I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

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In a corner of the Pangu Continent.

The pleasant New Year's holiday passed quickly, and people threw themselves into their tense and busy work routines once again.

"Today we have to leave this place..." Several soldiers joked and laughed as they pulled a cart full of supplies from an insect.

"What, do you have lingering affection for this place?"

"How could I? If the Empire still existed, I would probably just be an ordinary farmer, working the fields..."

"Haha, I might have been a fisherman."

In the past, the Empire Ruins had been explored countless times by soldiers and no more useful resources could be found.

Thirty years passed, and weeds overgrew, erasing the traces of the past.

In another hundred years, this city would be covered by nature, with no trace of the Mandala Empire to be found.

The wood for miles around had been cut down to nothing, and those enormous insects transported the timber in carts.

They worked like tireless machines, able to keep going as long as they had something to eat.

But today, the Insect Soldiers received orders from the Worm King and began their slow journey back to Sky City from the wilderness.

...

At this moment, Worm King · Lu Da was reporting, "King, all the insects have returned home. Currently, 132 insects are awake, while the rest are in a long-term slumber within the Sky Fortress."

"The dispatched soldiers, totalling 422 people, have all returned."

Lu Yuan stood at the edge of Sky City, overlooking the vast lands, where the silent wilds were filled with the chirping of insects, and the huge red leviathans disappeared into the dark pools near the coastline, where that ancient story was about to come to an end.

A new story was about to begin.

The distant fishing boats were also making their slow journey back.

The fishermen, with their last catch of fresh fish, returned to Sky City, their boats laden with the fruits of their labor.

At nine in the morning, the announcement came through the broadcast: "Attention all communities! Sky City is about to take off, please have community workers count the population."

Each community had about 500-800 people and was the smallest administrative unit.

A small town consisted of ten communities.

The current population of 120,000 people was roughly equivalent to 20 small towns.

The once Green Grass Town had finally upgraded to Green City.

As the city was about to take off, people could only move around in residential areas, and were not allowed to wander around the edges of Sky City.

At eleven in the morning, the broadcast announced again, "Sky City is about to take off. Citizens of Green Grass Town, please check the supplies in your homes and secure any fragile items. The elderly and children, please sit in a safe place."

"I repeat, Sky City is about to..."

Staying in one place for a long time, perhaps one really does grow attached; when they had arrived here, they had virtually nothing.

Sky City was dilapidated and nearly fell from the sky!

Now, as they left, although they weren't extremely powerful, they at least had a foundation for living and thriving.

This piece of land had not let down the 18th human civilization.

The Human Expedition Team found 8 Extraordinary Plants, 22 Mutated Plants, 6 Extraordinary Animals, and 19 Mutant Animals in the Empire Ruins.

From a resource perspective, the death of the Mandala Empire fattened Green City—this was a truly generous benefactor.

Many people stood on top of tall buildings, gazing affectionately into the distance.

How they longed to live in such comfort forever.

Yet everyone knew that comfort was a luxury in this world. Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

For the future, for civilization, for themselves...

Voyaging was an inevitable choice!

"Sigh... everyone is feeling a bit sentimental."

Before they left, Lu Yuan sent Worm King · Lu Da to place a golden statue within the Imperial Palace.

The statue bore some inscriptions.

[Honor to the great Mandala Empire!]

[A prosperous and rich civilization, utterly destroyed by a demon-level disaster.]

[We are the human civilization. As newcomers, we overcame the natural disasters here and gained a portion of the Empire's wealth.]

[One must admit, this wealth was like a precious oasis in the desert, saving our confidence and retrieving our future.]

[In commemoration of this great war, we have left some of Mandala Empire's information for those who come after.]

[We are unlikely to ever return, yet we hope the traces of the Empire will live on forever—part of its history has also become a part of ours.]

Within this statue, there was information left for cultivating up to Level Six Extraordinary Spark and some basic engraving knowledge—if a fledgling civilization could find this statue, it would truly be a remarkable treasure.

And who knew what the future might hold?

Perhaps it would be discovered by civilizations of the 10th or 11th Epoch?

This might well be Lu Yuan's own perverse sense of humor, as he liked to leave some mark wherever he went.

But to some extent, it was also for the "luck" of the "Ninth Epoch"!

Even a great existence like the Gear Civilization left behind traces of history.

It's not a bad thing for humans to leave their mark.

Moreover, this bit of gifted knowledge was no loss.

After all this was done, at twelve noon.

