At midnight in Yellowstone National Park, there was no commotion of bonfire parties or laughter of tourists. Only the biting cold wind, carrying fine snowflakes, lashed against the metal exterior of the Old Faithful Geyser Observatory, letting out a low, wailing howl as if the murmur of some ancient creature.
Elias Kane huddled in the observatory's duty room, his fingers gliding across the cracked touchscreen. Chaotic geological data flickered on the display – over the past week, the frequency of crustal movements in the Yellowstone volcanic cluster had exceeded a century-high record. The area of abnormal geothermal activity was expanding at a rate of three kilometers per day, and even the park's geysers had grown restless, their eruption cycles shortening from a regular ninety minutes to less than forty.
"Another microquake, magnitude 2.3, depth 12 kilometers," Elias muttered to himself, casually logging the data. As an intern researcher at the Yellowstone Geological Monitoring Center, he should have evacuated with the team three days earlier, but the disappearance of his mentor, Professor Alan, had made him stubbornly stay behind.
Seven days prior, Professor Alan had led a three-person expedition team deep into a hidden canyon at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake, in search of traces of the legendary "prehistoric civilization ruins," and had never been heard from since. Official search and rescue teams scoured the area for four full days, returning only with a damaged detector and a palm-sized bronze shard – covered in twisted grooves, resembling some undeciphered ancient script, yet emitting a faint, indescribable warmth.
Elias placed the bronze shard on the corner of the desk, his fingers unconsciously caressing its surface. The shard was slightly warmer than room temperature, and there seemed to be a flowing luster hidden within the grooves. Every time his fingertips brushed over them, the patterns would glow faintly, as if alive. Over the past few days, he had pored through all known ancient civilization documents – from Sumerian cuneiform to Mayan hieroglyphs, and even Native American totem symbols – but none matched the patterns on the bronze shard.
"Beep – beep – beep –"
A shrill alarm suddenly shattered the silence, and the observatory's red warning lights flashed frantically. Elias looked up abruptly, his pupils contracting sharply – the geological radar image on the screen showed a massive, irregular cavity 15 kilometers below the bottom of Yellowstone Lake. The center of the cavity was emitting intense energy fluctuations that exceeded the instrument's measurement limit, and scorch marks from overloading had even appeared around the edges of the screen.
More bizarrely, the bronze shard on the desk suddenly began to tremble violently, and the patterns on its surface lit up with a dazzling golden-red glow, as if awakened by the energy from the depths. Within the twisted grooves, it was as if magma was flowing, and the heat it emitted grew increasingly intense, causing the temperature in the entire duty room to rise sharply by several degrees.
"What's happening?" Elias instinctively reached for the bronze shard. The moment his fingertips touched its surface, a scorching energy surged into his body, like a boiling stream rushing through his limbs and bones in an instant.
Excruciating pain mixed with an indescribable numbness swept over him, and Elias couldn't help but grunt, falling to his knees uncontrollably. He could clearly feel that his blood seemed to be ignited, every cell frantically devouring this foreign energy. His bones let out soft "crackling" sounds, and his muscles contracted and expanded continuously under the scouring of the energy.
At the same time, the patterns on the bronze shard began to flow rapidly. The golden-red glow projected onto the wall, forming a huge three-dimensional image – a chaotic void where countless light spots were born and annihilated, as if depicting the dawn of the universe. In the image, vague, colossal figures could be seen floating in the void, draped in stars and holding the reins of laws, seemingly battling against some pitch-black existence.
"Creation... Primal... Devour..."
Muffled syllables seemed to echo directly in Elias's mind, not heard through his ears, but resonating from the depths of his soul. He couldn't understand their meaning, yet he could feel the sorrow and determination contained within them, like a cry from the ancient past, traveling through hundreds of millions of years to reach his consciousness.
At that moment, the observatory suddenly shook violently. The chandelier on the ceiling came crashing down, shattering into pieces on the floor. Outside the window, the pitch-black night sky was torn apart by a massive aurora – not the usual green or purple, but an eerie dark red, like congealed blood, spreading from the direction of Yellowstone Lake to cover half the sky.
"Boom –!"
A deafening roar came from the depths of the earth, as if Yellowstone Park had been lifted by a giant hand. Through the observatory's window, Elias watched as the water level of Yellowstone Lake suddenly surged, sending a massive column of water hundreds of meters into the air before crashing down with a mighty splash, filling the sky with mist. In the mist, a huge crack could be seen splitting the earth at the bottom of the lake, from which a surge of golden-red energy gushed forth, echoing the dark red aurora in the sky.
