I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

Lu Yuan spoke solemnly, "I believe that the strength of the ’Monster’ has surpassed what I can defeat alone. This victory was due to many lucky coincidences and an invisible guiding ’Qi Fortune’."

"It was the collaboration with the Rize Civilization to bring in the bomb, my comrade, Old Cat, and my pet, Old Wolf, along with a drop of the ’Ghost’s blood, that allowed us to defeat this terrifying entity."

"Otherwise, I might not have been able to stand here and talk to you all."

"As for the ’Ghost,’ I don’t really want to know how strong it is... because my intuition tells me that it’s unbeatable."

"If I encountered it, I would just avoid it from afar."

The information Lu Yuan revealed was not shared with humans by the Rize Civilization.

After all, the two are different civilizations, it’s normal to be wary and not share significant difficulties encountered with each other.

It was only from Lu Yuan’s mouth that such information could be heard.

The human team began to contemplate a scenario, trying to simulate a war game: What if they faced an anomaly similar to the ’Monster’? How would they deal with it?

Very difficult.

Really very difficult.

Simply transmitting the information about the ’Monster’ from Different Space was an extremely difficult task.

Even if the information got through, it seemed there was no good way to transport the bomb to the deepest layer.

The ultimate conclusion was: the best solution was to shrink back into the Safe Zone like the Rize Civilization, without external observation.

Li Chunhong wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a wry smile, "It seems that we humans are just an ordinary civilization... We’re just a little luckier."

"By the way, our Ninth Branch actually encountered an anomaly. We don’t know what exactly it is. Could you take a look at it for us?"

Lu Yuan was startled. An anomaly on the human side too?!

"Alright, send it over."

A recording appeared on the screen: Dark clouds tumbled and surged from all directions, piling up, getting denser and thicker.

Suddenly, two black eye sockets appeared in the dark cloud layer, coldly and indifferently watching the recorder.

That eerie chill enveloped the area, spreading through the whole body.

Even Lu Yuan was taken aback by the sudden appearance of those two eye sockets, let alone the recorder.

The camera then fell to the ground, making a "plop" sound.

He calmed his mind.

Fortunately, this terrifying anomaly seemed incapable of crossing into the Safe Zone.

The recorder had not been harmed.

Following were more videos and photographic materials.

This mysterious black cloud could stretch and accumulate, reaching up to 1600 square kilometers at its largest!

Under normal conditions, it measured about 120 square kilometers and could even shrink to 10 square kilometers.

At times, it took the shape of a skull, and other times it was just a mass of black clouds.

"What’s its ability?" Lu Yuan asked, seeing such a large-scale anomaly for the first time.

If he were to face this black cloud and strike it with a fierce punch, it would be like—"a toothpick stirring a cauldron, a drop of water entering a river."

"We’re not sure either— all the creatures nearby were frightened away... It seems that it doesn’t need food and has been floating outside of the Safe Zone for a very long time."

"If we had to guess, its ability might be to lower the temperature; sometimes the temperature nearby can drop sharply."

Lowering the temperature...

Well, that doesn’t sound very powerful.

But such a large cloud, indestructible and unexplodable, if it could lower the temperature to minus one hundred degrees Celsius, it could easily exterminate human civilization.

"This anomaly... doesn’t seem so deceitful, it seems straightforward. It also doesn’t appear to have any intelligence..."

"Extraordinary Life Forms indeed do not need conventional food," Old Cat suddenly spoke up, "Only the ’Ghost’ is a true Idealist Perpetual Machine; other anomalies still require Ideal Energy."

"First, this energy comes from intelligent life forms with a high ’God’ Attribute, and secondly from the tides of space and time."

"I believe this black cloud has found out that the density of Ideal Energy is higher near the Safe Zone, which is why it lingers outside."

"Actually, many anomalies discover the Safe Zone through energy density."

This explanation seemed quite reasonable.

"Is there a way to reduce the density of Ideal Energy?" Professor Zhang couldn’t help asking.

The Ninth Branch, Lingbo City, is eight thousand kilometers away from Yunhai City; whether this large-scale anomaly would move over was unknown. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"There is no way, unless everyone dies... or the population density is greatly reduced," Old Cat shook its head, "Or unless you can find some special material that can block the transmission of Ideal Energy."

"For example, Black Iron Material, but it’s quite rare; you probably can’t find that much."

So, all of humanity was blocked by this immense anomaly?

"It might not be a bad thing," Old Cat added, "Anomalies are also hostile to each other. Since this thing doesn’t have the ability to cross the Safe Zone, before it runs away, you don’t have to worry about being hunted by other anomalies."

