“Unbelievable!” Fire Bro stood up from a pile of rubble, utterly furious. After a hundred days of traversing the Apocalypse, this was the first time his fire-type ability—especially a move he created himself—had backfired so badly. He immediately prepared to unleash his rage in an attack.

But Lin Xian quickly called out to him over the comm channel.

“Fire Bro, don’t attack!”

Fire Bro’s abilities were massive in scale. Since they were inside this underground base, it was easy to accidentally harm their own people. Lin Xian also realized that if this monster could absorb supernatural powers, then if Fire Bro’s fire ability was countered, it would pose an even greater threat.

After stopping Fire Bro’s counterattack, Lin Xian saw the eerie figure melting the shields of his Iron Curtain drones on a large scale with intense heat. Without hesitation, he controlled more Iron Curtain drones to surround it completely, while also deploying numerous Thunder Prison drones, preparing to use high-voltage electric arc shocks.

“KIKI.”

“I know.”

KIKI and Lin Xian worked seamlessly together. As Lin Xian’s drones readied their attack, she immediately used telekinesis to encircle them tightly.

Sizzle!

The Thunder Prison drones discharged electric arcs. The intense flashes bathed the entire hall in dazzling light. As the Thunder Prison erupted, the space fell silent.

Just as Lin Xian prepared the next move, the power armor system suddenly detected a massive energy density release. The next moment, the white monster floating in the air, wrapped in countless Iron Curtain drones, suddenly unleashed thousands of electric arcs!

These arcs seemed to respond directly to Lin Xian’s attack, and their power appeared even greater, piercing through KIKI’s telekinetic shield and shredding numerous surrounding devices!

“This thing can absorb and convert all forms of kinetic energy, not just supernatural powers!” Lin Xian withdrew his AT force field shield. The white figure violently burst out from the half-melted drone debris. At that moment, a streak of light flashed. Xiao Qing struck swiftly, slicing off one of the monster’s arms mid-air. Whether due to the energy just released or failing to activate its biological force field in time, the white monster crashed down with a thunderous impact. Xiao Qing’s grappling hook pinned precisely onto its forehead, and she darted forward like a bullet, the blade on her gun gleaming, ready to behead it.

The white monster seemed to sense the danger. It grabbed the grappling hook on its forehead with one hand and suddenly aimed towards Xiao Qing. A trembling low moan came from its mouth sewn shut with black threads.

The sound emitted a shockwave that vibrated the surrounding air. Xiao Qing swung her blade down, but the front of the blade instantly twisted.

Infrasound!

At that moment, a massive explosion of force erupted. Ning Jing rushed in from the side. A punch thundered forth. The monster sensed the danger, and a dark gray biological force field appeared on its body. Simultaneously, a sharp claw attacked Ning Jing with an electric arc. Unexpectedly, Ning Jing’s punch crashed like a mountain avalanche, surpassing the pressure relief limits of her power armor joints. In the enclosed space, it roared like thunder. Her punch shattered the white monster’s biological force field, along with its head and half a shoulder!

Boom!

Blood mist and tissue fragments sprayed in a fan shape, staining half the area with blood.

The white monster twisted a few times, its flesh seeming like a chaotic mix of many, spasming wildly before finally collapsing in a pool of blood, lifeless.

Ning Jing panted as she stood up, clenched her fists, and turned to Lin Xian.

“Captain Lin, this looks like a... human.”

“Another kind of human horror?” KIKI said.

The battle just now lasted about a minute. Though it ended slowly, everyone felt a faint oppressive pressure. Feng Xin stepped down and used a drone to collect some blood and tissue fragments. “Hand it over to Director Ding.”

“That thing is terrifying. It can absorb energy—not just supernatural powers, but fire, electric arcs, even invisibility, and it can emit infrasound waves. That’s quite an ability,” Lin Xian said.

“This means the Crimson World’s research hasn’t regressed again,” Xiao Qing put away her blade and said with a serious expression.

