"Boom—!"
With a thunderous roar, the normally calm Pacific Ocean suddenly erupted into hundred-meter-high waves, as if it were about to swallow the entire world.
Amid the surging tides, countless colossal figures slowly emerged from the depths.
Ocean Titans.
They were like monstrous beasts crawling out of an abyss—grotesque, terrifying, and utterly alien.
Bathed in sunlight for the first time, the Titans seemed momentarily stunned.
The surface world…
was bright.
Vast.
Beautiful.
Compared to the eternal darkness of the deep sea, it was like a paradise.
But what truly drew them—
was the Cyber Aura.
Dense as flowing water.
Endless.
Irresistible.
The Titans opened their massive jaws—wide enough to swallow mountains—and began to inhale and exhale, greedily devouring the energy pouring down from the sky.
Their bodies were enormous.
Their numbers, countless.
As they gathered and fed, they formed an overwhelming force, directly plundering all nearby Cyber Aura.
At the same time, a violent storm of energy erupted across the sea, its sheer scale enough to make anyone tremble.
…
…
On the central island, the Cyber Cultivators who had just broken through immediately noticed something was wrong.
The dense Cyber Aura in the air—
was vanishing.
Rapidly.
Their expressions changed.
Without hesitation, they activated their newfound abilities, manipulating magnetic fields, soaring into the sky, and streaking toward the source like beams of light.
They had just endured an era of scarcity—
and now someone dared to steal their Cyber Aura?
Whoever it was—
they would tear them apart.
As they flew, many even showed off, competing in speed and technique, reveling in their newfound power.
Then—
a roar shattered everything.
"((((┗|｀O′|┛*)))) Aooo~~!"
The sky trembled.
Under that overwhelming roar, the cultivators at the very front lost control instantly—
falling from the sky like dumplings.
In the next moment—
dozens of enormous maws burst through the ocean surface.
One after another—
they swallowed the falling cultivators whole.
…
"What… are those things?!"
The remaining cultivators panicked.
Without hesitation, they pushed themselves higher, climbing thousands of meters into the air before finally daring to stop.
"Ugh—! I'm done, I'm out!"
Some couldn't even hold back their nausea.
Just one glance had been enough.
Those creatures—
were too grotesque.
Too unnatural.
Too massive.
They didn't look like lifeforms that should exist in this world at all.
Their forms were chaotic, like something drawn by a child—
a patchwork of mismatched biological parts.
Looking at them caused both physical and mental discomfort.
Some even felt an uncontrollable urge to vomit.
"Think about what you're saying! You're running now?"
A few cultivators, still composed, grabbed those trying to flee and shouted:
"They're absorbing Cyber Aura too! If we don't stop them, humanity will be finished!"
"What does humanity have to do with me?"
The response was immediate.
"All I know is—if I stay here, I'll die."
They shook off the hands restraining them and fled without looking back.
A gentleman does not stand beneath a collapsing wall.
"Report this to the higher-ups immediately!"
The remaining cultivators exchanged grim looks.
"Those monsters… we can't let them grow any further."
What frightened them most—
was not the size of the Titans.
It was their eyes.
Within those massive forms—
flickered intelligence.
They knew exactly what that meant.
Even a first-layer Qi Refining cultivator possessed computational power comparable to a high-end smartphone.
If such power appeared in creatures of that size—
The result would be unimaginable.
There had once been a theory:
If animals could absorb Cyber Aura…
would they gain intelligence?
Many had tried.
Pet lovers had attempted to awaken their animals, hoping to create spirit beasts like in cultivation novels.
All had failed.
Even with direct transmission of Cyber Aura seeds, animals could not cultivate.
The conclusion had been clear:
There was a natural barrier.
Animals could not access Cyber Aura.
But now—
that "truth" had been shattered.
Not only could these deep-sea creatures absorb Cyber Aura—
they had evolved.
Grown intelligent.
What would happen…
if hundreds-of-meters-long monsters possessed human-level intellect—
and the power of cultivators?
For the first time—
fear took root.
…
…
The cultivators who had witnessed everything returned inland, each carrying their own thoughts.
As for the Ocean Titans—
they merely glanced at the fleeing humans.
Then ignored them.
Compared to those insignificant insects—
the endless Cyber Aura in the air was far more appealing.
…
…
The moment reports of the Ocean Titans reached the world—
global alarm was triggered.
An emergency international conference was convened.
All nations gathered, discussing how to deal with the threat from the deep sea.
Plans were drafted.
Forces were proposed.
An expedition was considered.
But before anything could be finalized—
problems surfaced.
Endless problems.
Arguments over resource distribution.
Disputes over responsibility.
Some wanted to contribute nothing but take everything.
Others sought personal gain under the guise of cooperation.
Greed.
Self-interest.
Short-sightedness.
In the end—
before a single battle had begun—
the alliance collapsed.
The conference, meant to determine humanity's future,
ended in failure.
Not because of the enemy.
But because of humanity itself.
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