The people in the meeting room were somewhat speechless.

Thinking about it more carefully, it seems plausible?

"I think it could be a ’demon’... a not-so-powerful anomaly."

With a sense of dramatic flair that never failed to shock, Old Cat waved his paws, and the cat’s eye stones in his possession emitted a faint glow.

The people on the other side of the screen were taken aback.

You just said that it considers this region its territory, but now you’re talking about capturing it alive...

"Well, the ’demons,’ ’devils,’ ’ghosts,’ and ’monsters’ seem to have gathered for a full set. Shall we play Mahjong?" Lu Yuan chuckled upon hearing these terms, "Are there other anomalies? Ghouls and spirits? Ox-headed demons and serpent gods?"

"Certainly, if it were just demons and ghosts, this world would have ceased to exist long ago."

Old Cat searched his data bank with effort: "Old Lu, you’re just terribly unlucky, having encountered nearly all the major catastrophes."

"But actually, there are many, many weaker anomalies that can be captured alive, yet you haven’t encountered any; you’re indeed extremely unlucky..."

Anomalies of the catastrophe level, compared to other weaker anomalies, are known for their absolute abilities, which are generally very powerful.

The absolute ability of ’devils’ is to take over; except for bacteria and viruses, they can seize control of anything with a brain, even an ant.

As such, they can be considered a kind of undead.

The absolute ability of ’monsters’ is multiple alternative spaces.

This multiple alternative space is countless times stronger than Lu Yuan’s, capable of swallowing an entire mountain.

The ability of ’ghosts’ is even more terrifying. Undying - as the name suggests, even thrown into the sun, they remain undying.

Moreover, ’ghosts’ are the perpetual machines on the level of the mind, not dying from the exhaustion of ideal energy.

As for ’demons’...

"Their ability is growth."

"They can grow endlessly, acquiring stronger powers in the process. Demons that have grown to their limits can, for a certain period, contend against ’ghosts’."

"Generally, this growth includes an increase in size. When you see a huge extraordinary life form, there’s a high chance it’s a ’demon’."

Lu Yuan glanced at the photo, the massive cloud depicted on it, and let out a soft sigh.

Of course, aside from their absolute abilities, they usually have additional relative abilities under ordinary circumstances.

There are too many relative abilities to list, such as fields, spiritual attacks, space abilities, dreams, freezing, flames, lightning, etc. Only a case-by-case analysis is possible.

Absolute abilities guarantee a lower threshold.

Relative abilities enhance the upper threshold.

Other anomalies, without absolute abilities to ensure a baseline, have inconsistent combat power.

Taking a new turn, Old Cat said: "I think this ’demon’ may be in its juvenile stage because it’s still just a cloud."

"You all should understand that the laws of physics still operate in this world, and a cloud’s capacity to affect the outside world can’t compete with a piece of steel."

"So you need to think of a way to capture it alive and enslave it. Letting anomalies fight against other anomalies is the way the world works."

Li Chunhong and Zhang Hui exchanged wry smiles with each other.

They hadn’t even managed to produce a nuclear bomb yet, how could they enslave a cloud in the sky!

However, Old Cat’s speech did make sense.

"That cloud has actually shrunk a bit since the beginning. Over four thousand days have passed in the outside world, right? It has indeed become more condensed."

By this analysis, ’demons’ really seem like the weaker kind of anomaly.

What people fear is the unseen and untouchable; in terms of mere physical strength, humans still possess some.

"Do demons possess intelligence?"

"According to the data I have left, their intelligence is not high, akin to the intelligence of an animal..."

After much discussion, there was still no particularly good solution.

Lacking the necessary strength, they could only stay hidden in the safe zone for now.

"We need to produce many nuclear bombs before we can even attempt it."

"Yunhai City does possess the ability to seal; there are three people who can do it, and other cities should have it too, as this ability is not too rare. It’s just not very useful at lower levels."

"We need to allocate some resources to them."

"We might have to combine the strength of all humanity... Several cities coming together to lift the safe zones and jointly subjugate it."

"Yes, we also need to build Sky City. If we can really capture a ’demon’ alive, it could ensure the protection of our Sky City."

Those who fail to plan for the future are destined to face imminent worries.

These folks really were seriously strategizing.

Of course, the difficulties were clearly visible.

Just the point about "several cities jointly lifting the safe zones" was hardly practical; many civilizations actually have no desire to fight, preferring to remain in the safe zones until the end of the world arrives.

Li Chunhong shook his head as he listened; the idea was too idealistic.

Hoping for humanity to unite was even more far-fetched than wishing for Lu Yuan Heavenly God to descend and kill the ’demon’ with a single punch...