Athens, one of the oldest cities on Earth, still preserved and in use today. When humanity stumbled and staggered its way from the primitive age of slash-and-burn agriculture into the door of civilization, when humans no longer worried about food, clothing, and wild beasts in the wilderness for the first time, when the earliest philosophers and sages appeared among humans, when humans began to use words and mysterious religious symbols to entrust their thoughts and exclamations about the world, city-states began to rise and kingdoms began to be built. The thinkers who first broke away from basic production poured their ample mental energy into huge stones and carefully designed arches, using stone walls, columns, arches, and steps to pile up cities that symbolized human power, and using religious and mysterious reliefs and statues to decorate their courtyards. From the beginning, architecture evolved from simply sheltering from wind and rain and resisting wild animals to various additional functions and even purely symbolic meanings. Ancient and magnificent megalithic building complexes rose from the ground and quickly became one of the most incredible products on this planet.

However, cities are not a symbol of glory exclusively for human beings. On this planet, there is another group of creatures coexisting with humans. Although they have been hidden in the shadows, either actively or passively, and have even completely disappeared from the cognition of modern humans, they are still indeed active in the history of this planet. Human history books will not remember them, but another history book made of stone and wood will not forget all of this: the city.

The older the city, the more traces of the ancients it leaves behind. The oldest cities have even completely merged with those creatures in the shadows and cannot be separated. These cities are not only the homes of humans, but also the territories of many dark creatures—no matter how much the demon hunters and the church reject this point, they must admit that there are still a large number of lairs occupied by alien races on this planet. These lairs were built by the alien races from the very beginning, and they will never give in to this. In the era when various myths, legends, and historical records were chaotic and intertwined, a small number of alien races lived openly with humans and built these magnificent ancient cities. Compared to most barbaric alien races who held absolute brutal rule over humans, these powerful creatures who regarded humans as livestock were already rare "moderates," so they were regarded as patron saints by Earthlings and worshiped. Even the meaning of the entire city's existence was to enshrine a powerful and benevolent "god." This situation lasted for thousands of years until humans, with the help of demon hunters, broke free from this captive-like situation, and half of the founders of these cities were driven into the shadows.

Now, no one believes that those collapsed and abandoned temples in the city once really housed some supernatural beings.

But as mentioned earlier, these cities were the homes of certain alien races from the beginning. They built it with their own hands, maintained it, and even went to the battlefield for it. Even if these alien races were forced to retreat into the shadows, they never really left the city. They just rebuilt their fortresses and hid them in corners that humans could not detect.

A group of people is slowly approaching an entrance to this fortress.

Hao Ren and his group rested well in their hotel. Today, they set off with Vivian to find an alien race who is said to have survived from the age of mythology. She is one of Vivian's few acquaintances, and she lives in the oldest area of the city. After getting off the car, the group walked for a long time.

"Are you sure the person we're looking for is in this direction?" Hao Ren looked up again at the familiar old streets around him and questioned Vivian's sense of direction for the third time. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the third time we've seen this stone wall."

"That's the way to go, in circles," Vivian nodded. "Athens is a very special place. Many alien survivors have settled here, but you have to use special methods to find them—the demon hunters' search here has never stopped. The reckless ghosts who don't hide themselves have long been dead."

Hao Ren could only nod and continue following Vivian in circles through the oldest streets of the Acropolis of Athens, unknowingly getting closer and closer to the older depths of the city. He occasionally looked up at the surrounding area, seeing the old buildings that were indistinguishable from historical relics or modern imitations and restorations, and a strange, time-traveling illusion arose spontaneously. He felt as if he was walking in the middle of a slideshow arranged along the timeline of human history, and the further he went, the more past scenery he saw.

