Chapter 1 The Entrance

The eerie green flames illuminated the entrance to the corridor, making the dim lights in the distance seem even more oppressive and gloomy. In that unsettling darkness, the "historical avatar," already corrupted by some force, suddenly froze, standing in the distance like a stone statue, deaf to Duncan's words.

But this silent, strange confrontation lasted only a short time—before Duncan's eyes, the "historical avatar," which had been still for only a few seconds, suddenly trembled again! In the next instant, it turned its head sharply!

Its once-familiar features had been twisted into dark voids and vortexes, with only a torn, maniacal grin covering its disordered face. It contorted its body at an impossible angle, and its limbs instantly transformed into tentacles clinging to the walls and ceiling. With a sudden, sharp, chaotic roar, this bizarre and terrifying creature lunged towards Duncan!

Duncan frowned instantly, and the next moment, raging emerald spirit flames ignited the entire corridor—the flames filled everyone's vision like layers upon layers of barriers. The corrupted horror screamed, laughed maniacally, and burned as it fearlessly charged towards the tomb's exit. It passed through the barriers constructed of spirit fire—and only when it had broken through to within four or five meters of Duncan did this remnant, burned beyond recognition, finally twitch and collapse to the ground, stopping completely.

A few more minutes passed, and the flames gradually subsided.

Duncan, his brow furrowed, cautiously approached the remains that had been almost completely incinerated. He saw that only a shriveled, charred lump remained in the ashes—he had consciously controlled the flames to leave this behind. On this small lump of matter, the characteristics that had once belonged to the Senkin people had vanished, but there was still a bizarre, twisted rift, like a smile, covering the charred lump, filled with a chilling elation.

After a moment of hesitation, he picked up the remaining fragment with a strange feeling and cautiously retreated from the corridor of Anomaly 004, back to the outside of the gate.

The others who had remained outside immediately gathered around, looking at the "charcoal" that Duncan had brought out with tense and strange expressions. Helena frowned as she looked at the torn, smile-like mark on the remains, and after a moment, she raised her hand and gently traced the mark of the Storm Goddess on her chest: "May the Goddess protect us… Frem, that's the ugliest smile I've ever seen."

"I'm glad to see you can still crack jokes in this situation," Banster glanced at Helena, shaking his head with a hoarse voice, then refocused his attention on the remains. "...It's the aura of subspace."

"How could there be the power of subspace in Anomaly 004?" Ruen frowned tightly, while also looking up at the tomb gate next to him. "Although it has always been dangerous, its danger lies in the strictly enforced rules within the tomb, and the powerful, strange guardian… I've never heard of it carrying the power of subspace…"

Duncan thought for a moment and then asked, "What is the structure of the tomb like? What exactly is this so-called 'Nameless King'?"

The others on the scene couldn't help but exchange glances. After a moment of awkward silence, Vanna answered the captain's question from the side: "Apart from knowing some basic 'rules of action,' no one knows the true appearance of the tomb."

Duncan was immediately puzzled: "No one knows?"

"When leaving Anomaly 004, the 'Listeners' will forget all memories of the inside of the tomb, and only a few pieces of information will be brought outside in the form of 'parchment fragments'. We can only confirm that there is a tomb chamber inside Anomaly 004, and an ancient, mysterious being will be waiting for the Listener's visit in the tomb chamber," Vanna patiently explained. "But no one remembers what the tomb chamber looks like, or what the master of the tomb looks like."

"Protective amnesia…" Duncan softly repeated the words. Then, suddenly, he seemed to sense something and abruptly looked up towards the inside of the tomb gate.

A series of heavy and slow footsteps suddenly appeared in the corridor, and a tall and sinister figure walked into everyone's view along with the footsteps.

The guardian of Anomaly 004 had appeared!

The "guardian," who had been "late" for so long, walked out so abruptly that even Duncan didn't see how he had appeared—it was as if the tomb itself had suddenly "generated" an entity. This strange guardian walked towards them with stiff and heavy steps like a corpse, and the chains wrapped around him made a series of harsh rubbing sounds with each step.

Helena and the others instantly tensed up, while Vanna subconsciously leaned forward slightly, adopting a ready stance—after the Nameless King's Mausoleum had shown obvious signs of abnormality, this "guardian" who walked out of the tomb was clearly no longer safe.

But the "guardian" didn't seem to care about these vigilant actions. He simply walked out slowly as usual, and finally stopped in front of Duncan.

After a moment of silence, this tall guard, wrapped in bandages and seemingly between life and death, turned to the side, raised a hand, and pointed towards the tomb passage, silently making an inviting gesture.

