If the Root Dies, Can the Leaves Survive?

'It's over,' 'There's no hope,' 'We're doomed'—Babata's words struck Luo Feng's soul like a heavy hammer, leaving him utterly stunned. Earth… doomed? It sounded broad. Yet, in the distant past, five thousand years ago, starting with a group of ancestors from the land of Huaxia, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and Warring States periods saw countless legendary figures emerge, illuminating their respective eras. Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei's sworn brotherhood in the Three Kingdoms, the Battle of Red Cliffs, and so on, followed by the Jin and Southern/Northern Dynasties, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties… until the 21st century, when humanity lived in a modernized society. During the Grand Nirvana period, humanity fled, eventually settling down in Base Cities to live and work in peace. In one of the Guardian Cities within a Base City, there was a student in a high school. His name was Luo Feng. His classmates, teachers, his Martial Arts Hall brothers and sisters, instructors! His parents, relatives, his loved ones, everyone he had ever known since childhood! They were all just an insignificant, tiny drop of water within the Huaxia Nation. And the Huaxia Nation, in turn, was just a part of humanity on Earth. Now… it's over? “No!” Luo Feng felt a tremor, a stinging pain in his soul! If all of humanity on Earth perished, what meaning would his own life have? “I must kill it!” Luo Feng stared at the 'Golden Horned Beast' frozen on the conference hall screen. “It must die!!!” “Luo Feng, what are you thinking?” Babata asked. “Babata, the Golden Horned Beast must die!” Luo Feng said to Babata. “Are you running a fever? You, a Planetary Level Third-tier Mentalist, dare to provoke a Star Level Golden Horned Beast? You may have the Yunmo lineage inheritance, but the Golden Horned Beast also has a formidable background! It possesses a noble bloodline and immense power. To kill it is simply, simply a pipe dream!” Babata exclaimed. “We don't need to fight it head-on. Even if it's dangerous, you can hide inside the Yunmo Star spacecraft. Once the ship is sealed, no matter how powerful it is, it won't be able to destroy it! And with Yunmo Star's astonishing weight, it wouldn't be able to swallow it.” “No!” Luo Feng rejected Babata's suggestion. “Don't be foolish. At worst, your family members can also enter the Yunmo Star spacecraft,” Babata said. “Babata, are we supposed to hide like timid turtles? Escape this calamity, then emerge to find… that all of humanity on Earth has perished? All the co-workers and neighbors my parents knew are dead, and only our family is left? What's the point? How would my parents live? How would I live?” Luo Feng retorted. Unimaginable! Luo Feng couldn't imagine that scene; it was terrifying! The thought sent a chill down his spine. “I don't understand you humans,” Babata grumbled. “You're no match, yet you resist!” “Humans cannot live apart from society.” “Humans cannot detach themselves from their nation, their homeland!” “If there's only one person left alive, isolated on Earth, it would be worse than death!” The thought made Luo Feng's heart turn cold. “Babata, when a nation perishes, its surviving citizens are called—slaves of a fallen nation!” Earth was his root! The Huaxia Nation was his root! If the root dies, the branches and leaves will also wither and fall! And he… was just one of the better leaves among countless branches and leaves. If the root dies, can the leaves survive? “Babata, tell me, how do I kill it?” Luo Feng thought. “Uh, it's impossible,” Babata replied without much hesitation. “Babata, you can build spacecraft, so can't you build powerful weapons to kill it?” Luo Feng asked mentally, extremely anxious. “Weapons to obliterate a Star Level being?” Babata understood Luo Feng's anxiety and said seriously, “Luo Feng! In the cosmos, Star Level beings are already considered formidable powers! Universe Level experts can even fight interstellar fleets with their bare bodies! This means ordinary interstellar fleets find it difficult to kill Universe Level beings, and killing Star Level beings also requires powerful weapons.” “Such powerful weapons are extremely complex to manufacture, requiring at least several years,” Babata said. “However, at the Golden Horned Beast's speed, it will absolutely sweep across the entire Earth within a month.” Luo Feng understood. The Golden Horned Beast, leading countless sea monsters, would indeed sweep across all landmasses on Earth very quickly. “Furthermore, Luo Feng!” “Powerful weapons are easy to manufacture, but what about launching them? Launching and hitting the target is also very difficult,” Babata said. “So, if you truly want to resist—there's only one way!” “Tell me,” Luo Feng thought, a surge of joy in his heart. “There's some wreckage of cosmic warships on your Earth, and those wrecks might be equipped with powerful weapons! Although they've been eroded by time for too long and would long be unusable, if I modify them, they might still be usable,” Babata said. “Of course, this depends on luck! After all, weapons capable of killing Star Level beings are considered powerful even among interstellar warships. For example—your Grandmaster's headquarters' thin spacecraft is just a transport ship. Its weapons are generally quite poor.” As Luo Feng listened, a longing grew in his heart. Yes… Search for ancient civilization ruins, search for weapons surpassing Earth's civilization! “Babata, tell me the exact strength of this Golden Horned Beast,” Luo Feng asked mentally. Knowing oneself and one's enemy ensures victory in every battle. “It?” Babata said, “Look, next to the single horn on its head, the one with numerous