Lu Yin immediately countered Silver’s claim, saying, “That’s just not possible! How could humans ever gain eternal life? Not even Progenitors can do that.”
“A physical body can be eternally preserved through cryostasis, so why can humans not live forever? These are the ideas that should be researched, and until then, it can only be called a dream, no?” Silver beamed.
Lu Yin was dumbfounded, and he stared off into the distance. Were those humans truly zombies? They looked no different from regular humans. They were pursuing whatever they wanted in their lives, doing what they loved the most. It was no different from the mortal human world, and it was completely different from what he had envisioned the headquarters of the Neohuman Alliance to be.
Lu Yin followed Silver, and they entered a city and passed by many regular humans. These humans’ rune lines showed varying realms of power. As the two walked around, the surroundings were filled with laughter, as if everyone was blissfully content with their lives.
Why? Is this the true nature of the Neohuman Alliance?
“Captain, what about a drink? My treat.” Silver pointed at a nearby restaurant.
Lu Yin nodded.
Soon, they were both seated, and a rather stiff waiter walked over to serve them drinks.
Lu Yin stared at this waiter curiously.
Silver smiled. “He’s new to the city. He’ll adapt soon enough.”
Lu Yin averted his eyes and then looked down at his drink in bewilderment.
“Seventh Bro, do you think that this fellow brought a regular human into this city just to fool you?” The Ghost Monkey offered a guess.
Lu Yin had been thinking along similar lines, but he was certain that this place was the Neohuman Alliance headquarters, and he was also certain the waiter from a moment ago and the “people” that they had passed by earlier were indeed all zombies. They could not deceive his eyes.
All of these people were leading peaceful and carefree lives, but they all had crimson eyes and vertical pupils.
It was the telltale characteristic of a zombie.
Could zombies truly retain their intelligence? Could zombies really return to the regular daily lives of humans? This situation completely confounded Lu Yin.
“Hello, I’ll have a bag of blood, please. Thank you.” A lady sitting at the restaurant’s counter placed an order.
Behind the counter, the rigid waiter bent down and then handed a bag of blood to the woman. She received it with a smile. “Thank you.”
After that, she left the restaurant.
Lu Yin was shocked. That woman was a true human.
Silver sipped his drink and smiled wistfully at Lu Yin. “Captain, you were always on my radar.”
Lu Yin looked back at his companion. “You’ve been watching me?”
Silver nodded his head as he sighed. He then smiled as he answered, “Captain, you are indeed my captain. When the Innerverse and Outerverse were separated, I thought that you would die for sure. Some of the Innerverse’s powerhouses were left behind in the Outerverse, and some of them were even your enemies. To think that not only did you survive, but that you also unified the Outerverse…”
“Forcibly seizing the Astral River Ark, defeating Lan Si, defeating Nightking Zhenwu, and also throwing the entire Daynight Flowzone into chaos? Captain, every single thing that you’ve accomplished is remarkable, and I completely admire you.”
Lu Yin directly looked at Silver. “What about yourself? You went from being a student of the Astral Combat Academy to standing at the top of our generation and crushing everyone with your strength. If we’re talking about achievements, then yours are no less than mine.”
Silver shrugged. “I’m nowhere close to you, captain. Honestly, I was always a Hunter, but through some means I was able to conceal my true strength. But you, captain, you cultivated for just twelve years to reach this level…”
Silver suddenly stood up and leaned in closer to Lu Yin. “Captain, something amazing has happened around you.”
Lu Yin remained unperturbed, and asked, “Don’t tell me that you also know Progenitor Chen’s Nine Clones Technique.”
Silver grinned and slowly sat back down. “Only Starsibyl and Xia Jiuyou know the Nine Clones Technique. Shang Qing was only able to hold out against me for so long because of those two qi clones of Progenitor Chen, which is proof of how powerful that technique is. Alas, it also has its own flaws.
“Xia Jiuyou’s nine clones consist of Xia Tian, Xia Ye, Xia Luo, and six others. It’s fine if they don’t merge, but once they do, which will become the true ego?”
Lu Yin had once thought of this as well, and he knew Xia Luo very well. Xia Luo would never be willing to merge back into Xia Jiuyou. This was truly a fatal flaw to the technique.
“However, I believe that Xia Jiuyou has already made the necessary preparations. Still, nothing remains constant. Just like you, captain. Who would have thought that you would be able to reach your current heights? Xia Luo isn’t merely some tool, either.” Silver laughed with obvious schadenfreude.
Lu Yin blankly stared at Silver. “Surely, you didn’t capture me just to talk about such things?”
“Of course not. I want you to join our cause and the Neohuman Alliance! We need someone like you, captain. Your martial talent is truly peerless, and your intelligence even united the Outerverse. Captain, you are someone who our Neohuman Alliance has set our sights on, and your value is definitely no less than that Tri-Yang Technique.”
Lu Yin frowned. “Don’t tell me, are you the reason why Blackless God came looking for me back then?”
Silver chuckled. “Who knows?”
Lu Yin could guess the truth the moment SIlver replied. He had definitely played a hand in that incident.
In the past, Xia Luo, Silver, and Lulu Mavis had all made painstaking efforts to leave Earth with Lu Yin. Why the hell had so many high-profile people gathered on Earth for?
Lu Yin immediately asked Silver, “What were you doing on Earth?”
“That was a coincidence.” Silver replied.
