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

"Click—"

A sharp crack rang out starkly in the chaotic battlefield. Immediately afterward, a deafening clatter of shattering glass exploded like a chain reaction. The enormous petri dishes, filled with murky liquid, finally succumbed to the piercing screams of the inverted pyramids, their surfaces becoming covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

A thick, green liquid gushed out like a burst dam, accompanied by a nauseating stench, instantly engulfing the metal platform below. From within the liquid, bizarre biological weapons roared, broke free of their restraints, and, dragging their broken or deformed limbs, charged madly towards Li Haotian and his companions.

"They're out! They're all out!" Liu Hu roared, his machine gun spitting out long tongues of fire. Bullets struck the monsters' bone armor, splattering puffs of dark green blood. "Just how many of these monsters are there?!"

Su Wan's tactical flashlight flashed wildly, illuminating this scene of carnage: "The numbers are incalculable, the energy readings are off the charts! That device is charging them!"

Li Haotian gritted his teeth, the dagger in his hand drawing cold arcs in the dim light, pinning a soft creature trying to climb onto the platform to the edge. His breathing was rapid, each expansion of his lungs feeling like inhaling burning coals, but he dared not stop.

Just when everyone was in despair, the suspended inverted pyramid suddenly stopped howling.

A deathly silence instantly enveloped the entire underground space. The once bloodthirsty and ferocious monsters seemed to have been paused, freezing in place. Then, as if they had encountered their natural enemy, they trembled and retreated, lowering their bodies and emitting humble whimpers towards the device.

"What's going on?" Lin Mo stood in the shadows, his silver-white eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze piercing through the swirling dust and locking onto the high platform beneath the inverted pyramid.

There, a figure appeared out of nowhere.

The man wore a large black robe, the hood pulled low, obscuring most of his face except for a section of his pale chin. He stood there quietly, the violent energy fluctuations around him flowing gently like tamed water.

As his footsteps echoed, the heavy "thump, thump" sound seemed to strike everyone's hearts. He slowly raised his gloved hand and gently pressed it into the void.

"Step back."

His voice was hoarse and aged, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority.

These two simple words seemed to contain some ancient, powerful rule. The monsters still struggling on the platform, regardless of size, instantly collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

Cold sweat trickled down Li Haotian's palms as he gripped the dagger. He felt an unprecedented sense of oppression, a feeling that surpassed even any crisis he had faced before. The aura emanating from the black-robed man filled him with an instinctive disgust and fear.

The man in black robes ignored the crawling monsters around him and slowly turned around to face Li Haotian and the others.

"Finally... someone has reached this point." The voice of the man in black robes was rough, like sandpaper being polished, carrying a sense of vicissitude that transcended time. "I have waited for a long time, so long that I have almost forgotten the passage of time."

He raised his hand and slowly grasped the edge of his hood.

"You're curious about who I am?" The man in black robes chuckled softly, the sound echoing eerily in the empty hall. "Or perhaps you're also curious about why your blood flows with a power that even you find unfamiliar?"

Li Haotian's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart skipped a beat. This was his biggest secret, and the mystery that had always troubled him.

The man in the black robe slowly removed his hood.

In that instant, it was as if an invisible bolt of lightning had cleaved Li Haotian's thoughts.

Beneath the hood lay an aged, withered face, like dried tree bark. Deep wrinkles etched the marks of time, and sparse white hair hung loosely. Yet, this very aged face, its contours, its eyebrows, even the curve of its nose, bore a striking resemblance to Li Haotian!

If it weren't for those eyes—what kind of eyes were they? The left eye was a murky gray, like dead ashes; while the right eye was completely black, bottomless, like an abyss leading to hell, without pupils, only endless greed and evil.

It's like seeing yourself a thousand years old, a version of yourself that has fallen into darkness, become corrupt, and is ultimately devoured by evil.

"You..." Li Haotian felt as if something was blocking his throat, staring at the other person in disbelief, "Who are you?"

"I am the gatekeeper of this generation." The man in black robes opened his mouth, revealing a set of broken, blackened teeth, and looked at Li Haotian with a half-smile. "You could also say that I am your ancestor, the source of your bloodline. Descendants of the Li family, we have finally met."

"Ancestors?" Li Haotian felt dizzy. This news was too shocking and challenged his understanding.

"Your family has been sealers for generations." The man in black robes paced slowly, his voice deep. "A thousand years ago, we discovered this door and the power behind the mirror. To protect this world, your ancestors forged a seal with their blood, locking this power underground. Each generation has shouldered a heavy mission, silently guarding this secret."

He paused, his malice intensifying: "But sealing is painful, it's binding. Why should we linger in darkness, unable to control this godlike power? Three hundred years ago, I made a choice. I no longer chose sealing; I chose to embrace."

"So you betrayed the family?" Li Haotian asked through gritted teeth, his anger burning.

"Betrayal? No, this is evolution." The man in black robes spread his arms fanatically. "I opened a corner of the door and let power flow into my body. I gained immortality, the right to control all of this! For this day, I have lived in this underground place for three hundred years, watching generation after generation of gatekeepers die, watching foolish descendants try to repair the masterpiece I created."

He suddenly pointed at Li Haotian: "Who do you think you are? You think your resistance is righteous? A thirst for power is etched in your blood! We are the same kind!"

"Bullshit!" Li Haotian roared, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm not the same kind of monster as you!"

The man in black robes didn't seem annoyed, only smiling faintly: "It doesn't matter. The ritual has begun, and this 'antenna' will soon guide the true god to descend. At that time, the entire world will submit. You will witness with your own eyes everything you cherish turn into dust in the mirror."

After saying that, he turned around abruptly and placed his hands on a black control panel beneath the inverted pyramid.

"Buzz—!"

His movements caused the entire underground space to tremble violently. The inverted pyramid began to spin wildly, and beams of black light shot into the sky, striking the rock formations above.

The once dimly lit underground hall was now as bright as day, but the light was not of hope, but of a deathly, chilling silence.

Li Haotian looked up and saw that the thick layers of rock and concrete above him were beginning to become transparent under the black light. Through the light, he could even see the scene on the ground—a sky full of dark clouds, rolling like splashed ink, with howling winds and lightning.

The underground tremors were transmitted to the surface, and the entire city seemed to be shaking.

"Do you see that?" the man in black robes laughed maniacally. "The sky is sinking, hell is rising! This is the culmination of a thousand years of waiting!"

"Fuck your thousand-year wait!"

Li Haotian abruptly drew the dagger from his waist. The bronze dagger seemed to sense its master's killing intent, emitting a slight hum. He didn't use his gun, because he knew that against this strange power, only the sharpness of a cold weapon and his own will offered a glimmer of hope.

He took a deep breath, his eyes shifting from shock to resolve. That aged, sinister face did not deter him; instead, it strengthened his resolve.

That's what he'll become if he doesn't fight back in the future.

That was the fate he had to sever.

"No matter who you are, no matter what ancestor you are to me, or what gatekeeper you are." Li Haotian took a step forward, deforming the metal plate beneath his feet. The dagger in his hand was pointed directly at the black-robed man high above him, his voice as hard as iron:

"I'm definitely taking this antenna apart today!"

Separated by a raging energy flow, by three hundred years of time, and by the boundary between good and evil, the two completed a gaze that transcended a thousand years at this moment.

War is imminent.