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

The moment the black sedan plunged into the water, the white foam rising from the surface instantly swallowed the car.

The car tumbled several times in that black vortex, carried by the ocean current, before finally crashing into a steel grating hidden beneath the sea surface.

Li Haotian kicked open the deformed car door, grabbed the waterproof bag containing the beacon beads, and searched for a way out in the murky water.

The bead emitted a faint purple light underwater, like a guiding light, leading him into the long-abandoned drainage ditch of the clubhouse.

When he stood in the corridor of the club's security apartment again, he still smelled of the sea that he couldn't wash off.

Su Wan was sitting in a cramped single room with three scorching hot laptops in front of her. The light from the screens made her face turn pale and then flushed.

"That car is totaled. If President Xu sees the surveillance footage, he'll probably be heartbroken." Su Wan didn't even look up, her fingers clattering on the keyboard.

Li Haotian tossed his soaking wet jacket onto the plastic-backed chair, picked up the purple bead, and placed it on the table.

"This thing is shaking." He stared at the bead.

The purple light inside the bead rotated faster than it would in the sea, striking the inner wall and producing a faint buzzing sound.

"The resonance frequency is still rising. Our neighbor... is not simple." Su Wan switched a set of surveillance footage to the main screen.

The noise coming from next door was outrageously loud; it was some kind of heavy metal rock mixed with a woman's screams, making the ceiling crumble.

Li Haotian walked to the wall, reached out and touched the plaster, feeling a chill on his fingertips.

"She's an internet celebrity, her name is Lulu, and she has quite a few fans online." Su Wan curled her lips and pointed at the surveillance camera.

In the video, a woman wearing a sequined halter dress is frantically twisting and turning in front of the phone camera, her face painted white like a freshly painted wall.

"Hey everyone, send me lots of gifts! Lulu's going to give you something really special tonight!" The woman's smile stretched from ear to ear.

Li Haotian frowned.

He saw the woman on the screen suddenly stop what she was doing, blow a kiss to the camera, and then turn off the live stream.

The music in the room stopped abruptly, and the room fell into an eerily quiet silence.

The woman named Lulu rubbed her stiff face, casually tossed her wig onto the table, revealing a head of sparse, wispy hair.

She walked step by step toward the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the corner, which was taller than a person.

The frame was dark gold, with patterns carved on it that looked like octopus tentacles.

"Does she talk to herself in the mirror every day?" Li Haotian asked in a low voice.

Su Wan nodded and zoomed in on a section of the image.

"That's not the point; look at her shadow."

Su Wan dragged the progress bar and pressed the slow motion button.

In the surveillance footage, Lulu raises her left hand to comb her hair, the movement slow and leisurely.

But the figure in the mirror, wearing a sundress, remained motionless, staring intently at the real person outside the mirror.

A second later, the reflection in the mirror slowly raised its right hand, mimicking the motion of combing hair.

"The shadow is delayed." Li Haotian grabbed the bronze dagger on the table.

"It's not just a delay; I just detected a very strange set of bioelectrical signals coming from the mirror." Su Wan swiped her finger and exported a waveform graph.

The waveform completely overlapped with the jumping frequency of the purple bead.

"This mirror is a relay station; the beacon is communicating with it."

Lulu's low muttering to herself could be heard from next door again.

"Aren't you full yet? How much more would you like?"

"Sweetie, I'll find you something new tomorrow."

Li Haotian pulled over a gray work uniform hanging behind the door, which he had taken from the locker room earlier.

He put on his work clothes and pulled a toolbox full of rust from under the bed.

"Do me a favor." He looked at Su Wan.

Su Wanxin understood and pressed the Enter key.

A short circuit sound suddenly came from the next room, followed by a muffled rumble from the water pipes.

"It's leaking, and it's leaking a lot." Su Wan gestured to him that she had fixed it.

Li Haotian slung his toolbox over his shoulder, pushed open the door, and went out.

The lights in the corridor flickered on and off, emitting a hissing sound of leaking electricity.

He stood in front of room 203, raised his hand, and pounded on the door several times.

"Who is it?! Are you trying to kill me?!" Lulu's furious scream came from inside the house.

"Hey plumber, there's a leak all over the floor downstairs. The property management sent me up to take a look," Li Haotian shouted in a gruff voice.

