This was Yue Heng, Bai Long, Zhuge Fan, and Yue Ling. Although Yue Ling was quite cautious, she knew Ye Chen would never take advantage of the situation to harm her.

“I never expected that the Earth would undergo such earth-shattering changes over these years,” Bai Long couldn't help but sigh after reviewing the memories in his mind. “Indeed,” Zhuge Fan shook his head.

“The continental plates fractured into eight regions called the Eight Continents, with Youzhou being one of them. Furthermore, the remaining landmasses have become wildernesses dominated by Fire Beasts, and territories inhabited by powerful monsters that no one dares to explore.” Yue Heng let out a soft sigh.

“This Mayor truly is a man of great experience. Back when we were flourishing in Bright Base City, he was just a nobody.

Now, through sheer wit and steady effort, he has attained the position of Mayor. The path he trod was fraught with danger and hardship; it’s a miracle he survived it all.” “From his memories, it seems we took the elite members from all the major base cities across the world when we left.

The rest were left behind in the base cities, transferring together into the various ruin planes on Earth. Unexpectedly, subsequent volcanic eruptions tore open the spatial gates to these ruin planes.

The Fire Beasts and other mutated creatures that emerged from Earth then poured into these planes. At the end of the Magma Era, humanity finally returned to Earth and established the base cities,” Bai Long mused, suddenly looking up at Ye Chen.

“Ordinary volcanic eruptions could never tear open spatial gates. Could this be the result of that magnetic field you sensed earlier, the one capable of shielding spiritual power?” “It’s possible,” Ye Chen nodded slightly.

From the Mayor's memories, Ye Chen learned that he possessed intimate knowledge of many secrets, including those between various base cities. Present-day Earth is divided into eight continents and over thirty human base cities.

The inhabitants here are those who emerged from the sealed-off ruin planes, carving out battlegrounds and establishing human strongholds on Earth. At the center of every base city is a passage to a ruin plane; in emergencies, they retreat into those planes.

Currently, all the major base cities are dedicated to researching the technology required to repair the ruin planes. According to the current trend on Earth, the rate of evolution for mutated creatures far outpaces that of humans.

Even if military technology advances tenfold, it will gradually become ineffective within a few years, leaving humanity prey to the mutated beasts, reduced to their food source. This issue naturally plagues the Mayors, while those on the ground level only need to worry about having enough to eat each day.

This is the distribution of human power. The mutated creatures, however, have evolved ferociously in recent years, their numbers doubling explosively.

Even the most common zombies, having survived the early stages of the Magma Era, have begun to evolve, developing scales that allow them to swim in lava. This not only signifies their terrifying strength.

It also means the pathological agent within their bodies cannot be killed even by fire! Since antiquity, fire has symbolized life—sacred and irresistible.

Now, if even fire cannot destroy this contagion, and if it were to spread widely, the speed and virulence of infection would increase dramatically. Once infected, even the most powerful individuals risk becoming zombies.

However, the evolution during the Magma Era granted these mindless zombies an unbelievable ability. —They could reproduce!

As long as they consumed enough food, they would directly birth a zombie infant from their mouths, then lead the infant out to devour other monsters. Zombie infants grow incredibly fast; with sufficient sustenance, they can mature from a child’s size to a robust young adult in just one month.

This has led to the incredibly rapid proliferation of zombies, with every single zombie capable of becoming a progenitor, birthing offspring when sustained by enough energy from food. Therefore, most zombies exist in tightly knit groups, much like an extended family, and these groups can grow ever larger, potentially evolving into a Zombie Faction.

Zombies share a peculiar emotional bond with the offspring they birth. Each Zombie Faction is ruled by a Zombie King, the strongest among them.

Furthermore, due to the intense fire qi pervading the air during the Magma Era, all life forms evolved in response to the environmental shift. Consequently, almost all creatures fear cold and cannot tolerate sub-zero temperatures, instead showing no fear of flames.

Since the Magma Era, the ambient temperature on Earth consistently hovers around 40 degrees Celsius, the ground scorching life like an oil pan. Among all mutated creatures, four colossal beasts dominate several massive landmasses.

Additionally, in the oceans lurk two unfathomably deep monsters; only adventurers have managed to capture fleeting glimpses of their immense forms rising from the water, but no one has ever seen their entirety. “Huh?” Yue Ling’s expression shifted to surprise.