“Studying such an evil cult creature really makes me want to kill it on the spot!” Fire Bro patted the burnt area of his power armor with murderous intent.

Whenever human horrors were mentioned, the first thing everyone thought of wasn’t the Crimson World.

“Blue Star.”

At that moment, KIKI was tapping on a computer in the monitoring center, speaking mysteriously.

“Look what I found.”

Lin Xian walked over and saw that KIKI had opened several surveillance screens. One showed a large underground deep-water floating port, with a black Abyss-class Beifeng-09 strategic nuclear submarine appearing on the screen. Meanwhile, on the shore port, about a dozen members of the Sanctum Organization in uniform were using cranes to load what looked like specialized torpedoes onto the submarine.

On another screen, Lin Xian saw an experimental area where a large door opened, and the system displayed a [Danger] alert for the entity inside.

“They’re here, inside the submarine’s inner port. Looks like they knew we were coming and released a monster to cause trouble,” KIKI analyzed.

Lin Xian’s gaze focused on the surveillance. In a low voice, he said, “It’s nighttime now. Where do they intend to go?”

...

The lights in the submarine’s inner port cast mottled reflections on the dim water surface.

The Abyss-class Beifeng-09 strategic nuclear submarine lay half-submerged like a sleeping steel beast. Its dark hull gleamed coldly with metallic luster. The sonar array at the bow resembled a giant silent mouth, ready to swallow threats from the deep sea.

On the dock, a dozen researchers in white radiation protection suits busily operated. They controlled massive crane arms to slowly lift specially made torpedoes. The torpedoes’ shells bore a special bait agent marking, glaring vividly under the dim lights.

“Be careful! Don’t damage the stabilizers!” a middle-aged man wearing protective goggles shouted sharply. His voice echoed through the enclosed port area.

The hydraulic system of the crane arms rumbled low. Steel cables tightened as the torpedoes were steadily delivered into the submarine’s vertical launch tubes. Another group inspected the hull’s sealing, scanning welding seams back and forth with handheld detectors. The beeps sounded like a strange countdown.

Atop the submarine’s command tower, several Sanctum members in black uniforms communicated quietly with internal compartments via radios. Their voices were low, but their tone held unquestionable authority.

“Loading progress?”

“Seventy percent complete, estimated eight more minutes.”

“Speed it up. The tidal window waits for no one.”

The port water surface rippled slightly. The submarine’s buoyancy adjustment system fine-tuned stability during loading. Occasionally, water droplets slid down the hull, falling into the bottomless depths, creating faint ripples quickly swallowed by darkness.

The air smelled of machine oil, seawater, and metal—damp and cold.

On a metal walkway at the edge of the floating port, a middle-aged man wearing a tactical vest and sunglasses silently watched the busy scene below, fingers fidgeting with a silver pocket watch.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from the distant passageway.

“Professor Chen!” a young subordinate hurried over. “Surveillance shows they’ve eliminated Composite Experimental Subject No. 3. They must have discovered us. Contact is imminent. Shall we retreat?”

“How about opening the floodgate’s sealed door to let that thing in? It would definitely block them,” an assistant near Professor Chen whispered.

Chen Yanxiu slowly raised his head, pushed up his glasses, and calmly glanced at the surveillance screen.

On the screen, Lin Xian’s figure was advancing through a metal corridor towards the inner port.

Chen Yanxiu was silent for a moment, then said faintly, “Do you think a special-level entity can block the Sword Bearer of the Phoenix Society?”

The assistant was dumbfounded.

“Our master has already made arrangements,” Chen Yanxiu waved his hand. “Notify everyone: anyone who doesn’t want to die, lay down their weapons.”

“L-lay down weapons?” the subordinate was shocked.

“That’s right.” Chen Yanxiu turned around. “Let’s go meet this Sword Bearer.”

“No need. I’m already here.”

At that moment, a voice came from Chen Yanxiu’s comm device. Just as he prepared to step forward, he froze. Several people’s expressions turned shocked. Chen Yanxiu looked at his comm with a complicated expression and sighed darkly.