The door creaked open a crack.

A stench of cheap perfume and rotten fish hit me.

Lulu leaned against the door frame, her nightgown strap slipped halfway down, revealing a large expanse of pale skin.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at Li Haotian's face for a long time.

"Why are you so late?" she said coquettishly, reaching out to hook Li Haotian's neck.

"The downstairs is flooded, stop talking nonsense." Li Haotian dodged to the side and crashed into the house.

The house was a mess, like a garbage dump, with takeout boxes and tissues used to wipe foundation scattered all over the floor.

That dark gold full-length mirror was placed opposite the bedside.

The mirror surface shimmered with an unnatural, hazy light, like a layer of oil film that couldn't be peeled off.

"Master, you look quite robust." Lulu kicked the door shut.

She locked the door, turned around, and slowly traced her fingers along Li Haotian's spine.

"The water pipes here aren't broken, it's just that this part hurts, could you take a look?"

She grabbed Li Haotian's hand and pressed it against her heaving chest.

Li Haotian didn't move, but glanced at the mirror out of the corner of his eye.

In the mirror, Lulu's reflection was wide open, revealing a mouthful of fine, sharp teeth, as if she were biting his neck.

Meanwhile, Lulu, outside the mirror, was still there, pretending to sway her hips.

"Your shadow acted well. Remember to practice your synchronization next time," Li Haotian said coldly.

Lulu froze.

She slowly raised her head, and her face, covered in foundation, began to crack like paint on a wall.

"You found out?" Her voice became a polyphonic overlap, like several people speaking at the same time.

"Since you don't want to fix the pipes, then leave them as fertilizer!"

Lulu's hands suddenly lengthened, and black claws sprang from the tips of her fingers, reaching for Li Haotian's chest.

Li Haotian shoved Lulu hard with his left hand, pressing her down on her shoulder.

Using this force, he slid back two meters and slammed his back heavily against the desk.

He reached out and the wrench in the toolbox flew out.

"Bang!"

The wrench smashed into Lulu's face, breaking half of her nose.

But she showed no signs of bleeding; some black fibers were wriggling in the wound.

"A mirror!" came Su Wan's exclamation through the earpiece.

Li Haotian turned to look at the full-length mirror.

The mirror began to shake violently, like a stagnant pool of water that had been disturbed.

A large, dark, shadowy hand emerged from the center of the mirror.

The hand, as big as a washbasin, with its five knuckles twisted at bizarre angles, slammed down on Li Haotian's head.

Li Haotian drew the bronze dagger from his waist with a backhand motion.

He crouched down and rolled forward, dodging the shadowy hand.

The solid wood flooring on the ground was smashed into a pile of sawdust.

"Haotian... save me..."

Lin Mo's voice came from the mirror, mournful yet genuine.

Li Haotian paused for half a second.

Lulu, covered in sharp claws, had already pounced on his back.

The sharp claws pierced through the fabric of Li Haotian's work clothes, leaving three deep, bone-revealing bloody gashes on his shoulder.

"Does it hurt? It won't hurt for long," Lulu hissed in his ear.

She opened her mouth, and her long, forked tongue licked towards Li Haotian's temple.

Li Haotian felt a burning sensation in his blood vessels.

That familiar sense of violence surged up my spine and straight to the top of my head.

"Get out of my way!" he roared.

He slammed his left elbow backward, hitting Lulu in the stomach.

This collision used the power of her bloodline, and Lulu flew towards the corner of the wall like a kite with a broken string.

Ignoring his shoulder injury, Li Haotian stared intently at the mirror.

"You're asking for it if you try to fool me with her voice."

He gripped the dagger tightly and pushed off with his feet.

He shot towards the full-length mirror like an arrow released from a bow.

The shadowy figure in the mirror seemed to sense the threat, pressing its entire large face against the mirror surface and emitting a piercing shriek.

The shrill sound caused the glass cups in the room to shatter.

Li Haotian ignored him and rushed to the mirror, slamming his left palm against the frame.

He slammed the hilt of the dagger downwards with his right hand.

"Splash!"

The dark gold frame shattered, and the gray mirror surface was instantly covered with dense cracks.

