Chapter 870: When Despair Meets Light

The Tyrant Squad began roaming this world.

The typewriter intermittently spat out an ethereal sheet of paper adorned with detailed coordinates and images of mental monsters.

Every time a new coordinate appeared, the Ghost Train surged forward as if it had all the energy in the world.

It had never run so fast in its life, for it needed to expend mental power to continuously boost its speed.

Previously, the limited number of contaminated lives had doomed it to conserve its mental power sparingly.

But now, there was no need to worry about that; just keep running.

The Abyss’s gate had been thrown open, suddenly unleashing an incalculable number of pollutants and monsters into this world.

Yet, as the Ghost Train of the Tyrant Squad carelessly roamed the land, every monster it locked onto was treated with the same detached courtesy once enjoyed by the bizarre meatball – calmly and without a hint of regret – as it departed the newly arrived reality.

Of course, simply defeating these powerful mental monsters held little practical value.

During the third descent, innumerable mental monsters nearly toppled all settlements and disrupted the order of several High-wall Cities, contaminating their inhabitants without restraint. The Tyrant Squad could systematically eliminate these formidable creatures, yet chaos reigned as those they had rescued remained vulnerable to further mental pollution.

In the third descent, substitutes for pollution were never in short supply.

Not only did some powerful monsters descending from the Abyss wreak havoc on settlements and High-wall Cities,

but even the weaker mental monsters in the Abyss could, in a short time, create a formidable contamination that not only victimized vast crowds but also rapidly empowered these monsters as they converged their pollutant influence.

No matter how mighty the Tyrant might be, it couldn’t eradicate all the pollution.

However, the arrival of the “Qinggang Knights” swiftly broke this repetitive cycle of contamination.

Centered in Qinggang, the Knights spread out in all directions like a vast, unfurling skirt; the further they traveled, the more extensive the area enveloped by this skirt became, and no matter whether its inhabitants trembled in fear or had already been twisted into wild, aberrant madmen by mental pollution,

they all experienced a beautiful dream as the knights passed by.

They saw a magnificent hall where a pretty girl in a white dress stood,

mourning and compassionately praying for the people of this world,

praying that no one would ever be tormented by madness again.

Praying that order and civilization might be swiftly restored.

……

……

Then, amidst deep, oppressive heartbeats, those tainted by pollution awoke abruptly from an absurd dream.

Not only did many with only mild contamination instantly recognize their true selves,

but even those who had suffered severe mental damage and sunk into a dismal gray world found a renewed desire to live, spurred by that vivid, real dream and the vision of the praying girl.

Thus, in a world teetering on collapse, the tale of the praying girl and the heroic deeds of the Qinggang Knights spread like wildfire.

The name of the Knight Orders was not unfamiliar in the Wasteland.

They were once synonymous with plunder and disaster, akin to bandits and robbers.

Yet the rapid emergence of Qinggang’s Knights soon twisted the term’s meaning.

Yes, just as there existed marauding knights representing calamity and slaughter,

there were also luminous knights symbolizing hope and protection.

Under the threat of the third descent, the world resembled a drawn bow, stretched taut by countless horrifying forces on the verge of snapping; destinies were barreling, unstoppable, toward a deep abyss of despair. But now, with the appearance of the praying girl and the Qinggang Knights, that taut string was being gently eased.

Hope still remained…

Those rescued from despair began to bestow a new name upon the praying girl and the Qinggang Knights.

Goddess of Light.

Light Knights.

As this name rapidly spread throughout the desolate world, Qinggang…

……

……

“Come on, come on, soothe the Doll; one more take and it’s perfect…”

The director, her ponytail bouncing, pleaded with the Nanny Teams, “Our shots are meant to penetrate the hearts of the despairing. What matters most? First, the hope symbolized by the beautiful image of the girl; second, the compassion that cradles humanity like a deity. That’s what truly moves people… But the last take, Doll’s expression was just a bit off…”

“Doll is exhausted. She gets tense—you can only really shoot one take a day.”

The Nanny Teams vowed to protect Doll’s right to rest at all costs.

“We know she’s tired, and we all feel for her. A perfect take directly benefits our work…”

“Director, Director, Colonel Chen just asked if we should tweak the promotional materials for the Goddess of Light and Light Knights; aren’t the two ‘Light’ names a bit repetitive? And don’t they sound too ordinary?”

“Ordinary? Who would dare call them ordinary?”

“Let those who only know violence stay away from artistic creation.”

“The more ordinary they sound, the wider their reach, and the easier it is to bring hope to everyone, you get it?”

“Director, a cookie manufacturer just asked if they could place a box of cookies beside the goddess.”

“What on earth?”

“We are saving the world here, not shooting commercials!”

“But they’re paying a lot…”

“…How much?”

“…”

“…”

The Knight Orders and the praying girl brought hope to the hopeless.

Meanwhile, the Tyrant Squad’s Ghost Train roaming the Wasteland had delivered despair to countless beings.

To some, this train became the very embodiment of terror.

