Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 76 The Sudden Rise of the Mist

Haiqu.

The local shelters were hit hard at the start of the cataclysm, resulting in many casualties, but the soldiers fought bravely and brought the situation under control.

Perhaps because the more imminent danger was taking up more of their attention, the people here had no time to dwell on their injuries and had to urgently organize themselves to fight against the zombies attacking the shelter.

After a day, the organization of the Seahorse Shelter was actually the most organized, and they quickly began to explore the city.

As the squad leader, Chen Ming was actually quite lucky. He was able to face the catastrophe in the shelter, which was much safer than being outside, as long as he could survive.

However, watching his comrades "deal with" the zombies trapped in the isolation rooms in the shelter was too much for Chen Ming to bear, which is why he chose to join the first exploration team.

Although this is more dangerous, at least those zombies that pounce on you, trying to take your and your teammates' lives, can be truly regarded as enemies.

Before they knew it, a fog seemed to be rising, but the group didn't pay much attention to it. They maintained their battle formation and walked into a residential area.

As the day passed, the city was rather quiet. Everyone understood that they couldn't make too much noise. Apart from the occasional gunshot and the strange howls unique to zombies, very few other sounds could be heard.

As they entered the residential area, the fog gradually thickened. Chen Ming frowned. He had only been in the army for a short time and was not yet able to handle various emergencies well.

He ordered his teammates to maintain a certain distance to ensure they could see each other, and the group continued forward.

After walking for a while, the sounds behind him seemed to disappear. Chen Ming turned around and could no longer see his teammates. A sudden sense of unease welled up in his heart, and he raised his voice to shout into the fog, "Old Wang? Hurry up and catch up!"

No one appeared, no one responded, and Chen Ming was startled to find that he seemed to be all alone.

This is not normal fog!
Visibility was decreasing, to the point where he could only see a meter or so around him. Chen Ming immediately retreated in the direction he had come from. But as he walked, the asphalt road under his feet turned into bluestone slabs. By the time Chen Ming realized this, he had completely lost his way.

Soon, even the bluestone slabs disappeared. No matter which direction you went, you could only see barren land, without vegetation or traces of modern buildings, and at most a few pebbles.

Everything before him was beyond his imagination, but Chen Ming, who had still experienced the great catastrophe, could barely accept it. He walked slowly forward, and after walking for a while, he did not encounter any danger. In fact, he did not even see anything that could move. So he mustered up his courage and began to call out the names of his companions.

After an unknown amount of time, the fog began to thin out slightly, and Chen Ming's voice abruptly stopped. He was shocked to find a majestic mountain hidden in the clouds in front of him. Although he could not see it clearly, only a dark shadow, he could still see the outline of buildings on it.

Most of them are broken walls and ruins, but judging from the slightly more intact ones, they seem to have the appearance of ancient buildings.

Chen Ming quickly pulled out his local map, but couldn't find the corresponding location on it.

"...This is...time travel?"

Chen Ming's mind went almost blank. More than one team had gone missing. The eerie fog covering several city blocks was quickly observed by the Haiqu Shelter and immediately reported to the Taimeng Base. The base then contacted Su Xun, who was in Xinfu directing the rescue operation.

"A secret realm? It's appeared so early?"

Many people had already figured out what it was based on the survival manual, but the news still surprised Su Xun himself. In his previous life, Su Xun had come into contact with the secret realm long after the Great Cataclysm, and the records he had consulted from various places showed that the earliest secret realms would not open until at least a month later, after the concentration of spiritual energy had increased by another order of magnitude.

And now? Only one day has passed, and some secret realms have already begun to 'surface'.

Why did this change occur? Su Xun pondered for a long time. If there was any difference between his past and present lives, it would only be the difference in population size. Could the appearance of the secret realm be related to this?
Lacking a control group, Su Xun could not find the answer to this question, but this conjecture made Su Xun feel a chill. Although there were countless opportunities in the secret realm, the dangers within were also extremely terrifying. In the deepest mist, some beings were not necessarily weaker than the tenth-order calamity.

If the secret realm is eventually fully revealed, and even overlaps with reality, then humanity will likely face an even more dangerous situation.

This forced Su Xun to feel the urgency. Not to mention that the existence of the secret realm itself would disrupt the deployments in various places, even if only some of the third and fourth-order extraordinary beings appeared in the world, they could catch the various shelters off guard.

Moreover, the dangers of reality will not let them off the hook. Although the survivors have temporarily suppressed the zombies thanks to the strength they have gathered during the long preparation, a zombie lord will probably be born soon, at which point the shelter will have to bear even greater pressure.

After much deliberation, Su found Zhai Chao and asked him to gather all the superhumans who were not in key positions.

His original intention was to allow these people to adapt to their superpowers as much as possible during this relatively short period of respite, and to combine them with the existing industrial system in order to gradually develop a powerful productive force centered on superhumans.

However, time waits for no one, and the crisis came too quickly. The extraordinary beings in the secret realm can unleash even greater power, so Su Xun had to first use this power in a more critical area.

But that alone is still not enough. When the secret realms of past lives began to appear on a large scale, many superhumans had already reached the third level, and ordinary people had also seen the hope of advancing to the extraordinary level.

Even those with exceptional talent, such as Xu Huan, Xu Zhao, and Lin Hai, have already reached the threshold of the fifth rank.

Although they have only received news from Haiqu so far, Su Xun speculates that this is already a dangerous signal. The overall trend is likely to accelerate, and it is unlikely that first-level ability users will be able to fight against the dangers in those secret realms on their own.

Fortunately, unlike the previous life where everyone was isolated and helpless and most of the industrial capacity was completely destroyed, many things have been preserved in this life.

Su Xun looked at the several body-enhanced superhumans who were learning how to use rocket launchers from the soldiers, and a smile appeared on his face.

Once a superhuman reaches the fourth rank, they can largely ignore the threat of firearms because their reaction speed is much faster, exceeding the comprehension of ordinary people. Even in face-to-face shooting, it is almost impossible for an ordinary person to hit a superhuman.

At this point, superhumans are more likely to avoid the muzzle of the gun than the bullet itself. Even though many powerful superhumans have the ability to split mountains and rocks or even fly briefly by then, if they were to take a direct hit from an anti-tank discarding sabot round, they probably still wouldn't be able to cry out in pain.

Ordinary people can't hit them, but what if the person using these weapons is also an extraordinary being?

(End of this chapter)