entirely to enhance their strength. Fearing the "Survival 3" mission arriving in half a month, they dared not break their genetic locks; instead, they focused on strengthening other attributes, becoming formidable fighters rather than hollow Evolvers who relied solely on potions and possessed only superficial cultivation. A small portion of China’s Evolvers began to grow rapidly, far surpassing people in other countries on Blue Star.

***

Deep beneath the soft soil of the insect planet belonging to the Claw Civilization lay the incubation vats of the Iron-String Worms. The Iron-String Demons were massive in size, and their population was far smaller than the one hundred million Sharp-Tooth Demons. But even the Sharp-Tooth Demons could be eaten into extinction in just a month, let alone the Iron-String Demons, who numbered only 30 million. In just three days, their population plummeted, and eventually, they were nowhere to be found on that land.

The Thousand-Armed God, who had been busy with other matters, received an alert from a technological device on one of his arms. If Qin Hao were there, he would have recognized it as the same "Biological Scanner" he had obtained. At this moment, the device radiated a unique power of thought, transmitting information: "Warning: Iron-String Demon population is at zero. When the number of invading creatures falls below 50%, the invasion is considered a failure."

The Thousand-Armed God was struck with sudden alarm. "What has that wretched human done? How could he have slaughtered so many of my pets?" he roared in fury. He quickly investigated, only to discover the anomaly of the spatial black holes and the humans frantically hunting the invading creatures. "Damn it! Damn it all!" The Thousand-Armed God was beyond enraged.

The extinction of the Poison-Demon Spiders was insignificant, as they were the strongest among the Awakened creatures and made up only one-ten-thousandth of the total population. But the Sharp-Tooth Demons and Iron-String Demons were vast in number. When the Sharp-Tooth Demons were nearly wiped out, he had already been on the verge of failure. Now that the Iron-String Demons were being slaughtered as well, if they were not replenished, the Claw Civilization was destined to fail.

"Once my invasion succeeds, I will surely exterminate humanity." While raging, the Thousand-Armed God had no choice but to intervene. He channeled his divine power into the earth; this energy, even purer than Star Energy, was injected into the insect eggs, causing the Iron-String Demon larvae to hatch and grow rapidly. The Iron-String Demons appeared once more and were funneled into the spatial black holes. Furthermore, the Thousand-Armed God dispatched stronger Devourers and Giant-Mouth Demons into these holes, intending to slaughter the humans on the other side.

Unfortunately, the heroes, having long since prepared their traps, were unbothered. The humans organizing the slaughter of the Iron-String Demons were all Level 2 Evolvers. With an average of 700,000 Star Energy Diamonds obtained, even if they couldn't acquire god-tier abilities, they had secured top-tier combat techniques, protective gear, and even rapid enhancements to their power of thought and life force.

***

By now, they were no longer something the Giant-Mouth Demons could shake. The Thousand-Armed God frantically poured in hunting creatures, and the humans slaughtered them with equal fervor. It was a tug-of-war, a battle of attrition to see who could hold out longer—a game between a deity and countless humans.

...

Blue Star, Liancheng Cross-Sea Bridge.

Qin Hao had seen the message published by Zihui’s Myriad-Origin Eye and felt a sense of pride. "After reversing time, the most correct thing I ever did was save Zihui." If he hadn't, a god-defying artifact like the Myriad-Origin Eye would never have appeared. What Qin Hao hadn't anticipated was that Zihui could influence the entire nation through the eye.

"In that case, many people will likely join the hunt. Even someone like Hai Hanting can hunt 300,000 Star Energy Diamonds in just over three hours. If this continues for a few more days, base managers and top-tier heroes might even obtain god-tier items. As their strength increases, humanity's strength naturally grows. Since they haven't faced the 'Survival 3' mission yet, they shouldn't rashly break their genetic locks, which means more people are focusing on improving their combat techniques. It’s a win-win."

Qin Hao was deeply gratified. He would strive to reach godhood as quickly as possible, while Zihui’s actions helped preserve more humans for him. Qin Hao did not want to find that, by the time he became a god, humanity had ceased to exist.

Just as Qin Hao was lost in thought, every hero on Blue Star received a new notification. It was a notification, not a mission, and even Qin Hao’s "Mission Predictor" did not sound.

"Ding! The number of hunting creatures from the Claw Civilization has fallen below 50%. The invasion value has dropped to a critical point. Eligibility for invasion is lost. The Claw Civilization's invasion has failed, and no further hunting creatures will be deployed."

Within the China region, the spatial black holes of the Claw Civilization, which had not closed for a week, shut down completely. The Claw Civilization had exited the stage of invading Blue Star. Everyone was stunned, followed immediately by the wild cheers of the heroes.