Published: February 10, 2025
On the towering walls of the Royal City, countless flags fluttered, displaying various animal and plant patterns.
This was not because the posthumous children revered these images or regarded them as totems to kneel and pray to daily, but simply because they admired the power they represented.
In a world ravaged by scarcity, harsh living conditions, long cold seasons, and the constant threat of wild beasts, the posthumous children had very few sources of pride. Apart from the ethereal almighty god, perhaps only this Royal City, which had never fallen, remained as a symbol of hope.
However, the current Royal City had taken on a more unconventional style.
The most obvious changes were in two places.
One was the five massive pillars recently erected in the center of the Royal City. Any posthumous child who saw these pillars was terrified by the sight above. Not only were there countless shriveled corpses hanging from them, but the totemic pillars themselves were made of blood. From a distance, one could smell the strong scent of blood wafting through the air.
The other change was on the city walls and among the posthumous child warriors, where many weapons and equipment not belonging to them were now present. Or rather, they did not belong to this world. These weapons emitted various glows and could activate different abilities, just like those powerful soul technique practitioners.
These changes were brought about by the Cloud Summit Villa, whose combat team was assisting in the city's defense on the walls.
Of course, another change that had not previously existed, but which the posthumous children had now grown accustomed to, was the space-time gate erected within the Royal City. From within it, warriors from another world continuously entered to fight for the defense of this city.
“This is the thousand-leaf grass, this is the cracked lip fruit, this is the gradual color three-colored radish, this is the wasteland mineral and creeping soil,”
Xia Lei said, pointing to some items on the table in a tent exclusive to Cloud Summit Villa within the Royal City.
She had now been appointed as one of the joint commanders for the battle in the Royal City, granted the authority to command independently in the forthcoming war, and so she had come to the Royal City alongside the main forces of Cloud Summit to participate in the defense.
As for Cloud Summit Villa, there was no need to worry about the dangers posed by the absence of Xia Lei, as aside from a few guardian teams stationed at the villa, many of the old, weak, disabled, and women and children of the posthumous children remained there.
Do not underestimate these posthumous children; aside from those truly incapable of fighting, like the children and immobile elders, the rest were all qualified warriors when armed. They were sent to Cloud Summit Villa primarily because their levels were not high enough to contribute significantly in the battle of the Royal City. On the other hand, the posthumous children were also preserving their lineage. These kids, along with experienced disabled warriors and elders with legacies, were their hope. Should the battle go poorly and result in total defeat, they were the hope for the posthumous children to avoid extinction and rise again.
If someone were to attack Cloud Summit at this moment, they would find that here, suddenly, there were hundreds of thousands, even millions—who were considered low level among the posthumous children but were average evolvers on Earth.
Just this number alone was enough to drive any force to despair. These posthumous children surrounded Cloud Summit, forming a protective circle. Now, the evolvers in Ying City often witnessed groups predominantly consisting of posthumous women entering the city to hunt. Even for the mutant rat meat that most people found hard to eat due to psychological barriers, these individuals never hesitated, with some even choosing to eat it raw.
This was not due to the posthumous children being primitive; they had not fallen to such depths. It was simply a habit forced upon them by the survival conditions in the Blue Secret Realm.