Chapter 1151
[Day 1 of the Trial: The Day Atlantos Falls!]
Chapter 1151 [First Day of the Trial: The Day Atlantos Falls!]
Atlantos, Washington, D.C.
The deafening roar of destruction echoed from the distant Platinum Palace, evaporating the seawater in that area. Xia Xiu, who had already found human survivors, also sensed the information fluctuations indicating that the Platinum Palace's master had been blasted to death by [High Orbit World Cannon - Magnetic Field Power].
At this moment, the entire state of Washington... or rather, the entire Atlantos, was experiencing a violent earthquake because of the punch from the second swordsman of Heaven.
The Columbia Plate, where the Platinum Palace is located, sank directly to the bottom, while Washington State shook wildly like a gray cloth that had been repeatedly trampled, crumpled, and barely spread out.
Fortunately, Xia Xiu used [World Adjustment Mode] to consolidate the land. Before the smoke of battle had cleared, the salt marks left by the receding seawater gleamed palely between the streets and ruins.
He stood in the middle of the mess, holding the human survivor he had found in his arms—a small child wearing a chicken-shaped headgear.
The hood was crudely made; the yellow fabric was frayed, and the red rooster comb lay crookedly on one side. It was clearly something hastily sewn together, yet the child hugged it tightly, as if it were a lifeline.
His body was so light that Xia Xiu could barely feel its weight; only the faint heartbeat, transmitted through his embrace, reminded him that this was a living, breathing child.
"Don't be afraid, child, I am an angel from heaven." The fourth sword-wielder of the world-destroying heaven held the child and said this with a warm smile on his face.
"Angel..." The child hugged his headgear in fear, repeating Xia Xiu's words in unclear syllables.
Besides the children, there are also many survivors gathered by Xia Xiu here, and they all have one thing in common: they all wear chicken-shaped headgear just like the children.
Most of them were extremely thin, their clothes were loose and worn, and their exposed skin bore the marks of repeated erosion by seawater and medicine.
Some people instinctively bent their knees, while others forced out suppressed gasps. Fear, like an invisible net, wrapped around their ankles and up their backs. It was an instinctive reaction to the strong, a conditioned reflex repeatedly trained in this worldline—kneeling.
Just as they were about to kneel down, Xia Xiu's voice fell.
Not tall, not heavy, yet as cold as a boundary line laid across the ground.
"No kneeling allowed."
The sound wasn't loud, but it brought all the movements to an abrupt halt.
He glanced down at them, his gaze devoid of judgment or pity, conveying only one thing with absolute clarity—none of you are allowed to kneel!
So those knees that had already bent were frozen in mid-air, and then, little by little, with unbelievable hesitation, were forced to straighten up again.
The child stirred in his arms, and a pair of bright black eyes peeked out from the eye holes of the chicken head mask, cautiously observing the world around him.
Xia Xiu held the child very gently. He reached out and placed his fingertips on the top of the child's head, stroking it slowly through the rough and cheap chicken-shaped headgear.
He had only intended to remove the cumbersome thing, but the moment he slightly tightened his fingers, the child in his arms suddenly shrank back, curling up like a frightened little animal, gripping the edge of the hood tightly with both hands, and making a sound that was almost about to cry.
"No, no..."
The child's voice was soft, yet it carried a hurried and resolute quality honed by fear.
He raised his head and looked at Xia Xiu through the crooked eye holes of the chicken head mask. There was no willfulness or resistance in his eyes, only an almost instinctive fear.
"If you pick it... it will be eaten."
When he said this, he didn't exaggerate or show any emotional fluctuation; it was as if he was simply stating a very common-sense statement.
In his world, people without headgear disappear.
“Alai wasn’t wearing it… he was arrested.”
"Mom didn't wear it either... and then she never came back."
"They'll grow very big...like a mountain...and then in one bite—"
The child's voice suddenly stopped as he spoke. He seemed unsure how to describe the scene, and only gestured with his hand before pulling his hand back tightly to his chest, shrinking even more.
Xia Xiu's hand froze in mid-air.
He held the child, standing in the center of the silent crowd, his gaze slowly sweeping over the surroundings.
The emaciated survivors watched this scene, no one spoke, no one stepped forward, their eyes, like those of children, were fixed on those chicken-shaped headgear.
The idea that wearing a hood allows one to survive is an absurd and bizarre notion, yet it is almost a truism among humans within the world of Shark Line.
In this timeline ruled by the Sea Heirs, in order to amuse themselves and create more sophisticated fears, the various Sea Heir lineages once publicly issued a decree that was almost a joke—
[Any human wearing a chicken-shaped headgear must not be hunted!]
