With a crushing blow, the financial conglomerates that controlled this world were annihilated, their energy and weapon reserves seized. Overnight, ambitious figures across the entire planet of Taida emerged from the shadows.
The remnants of the old conglomerates like Lance, underground factions, mercenaries, and secret rebel forces—all began to stir.
Yet, by the next morning, before these factions could act, the energy intercepted by Ye Bai was channeled through the Taida Tower, now repurposed as an energy generator. In a single day, every towering skyscraper in the megacity was transformed into chromgold.
This meant the complete collapse of Taida's financial system. Money became worthless, leaving only brute force and food as the remaining pillars of survival.
Initially, the downfall of the three major conglomerates had sparked a frenzy among the factions. But in truth, none truly took the apocalyptic declaration seriously. Even after Ye Bai executed all key figures of the three financial dynasties, it was dismissed as just another "explosion" in Taida's history—a catastrophic event that would eventually fade like dissipating smoke. To a civilization, it was merely a footnote.
But when the very foundation of their financial system was shattered, more people than ever began frantically sending messages to the Taida Tower.
The remnants of the old conglomerates pleaded, "Join us, and we’ll build an even greater empire under your command."
The rebels declared, "Let us ally. You oppose the conglomerates too—together, we can forge a new order."
The mercenaries demanded, "Give us food, weapons, and gene serums, and we’re yours!"
Standing atop the Taida Tower, Ye Bai surveyed the chaos below and shook her head in disbelief. "I said I would end this world. Did you think I was joking?"
Every overture was rejected. Anyone who dared approach the tower—regardless of allegiance, even self-proclaimed doomsday cultists pledging loyalty to the "Harbinger of the End"—was met with indiscriminate fire from the E5 weaponry below.
"A madwoman! She’s utterly insane!"
"Even if chromgold is worthless, as long as people exist, we can establish new order and currency. For now, we must secure food and weapons—"
"What?! All the food warehouses have been emptied! How is this possible? Moving such vast quantities—how?!"
Ye Bai’s slap landed equally on every Taidan’s face. Beyond eliminating the conglomerates to hasten the collapse of order, she treated everyone the same—whether loyalists or rebels, high or low in society.
This was a civilization. Even with Taida’s population of just one billion—smaller than Ye Bai’s homeworld, Earth—convincing the majority that the end was near was no easy task.
People were too numerous, their thoughts too scattered. The only thing they instinctively trusted was the old system they’d lived under for centuries.
Had Ye Bai tried to force the three conglomerates to evacuate the planet, their internal divisions and greed for centuries of accumulated wealth would have made it impossible.
Time was short. Rather than build a new order, it was simpler to destroy the old one.
Only in despair would people cling to any lifeline. Ye Bai had to shatter both the material and psychological "ships" of the Taidans, forcing them to board the vessel she’d prepared.
Unnoticed by most, a plan called "Future Ark" began spreading like a ghost through Taida’s networks.
But like countless past doomsday cults, this supposed grassroots survival plan—linked to the Harbinger of the End—was dismissed with laughter.
Meanwhile, the factions, having failed to negotiate, sprang into action.
"Money is gone, but we still have food, weapons, and the most crucial—gene serums!"
Chaos deepened. The enigmatic figure remained unmoved, and the factions refused to unite. They recruited followers, seized territories, and turned streets into battlegrounds, with over a dozen clashes erupting daily—some for reasons, others for none at all.
Yet, this lasted only a day.
On the third day of the Harbinger’s arrival, during a firefight, both sides’ weapons suddenly jammed.
"Cough… What is this?!"
It wasn’t just them. Every Taidan using firearms faced the same issue. Looking closer, they saw dust-like particles drifting in the air—panic set in as they covered their mouths.
The skirmish ended abruptly. Upon inspection, they discovered the particles were a strange biological spore, clinging to metal and forming an adhesive seal that rendered firearms useless.
No solvent—oil, acid, or base—could remove them without damaging the metal.
The same fate befell heavy machinery and industrial equipment.
The spores reproduced rapidly. Before disabling weapons, they had already infiltrated every metal device still under Taidan control, saturating the city’s air.
