Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

Lin Feng's command, like cold raindrops, instantly extinguished the fervor and amazement that had ignited within the command center due to the discovery of the subterranean continent. The staff immediately snapped out of their shock, their fingers flying across the control panel, sending commands such as establishing an outpost, prohibiting contact, and imposing maximum encryption through the remaining quantum channels to all the exploration robots operating below.

However, just as the command was issued, and before everyone had fully recovered from the shock of the subterranean oasis—

A sudden change has occurred!

On the large screen, several real-time images from different probe robots almost simultaneously shook and distorted violently, then were filled with blinding glare, and then... the signal was cut off, and the screen turned into a dead silence of static!

"Report! Submariner-3 and 9, Prospector-12 and 15 have lost signal!"

"Severe interference has occurred in Sentinel-5 area network!"

"Abnormal energy reading! High-energy directional energy beam burst detected!"

The piercing alarm sounded almost simultaneously with the report! The atmosphere in the command center instantly shifted from shock to high tension!

"Retrieve the footage from all remaining units! Immediately!" Lin Feng's voice was resolute, without the slightest panic, yet carrying a sense of impending doom.

"Yes!" The technician's forehead was beaded with sweat, his fingers almost dancing across the control panel. The surviving probe robot's camera quickly adjusted its angle, transmitting the captured images back simultaneously.

The remaining images pieced together a chilling scene:

Beneath that dark red sky, a dozen dazzling, straight beams of light, like the gaze of death, shot out from a certain direction deep within the continent! Those beams precisely struck several probe robots that were establishing observation points or conducting scans on the periphery!

The struck Submariner was like butter pierced by a hot knife; its tough alloy shell melted and vaporized instantly, its intricate internal structure exploding into a brief but devastating fireball before being engulfed by the surrounding viscous, high-temperature fluid. The Prospector, on the other hand, had its limbs severed or its core pierced by the beam, losing power and tumbling into the energy river or lava fissure below.

The attack came too fast, too suddenly, and too precisely! It completely exceeded our expectations of the "primitive subterranean creatures"!

"Analyze the source of the attack! Zoom in!" Lin Feng shouted in a deep voice.

The camera quickly zooms in and tracks the scene. Through the lingering afterglow of energy and drifting metallic vapor, the blurry image gradually becomes clear.

The attackers... have appeared!

They weren't the grotesque monsters from the subterranean world we imagined, but rather a group of... "people"?

About a dozen people stood scattered on a protruding, metallic-looking black rock platform. Their builds resembled those of surface humans, clad in uniquely designed, streamlined full-body armor with a dark silver and eerie blue hue. The armor seemed to fit their bodies perfectly, with faint energy pathways flowing at the joints, clearly not merely decorative. They wielded long, slender weapons resembling spears or scepters, the tips of which were inlaid with crystals emitting a faint glow—the very crystals from which the deadly laser beam had been fired!

What is most shocking is their faces—through the partially covered visors or helmets, it is clear that they are faces no different from those of humans on the surface! Only their skin color is generally a healthy bronze or light gold, and their hair color is even more varied: brilliant silver, deep indigo, fiery red, and even emerald green... These hair colors stand out particularly against their dark armor.

"Humans? There are humans inside the Earth's core?!" a young researcher exclaimed, his voice filled with a sense of absurdity.

"No...not exactly the same! Look at their features and equipment! This is absolutely no human civilization we know of!" Another observer stared intently at the screen. "Their weapons! Energy weapons! And the technological level of that armor..."

Just as everyone was stunned into silence by the existence of these subterranean humans, an old expert who had studied ancient civilizations suddenly pushed up his glasses, leaned forward, and almost pressed his face against the screen. He stared intently at a small but clear relief symbol on the chest armor, shoulder armor, or weapon hilts of the armor pieces—a complex geometric pattern with a pyramid-shaped structure at the center, surrounded by wave and lightning patterns.

"This symbol... I recognize it!" The old expert's voice trembled with excitement. "I've seen similar patterns when I was researching lost civilizations! This is... the emblem of Atlantis! The legendary, highly advanced civilization that sank into the sea—Atlantis!"

"Atlantis?!"

The name struck like a thunderbolt in the command center!

"That legendary ancient kingdom? The one Plato described?"

"Wasn't it said to have sunk in the Atlantic Ocean? How did it end up here?!"

"Could it be... that Atlantis wasn't destroyed back then, but rather the entire continent... sank into the Earth's core? And was protected by this energy barrier?"

"This is insane! But if it's not Atlantis, how do you explain these people with advanced energy weapons, who look remarkably like humans, yet live deep within the Earth's core?"

Speculation, exclamations, and doubts mingled together. The scene before them had completely transcended the scope of geological discovery or energy exploration, evolving into an earth-shattering encounter that could potentially overturn the history of human civilization!

On the screen, the Atlanteans, after destroying the approaching probe robots, did not continue attacking the surviving units further away. They appeared to be exchanging brief messages, with several raising their weapons and warily scanning their surroundings. Their movements were coordinated and disciplined, clearly those of well-trained combatants or patrols.

Lin Feng's cold gaze swept over every detail on the screen. The enemy's aggressiveness, organization, and the level of technology they displayed—at least their energy weapons and protective armor far surpassing those of contemporary conventional armies on the surface—all clearly conveyed one message: this inner world was not a wild, undeveloped wasteland. A highly intelligent civilization existed here, possessing advanced technology and harboring a high degree of vigilance, even hostility, towards outsiders!

"Order all surviving detection units to immediately withdraw to the vicinity of the Tongtianjing exit and enter concealed silence mode. Cease all active scanning and signal transmissions." Lin Feng's voice broke the noise, chillingly calm. "All departure plans for the Xirang ship are postponed indefinitely. Abyss outpost base, immediately enter Level 1 combat readiness status. Upgrade the active defense level of the Tongtianjing exit area."

"Furthermore," he said, turning to the intelligence analysis and communications department, "use all means to try and crack their possible communication signals. At the same time, implement the highest level of encryption and physical isolation for our communications to prevent reverse tracking or intrusion. Speculations about Atlantis are classified as top secret, known only to core personnel in this command center, and strictly prohibited from being leaked."

A series of commands were issued clearly and swiftly. Lin Feng's mind was racing. The energy plan had been forced to a standstill, and an unexpected, potentially extremely powerful neighbor had suddenly appeared, instantly making the situation complex and dangerous.

Are they friend or foe? What level of civilization have they reached? How do they survive and reproduce in the Earth's core? Are they aware of the surface world? Was the attack just now an overreaction to a routine patrol, or a clear warning to expel them?

Countless questions arose in my mind. But one thing was certain: China's exploration of the Earth's core instantly leaped from simple resource development to the level of civilizational contact and potential conflict.

"Heart of Kunlun" is no longer just an engineering base; it has become the front line where two worlds, two civilizations that may share the same origin but have been separated for thousands of years, made their first contact.

Inside the command center, everyone felt an immense pressure. On the screens, the warriors clad in Atlantean armor remained on guard on the rocky platform. And over three thousand kilometers above them, humanity's eyes watched everything through the surviving robots.