Before the main gate opened, Hao Ren had not felt particularly nervous. Although his professional caution had led him to signal everyone to move away from the gate, he did not actually believe there could be much danger behind it. This was not because he was careless, but because the surrounding environment had unconsciously put him at ease. From what they had seen so far, the entire exterior of the experimental base was intact and spotless, looking brand-new. It showed no sign of having suffered an external intrusion or an internal accident such as a containment failure. The emergency evacuation of the personnel seemed to have been caused by something else.
But he had not completely let down his guard because of that. His remaining vigilance proved useful. Before the gate had even fully opened, he suddenly felt his heart clench as a sense of danger surged over him. He dodged to the side while shouting a warning: "Back! Danger!"
Almost before his voice had faded, a streak of white light shot out of the gate like lightning. It seemed to cleave space apart, leaving countless black cracks hanging in the air along its path. The white light slanted downward and vanished in an instant, but it still left a horrifying scorch mark on the alloy floor, whose strength surpassed that of any alloy on Earth.
The power of that single strike was almost equal to a small plasma cannon blast!
Fortunately, Hao Ren had ordered everyone away from the gate from the start, and his warning when it opened had come in time. The devastating blast did not cause any fatalities. Only one Spellcaster apprentice failed to dodge in time and was injured by the shockwave. The Arcane Shield he had hastily raised failed to block the high-temperature, high-pressure