I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

[Beijing, 300 meters underground, Institute of Biological Anomalies (Laboratory 0)]

This is the safest and coldest place in all of China.

Two-meter-thick lead walls shielded the area from all radiation and spying, while the air was thick with high concentrations of ozone and the smell of disinfectant. Normally, research here focuses on Ebola, unknown space bacteria, or certain biochemical samples that cannot be made public.

But today, the atmosphere here is so oppressive it makes you want to vomit.

On the operating table lay a huge, charred corpse.

Although it was burned beyond recognition by high-voltage electricity, its four twisted horns and sharp claws like steel hooks still exuded a chilling and ferocious aura.

Professor Wang Jianguo, a leading figure in Chinese biology, was wearing three layers of protective gloves when his hands trembled slightly, a rare occurrence.

Standing outside the observation window was Zhao Feng, who had just flown back to Beijing overnight. He hadn't even had time to change out of his combat uniform, which was still reeking of gunpowder, and his eyes were fixed on the operating table.

"Let's begin."

Professor Wang took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound calm and professional. "Recorder, activate full-range recording. Subject of autopsy: Unknown creature codenamed '001'."

"The first step is a surface hardness test."

Professor Wang picked up a medical scalpel and tried to cut open the monster's abdominal skin.

Nourishes—

A piercing sound rang out, like scratching a blackboard with fingernails. The razor-sharp blade sliced ​​through the charred skin, leaving only a shallow white mark, while the blade itself chipped.

"This is impossible..."

Professor Wang's young assistant gasped. "That's a high-carbon steel scalpel! It can cut through cowhide like tofu!"

Professor Wang's expression turned serious: "Change to a diamond cutting tool. Increase the power."

Zizizizi!

With the ear-piercing whirring of the cutting machine and the pervasive smell of burning flesh, the unreasonably tough skin was finally cut open.

The moment the skin was pried open by the tweezers, everyone in the lab fell silent.

No fat.

There is no excess connective tissue.

Beneath that black outer layer, densely packed, dark red muscle fibers, resembling hydraulic lines, are arranged. They are intertwined, their structure so precise that it completely defies the evolutionary logic of Earth's organisms.

"This muscle structure..." Professor Wang leaned closer to the microscope, his voice dry, "its muscle density is more than five times that of a Siberian tiger. In other words, this thing looks like a sheep, but one swipe of its paw can flatten a small car."

"This is not a product of natural evolution."

Professor Wang looked up, a hint of fear in his eyes. "Natural evolution emphasizes 'good enough,' leaving plenty of redundancy. But this thing... every gram of its flesh, every bone, is designed for killing."

"It is a perfect biological weapon."

[Observation Room]

As Zhao Feng listened to the report through the bulletproof glass, his fists clenched involuntarily.

He recalled the scene in the basement last night. If that thing hadn't been severely injured by that student named Chu Tian first, if they hadn't used the high-voltage electric fence to launch a sneak attack…

Bullets alone? That's just scratching the surface.

"Continue," Zhao Feng said coldly into the microphone. "I need to know what it is and where it came from."

Dissection Table

The dissection continued in depth.

When the chest cavity was opened, revealing the still slightly twitching heart, the assistant took a step back in fright.

The heart was black, covered with purple blood vessels, and even though the host was dead, it still seemed to have some kind of activity, occasionally twitching.

"Taken DNA."

Professor Wang used a long needle to draw blood from the heart that had not yet clotted.

Five minutes later.

A huge red warning box popped up on the screen connected to the supercomputer.

Comparison results: No matches found.

[Warning: This organism's gene sequence shares less than 10% similarity with the known biosphere on Earth (from single-celled organisms to humans).]

"Less than 10%?" Professor Wang took off his glasses and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "Even a banana has 50% genetic similarity to humans. This thing... could it be an alien creature?"

"Professor, look at this."

The assistant, who had been responsible for researching the materials, suddenly handed over a tablet computer, trembling. The screen didn't display biological literature, but rather a scanned copy of an ancient book.

That is the "Classic of Mountains and Seas: Western Mountains Classic".

The assistant's fingers trembled as he pointed to a passage of text:

"Two hundred and twenty li further west is a mountain called Bird and Mouse in the Same Hole, where many white tigers and white jade are found. The Wei River originates there... There is a beast there, which looks like a sheep but has four horns, and is called the Earth Louse, which eats people."

The laboratory was deathly silent.

Professor Wang looked at the ancient text, then at the corpse on the operating table that was "shaped like a sheep with four horns".

