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

As the half-collapsed opening behind them was completely blocked by rubble, the sounds of torrential rain, thunder, and the suffocating sense of oppression outside came to an abrupt halt.

Instead, there was a deathly silence that made your ears ring.

Dust swirled in the beams of several powerful flashlights. Li Haotian wiped the mud off his face, panting heavily, his chest heaving. He turned around, the beam of his tactical flashlight slicing through the darkness. When everyone saw what was before them, they were stunned.

This was not the gloomy, damp, moss-covered ancient tomb passage they had imagined, nor was it a crudely excavated mine tunnel.

Before them lay a wide passageway, large enough for two trucks to pass side by side. The sides of the passageway weren't made of soil or rock, but of a black metallic material that gleamed with a cold, eerie light, like some kind of high-strength alloy. Its surface was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the slightly disheveled figures of the group. However, these futuristic-looking metal walls were covered with a dense array of ancient runes.

These runes weren't carved on; rather, they seemed to be imprinted directly onto the metal by some force. They possessed a dark red hue, like blood that had congealed for millennia. Under the light, these lines appeared to writhe slightly, flowing slowly across the metal surface like living blood vessels.

"What...what the hell is this?" Liu Hu's eyes widened, his knuckles white as he gripped the heavy machine gun tightly. He swallowed hard, his voice echoing in the empty passageway. "Is this an alien base, or some dynasty's imperial tomb?"

This sense of disorientation, transcending time and space, sends a chill down one's spine. Ancient mysticism is forcibly fused with cold, industrial metal, exuding a sacrilegious and eerie aura.

"Don't touch the walls," Li Haotian warned in a low voice, his gaze sweeping around like a hawk's. "Everything here is illogical. Su Wan, check the air composition."

Su Wan pulled a portable gas detector from her backpack, her fingers flying across the buttons. A few seconds later, her brow furrowed, and she looked at the fluctuating data on the screen, her face turning pale.

"The oxygen content is slightly lower than at the surface, but still within a safe range." Su Wan's voice trembled slightly. "However... there are unknown neurotoxin particles in the air. The concentration is very low, currently below the critical value, and has extremely strong hallucinogenic properties."

"Hallucinations?" Lin Mo stood at the back of the line, his silvery-white pupils appearing particularly eerie in the darkness. He tilted his head slightly, his nostrils twitching as if savoring the scent in the air. "It smells like... rotten lilies."

Only then did everyone notice the extremely faint, exotic fragrance that permeated the passageway. The scent wasn't pungent; instead, it had a sweet, alluring quality, like a bouquet of flowers displayed at some high-class funeral, mixed with the smell of stale preservatives.

"Put on your gas masks and proceed at full speed." Li Haotian decisively ordered, tearing off his tactical vest and putting on his gas mask. His deep voice came through the filter, "Every second we stay in this place increases the danger."

The team set off again.

The sound of footsteps echoed crisply on the metal floor, amplified infinitely in the narrow space, as if countless unseen people were following behind them, mimicking their steps.

The tunnel wasn't straight; instead, it presented a dizzying spiral downward structure. As you went deeper, the low-frequency hum became clearer and clearer. It was no longer just a sound you could hear, but a vibration that acted directly on your skull, making your heart race involuntarily.

"Su Wan, what's wrong?"

Liu Hu, who was walking in front, suddenly noticed that the footsteps behind him were a bit disordered. He turned around and saw that Su Wan had slowed down. She was not wearing a gas mask, but staring blankly at the metal wall on her left. The detector in her hand slipped and fell to the ground with a "thud".

"Su Wan!" Li Haotian turned around abruptly and rushed to her side.

Su Wan's eyes had lost focus, her pupils dilated, and an extremely eerie, childlike, innocent smile appeared on her face. She slowly reached out, her fingertips lightly touching the dark red runes, murmuring to herself, "Mom...is that you? What are you doing here..."

Li Haotian followed her gaze and saw that the cold metal wall was empty except for the twisted and writhing blood-red runes.