golden intricate patterns, isn't there a protrusion?” Luo Feng looked closely at the screen. Indeed! On the Golden Horned Beast's head, besides the single horn proudly piercing the sky, there was indeed a protrusion next to it. “The Golden Horned Beast's strength is easy to discern! Because it has different characteristics at different stages. In its 'Infant Stage,' it only has one single horn on its forehead! In its 'Growth Stage,' a second horn begins to grow on its forehead. In its 'Youth Stage,' a third horn begins to grow on its forehead. In its 'Adult Stage,' a fourth horn grows. In its 'Peak Stage,' a fifth horn grows!” “The further along its strength progresses, the more complex the golden intricate patterns on its horns become, until finally, the horns appear entirely golden.” “That's why it's called the Golden Horned Beast!” Babata said. Luo Feng suddenly understood. “Its second horn is only a protrusion, so it probably only recently entered the Star Level,” Babata continued. “However, its bloodline is too powerful, and its growth rate is astonishing! During its Growth Stage, it will frantically devour and absorb large amounts of metal, continuously increasing its strength. So, we must kill it quickly, otherwise it will only grow stronger.” Luo Feng also understood. A Golden Horned Beast that, when fully grown, can reach Realm Lord level. Its growth rate would naturally be fast. “No wonder it devoured the war base; war bases are almost entirely made of metal,” Luo Feng mused. “Don't worry, even though it's a Devouring Beast with an 'inner world,' it's still just a little fellow who has just finished its Infant Stage, so its daily 'appetite' is limited,” Babata said. “However, Luo Feng, I must warn you… every Starry Sky Behemoth is not to be trifled with; their bloodlines contain ancient inherited memories.” “Killing a Starry Sky Behemoth is very difficult.” “Killing the 'Golden Horned Beast,' which ranks very high among Starry Sky Behemoths, is even more difficult!” “My master once heard that an Immortal in the cosmos encountered a Realm Lord level 'Golden Horned Beast' and wanted to kill it! Logically, it's too easy for an Immortal expert to kill a Realm Lord. However… the Golden Horned Beast couldn't win, but it actually escaped,” Babata sighed. “With such an extremely rare, peak bloodline, you might be able to defeat it, but killing it is very difficult.” Luo Feng fell silent. “If I don't try, how will I know?” Luo Feng said. “Babata… in this war, I have no choice!” “Either it dies!” “Or, if it wants to destroy humanity on Earth, I'll die first!” Luo Feng said in a low voice. Luo Feng never considered himself particularly great or noble; he could watch a war base be devoured by the Golden Horned Beast. But—if humanity on Earth perished, if the Huaxia Nation vanished, his branch and leaf would have no root. What meaning would there be in living then? He might as well die gloriously. “You stubborn fool.” Babata sighed helplessly, “Too bad the Yunmo Star spacecraft has no weapons!” In fact, for Immortal experts, energy weapons were already meaningless! For example, the Yunmo Star spacecraft, entirely constructed from Red-Mixed Copper Mother—a single fragment weighed over a ton, so how heavy was the entire spacecraft? With the Yunmo Star spacecraft's strength, if it accelerated to astonishing speeds, combined with its incredibly sharp edges! Normally flying through the cosmos, crashing into asteroid fields, it would directly rampage through them, cutting asteroids like tofu. A single impact could even cut a planet! Killing a Star Level being was like slicing vegetables. Alas… The Yunmo Star spacecraft was damaged, completely unable to fly. ... While Luo Feng was discussing mentally with Babata, others were also deep in discussion. “Old Wang, if it were Planetary Level Eighth-tier or Ninth-tier monsters, we'd still have hope. But if it's Star Level… the probability of victory is at most ten percent.” Two old men sat together, discussing in low voices. “Oh, Old Li, have your discussions yielded any results?” the short, white-haired old man said in a low voice. “Hmm, before the Grand Nirvana period, 'super-yield' nuclear bombs had no place to even be tested. But in the Base City era, there are plenty of empty areas spanning tens of thousands of square kilometers! The conditions exist,” the old man surnamed Li nodded slightly. “The detailed plan should still be discussed by experts from various countries. I'm thinking, if we fail…” “Are you referring to the National Heritage Plan?” the old man surnamed Wang looked at him. The old man surnamed Li also looked at him. Both of them had poured countless efforts into establishing Base Cities for the Huaxia Nation since the Grand Nirvana period; they naturally couldn't bear to abandon their country and nation! “The common people are now living peaceful lives, and the apocalypse just arrived like this?” The old man surnamed Wang closed his eyes, his eyes faintly glistening with tears, then opened them, his gaze firm. “I believe it's the same for all countries; let the Heritage Plan begin secretly first! If humanity on Earth truly cannot resist, then we'll launch it on a large scale. For detailed matters, let's discuss them after leaving the virtual space!” The old man surnamed Li nodded, but felt an unbearable heaviness that made it hard to breathe! “Perhaps… perhaps the situation isn't so bad,” the old man surnamed Li thought silently to himself. ... Throughout the entire conference hall. Whether it was Warriors like Luo Feng, Hong, and Lei Shen, or the leaders of various countries, or even the specially invited weapon experts, everyone was racking their brains for solutions. They were all members of Earth! Not a single one was willing to give up!