NOVEL WEB Chapter 111 An Emergency Quest Available
"It's all thanks to the Divine Tree," Pudge said, raising his beer. "Because of it, we're now recognized as an Awakened Intelligent Species in our galaxy."
Director Aaron nodded. "Yes… We still don't know why the Divine Tree's former self came to our solar system. What's even stranger is that the titans who followed after it—every single one of them—died fighting it. Thankfully, before dying, the Divine Tree infused its core seed into the Earth. That marked the beginning of the Awakening Age. Since then, no titans or anyone related to the Divine Tree have ever come again."
Pudge leaned forward, his voice tightening. "My master and I studied every Titan Ruin and every site where their battles took place across the solar system. The remnants of their battles... the destruction left behind… it was overwhelming."
He paused, breathing faster. "My master was in awe just from the residual traces. Their level of combat was something far beyond anything we can comprehend. But I still believe... one day, someone from Earth will reach that level. Then we'll finally uncover the truth of what really happened back then."
Both of them fell silent. They sighed, clinked their beer cans together, and took long gulps.
Director Aaron suddenly moved his queen and smirked. "Checkmate."
Pudge froze. "What? You sly bastard. One moment we're being all emotional, and the next you trap me like that?"
Aaron laughed. "What can I say? My brothers always said I had a knack for timing."
Pudge narrowed his eyes. "My master warned me about you Aaron brothers. 'Never lower your guard,' he said. Now I know why."
"Don't be such a sore loser."
"I'm not! How about a rematch?"
"Nope." Aaron waved his fingers lazily, and the chessboard vanished in thin air. "I'll savor this sweet victory tonight. Round two, tomorrow."
Pudge groaned. "Ugh, don't be such a sore winner."
"Sore winner? Is that even a thing?"
"Whatever."
The two chuckled and turned their attention back to the floating screen above the table.
Meanwhile, on Mars...
Zane had begun his journey toward the Titan Ruins, guided by hovering drones.
Along the way, he encountered multiple corrupted beasts. Each time, it only took a flick—swift and clean—to bring them down. He extracted their core stones, tossed the cadavers into his silk pouch, and kept moving.
Hours passed. No participants crossed his path. The forest grew quieter with only the occasional chirping of birds and insects.
Still, Zane didn't stop. He sprinted steadily, never slowing for even a moment, eyes following the drones ahead.
The only thing that kept him going during the monotonous trek was the slow but steady climb in his rankings.
Then he stopped.
He had reached a small hill, and as he crested it, his eyes widened. A large river flowed before him, stretching wide across the landscape.
"A river?" he muttered, surprised. "On Mars?"
He glanced around. The only way forward was to cross it.
"All this time... I never came across a river. And there's nothing about it in the books either. Is this natural? Or man-made?"
His gaze settled on the stream. The water shimmered, a vivid, deep blue, eerily similar to the oceans back on Earth.
"It's beautiful..."
Unable to resist, he sat down by the riverbank, captivated by the aesthetic of the landscape.
The drones in the air stopped moving.
"Beautiful things are fleeting. I should move forward," he muttered to himself with a sigh, standing up.
Just as he was about to dip his right foot into the river, he pulled it back and asked cautiously, "System, can I swim across this stream? Is it safe?"
His wariness wasn't unwarranted. Although Mars was now considered safe for human habitation, many mysteries still lurked beneath its red soil. It was better to be cautious than careless.
The System chimed, and a notification appeared.
[Analyzing the water…]
Two minutes later:
Ding!
[Complete Analysis Completed!]
[The water is safe for the Host to swim in. There is a large deposit of radioactive natural cores beneath the riverbed. For the Host, this poses no harm.]
[One Emergency Quest Available!]
Quest: Use your mana-gathering technique to absorb the radioactive mana from the riverbed and further develop your Law of Sun.
Rewards:
Create One Solar Thread = +10 points to all stats
Create Two Solar Threads = +20 points to all stats
Create Five Solar Threads = +50 points to all stats
Create Ten Solar Threads = +100 points to all stats
Zane read the new challenge and couldn't resist the opportunity.
"Good! An extra hundred points to all my stats will be a massive boost for scavenging the Titan Ruins. But there's a problem… To complete this quest, I'll need to stay near or in the river. So, what should I do?"
He began brainstorming and finally asked, "System, if I must complete this quest, I need to travel along the river path. Can you help me map out a new route to Titan Ruin No. 3345?"
[Sure. Bring me a drone.]
"Sure."
In a blink, Zane flickered and reappeared, holding a drone still hovering mid-air.
The drones were equipped with numerous built-in protocols, and this one responded instantly—its warning siren blared, and a red light flashed.
A mechanical A.I. voice blared through the drone's speakers:
"Initiating self-destruct sequence. Release me or we explode."
Zane saw a countdown start at 30 seconds.
He didn't flinch. His trust in the System was absolute.
However, as the timer ticked down to five seconds, a flicker of unease crossed his face.
"System, come on! What are you waiting for? Do your damn job!"
Just as the timer hit zero, Zane shut his eyes—but he still didn't release the drone.
He braced for an explosion.
It never came.
Instead, the System chimed again, and Zane exhaled in relief.
[Self-Destruction Mode Deactivated Successfully!]
[Hacking Initiated…]
Zane looked at the bee-sized drone's display and saw lines of code rapidly scrolling across its screen.
[Hacking Successful. Installing New Hidden Protocol…]
[Installation Completed!]
[Now release the Drone. It will led you to a shortest possible path while along the stream.]