32: Atmospheric stripping countdown: Only one year left!

However, this Earth was completely different from the one in his memories.

Ninety percent of the originally vast, yellowish-brown land had disappeared, replaced by a boundless, deep blue ocean.

It wasn't ordinary seawater, but a thick layer of a "Heavy Water Cocoon" enveloping the entire planet.

Immediately after, twelve dazzling golden points of light lit up one by one on the surface of this submerged planet.

They were like twelve "needles" deeply pierced into Earth's meridians, distributed across key geological nodes around the globe.

【Analyzing...】

【Node 01: Huaxia · Jiang City (Current Location)】

【Node 02: North Pole · Ice Cap Core】

【Node 03: Pacific Ocean · Mariana Trench】

【Node 04: North America · Yellowstone Volcano Group】... Between these twelve points of light, visible energy flows surged underground, connecting to form a massive network covering the entire globe.

"So this is... the Spark."

Jiang Ran looked at the star map suspended in his mind and understood everything in an instant.

These twelve stone tablets weren't "treasures" at all; they were the twelve core base stations of the "Planetary Terraforming Project"!

They were extracting energy from the Earth's core, producing Heavy Water, and modifying the atmosphere.

Forcibly terraforming this planet, which was originally suitable for human habitation, into a colony for another species.

Just as Jiang Ran tried to see the specific coordinates of those nodes, the image suddenly changed, and a line of crimson countdown characters popped up.

The characters were not human script, but under the comprehension of Jiang Ran's mutated brain, their meaning was despairingly clear:

【Phase One: Hydrological Coverage (100% Complete)】

【Environmental Assessment: Primitive Carbon-Based Life (Human) Clearance Rate: 85%.】

【Warning: Phase Two is about to commence.】

【Phase Two: Atmospheric Stripping and Toxification.】

【Objective: Reduce oxygen concentration to 5%, increase gaseous Heavy Water and radioactive dust content.】

【Countdown: 365 Planetary Days.】

"Atmospheric stripping..."

Jiang Ran's heart tightened violently.

So the flood was just the appetizer; the real main course was the air.

One year. Humanity only had one last year of time.

After one year, Earth's atmosphere would no longer protect humanity, and every breath of air would become lethal poison.

By then, no matter how many ships you had.

Unless you could survive without the atmosphere or establish a fully enclosed ecosystem like the Ark, the only outcome was death.

"I see... so that's why the people from the Ark are frantically fighting over the stone tablets."

Jiang Ran understood. Whoever controlled these stone tablets could, to a certain extent, control the progress of the "terraforming."

They could even... carve out a safe zone of their own within this global energy network.

This was a game of musical chairs concerning the survival of a race. There were only twelve seats.

Those who didn't grab one would all die.

【Information transmission complete.】

【Detected eligible gene sequence (Abyssal Walker).】

【Authority Authentication: Passed.】

【Node 01 Control Rights: Transferred.】

As the final cold piece of information flashed by, the grand star map and countdown abruptly dissipated.

Jiang Ran's consciousness felt like it was pulled back by a spring, crashing heavily back into his physical shell in reality.

"Huff— huff—"

He panted heavily inside the powered armor, his entire body already soaked in cold sweat.

The sharp pain brought by the brain overload made his vision go dark in waves, but he couldn't afford to rest because the scene before him was undergoing a massive change.

The massive three-meter-high Black Stone Tablet, after transferring its authority, saw the light on its surface fade rapidly.

Immediately after, like a collapsing star, it began to rapidly shrink inward.

There was no world-shaking explosion. In just a few seconds, the massive stone tablet vanished.

In its place was a palm-sized, deep black polyhedral crystal, floating quietly in the water.

It no longer emitted that lethal radiation, instead appearing warm and restrained, like an ordinary piece of obsidian.

This was the true form of the "Spark." It was also the "remote control" that governed the environmental terraforming switch for this region.

Jiang Ran reached out and grabbed the black polyhedral crystal floating in the water.

It felt icy cold, like a piece of eternal ice.

But the moment he held it.

