I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

[Xiangxi, on the edge of the lockdown zone, a mobile biosafety level 3 (P3) laboratory]

Just as Zhao Feng was leading his team in a desperate battle in the "Ghost Domain," five kilometers behind Luohua Cave, several white trucks equipped with fully enclosed negative pressure systems were emitting a low rumble in the rainy night.

This is a special task force from the Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, which was urgently dispatched.

"Professor! The sample analysis results are in!"

A terrified scream shattered the deathly silence in the laboratory.

Professor Zhang Bowen, a leading figure in genetics and paleontology in China, with a full head of silver hair, is wearing goggles and staring intently at the slide under the microscope.

What was placed on the dissection table was not some demon or monster, but a snake.

A five-step snake captured a few hours earlier at the edge of the cordon.

If it were an ordinary venomous snake, there would be no need to use a P3 laboratory. But when this snake was captured, it didn't hiss, but rather made a scream similar to a baby crying.

"Don't panic, talk about the data." Zhang Bowen took a deep breath, suppressing the inexplicable unease in his heart.

The young doctoral student held the newly printed DNA map in his hand, his hands trembling as if he were shaking.

"Professor... this is not scientific. It completely violates Darwin's theory of evolution and the fundamental law of reproductive isolation!"

The doctoral student slammed the report on the table and pointed to a section of gene sequence highlighted in red:

"We detected the 'five-step snake' gene in its body, which is normal. But at the chimeric end of this gene chain, we found... a primate gene fragment."

Zhang Bowen suddenly looked up: "You mean it ate a person? And left residue in their digestive tract?"

"No! Not the digestive tract!" the doctoral student screamed, nearly collapsing. "It's the cell nucleus! These primate genes are perfectly embedded in its chromosomes! And... and those are the gene segments responsible for 'vocal cord production' and 'facial nerve control' in humans!"

Zhang Bowen felt a sudden dizziness.

Is a snake born with human vocal cord genes "edited" into it?

"There's something even more terrifying."

Another researcher in charge of the dissection walked over, his face pale, holding a tray in his hand.

"Professor, look at its abdominal cavity."

On the tray was a section of snake spine that had just been peeled off.

But at the end of that pale spine, it forked. The forked bone wasn't the cartilage of a snake's tail, but rather the skeleton of an underdeveloped human hand with only three fingers...

It grows inside the snake's body, with its blood vessels and nerves perfectly connected.

"What...what kind of monster is this..." Zhang Bowen slumped into a chair.

If it's a mutation caused by nuclear radiation, the genes are broken and disordered.

But this thing... its genetic structure is frighteningly stable, as if... as if it has undergone some kind of "perfect surgery" that even the most advanced human technology cannot achieve.

"Creation..." Zhang Bowen murmured to himself, "Someone... no, some kind of power, is redefining species."

"It blurs the lines between humans and animals. If this gene is contagious..."

At that moment, the laboratory's alarm lights suddenly started flashing.

[Warning: Sample awakened.]

On the dissection table, the strange snake, whose abdominal cavity had been cut open and which was theoretically dead, suddenly began to convulse violently.

Its originally cloudy snake eyes instantly rolled back to white, then slowly focused, turning into a pair of venomous, human-like pupils.

It opened its mouth, and from its throat, which could only utter hissing sounds, its vocal cords vibrated, producing clear, hoarse human words:

"pain……"

"Ouch, that hurts..."

"Ah!!!" The young doctoral student was so frightened that he fell to the ground with a thud.

puff!

The monstrous snake sprang up suddenly, its entrails still dangling out, and slammed viciously into the bulletproof glass. The deformed human hand that had grown into its tail tore through the snake's skin and stretched out, scratching the glass wall with a sickening creaking sound.

boom!

Zhang Bowen, having weathered many storms, decisively pressed the emergency button.

High-pressure liquid nitrogen was ejected.

The sudden drop in temperature froze the monster into an ice sculpture, and the words "It hurts!" were frozen in its throat.

