Golden Light

"Drip... drip..."

In the cold, damp, and pitch-black underground space, the sound of water droplets hitting stone bricks was clearly audible.

"Step... step, step!"

However, the sound of human footsteps approaching from the distance broke the silence.

The light followed the humans into this place, illuminating the entire underground chamber.

The area was flat and square, roughly the size of two standard football fields, and about fifteen meters high, making it extremely spacious.

The ceiling, walls, and passageways were all constructed from granite bricks with moss growing in the gaps, and the load-bearing granite pillars were so thick that it would take three grown men to wrap their arms around them.

On the left and right sides, as well as at the end directly opposite the entrance passage, were numerous "door frames" that were each fourteen meters in height and width.

A small plaza resembling a sacrificial altar sat in the very center, with four giant statues of indistinct appearance—seemingly deliberately covered in mud—standing at the four corners of the platform.

"Step, step!"

Led by Second Lieutenant Jack Krauser, the U.S. soldiers were the first to rush out of the passage.

The soldiers quickly fanned out, using the stone pillars as cover and advancing steadily with the aid of their shoulder-mounted lights, while the mercenaries belonging to Atlas followed closely behind.

Soon, the soldiers completed their sweep, confirming that everything here was normal and there was no immediate danger.

Immediately after, a large number of personnel flooded into the underground space, opening their equipment cases to begin setting up high-power lighting equipment, as well as various professional measurement and research instruments.

Sui Yang, however, walked straight to the center, stepped up the seven stairs, and ascended the sacrificial altar.

Looking around, aside from the four statues, what caught Sui Yang's attention was a platform composed of nine giant floor tiles, engraved with an unusual "symbol"—

It was the skull of a human.

[Blood... fresh blood...]

""

Hearing this, Sui Yang frowned slightly, considering whether or not to continue following that cold voice.

Because he had seen countless films, he couldn't help but feel that everything happening at this moment pointed toward a horror-adventure movie where someone breaks a seal and releases some kind of extremely evil entity.

Yet, regarding the skull symbol before him, Sui Yang felt a strange sense of familiarity.

It wasn't just Sui Yang; the personnel belonging to Atlas were also highly tense, and the mercenaries were on extreme alert, ensuring they could respond to any sudden situation at a moment's notice.

While the U.S. soldiers were equally vigilant, they were mostly confused.

They belonged to the 10th Special Forces Group of the U.S. Army, stationed at the South Africa Base. On June 3rd, they received orders from their superiors to provide full protection for a VIP and were sent ahead to Ghana in West Africa.

On June 4th, the Atlas freighter arrived at Accra Port, and after completing the rendezvous and a brief rest, they headed deep into the Comoé Forest.

At first, these U.S. soldiers simply treated this operation as a routine "bodyguard" mission.

However, before entering the ruins, Sui Yang had said to them: "Children, you are the warriors I have chosen... especially you, Second Lieutenant Jack Krauser."

That sentence, combined with the current situation, made the soldiers wonder if Sui Yang intended to sacrifice them.

After all, having grown up under the influence of movies, television, and comics, they believed that the world's superheroes and supervillains were born and formed naturally.

Hindered by the need to follow orders, and having not yet suffered any real threat, they maintained a relatively harmonious state.

In contrast, Sui Yang—who had been mistaken by Jack Krauser and the other U.S. soldiers as having the potential to be a supervillain—decided after a few seconds of contemplation to take the gamble. He drew the dagger hanging at his waist with his right hand and proceeded to slash his left palm.

Bright red blood dripped down uncontrollably.

"Drip!"

The moment the blood bead hit the brick surface, it splashed outward as if it had exploded.

More and more blood dripped down, gathered, and gradually flowed into the engraved gaps.

Immediately after, Sui Yang felt a suction force, which instantly caused his left palm to bleed profusely.

Furthermore, the blood gushing out of his body was no longer affected by gravity; instead, it flowed directly into the gaps as if it had a mind of its own. In less than the blink of an eye, a blood-red skull appeared before Sui Yang's eyes.

BOOM!!

Suddenly, the engraved gaps erupted with a blinding golden light.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The moss-covered stone pillars were engulfed in golden flames, making the underground space bright as day without the need for high-power lighting equipment.

"Click... click!!"

Then, the mud covering the statues cracked like glass and fell away entirely, exposing their original appearance...

They were giants wearing power armor that felt quite futuristic, yet rugged and retro, holding giant swords with chains or rifles with large-caliber muzzles.

!!!

Before Sui Yang could be surprised, he saw the golden light radiating from the skull carving instantly converge upon him.

"Ugh!"

At this moment, he endured immense pain; his skin felt as if it were being crushed by a live electric iron, burning and stinging, while the blood in his body felt as if it were "boiling."

Fortunately, the intense pain was fleeting, and after he eased up a little...

Sui Yang, on the contrary, felt refreshed and incredibly comfortable; his senses, such as hearing and vision, had been further enhanced, and he could even vaguely perceive the emotional fluctuations in his surroundings.

With his mind completely steadied, Sui Yang looked at the giant statues around him, then combined that with the skull symbols and the changes that had occurred to his own body...

This can't be psychic power, can it?!

The reason he cursed in his heart was that Sui Yang had deduced his transmigration was inextricably linked to the monsters and demons of Warhammer 40k!

Were these giant statues on the sacrificial altar not the Astartes, known as "Angels"?

The skull was the symbol of the Imperium of Man, and furthermore, Sui Yang believed the source of the cold, emotionless voice in his mind was very likely that God-Emperor of Mankind who "loves the collective, but not the individual."

Could it be that he had been chosen by the God-Emperor to transmigrate into this parallel world, which was a mixture of American TV shows, game characters, and settings?

Sui Yang did not know, but he knew that once something was tainted by Warhammer 40k, it meant that demons, the Warp, the Chaos Gods, and other such bizarre entities also existed.

"..."

He was speechless.

To be honest, the thought of giving up almost took the upper hand, but more than that, he had already endured for over a hundred years—what was a little more time?

Moreover, theoretically, when he transmigrated into a world involving knowledge of the Warp, he should have been immediately targeted by the Chaos Gods, yet he remained safe and sound.

"Mr. Sui! The door has indeed opened!"

The sudden reminder interrupted Sui Yang's brief moment of distraction.

Looking toward the sound, he discovered that within the 14 x 14-meter threshold directly in front of him, the granite had transformed into a liquid metal resembling mercury.

Seeing this, and based on the messages in his mind—[The door to other worlds will open] and [It is up to you to decide whether humanity can survive]—it indicated that he had plenty of room to maneuver.

The primary task at hand was to explore the world on the other side of the first door and attempt to have Atlas "learn from others' strengths to offset its own weaknesses," acquiring era-defining weapons and equipment.

And once they possessed an absolute technological advantage, the next step would be to resolve the hidden threats of the so-called "superhumans" in this world, ensuring that Atlas stood alone at the top.