Wasteland's Only King-Chapter 72 - 71: Waiting
A3 Wasteland Planet.
Hundreds of thousands of miles away from Dawn City.
A colossal city, vast enough to hold over a hundred Dawn Cities, lay quietly, coiled like a giant dragon atop the barren earth.
Suddenly.
Boom—!
Rumble—!
A pillar of fire, over a dozen kilometers in diameter, shot up toward the sky.
The scorching aura instantly swept through the entire city.
Crash——
In that instant.
Tens of millions of citizens within the city fell to their knees all at once.
Sizzle——
Crackling——
The next second.
The crisp sound of shattering erupted in response.
The pillar of flame, soaring from earth to sky, was being frozen inch by inch into ice.
Ice and fire, reflecting each other in that moment.
The cheers from the millions of people in the city grew ever louder.
This is their City Lord, their City Lord strong enough to shield and protect tens of millions!
At this moment.
At the center of that colossal city.
Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, magnificent and splendid like a palace.
A figure opened their eyes atop a throne interwoven with flames and ice crystals.
"It’s his presence..."
"He’s about to descend..."
The figure on the throne did not appear mighty or imposing, but rather somewhat petite.
Raging flames and swirling ice crystals encircled their form.
Amidst ice and fire, faint wisps of black mist also lingered.
"Really?!"
"Is he finally coming..."
Beneath the throne.
Seven figures knelt in neat rows.
There were men and women; all exuded an immensely powerful presence.
If Yin Yao were here, she would be stunned to discover—
All seven emanated the aura belonging exclusively to Tier Eight Evolvers.
Yet at this moment.
Upon hearing those words, "He’s coming," joy and relief bloomed across their faces.
For this moment...
They had waited a full one hundred and fifty years!
One hundred and fifty years ago.
They crossed over from Moore Star, arriving on this Wasteland Planet.
Back then.
They were incredibly weak, struggling to survive.
Of the several billion Moore Star People, more than half perished in a matter of days.
The small number who survived were all captured by various Refuge Cities, forced into labor as refugees or taken as livestock for food.
To the many Refuge City Lords of the Wasteland—that is, the "old players"—these new arrivals or "new players" were the best possible resource.
Moreover,
Over time, the pollution of the Wasteland would erode the cognition of Moore Star People.
Eventually, they’d even forget they came from Moore Star, coming to believe they were the true indigenous people of the Wasteland.
To resist this erosion, there were only two methods—
Either, enter a Level 5 or higher Refuge City.
Or, become a Tier Five or higher Evolver.
Back then.
The Moore Star civilization seemed on the brink of vanishing, just like countless other civilizations and races—consigned to history.
But then—the figure on the throne emerged, disrupting the heavens and earth.
Ice, Fire, Prophecy—three attributes!
In just ten years, they reached Tier Eight!
Tier Eight is already the absolute pinnacle for powerful beings on this planet’s hierarchy.
After all...
Till now, no living person had ever been seen as a Tier Nine Evolver on this planet.
Back then,
This very one on the throne was the one who gathered and sheltered countless surviving Moore Star People in the Wasteland.
Today’s Naiya City came into being because of this.
On the fiftieth year of Moore Star People’s arrival on the Wasteland,
As history repeated, countless Refuge City Lords on this planet once again set off in bloody warring contention.
It’s said...
The ten strongest Refuge Cities could "promote," escaping this prison-like, desolate, and dead Wasteland Planet.
Back then,
Naiya City, with a Tier Eight City Lord and Level 8 ranking, ruled over a thousand smaller Refuge Cities.
But...
The one on the throne chose not to join the war.
Instead—
They voluntarily gave up over a hundred Refuge Cities under their dominion, removing themselves from the top ten rankings.
The Moore Star People were puzzled, but none dared question the City Lord’s decision.
Only a handful, kneeling now before the throne, knew the real reason.
All of this... all of it... was because of a prophecy!
The City Lord’s Prophetic Attribute was utterly otherworldly, able to glimpse fragments of the future.
And in one such vision...
The City Lord saw the true light of Moore Star’s future.
"We must wait for someone."
The City Lord told them.
After this,
Another fifty years passed.
The Wasteland saw new smoke and fire rise.
By then,
The Naiya City Lord had broken through the shackles of Tier Eight, reaching the legendary "Half-Step Tier Nine" level.
The seven Moore Star generals before the throne had all achieved Tier Eight as well.
Looking across the Wasteland, this force, if not the strongest, was definitely a top contender for the top ten.
Yet Naiya City still waited quietly, abstaining from conflict.
"We wait. We wait for his arrival."
This was the word of the Naiya City Lord.
No one knew what the City Lord had glimpsed of the future—what could have compelled...
...them to endure another hundred years of waiting on this prison-like planet, even at the cost of twice giving up "promotion."
And so,
Another fifty years went by.
The original Moore Star People, aside from high-tier Evolvers, had all been replaced by a new generation.
But the figure on the throne still chose to wait.
Until... today!
One hundred and fifty years have passed.
The leader of Moore Star, City Lord of Naiya City, finally gave an answer with absolute certainty.
He is coming!
...
...
Jiangcheng University.
Boys’ dormitory, Room 615.
Yu Jin woke from his deep sleep on the bed.
He grabbed the phone beside his pillow, glancing at the time.
[September 8, 2025]
[16:30]
"I actually slept that long!"
Yu Jin’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
It was just after midnight when he took the crystal last night.
"Maybe it’s because I just hit Tier Seven and then, within a short time, absorbed a bunch of energy to break through to Tier Eight?"
"This sleep is basically for energy absorption."
"The more energy you take in at once, the longer you sleep?"
Yu Jin mused internally.
A moment later.
Yu Jin looked at his system panel.
[Your Tier has increased!]
[You have become a Tier Eight Evolver!]
[Energy surplus, continuing advancement...]
[You have taken a tiny step towards becoming a Tier Nine Evolver!]
[You have comprehended a new Tier Eight ability...]
[You have comprehended a Tier Eight Light Attribute Ability...]
[You have comprehended a Tier Eight Thunder Attribute Ability...]
[You have comprehended a Tier Eight Spatial Attribute Ability...]
[...]
Come to think of it,
Yu Jin still hadn’t tested the attribute abilities he’d unlocked since Tier Seven.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to experiment, but...
He couldn’t even try!
Let alone experiment, Yu Jin couldn’t even see the names of the Tier Seven and Tier Eight abilities.
"High-tier abilities must be too OP, so Mother Blue Star straight up banned me?"
Yu Jin speculated inwardly.
"No big deal, once I get to the Wasteland I should be able to use them—will see what’s what then."
Yu Jin muttered, again looking at his status panel.
[Resource: A legacy left by a certain Tier Eight powerful being]
[Evaluation: Upon activation, you may obtain resources, abilities, attributes, memories, etc. from when the Tier Eight was alive—or, you may get nothing at all.]
[Hint: Current Tier is Eight; may be activated.]
Upon advancing to Tier Eight, the first thing Yu Jin wanted to do was open his loot box.
Last time, that Tier Six loot box was a dud, even spawned a "Widow", but Yu Jin thought it wasn’t exactly a loss.
After all...
When he’s not in Dawn City, it’s not so bad to have someone manage things in his stead.
"Open!"
Yu Jin willed it.
The panel...
Didn’t gleam with golden light as described in novelkisss.
After a few moments of silence,
New lines of text appeared on the panel.
[You have obtained all the attributes of a certain Tier Eight!]
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