Worse, with no functioning equipment left, no one could test whether inhaling the spores was harmful.
Only a few sealed electronic devices still worked—a detail that seemed suspiciously deliberate.
The factions raged—and then raged some more.
Without firearms, assaulting the Taida Tower was suicide. Even united, they stood no chance, and unity was impossible with their mutual hatred and distrust.
So, they turned to non-metal melee weapons and psychic abilities, reshaping the power hierarchy through sheer force.
In the black markets, the already-exorbitant Rola serums skyrocketed to unprecedented value.
Inevitably, the old conglomerate remnants—hoarding vast gene serum stockpiles—rose once more as Taida’s dominant power.
...
During the rise of factions wielding genetic serums, inside the fully transformed combat fortress of the Teda Tower laboratory, Ye Bai was attempting to fuse a newly cultivated adhesive spore sample with extracts of Ruola.
Ruola's composition was highly compatible with the Teda people's physiology, capable of accelerating their genetic evolution and subsequently unlocking psychic abilities.
A day passed, then the fourth. Ye Bai straightened up in the lab, gently lifting the new spores with her psychic energy and placing them into a nutrient culture dish.
She had upgraded the highly adhesive spores, originally cultivated through biotechnology, by integrating Ruola's properties—having inherited all the knowledge from the Black Hole, her expertise now far surpassed that of any biochemical scholar from her era. Creating what lower-tier civilizations would deem "black technology" was effortless for her with just locally available materials.
The next moment, the organism—dubbed "Ruola Spores" by the naming-challenged Ye Bai—multiplied wildly in the culture dish before dispersing into the outside air through a newly opened window.
When the Ruola Spores encountered the adhesive spores she had previously created, they began symbiotic reproduction. All adhesive spores were rapidly converted into Ruola Spores, which the Teda people inhaled unavoidably.
By the fifth day, just as the factions controlling the genetic serums felt their ascendancy was assured, every Teda who had inhaled the Ruola Spores outdoors underwent a stable "Awakening of Abilities."
Though individual potential varied, resulting in differing power levels, even those who had failed to awaken before now felt reborn on this day.
"I'm not buying anymore!"
"Clang, clang..." Ruola serums, meant for a massive resource exchange, were shoved aside by traders who turned away with their original goods in hand.
Like chromium gold, the once most expensive substance on Teda Star, Ruola serums were now free. The seemingly imminent rise of a dominant faction crumbled once again.
The sixth day brought a spectacle of human nature.
Crowds gathered around Teda Tower, keeping their distance. Some hurled curses at Ye Bai, others pleaded earnestly, and among them emerged desperate fanatics—self-proclaimed Doomsday Followers, worshippers of the Apocalypse Herald, ready to embrace annihilation with the countdown.
Meanwhile, under relentless pressure, the "Future Ark" plan began spreading quietly—through networks and word of mouth.
The plan offered only one option: a lottery registration. Each person had a single chance. Those selected would board the Future Ark and leave Teda Star when doomsday arrived.
Unlike the first time, when it was dismissed as a joke, many now chose to participate.
After the collapse of the three major systems—economy, weaponry, and genetic serums—the Teda people, now all ability-wielders, descended into chaos.
Because food was running out.
All food storage units had vanished, and so had the raw materials from farmlands, orchards, and livestock farms.
Only the circulating reserves in markets and personal stockpiles remained, but even these were nearly exhausted after six days.
Some tried organizing assaults on Teda Tower, only to fail. Others used their powers to seize the dwindling resources—some followed the strong out of fear, while heroes protected the weak. Some simply drifted aimlessly...
Teda Star had entered a societal apocalypse.
Amid this, many developed a new habit: glancing up at Teda Tower, then down at the uncertain reality of the "Future Ark."
On the seventh day, gloom and hunger shrouded the land.
The doomsday countdown atop Teda Tower entered its final six hours.
"Is this real?!"
"It says I've been selected!"
Amid the chaos, numbness, indifference, and rare warmth, gasps of surprise arose as people checked their personal notifications and looked toward the designated location.
Under the skepticism and hope of many, a colossal flying vessel—perfectly matching the Teda people's imagination—emerged from the spore-laden, ash-gray clouds.