The shadowy figure in the mirror emitted a scream that seemed to tear your eardrums apart.

Countless plumes of black smoke billowed out from the cracks in the mirror.

Li Haotian did not stop.

He kicked the shattered mirror.

Large pieces of debris peeled off, revealing the empty wall behind the mirror.

A blood-red magic circle was drawn on the wall.

The dark figure was desperately trying to squeeze into the magic circle.

"Do you think you can escape?" Li Haotian growled.

He drew the dagger horizontally, the blade slicing across his left palm.

Blood seeped out instantly, staining the bronze antique red.

The dagger sensed the host's blood, and the dark patterns on its surface began to light up inch by inch.

A pure and intense golden light burst forth from the blade.

That is a purifying fire specifically designed to subdue these shadow creatures.

Li Haotian stepped into the wreckage of the mirror.

He slashed fiercely at the plume of black smoke with the dagger in his hand.

"Sizzle—"

It felt like a hot knife cutting into lard.

Golden flames spread along the black smoke.

The dark figure writhed wildly in the flames, gradually revealing the outline of a monster covered in eyes.

"These eyeballs again." Li Haotian's eyes were icy.

He changed his slashing technique to a thrusting one, and the dagger precisely pierced the brightest eyeball in the center of the monster.

"burst!"

Golden flames exploded instantly inside the monster's body.

The dark figure was blasted into countless tiny black spots, and before it even hit the ground, it was burned to ashes by the flames.

The pressure in the room vanished instantly.

Lulu, who was slumped in the corner, let out a weak groan.

The strange phenomenon on her body subsided, and she returned to being an ordinary woman with a sallow complexion and a withered appearance.

However, her eyes were unfocused, and she seemed to have lost her soul.

Li Haotian put away the dagger.

He felt the wound on his shoulder burning; it was the power of his bloodline repairing itself.

"Boss, the signal is gone." Su Wan's voice came through the earpiece, sounding tired.

Li Haotian walked up to the woman and looked down at her.

"Where did you get this mirror?" he asked.

Lulu opened her mouth, and saliva dripped down the corner of her mouth.

"At the beach... he said it could make me beautiful... and make me rich..."

"Who?"

Lulu stared blankly out the window.

"A man in a gray robe... he said he was waiting for me in the womb..."

Li Haotian frowned.

It was another man in a gray robe.

He reached out and grabbed Lulu's phone, which she used for live streaming, from the table.

The phone screen was still flashing, displaying a strange live stream link.

The link is called "Homecoming".

He put his phone in his pocket, turned around, and strode out of the smelly room.

The lights in the corridor have been restored to normal.

He returned to his room.

Su Wan was staring at the new changes on the screen, her face looking very grim.

"That purple bead isn't moving anymore," Su Wan said, pointing to the bead on the table.

The swirling light that once filled the bead has now turned into a stagnant pool of water.

"However, another signal broke out to our east."

Su Wan pulled up a satellite cloud image.

A massive cyclone has appeared in the high seas of the East China Sea.

"That gray-robed man is provoking us."

Li Haotian picked up the beads on the table and casually squeezed them.

"The beads are the keys, and the mirror is the road sign."

"Did he destroy the road signs to prevent us from finding our way, or did he want to trap us here?"

He walked to the window and looked at the distant coastline.

A dark cloud is rapidly gathering on the sea surface there.

Li Haotian felt a slight itch in the wound on his left palm.

"Go book a boat," he said with his back to Su Wan.

"The fastest kind."

Su Wan sighed, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Understood, Dazhu Security Guard."

Lulu's heart-wrenching cries came from the next room.

The crying didn't sound like it was from fear.

It's more like a drug that has lost its addictive properties.

Li Haotian gripped the dagger tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Before the plume of black smoke disappeared, he heard the last word "Haotian" for the last time.

That wasn't Lin Mo's voice.

That was the mockery he heard from the abyss, belonging to the Mother.

"Let's go." He pushed open the door.

Su Wan picked up her laptop bag and quickly followed.

The elevator doors in the apartment building slowly closed.

The mirror reflected Li Haotian's face, which was covered in dust and blood.

His shadow flashed across the elevator wall.

For what seemed like an instant, the shadow's eyes also turned pure gold.