Lu Yuan formally announced in front of the television, "I declare, Sky City, officially sets sail!"

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After many years, the Pandora Crystal Stones embedded in the walls lit up one by one, and the gravity of all rocks in the city was being neutralized.

"Countdown, ten seconds..."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Sky City soon took off steadily!

The propellers restarted, emitting a thunderous roar. Due to the slow development of physical technology, people were still using large propellers.

The ocean breeze from the sea, which just so happened to be blowing north, also provided a subtle boost.

After years of recuperation, the Opium Poppy had regained some of its Essence, but it was impossible for it to return to its former glory, as it was now just a stump.

After assessment by some "Plant Affinity" ability users, it was best for Sky City to rest and recuperate for about a year after every 3000 kilometers of flight.

Otherwise, it would overdraw its Life Force, and the time cost of recovery would significantly increase.

This wasn't too big of a problem, stop and go was quite alright.

Lu Yuan hadn't thought that Sky City could fly directly back to the human cradle of civilization in one go. He'd sensed in his Dream that the location of the human cradle of civilization might truly be at the End of the world...

"The power grid is stable... the generator set is normal!"

"The Opium Poppy is stable, energy circuit system is normal."

"Pandora Crystal Stone·Anti-gravity System, officially activated, the gravity of rocks is being neutralized."

This time, no accidents occurred, and as the city gradually rose, the restrictions on the civilians were lifted after it reached stable navigation.

More and more people came to the edge of the city, gazing at the height that was gradually lifting.

At this moment, the crowd split again.

Some felt a tinge of reluctance to leave; no matter what, they had lived here for thirty years... How many thirty years does one have in a lifetime?

Many had red eyes and were very quiet at the moment.

Yet, there were also many young people who began to cheer loudly, "Hey—"

Their resonant voices traveled very far and wide.

This was the pride and ambition unique to the youth.

The vast world, here we come!

...

...

And so, time passed swiftly.

One month...

Two months...

Three months...

The journey this time was quite smooth, after all, humanity had progressed way too much compared to thirty years ago.

Whether it was the power network or the health of the Opium Poppy, they weren't as rudimentary as before.

For the public, everything was as usual; people worked when it was time to work, rested when it was time to rest, and studied when it was time to study.

The sight from high above became a familiar scene after a while—as after all, the whole world was a desert, very monotonous.

The only potential risk during the three months was when scouts spotted a giant red bird in the sky!

According to observations by "Thousand-mile Eye" ability users, the bird, resembling a phoenix, had wings that were fully 800 meters long, and it flew at approximately eight times the speed of sound at an altitude of fifty thousand meters.

It seemed to have detected the existence of the Opium Poppy but did not launch an attack.

While it was a false alarm, it also reminded everyone, especially the young ones, that the world is truly profound, and what humanity knows might just be the tip of the iceberg. Caution is of the utmost importance.

Three months later, Sky City landed smoothly near the former "The Sha Li Clan" site.

According to the plan, the city needed to rest here for a while, extract some oil, and by the way excavate all the Pandora Crystal Stones from the ruins, preparing for future expansion.

Truth be told, everyone was quite scared of poverty; the Sky City Ruins, no matter what, were much richer than the outside world.

"How does it feel to return to the old place?" Lu Yuan asked with a smile to those old subordinates.

At this moment, nothing was left of The Sha Li Clan's ruins.

The old houses had been scoured by sandstorms for thirty years and had left nothing behind.

Only the majestic ruins of the Sky City still stood tall in the vast desert.

The sand scraping across the face felt scorching hot.

"Haha, Captain Lu, don't rib us," Sha Sanli, the retired old man, squinted his eyes, "Who would miss this place?"

Time really does change a lot.

Even for an old man like him, seeing the "Hometown" only prompted reflections on the transformations over time, with little feeling of nostalgia.

Who wouldn't want a better life?

Lu Yuan didn't dawdle, immediately issuing commands, "Comrades, let's start work according to the plan discussed in the meeting."

At this moment, the human workforce was twelve times what it used to be, so the speed of operations naturally increased by more than a notch.

Many Insect Soldiers were awakened, including Leviathan, Mammoth, Absorber, and Driller, who also joined the mining boom.

Poor Leviathan and Mammoth, although they were originally super war weapons, had only grown to the size of excavators over the years due to mediocre diets.

And for some reason, they seemed a bit benevolent and would greet every member of the engineering teams with a shout of "Bi Ba"!

Was this supposed to be a greeting?

They had also slowly gotten used to a life of waking up and going straight to work.