"Look, that’s Yan Duo, that’s our strongest combat force," Farosa said through the glass, looking up and vaguely seeing the strong light shining on the sea, "numerous glories gathered in one."
"It’s absorbing sunlight?" Xu Yang observed.
"Yes, ever since Yan Duo fell to the ground, the Mystics have entrusted it with managing the sun," Farosa murmured, "because managing solar energy is tedious, and Yan Duo is very diligent. It works tirelessly to ensure global climate stability, preventing sunspots and solar flares from erupting and the like."
"No wonder the Godbinding Plan was chosen here, right on the date line change, in the middle of the Great Ocean," Lila said.
"Yan Duo! I’m here!" Farosa called to Yan Duo in her heart.
Yan Duo heard the voice but did not want to respond.
It was busy absorbing solar energy to heal itself; the Godbinding Plan’s excavation over the years had made it lose one-seventh of its mass, leaving it feeling alarmed and afraid. It had to prioritize restoring its power.
More importantly, the Godbinding Plan had turned it into a pockmarked bald giant, which made Yan Duo feel very embarrassed. It wanted to wait until it was fully recovered before meeting Farosa and her companions. Otherwise, its first impression would be that of a giant burnt red potato.
"No response," Farosa could only observe Yan Duo through the detection equipment on the Innovation.
By now, the Innovation had moved away from the wreckage of the Godbinding Plan; the entire base had sunk into the sea, shattered to pieces.
"How significant is Yan Duo’s absorption of the sun? Will it impact us greatly?" Xu Yang was curious.
"Of course, the sun will dim, maybe for a few hundred years," Farosa said, "Truly powerful."
"Now that is... a weapon of mass destruction," Xu Yang’s heart raced, knowing that as Zenith absorbed the sun, the entire world’s situation was shifting dramatically. It wasn’t just the power shift brought by the appearance of Yan Duo; just the fact of a "dimming sun" was astonishing.
While Farosa was simply intoxicated by the raw, radiant divine power of Yan Duo, Xu Yang thought of an even more terrifying future, meaning the planet would enter a mini ice age...
A harsh cold and crop failures would follow, becoming the final straw pushing towards economic crisis and total global collapse.
Xu Yang had no doubt that corporatism was facing its end. Corporatism had its strengths, using profit-driven logic to drive productivity forward, accomplishing in a short time technological advancements that hadn’t been achieved over thousands of years in the Middle Ages.
In order to capture profits, corporatism had to extract as much human value as possible, causing the interests of the vast majority to yield to capital expansion. As long as productivity was booming, people were willing to endure the rising quality of life and even mock those attempting to overturn corporatism. But once productivity hit a ceiling, the inherent maladies and contradictions could no longer be ignored, and calls for change grew louder.
Based on currently possessed means of production and machinery of violence, corporatism could certainly ignore the demands of most people, but the Mystics were awakening, with both witches and countless humans resisting the deformed prosperity of corporatism, which was bound to collapse one day.
It was done. Xu Yang clenched his fist. A solid step.
Powers waned and waxed. Xu Yang would not pin his hopes on corporate conscience nor be blinded by the meager profits thrown his way; resistance would only be effective with resolute measures.
The era of oppression and injustice that stretched over a century and a half was nearing its end, and from Yan Duo’s sun and flames, would come the first surge of power to aid them in breaking free.
The liberation of Zenith sparked global attention.
In the starry space, reconnaissance satellites from various megacorporations had already captured the unusual rebirth of Zenith, sending shockwaves around the world.
This was an authentic ancient being! The heart-stirring news spread rapidly across major media headlines, satellite images revealing the sight of a blazing light at the top of the Great Ocean.
In the heart of New Taixi State, aboard a hovering mothership, a piercing roar shattered the silence of the collection room that had gathered many precious ancient relics.
"Yan Duo has awakened!"
This alarming sound originated from a piece of purple, thorny flesh inside a display cabinet.
Orcian howled, desperately trying to mobilize the last of the power within this chunk of flesh. The former Orcian who had mastered the seas and ruled the Throne of God, possessing the status of a supreme deity, was now dismembered and caught in an irreversible regression, occasionally found in the seas around the world or in surviving temples.
Its loud cries echoed continuously, summoning the mistress of the collection room.
She was a tall, radiant female being, her specific features shrouded in a dark purple glare, with only six wings faintly visible.
With a sense of weariness, she captured the fragments of Orcian’s will, suppressing its emotions. Instantly, Orcian felt an overwhelming pressure that made it dare not speak recklessly.
"I did not collect you to have you bellowing chaotically here. Yan Duo has always been awake," she said.
"More precisely... it has been released, released by Farosa!" Orcian roared, its voice filled with resentment and hatred.
"On Farosa’s journey, he devoured one of my fragments. They are headed for the Godbinding Plan," each time Orcian mentioned this, it trembled with rage. Farosa had not only killed it but also consumed its flesh, the most vile witch in history.
"Dilnai, you should send me," Orcian was eager to regain its power, "keeping me in this cabinet is of no use, but you can return me to the sea. Farosa and her boyfriend, as well as Yan Duo, they’re all on the sea, and the sea is my domain."
"Send you? To deliver meat to Farosa?" Dilnai scoffed softly.
"What do you want then?" Orcian retorted sarcastically, "You also sent Mireya and accomplished nothing, yet you think she can achieve a complete victory."
"I believe Mireya poses a greater threat to Farosa than you do," Dilnai said.
"Farosa seized the Throne of God by feeding on me. The Throne of God is in her heart. I am willing to teach you how to reforge the Throne of God, to snatch it back!" Orcian couldn’t wait to erase Farosa from the world.
"Quiet," Dilnai said.
"What will you do?" Orcian urged, "Time waits for no one."
She sensed the direction of Yan Duo’s awakening, then extended her hand into the air, drawing a spiral spear from the void that began to emit a furious shriek as it entered this world.
"I shall take action myself," Dilnai drew a cross-shaped portal in the air with the spear.
Through the rift in space, the radiant sunlight from Yan Duo illuminated the entire collection room, waves of heat roaring out.
Dilnai looked directly into the blazing sun unharmed and walked straight into the portal.