Chapter 133: Chapter 133: The Depths of the Ice Continent, Cold Energy Creates the Extraordinary
The violators’ attack on the various nations’ capitals immediately caused a massive uproar.
Subsequently, the nations began strongly condemning the violators and expressing their hatred.
However, just as Qi Suian had predicted, after the Ghost Energy Storm swept through, the initial furor was all bark and no bite.
Public opinion was in an uproar, but there was absolutely no substantive progress.
Even the targeted bombing runs had stopped.
Of course, the nations never revealed that they had struck first. Instead, they pushed all the blame onto Qi Suian.
After that, things quieted down for Qi Suian.
As for the nations, they didn’t really have much time to spare. Most of their energy was focused on preparing for the coming apocalypse.
All signs indicated the apocalypse would be one of extreme cold, so it was dubbed the Cold Winter Doomsday.
Qi Suian went along with their naming, christening this world the Cold Winter World.
As for preparations, Qi Suian hadn’t made any at all.
For him, the initial natural disasters weren’t much of a threat, especially since he already possessed the necessary modules in advance.
This greatly reduced the difficulty.
Unless, of course, he encountered powerful Extraordinary Creatures.
But the chances of them appearing early on were slim. Besides, even if he did run into one, he wasn’t afraid—he had Floating Cannons at his disposal.
[According to the latest research, the cold energy is easily absorbed, easily integrated, and promotes evolution...]
The AI presented Qi Suian with an extremely long report containing its partial research on the unknown energy.
It was called "cold energy" because the nations of the Cold Winter World had also detected it, begun their research, and named it as such.
Qi Suian and the AI just went with the flow and started calling it "cold energy" as well.
’So, that means plants and animals can evolve by absorbing this cold energy, and if they absorb enough, they can even gain special abilities.’
’Right, what kind of basic starting package did this world’s survivors get?’ The thought suddenly struck Qi Suian.
The doomsday game, as cruel as it was, always provided some kind of initial advantage.
The first batch of survivors received talents, and the second batch received basic skills.
This third batch consisted of the original inhabitants of a Doomsday World, so perhaps their situation was unique.
[They were uniformly given a special enhancement for cold resistance. This enhancement also appears to increase the success rate of acquiring special abilities.]
Qi Suian wasn’t particularly surprised to hear this.
At first glance, it was definitely not as good as what the first two batches of survivors got, but you had to consider their other advantages.
They not only knew the type of apocalypse in advance but were also fighting on their home turf. Giving them talents or basic skills on top of that would have been overkill.
"Have any special abilities been triggered yet?" Qi Suian asked again.
[Yes. In secret human experiments conducted by the various nations, someone who was infused with a massive amount of cold energy mastered an ability similar to that of a zombie.]
[However, the experiment is extremely risky with a persistently high mortality rate. Even in cases of success, the test subject cannot survive for more than an hour due to the excessive amount of cold energy.]
[The preliminary assessment is that they rushed the process. They didn’t wait for the cold energy to naturally promote evolution in the body. This forced infusion, even when successful, causes severe damage to organic functions.]
Qi Suian understood what the AI meant. People simply hadn’t absorbed enough cold energy yet to support the emergence of special abilities.
So, at this stage, even if human experiments managed to create a special ability, the person wouldn’t live for long.
It would only be possible once the concentration of cold energy increased and the human body had time to further absorb, adapt, and evolve.
By the time that happened, however, the apocalypse would have already descended.
The nations’ meteorologists were predicting that the deep winter would arrive in two days at most.
The first signs were already appearing.
Qi Suian wasn’t concerned about these matters. He was on the Ice Continent, where the temperature was already low to begin with.
He was more concerned about how the cold energy might harm him.
It was true that the cold energy was beneficial to the humans of the Cold Winter World, but Qi Suian wasn’t one of them. If he let that energy into his body, it might not be a good thing at all.
Although he had the protection of modules like the Northern Dominator Han Rong, the Nirvana Insect Cocoon, and an expedition-grade ecological recycling unit, he couldn’t completely avoid contact with the outside world.
Not to mention, this was an Extraordinary Source. If Qi Suian wanted to become stronger, he would definitely have to study it.
Asking the AI would help him prepare.
"Keep monitoring the nations."
"Oh, right. Do these nations have any hidden organizations like the Watchman Morning Company or the Divine Prayer Association?" The thought suddenly occurred to Qi Suian.
[No such traces have been found yet.]
The AI had, of course, downloaded all the intel and data it could gather from the internet, along with packaging up every national secret and piece of technology it could get its hands on.
For the AI, however, this information was highly repetitive.
After all, the technology of the Profound World was, in some ways, far superior to that of the Cold Winter World.
The Profound World had factions like the Watchman Morning Company and the Divine Prayer Association to raise the ceiling.
In the Cold Winter World, no such factions existed, so development had been more conventional.
This was actually a good thing for Qi Suian. At least he didn’t have to worry about some terrifying entity jumping him.
"Alright, stay vigilant," Qi Suian replied.
He then returned to his research on the Blood Moon’s tissue samples.
