The whole nation: You're put to survive on a desolate planet, you'll be running an alien b

After the alloy door closed, the villa seemed to be stuffed into an invisible box. The lingering sluggishness of the gravity array pressed down on the air, making even the lights seem to be a beat behind.

Li Haotian didn't return to the safe house immediately. He stood at the entrance steps, the token in his palm icy cold, his fingertips tracing the fine lines around its edge. The silver cocoon was still trembling slightly through the three layers of security, as if tapping against the wall with an extremely light rhythm.

He listened for two seconds, then looked away: "Su Wan, go to the foot of the mountain. Collect everything left behind by that cult leader, including the fragments of the evil seal. Don't touch them with your hands."

Su Wan entered through the side door, carrying a tool bag, her hair casually tied back, but her eyes showed no sign of relaxation. She nodded: "I'll use worker bees."

Liu Hu was checking the surveillance cables in the corner of the living room when he heard this and looked up: "I'll take some men to guard the perimeter. The area at the foot of the mountain is in complete chaos right now, like a vegetable market. There are probably quite a few people trying to pick up bargains, secretly filming videos, or trying to sneak into the cordon."

Li Haotian tucked the token into his clothes and said calmly, "Don't let them get close. Especially unfamiliar devices, even those in the air."

-

The night wind at the foot of the mountain, where the ruins lay, carried the smell of scorched earth. Outside the temporary cordon, there were still scattered crowds, being driven further away by the Dragon Shield personnel; inside the cordon, the ground was a mess, with rubble, charred timbers, and broken sacrificial artifacts lying haphazardly, like a brutal dismantling.

Su Wan squatted beside a collapsed stone platform and opened her toolbox. She took out a palm-sized metal box, the inside of which was lined with thin foil talismans and an electromagnetic shielding film, and had a fine lock around the edge. Then, she poured out a pinch of grayish-black specks from another small jar—it wasn't gray, but a swarm of miniature worker bees.

The worker bees flapped their wings almost silently, only causing a slight tickle on her fingertips. Su Wan tapped the lid of the box with her knuckles and whispered, "Go."

The next moment, the worker bees dispersed like black mist, skimming the ground and burrowing into every crevice of the wreckage. Their cameras transmitted back to her wristwatch, the images flashing frame by frame: charred strips of cloth, copper plates engraved with evil patterns, crushed bone needles, and a few blood-stained jade beads.

Su Wan's movements were extremely steady. She instructed the worker bees to use their magnetic grippers to pick up the items and return them to the storage box one by one. Before each item entered the box, it had to be scanned in the "purification tank" at the box opening—the talisman foil would light up briefly and then dim.

When the third batch of worker bees was brought back, the biometric reading on Su Wan's watch suddenly jerked.

In the image, a black fragment the size of a fingernail is caught between the claws, its surface resembling charred paint or congealed blood. The fragment's edges have fine lines, like the broken surface of some kind of seal.

Su Wan's breathing became slightly lighter: "Fragment of the Evil Seal."

Instead of placing the worker bees directly into the ordinary isolation tank, she used a different small "secondary sealing box". The inside of the box was mirror-like silver, with a miniature crystal embedded in each of the four corners, and the crystals were engraved with simplified array patterns that she had modified herself.

The moment the worker bee placed the fragment into the box, the silver surface of the box rippled as if struck by a drop of water.

Su Wan frowned and pressed the latch.

*Snap*—The latch is locked.

The next second, the emotional field reading on her wristwatch did not decrease, but instead slowly increased. Even more strangely, the black fragment inside the box bulged slightly as if it were "breathing," and a thinner black film appeared on its surface, as if it were growing flesh.

Su Wan felt a chill run down her spine: "It's... inhaling."

She looked up and around. Inside and outside the police cordon, there were figures moving about, whispers, suppressed sobs, and the occasional clicking of cell phone shutters. The fear among them wasn't concentrated, but rather diffused like fog.

Fear itself is feeding it.

Su Wan immediately stuffed the sealed box into a larger outer box, the inner layer of which was a composite layer of thick lead and talisman foil. When she closed the lid, the emotional field reading inside the box was finally suppressed, but it was still beating slowly, like a heart that refused to die.

"I have to take it back and have Haotian re-grant it the title," she murmured, then sent a text message on her watch.

-

On the other side, Liu Hu's outer security team had set up two perimeter lines. He disliked this "temporary" situation, always feeling that a hand could slip through any crack.

