Chapter 2: Earth’s Will Awakens

“Insect Human, the parasitized body after being infested by the Insect Race. The man died the moment the Insect Race burrowed into his body. He was no longer an Earthling. Now, he was a slave of the Void Insectoid Race.” Xu Feng sighed and shook his head. He had seen such scenes too many times and had long become numb.

There were many, many humans who were parasitized like that strong man. They all turned into Insect Humans who lost their self-consciousness in a short time. Once a creature was parasitized by the Insect Race, it would merge with the Insect Race, becoming one. It was impossible to restore them to their original state.

These Insect Humans roared and pounced on the humans nearby. The newly parasitized Insect Humans had an extreme craving for flesh and blood. They would kill all living creatures in sight, then devour their flesh and blood to gain evolutionary power. This was also why, in the early stages, places with more people were more dangerous.

“The Insect Race, the Winged Race, the Sand Race, and the Void Beasts who took advantage of the crisis!” Xu Feng clenched his fists, his expression turning fierce. “And you, who are Earthlings.” Different faces flashed continuously in Xu Feng’s mind. These people were precisely Xu Feng’s enemies from his previous life. Even when he entered the abyssal land and was eventually killed by the Bloodthirsty Insectoid, their shadows were behind it all.

“You all must die!”

The tragic scenes he had experienced in his previous life reappeared in Xu Feng’s mind, unchanged.

Food was snatched, weapons and equipment were taken, treasures obtained through life-and-death struggles were stolen. He was driven out of the gathering place, surrounded, ambushed, and attacked from behind. Covered in wounds, he hid in a swamp for three days and three nights, surviving by eating plankton in the swamp. While exploring a secret realm, his best brother stabbed him in the back, all for a Gold Grade weapon…

Xu Feng stood inside the hotel room, waiting quietly. At this moment, he could do nothing but watch his fellow humans outside the window being parasitized, killed, and devoured by the Black Armored Beetles.

“Faster, hurry up. How long do you plan to wait before awakening? Must you wait until all humans are killed?” Xu Feng began to grow anxious inside. Watching the scenes outside the window, he wished he could rush out immediately and fight those Black Armored Beetles to the death.

Time passed bit by bit, and the slaughter outside the window continued…

Then, a deep, grand voice, tinged with a hint of confusion, emerged in the minds of all Earthlings.

“Humans, my children! I am Earth’s Will.”

“Dammit, you finally awakened!” Xu Feng gritted his teeth, a trace of inexplicable pain flashing in his eyes.

“I nurtured you, sheltered you, allowed you to become the spirits of all things, the masters of this planet!” The voice was full of deep emotion.

“Dammit, can’t you just get to the point!” Xu Feng clenched his fists, thinking urgently. “Do you know that every minute you delay, tens of thousands of humans die?”

“But today, Earth has been invaded. I can no longer continue to shelter you. The growth of every race, if it does not advance, will retreat. It is always filled with war, blood, and death! Now, Earth is completely defenseless against those alien races. Humans, my children, from now on, you must fight! For yourselves, for Earth, for me!”

Xu Feng’s feelings toward Earth’s Will were somewhat complicated. In the early days of Earth’s apocalypse, the awakening of Earth’s Will provided great help to humanity. Human evolution depended on the assistance of Earth’s Will.

Earth’s Will was like a supercomputer, controlling the development of the entire Earth and the evolution of humanity.

However, after humans gained power, many discovered that humans were not merely “their children” to Earth’s Will. Soon, in the minds of humans, Earth’s Will transformed from impressions like “Mother Earth,” “Savior,” “the only deity,” into the role of a dictator, a ruler.

Earth’s Will seemed to always treat humans as soldiers to be trained, constantly issuing missions, driving humans to fight, to contend, to explore, to seek resources in various dangerous places. Vast numbers of humans were consumed in meaningless missions.

“How should I face you in the future? My Mother Earth.” Xu Feng sighed and muttered to himself with a complex expression.

“Now, everyone, open your minds and accept this gift from me. It will allow you to survive well in the days to come and make you stronger and stronger.” After speaking, Earth’s Will fell silent.

But soon, a cold, electronic mechanical voice sounded in Xu Feng’s ears.

“Begin dataizing the body?”

“Is it about to start now?” Xu Feng thought.

This cold mechanical voice sounded so familiar. For the past ten years, it had accompanied Xu Feng through life-and-death situations. This was an offshoot of Earth’s Will. Later, humans called it the System.

“Sometimes, I really don’t know if this is a real world or just a game.”

A wry smile appeared on Xu Feng’s face. He closed his eyes and answered in his mind, “Begin dataization.”

Immediately, waves of a tingling, numb sensation spread throughout Xu Feng’s entire body, as if countless tiny currents were flowing inside him. From the tips of his hair on his head to the nails on his toes, every second, countless hair-thin currents flowed through. A faint restlessness emerged in Xu Feng’s heart.

Having experienced this once before, Xu Feng was not at all surprised. He simply closed his eyes quietly, feeling every tremor produced by the electric currents. Soon, all sensations disappeared.

“Body dataization complete. You have become Earth’s Chosen. When you fight, damage to your vital areas such as your brain or heart will not cause immediate death but will significantly increase the critical strike chance of that attack. When cumulative damage to certain functional parts of your body, such as eyes, arms, legs, etc., reaches a certain level, functional loss effects like blindness or disability will occur. Certain weapons with special effects will increase the probability of triggering functional loss effects.”

The cold mechanical voice told Xu Feng all the advantages of body dataization. And Xu Feng already knew all this, having experienced it many times before. Body dataization had saved Xu Feng’s life countless times; otherwise, he would have died long ago in one of his adventures.

“Earth’s Will has prepared a gift for you. Will you accept it?” the mechanical voice continued.

“Accept!” Xu Feng nodded and said in his heart.

Immediately, a large wheel appeared before Xu Feng’s eyes. The wheel was densely divided into countless small sections, each containing different items, glowing in different colors.

“The Wheel of Fate will select a gift from Earth’s Will for you. Begin selection?” the mechanical voice said.

“You may begin,” Xu Feng said.

A point of light began to jump continuously on the wheel. Each jump caused one item to be highlighted, then as the light point moved away, the item returned to its original state.

Regarding this random gift, Xu Feng showed no signs of tension or anticipation. The reason, of course, was that even before it started, he already knew what gift he would receive.