Nine Dragons, upon the land, constructed over ten thousand new cities, each no less expansive than the bustling metropolises of the old era.
Moreover, these new cities, built from metal, possessed a more cyberpunk aura compared to those of the past.
Yet, at this moment, Chen Luo found the new cities he had once seen to be incredibly small.
For before Chen Luo's eyes, a metallic continent stood proudly within a subterranean space spanning kilometers.
To call it a continent might be an exaggeration, but this metallic city before him was at least a thousand times larger than any new city on the surface!
Countless metallic skyscrapers, each exceeding a kilometer in height, stood in close succession within the city.
Metal passageways, like arteries, crisscrossed between the towering buildings.
Chen Luo had never imagined that humanity could create such a grand construction.
Here, even the mountain ranges and colossal beasts of the past seemed insignificant.
After all, the edges of this city were connected to nine colossal metallic islands, any one of which was no smaller than a mountain range.
But now, these islands connected to the city, in Chen Luo's eyes, appeared as mere large plazas in comparison to the city's magnificence.
This was a true sci-fi metropolis, a marvel that even the entirety of humanity in the old era, pooling all global strength, could not have created!
As a flicker of astonishment crossed Chen Luo's eyes, the system's voice resonated in his ears.
[You have discovered the legendary structure of this world, "Nine Dragons Walled City"!]
[You have obtained partial information about "Nine Dragons Walled City"]
[Name]: Nine Dragons Walled City
[Type]: Wonderous Construction
[Level]: Racial Heritage Tier
[Effects]:
1. City of Infinity: Based on a powerful artificial intelligence, this city has gained the ability of automatic proliferation. As long as resources and time permit, it can itself become a world.
2. Sunfire (True): Equipped with the world's first "Sunfire" (Racial Heritage Tier), this city possesses nearly infinite energy through the might of controlled nuclear fusion.
3. Man-Made Miracle: A wondrous construction created by human hands, civilizations possessing this structure gain a permanent +1 to their racial stats.
4. Life Cycle System: An independent ecosystem has been established within the city, capable of sustaining the survival and reproduction of over a hundred million people.
5. City of War: The most powerful war metropolis in this world. When this structure is present, all friendly units gain corresponding combat power bonuses.
[Description]:
The ultimate metropolis constructed by "Nine Dragons," the strongest faction in the Ninth Game World, after dominating the entire world for twenty years, utilizing the resources of the entire planet.
This is Nine Dragons' final base of operations, and the last bastion of this world!
But, at this moment, it is merely a graveyard, an embryo.
...
"A Racial Heritage Tier structure, even its constituent elements are Racial Heritage Tier. This world, in a sense, is indeed much more powerful than my former mother world."
Chen Luo gazed with admiration at this city of miracles, constructed by humanity.
This was the second Racial Heritage Tier special structure he had seen; the previous one was the "Nether Moon" pyramid that Chen Luo had captured after defeating the undead forces outside the imperial capital.
The similarity between the Nether Moon and the Nine Dragons Walled City lay in the fact that both were special wonders forged from the essence of an entire world.
Their power was sufficient to protect a race.
Among them, the Nether Moon was an ark of civilization, but unfortunately, that civilization, attempting to wander through the void, ultimately did not reach a new shore.
The Nine Dragons Walled City, however, was more of a final fortress. Compared to escaping, this city's will was to hold its ground, or rather, to fight to the death.
But as the system's final description stated,
This place had become a graveyard, a graveyard of Nine Dragons.
...
When the dark remnants that covered the entire subterranean space, under Chen Luo's questioning gaze, self-destructed one after another,
The darkness receded, and light illuminated the vast subterranean space.
The first thing that captured Chen Luo's attention was the Racial Heritage Tier wonder, the "Nine Dragons Walled City."
But as Chen Luo's gaze shifted downwards, his brow furrowed deeply.
Corpses,
Endless corpses covered the entire city!
As far as the eye could see, this city of miracles was completely covered by a sea of bodies!
The city of miracles was now a dead city!
As the darkness dispersed, Chen Luo's perception, capable of surveying an entire city, was restored.
As he looked around, surveying the entire city, he soon made more discoveries.
These corpses included men and women of all ages. Most of them lay on their backs or stomachs, as if they were living normally in the last second before their deaths.
However, some corpses appeared more peculiar. They were mostly accompanied by cold battle armors.
From Dragon Rider to True Guard class battle armors were present. These clearly deceased Soul Hearts, however, had died quite bizarrely.
Judging by their posture, they seemed to be attempting to flee the city, only to collapse on the road.
But whether it was these Soul Hearts who seemed to be trying to escape, or the ordinary people who seemed unaware of their own deaths,
At this moment, these countless corpses shared one common characteristic.
On all their faces was an expression of fervent ecstasy, as if, in their final moments, they had glimpsed the ultimate meaning of life.
"Truly disgusting..."
Combining this with the shadowy remnants from before, Chen Luo had understood everything that had transpired here.
Over a million Soul Hearts, and tens of millions of family members of Nine Dragons members, had been harvested and consumed in a single instant.
Perhaps to fulfill a certain condition, or simply out of the devourer's perverse amusement,
The souls of these deceased had been twisted at the moment of their death.
They perceived fear deep within their souls, but their thoughts, even until death, were frozen into a distorted form of worship.
This was the graveyard described by the system.
The ordinary members of Nine Dragons were now all annihilated!
Thump, thump, thump,
Silver-gray combat boots trod upon the metallic platform beneath, moving forward step by step.
Less than a hundred meters ahead lay a cliff tens of thousands of meters high.
But Chen Luo's pace did not falter in the slightest.
The moment Chen Luo's footsteps touched the sky, the atmosphere solidified into steps beneath his feet.
In this dead city, Chen Luo's footsteps were the only sound.
One after another,
Distant, deathly silent.
But as Chen Luo stepped forward, the coldness in his eyes grew ever more chilling:
"This is a graveyard, and it is also an embryo!"
"Nine Dragons! A guest has arrived, are you not going to come out and welcome me?!"
The steps forged from the atmosphere extended infinitely beneath Chen Luo's feet,
Transparent steps stretched directly from the edge of the entrance platform into the tallest central tower within the Nine Dragons Walled City.
Chen Luo could sense that something was gestating there!