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Years have passed since the liberation of the Lost Continent, now named Verdant Terra, and Prime Earth in extension.

Since then, humanity has proven just how much of a progressive race they truly were. Without the constant threat of the demons knocking at their doors and destroying their home, they could put their attention into things that revolutionized their way of living.

Their situation was a far cry from what it was back in the day when everybody's still holed up in that one tiny spot that Acala and the old generations of Superhumans preserved for them.

Nowadays, you'd see humans traveling everywhere. You'd see sprawling buildings and infrastructure that displayed and captured the style of human creation.

Villages, cities, capitals...hell, there's a giant metropolis built at the core of each continent, serving as the hub for all operations. Secret realms were taken advantage of, extracting the maximum amount of resources from each without damaging its foundations.

There's a vivid difference between each continent, though. Azure Terra looked and felt more modern with all the buildings and infrastructure built all over the place. Each one serves a different purpose than the rest. Of course, Azure Terra still maintained some of its forests, jungles, and mountains—natural resources, per se. But as a whole, it's more like a concrete jungle than anything.

Verdant Terra, on the other hand, was the opposite. It has far more abundant nature than Azure Terra. Yes, there are cities, villages, and streets built all over the continent. Yes, there's a sprawling metropolis at its core, but each civilization followed the traditional theme of nature.

Their design was minimalist and nature-friendly, emphasizing the need to preserve the lust and vibrant life of nature on this continent.

Despite their differences though, both continents helped humanity advance through leaps and bounds, especially with a few nudges and assitance from the Sun Sage himself.

It's unbelievable how far humanity has gotten in just a few years. If this speed of development were to continue for, say, a decade at least? Then humans will eventually maximize all the benefits they could get from staying in this small world and eventually look upon the stars.

Once it reaches that point, then humanity will begin making their moves into owning the solar system they're at. And what a sight that would be.

Unfortunately, it's still too early to discuss all of that now. Especially since right now, humanity was about to face their most challenging tribulation.

**

Under the lush and vibrant nature of the Verdant Terra, a wide network of tunnels ran underground that extended all over the continent.

The hub of this tunnel network wasn't directly under the metropolis. In fact, it's not even anywhere near the land of either continent.

It's built in between the continents and beneath the sea as well.

This meant that this network of underground tunnels connects both continents together despite being located on opposite sides of the planet.

The space within this hub was enormous due to the usage of spatial folding technology. This place was just as big, if not bigger, than the two continents combined.

Looking at this place, it wouldn't be wrong to say that this was just a massive factory instead.

Here, you would see many people working tirelessly like machines, dishing out componets for something ominous and large. It's hot in here due to how many people were working on the forge to create things. The only sounds you'd hear in this place were the clashing of metal, sparks of grinders, whistles and whirs of machines, and the chatter of people working hard towards a unified goal.

That said, the situation on the ground was slightly different compared to the situation above.

Under the swirling mass of ethereal stars and the velvet blanket of space, fighter jets turned into streaks of light, leaving behind a blistering trail of smoke while shooting out projectiles against each other.

These jets looked like they're comets clashing against each other. Hell, some even felt like falling stars themselves.

The ones piloting these jets weren't some random people either. Each one had been licensed to drive these things and knew the reason why this kind of operation was necessary, making them all take it very seriously.

These fighter jets aren't the only ones streaking across the skies. There were others that flew way faster than these jets. They're less bulkier compared to the jets but contained more power and speed, which is understandable considering how even a single piece of equipment of theirs could easily produce a single fighter jet with how expensive it was.

Mechas or simply 'Mechs'. That's what they're called. They're giant robots piloted by skilled people and are currently humanity's largest secret trump card.

Producing a single machine takes months at the very least, and even then, it's difficult considering how demanding it was in terms of skills and resources. Only the best humanity and this world could offer made it possible to create them with the current level of technology.

This has Charles written all over it. Which will make sense considering that he's the Tech God of Prime Earth.

He is indeed the one who discovered and invented these things. But his efforts alone couldn't have possibly taken it this far and this soon. He had the help of his friends to optimize his ideas, and after some deliberations and experiments, the Mechs were born.

Currently, there's only five of these things. However, each one possessed a power that could seriously threaten the world, which is why not just anyone could pilot these things. One would have to go through numerous screenings and authorizations before they could even come close to these things, much less piloting them. Even Charles himself or the High Marshals weren't an exception to the rules.

Well, there's also Cedric. But so far, he hasn't shown any interest in these things.

Their target is to at least have ten machines at the very least. But considering how expensive and demanding these things were to create, it is very unlikely for them to meet this target anytime soon.

At some point, both the fighter jets and the mechs received a signal that concluded their daily training. They all began landing on their respective platforms to receive diagnosis and repairs if necessary.

The work of the pilots themselves doesn't end here just yet. Everybody marched towards the meeting room for a discussion about their previous performance. This leads to a furious brainstorming debate on how to optimize and maximize the tools they have available. Any possible developments or requests for additional attachments were discussed and taken into consideration.

Once they're done here, they all go back to their private rooms to rest and relax. Regardless of their status, whether it was the common lifestyle workers or the pilots themselves, everybody was under a lot of pressure.

They don't have much time left. There's barely a year left before the promised deadline is up.

Everybody who works here knows some things that would certainly cause mass panic if they were publicized.

They know that the demons haven't been eradicated completely and that they still have a Grand Space Fleet stationed right above Prime Earth. They also knew that, around two years ago, the Demon God ended his seclusion and has now resumed his authority over his men.

And that, unlike the previous one, the Demon God took humans seriously, seeing them as a great threat to his people, and thus would use every means necessary to either subdue or eradicate them.

This doesn't mean that the Demon God was being humble or anything. He responded this way, all due to the fact that humanity forced him to do so. After all, the results were clear for everybody to see. Humans forcibly changed his opinion about them so he could only respond in a way he saw fit.

These people also knew that a year from now, they would most likely begin attacking humans again. And this time, they won't hold anything back. To this extent, the Demon God ordered all of his men to return to training, shedding their arrogance and giving them their edge back.

They will wage war with humans in the future, and this battle isn't something either side could prevent from happening.

This event is also considered to be the ultimatum for Prime Earth. Whether it ends up alive or dead at the end, this war will decide that. That's why humans had to do their very best to prepare and survive this; otherwise, it will truly spell the end for them.

And purely for this knowledge alone, everybody involved must do their best. They can't slip up or even be remotely close to being careless. Everybody must do their part and contribute to this effort because this will decide what kind of ending this world will have.

There's comfort in the idea that the Sun Sage stood behind them as the last line of defense for this world. However, everybody knew not to rely too much on him because he wouldn't make a move unless it's absolutely necessary.

Simply put, this war won't be waged by a single person alone. It was a racial war, one that would determine the winner's fate.

And humanity simply can't afford to lose it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com