The geology building of Jiangcheng University was a red-brick relic from the 1950s, hidden deep within the campus and encircled by towering plane trees. At half past nine at night, most of its windows lay in darkness; only a single office on the eastern side of the third floor still glowed with lamplight.
Lu Chen vaulted the perimeter wall, evaded the surveillance cameras, and circled to the rear of the building. He climbed the drainage pipe to the third floor, clung to the edge of the windowsill, and peered through the slats of the blinds.
The room was in utter disarray—books, blueprints, and rock specimens piled everywhere. A man in his sixties hunched over a desk beneath a desk lamp, studying a yellowed engineering drawing. Reading glasses perched on his nose; his hair was sparse and graying.
Professor Zhou Mingyuan, without a doubt.
Lu Chen tapped lightly on the window.
Zhou Mingyuan jolted upright. "Who's there?"
"Professor Zhou, I was hoping to consult you on a geological matter," Lu Chen said in a lowered voice.
Zhou approached the window warily and slid it open a crack. "At this hour… which department are you from?"
"I'm not a student." Lu Chen produced the credentials Huang Mao had given him—a forged identification card from the "National Geological Survey." The photograph was his; the name was fabricated. "We're conducting a research project and would like to consult you regarding historical data on Jiangcheng's underground pipeline network."
Zhou's guard lowered slightly at the sight of the badge, though caution still lingered. "Then why not enter through the front?"
"The project involves classified matters. We'd rather not attract attention."
After a moment's hesitation, Zhou opened the window fully. "Come in."
Lu Chen slipped inside and closed the window behind him. His gaze swept over the desk. Spread across it was a hand-drawn map of Jiangcheng's underground network, annotated with surveying data from the 1970s. Several areas had been circled in red, one of them near the southern wastewater treatment plant—precisely where Zhao Feng had mentioned the backup entrance.
"You're looking into this as well?" Zhou frowned, following his line of sight. "Lately, a lot of people have been asking about the underground system—the Association, the military, and some… rather peculiar individuals."
"Peculiar?" Lu Chen asked.
"Yes. An old man in a white lab coat. He spoke in a very refined manner, but his eyes…" Zhou shook his head. "They didn't belong to a researcher. He asked extremely specific questions—about the reinforcement structures of the 'Third Front' air-raid shelters, ventilation layouts, and whether any abnormal energy fluctuations had ever been detected underground."
The Doctor.
"So you told him?" Lu Chen asked.
"Of course not!" Zhou bristled. "I signed confidentiality agreements. Those archives are accessible only to the military and a handful of senior experts."
He paused, scrutinizing Lu Chen. "But your credentials… I've never heard of a 'Special Projects Division' within the Geological Survey."
"Newly established, with elevated clearance," Lu Chen replied without batting an eye. "We suspect the presence of unregistered ancient ruins beneath Jiangcheng—or… something else entirely. You were involved in the Third Front projects, Professor Zhou. You must know something."
Zhou fell silent for a long while.
He walked to a bookshelf, pulled out a thick notebook, flipped to a specific page, and handed it to Lu Chen.
"These are on-site records from the construction period—copied in secret," he said. "In 1971, while excavating an air-raid shelter in the south of the city, the crew broke into a 'natural karst cavern.' But that cavern… was wrong."
Lu Chen accepted the notebook.
On the yellowed pages, neat handwriting in fountain pen recorded the following:
August 15, 1971 — Clear
At a depth of 120 meters in Shaft No. 3, the drill suddenly struck empty space. Upon inspection, we discovered a vast underground chamber, roughly the size of two football fields. The ceiling was studded with luminous crystals that provided illumination. At the center stood a stone platform resembling an altar, upon which rested a silver metal box—intact, yet impossible to open.
Even stranger, the chamber contained numerous 'artificial objects'—remnants resembling instruments, but crafted with techniques far beyond our era. Engineer Wang suggested they might be ancient relics, but I disagree. They are far too… new.
August 17, 1971 — Overcast
Experts arrived and sealed off the entire area. Our construction team was ordered to sign confidentiality agreements. Rumor has it the metal box was transported elsewhere, but no one knows where.
