Doomsday Pillars

The fight against critters, bighorn sheep, and mutated mountain lions had twelve casualties and injured dozens of others, five of whom were seriously injured, which, if not immediately treated, could endanger their lives. Captain Marcus was one of them.

The distance from the battlefield to the pillar was only around 10 kilometers. Elizabeth left a part of her army to stand by and get ready to transport the remains of this high-level mutated beast. Others immediately took those who were injured to the Doomsday Pillar.

"Why are we bringing the injured there?"

"You'll see," replied James. In fact, James had never seen it himself, but he believed the information provided by Alex previously.

Ten minutes later, they finally arrived at their destination.

This was the first time that President McCord had come and seen this foreign object that descended to this Earth. The towering foreign building was like the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world..

The building itself was clearly out of this world in appearance and material form. Not to mention the shiny symbols towering all over the outer walls.

When he got there, President McCord was surprised to see that the surrounding of the pillar was filled with dozens of unit structures that were shaped like tents but looked very foreign. The octagonal tent was white made of a soft material akin to fabric, but it was very tough.

"These are folding tents that can be obtained from the pillars. They have several types, sizes, and of course, different prices," James explained.

"There are so many of them?"

"Yes, I'm actually also quite curious. It was not this crowded when I left a few weeks ago."

Zee, who was in the group, explained that since the news that American troops had taken control of the Doomsday Pillar, numerous people started coming to this place one after another.

President McCord wanted to know more about this issue, but right now, his top priority was the issue of the wounded soldiers, as well as also entering the Doomsday Pillar.

When they entered the main hall, the president and his entourage were dumbfounded again. Even though he had received the previous intel reports and images, he still felt amazed at the form and material that previously could only be seen in Hollywood films.

Currently, in the center of the main room, there were four cubes, which were the control panels for access to the facilities of the pillar.

"There are four? According to reports, weren't there supposed to only be three stone panels?"

Those three were the main panel for missions and information, the shop panel for entering the room to purchase equipment with spirit stones, and the training panel to access knowledge and realm upgrades.

"This fourth panel is?"

"Well, I myself have only heard about this from Alex. Have you tried it, Zee?" asked James.

"I have... You can go ahead and try it."

James approached the panel and started to touch it. Again, a light flashed, and a batch of information entered his mind.

[Recovery Room]

[Enter?]

Alex had given this information to James before, and his information was indeed right. After completing the 10th floor, another facility would be opened by the pillar.

James first accessed the main panel and gave bracelets to all of the group members who entered this hall. Then they went together.

[Yes, enter.]

James and the others entered a circular room with a stone panel in the center, and arranged in a circular manner following the room's walls were a hundred rooms shaped akin to storage pods.

Each pod was standing and was measured approximately two meters wide and four meters tall. Some of these pods appear to be activated, but James couldn't see anything behind the pod's transparent surface.

"That's a pod that's being used..." Zee informed.

James tried to access the center stone panel and looked at the information.

[Access the recovery pod.]

[Open pod 013.]

One of the pods suddenly lit up and opened. The interior of the pod felt akin to a sponge.

President McCord immediately ordered Captain Marcus to be put in the open pod, and once he leaned back, Captain Marcus' body seemed to be immersed in a thick liquid. Then, the pod started to slowly close.

More information came out of that panel.

[Marcus]

[Male - 40 years old]

[Mortal realm level 30 - Peak stage]

[Body Condition - Critical]

[Estimated recovery time - 14 hours]

[18 spirit stones]

18 spirit stones for human life seems cheap enough. President McCord immediately glanced at Richard and Richard immediately gave the stones.

The same was done to four other soldiers who were dying, each of whom needed around 10-20 spirit stones for their recovery. As for those with minor injuries, their Mortal Realm bodies were able to heal themselves immediately with sufficient rest. Of course, if they had upgraded their realm to Earth Realm, then their body's individual recovery rate would be significantly faster.

"A hundred healing pods, can these pods cure diseases? Cancer? Stroke?"

"They seem to be able to, but they can't regrow lost body parts."

"According to Alex, we can get better recovery facilities on the higher floors," explained James.

President McCord was both in wonder and amazement at this technology. At this moment, it seemed as though if someone had enough spirit stones, they could do anything.

"You've talked about Alex several times, when do you think I can finally meet him...?"

Not knowing what to say, James could only stay silent. Alex only told him that he would spend a year in Australia, but who knows what his next plan was.

"Zee, who's being treated in this other pod? Is he one of our soldiers?"

"Apparently not, he's one of the other fighters..."

Zee explained that since the arrival of numerous other guests at the Doomsday Pillar, the conditions had become more and more difficult to manage. Zee and the others had planned to wait for James to arrive with the artifact before they started climbing the pillar stairs, but these other fighters were the ones who forced themselves to open the door and start this floor's challenge. So as to prevent more casualties, the members of the special forces decided to help out.

After making sure that the severely injured fighters had been taken care of, President McCord began inspecting the other facilities of the Doomsday Pillar; the store and training room. The current conditions in the Doomsday Pillar's rooms were not only filled with soldiers, but also ordinary people.

James then began explaining about the main panel, especially about the countdown, which made them all worry.

[31,788,160] [31,788,159] [31,788,158]

"James, what will happen when this number touches 0?"

"Nothing good, President."

James told the general outline of the information he received from Alex. When this number touches 0, the next stage of the apocalypse will begin.

"The first tribulation is the word he said."

President McCord found it difficult to accept this information, but whatever was happening at that moment was proof itself. He didn't want to be as helpless as when he was fighting the mountain lions over and over again once the tribulation began.

James, what about this?

President McCord accessed the panel and a batch of information entered his mind.

[Access to the first hall facility is open.]

[Access to the first-floor's stairs is open.]

[The first challenge has been won.]

[The fighter with the best score:] 

[Winter - B-rank.]

[The first challenge is ongoing.]

[You've never taken the first challenge.]

[Are you worthy?]

[Enter]

James immediately interrupted.

"Stop! Don't agree to enter..."

"James, I don't understand what the meaning of this is."

James explained that the first challenge was like a tutorial. If the challenge had been won, then the pillar facilities could be used. However, this challenge could be repeated as a training site or a chance to try their luck to get the rewards. There had been hundreds of people who tried it, but until now, no one had been able to get a rank reward value higher than Winter.

"If you look at the current challenge in progress, it means that there are people who are taking part in this challenge. It doesn't matter if they succeed or fail, they'll be sent back in seven days. If you answer yes to that question, then you'll be stuck there until the mission is completed or until seven days have passed."

James also explained that this challenge was suitable for beginners to train in because if they were to be injured or if they were to die in this challenge, they would be sent back as though nothing happened, but it would be different from fighting to complete the first floor onwards.

This time, it was James who asked Zee.

"Zee, tell me, the ten floors that you guys completed, was it difficult?"

"The first five floors weren't that difficult, but it became quite more difficult after that... The 10th floor that we just completed yesterday was the most difficult one.A few people died, but they were all from their side..."

"Their side? Who are they?" asked President McCord.

Just as President McCord asked, a crowd of people approached them.

"Its them"