The laboratory was deathly silent. The only sound was the hissing of liquid nitrogen spray.

Zhang Bowen trembled as he took off his glasses and picked up the red secure phone.

"Connect to 749 Bureau headquarters... This is Zhang Bowen."

"Tell Li Guozhong that this is no longer a simple paranormal event or feudal superstition."

"This is a biological invasion."

"The enemy we face is a 'god' capable of arbitrarily altering genetic maps and creating new species. If we don't seal this place off, once these things enter the ecosystem, the existing food chain will completely collapse."

……

Behind the Scenes: Deep Within the Cave

[Faith Value Updated: +15,000 points.]

[Source: The worldview of a top scientist collapses.]

[Comment: The more precise science is, the more thoroughly it collapses when faced with inexplicable "miracles."]

Gu Qing looked at the system's feedback and gently played with a test tube in her hand.

Inside the test tube, a drop of bright red blood is automatically changing shape, sometimes turning into a snake, sometimes into a bird, and sometimes into a human face.

This is what he exchanged for with a high amount of faith power—[Demon Blood (Low-end Version)].

"Evolution?"

Gu Qing chuckled lightly, "Those are just the rules that mortals observe and summarize about the world. In my script, the existence of 'demons' is precisely to mock these rules."

"Since this is western Hunan, and since there's the practice of corpse driving, how can there be no 'Gu' (a type of poison) and 'demons'?"

He stood up, his gaze piercing through the layers of rocks, looking at Zhao Feng, who was struggling, and then at the P3 laboratory that was gripped by panic.

"Captain Zhao, the scientists are terrified."

"Now, the pressure is on you."

"That 'Tiger Warrior' sword is powerful, but what if it faces an endless 'beast tide'?"

Gu Qing snapped his fingers.

[Scene added: All beasts pay homage.]

[Target: All creatures within a ten-kilometer radius infected by "demonic energy".]

……

Luohuazhai Ruins

Zhao Feng had just smashed a paper effigy to pieces with his broken sword, and before he could even catch his breath, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

This time, it's not an illusion.

It was a real earthquake.

"Vice Captain! Look at the mountains!" a team member exclaimed in alarm, pointing to the surrounding peaks.

By the occasional flash of lightning across the night sky, they witnessed a scene they would never forget.

Countless eyes lit up on the dark mountain ridges all around.

Green, red, yellow...

Thousands upon thousands of unidentified wild beasts—owls with human faces, wild boars covered in scales, centipedes as thick as pythons—surged into the valley from all directions like a tide.

They did not attack each other.

At this moment, herbivores and carnivores reached an eerie peace.

Because they all heard the call.

A summons from the "Cave God".

"roar--!!"

The beasts roared in unison, their cries shaking the heavens.

Looking at the overwhelming army of monsters, Zhao Feng felt a tremor in his hand holding the broken sword for the first time.

Is this still a "special mission"?

This is clearly the prelude to a mythological war!

"We want that embroidered shoe."

"Or... leave your life behind."

The ghost bride's voice echoed once more amidst the roars of the beast tide.

Zhao Feng gritted his teeth and looked in the direction of the command vehicle.

"Li Sen! Where are the reinforcements?! Where is the heavy firepower?!"

"If you don't come soon, I'll be eating these beasts here!!"

……

[Beijing, Headquarters of Bureau 749]

Li Guozhong looked at the frozen photo of the "human-handed serpent" that had just been transmitted back, and then at the thermal image of the boiling beast tide on the satellite cloud map.

He closed his eyes and remained silent for three seconds.

Then, he opened his eyes and pressed a red button that could only be activated during a national emergency.

"Connect to Dongfeng Express Command Center."

"This is Bureau 749."

"Coordinates: Luohuadong area, northern mountainous region of Jishou, Xiangxi".

"Requesting...tactical precision strikes."

"No, not a nuclear bomb. It's that..."

Li Guozhong took a deep breath.

"Use the orbital kinetic weapon codenamed 'Skyfire'..."

"Since it is a mythical creature, then respond to it with divine punishment."