There are many reasons. Some say it's because it's interesting to watch; some say it's to observe how people react when given a false sense of security; and others say it was just an entertainment decision made under the influence of alcohol.
Those who violate this law will be punished and imprisoned.
Thus, under the restrictions of the law, Haisi reduced its hunting of humans, and humans discovered the pattern and began to make headgear, crude, simple, and different chicken-shaped headgear, which were worn on children's heads, on relatives' heads, and on the lives that should least be treated as playthings.
It is not something that symbolizes dignity; on the contrary, it is a mark forcibly placed on one's head, a condition that allows one to live.
This is why the child was so afraid of having his head hood removed. Xia Xiu held the frightened child and gently patted his back, his movements slow and steady, as if comforting a small animal lost in a downpour.
Then, he lowered his head and said gently:
"It's alright now."
"No more sea monsters can oppress you, and no one can decide whether you live or die because of this. Heaven will take you home."
The child asked in confusion, "Home? Isn't this home?"
Xia Xiu said firmly, "This isn't home... but it's alright now, everything's alright, take off the hood."
He didn't deliberately release his power when he said those words, but the great spirituality within him didn't need to be proclaimed.
It was an extremely gentle yet undeniable presence, unlike oppressive or intimidating, but rather an aura that made people subconsciously relax and breathe more easily—as if a corner of the heavy weight that had been pressing on their chest for a long time had been quietly removed.
The child stared at him blankly, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity. There was no fishy smell of hunger, no countdown with rules, and no urgency of "dying if you make a mistake."
He hesitated for a long time before slowly and carefully reaching his hand to the edge of the hood.
As far back as I can remember, the hood has rarely left my head.
They had to wear it all the time. One of his friends forgot to wear the headgear while taking a shower and was eaten by a giant tiger shark that happened to be passing by.
So ever since then, he has always worn a hood, which is very uncomfortable.
When eating, rough cloth sticks to your mouth; when sleeping, the heat and sweat mix together, making even dreams suffocating; when bathing, water seeps in through the cracks, flowing along your skin, yet you can never see the light reflected from the water's surface.
As the fabric was gradually lifted, the moment the chicken-shaped headgear was removed from the child's head, the child's body visibly tensed, as if ready to face some terrible consequences.
But nothing happened.
The wind blew through the ruins, carrying the smell of salt and dust. No shadow fell from the sky, and no huge figure approached from afar.
The child blinked, then blinked again, and then blinked once more, as if to make sure that this feeling wouldn't be taken away immediately.
The view was not obstructed by the fabric, nor fixed into a narrow hole. The sky was no longer a blurry patch of color, but spread out completely, so vast that it made one's heart tighten.
The surrounding crowd began to stir slightly.
Xia Xiu raised his head, his gaze passing over the child and looking at the survivors around him who were also wearing hoods but were holding their breath.
His gaze was not threatening, but simply rested there quietly.
Under the gaze of those golden eyes, people seemed to vaguely see a warm, yet not dazzling, golden sun.
Gazing at the golden sun, they felt a surge of inexplicable emotions.
It's not for burning, but for illuminating.
Some people reached out their hands with trembling hands, while others hesitated and touched the top of their heads.
Then, as if emboldened by the child's actions, one by one, they followed his example and carefully removed the hood that symbolized humiliation and a life of humiliation.
The fabric fell to the ground; the sound of it hitting the ground was very soft, yet it seemed so heavy.
Xia Xiu withdrew his gaze from himself, looked down at the child in his arms who had just lost his hood, and then casually asked:
"What's your name?"
The child paused for a moment, seemingly still adjusting to the face that was being truly exposed to the air for the first time. His lips moved slightly, and his voice was soft but clear.
"Bardoromai..."
The child looked a little scared, so Xia Xiu held the child closer to his arms. Then, he hummed a melody softly. The melody was simple and repetitive, like a nursery rhyme that had been sung a long, long time ago. The rhythm was light, but the ending notes carried an indescribable emptiness.
"The walls of Atlantis are falling, falling, falling; Atlantos... is gone, is gone." The child nestled in his arms, not quite understanding the meaning of the lyrics, but instinctively feeling at ease.
"Bartholomew, this is a nation that has fallen because of sin..."
Xia Xiu's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded like a judgment falling from the sky, firmly pressing down on this remaining land.
"You will witness its destruction with me."
The child looked up, bewildered, and followed his gaze to the sky.
There, the clouds were torn apart by some indescribable force, and three huge shadows hung high in the sky. The outlines of space-based weapons slowly unfolded in the sea of clouds, like three inverted black altars, their arrays lit up, with beams of light flowing, calibrating, and locking onto their surfaces.
