Secrets of the Age: The Pangu Project

"But what happens after we kill them?"

"Obviously, we take their vehicles, guns, and money. Then, once dawn breaks, we leave Gray Soil Town. We can sell the vehicles and guns afterward. With enough money, we'll be able to buy Dawn City resident identities."

"Brother Ye, don't be impulsive! That officer and the young man beside him both look like trouble. We're not in danger right now, so why take the risk?" Li You was so anxious he was nearly in tears. He tried earnestly to persuade Bai Ye, hoping to awaken what little reason Bai Ye had left.

Bai Ye cut him off. "You don't know shit. We may not be in danger now, but their goal is to shove all of us into that fiery pit called Black Mountain and force us to die!

A true man stands between heaven and earth—how could he allow himself to be coerced? My mind is made up. I'll sneak over in a moment and take out those two officers first. Once the camp falls into chaos, you strike immediately. We'll attack from within and without and wipe them out in one go!"

After saying that, Bai Ye gave Li You no chance to argue further. He silently headed toward the dark corners beneath the surrounding buildings.

"Brother Ye! Don't be rash. Think more about the sixteen-character mantra... Ah! What a sin!" Li You sighed in anguish.

He watched Bai Ye move through the shadows with nervous focus. He did not know whether his eyes were playing tricks on him, but in the blink of an eye, Bai Ye had vanished from sight.

Bai Ye silently made his way toward the tent area. Quite a few soldiers were standing watch around the perimeter, but none of them could stop him.

Time Stop!

Buzz!

An eerie ripple of time enveloped the world, and Bai Ye rushed into the camp like a speeding cheetah.

Time resumed.

The moment he passed the outermost soldiers, he restored time without wasting a second.

His target was the tent at the very center of the tent area. He had already observed it earlier; the officer and the hawk-eyed man were both inside.

As long as he took out those two, the remaining ordinary soldiers would be easy to deal with.

Bai Ye was not taking such a risk because the extra minute had gone to his head. He had considered it carefully.

Black Mountain was known to already have Dawn's military forces stationed there. Once this squad reached Black Mountain and joined the main force, escaping would become far more difficult. It was better to act early!

He could have simply run away. With Time Stop, escaping would be easy, but where would he get money?

Dawn City was extremely strict about illegal entrants. Even if he managed to sneak in, without official resident status, he would be unable to get anywhere in the city. Now that more than a hundred guns were sitting right in front of him, how could he possibly not take them?

With Time Stop's help, Bai Ye evaded every patrolling soldier and quickly reached the tent where the officers were staying.

"Mr. Ying, rumors are spreading outside that the Pangu Project, established before the Great Cataclysm, is inside Black Mountain. Is that true?" the officer's deep voice sounded from within the tent.

In the shadow behind the tent, Bai Ye paused. The Pangu... Project?

What kind of project would be named after Pangu? Pangu was the being who split heaven from earth. Did that mean this project could have an earth-shattering effect?

And it concerned the time before the Great Cataclysm, which made him deeply curious. The Great Cataclysm had happened a hundred years ago, while he had transmigrated from two hundred years ago. In other words, the civilization of his time had continued developing for another hundred years before an unexplained Great Cataclysm suddenly struck and shattered human civilization.

After civilization crumbled, the surviving humans had spent a hundred years forming the present era.

The two hundred years of history in between fascinated him.

He was suddenly in no hurry to carry out the decapitation strike. He decided to listen to what the two men had to say first.

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't," the young man called Mr. Ying said coldly.

Forget it. Better kill them all.

Bai Ye silently drew his dagger.

"Mr. Ying, the news has nearly spread across all of North Mang by now. Why keep secrets from one of your own?" the officer said with a smile.

Mr. Ying pondered for a moment before finally speaking. "There is a shelter built before the Great Cataclysm inside Black Mountain, designated Shelter 189. The Pangu Project was carried out in Shelter 189."

"So that's how it is." There was little fluctuation in the officer's voice. Clearly, he had expected it already.

"It is said that the Pangu Project was supposed to split heaven and earth after the Great Cataclysm and create a new era. Is that true as well?"

"It is. When the Great Cataclysm occurred, humanity built many shelters to escape the disaster. Because shelter space and resources were limited, those who could enter were the greatest human elites of that era.

Those elites planned to emerge from the shelters after the Great Cataclysm had passed and use the Pangu Project to create a new era for human civilization. The key to the Pangu Project was Shelter 189.

Unfortunately, they failed. A hundred years have passed since the Great Cataclysm, yet the Pangu Project was never implemented. Not even the human elites within the shelters ever appeared. No one knew what happened; they only knew that all those elites had died.

Instead, the ordinary people whom they had abandoned survived. Without the protection of shelters, ninety-five percent of those ordinary people died from the pollution of the Great Cataclysm.

The remaining five percent adapted to the pollution and survived against all odds. They rebuilt civilization upon the wasteland. Some fortunate people even discovered buried shelters and obtained some of the previous era's technology. Relying on that technology, they rapidly expanded their forces and built great cities like Dawn City."

At this point, an inscrutable trace of mockery entered Mr. Ying's voice.

"Yes, I know that much. After all, Apocalypse Technology Corporation, the true controller of Dawn City, rose to power by relying on a surviving shelter.

Mr. Ying, after all that, what exactly is the Pangu Project?"

Mr. Ying fell silent for a moment. "I don't know the specific details either. I only know that there is a key item in the Pangu Project called the Pangu USB Drive."

"The Pangu USB Drive?"

"The Pangu USB Drive contains all the knowledge of the civilization era. It is the crystallization of human civilization! That is precisely why the Pangu Project had the foundation to split heaven and earth upon the wasteland!"

"The crystallization of human civilization?!" The officer cried out instinctively, waves crashing through his heart. He knew very well what the crystallization of human civilization meant.

Wasn't Apocalypse Technology Corporation, which controlled Dawn City, able to become a colossal power entrenched in North Mang because its founder had discovered a surviving shelter and obtained a portion of its gene-editing technology?

Just a small portion of gene-editing technology could create such a powerful force. If any force mastered the complete crystallization of human civilization, then given enough time, ruling the entire world would not be difficult.

"Please pardon my outburst, Mr. Ying." It took the officer a long while to calm himself before he spoke again. Even then, he could not hide the shock in his tone. "Given my limited knowledge, I truly cannot imagine how many world-changing technologies the crystallization of human civilization contains."

"Gene editing, mechanical armor, artificial intelligence, life engineering, extraordinary evolution, and more... Whether you can imagine it or not, the Pangu USB Drive has it all."

"Hiss!" The officer sucked in a sharp breath.