He stood on a steep slope, scanning the forest with night-vision binoculars. The wind blew down the ridge, carrying the scent of damp leaves. Just as he was about to retract the lens, an unnatural bright spot suddenly flashed in his field of vision—not a star, nor a reflection from a flying insect.

The bright spot hung precariously above the treetops.

Liu Hu's pupils contracted: "A drone?"

He lowered his binoculars and gestured for the two team members to come closer: "Look over there, two hundred meters beyond the treeline, hovering at low altitude. It's not the D.H.I.E.L.D. markings."

The team member pulled out a handheld jammer and was about to turn it on when Liu Hu grabbed his wrist: "Wait. Let's see what it's trying to do first."

The drone seemed to be "observing," its camera focused on the wreckage within the cordon, pausing for more than ten seconds before slightly shifting to the side, as if searching for the right angle. What made Liu Hu even more uneasy was its overly restrained movement, like an experienced person avoiding being detected by the naked eye, occasionally using the shadows of trees to conceal itself.

"This isn't just a hobby," Liu Hu gritted his teeth. "Someone's watching us."

He whispered into the communication headset, "Haotian, an unidentified drone has appeared on the outskirts of the mountain, suspected to be conducting reconnaissance. I'll send you the coordinates."

-

Inside the villa, Li Haotian was listening to the movements of the Silver Cocoon in the corridor outside the safe house when he received the message. The notification sound made his gaze turn cold.

"Drone..." he repeated softly, as if savoring a taste, "They came really fast."

He didn't call Dragon Shield, nor did he have Liu Hu use the jammer to chase after them—that would only scare them away and cause a disconnect. Li Haotian walked to the backyard and whistled a short whistle.

A rustling sound came from the grass, and a dark shadow approached along the ground.

Low-level alien dog.

They resemble the rough, sculpted outlines of hunting dogs, with tauter muscles than normal dogs, fine keratin spots on their skin, and cloudy, dark gold eyes that stare at people without emotion, only with their target in mind.

Li Haotian squatted down and placed his palm on one of the skulls: "There are insects in the forest. Bring them back."

A low whimper rolled from the alien dog's throat, like an agreement or excitement. The next second, the three canine figures darted into the woods simultaneously, their movements so fast they seemed to be swallowed by the night.

Li Haotian stood up and dialed Liu Hu: "Don't move the drone. Your men stay in place and keep an eye on its general direction. Don't let it lead you astray."

Liu Hu replied in a deep voice, "Understood."

-

There were no lights in the forest. The alien dogs' sense of smell seemed to be enhanced by some kind of instinct; they not only smelled scents but also followed the "smell of electricity." The drone's signal, the heat from the remote control, and the faint sweat left by humans on the grass all became clues.

Ten minutes later, the first muffled thud came from afar. It wasn't a gunshot, but the sound of someone being tackled to the ground.

Liu Hu and two team members rushed over to the sound. Shining their flashlights, they saw a man in a windbreaker being pinned to the ground by an alien dog, clutching a remote control tightly and cursing under his breath. The man's face was covered in mud, and his forehead was scraped, but his eyes held not only fear but also annoyance at being caught doing something wrong.

"Don't move." Liu Hu pressed the gun against him. "Release the remote control."

The man gritted his teeth and refused to let go. The alien dog's fangs were only a finger's width away from his neck, and its saliva dripped onto his collarbone, burning hot like acid.

Liu Hu didn't waste time with him; he kicked Liu Hu in the wrist, causing the remote control to slip from his hand. His teammates immediately used straps to bind Liu Hu's hands and feet.

"Whose side are you on?" Liu Hu asked.

The man, panting heavily, stubbornly insisted, "Just passing by to shoot some footage... You've illegally closed the mountain—"

Liu Hu sneered: "Passing by with a repeater antenna? Passing by with directional gain? Do you think I'm blind?"

The man's eyes flashed, and he shut up.

Liu Hu pointed at the alien dog: "It understands the word 'bite'."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally spoke: "I... I'm just an outsider, I do things for money. My superiors told me to keep an eye on what you're recycling, especially... the seals."

Liu Hu's heart sank: "What seal?"

The man hesitated for a moment, as if afraid that speaking out would bring disaster: "The Evil Seal. And... the Silver Cocoon."

The coldness in Liu Hu's eyes deepened: "Who told you to keep an eye on him? His name."

The man gritted his teeth: "I can't tell, or my whole family will be—"

"You've got your eye on us," Liu Hu interrupted. "You only have two outcomes: talk or don't. If you don't, I'll send you to D.H.I.E.L.D., and you can bet on how gentle their interrogation methods will be."

