Ten minutes passed. Perhaps fifteen.
Xiao Lin appeared alone in the Dream Chamber. He fell to his knees, gasping for air, the white mist of his breath condensing rapidly on his visor before dissipating just as fast.
At this moment, he had almost completely lost his perception of the environment. Everything around him seemed to be roaring. He could only struggle to his feet and stumble toward the exit.
Yu Shuang was dead. After seeing that thing, she had suffered a mental breakdown and gone insane.
Then, her body began to mutate, becoming increasingly bloated. In mere seconds, her form filled the loose, bulky protective suit.
The full-environment suit, designed to protect her, had become a lethal cage. She could neither take it off nor burst out of it; she was crushed to death alive within the armor.
Her corpse resembled a giant white chocolate truffle.
Xiao Lin moved on, walking toward the door.
Ai Sheng's condition was slightly better. He had not gone mad, nor had he mutated. After witnessing the scene beyond the Gate, he whispered softly, "Xiao Lin, we are going to go extinct, aren't we?"
Then, he drew his sidearm, aimed it at his own head, and pulled the trigger.
Xiao Lin's conjecture had not been wrong. Beyond the Gate existed the Ultimate Thing.
It was a silver giant, thousands of kilometers tall, possessing hundreds of pairs of radiant wings. It was flawless, unbearable to gaze upon, carrying a divinity akin to the scorching sun.
Anyone who beheld It would realize that It was a deity, the Creator, the ultimate existence that overwhelmed all concepts.
One would then envision Its majestic posture, beating wings capable of raising hurricanes, shaping the entire world with earth-shattering divine power.
Now, It was dead. Like an animal struck by a car on a highway, It lay fallen upon the continent, Its corpse so vast it resembled a mountain range.
Its head was swollen like a rotting fruit, pupils dilated, mouth agape, revealing a fear and horror that only humans possess.
Its body was corrupt and bloated, covered in pustules, with giant worms burrowing out from within, swaying like seaweed.
Countless parasites of bizarre forms were swarming out of this corrupt divine corpse.
They gathered into a tide, swimming in the ocean formed by the corpse's fluids, spreading and蔓延 (spreading) toward the entire world.
Xiao Lin could clearly sense the overwhelming greed and malice. Those parasites had discovered their presence.
One day, they would cross the Stone Gate and come to this world!!
That Stone Gate had to be closed. He had to inform Yue Taizhou immediately.
Xiao Lin raised his eyes. The white door before him slid open slowly. The corridor outside was bright, silent, and empty. There was no one there, only the faint hum of the ventilation system.
This silence made Xiao Lin feel an unaccountable sense of unease.
Why was no one waiting outside? Why was there no one to receive him immediately?
Logically, it shouldn't be like this...
But he had no time to ponder this. Dragging his bulky suit, he crossed the long corridor, entered the elevator, and pressed the button for the office level.
After a long ascent, with a soft ding, the elevator doors slowly opened before him. But the bustle he expected did not rush in.
The corridor, usually bustling with people, was as silent as the grave, just like the Dream Chamber. Empty.
The only sound was Space Oddity playing over the broadcast system.
"Is anyone there? I need help!" Xiao Lin shouted with force. His hoarse voice echoed down the hall, but failed to break the profound silence.
The people of the institute seemed to have all left... as if the entire project were merely an April Fool's prank, and they had hidden away after sending him through the door.
Perhaps at this very moment, they were watching his reaction from somewhere, slapping their thighs and laughing wildly.
The unease grew heavier. Xiao Lin walked toward Yue Taizhou's office.
Yue Taizhou was a strange fellow. No matter when one opened the door, he was always in his office, sitting behind towering stacks of files, as if he were part of the interior decoration.
But this time, Yue Taizhou was not there either. His seat was empty. Everything was exactly as it had been when he left.
Even the obscure local mythology book he had been reading recently was still resting on the desk.
The only difference was that a tattered notebook was placed squarely in the center of the desktop. Its pages
3397954925: 03-31 23:36:37
were brittle and yellowed, as if it were an artifact from the previous century.
On it was simply written the name "Yu Renqing." This was the name of the institute's psychological expert.
For some reason, Xiao Lin felt a subtle fear toward this object, but he took a deep breath and picked it up, slowly opening it.
On the flyleaf, a sentence was written in heavy strokes: "Herein, I record the destruction of the Tianyan Research Institute."
"March 16, 2025.
The first Mysterious Journey is declared a failure. The first generation of Transcendents—Xiao Lin, Yu Shuang, Ai Sheng—have gone missing. The Tianyan Institute urgently activated the reserve first-generation Transcendents, but they failed to enter the Gate."
Professor Yue Taizhou urgently sent blood samples of the first-generation Transcendents to all corners of the world, pushing for the cultivation of the second generation.
"June. Second-generation Transcendents Yang Qi, Fang Zhe, Li Zongyi, An Jinsheng, and others were activated. Failed to enter the Gate."
"August. Third attempt failed. Failed to enter the Gate."
"October. Fourth attempt failed."
"The power of Transcendents is decaying across generations. The Gate has rejected us all."
"July 2028.
Transcendents manifested powers in the real world that should not exist, which did not align with the Professor's predictions. They began to participate in containing mysterious events. At that time, everyone thought everything would be alright, except the Professor."
"January 2033.
The most terrible thing happened. Transcendents were thrown into human battlefields. The Third World War commenced amidst spreading destruction. None of us can escape this hell. The Professor said we must focus on our work until the last hour before the world's destruction."
"July 2035.
Yang Qi rebelled. He personally killed Professor Yue Taizhou, destroyed the institute, and annihilated all our efforts to save the world."
The final sentence.
"On the verge of my death, I curse this world to perish in madness!"
Xiao Lin stared at those words, feeling only as if he had sunk into a terrible nightmare.
He realized he had not taken a giant leap for mankind like Armstrong in 1969. He was lost, lost within his own universe, gazing at a hometown that seemed within reach, yet forever unreachable.