After dealing with the driver issue, Lin Ye controlled the parasitic organisms to pack the various substances produced over this period into stable bags, all made from the corpses of ruins creatures.

Those spiritual energy users had contributed plenty of spatial items to Lin Ye, and he stored every bag inside them.

As for the production lines, as long as there were enough materials, Lin Ye could create different versions at any time.

"Let's continue."

Lin Ye said to Little Guardian.

Little Guardian nodded, controlling the parasitic organisms in other areas to continue clearing the remaining spiritual energy materials.

Not long after, the spiritual energy materials in three areas were completely cleared. Lin Ye deliberately left one area untouched so the parasitic nodes could withdraw to the central zone.

Each area had a building at its center. Once the spiritual energy materials were cleared, the building would automatically collapse, leaving behind some special materials and a black box.

Inside each black box was a Black Card. Lin Ye had collected eight Black Cards in total, with only the last area left to handle.

Only after most of the parasitic nodes had returned to the central area did Little Guardian control the remaining organisms outside to feed the final batch of spiritual energy materials into the production line set up in that area.

As the last portion of spiritual energy materials was broken down, the building at the area's center began to collapse. Along with it, the skies of all areas shattered simultaneously.

Dense cracks spread across the high heavens. One second later, the sky shattered, and countless spiritual energy materials rained down like a tidal wave crashing into every zone.

At the same time, all portals closed, trapping them inside this region.

Just before the portals shut, a Black Card passed through two gates, flying straight toward Lin Ye, who caught it in his hand.

The principle was the same as delivering bullets—as long as enough spiritual energy nodes were pre-arranged within the Parasitism Network, the Black Card could be sent to Lin Ye after the building collapsed.

After sending out the Black Card, all the remaining parasitic nodes outside vanished quickly.

These spiritual energy materials falling from the sky weren't like the ones confined to the abandoned area—they were a far more dangerous contaminated material. If Lin Ye hadn't deployed the World of Ashes in time and adjusted their descent trajectory, they'd all be dead by now.

Even so, Lin Ye still felt a sense of inadequacy. There was just too much contaminated material up there. Every contact with it affected the World of Ashes to some degree.

Fortunately, the World of Ashes was already a ruined wasteland, close to a state of collapse, so it wasn't too severely impacted.

If the World of Ashes had been a complete world, it would have completely crumbled by now.

But Lin Ye couldn't maintain this state for long. If he kept in contact with this contaminated material, the World of Ashes would definitely have problems.

Moreover, a massive amount of contaminated material was piling up around them. This area was now like a glass cup, with someone pouring water into it, and they could only stay at the bottom, unable to be submerged by the liquid.

Lin Ye looked up at the sky filled with contaminated material. Once again, he sensed that balance between collapse and stability. The falling contaminated material represented collapse, while the ground beneath their feet represented stability.

"So that's where you're hiding."

Through that sense of balance, Lin Ye discovered a particularly stable safe space beneath the ground. The master of this place was hiding there, watching them get drowned by the tide.

Lin Ye could guess how that person felt right now—because when it rained, he also liked staying in a warm room, thinking about the passersby getting soaked outside, which gave him a comfortable sense of peace.

But he didn't like being one of those passersby outside.

Lin Ye took out the Cross Scepter and the Cross Scripture. He intended to use the stability underground to transform the surrounding collapse and contamination.

When the sky shattered, all those drivers thought they were dead for sure. But the World of Ashes appeared, temporarily saving them from the threat of death.

Yet nothing was over. The contaminated material in the sky seemed endless, and the piles accumulating on the ground were spreading toward them.

The drivers didn't give up struggling. They drove their trucks to the perimeter, blocking the contaminated material. One truck after another formed layer upon layer of barriers, holding the contamination at bay.

But these buffers could only delay the contamination's approach, not solve the problem entirely.

Just then, the ground trembled. The earth beneath their feet began to rise, and a platform lifted them up, carrying them away from the ground.

Lin Ye couldn't destroy the structurally stable ground, but he could follow that thread of balance between stability and collapse, using the cross rule to shift the concept of stability.

Now the stable ground lifted them upward, pushing away the collapsing contamination until they were outside the area.

"Holy shit!"

One driver standing near Lin Ye let out a cry of surprise, and the others stared around in shock as well.

High above, tens of thousands of meters in the sky, they finally saw the full picture.

The platform was surrounded by countless mountains of contaminated material, piled up like enormous peaks. The abandoned areas were located tens of thousands of meters beneath these garbage mountains.

"Damn, there's this much?"

Looking at the contaminated zone stretching beyond his perception, Lin Ye could even feel his own insignificance.

If those areas below were really meant to process this contamination, then he understood why they had been abandoned.

Even with the Parasitism Network, he couldn't possibly handle all this contaminated material—there was simply too much.

Little Guardian tugged at Lin Ye's sleeve and shook her head vigorously.

"I know. I'm not going to make you clean this place."

Lin Ye was good at repetitive work, but that didn't mean he could repeat it indefinitely.

After a while, the platform began to descend. Relying on the ground's stability, Lin Ye created a stable space around them, preventing the contaminated material from getting close.

The platform descended quickly. Before long, they were back inside the abandoned area. After they passed through, the sky and ground began to restore themselves. The contaminated material was moved somewhere else by some force, revealing the emergency stairwells.

Lin Ye was very familiar with this kind of power, like time flowing backward. It had a similar style to the system.

But what concerned him more was that the ground was returning to normal.

The master of this place was hidden beneath the earth—the most stable spot in the entire region. And this place was very likely a system facility. If the ground fully recovered, even Lin Ye would find it hard to reach that person.

So, before the ground was completely restored, Lin Ye used his Special Ability.

He wasn't sure if it would work, but it was better than doing nothing at all.