Jiang Ran could feel a subtle pulse traveling from his palm through his entire body.

It was as if it were resonating with the mutated genes inside him.

【Item Acquired: Spark (Node-01)】

【Status: Dormant (Bound)】

"Done."

Jiang Ran stuffed this stone, which was enough to drive the whole world mad, into the armor's storage compartment, placing it together with the monster's bio-fusion crystal core from before.

Two pieces of loot. One was the key to the Lv4 Nuclear Energy Era, and the other was the map to the new world.

This trip was a huge profit.

"zero, inflate and surface."

Jiang Ran glanced at his surroundings; those black vines, which had begun to wither and disintegrate rapidly as the stone tablet disappeared, held no lingering attachment for him.

"Initiating emergency surfacing procedure."

"Pshhh—"

The ballast tanks on the back of the powered armor emptied instantly, and the air sacs inflated.

The massive buoyancy lifted Jiang Ran like a black bubble, rapidly escaping this suffocating abyss... 【Depth: -10m... -5m...】

"Splash!"

The black water surface broke, and the fully armed Jiang Ran burst out, returning once more to that world of wind and torrential rain.

Although the rain here was still cold and the wind still biting.

Compared to that underwater graveyard filled with oppression, deathly silence, and terrifying radiation, this place was practically paradise.

In the shadows not far away, the cloaked black iron ghost slowly revealed itself, lowering the lift on the rear deck.

Jiang Ran grabbed the ladder and climbed onto the deck.

As soon as he stood firm, Su Qingyu, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed over.

She even had an adrenaline injector in her hand, clearly prepared for the worst.

"Don't be nervous."

Jiang Ran opened his faceplate, revealing a face that, while pale, was still cold and resolute. Rainwater hit his face, dripping down his chin.

"I'm not dead, and I'm not missing any limbs."

Seeing him unharmed, Su Qingyu's tense shoulders finally slumped, and she let out a long breath:

"Your heart rate spiked to 180 for a moment and then suddenly dropped to 40... I thought you'd been eaten."

"Almost."

Jiang Ran smiled; it was the smile of a victor.

With Su Qingyu's assistance, he shed the heavy powered armor, and then the two of them returned to the warm, dry cockpit.

"This is what I was looking for."

Jiang Ran placed the two items on the console table.

On the left was that fist-sized bio-fusion crystal core emitting a faint blue light.

On the right was that pitch-black, profound "Spark" crystal that seemed to swallow light.

Su Qingyu's gaze lingered on the black crystal for two seconds, instinctively feeling a pang of palpitations.

"This is that stone tablet? It got smaller?"

"Yes, it didn't just get smaller; it also told me some bad news."

Jiang Ran sat in the commander's seat, took a sip of hot coffee, and his gaze became deep and solemn.

"Dr. Su, your hypothesis was correct.

Earth is being reshaped, and we only have one last year left."

He briefly relayed the information about the "Twelve Sparks," "Atmospheric Stripping," and the "365-day countdown" to Su Qingyu.

After hearing all this, Su Qingyu didn't speak for a long time.

She looked at the pitch-black curtain of rain outside the window, the fear in her eyes gradually replaced by a more resolute light.

As a scientist, she knew better than anyone what "atmospheric stripping" meant.

It was true extinction; no living creature would be spared.

"One year..."

Su Qingyu muttered to herself, "In other words, within one year, we must either find the other Sparks to stop it or evolve to the point where we don't need to breathe air."

"Exactly."

Jiang Ran stood up and tapped lightly on the holographic map; the "Global Star Map" obtained from the stone tablet emerged once more.

Although it only gave approximate locations, it was enough.

"Before, we were wandering aimlessly in this flood, living just for the sake of staying alive."

"But now, we have a map, and we have a goal."

Jiang Ran looked at the star map, the fire of ambition burning in his eyes.

"Since this world wants to destroy us, then we'll climb up by stepping on its corpse."

He turned to look at the endless darkness outside the window.

"zero, weigh anchor."

"We're going home. It's time to give this ship a new 'heart'."