When the game shut down, I took my skills with me.

Chapter 67: Beneath the Deep Sea, a "Welcome" from the Past

The flagship "Kunlun" and its combat command center.

Dead silence.

On the enormous main screen, the statue of the evil god, perched ten thousand meters deep in the ocean, resembled a colossal beast from ancient times, its invisible gaze piercing through the screen and staring at everyone present.

The architecture is beyond words, the city lines defy all common sense of human geometry, and the statue exudes eternal malice and chaos.

All of this was like a cold hammer, slamming hard into the solid worldview of the most elite warriors of D.H.I.E.L.D.

"Is this... an SS-level mission?" a young intelligence analyst muttered to himself in a dry voice.

The color had drained from his face, leaving only a pallor caused by extreme shock.

Qin Shiyue didn't speak. He just stared intently at the screen, his hands behind his back, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Are you afraid?

No, it's excitement.

An extreme excitement mixed with awe and fervor.

Myths beyond mortal comprehension, forbidden zones untouched by life—this is the true testing ground prepared for them by the Master! Only by conquering such beings can humanity be worthy of gazing upon the higher reaches of the stars!

"Striver," Qin Shiyue's voice was as steady as a mountain, clearly transmitted through the quantum communication channel to the deep-sea submersible 10,000 meters below, "Report your situation."

"Report to Command Center — Striver — Arrived at mission coordinates."

The driver's voice trembled noticeably, but he still forced himself to follow the operating procedures with an iron will.

Inside the submersible, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

The six members of the "Dragon Fang" special operations team, along with an elf advisor from the Moon Whisper Clan, were all crammed into this small space. They were the elite force of China, each a veteran of countless battles and possessing unwavering will.

But at this moment, looking through that small observation window made of special crystals at the distorted, dark city outside, faintly visible under the searchlights, everyone felt a chill rising from the depths of their souls.

"The mental pollution index—is rising steadily!" The team member responsible for environmental monitoring, watching the constantly fluctuating red numbers on the instrument, broke out in a cold sweat. "The negative energy field here is too strong! Our shield is being eroded!"

"We can't stay here any longer," Captain Long Yi said in a deep voice, his gaze sweeping over each team member. "Find the mission objective, 'The First Ray of Dawn in the Sunken City,' and then evacuate immediately!"

"clear!"

However, at that moment, a strange voice, belonging to no one, rang out in the cramped cabin.

"Ph　nglui mglw　nafh Cthulhu R　lyeh wgah　nagl fhtagn————

It was a kind of syllable that could not be imitated by the human vocal cords, full of a sticky and blasphemous quality.

Everyone's expression changed drastically, and they turned around abruptly.

The team member in charge of sonar detection, Xiao Liu, had his eyes rolled back, was foaming at the mouth, and was convulsing violently. Meanwhile, those incomprehensible, seemingly other-dimensional, garbled words kept escaping from his throat.

"He's been mentally corrupted!" exclaimed Lia, the team's elven advisor. A soft green light shone from her hand as she pressed it against Xiao Liu's forehead. "His mental defenses have been breached! Something—is speaking inside his head!"

"Damn it!" Captain Long Yi made a snap decision, "Inject him with a sedative! Force him into a dormant state!"

—Mental pollution is one of the most terrifying enemies in deep-sea exploration. Once corrupted, it can cause madness at best, and at worst, turn one into a source of pollution from within.

However, it was too late.

The moment that blasphemous syllable was uttered from Xiao Liu's mouth, the entire desolate ancient city of R'lyeh seemed to have a switch flipped.

A deep, resonant sound, as if from the depths of the earth, pierced through the alloy shell of the submersible and resounded directly in everyone's minds.

The searchlights on the "Striver" began to flash wildly, and the buzzing sound of electricity was incessant.

"Warning! Severe energy fluctuations detected!"

"The source—the source is that statue!"

"Buzz"

Inside the command center and the submersible, everyone's gaze was fixed in horror on the enormous statue of the evil god.

In the flickering light of the searchlight, they saw the statue carved from a single block of dark green rock; its face, covered in tentacles, had countless tightly closed eyes, and it was slowly—

Open your eyes!

It was not the eye of a living being, but a vortex of pure, chaotic energy radiating a ghostly green light!

Each vortex reflects the birth and destruction of the universe, the burning and death of stars.

With just a glance, two team members let out a painful groan, and bright red blood seeped from their seven orifices.

"Don't look into its eyes!" the elf advisor, Lia, screamed. She clasped her hands together, and a hazy moonlight barrier enveloped the entire cockpit, temporarily shielding it from the crazed gaze.

But the ancient being that had been awakened clearly had no intention of giving these tiny insects any chance to breathe.

"Crunch—Squeak—Crunch—"

A tooth-grinding, rock-grinding sound rang out.

The enormous stone statue slowly rose from its throne!

Its massive body stirred up ocean currents thousands of meters deep, creating terrifying undercurrents powerful enough to tear apart steel. The "Striver" was like a small boat in a raging storm, rocking violently, on the verge of disintegrating at any moment.

"Hold on! Overload all engines! Maintain attitude!" the driver roared, veins bulging on his arms as he desperately tried to control the malfunctioning control lever.

However, something even more terrifying happened.

The awakened stone statue slowly raised one of its arms.

—It was an arm made entirely of tangled, twisted tentacles.

It was just a casual wave.

"boom--!"

There was no sound, but to everyone's perception, it was as if they heard a deafening roar like the collapse of the universe.

A shockwave, visible to the naked eye and composed of pure malice and chaotic laws, hurtled toward the "Striver" at unimaginable speed.

Wherever the shockwave passed, the seawater was instantly pushed aside, creating a brief vacuum channel that even distorted light.

Even the remains of organisms that had been floating in the water for countless millennia were broken down into the most primitive data particles the moment they came into contact with the shockwave.

"Highest alert! Rule-based attack detected!"

"Energy shield at 120% power!"

"Avoid it! Avoid it immediately!"

The piercing alarm sounded throughout every corner of the "Striver" and also echoed in the command center of the "Kunlun" far above the sea.

Qin Shiyue's pupils suddenly contracted.

On the screen, the pitch-black shockwave, seemingly capable of swallowing everything, contrasted sharply with the tiny size of the "Striver."

The energy shields, gleaming with a blue light, are about to collide.

He didn't even have time to give any orders.

Time seemed to slow down infinitely at this moment.

Then, destruction came.