"Can you still speak?" The snake-man asked.
"I can… a little. Thank you." The armored warrior replied haltingly and hoarsely. "It's the end of the era again?"
"Not yet, there's been a small accident." The old snake-man gestured toward Lu Yuan and the others. "A civilization fell into Different Space and got trapped here."
The armored warrior stared at Lu Yuan and his group with hollow red eyes, sizing them up for a good while: "You're so kind… barely able to manage yourself, yet still lending a hand."
"Cough, cough…" The old snake-man forced a bitter smile, "They're looking to interrogate me."
"Digging you out to help bear the pressure, and along the way, check if you're still alive."
"If interrogation happens, us brothers will be interrogated together!"
The old snake-man was cunning as always, immediately shifting the topic: "Brother, it's helping you. Rarely does a civilization come by. While they're not extinct yet, let's gather for a good meal."
"There's… some truth to that…"
Whether it was due to low intelligence or the harsh survival conditions here, the freshly excavated armored warrior seemed easily swayed.
"Vegetables… Vegetables… Do you have leafy greens over there?"
Lu Yuan listened speechlessly as he evaluated the mental state of the other party.
By merely wandering around, they'd managed to dig up five uniquely shaped strangers from graves!
One armored warrior obsessed with leafy greens, one batman who bites anyone on sight, and three crystal men—covered head to toe in mud, with gemstones embedded in their foreheads.
Adding the old snake-man to the mix, that made six strangers!
Initially, none of them were lucid.
Only after eating Mandala Fruit did they regain a small measure of clarity.
…
Even humanity's think tank in the rear was stunned by this bizarre ensemble.
The strangeness of this place far exceeded anyone's imagination—what they had believed to be completely lifeless soil turned out to hold so many "Old Dengs."
Strangers, the kind of creatures rarely encountered, now appeared as though free of charge.
Humans could not help but marvel at the terrifying resilience of intelligent life.
Even in this barren, desolate place, creatures stubbornly clinging to existence—it was truly unimaginable, beyond the bounds of conventional understanding.
…
A group of ancient creatures sat staring at each other in a dilapidated stone house, huddled in a circle.
Humanity provided some military rations—things like luncheon meat, compressed biscuits, and fruit preserves.
The portions weren't plentiful, with each creature receiving only one serving. The reasoning was to prevent them from overeating and dying from gluttony!
The creatures ate with gusto, the sounds of slurping filling the air. Even after finishing their portions, they licked the residual soup and juice from the containers before contentedly patting their bellies.
The old snake-man seemed to be the one in the best condition, his mind the clearest.
The ones in worse condition had almost forgotten how to speak, their bodies degraded significantly.
They needed more of the "Eternal Spring" to heal.
But drinking too much of the spring water would make them even dumber.
"Gentlemen, there's a young civilization, humans, who've been ensnared here by the {monsters}. Considering they gave us spring water and provided good food, let's do something to save them," the old snake-man proposed.
Humans harbored a degree of wariness toward the {demons}, so they refrained from intervening this time—besides, the identities of these strangers were equally dubious, quite dangerous even, which was why Lu Yuan kept a watchful eye on them.
These ancient zombies, muddled in their thinking, possessed uncertain levels of intelligence.
They were sipping the spring water in small sips, eating Mandala Fruit.
One object extended their lifespan, while the other extraordinary item shortened it. This push-pull effect managed to squeeze out some survivability.
"How do you propose saving them?"
A creature resembling the construct of a crystal man spoke in a mechanical tone: "This place, ah, time here is so long that it's turned into cycles of reincarnation."
"At the end of the era, there will certainly be waves upon waves of strangers gathered here, evading calamity."
This crystal-shaped intelligent species, apparently a silicon-based lifeform, referred to itself as the "Crystal Concrete Clan."
Its body was rounded and hefty, resulting in slow mobility.
But crystal men might have once been the strongest race, as there were three surviving crystal men.
A race with three Great Spirit Rhythmers evidently reflected its formidable foundation in the past.
The large crystal man spoke slowly: "I don't quite get why humans would wander in here at this time. Truly absurd. The {monsters} shouldn't have let humanity in…"
"This question is rather simple. The snake-man collective has entirely degenerated; the {monsters} now have difficulty harvesting Spirit Essence by raising them." Lu Yuan explained, "They might currently be in a state of energy scarcity, so naturally, their only option is to hunt other intelligent species for energy."
The crystal man wore a stern expression and fell into an eerie silence.
It took a long time before it finally uttered, "Everything in the world has its end... It would seem this setup is nearing the end of its lifespan."
"Those {demons} haven't succeeded even until now; there likely isn't much hope left."
Another stranger sneered, "Nobody ever expected them to succeed. We just need to mind our own business."
