Chapter 88: The Eerie, Fragmented Little World

Gu Sha’s pupils contracted slightly as he replied, “Understood. I’ll be right there.” With that, he hung up the phone.

Yet he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he swiftly activated his gene lock and triggered his ability to foresee the future. Now that his ability had reached the sixth tier, he could peer twenty-four hours ahead.

The moment he engaged his power, a stream of memories flooded his mind—fragments from the coming twenty-four hours:

A spatial rift was discovered by a group of scientists. Using advanced technology, they forcibly tore open a small fissure. Some remained outside to provide support, while the majority, including nearly ten scientists, ventured into the alternate dimension.

Just as Mad Blade had described, within that small space lay a thriving modern city—towering skyscrapers, bustling traffic. Yet, there was something uncanny about it: the world was arranged in the ancient conception of a round sky and square earth, its total area no more than a thousand square kilometers, akin to a small island. But unlike an island drifting on the sea, this little world floated in a sea of chaos.

Suspended in the sky was an artificial sun.

Gu Sha and the others were warmly welcomed by the officials of this miniature city. Through their hosts, they learned that their original world, the Tianyuan Realm, was a vast and boundless sphere, much like Earth, with its own sun but no moon. The development of their civilization had paralleled that of Earth. Yet, one day, disaster struck: a cataclysmic upheaval ripped Tianyuan asunder, scattering fragments into the void. The city in which they lived became a wandering outpost adrift in the cosmos.

Three hundred years ago, a powerful force drew them to this spatial anchor, where they came to a halt. Since then, spatial fissures occasionally opened, through which Earthlings appeared in their world. Over years of research, they too had discovered methods to open these rifts, though their limited resources prevented large-scale breaches. They had tried to reach out to Earth, but for reasons unknown, only Earthlings could pass through the rifts and return, while none from their side ever succeeded in crossing over.

Their technology, three centuries ago, was already comparable to Earth’s current level. But with resources so limited, progress stagnated; after hundreds of years, not only had they failed to surpass Earth, but in some respects they had fallen slightly behind.

After an exchange of information, the Earth delegation proposed the establishment of diplomatic relations. This aligned perfectly with the hopes of the inhabitants of the small world. Earth needed a safe haven, while the city desperately needed resources. The tiny space had grown so resource-poor over centuries that even food was becoming scarce, and their scientific capabilities were increasingly hampered; they urgently needed to trade with the outside.

An agreement was quickly reached. Scientists from both sides began to work together to create a stable spatial channel. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

None of the extraordinary individuals, Gu Sha included, had expected things to go so smoothly—with no unforeseen events as they had feared. Some even wondered if Earth might be able to expand this fragmented world, allowing all of humanity to migrate and thus weather the coming catastrophe.

The vision continued. Out of boredom and curiosity, Gu Sha decided to drive to the world’s edge.

The realm was so small that he arrived quickly. At the boundary, darkness loomed. A guardrail marked the end, beyond which lay endless blackness, with the occasional glimmer of distant stars—a true end of the world.

Gazing into the chaos, Gu Sha activated his internal energy technique and began to absorb the source energy. To his astonishment, just as Mad Blade had claimed, the concentration of source energy here was many times richer than on Earth.

Yet in that instant, Gu Sha sensed that something was amiss. Unlike Mad Blade and the others, he was a Battle King—his life force had ascended to a higher level, granting him a keen awareness. The source energy in this world was not only dense, but vibrantly alive.

There the vision ended.

“How can this be?” Inside the helicopter,

Gu Sha wore a grave expression.

In the vision, the source energy of that fractured world was not only abundant, but alive. If it were merely dense, Gu Sha could have rationalized it—perhaps the world had always teemed with source energy, and with no extraordinary beings to consume it, it simply remained untouched. But for it to remain fresh and vital after hundreds of years was simply not right.

Gu Sha, armed with memories from twenty years in the future, was well aware of many research findings: source energy was a high-level medium, interacting with all life forms. Yet this medium was subject to a lifespan, much like metabolism—without a fresh supply, the world would gradually accumulate more and more stale or dead source energy.

But in the vision, as Gu Sha absorbed the source energy, he felt none of that decay; all was vibrant and new. This meant the fractured world was being replenished with source energy.

But how? How could a broken, isolated world be replenished? If it were coming from Earth, that made even less sense—Earth itself lacked such abundant source energy.

“Well, this is interesting,” Gu Sha mused.

He immediately called Mad Blade.

Mad Blade hurried over, asking breathlessly, “Boss, what’s so urgent?”

Gu Sha asked, “Blade, let me ask you—did you bring any high-yield explosives this time?”

Mad Blade nodded. “Yes, we have a few cruise missiles—together, about forty or fifty tons of TNT equivalent.”

Gu Sha said gravely, “Get all the missiles ready. I want them deployed in that alternate dimension.”

Mad Blade was shocked. “Boss, that… that’s not really an option. That world isn’t very big—if we detonate that much explosive, the city will be devastated.”

Gu Sha fixed him with a stern look. “Just tell me—can you do it or not?”

Faced with Gu Sha’s serious expression, Mad Blade gritted his teeth. “Alright, you’re the boss. I trust you.”

With that, Mad Blade hurried away.

At that moment, several soldiers arrived to summon Gu Sha. He followed them to an open area, where a dozen large instruments were humming. Powerful currents converged at the center, where a massive cube pulsed with terrifying, mysterious energy.

(End of chapter)