The Second Gate

Comoé Primeval Rainforest.

Covering 11,500 square kilometers, nearly seventy percent of the rainforest remained untouched by humans. Its many species of venomous mosquitoes had even kept the local tribes away.

But along the border with Ghana, several Atlas construction crews were working at full speed.

Towering trees and a perimeter secured by armed Mercenaries kept even the local government from approaching to see what they were building.

Atlas had bought the land, making it private property. With military strength that surpassed the local government's to protect the project, construction was steadily advancing deeper into the rainforest.

Following the crews' path northwest would lead into the depths of Comoé Primeval Rainforest.

At first glance, this area looked no different from any other untouched stretch of jungle. Towering trees and dense foliage covered the ground year-round.

Yet dozens of meters beneath it—

"All personnel, prepare yourselves. Repeat, all personnel, prepare yourselves. The second Space Gate is about to open. Advance Team members, report to area SG-002.

"All personnel, prepare..."

The announcement echoed through the vast space.

The ruins, once built of granite blocks, had been expanded by Atlas into a far roomier underground base.

The Engineering Department had neatly laid out living quarters, laboratories, training areas, and power facilities. It could almost be called a small underground town.

On the southeast side of the base was a tunnel a full ten meters in diameter. Together with the tracks already laid, it made the construction crews' intention clear: they planned to dig a "Metro" beneath the rainforest, straight to the Ghanaian border.

Only Atlas would undertake construction on that scale without regard for cost or return.

Though the underground Relic Base had long since lost its original appearance, the Engineering Department had preserved the load-bearing stone columns crowned with golden flames, as well as the altar at its center.

To the north lay the first Space Gate, its surface like a mirror of mercury. Heavy trucks continued to pass through it between Universe 01 and the Main Universe.

Although Universe 01 no longer required much attention, Atlas continued sending in personnel of every kind. The Investigators who had first integrated into its society had even established an Atlas Division there.

The division's main business was cross-universe trade, exploiting price differences between universes and eras. Alongside maximizing profits, it was gradually extending Atlas's influence from a single universe into the multiverse.

Its secondary task was to find valuable people in other universes, make contact, and try to recruit them.

One example was Dr. Henry Carter, who had studied Mimics in depth but had been dismissed as a lunatic—the disheveled, scruffy scientist from the film Edge of Tomorrow.

With the Mimic threat eliminated and the Atlas Division offering a generous salary, Dr. Carter gladly joined. He had passed the assessments and was now assigned to the R&D Department under Wang Zhaofeng.

And now...

At the announcement, warning lights in prominent positions began flashing, putting the entire base on alert.

People streamed through the various areas, corridors, and passageways. An armed squad in sealed, pressurized combat suits rode an open-top shuttle toward the first Space Gate.

When the vehicle reached the outer waiting area and stopped, the squad quickly climbed out. Four members equipped with Exoskeletons carried large equipment cases.

At the central altar, Sui Yang stood in a black suit, looking down at the skull engraving that symbolized humanity's purity.

He raised his left hand and spread his fingers. Then he drew his right index finger across his left palm—or rather, dug its nail into the skin.

Drip. Drip.

Bright red blood fell slowly at first, then poured out. It flowed deliberately into the engraving's grooves, and in an instant, a blood-red skull appeared before Sui Yang.

Boom!

Golden Radiant Light burst forth, filling the entire underground base.

Golden flames also sprang up around the second gate frame, which was packed with earth and moss between its stone blocks.

As the flames surged, Radiant Light erupted again. Everyone present except Sui Yang involuntarily shut their eyes.

A moment passed.

The light faded.

When everyone opened their eyes again, the earth and stone blocks within the second gate frame had been replaced by a faintly glowing mercury mirror.

"Attention, everyone. Green light, green light. The second Space Gate is open," the broadcast announced at just the right moment. "Advance Team, proceed to Universe 02 immediately. Survey the other side and establish a wired communications base station."

The reminder was hardly necessary. Everyone was already at their post, ready to explore Universe 02.

Sui Yang walked slowly to the edge of the altar and watched the Advance Team, fewer than twenty strong, pass through the Space Gate one by one until the "mercury" swallowed the last of them.

—

"Huff... hah... huff..."

The sealed mask made every breath sound unusually loud.

The mask also had a built-in HUD. In the upper left was a round-framed Miniature Radar showing nearby movement detected by its motion sensors and marking his comrades with green dots.

The upper right showed his heart rate, the words "Sgt. Gary 'Roach' Sanderson," and other real-time data.

Sergeant Sanderson, nicknamed Roach, stood with his comrades before the second Space Gate. Rippling light, like reflections off a lake or sea, washed over them.

As the broadcast sounded, a low voice gave an order over their communications channel: "Soap, Ghost, Roach. You three go through first."

"Copy that. Let's go."

Roach stepped forward and soon stood just two fist-widths from the mercury mirror.

"Huff... hah!"

After a few deep breaths, his heart rate rose slightly. Roach and his two comrades stepped forward again, until the "mercury" enveloped their masks and filled their vision.

Fortunately, the passage took only the blink of an eye.

The "mercury" rapidly receded from the center of his mask, drawing upward and to either side. His vision returned, and before him...

Stretched a rainforest.

But it was nothing like the Comoé Primeval Rainforest outside the Relic Base—or any rainforest on Earth.

Every giant tree he could see stood at least a hundred meters tall. All the nearby plants and flowers seemed larger, too. More importantly, Roach felt... lighter?

He glanced at the data on the right side of his mask. One entry read "Gravity: approximately 0.8 G." It confirmed that he really was lighter. It also confirmed...

They were now on another planet.

(The End)