Chapter 82: The Second Catastrophe Arrives

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The system will be updated to its third version, offering products more suitable for humans. Some goods can now be exchanged for Star Energy Gems. When advanced Evolvers hunt lower-level alien creatures, the amount of Hero Points earned will be reduced. Blue Star Energy is beginning to revive, unlocking the function to store Star Energy; every hero will be granted 0.001 cubic meters of space.

[Ding! Mission Predictor activated! Main storyline mission detected, estimated time of occurrence: 3 hours.]

[Cataclysm]

The Invasion Alliance will release hunting creatures for the second time, aiming to destroy humanity. During this period, you must strive to hunt these creatures and collect Hero Points.

Mission Rewards:
Slaying a Fang Demon grants 100 Hero Points. (Note)
Slaying a Serpent Demon grants 1,000 Hero Points. (Note)
Slaying a Venomous Spider Demon grants 5,000 Hero Points. (Note)
Slaying an Iron Spike Demon, Croc Beast, Liquid Walker, or Flame Demon grants 10,000 Hero Points. (Note)
Slaying a Devourer, Giant Crab Beast, Corrosive Liquid Walker, or Wind Demon grants 100,000 Hero Points. (Note)
Slaying a Giant Maw Demon, Toad Demon, Deadly Liquid Walker, or Voodoo Demon grants 500,000 Hero Points. (Note)
Rewards for hunting other creatures will be updated at any time...

Qin Hao's gaze fell on the lines marked with a note, and he saw a new prompt.

For the Iron Spike Demon, it was clearly stated: a Level 1 Evolver gains 100 Hero Points for the kill, a Level 2 Evolver gains 1 Hero Point, and those above Level 3 gain nothing.

Although these powerful alien beasts seem to offer bountiful Hero Points, for the 481 survivors, the rewards remain at 100, 1,000, or 5,000 Hero Points. For Serpent Demons and the like, it’s been reduced to 1, 10, or 50 points. Those humans who unlocked the Level 2 gene lock in advance only earn 1, 10, or 50 points from these new hunting creatures.

As for Qin Hao, one of the world’s rare Level 3 Evolvers: killing any creature yields no Hero Points.

“I suppose the Oceanic Monarch civilization gave me the Abyssal Sword for this very reason. I didn’t expect the reduction in Hero Points to happen so soon. This only appeared after the third system update, but it makes sense—at the time of the third update, humans had just reached Level 3 Evolvers.”

Level 3 Evolvers have a tremendous advantage over early-stage hunting creatures. From this stage, humans have mastered elemental control, and their life force has undergone a profound transformation.

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Humans at this stage are vastly different from those before. Qin Hao and Zi Hui’s abilities far surpass those of other heroes precisely because they broke through the Level 3 gene lock in advance.

Take Yuan Xingcan, for instance—a metal power user. When he first awakened as an Evolver, he could merely sharpen his blade a little. Reaching Level 1 Evolver, he could make a badge or craft some tools at best. Only at Level 2 could he twist metal from a distance to attack. Upon reaching Level 3, he could unleash large-scale attacks like Qin Hao.

Thus, Level 3 Evolvers became known as Intermediate Evolvers, and Qin Hao had advanced to this stage ahead of the others.

“With the system store updated, they’ll likely ramp up consumption of Star Energy Gems. And that portable space with a ten-centimeter diameter—ha! If a hero dies, wouldn’t all their Star Energy Gems fall into the hands of the Peace Alliance?”

The Peace Alliance brands itself as a force for peace, but it is never selfless—they never take a loss. In the end, it’s just a transaction between two parties.

Qin Hao closed the hero system, activated his spatial disk, and returned to the Magic City.

Only a few hours had passed since the Survival mission began. People at the Sky Dome Base didn’t even know Qin Hao had been to Kyoto and were still anxiously waiting inside the base.

According to Zi Hui, after the Survival mission ends, even stronger creatures would appear, so all seventeen heroes remained at the Sky Dome Base. Zi Hui even deployed the Eye of Ten Thousand Sects, warning the entire city.

Qin Hao paid no mind to these matters and simply lay down on his bed, falling fast asleep. He hadn’t rested in a long time.

Three hours later, the system’s voice woke him.

The system update had completed, and the hero system was being distributed.

Now, the number of human survivors was likely less than half the original, perhaps around three billion. With hero systems being granted to fifty thousand people, this meant there was now one hero for every sixty thousand survivors—a tenfold increase over the previous one in six hundred thousand chance.

Qin Hao walked out of his bedroom and descended to the second floor, just in time to hear a cheer.

“I got the hero system! I have a system!” It was Sun Miaomiao.

At that moment, another person spoke, “I got the system too.”

It was Xu Qian.

In an instant, cheers erupted—seventy people at the Sky Dome Base had obtained the hero system.

“It seems everyone who got the system is an Evolver, and among Evolvers, only the more powerful ones,” Yuan Xingcan observed.

“Because people are divided into ranks—first-class heroes, second-class Evolvers. Among Evolvers and ordinary people, the chance of getting the hero system isn’t equal; Evolvers are more likely to become heroes. The Peace Alliance wants to cultivate gods. A month has passed—if someone hasn’t become an Evolver by now, it just means they haven’t tried hard enough. If you don’t even dare face danger, how can you become a hero? Survival of the fittest is shown most clearly in times like these.”

As Qin Hao finished, the others all nodded in agreement.

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Now, there were only about ten million survivors left in the Magic City. With one hero emerging from every sixty thousand people, there were roughly one hundred sixty heroes—half of them based at the Sky Dome Base, greatly strengthening their power.

Meanwhile, at the North Capital Base, not a single hero had emerged.

Or perhaps, there were heroes in that survivor base, but they had chosen not to reveal themselves. Because that hero had already received the next prompt.

The [Cataclysm] mission had updated: more hunting creatures were coming.

Without warning, spatial black holes began opening all over, spitting out hunting creatures.

The vast North Capital Base had three spatial black holes open at once.

In the next moment, all manner of terrifying creatures crawled out from within.

All three thousand Evolvers at the North Capital Base died outside. Inside the base, there were fewer than fifty Level 1 Evolvers; the rest had only just awakened and had not yet unlocked the first gene lock.

How could such people stand against alien beasts? They couldn’t even kill an Iron Spike Demon.

The most terrifying thing was, in the North Capital Base, a Voodoo Demon had appeared.

It was a crawling creature, its entire body coated in viscous green slime, with a massive pustule on its back constantly emitting toxic fumes. It resembled a hunched, four-limbed old man. Its green eyes watched the fleeing humans, its mouth curling into a greedy smile, drool dripping down.

It slurped its own saliva, then suddenly sprayed it out.

“Splat, splat, splat, splat, splat!”

A cloud of green mist appeared. Five humans who failed to escape were enveloped by the toxic fog and collapsed to the ground.

The poison seemed to kill instantly, filling the survivors with terror.

What happened next horrified them even more.

The five people sprayed by the mist began to rise from the ground. Their bodies rotted rapidly, their eyes sunken, their faces twisted and monstrous as they shuffled toward the crowd.

The scene was all too familiar—and terrifying.

“Z-z-zombies!”

Someone screamed in terror.