The man's face was pale, and his lips trembled, as if he had finally been crushed by fear: "The Nameless Cult...that's what they call it. I really don't know who they are. I was added to the group by the 'middleman.' The group only posts tasks and transfers."

Liu Hu pressed further, "What does the Nameless Cult need the Evil Seal for?"

The man uttered a few words as if reciting a memorized text: "Creating a god...the ritual of creating a god. We need a 'seal' as the key, a 'cocoon' as the shell, and...we need people as the fire."

As soon as the words "deification ceremony" were uttered, the wind in the mountains seemed to grow colder.

Liu Hu didn't ask for more details—these peripheral errand runners wouldn't know much more. He pressed the button on his earpiece: "Haotian, the person has been caught. They've confessed to the 'Nameless Cult' and the 'God-Making Ritual,' and also mentioned the Evil Seal and the Silver Cocoon."

There was a second of silence on the other end of the line before Li Haotian's voice came through, flat as a knife's edge: "Take him back to the villa. Don't let him die, but don't let him have it too easy either."

-

The interrogation room in the villa's basement was a makeshift setup; the walls were covered with soundproofing material, and the lights were blindingly white. The man was pinned to a chair, red marks from the wrist straps, his eyes constantly glancing towards the door, as if waiting for someone to appear to "save" him.

He shuddered when the door opened.

Li Haotian walked in, making no unnecessary movements, and simply placed the sealed box on the table. The lid was tightly closed, yet one could still sense something "moving" inside.

Su Wan stood to one side, her face pale: "The fragments in the box also absorb fear and multiply spontaneously. I added two layers of insulation to suppress it, but it didn't stop."

Upon hearing the words "inhaling fear," the man's eyes widened instantly, as if he had finally realized he was involved in something far more serious than an ordinary crime. His voice shrill, "I didn't know! I really didn't know that thing was alive!"

Li Haotian pulled out a chair and sat down, his gaze fixed on the man's face, devoid of emotion: "You don't need to know what it is. Just tell me everything you know."

He pushed the sealed box on the table forward half an inch, the metallic scraping sound as crisp as a blade cutting through bone: "Nameless Cult, who's in charge? Where are you meeting? When will the god-making ceremony begin?"

The man's lips trembled, and just as he was about to speak, a soft "thump" came from inside the sealed box.

It felt like something tapped against the wall.

His pupils constricted sharply, and his voice cracked: "I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything! The person in the group is only called 'Anonymous,' and their profile picture is completely blank. They said 'Phase Two is coming soon,' and that they're going to light the fire under 'The Dome'... I don't know the location; they only said 'waiting for the key to be returned!'"

"Sky Dome?" Su Wan frowned. "Code name?"

The man nodded frantically: "Code names! They all talk like...like chanting. And there's this line—'The spirit awakens in the shell, the shell is formed in the cocoon.' It gave me goosebumps."

Li Haotian's eyes flickered slightly, and he tapped the table lightly with his fingertips: "Who is the middleman? How do you contact him?"

The man, trembling, gave a screen name, then a disposable phone number, and finally, almost in tears, said, "I really was just a gofer! My job was to deploy the drone to monitor the recycling; if they caught something, I got paid more, if they didn't, I got paid less! I'm never doing this again!"

Liu Hu stood at the door, his eyes cold and hard: "It's too late to quit now."

Li Haotian stood up, walked to the sealed box, and placed his hand on the lid. Even through the metal, he could almost feel the "greed" of the fragment. He whispered, "The key is back in place... Are they waiting for the evil seal fragment to return to a complete form, or for us to take it back to a certain place?"

Su Wan's expression darkened further: "If it can spontaneously multiply in fear, then recycling itself might be 'accumulating' for it."

The interrogation room fell silent for a moment, with only the man's rapid breathing, like a leaky bellows.

Li Haotian looked at Liu Hu: "Lock him up and isolate him. Don't alert them through communication channels yet; use their online names to lure them in. Starting tonight, double the guards around the villa, and cover the airspace as well."

Liu Hu nodded: "Understood."

Li Haotian turned and left the interrogation room. The door to the safe house at the end of the corridor remained tightly closed. Inside, the silver cocoon trembled gently, as if smiling or waiting through the thick alloy.

He gripped the token tightly, his voice so low that only he could hear it: "The Nameless Order... a god-making ritual."

"You're probably planning to start more than one fire."