[If you travel to the deeper regions of the Ice Continent to obtain data on higher concentrations of cold energy, the Tai Sui God will grow faster,] the AI reminded him.
"The depths of the Ice Continent are not so easy to enter. Even five-meter-tall polar bears don’t dare to go in."
"There might be even more fearsome Extraordinary Creatures in there."
The concentration of cold energy on the Ice Continent was far higher than anywhere else; even on the outskirts where Qi Suian was, it was about fifty percent higher.
The deeper regions were likely even more terrifying.
So, the Ice Continent was essentially a future gathering ground for doomsday bosses.
Once the deep winter arrived and the temperature dropped to a certain point, their internal struggle for dominance would spill outward.
The fact that Qi Suian had managed to land on the Ice Continent wasn’t just due to his protagonist-level luck; it was also a move by the doomsday game.
Normally, the starting difficulty for his games in both this world and the Polar Day World had been nerfed.
His starting point in the Polar Day World should have been in the middle of a desert, and this time, it should have been in the depths of the Ice Continent.
But his protagonist-level luck had saved him. In one case, he started next to the desert; in this one, he was on the continent’s edge.
At the same time, this served as a fortunate starting position, allowing Qi Suian to prepare for the coming apocalypse.
"This cold energy probably didn’t just appear in the last few days. It’s likely been around for a long time, and only recently began to spread and affect the global environment for some reason."
"Judging by the pattern in the Profound World and the Polar Day World, I’d bet the humans of this Cold Winter world brought this on themselves."
’This is the third time,’ Qi Suian thought. ’The pattern can’t be that different, can it?’
[The apocalypse of the Profound World did not originate from humanity itself, but from the Mysterious Divine Corpse.]
[Even without the actions of the Divine Prayer Association, the Mysterious Divine Corpse was pushing the moon, which would have eventually caused problems for the entire planet.]
[Even if the planet had not been shattered, it would have been eroded and corrupted by the Mysterious Divine Corpse.]
[The apocalypse of the Polar Day World originated from the ’Sun in a Bottle’ technology. This technology was clearly given to the people of the Polar Day World by an unknown entity on purpose.]
[It is more likely that an existence was fanning the flames from the shadows; the people of the Polar Day World were most likely set up.]
[In any world, humans lack the capability to create an apocalypse. At most, they can only destroy themselves.]
The AI gave Qi Suian a brief summary of the situations.
Humans brought disaster upon themselves, but that didn’t mean they had created the apocalypse.
"You’ve got a point," Qi Suian said after hearing the AI, not bothering to argue.
The reason was simple: he didn’t care what caused the apocalypse. He only cared about surviving and reaping the benefits.
The rest was not his problem.
"Oh, right. Detach one Floating Cannon, strap a camera or some recording equipment to it, and have it scout the depths of the Ice Continent," Qi Suian said suddenly.
[The Floating Cannons benefit from the effects of Northern Dominator Han Rong and the Nirvana Insect Cocoon, allowing them to ignore the current low temperatures. However, equipment not native to the Tai Sui God system cannot receive the modules’ buffs.]
[The equipment will not be able to function in such extreme cold.]
[If you wish to investigate, you must go in person.]
"Forget it then. I don’t have time." Qi Suian realized his mistake. Extreme heat and cold both affected mechanical devices.
The Tai Sui God itself was protected by its modules, but equipment that wasn’t part of its system was not.
***
’I’ve got an entire national strategic reserve warehouse.’ Tang Qing looked at the vast space he had filled to the brim. ’This is the perfect start for me.’
’Only one day left. I need to get to that shelter as quickly as possible.’
’It’s abandoned now, but in my past life, it wasn’t discovered until a month after the start, and then it was taken over.’
’But the coming of the Cold Winter Doomsday isn’t just about the cold; there are also terrifying blizzards.’
’With my current physical condition, if I’m even a little late, I’ll probably freeze to death.’
Without hesitation, Tang Qing packed his things and prepared to set off.
"If only this doomsday game didn’t exist," Tang Qing sighed.
Because of the game, everyone had been converted into survivors and received advance warning about the apocalypse.
Otherwise, his preparations could have been even more thorough.
’As for why I wasn’t prepared in my last life? I was duped by that pack of ungrateful bastards in my own neighborhood.’
Even his girlfriend had sided with them against him, which ultimately led to him being torn apart and devoured.
’Now that I’m not there, that pack of wolves can just tear each other apart.’
"In my last life, I heard the higher-ups had developed a way to use cold energy to get stronger."
"Unfortunately, with my status back then, I couldn’t get near it. But in this life, I will stand at the very peak!" Tang Qing’s face was filled with confidence.
And why not? He had been reborn. With no burdens holding him back, he was destined for greater achievements.
Not to mention, he had the advantage of foresight.
Even though he had only survived for three months in his past life, those three months were a golden period for development, and he had gathered a lot of intel.
Of course, all that intel was unverified. He would have to confirm it himself.
He finished packing and was just about to leave when his phone suddenly rang. The contact name was a single word: "Darling."
Seeing this, Tang Qing couldn’t help but sneer. He hung up immediately and pulled the SIM card out of the phone.