All the features match perfectly.

"Insect worms..." Professor Wang murmured to himself, as if these two simple words carried the weight of a thousand pounds.

As a staunch materialist scientist, he dedicated his life to explaining superstitions with science. He once told his students that dragons are crocodiles, phoenixes are pheasants, and the Classic of Mountains and Seas is the imagination and doodles of the ancients.

But now, that "delusion" lies bloodied and raw on his operating table.

"If the Earthworm is real..." Professor Wang's voice trembled, "then what about the others? The Taotie? The Qiongqi? Chaos? Or even... a dragon?"

"Report!"

An inspector suddenly interrupted the crowd's panic, "The stomach contents have been analyzed."

"explain."

"Its gastric juices are extremely acidic, comparable to aqua regia. We found some...undigested residue in its stomach." The inspector, pale and fighting the urge to vomit, said, "The main components are...sewage rats, and...some high-density energy crystal residue."

"Energy crystals?"

"Yes, this crystal is not on the periodic table. It contains terrifying amounts of energy; even a tiny speck the size of a pinhead releases the equivalent of one kilogram of TNT."

Professor Wang suddenly grabbed the edge of the lab bench.

He got it.

Why does this thing have such high muscle density? Why can it withstand bullets?

Because it doesn't live by eating meat at all.

It lives by consuming this kind of "energy".

The so-called "cannibalism" may not only be about eating meat, but also about devouring some kind of human essence, energy, and spirit?

drop--

Just then, the lights in the entire laboratory flickered.

It was not a power outage.

Instead, it was the "corpse" lying on the operating table whose black heart suddenly contracted violently once, with its chest cut open.

An invisible wave swept across the entire area in an instant.

At that moment, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. It was the feeling of being targeted by a natural enemy, like a rabbit facing an eagle.

"It...it's not quite dead yet?!" the assistant screamed.

"No, it's dead." Professor Wang looked at the brainwave, which was still a straight line on the monitor. "This is just... the aftereffects."

Even in death, the cellular memories of these mythical creatures continue to demonstrate their majesty to mortals.

Professor Wang slumped into his chair.

At that moment, he realized that the edifice of biology, which humanity was so proud of, had crumbled in the face of this charred corpse.

A new era has arrived.

A cruel, bloody, and unscientific era.

……

[Gangnam City, budget rental housing]

Gu Qing was leaning against the headboard, holding a glass of warm water, calmly looking at the system panel in the void.

[Ding! Trust level has increased significantly!]

[Source: Elite group (top scientists/high-ranking military officials).]

[Values: +500, +500, +1000...]

Current credit balance: 2450 points.

"really."

Gu Qing's pale lips curled up slightly.

"Scaring scientists is the fastest way to gain credibility than scaring ordinary people."

When a person who firmly believes in science is forced to acknowledge theology, the "shaking of beliefs" and "fear" resulting from the collapse of that worldview are, for the system, the purest form of energy.

"Professor Wang, Captain Zhao, thank you for your 'assistance'."

Gu Qing put down the panel and glanced out the window.

Its daybreak.

The news is reporting on the "toxic gas leak accident at the chemical plant" that occurred last night at Jiangnan University.

However, online, rumors about "monsters" and "supermen" have spread like wildfire. Although the posts were quickly deleted, the seeds had already been sown.

Gu Qing stood up and moved around, her body regaining some sensation.

With these 2000+ points of faith, he could finally stop living such a frugal life. He could start planning a grander scenario, or at least make some minor repairs to his dilapidated body.

But he did not immediately redeem the treatment.

He walked to the wall, where a huge map of China was hanging.

He picked up a red pen, drew a circle around Jiangnan City, and then looked westward, his gaze landing on that vast, yellow area.

northwest.

"Cities are too crowded, which can easily harm innocent people and restrict their freedom of movement."

Gu Qing's pen tip heavily marked the edge of the "Taklamakan Desert" on the map.

"Now that the existence of the monsters has been officially confirmed, what they crave most next should be—power."

"Instead of letting them wander around like headless flies, I'd rather show them a way."

"Let's go there."

"There lies the ancient battlefield I have prepared for you, and swords buried by time."

Gu Qing's eyes were as deep as an abyss.

"It's time to move from 'horror movies' to 'epic movies'."

He turned around and packed his meager belongings.

In order to make the charade believable, and to give this world the real power to fight against the void, this terminally ill "mastermind" is preparing to drag his ailing body to the no-man's land known as the "Sea of ​​Death" in person.

There, he will forge the first sword in the world capable of slaying a god.