Chapter 146: The One-Eyed Deer (Part 1)

Inside the second-floor private suite, Xue Feifei stood by the window, cradling the soundly sleeping Tuanzi in her arms.

This space was originally a premier VIP suite within the stadium, formerly reserved for wealthy elites watching matches. Consequently, the window offered an exceptional vantage point, providing a clear, panoramic view of the entire stadium grounds.

Yet, at this moment, she had no heart to appreciate such a magnificent environment. She merely stared blankly at the full moon hanging high above, her brows furrowed deeply into a distinct, sharp crease.

It was not that she was making a fuss over nothing; the scene before her was simply too bizarre.

Previously, Xue Feifei had always believed that there was nothing in this world that science could not explain. However, confronting the spectacle unfolding before her eyes genuinely baffled her—a proud and confident scientist.

Even after racking her brains and searching through everything she had learned in her lifetime, she could not conjure a single rational explanation for the current situation.

This inevitably stirred a profound sense of absurdity within her heart, even leading her to entertain a shocking conclusion.

Swallowing hard, Xue Feifei picked up the walkie-talkie in her hand and spoke with some hesitation: "I-It's simply unimaginable. Is that really the moon? And the place where we are right now... is this truly still Earth?"

Xue Feifei was forced to harbor such doubts because the nocturnal scenery before her had completely deviated from her understanding.

Xue Feifei possessed no small accomplishment in astronomy; she could accurately recite the astrological signs and constellations that should be visible across the globe's seven continents in any given season.

Yet the night sky at this moment was entirely unfamiliar to her. She could find no trace of any previously witnessed, similar stellar patterns within her own memory.

The famous constellations of various sizes that once belonged to Earth—such as Aries and Orion—had vanished entirely, replaced by a stellar arrangement she had never seen before.

It was quite literally as if... they had arrived on an alien planet!

Fortunately, Kong Zhe was still around to clear up her confusion. Ever since she had met him, he had created miraculous understandings for her countless times. In her impression, Kong Zhe seemed omniscient. If there was still one person capable of explaining the current situation to her, it could only be him.

He had once claimed to be a traveler from the future, though no matter how Xue Feifei questioned him about it, he refused to say anything more. Therefore, Xue Feifei had no idea whether Kong Zhe would actually answer her question now.

A faint crackle of static electricity emerged from the walkie-talkie, but no one replied.

Xue Feifei sighed. Just as she assumed Kong Zhe would not answer her query this time either, his voice intermittently came through.

"I'm not entirely clear on this either... Actually, you're right. The Earth as it is now is very likely no longer the one we originally inhabited..."

"Ah? Th-This, how is that possible?"

Before Xue Feifei could speak further, Hong Ling's voice chimed in ahead of her.

"But aren't we still right here? And what about this stadium, the rooms from before, and all the objects—they haven't changed at all, have they? If this isn't Earth, where else could it be?"

"...I don't mean that kind of superficial change..."

Kong Zhe's voice paused for a few silent seconds before continuing: "...I mean that the entire Earth has been relocated to a new place. It's like the shifting of stars and seas. Perhaps at the very moment the apocalypse descended, the entire Earth underwent drastic, cataclysmic changes in utter silence. It's just that this transformation was so unimaginably vast, encompassing the entire globe itself, that no one was ever able to notice it."

"..."

Silence fell over the walkie-talkie once more. Evidently, the women were all deeply shocked by Kong Zhe's assertion.

In a corner of the stadium, Kong Zhe gave a bitter, helpless shake of his head. He knew that what he had just said was indeed rather difficult for people of the present era to accept; nevertheless, one year into the new world, this theory had basically been verified.

After the apocalypse struck, all aerospace spacecraft, space stations, artificial satellites, and other equipment had completely lost contact. To be precise, even with telescopes, it was impossible to find a single piece of aerospace machinery in the sky.

Therefore, in a sense, they had not merely lost contact; they had vanished entirely from Earth's vicinity.

Moreover, the harsh environment on Earth following the apocalypse rendered the prospect of launching such instruments again a mere fantasy. Consequently, for a very long time, humanity remained ignorant of Earth's external appearance after the end times.

Gradually, however, some individuals discovered clues through simple physical phenomena.

The simplest example was seafaring: the distant ocean horizon was no longer curved. On the original Earth, when a ship approached from the distant sea, one would always see the mast first and the hull later, proving that Earth was spherical. Yet now, this phenomenon had vanished, as if they were situated on a massive flat plane, where the entire miniature hull of a ship always appeared first before gradually growing larger.

Another example was during a partial lunar eclipse, when Earth would block a portion of sunlight, casting its shadow onto the moon's surface like a mirror reflecting Earth, allowing them to observe the planet's spherical shape. Yet after the apocalypse, there was never another opportunity to witness any moon other than a full moon, rendering this basis entirely obsolete.

