You Are Not Wu Daozi!

"Hm? Qiming, what came after that?"

"There was nothing else, Master."

"...At the most crucial part?" Yuan frowned, feeling somewhat displeased.

"Yes, Master. Not only were the words on the stone carvings gone, even the murals had disappeared."

"Continue drilling. There really is something wrong here. Increase the pace."

After saying that, Yuan focused his gaze on the distant ruins. With Bruis and the others bombarding the area without restraint, the region surrounding the laboratory had largely been cleared.

The enormous laboratory became increasingly clear in everyone's eyes. As the last massive sand dune was removed, the laboratory's true form was once again exposed to the light of day.

Most of the laboratory's equipment had been damaged beyond recognition. It was unclear whether thirty thousand years had stripped them of their original properties or whether Bruis and the others' artillery fire had destroyed them.

Yuan no longer cared about that. A large model of a beast's body drew his attention.

"Your Excellency, the area around the laboratory should be safe. As per your orders, we did not limit the output. The energy cannons' blast radius should have been considerable, and the laboratory took quite an impact." Bruis approached Yuan slowly, smiling.

Yuan nodded silently. It seemed that the laboratory area truly contained no traps. He gazed at the laboratory in silence, seemingly lost in thought.

"Bruis!" Yuan's voice was slightly hoarse, as though he had noticed something.

"Your Excellency, please speak."

"It's nothing. The external interface you gave me before isn't working anymore. I made some modifications to the new warship inside. Take a look and prepare the supplies."

As he spoke, he handed the interface by his ear to Bruis. Then he patted Bruis's battle armor, moved his fingers across it a few times, and complained,

"This damned place has nothing but sand. It's boring. Prepare the supplies, and have everyone else stand guard around the laboratory in case anything happens. Remember, I put quite a bit of effort into the data in that interface. Look it over carefully!"

Bruis accepted the neural interface in confusion, unable to understand what Yuan truly meant.

Just as he was about to ask, he saw the meaningful look in Yuan's eyes. Recalling Yuan's earlier movements with his hand, Bruis felt as though he understood something.

He hurriedly gripped the interface tightly and still said respectfully, "Rest assured, Your Excellency. Everything will proceed according to your will."

"Good. Go on. I still need to study this laboratory." With that, Yuan turned and returned to the command center.

Watching Yuan's back disappear from view, Bruis immediately put on the interface and accessed the information at top speed. Whatever he saw made his pupils suddenly contract, and his breath caught for a moment. The next second, everything returned to normal.

Afterward, Bruis swiftly gathered the soldiers of Taotie and began moving supplies one batch after another.

"Master, according to the readings, Adjutant Bruis should have understood your meaning."

Hearing Qiming's voice echo in his mind, a silent smile appeared on Yuan's lips.

"You found something new, didn't you?"

"Yes, Master. Eight hundred kilometers away from the ruins, there is another large underground karst cave. The probes found several murals and are currently deciphering them."

The information here differed from that around the ruins. It had been left behind much earlier.

No one knew when it began, but the gods vanished from our world. Panic and chaos appeared once more. Without the gods' guidance, did we still have a future? No one knew.

Everyone blamed the gods' disappearance on humanity's greed and disrespect toward the gods. Thus, a new war began.

No one knew how long the war lasted. Later, only one nation remained in the world. To make the gods descend again, to make them cast their merciful gaze upon us once more, the kingdom revived sacrifices that had long been abandoned.

Not only were the lives lost in war offered up, but chosen living beings as well. Blood submerged God's creation, and the people of the kingdom hoped to call upon the gods in this way.

The sacrifices continued for many years without success. Then, one year, a young girl was chosen. When her blood dripped onto God's creation, a faint light unlike anything seen before appeared.

Everyone believed the gods had seen them. After that, larger and larger sacrifices were held again and again.

The weather grew worse and worse. Heat, drought, and great cracks opening across the earth. Food became scarcer, while rivers, lakes, and seas grew shallower. The kingdom was gone, and so were we!

The information ended abruptly there. It was unknown whether there was anything afterward, but Yuan assumed there was not. Judging from the geological data detected, these were likely the last survivors of Dobilun Star.

"So this was Dobilun Star's past? A remote star system? Was that what they believed? Or was it what you believed? What do you say, Wu Daozi?"

The command center was utterly silent, so quiet that it seemed abnormal. Yuan fixed his gaze on a certain spot, and then a figure suddenly appeared.

Before they could say anything, Bruis rushed over in a panic with two guards.

Yuan waved a hand, signaling Bruis not to panic.

"With your current knowledge and technology, you should not have been able to detect my existence. Was this another test? But why does it seem as though you can see me?"

That was right. The one who had brought them here was Wu Daozi. He wore a smile at this moment, and a chair materialized behind him. He sat down upon it calmly.

Yuan did the same, leaning back in the command chair as he watched Wu Daozi before him with an unfriendly gaze.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? The Dark Matter computer in the Dobilun Star ruins should be of great benefit to you. Even if you aren't overwhelmed with gratitude, there's no need to look at me as though you want to devour me."

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"You're no longer pretending?" Wu Daozi looked at Yuan's calm expression with great interest.

"Pretending? When have I ever pretended?"

"When? For example, when you called me old man?"

The corner of Yuan's eye twitched slightly. Then he continued in the same calm tone, "That wasn't pretending. It was merely a weak person's instinctive respect for the strong and a scholar's greed for knowledge."

"Yes, a weak person's respect and a scholar's greed. Yuan, you truly are impressive. Can you tell me how you discovered me?" Wu Daozi seemed extremely patient.

"As payment for the Dark Matter computer?"

"Certainly. To me, the structure of a Dark Matter computer is nothing precious."

"Instinct. An inexplicable instinct."

"Hahahaha, good, good. What an instinct. What a Yuan. God King Yuan! What a God King Yuan. The goal you set for yourself is truly ambitious, but you are indeed excellent. I did not misjudge you."

"You invaded Qiming."

"It doesn't really count as an invasion. It has no secrets from me, including you."

"Is that so? Right, of course. After all, you are gods. Then what about you?"

"Me?" Wu Daozi pointed at himself, looking somewhat puzzled.

Yuan's voice was exceptionally calm, and the look in his eyes as he regarded Wu Daozi grew increasingly profound.

"You are not Wu Daozi at all. Who exactly are you?"