What made his hair stand on end was that the golden-red energy condensed into countless tiny light spots in the air. Wherever the light spots fell, bizarre creatures appeared on the ground – pitch-black, as if composed of pure shadow, with streamlined bodies, no eyes or mouths, yet exuding a suffocating cold aura. They moved at incredible speed, quadrupedal with claws as sharp as knives, turning rocks to dust and withering trees in their path.
"What are those?" Elias's heart raced, and an intense sense of danger surged within him. He could feel that these pitch-black creatures emanated an energy completely different from that of the bronze shard – a destructive, devouring energy that seemed intent on reducing all life in the world to nothingness.
Just then, one of the pitch-black creatures suddenly noticed the observatory. It darted forward like an arrow, crashing into the window with a loud "crack." The reinforced glass shattered instantly, and cold wind mixed with the stench of the pitch-black creature flooded the room.
Elias instinctively stepped back. The scorching energy within his body seemed to sense the threat and suddenly erupted. A faint golden-red glow appeared in the palm of his right hand, and an energy barrier materialized out of thin air, blocking the creature's pounce. The creature collided with the barrier, letting out a shrill hiss as its body smoked like it was being corroded by acid, and it stumbled backward a few steps.
"This is..." Elias stared at the glow in his palm, filled with shock. He could clearly feel that he had established some kind of connection with the energy within him, as if he could manipulate it with just a thought.
But the energy was too weak. The barrier held for only a few seconds before shattering with a bang. The pitch-black creature pounced again, its sharp claws aimed directly at Elias's chest. In the nick of time, a pattern from the bronze shard suddenly flashed through Elias's mind. He instinctively channeled the energy in his body along the trajectory of the pattern, and a thin golden-red beam shot out from his palm, hitting the creature directly.
"Sizzle –"
The beam pierced through the creature's body, leaving a charred hole. Letting out a shrill wail, the creature began to dissipate rapidly, eventually turning into a wisp of black smoke that was carried away by the wind.
Elias gasped for breath, his back soaked in cold sweat. He looked at his hand, filled with shock and confusion. Everything that had just happened was beyond his comprehension – the massive underground cavity, the mysterious bronze shard, the sudden appearance of energy within him, the dark red aurora in the sky, and these life-devouring pitch-black creatures...
At that moment, his communicator suddenly rang, displaying an unknown number. After a moment's hesitation, Elias answered.
"Mr. Elias Kane, this is Major Coulson from the North American Joint Defense Command," a deep, serious voice came from the communicator. "We have detected an abnormal energy outbreak and unknown biological invasion in Yellowstone Park. According to the emergency plan submitted by Professor Alan before his disappearance, you need to proceed to the underground fortress in Colorado immediately. Specialized personnel will be waiting to receive you there."
"Professor Alan... is he alive?" Elias asked anxiously.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before Major Coulson spoke again. "Before his disappearance, Professor Alan sent all his research data on the bronze shard to us. In his final message, he mentioned that the bronze shard is the carrier of the 'Primal Mark,' capable of awakening the dormant Creation Primal Force within humans – and you are the only one who has resonated with the shard."
"The Primal Mark? Creation Primal Force?" Elias froze. These terms echoed the vague syllables in his mind.
"The details will be explained to you once you arrive at the underground fortress," Major Coulson's voice grew urgent. "This is not the time for questions. The unknown creatures in Yellowstone Park have already begun to spread to surrounding cities. New York and Los Angeles have already been attacked. Our fleet is en route to Yellowstone, but it will take time. You must evacuate within one hour, otherwise, you will be trapped in the danger zone."
The communicator went silent. Elias stared at the flashing alarm messages on the screen, then at the bronze shard on the desk, still emitting a faint glow. A strong premonition surged within him – the peaceful world was over. A catastrophe that threatened the survival of humanity, and even the fate of the entire universe, had begun.
He carefully tucked the bronze shard into his chest. Its warmth remained, as if whispering the secrets of the dawn of creation. Elias clenched his fists and turned toward the back door of the observatory. Outside, the dark red aurora grew darker, pitch-black creatures scurried through the snow, and the distant glow of the city was accompanied by the continuous sound of explosions and screams.
He had no idea what lay ahead, but he knew one thing – the bronze shard, the Primal Force within him, and the mysterious pitch-black creatures were all connected to the origin of the universe. And his journey to uncover these secrets, and to defend the world he knew, had only just begun.