"No...don't go..." Su Wan suddenly became anxious. She started clinging to the wall and rushing forward, as if chasing something unseen. "Dad, I don't want to go to boarding school...I want to go home...I want to eat your braised pork..."

In Su Wan's hallucination, the eerie metal tunnel seemed to transform into a sunlit path home. At the end of that light, her parents, who had died in a car accident five years prior, stood there, waving lovingly at her. It was the place she longed for most, the place she cherished most, and the place that haunted her most painful nightmare.

"Su Wan! Stop! That's a wall!" Liu Hu shouted, trying to reach out and pull her.

But Su Wan reacted with astonishing speed. She shoved Liu Hu away with incredible force, lunging at the wall like a madwoman. In her eyes, it wasn't a hard alloy at all, but a door to a warm home.

Just as Su Wan's head was about to hit the metal wall covered with runes, a cold glint flashed in Li Haotian's eyes. Without hesitation, he leaped up and intercepted Su Wan in mid-air.

"Hmm!"

Su Wan struggled desperately, her nails digging into Li Haotian's tactical vest with a screeching sound, crying out, "Let me go! I need my dad! He's calling me! He's over there!"

"Your father isn't here!" Li Haotian shoved Su Wan to the ground, pulled a dark red syringe from his first-aid kit, and plunged it into her carotid artery without hesitation.

As the medicine was injected, Su Wan's body convulsed violently, then collapsed limply to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The confusion in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by endless fear.

"Huff...huff..." Su Wan gasped for breath, her clothes instantly soaked with cold sweat. She looked at the metal wall so close to her, the runes on it seemed to have turned into hideous ghost faces, the warm illusion she had just felt collapsed in an instant, leaving only the cold reality.

"I...I saw them..." Su Wan said, trembling, tears welling up in her eyes, "It felt so real...it was the way home..."

Li Haotian helped Su Wan up, his gaze sweeping sternly over everyone. Liu Hu and Xiao Hei were both restless; Xiao Hei, its back arched, let out low growls and waved its claws at the void, clearly affected to some extent. Even Lin Mo, who had been indifferent, now wore a look of confusion, as if he had seen something only he could understand.

Li Haotian snatched the gas mask that had fallen to the ground and slammed it hard against Su Wan's face. Then he turned around, his voice as cold and hard as iron, echoing in the deathly silent corridor:

"Listen! Everything here is an illusion! Don't believe your eyes, don't believe your ears, and don't even believe your memory!"

He paused, then slammed the butt of his gun heavily onto the metal floor with a loud clang, forcibly pulling everyone's thoughts back to reality.

"The designer of this place is a master of psychological manipulation. These runes, this gas, this humming sound are all designed to draw out our deepest fears and desires. Whatever you want to see, it will show you."

Li Haotian's bloodshot eyes were fixed on the depths of the tunnel, which was dark and gaping like a giant, open mouth.

"If you want to see your dead loved ones, then keep going, keep hitting your head against the wall, keep jumping into the abyss. But if you want to go back alive, lock your sanity in your head! We're here to hunt monsters, not to be sacrifices!"

Su Wan gripped Li Haotian's arm tightly, nodded, and forcefully wiped away her tears.

"Liu Hu, cover the rear, keep a close eye on the back of the heads of the people in front. If anyone goes crazy, just knock them out!" Li Haotian raised his gun again. "Lin Mo, use your 'eyes' to see where you're going, not your naked eyes."

"Understood." Lin Mo's voice returned to calm, his silver-white eyes gleaming in the darkness, as if they could pierce through the layers of mist.

The team adjusted again, this time each person tightened their grip on the tactical straps of the teammate in front, using the tangible feel to counteract the illusory visuals.

"Walk."

At Li Haotian's command, the group, like a team of silent ghosts, once again stepped into this maze-like passageway.

The runes on the walls seemed to come alive under the light, silently watching the intruders. The sweet fragrance in the air remained strong, but in the face of Li Haotian's icy will, the hallucinatory mist ultimately failed to stop their advance.

But no one knows whether what awaits them at the end of this seemingly abyss-like passage is an exit to salvation or an even more hopeless hell.