September 3, 1971 — Rain
Overheard the experts discussing 'extraterrestrial artifacts' and 'non-terrestrial civilizations.' They even claimed the contents of the box might be alive. The thought chills me to the bone.
September 10, 1971 — Clear
Construction resumed, avoiding the cavern. Orders came down to build a 'laboratory' adjacent to it, dedicated to researching those objects. I have a terrible feeling… something catastrophic will come of this.
The record ended there. Several pages afterward had been torn out.
"What followed, I don't know," Zhou said quietly. "I was reassigned soon after. Years later, I heard there had been an accident—many deaths—and the entire area was sealed."
He pointed to the wastewater treatment plant marked on the map. "If my guess is correct, the laboratory entrance was somewhere nearby. As for the exact location… only the highest levels of the military would know."
Lu Chen closed the notebook. "The man in the white coat—was he searching for this as well?"
"Most likely." Zhou sighed. "Young man, I advise you to stay out of this. I've spent my life in geology—some things should never be unearthed. Of those experts back then, few are still alive. They say it was an accident, but who can be sure?"
A flicker of fear crossed his eyes.
"Thank you, Professor Zhou. This is invaluable," Lu Chen said.
He placed a small pouch of energy crystals—loot taken from a Ghost Organization hideout—on the desk. "A token of appreciation. As for tonight…"
"I understand," Zhou waved him off. "I've never seen you. Go—quickly."
Lu Chen retraced his route out.
Back on the surface, he checked the time: 10:20 p.m.
Nineteen hours remained before his scheduled operation with Zhao Feng.
But he had no intention of waiting.
Now that he knew the approximate location of the entrance—and possessed the Suppression Demon Stele to break the seal—why wait for the military? Going down alone might yield even greater rewards.
Naturally, the risks would be far higher.
[Xiao Bei, can you pinpoint the location of that 'kin' underground?] he asked silently.
"Yes, Master," the spirit replied promptly. "But you must approach within five hundred meters for precise localization."
"Lead the way."
Lu Chen left the campus and hailed a cab toward the southern outskirts.
The wastewater treatment plant sat at the edge of the suburbs, surrounded by farmland and a handful of small factories. By eleven at night, the area was deserted, save for a few dim streetlights within the compound.
Lu Chen circled behind the facility to an abandoned pump station. Its iron door was mottled with rust, a warning sign reading DANGER — NO ENTRY dangling askew. He pried the lock open and slipped inside.
Discarded equipment lay piled within. In the center of the floor was a maintenance shaft, its cover heavy but unsecured.
He lifted it.
Below yawned a vertical shaft, its depths swallowed by darkness. A metal ladder descended into the abyss.
[Any danger below?]
"No life signatures detected," Xiao Bei replied, "but the residual energy is intense—like the aftermath of an explosion."
Lu Chen donned his night-vision goggles and climbed down.
The shaft extended roughly thirty meters before opening into a horizontal tunnel about two meters in diameter, its walls caked with scale and rust. Moisture hung in the air; water echoed faintly—the plant's main conduit.
After walking about a hundred meters, the tunnel forked. One path continued straight ahead; the other turned right, where an iron door stood marked in red paint: STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.
The lock had long since rusted through. Lu Chen blasted it open with an energy shot.
Beyond lay a small room resembling a duty station, long abandoned. Faded safety slogans from the 1970s clung to the walls; the furniture had rotted away.
At the far end stood another door—thick, reinforced, its surface etched with intricate runes. Their style echoed those of the Suppression Demon Stele, though cruder, as if an imitation.
"A seal," Lu Chen murmured, touching the surface. A faint pulse of energy responded. "But it's weak—nearing collapse."
[The Stele can open it effortlessly, Master.]
Lu Chen nodded and summoned the stele's projection.
A palm-sized black monument hovered above his hand, its runes igniting with dark-gold radiance.
"Open."
The projection touched the door. The runes dissolved like snow before flame, and with a heavy click, the door swung inward.