And the most crucial point: when Earth was a sphere, departing from a single location and walking in a straight direction along one path would eventually lead one back to the starting point. However, after the apocalypse, this became impossible; during the journey of circumnavigation, one would be blocked by a certain mysterious force.

Roughly along the position of Earth's original prime meridian, a colossal, boundless mountain range stood tall, soaring almost to the very heavens, completely barring the path to either side.

This fact was only verified approximately two years after the apocalypse, when legendary heroes with the requisite capabilities made a special attempt to test it. Even with their most powerful attacks, they could not shake this boundless mountain range by the slightest fraction.

It was precisely after this incident that humanity gradually realized the Earth was no longer a sphere. As for its precise shape, no one could articulate it clearly.

Many researchers, however, once asserted that the current Earth existed within a four-dimensional space, functioning much more like a distinct plane.

Through the great vortex in the South Pacific, Earth was directly connected to the Monster Continent. In a sense, the present Earth had truly become the ancient model of a round heaven and a flat earth. There was even a theory suggesting that directly opposite the boundless mountains on both sides of Earth lay the true Monster Continent; if one were to carve a tunnel through the mountains, one could walk straight across to the Monster Continent.

Of course, this was ultimately just a plausible conjecture. As for the actual truth, aside from the Creator, probably no one knew.

Kong Zhe sighed and shook his head, casting away these chaotic thoughts. Regardless of the reality, it actually had very little to do with them. As long as they remained within this city, they—these microscopic human beings—would have virtually no tangible sense of Earth's grand transformations.

The spot Kong Zhe currently occupied was a high-tier viewing platform. Looking down from the grandstands, the area surrounding the Heritage Crystal was now surrounded in layers by the army of awakenees.

This medium-sized safe zone housed over a thousand awakenees, who had been roughly divided into five groups before the battle commenced.

The most prominent among them were the factions led by the regional bosses from the four directions of southeast, northwest. Beyond them, the remaining individuals were independent awakenees who had not aligned with the four major forces. Although scattered haphazardly throughout the venue, this group actually constituted the largest number, accounting for roughly half of the total population.

Earlier, Guo Xuemin had distributed the compiled BOSS intelligence to the other three major forces as well as the independent awakenees. Naturally, it wasn't free; each copy cost one gold coin. While that might not seem like much, multiplied by the terrifying head count of awakenees, the ultimate profit was by no means a small sum.

Having survived long enough to become a leader, Guo Xuemin naturally had capable subordinates under his command, and monopolistic profit-making ventures of this sort were their specialty.

Kong Zhe had also received a cut of two hundred gold coins from Guo Xuemin. He didn't decline it; after all, two hundred gold coins was no small amount for him at present.

The reason for distributing the BOSS intelligence to everyone in advance was to give them time to prepare, preventing massive casualties right at the start of the engagement.

In every BOSS battle within the new world—especially the very first one at the dawn of the apocalypse—instances where a lack of experience led to the annihilation of an entire safe zone were far from rare.

It was precisely to avert such an outcome that Guo Xuemin, after deliberating with Kong Zhe, decided to sell a portion of the data. After all, even if they wanted to secure the ultimate BOSS drops, the prerequisite was ensuring they could actually kill the BOSS first.

Initially, most people had been filled with uncertainty regarding this BOSS battle, but having this intel made a world of difference. Although nobody knew where the information came from or whether it was authentic, since Guo Xuemin, the boss of the East District, had personally vouched for its sale, it surely could not be false. After all, a monk could run, but the temple couldn't run away; if it were fake, he would be outright scamming a massive crowd, making it impossible for him to maintain a foothold in this safe zone thereafter.

The document detailed the BOSS's appearance, skills, primary attack methods, and key precautions to keep in mind during the impending battle.

Though they had yet to lay eyes on the BOSS in person, such detailed information greatly bolstered everyone's confidence. In particular, Guo Xuemin secretly dispatched people to constantly agitate the crowd, spreading the notion that their odds of victory in this battle were extremely high. Anyone who participated would reap a massive amount of contribution points, which could later be exchanged for advanced items, skills, and potentially even golden-tier equipment.

Driven by such temptations, the awakenees were currently rubbing their palms together, eager and itching to try their hand at the upcoming BOSS battle. They wished the fight would begin sooner so they could earn a bounty of reputation points. Others still hoped to shine brilliantly among the crowd and achieve instant fame from that day onward.

Yet clearly, their excessive preparation led most of these awakenees to underestimate the BOSS's strength. In truth, the actual BOSS was far more terrifying than they imagined.