“Mechanical supernatural power...”

Knock knock knock.

Below, everyone raised their hands and dropped their guns. From the passage’s far end came footsteps, but before anyone appeared, numerous metal devices suddenly flew out, precisely locking the hands and feet of every Sanctum member. Simultaneously, many Lei Xun 2000 drones emerged, aiming pulse cannons at each person’s forehead.

Upon entering the inner port, all communications had been taken over by Lin Xian.

“Smart guy. What you said just now bought these people thirty minutes.”

Lin Xian, accompanied by KIKI, Ning Jing, Fire Bro, and others, fully armed and surrounded by drones, appeared. Though only seven in number, their firepower rivaled an armored regiment.

Chen Yanxiu looked at Lin Xian ahead and calmly said without changing expression, “Hello, Captain Lin.”

“You know me?” Lin Xian looked at the middle-aged man, eyes scanning him, catching the silver pocket watch. A flicker of wariness flashed in his eyes.

Chen Yanxiu smiled, “We all know you. I’m Chen Yanxiu. You might have heard my name.”

Chen Yanxiu?

Lin Xian felt he must have heard the name before. At that moment, Shiori’s voice came through his earpiece along with some information.

“He is the leader of Sacred Revelation. He and a man named Shen Tuo founded the Sanctum, an organization that zealously worships supernatural and forbidden artifact powers.”

A holographic profile of Chen Yanxiu appeared. Lin Xian finally recognized the man before him.

“Are you running away?” KIKI looked down at the nearly 50,000-ton Abyss-class Beifeng-09 strategic nuclear submarine with interest. “At a time like this?”

Chen Yanxiu said, “Darkness at night is not always the enemy. Sometimes in crisis, changing perspectives makes everything clear.”

“Oh?” Lin Xian pointed at the torpedoes hanging midair. “If you’re so confident, why use these? I thought you’d allied with the dark civilization and that human horrors wouldn’t bother you.”

Lin Xian’s drone swarm hovered on both sides of the passage, pulse cannon red dots locking on each Sanctum member’s forehead. Chen Yanxiu stood on the steel platform, flipping the silver watch between his fingers. His gaze behind the glasses was cold and indifferent.

“Captain Lin,” he began, voice steady like a lab’s temperature control system, “do you believe civilizations have hierarchies?”

“Are you going to preach here?” Lin Xian smiled. “I didn’t finish you off. Guess why?”

“Of course, I know your purpose,” Chen Yanxiu chuckled lightly and countered, “Aren’t you curious why all this is happening to you?”

Lin Xian nodded slightly, fell silent, then looked at Chen Yanxiu. “I also want to know how the former head of the Special Items Research Department of the Original Angel Project came to found Sacred Revelation and now joined the Sanctum Organization?”

“Oh, you misunderstood. We haven’t joined the Sanctum.” Chen Yanxiu lifted his sunglasses and smiled. “We’re just all acting under the master’s orders, each on our own.”

“Also... don’t misunderstand.” Chen Yanxiu rubbed the silver watch and said to Lin Xian, “I just want to talk to you, the Sword Bearer. The master has canceled the order to kill you, so don’t worry about me attacking you. Maybe I’m not your match, but believe me, I’m not your prisoner. If I want to leave, you can’t stop me.”

Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed slightly at the silver watch. He sensed the twisted dark energy fluctuations of the forbidden artifact and instinctively used mechanical supernatural power to probe it. Sure enough, mechanical control and mechanical devouring had no effect.

“Hey, quite arrogant,” KIKI was displeased and immediately said, “Then let’s see about that!”

She sent a telekinetic wave to grab Chen Yanxiu, but immediately sensed something was wrong. KIKI’s telekinesis seemed to vanish near Chen Yanxiu, plunging her into a quagmire.

“What? What’s going on?”

“This.”

