In the following days, with Bai Qi's presence, the planet's creatures dared not cause trouble. Once the camp was established and security measures were in place, Savage quickly sent over a batch of scientists. One group was tasked with researching the Gate of Destruction, while another focused on studying the planet's indigenous life.
Bai Qi's duties, aside from guarding the camp, occasionally involved rapid reconnaissance flights across the planet.
To put it in perspective, this planet was not large, only about two-thirds the size of Earth. Seventy percent of it was barren red land, another twenty percent was an ocean emitting red light, and a mere ten percent comprised relatively favorable environments of forests, lakes, and swamps.
Sometimes, when the mood struck him, Bai Qi would even bring back a live specimen or two, or fresh stingray and rhino monsters, for the scientists.
After all, with the camp's current technology, they could at most capture smaller planetary creatures for study. For massive beings like the rhino monsters and stingrays, they mostly had to rely on carcasses.
As the research deepened, Lex Luthor also became interested. He decisively arrived on the planet through the Gate of Destruction. However, Luthor wasn't interested in the local fauna; his focus was solely on the Gate of Destruction itself.
Bai Qi understood the Gate of Destruction's importance. To accelerate Luthor's research, he even brought over Doctor Octopus, the Extreme, and several capable scientists from Umbrella Corporation to assist Luthor in mastering the Gate of Destruction as quickly as possible.
"How is it, Luthor? Have you figured this thing out yet?"
Upon returning to the camp after a tour of the globe, Bai Qi asked Luthor, who was busy in the laboratory.
Seeing Bai Qi's return, Luthor composed himself and replied with a frown, "The situation is rather complex."
"What's going on?"
Luthor pointed to a monitor screen. "Take a look."
Bai Qi stared at the chaotic, colorful patterns on the screen, utterly bewildered.
"Stop beating around the bush and just tell me."
Luthor sighed. "After my research these past few days, I've discovered that this so-called Gate of Destruction is actually an extremely precise and technologically advanced instrument."
Seeing that Bai Qi still didn't understand, Luthor became more direct. "You can think of this gate as a portal that allows travel between two different worlds."
"The current problem is that the gate's energy is insufficient."
Luthor continued, "The gate's energy source is the sun, but its charging speed is too slow, and its consumption is too rapid. In three days, if we can't find a way to recharge the gate, it will close."
Bai Qi raised an eyebrow. "So, in three days, we either leave, or we're stuck here forever?"
"Not forever. As long as we wait for the gate to complete its natural recharge cycle, we can still return."
"And how long does that recharge take?"
"Five hundred and sixty-seven years and six hours."
"Are you kidding me?"
Bai Qi's brow furrowed. Five hundred and sixty-seven years and six hours, with such precise figures. Perhaps Bai Qi and Savage could live that long, but Luthor, being mortal, certainly wouldn't survive for five centuries. Moreover, even if Bai Qi could live that long, returning after five hundred years would mean a world changed beyond recognition, and it would be too late.
"Alright, do your best. Three days. If it's not possible, retreat first and we'll find another way."
Luthor nodded, turned, and plunged back into his experiments.
Leaving the laboratory, Bai Qi saw Savage's subordinates already beginning to freeze and pack planetary creatures, transporting them in large quantities back to their original world through the portal.
"It seems you already know."
Savage said, "While Luthor is an undeniable genius, I don't believe he can master the Gate of Destruction within three days."
"I understand, but I will find a way."
"You?"
Savage raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe a demon who wielded magic could possibly have a solution.
"Of course."
Bai Qi stopped arguing and turned, flying out of the camp.
Bai Qi flew for a long distance, arriving at an open space far from the camp. He took out a tarot card bearing his own image, then took out the Divine Light Mirror and inserted the tarot card into it.
The tarot card, after passing through the Divine Light Mirror, began to decompose into starlight and reassemble, forming an ancient wooden door.
Bai Qi shrunk his body and stepped through the door.
Ever since his accidental entry last time and his brief greeting with the other members, Bai Qi had not visited the Round Table Hall again.
The room was still ancient, and the familiar round table remained.
However, this time there was no grand welcoming party. In fact, apart from Bai Qi, there were only three other beings in the entire hall—or rather, three non-humans.
"Lord Holy One, you have arrived."
Naraku, upon seeing Bai Qi enter, hastily rose from his seat to pay his respects.
It wasn't that Naraku was overly deferential; it was simply that among the members, he possessed the weakest strength. Though a great demon, capable of commanding winds and rain in his own world, he was no match for Bai Qi, Belial, or even Gatanothor.
Although Belial was the designated administrator, he mostly focused on developing his monster army and accumulating strength to confront the Land of Light, spending very little time in the hall. Naraku, on the other hand, spent his free time in the Round Table Hall, enhancing himself by learning knowledge from different worlds.
"Ah, ah, ah, it's Lord Holy One!"
Before Naraku could fully rise, he was roughly shoved aside by none other than Gatanothor, the pampered favorite.
Gatanothor, currently slurping something unknown from his tentacles, looked at Bai Qi with an expression of utmost sincerity.
After a while, he extended another tentacle, holding a small bucket filled with a black, viscous, unknown substance.
"Lord Holy One, do you want to try some? It's delicious! Brother Ka'er gave it to me."
Could you imagine Gatanothor, with such a terrifying appearance, uttering such childish words? The sheer incongruity was...
"No, thank you."
Bai Qi refused the offer without a second thought, instinctively taking a few steps back to create distance.
Gatanothor fed on the fear of living beings, and the more he consumed, the stronger he became. As for what he was currently eating with such relish, it was undoubtedly fear in its materialized form.
Regardless of how appetizing it might seem to Gatanothor, for ordinary people, let alone eating it, even a touch of this substance could lead to madness at best, and at worst, a transformation into a monster unrecognizable even to its mother.
Moreover, if left exposed, this materialized fear itself was a form of pollution.
Not to mention this high-grade concoction, personally prepared by Gatanothor, it was poison upon poison for most beings other than Gatanothor himself.
While Bai Qi possessed some immunity to such things, he was not entirely immune. For his own safety, it was best to avoid it.