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "You want me to go in?"

The tomb guardian slowly nodded.

Ruen immediately reminded him in a low voice: "Be careful, this situation is not right."

Duncan ignored him, simply calmly watching the turbid eyes of the tomb guardian that were exposed outside the bandages. After a few seconds, he suddenly said, "What if I refuse the invitation?"

The tomb guardian fell silent. Just when everyone thought that this special entity "created" by Anomaly 004 would not answer at all, he actually spoke, a low voice coming from under the bandages: "Then when are you free?"

Duncan: "…"

While he was stunned, the tomb guardian spoke once more: "He doesn't have much time left."

"He? Doesn't have much time?" Duncan was taken aback, and the expression on his face immediately changed slightly. "Are you referring to the master of the tomb? What do you mean by doesn't have much time?"

This time, the tomb guardian did not answer. He simply stood quietly in front of Duncan, saying nothing, yet seeming to say everything.

"...Alright," after two minutes of careful thought, Duncan suddenly nodded. "Then I'll go see 'him'."

As soon as he finished speaking, Helena immediately said, "Are you sure? The situation inside Anomaly 004 right now…"

"Subspace isn't a corruption to me," Duncan shook his head, clearly having made up his mind. "I heard the 'bell', so it seems this time is prepared for me—my intuition tells me I shouldn't refuse this 'invitation'."

"Intuition…" Helena was stunned for a moment, then seemed to realize something. She immediately retracted the persuasion she had prepared and took a half-step back. "Alright, I understand."

The tomb guardian slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Helena and Ruen.

"Keep your distance, do not cross the facility gate again," he suddenly said. "Protocol Tree c-32-e7 is unstable."

Helena and the others were immediately stunned. Ruen subconsciously asked, "...What protocol tree?"

The tomb guardian had no intention of answering, simply stepping aside, clearing the entrance to the tomb passage, and making an inviting gesture to Duncan.

Duncan looked at the guardian with a deep gaze, stepped forward, and before entering the tomb passage, he turned his head slightly and nodded gently to Vanna, who was standing in place with an uneasy expression: "Wait patiently, I'll be back soon."

As the words fell, he stepped into the deep and long, seemingly endless, dim tomb passage.

The heavy tomb gate slammed shut, blocking all sight from the outside, blocking all sound from outside Anomaly 004—the dimly lit lamps quietly burned on the walls on both sides of the tomb passage, and an eerie silence enveloped them from all directions.

Duncan could only hear the heavy footsteps of the tomb guardian beside him, and the harsh sounds of the chains rubbing against each other.

But as they walked, he suddenly noticed that the footsteps behind him had changed, and the sounds of the chains rubbing together had also disappeared.

He turned back with some curiosity—and astonishment appeared on his face.

A tall, taciturn black-haired man with slightly dark skin and wearing a white robe was walking in the tomb passage.

After a moment of愣, Duncan suddenly reacted: "...This is your original appearance!?"

The tall man with slightly dark skin turned his gaze. He had peculiar light golden eyes, and something deep within those eyes seemed to suddenly contract and adjust before focusing on Duncan. Then, he nodded lightly: "Yes."

Duncan frowned, but just as he was about to ask something more, he suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, interrupting his thoughts—

In the depths of the passage, a structure like a crossroads had appeared at some unknown time. The crossroads was illusory and floating, like a phantom. In front of the illusory crossroads, a team of hazy figures, also wearing white robes, suddenly appeared, and they were walking into the distance.

They passed through the illusory crossroads, passed through the deep and long passage, and disappeared into the solid and heavy wall on the other side.

Duncan watched this scene with surprise and curiosity, and couldn't help but ask, "What is that?"

"As the Protocol Tree loses balance, the folding and disorder of the time stream are rewinding to the source—that is a scene from long ago, when they set out."

Duncan's heart stirred: "They? Who are they?"

The tomb guardian, who had returned to his "human" form, was silent for a few seconds before replying in a low voice: "...Doom observers, the End Survey Team."

Duncan suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened slightly, as if he had instantly connected with something. Confused and astonishing thoughts churned in his mind. He took a light breath and looked up at the long passage ahead. Just then, another hazy phantom appeared in his dazed vision—

Another figure wearing a white robe walked over.

It was a young man with short black hair. He held his head high and his chest out, his gaze calm yet firm. He strode through the corridor, and in the instant that they brushed past each other, perhaps it was an illusion… Duncan felt that this figure seemed to turn his eyes slightly towards him.

Then, they passed each other by.

(End of Chapter)