Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1136 - 1129: Celestial Gate

Chapter 1136: Chapter 1129: Celestial Gate

Why can’t humans become gods? I have emphasized the reason before, and now I emphasize it again, due to the weakness of human nature. Because people’s pursuit of desires outweighs their maintenance of order, especially when an individual possesses infinite life and power, their desires will also inflate, completely submerging their rationality.

Regrettably, at that time the fervent masses did not notice this. Everyone was immersed in the joy of eternal life, and no one even questioned the absurdity of this plan.

Back then, Human Gods were subject to strict legal constraints. At that time, they did not yet know that they could not be eradicated and possessed destructive powers.

But in truth, as time elapsed, the first thing to change was not these Human Gods but rather the atmospheric magic that went unnoticed by all.

Is magic finite? It’s like asking if air is finite—a profoundly ignorant and ludicrous question.

However, if one considers the comparison between a planet and the universe, one can clearly feel that even the readily available air is extremely limited. The same is true for magic.

Sadly, the Ancestors living in this world were bound in their souls by the starry sky and were unaware of higher realms. It was only after a clear depletion of magic began to appear that scientists started to realize the severity of the problem.

In the feverish pursuit of eternal life, a small number of scientists continued their exploration into the unknown. In their eyes, curiosity is human nature, and it is worth exchanging a finite life for the unlimited possibilities of the unknown.

While the starry sky remained insurmountable, just as the saying goes, if God closes a door, He will surely open a window.

It was these scientists, daring to challenge the unknown, who after great effort, at last, discovered this window opened by God.

It was during a winter when a young scientist entered the royal palace of St. Felicia City and came before the king.

He took out a bag of gold coins and placed it to his left hand side, then took out a crystal and placed it to his right hand side.

Then, he said to the king, "Great king, please allow me to request that you make a choice. If the king wants wealth, please take the gold. If the king wants eternal life, please take the container. If the king wants hope, please accept my suggestion."

After much contemplation, the king ultimately chose the young scientist’s suggestion, yet at that time no one knew that the future would develop in an irreversible direction.

The young scientist was named Haromino, and his suggestion was to build the Celestial Gate, to connect to other worlds, no longer limiting our gaze to this one world.

Following his suggestion, a colossal Celestial Gate was erected on the outskirts of St. Felicia City, a gate a hundred meters tall and over a kilometer long.

Under the watchful eyes of all, Haromino joined forces with more than ten AI and Human Gods, using magic to open this Celestial Gate.

The gate was opened, its surface shimmering with dazzling ripples. Those scientists filled with yearning for the unknown rushed eagerly into the Celestial Gate.

This exploration was a success. For the first time, Ancestor scientists saw another world through the Celestial Gate, even though it was just a barren one devoid of life.

The opening and exploration of this Celestial Gate were enough to make history, for it ushered in the last glorious era of the Ancestors, the Ant Colony Era.

In the following decades, different Celestial Gates were successively constructed around the world, connecting different worlds, causing it to be drilled full of holes like an anthill.

At that time, eternal life was achieved in some form, and the exploration of the unknown was also made possible because of the appearance of the Celestial Gates; the two long-standing desires of the Ancestors were sufficiently fulfilled.

However, those whom God wishes to destroy, He first makes mad. With breakthroughs in eternal life and exploration, God no longer bestowed his blessings, and the ominously observing Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse finally began to stir.

With the rampant overuse of the source, the world also began to behave unusually, specifically through seasonal shifts: the torrid heat of December in the Northern Hemisphere and the heavy snow of June.

Some people living in the equatorial regions, in order to satisfy their own needs, would use magic to create heavy snowfall in specific areas for cooling purposes. With the rampant abuse of the Source, this had become the norm, so much so that when they ceased their magic, they discovered that the snow at the equator could no longer be reversed.

Back then, the purpose of the Celestial Gate was to explore unknown worlds and find others suitable for colonization. However, as the ecology of our world started reversing itself, everyone fell into a state of panic.

The populace demanded the regulation of the Source’s use, yet the Human Gods revealed their greedy visages, recklessly claiming the Source for their own, completely disregarding the opposition of the people.

The world was getting worse, so the people turned to the Celestial Gate, hoping to escape through it to other worlds, far away from the greedy Human Gods.

In such times, the Celestial Gate lost its original meaning of exploration and became the Ancestors’ only hope.

Thus, more and more Celestial Gates stood erect across the world, large and small, with the unauthorized opening of these gates happening repeatedly, as everyone hoped to find a utopian refuge.

When Haromino, determined to face death if need be, met with the king, he never imagined that the Celestial Gates he invented would be as wildly abused as the immortality technology he detested the most.

On the other side of the Gates, there were not only havens but also hells, and judging by hindsight, hells were more common.

To obsess over something and then to abuse it recklessly was a chronic problem of the Ancestors. Finally, they paid a terrible price for their extremities.

From the other side of the Gates, a variety of powerful creatures from other worlds began to emerge. Though the Ancestors, inheriting the Soul of Titans, bravely repelled these monsters and closed the gates to hell, they too suffered heavy losses.

This continued until the Catastrophe during the Twilight of the Gods, where over one-fifth of the Ancestors died from the attacks of monsters from other worlds. Moreover, what chilled the Ancestors to the bone was that the more they explored other worlds, the clearer they saw the true nature of their own, leading to an increasing sense of despair.

In the nearly two hundred years since the Celestial Gate was first opened, the Ancestors explored countless worlds, including Earth, which was still in its Primordial Era. Yet, after two hundred years, they had not migrated to any of them. Why?

Because of the Source, for these worlds lacked it. The Ancestors could not live in worlds without the Source, no matter how similar the ecosystems were to their own.

Living in a world without the Source was like fish trying to live on land, unimaginable. The few attempts at migration by the Ancestors all ended in failure.

Haromino gradually realized that they, the Ancestors, were a confined race. They were tightly bound to this world, and any attempt to move would immediately be hindered by the chains locked around their ankles.

The stars did not grant them exploration, other worlds did not grant them life; they could only live in this world filled with the Source. If this world were destroyed, they would perish as well.

Upon learning the truth of the world, Haromino killed himself in despair, in a tragic manner.

He lay between the Celestial Gates, then ordered people to close the Gate. His upper body remained forever in the other world, while his lower body stayed in this one that drove him to despair.

With the exploration plan thwarted and the immortality plan riddled with problems, the Ancestors’ two great hopes plummeted, both leading to dead ends. Looking at this utterly ravaged world, everyone felt an overwhelming sense of despair.

People always swing from one extreme to another.

After a brief silence, the desperate Ancestors finally erupted. The Human Gods, in their desire to plunder more Source, began leading their respective followers’ armies against each other. The short-lived Ant Colony Era ended, and the Ancestors entered their last epoch, the mad era of the Twilight of the Gods.

It was the craziest of times—order was completely obliterated, wars raged every day, countless people died daily, and gods fell from the skies.

No one cared anymore about the environmental consequences or the ramifications of the Source’s depletion. Human nature, in all its worst aspects, was fully displayed during this period. Desire drove the Human Gods to lead their followers into battle against one another, vying for the increasingly precious Source.