Beyond stretched a downward-sloping tunnel of poured concrete. Emergency lights lined the walls at ten-meter intervals, most shattered, a few flickering faintly.
Silence reigned—broken only by his footsteps and breathing.
Five minutes later, a second door appeared. This one was even thicker, forged of alloy, with a dead electronic lock.
Lu Chen blasted the mechanism apart and pushed inside.
The space beyond opened abruptly.
A colossal subterranean chamber lay before him, matching the old records precisely: at least two football fields in area, over thirty meters high. Luminous crystals embedded in the dome still glowed, dimmer than before, yet sufficient to illuminate the expanse.
At the center stood the altar-like stone platform—now empty. The silver metal box had long since been removed.
Scattered throughout were the corroded remains of machinery: consoles, monitors, pipes, containment vessels. Whiteboards still clung to the walls, their formulas and data faded into obscurity.
This was the Ark Laboratory's remains.
Yet something was missing.
No corpses. No blood. No signs of struggle.
As if everyone had vanished in an instant.
Lu Chen approached a console and wiped away the dust. A coffee mug sat atop it, half-filled with long-dried residue. Beside it lay an open work log, its pages so brittle they crumbled at the lightest touch.
He carefully turned the first page, deciphering only fragments:
"…Test Subject AX-7 remains stable… energy absorption efficiency within expected parameters…"
AX-7—the Devourer.
He flipped onward.
"…Dr. Chu proposes a new approach… fusing AX-7 with the 'Extraterrestrial Core'… potential creation of an ultimate weapon…"
Dr. Chu—Chu Yuntian. The Doctor.
Further pages dissolved into illegibility, leaving only scattered words: "loss of control," "seal," "evacuation"…
The final page bore the date: October 23, 1992—the day of the disaster.
A single, hastily scrawled line remained:
"It has awakened. We are all going to die. — Engineer Li"
Engineer Li…
Lu Chen recalled the waterproof notebook found in the Ghost Leap Gorge shipwreck—its author also surnamed Li.
The same man?
[Master, be careful!] Xiao Bei suddenly warned.
A split second later, a lethal sense of danger surged from behind.
Lu Chen dove forward as a dark crimson beam grazed his back and struck the console ahead.
Hiss—
The metal melted clean through, leaving a fist-sized hole rimmed in glowing red.
An energy weapon—far more powerful than those used by the Ghost Organization.
Lu Chen rolled to his feet, drew the Demon-Slaying Blade, and turned toward the source.
From the shadows emerged a man.
A white lab coat. Sixty-something. Gray hair. Gold-rimmed glasses. A refined face—and eyes as cold as machinery.
Dr. Chu Yuntian.
In his hand was a strangely designed pistol, its barrel still smoking.
"Lin Xiao—or should I say… Lu Chen?" The Doctor's voice was calm, almost conversational. "I've been waiting for you."
Lu Chen tightened his grip. "You knew I'd come?"
"Of course." Chu smiled faintly. "Those fools in the military think themselves players, when in truth they're merely pieces. The real game began thirty years ago. And you… are the final variable."
He advanced slowly, shoes clicking against metal.
"The Suppression Demon Stele is in your possession. And only you know the whereabouts of the Ark Core. Hand them over, and I'll let you live. After all… you and I are the same—both outsiders."
Lu Chen's pupils constricted.
He knew?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lu Chen said evenly.
"Spare me." Chu stopped ten meters away. "Your soul's wavelength is utterly different from that of this world. I've studied extraterrestrial phenomena for thirty years—dimensional fluctuations are my specialty. You weren't possessed. You transmigrated—intact. Fascinating."
He adjusted his glasses. "But your arrival was too timely—coinciding with the stele's emergence and the Ark Core's impending reawakening. It makes me wonder… is there a higher existence manipulating events behind you?"
Higher existence…
The system?
Lu Chen gave no answer. Instead, he asked, "Those monsters—the Harvesters. You created them?"
"More precisely," Chu corrected, "they were created by the Ark's predecessor—a transdimensional starship. I merely inherited its research. They were designed as tools to purge lesser civilizations and harvest life energy. After the crash, they went rogue—and became this world's calamity."