Mental monsters could, through the mingling strands of mental power, forge a mysterious link between one another.

Thus, as more and more powerful mental monsters were eliminated, terrifying legends of the Tyrant began spreading rapidly among mentally driven beings; the more intelligent they were, the more they succumbed to this dread.

And as the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan steadily spread throughout the Northern Alliance, increasing numbers of mental monsters began to flee.

Yet for Lu Xin and the Tyrant Squad, the process of cleaning up was anything but smooth.

Expanding across territories always brought more challenges than targeted strikes.

But in the process, Lu Xin and his team discovered that the vitality of this world was even more tenacious than they had imagined.

Not every High-wall City or settlement was instantly obliterated during the third descent; many concealed Ability Users within their populace, or even mirrored Qinggang’s Mind Overlord Plan, playing a key defensive role against the abnormal onslaught until Qinggang’s rescue arrived.

Take, for instance, the “Old Smoker Club” of Red Leaf City.

Or the White Boots Organization of Mango Supermarket.

Or the legendary Nightmare Orange Cat around Blackwater Town…

……

……

They all, to varying degrees, protected many people during this catastrophic descent, earning legendary status in the process.

Even as the Tyrant Squad built an imposing deterrence, two other highly influential organizations began to rise swiftly; their fearsome reputation might not match that of the Tyrant Squad, yet their reach far surpassed it.

Take, for example, Dracula’s Doomsday Legion, active in the northwest of the Alliance—the legion saved countless lives.

This mercenary organization, famed for its bizarre, complex Ability User types, operated between several High-wall Cities and major settlements, rushing to solve pollution incidents and collecting their fees before hurrying off to the next location.

Then there was the Miss Rocket Launcher Organization, which rapidly established a long defensive line centered on Central City.

It was said that their leader wielded a rocket launcher like a shadow—unpredictable and elusive, a veritable weapon rack.

They, with astonishing efficiency and formidable strength, built an extensive defensive barrier around Central City.

Perhaps their forces were scattered or somewhat limited,

but in the face of such disaster, people everywhere were fighting back in one way or another.

This ensured that as Qinggang’s Heaven’s Kingdom Plan and the ever-busy Tyrant Squad pressed on, they never felt alone in this doomsday scenario.

In a sense, the pressure from the north began to ease.

Meanwhile, Qinggang’s Heaven’s Kingdom Plan and the Tyrant Squad expanded southward from the Alliance’s southern half and the Chaos Zone of Heichao City; the silhouettes of the Knights and the terror of the Tyrant Squad gradually covered most of the Alliance’s High-wall Cities and the entire Chaos Zone, extending eastward to several small island settlements and farther into other Sea Country organization territories.

To the west, they reached the boundaries of the nomadic tribes’ domain.

Thus, a territory was nearly formed stretching from the North at Central City, south to the Technology Church, and west to the nomadic tribes’ Sacred High Mountain City.

Unfortunately, by then the rate of expansion began to slow dramatically.

Due to differing administrative systems, the number of survivors varied across settlements and High-wall Cities, and local customs and practices differed. Consequently, the responses of those protected by the Qinggang Knights varied – the simplest and most effective method was for the rescued to self-organize, re-establish order, settle in, and treat those affected by pollution.

It even became necessary to select the best among them for inclusion in the Knight Orders.

But the reality was that each group reacted differently; some panicked and tried to migrate rapidly to around Qinggang, while others scrambled amid the chaos to seize resources, goods, power, and other shady gains, preventing order from being rebuilt.

Qinggang’s Knights could swiftly rescue these regions, but the radiation from Qinggang simply couldn’t neutralize the chaos with equal speed.

As the area under the Knights’ influence expanded, internal pressures mounted.

Likewise, as the Qinggang Knights ventured further with their influence, the fame of the “Goddess of Light” spread to even more people, and Doll’s mental power began to grow exponentially, which had two increasingly obvious effects.

First, the Knights’ strength grew stronger.

Initially, they could only easily eliminate the aberrant creatures at the Third Stage of infinite contamination. Whenever they encountered a Mind Overlord, they had to request support from the Tyrant Squad, but over time, especially those Ability Users originating from Qinggang, even began to directly harness Doll’s mental power to counter and slay the Mind Overlord.

Second, Doll’s ability began to grow unstable.

At times, she could no longer steadily sustain the expansion of her own power.

“Have you reached your limit?”

In one such moment, Lu Xin, who had just eliminated a mental monster that had contaminated an entire High-wall City’s Satellite City,

slightly sensed it and turned his gaze upward.

A trace of worry flashed across his face.

……

……

“It’s time to have Doll officially enter the Mind Palace.”

At that moment, Qinggang’s Mental Power Research Base came into view.

Professor Bai and the others, rubbing their tired faces, slowly walked toward the Mind Palace and murmured, “Every ultimate being has its own Mind Palace, which protects their consciousness from being lost in the sea of mental power.”

“Likewise, every ultimate’s Mind Palace is unique; it reflects their authority and distinctive characteristics.”