“On the entire surface of the Earth, there is a continent in the northeast, the original location of a place called China in Asia. After being split, this landmass floated to the northwest, and it is now entirely populated by fiercely powerful monsters.

Even the resting places of those four great beast overlords are located there.” Ye Chen nodded; he had also noticed this anomaly. Not only the four land-based Beast Kings, but the two unseen ocean monsters were also captured on camera in the waters surrounding that particular landmass.

“Everyone in the base cities calls this place the 【Beast Nest】,” Zhuge Fan frowned, his gaze thoughtful. After a moment, his eyes suddenly flashed, and he turned to Yue Ling.

“Your Majesty, is the location recorded on the Divine Fire Token here?” Yue Ling nodded. “Yes, I think so too.” “Let’s go take a look,” Bai Long suggested with a teasing tone.

Ye Chen nodded slightly. Bai Yijun remained quietly by his side, listening without adding much.

Once the decision was made, the group followed the map ingrained in their memories and soared toward the most mysterious landmass. What secrets slept upon this once-bustling ground?

The Beast Nest. Across the vast expanse of land, many mountain peaks were riddled with carved-out caverns, home to various beasts.

There were rabbit-like fiends, standing about the height of a man, covered in sharp scales, whose fluffy white ears had evolved into twin black horns cast from solid steel, resembling grotesque guardians of the underworld. There were also Flood Dragons with scorching red scales, and immense monsters with the paws of lions but bodies covered in fine, hair-like tentacles that were actually suckers, capable of consuming fire or spewing flames.

Yet, amidst this pervasive population of mutated creatures, five areas harbored the fewest monsters. Four of these five spots were occupied by the four mountain-sized mutated beasts, their bodies so enormous that their heads were invisible—one could only glimpse half a body coiled upon the ground, its sharp scales reflecting a cold sheen under the sun.

No other mutated creature dared approach these four colossal beings; the surrounding area was unnaturally empty. The fifth area was a palace, blazing entirely red.

The magnificent structure was wreathed in roaring flames that automatically burned upon its walls and eaves, making them sizzle hot, like fresh, scarlet blood iron. The grand palace was adorned with carved reliefs, so vivid and lifelike they surely could not have been created by mutated beasts.

Even after evolving into human form, these creatures rarely possessed the unique sensibilities or artistic inclinations characteristic of humans. Could it be that humans resided within this palace?

The mutated creatures surrounding the palace treated it with reverence, as if it were a divine entity, daring not to approach. Moreover, the gaze they directed toward the palace was not one of ferocity or savagery, but of docility and awe.

Suddenly, a burst of fireworks erupted from the crimson palace, exploding softly in the air before gradually fading. After several moments of silence, a vast valley about a thousand li in front of the palace began to rumble slowly.

Then, a colossal dragon with scales of deep azure slowly uncoiled itself from the abyss. Its body was long and serpentine, covered in sharp, dense azure scales, its eight sharp talons gleaming coldly beneath its belly.

It rose slowly from the deep valley, its head devoid of antlers, instead adorned with sharp barbs pointing backward like enraged hair. Its amber pupils cast a distant glance toward the flaming palace, then it nodded once before turning and slithering toward the outermost edge of the continent.

Rumble— Its dragon claws pressed into the earth, leaving behind deep imprints. Any observer witnessing this scene would surely be struck dumb with terror: this azure-scaled dragon was none other than the Azure Scale Dragon, one of the four terrestrial Beast Kings!

As the Azure Scale Dragon moved forward, all nearby life seemed to recoil like a tide. Even creatures deep in slumber were startled awake, scrambling away in panic, terrified of being close.

The Azure Scale Dragon proceeded with grand arrogance, its body weaving across the ground like a serpent, etching colossal furrows in its wake. Beneath the azure sea and under the gray sky.

Between the heavens and the earth, Ye Chen and the five others advanced rapidly, soon arriving at that most mysterious landmass imprinted in memory. From a distance, the entire massive continental fragment floated above the blue ocean, resembling a block of black iron.

Ye Chen looked down; numerous small black dots surfaced beneath the ocean at his feet—they were mutated sea creatures. In one particular stretch of water, a massive, deep shadow could be discerned beneath the azure surface.

Ye Chen frowned slightly but showed no surprise as he flew directly toward the landmass. As soon as they were above the land, Ye Chen spotted a giant, azure-scaled dragon coiled at the edge of the continent by the sea.

Upon seeing their arrival, it immediately raised its head. (To be continued)