"You want to control them again?"
"Control?" Chu shook his head. "No. I intend to become them."
He spread his arms, fervor blazing in his eyes. "Harvesters are the pinnacle of life—energy devouring, rapid evolution, collective consciousness. By merging with the Ark Core, I will transcend humanity and become a new lifeform! This world—and others—will become my pasture!"
Madness.
Pure, absolute madness.
Lu Chen steadied his breath. At level 26, he stood little chance. The Doctor's earlier shot alone suggested power at least at level 40—perhaps higher.
A frontal clash was suicide.
[Xiao Bei, can you locate the Ark Core?] he asked silently.
"Yes. Directly beneath this chamber—approximately fifty meters down. But the seal is extremely strong. The stele can open it, though it will take time."
Time…
He needed to stall.
"Where is the Ark Core?" Lu Chen asked aloud. "If you knew I'd come, you must have found it already."
"Almost." Chu gestured deeper into the chamber. "Down there. But the seal is too strong—I need the stele's power. Give it to me, and I'll share the spoils. Together, we evolve. Together, we transcend."
"Tempting," Lu Chen smiled. "But I have one question."
"Which is?"
"What makes you think I'd trust a lunatic who experiments on humans, manufactures bioweapons, and dreams of destroying the world?"
Before the words finished falling—
Lu Chen moved.
Not toward Chu, but toward the depths indicated by Xiao Bei.
"Die!" Chu snarled, firing three times.
Crimson beams sealed every avenue of escape.
But Lu Chen had already simulated this scenario with the Combat Foresight Module.
He dove forward, flinging three modified smoke grenades—laced with Blood-Boiling Powder.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Smoke flooded the chamber.
The beams struck the ground, carving three craters—but hit nothing.
"Parlor tricks," Chu scoffed, producing a small device and activating it.
A high-frequency pulse dispersed the smoke instantly.
Lu Chen was gone.
Chu frowned, scanning the area. No blood. No corpse.
"Interesting…"
He moved to the center of the chamber and pressed his hand to the floor.
"Come out, Lin Xiao. I know you're below. That seal can't be opened without the stele—and the stele is in your hands. You can only emerge… or die down there."
Below.
Lu Chen was indeed below.
In the instant he dove, he had used a fragment of the stele to open a temporary spatial breach—a rudimentary form of teleportation unlocked after the stele's restoration.
He now clung within a narrow vertical shaft, alloy plates pressing above and below like an elevator well.
[Where are we?]
"A shaft leading to the core sector," Xiao Bei replied. "Master, the energy below is violent—multiple sources colliding."
"Can we descend?"
"Yes, but the seal below must be broken."
Three meters beneath his feet, a glowing formation pulsed—far more complex than the one above.
Lu Chen summoned the stele's projection once more and pressed it down.
The array flared violently—and counterattacked.
A ferocious suction force tore at his energy reserves.
[Warning: 'Energy-Drain Seal' detected]
[Solution: Use blood essence as catalyst; reverse infusion to overload the array]
Again… blood essence.
Lu Chen clenched his teeth and slit his wrist. Blood spilled onto the stele.
The monument drank deeply, erupting in golden radiance as it began to siphon energy back from the formation.
Two forces locked in stalemate.
But Lu Chen's reserves dwindled faster. He was losing.
Then, from above, Chu's voice echoed:
"Found you."
The alloy plate was ripped apart. Chu descended, hovering in midair, gazing down at Lu Chen.
"A tenacious insect," he said coldly, raising his gun. "But the game is over."
He pulled the trigger.
At that instant, the array beneath Lu Chen destabilized under the violent energy exchange. Seizing the opening, Lu Chen poured everything—the stele's power and his remaining blood essence—into it.
"Break!"
Crack—
The formation shattered.
A terrifying surge of energy erupted from below, like a volcanic blast.
Chu's expression twisted in horror as he tried to retreat—but it was too late.
Lu Chen was swallowed by the torrent, plunging deeper into the abyss.
And as he fell, he saw it—
A colossal, pulsating, silver "heart."
The Ark Core.