[December 21, 2012 - Advent Day, also the day Atlantos fell]
……
……
The destruction wrought by the three space-based weapons, advancing from the west coast inland, did not slow down despite the distance.
The space-based weapon moved slowly in a high-synchronous orbit, as if flipping through a pre-marked map, with each lit coordinate signifying an inevitable outcome.
The desert city fell silent first, as the yellow sand was instantly vitrified by the high temperature, and the buildings that once reflected the sunlight collapsed into meaningless outlines within seconds; the industrial zone followed closely behind, with the huge furnaces and pipelines not even having time to sound an alarm before they exploded, the metal was directly flattened, leaving only the high-temperature marks on the ground like scars.
Phoenix, New Las Vegas, Sanport Bay, Port Seattle...
In some places, there was no resistance whatsoever.
They were used to orders, to power, and to relying on higher-level beings for survival. When the heavens changed, they instinctively waited for the next instruction. Only when the city disappeared in silence did they realize that this time, no one would respond.
In some places, they are trying to struggle.
The fleet emerged from the deep sea, its cannons aimed at the sky, while superhuman units gathered on the surface, activating their prized domains and launching a final assault on that untouchable shadow.
Flames rose densely, the trajectories intertwined into a desperate net, but before they could touch the sky, they were forcibly twisted, broken, and pressed into the sea by an invisible force.
The nuclear warhead didn't even get to the complete activation process.
They are dismantled during the identification phase, their material structure is rearranged, and they become harmless residue.
Purely physical anger is laughable, even the word "resistance" seems ridiculous in the face of an informational conglomerate.
In response, the space-based weapons also fired several nuclear warheads, planting "small mushrooms" in the city.
As night fell, the cities in the east began to shut down one after another.
The Tower of Chigallo tilted and broke amidst the flames, its once symbolic outline of prosperity and order being eroded layer by layer by the intense heat, leaving only the shadow of its collapse; the waters of the Great Lakes evaporated and receded repeatedly under the continuous onslaught, steam obscured the sky, water levels fluctuated violently, and the entire lake region was experiencing an endless boiling.
Time becomes blurred at this moment.
No one bothers to confirm the exact hours and minutes anymore, because all districts and all administrative meanings have become invalid.
The boundaries on the map became useless, the communication network was completely paralyzed, and the so-called "nation" was reduced to an empty shell, with no corresponding entity in reality.
until late at night.
Only a few scattered points of light remained flickering across the entire continent.
Those areas were marked by the Heavenly Kingdom's system as—the remnants of humanity.
Above the sky, the three space-based weapons still hung silently, like three swords yet to be sheathed.
Light and shadow are projected onto the scorched earth and the desolate sea, reflecting an outline that can no longer be restored.
As dawn broke, the state structure of Atlantos was confirmed to be disintegrating at the data level.
……
……
[12:44:00, Heaven's Sword of Damocles has entered the Atlantos low-synchronous orbit]
[Target locked: Los Santos, California]
[Urban structure scan complete; human life signals: 0]
[Execute extermination!]
[12:46:08, Los Santos - Erasure Confirmed]
[13:03:11, Execution of the Abnormal King, Norton I]
Location: Old Silver Mountain
[Executioner: The First Swordholder of Heaven]
[Execution complete]
[13:10:32, Execution of Theodore Roosevelt, the King of Abnormalities]
Location: Buckingham Palace, Washington, D.C.
[Executioner: The Second Swordholder of Heaven]
[Execution complete]
[13:18:00, Target locked: Phoenix, Arizona.]
Human life signals: 0
[Execute extermination!]
[13:20:56, Phoenix - Confirmed Erasure]
[13:34:22, Target locked: New Las Vegas, Nevada]
[13:38:01, New Las Vegas - Confirmed Erasure]
[13:51:47, Target locked: Oregon, Sanport Bay]
[13:55:33, Porter Bay - Confirmed Erasure]
[14:10:09, Target locked: Seattle Port]
[14:15:44, Seattle Port - Confirmed Erasure]
[14:42:18, Target locked: Texas State Group - Houston Bay]
[14:50:02, Houston Bay - Confirmed Erasure]
[15:06:27, Target locked, Dallas City]
[15:12:59, Dallas, erase confirmed]
[15:40:11, Target locked: Five Huzhou Clusters - Zhigaluo]
[15:46:38, Zhigalo - Confirmed Erasure]
【…】
[23:47:00, Nationwide crackdown completion rate: 97%]
[Residual abnormal description: Cleaned up]
[Current Civilization Organization Level: Collapse]
【23:59:59】
Atlantos – The disintegration of the state structure is confirmed.
[Civilization Status: Extinct]
[Records archived!]