Chen Yanxiu smiled calmly and raised the silver pocket watch. “Number SIID-05, silver pocket watch. This forbidden artifact continuously generates a property similar to the spacetime field in the Star Abyss. It causes an expansion time lag of about seven seconds for the environment beyond three meters. So theoretically, if I want to leave, you won’t detect me until seven seconds later, and all attacks against me will be slowed. Interesting, right?”

Lin Xian and the others turned pale. But Chen Yanxiu continued.

“Besides, I have more than one forbidden artifact on me. But for safety reasons, I won’t tell you their properties one by one.”

Lin Xian looked at him, “Why do you sound like you’re bragging?”

“No, I just want to say these powers are very advanced, far beyond human civilization, which makes them fascinating.”

He then said to Lin Xian, “That’s why I want to talk to you. You are the person the master is watching. You may not know, but this is an opportunity that could change everything.”

Lin Xian thought for a moment and directly asked,

“You said the master has canceled the order to kill me. What does that mean?”

“Simple. The dark civilization wants you dead, but that order was withdrawn. We believe this means the master might have other plans for you.”

“You don’t know why?” Lin Xian asked back.

Chen Yanxiu shook his head.

“Actually, you don’t need to think too much. If the master wanted you dead, you wouldn’t even leave this island.” Chen Yanxiu chuckled lightly. “Captain Lin, have you seen a tsunami caused by the Oceanic Titan? That kind of force that can toss tens of thousands of tons of ships into the sky is just like breathing to it. If it wanted to kill you, could you still stand here and talk to me?”

“Not necessarily.”

Lin Xian opened the power armor’s visor, looking calm as he stared at Chen Yanxiu. “I’m stubborn. I believe your master wants to kill me but can’t. That’s why I’m here. I don’t think it would give up on killing me for some interest. Also...” He looked at the Abyss-class Beifeng-09 strategic nuclear submarine below seriously.

“You say you can leave anytime. I don’t think so. You know I have mechanical supernatural power, so you should understand crushing this thing is like playing with a toy for me.”

Chen Yanxiu’s pupils contracted slightly. His composed expression shifted a bit.

“You think the dark can’t kill you?”

“Am I not standing here the answer?” Lin Xian retorted.

Chen Yanxiu closed his eyes and sighed. “I have to say, only someone with your character could become the Phoenix Society’s Sword Bearer. Stubborn and tough.”

He looked at Lin Xian and asked again, “How do you think the dark civilization compares to human civilization?”

Lin Xian replied solemnly, “You mean the dark civilization is a more advanced form?”

“Isn’t it?” Chen Yanxiu said. “The dark invasion can be called something else—like a spiritual confinement. You can think of it as a new ecological structure. Environmentalists—oh, like Gu Zheng—used to preach saving Blue Star, saving the world. But Blue Star has existed for billions of years. There were times when its temperature was hundreds of degrees higher, carbon dioxide ten times thicker, millions of years of continuous rain and floods, and asteroid impacts shattering continental shelves were common. Humanity can’t save Blue Star. Humans can only save themselves. Any environmental change is about how humans adapt.”

“So, if you see the dark invasion as a new environment, it’s less complicated. Survivors are those who adapt successfully. Evolution is nature’s reward for survivors, isn’t it?”

“So you’ve become accomplices of the dark civilization. Killing survivors is evolution?” KIKI scoffed.

“No.” Chen Yanxiu corrected her. “The Crimson World and the Sanctum Organization represent individual human interests and methods. These are not orders from the dark civilization. But isn’t it tragic? In peace, humans have racial conflicts, class oppression, hegemony, wealth disparity, and suspicion. Even at the apocalypse, these still exist. Doesn’t that precisely show... human civilization is very low-level and backward?”

Lin Xian said, “So, the dark civilization doesn’t want to exterminate humanity?”

“Captain Lin.” Chen Yanxiu looked at Lin Xian seriously. “What kind of evolution would eliminate racial conflicts, class oppression, hegemony, wealth disparity, and suspicion for an advanced civilization?”

“What?”

Chen Yanxiu lifted his glasses, eyes sharp. “When all life...”

“...fuses into one.”