On Earth, truly authentic ancient cities no longer exist. Even the city of Athens is an advanced city that has been repainted and packaged by modern civilization. When the group strolled through the bustling city center, they saw mostly skyscrapers and bustling shopping streets that were no different from other modern cities, which once greatly disappointed the enthusiastic Lily. However, as the group followed Vivian all the way, slowly leaving the newly built urban area and entering some of the more primitive areas of Athens, they finally got their wish and saw the ancient Greek-style stone pillars and sculptures—whether they were real historical relics or imitations restored by later generations, these things were intertwined and embedded in the city's new architectural gaps, making people unable to help but feel a strong sense of history.

The deeper they went into the older areas of the Acropolis of Athens, the stronger this sense of history became. In the end, the retro-style houses simply became the main buildings on both sides, and the exquisite sculptures almost completely replaced the impetuous neon signs and station signs, and as Vivian led the group deeper into the street, this change became more and more profound, until Hao Ren finally felt a sense of disharmony.

He looked at the streets on both sides. The streets were vaguely familiar, as if he had passed by here two or three times an hour ago, but if he observed carefully, he would find that the scenery on both sides of the street was changing in detail. The streetlights disappeared, the colorful signs of the shops were fading, the cement ground on the road did not know when it became neat and flat stone slabs, and the sun, which should have been hanging in the east, did not know when it moved to the west.

Lily, the careless girl, was a little strange: "Hey, the atmosphere around here doesn't seem right, there are fewer and fewer pedestrians."

Even if this was a relatively old neighborhood, it was by no means a desolate area. When the group first arrived in this area, they could still see many pedestrians around, but at some point, the flow of people on both sides of the road became less and less. This change was subtle, and Lily didn't realize that something was wrong until there were so few pedestrians on the road that it was unnatural. Hao Ren looked strangely at the increasingly strange scene around him and found that even the existing pedestrians on the road were a little strange: they were walking aimlessly on the road like zombies, no one was talking to each other, and no one stopped to do anything of their own. They seemed to be "landscapes" deliberately arranged by someone, just to ensure that the street was not too weird.

"We are approaching the Shadow Interlayer, be careful further ahead," Vivian slowed down. "Don't push open any doors on the side of the road, and don't go into any corners that the sun doesn't shine on. Don't talk to any passers-by, and most importantly—don't go beyond my footsteps. This is the beginning of a maze, and one wrong turn will lead you into a trap in the shadow world."

Finally, she specifically reminded Izaax: "Big guy, you should also pay attention. These Shadow Interlayers were shaped by the strongest alien races over thousands of years. Even you may be trapped in them."

Izaax nodded cautiously, while Hao Ren felt a little creeped out: "I'll go... you're making it sound like a ghost movie..."

"All the alien races who have survived to this day are divided into two types: one is a loner like me, and the other is a group of people who huddle together. The latter must have some tricks to form a family in the current situation," Vivian smiled lightly. "This place is one of the few remaining gathering places. It has been operating for thousands of years, and the layers of defense are no joke. The demon hunters have no way to deal with this place. Well, at least not for the time being."

The group continued to walk through this street that seemed to be circling in place, but the scenery around them was changing every moment. Every time you took a step, the buildings and decorations on both sides of the road would change a little bit imperceptibly, and this change was becoming more and more obvious. It seemed that as they approached a certain "Shadow Interlayer," this street was no longer hiding its abnormality. Hao Ren noticed that the modern buildings on both sides of the road had completely disappeared at some point. Houses built of stone were leaning out from both sides at strange angles, as if these cold stones were curiously looking at the group. And between these buildings, you can still occasionally see signs and street signs with a little bit of modern sense, but they have all faded in color, just like a weird black and white photo. Hao Ren turned his head and looked at the direction he came from. He saw a thin mist, and he could no longer find the previous intersection.

The group finally stopped in front of a strange shop, which was the last remaining "modern house" on this street.

A beautiful woman in black clothes with a gloomy expression was waiting for them in front of the door. She smiled at Vivian: "Long time no see, Countess."

"This place is really hard to find," Vivian greeted her. "Hesperia."

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