Lu Yin rolled his eyes. Like I’d believe that.
“Actually, captain, you’ve already seen for yourself that our Neohuman Alliance is not as evil as you make us out to be. Isn’t life here great? Nobody suffers any stress, and they all can enjoy eternal life.”
Lu Yin sucked in a deep breath. “What’s the point in an eternal life without any ups and downs?”
Silver was taken aback for a moment before he smiled. “Is that a refusal?”
Lu Yin sneered. “Do I have a choice?”
Silver gulped his drink down and replied, “Let’s go, captain. Let’s relax our souls for a bit, as you’ll soon be suffering.”
Lu Yin was in no position to refuse. He was in the Neohuman Alliance’s headquarters. There were powerhouses stationed all around him. Just the thought of his kidnapper, Shaman God, left Lu Yin with no choice but to acquiesce.
Even if he had his cosmic ring, it wouldn’t be of much help.
Lu Yin’s heart bled when he thought of his cosmic ring. Everyone else probably thought that he was dead right now.
Fortunately, the items in his ring would not go missing. If the seven million plus star essence in his ring just disappeared, he would definitely be more distressed.
Every part of the city looked extremely clean, and the zombies and humans here truly did seem able to coexist.
“Where is the Aeternus Nation located? In the Neoverse?” Lu Yin asked.
“In a pocket dimension within the Neoverse.”
Lu Yin immediately understood that this space was the same as Shenwu Continent. Parallel spaces were a common phenomenon throughout the universe. Sometimes, parallel worlds would appear in the universe, but they were never able to encompass the entire universe, and they would always be limited to a specific area. They could be as large as filaments or just a few square meters in size.
Some of the civilizations within these pocket dimensions were extremely advanced and had reached impressive levels of technology while others might be rather primitive. The flow of time could also be different in these spaces.
At this very moment, the parallel universe that contained the Aeternus Nation within the Fifth Mainland might very well match up to another, similar city. Or, it might be a mere barren wasteland.
Lu Yin chose to believe that this place matched up to an empty space, as that would make it even harder to find Aeternus Nation.
“Aeternus Nation is a utopia for many people, some have even called this place paradise. Captain, you’ll definitely love it here.” Silver smiled.
Lu Yin and Silver strolled along the streets, and after some time, Lu Yin discovered that the people here wore very modest clothes that covered their entire bodies. But it isn’t that cold here…
“Captain, Aeternus Nation is very large, and this is just a city. There are also mountains and rivers nearby as well as islands and even other kingdoms further away. The name for this entire place is Aeternus Nation. Let me take you on a tour,” Silver explained.
Lu Yin nodded his head. Suddenly, he grabbed one of the people who was walking by and tore their clothes off. His pupils instantly constricted.
The Ghost Monkey cried out in shock.
The person who was stripped by Lu Yin had their intestines and guts all fall out, and they started bleeding profusely. Based on the wound that had been revealed, this person had clearly been disemboweled.
Chills ran down Lu Yin’s spine. The person whose clothes he had torn away howled in despair. Suddenly crimson eyes started glowing all around him as others charged at the man.
Lu Yin clenched a fist and seized Silver’s collar. Silver’s eyes went wide as he looked at the approaching zombies. “Back up.”
Several of the zombies started huffing for breath as the man trembled and gathered his torn clothes back together. Only then did the nearby zombies return to their docile, human-like selves.
Lu Yin’s eyes flashed as he watched the man scurry away, fear readily seen in his eyes.
His voice was icy as he spoke to Silver, “Is this the paradise that you spoke of?”
Silver’s expression grew cold. “Captain, why would you bother exposing me? Isn’t paradise a good thing?”
Killing intent surged up within Lu Yin as he clenched a fist. “These regular humans are merely toys for the zombies. They’re forced to live with zombies who, at any time, can tear them apart, kill them, and harvest their organs. Your so-called ‘paradise’ only applies to the zombies, not us humans.
“The eternal life that you speak of only applies to an eternally living body, but all of these people can only cower in fear and despair.”
Silver smirked. “So what? They’ve been given eternal life, and they can’t die.”
“Se… Seventh Bro. Will we suffer this same fate? We have to cover our entire bodies, as otherwise, we’ll be eaten clean by zombies! Seventh Bro, hurry up and come up with a plan to escape! Seventh Bro!” The monkey was clearly scared shitless by the macabre scene.
At this moment, trepidation rose up in Lu Yin as he stood within this seemingly peaceful city. An indescribable fear filled his heart as the sunlight that shone on him gave him no warmth, but rather an appalling cold. This was no regular city, neither for the humans nor the zombies.
This place was a banquet for the zombies and a cage for humans. This was the Neohuman Alliance’s paradise.
On the other side of the street, Blood splattered on the windows of the room next to Lu Yin. Pairs of eyes with crimson irises and vertical pupils met his gaze, and soon enough, the blood was cleaned away. The windows were so clean that they looked as if nothing had ever happened.
Lu Yin felt as if he had been encased in ice. He had never thought that such a place could exist. This place was even more revolting than Driftcharge Planet, and even becoming white meat would be a better fate than ending up here. At the very least, one could die on Driftcharge Planet. But in this place, death was not the end, and living was actually far worse than dying.
Someone had once said that waiting for death was worse than dying. The people here had to constantly face a bloodcurdling horror while being unable to die.
Eternal life? What a terrible joke! The greatest dream that all of these humans held was most likely dying.