Everyone sighed together.
Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes; these old creatures likely knew a lot of information.
But the more sensitive details, they weren't willing to share.
Or perhaps—didn't dare to say much.
"What civilization level are you?" Another old batman asked Lu Yuan, muttering cryptically.
"Third-level civilization..." Lu Yuan replied hesitantly, "I think…"
The bat-shaped intelligent life immediately manifested a strong sense of superiority: "Third-level civilization? That's so weak!"
"Back in the day, we were a fourth-level civilization, capable of commanding the grand forces of nature! Volcanic eruptions, lightning storms, hurricanes, tornadoes—with ease. But even that couldn't stand before the {ghosts}."
The old bat wrinkled his nose, mocking gleefully: "You're trapped here; you can only wait for death now!"
"They have space abilities, old bat, don't underestimate them." The old snake-man interjected encouragingly.
"Of course, they could learn from us, scraping by and surviving. We've got only six people here—it's a bit lonely."
"If there were six million, it'd be lively." S~eaʀᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Magmit of the Lanpeng Civilization immediately raged: "Our prince is still fighting desperately, and eight million hibernators aren't dead yet!"
"Our plan will definitely succeed! Just you wait and see!"
Lu Yuan hurriedly patted his mecha, signaling him to calm down.
These old creatures, muddled for too long, had unclear minds, terrible attitudes—it was understandable... As long as intelligence could be extracted, it wasn't a loss.
He took a deep breath and deliberated for a moment: "Seniors, what are higher civilizations like? Could you enlighten us? We are merely a third-level civilization—our knowledge is limited, unrefined."
This wasn't considered highly classified.
These old beings, buried in soil for so long, had only recently regained some lucidity and harbored a strong desire to communicate.
Furthermore, it was still relatively early—barely past 11 AM. With {ghosts} yet to appear, everyone gathered to chat idly.
The crystal man patted Lu Yuan's armor: "Don't put yourself down… Third-level civilization… isn't all that bad, you know."
"The classification of civilization levels originates from the Fifth Epoch!"
"A long, long time ago, it was purely about mind-over-matter, emphasizing individual strength. Starting from the Fifth Epoch, strong civilizations introduced changes, realizing that relying solely on individual strength wasn't enough to overcome epoch disasters. Hence, the focus shifted to developing civilizations as a whole."
Lu Yuan felt a jolt in his heart: Hai Zhiyun had previously analyzed that the Fifth Epoch was a pivotal juncture—the pathway combining both materialism and idealism began there.
Judging by this explanation, that analysis was indeed accurate.
Several-ton-heavy crystal man added, "A fourth-level civilization can wield the origin power of Pangu Continent."
"What is origin power?"
The crystal man drew a circle on the ground: "Pangu Continent is a massive idealistic entity. Countless lives and civilizations operate here, forming a complex, organic collective consciousness."
"If put simply, this world has a will. Only by communicating with this world consciousness and influencing its decisions can one achieve fourth-level civilization status."
"Generally speaking, the technology born during this stage includes things like lightning storms and volcanic eruptions—natural technologies. But the underlying principle behind them is actually leveraging Pangu Continent's origin power."
Lu Yuan furrowed his brows lightly and nodded slightly.
This conversation was transmitted via electromagnetic waves to the rear.
The think tank was abuzz with discussions.
"This explanation feels fairly reliable… We've long suspected the existence of a world consciousness." Hai Zhiyun rubbed the bridge of his nose, speaking excitedly, "The most obvious manifestation—'God'—might be a part of this consciousness."
"Think about it—why is 'God' omnipresent? Why does it know when we reach civilization milestones? Because we're active on Pangu Continent, wouldn't the world consciousness naturally oversee that?"
Lu Yuan's eyes lit up—he was reminded of an event: When he was aboard the Great Lai Empire's spaceship, after taming the Undying Giant Turtle, the milestone wasn't immediately triggered.
Only when the Undying Giant Turtle emerged did the milestone officially activate.
"'God' can truly only monitor events occurring on Pangu Continent."
Of course, the world consciousness wasn't a conventional intelligent being.
It was an abstract rule system, more akin to an entire computer program: If you perform actions beneficial to the world's functionality, I'll give you 'civilization points.'
If I face destruction, you'll be left as a stranger.
The next epoch's world consciousness will no longer favor you.
It lacks morality and wisdom but leans toward the civilizations capable of saving it.
If a civilization advances enough to impact the world consciousness and utilizes Pangu Continent's origin power, it can essentially be termed a "Fourth-level Civilization".
"If that's the case, the Green Grass Civilization might only qualify as a fourth-level civilization."
"If we push ahead another step, we could catch up to Green Grass." This was humanity's freshest conclusion.