“If we let Doll directly take over the Sword-Bearer’s Mind Palace, she might use part of their authority, but she would never truly reach the ultimate level. Besides, lingering too long in the Sword-Bearer’s Mind Palace might allow her own consciousness to be affected and corrupted – who knows when a mutation might occur, and Doll might transform into…”

“Another Sword-Bearer.”

“……”

As he spoke, he led research personnel from various High-wall Cities and other important figures from Qinggang to the center of the base,

where several massive metal installations had been set up to enclose the remnants of the old Midnight Tribunal left behind by the Sword-Bearers, each connected by thick cables ready to deliver staggering amounts of energy at any moment.

“Fortunately, we have enough researchers and time now to explore this Mind Palace. The Moon Eclipse Research Institute finally stopped holding back and provided us with their research materials on the Mind Palace before the third descent.”

“So now we have the ability to completely reformat the Sword-Bearer’s Mind Palace.”

“Then, have Doll enter it to fully take control.”

“……”

His measured words sent ripples through the hearts of everyone present.

Someone’s voice trembled slightly, “And then?”

“Taking this step means…”

“……”

Professor Bai slowly turned around, nodding gently at all the expectant eyes:

“It means that a new ultimate has been born.”

“It means that the first Ability User to ascend to the ultimate stage has emerged in our world.”

“It also cements a solid foothold for the second phase of our hasty Heaven’s Kingdom Plan.”

“……”

Beside Doll, a weightless white chain gently floated.

At the peak of Red Moon’s brilliance, she drifted slowly from the direction of Qinggang Main City toward this destination.

Just as she was about to step into the Midnight Tribunal, Professor Bai opened his mouth as if to ask something.

But Doll simply smiled at him and nodded, ready to enter the palace.

So, Professor Bai held back the questions he wanted to ask.

Doll had always been a person of purity, for she had promised Lu Xin to protect Qinggang.

Thus, when faced with a choice like this, she never hesitated like ordinary people.

The purer the heart, the firmer the resolve.

Yet her unwavering and almost nonchalant demeanor stirred worry in others that could no longer be contained.

“Professor Bai, under-prepared as we are, we used an imperfect Heaven’s Kingdom Plan to help those affected by mental pollution. And with so many needing help, the entire Qinggang is already running at full capacity…”

“In the dark corners of this world, countless bizarre entities have set their sights on us.”

“And just when things are most fragile, we dare to risk reformatting the Midnight Tribunal.”

“Aren’t you worried…”

Minister Shen couldn’t help but let his jaw tremble as he asked, “Aren’t you afraid this will backfire at such a vulnerable moment?”

Faced with the question, Professor Bai simply sighed quietly and said, “Of course not.”

“Because they will undoubtedly come.”

He answered calmly, “The third descent was always part of a conspiracy – a manmade scheme. With any human design come certain demands, so the current smooth progress is merely a facade. The smoother things go, the more dreadful backlash is brewing in the shadows. I believe we all understand, when will such backlash strike?”

“It will be when we are at our most vulnerable and critical.”

“……”

“You…”

Minister Shen’s jaw trembled as he suppressed his anger, “Then why do you continue preparing so relentlessly?”

“You didn’t even send a message for the Tyrant Squad to return to counter the unknown crisis.”

“And Qinggang’s Knights have not returned from their missions across the globe.”

“If truly high-level beings or ultimates were to attack Qinggang this very moment…”

“……”

“What you say might even be exactly what some factions want us to do.”

Confronted by Minister Shen’s accusations, Professor Bai replied softly, “But I don’t think that’s the right approach.”

“Just as the Red Moon will never vanish from the heavens despite people’s prayers, Qinggang will surely claim its rightful stage.”

“Not by being pushed or sneaking in unnoticed, but standing upright on our own strength against them.”

“So whether it’s an ultimate or any other threat…”

Professor Bai let out a deep sigh and declared, “Let them come if they dare!”

“If they’re not worried about being unable to return,”

“the ascension ceremony begins!”

Leave Request…

.la Sorry everyone, Old Ghost has to head off to attend the 10th Generation Conference of the Chinese Writers Association, so updates will be paused.

But honestly, even without the conference, I planned to take a break.

Maintaining 6,000 characters a day means juggling countless storylines — my brain can’t handle it all.

And a mere 2-3,000 characters a day just wouldn’t cut it.

So I’m planning to clear my mind during the conference and then sort out the upcoming plot.

Red Moon has reached just one final climax here.

The main conflict, outline, and most of the plot details are nearly ready; only a few twists are still missing that can truly dazzle me, so this is the perfect chance to iron them out and ensure a spectacular conclusion…

I’ll be on leave for about three days to a week, as I’m not sure if I’ll secretly get any writing done during the conference.

If I can, updates will continue. If not, once the conference is over, I’ll buckle down and finish the story.

Lastly, a more important reason for my attendance: Old Eagle is coming too.

You know the bond between me and all authors in the online literary circle with Old Eagle — no need to say more.

Alright, off to the hardware store. Good night, everyone.

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