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Chapter 556 Ancient Civilization Relics, The Other World
"The Xiao family? The military?"

Fang Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised.

The hand that was already raised halfway up did not come down; it remained suspended above the masked man's head.

"The secret you're about to tell me would be best used to save your life."

Fang Cheng said calmly, looking down at him with a cold gaze.

The masked man shuddered and swallowed hard.

The suffocating pressure overhead felt like it could crush him at any moment.

He dared not be negligent in the slightest and answered in a flash:

"The secret I'm talking about is the ruins of an ancient civilization! I know the exact location of the entrance and how to get in!"

After saying that, he stared intently into Fang Cheng's eyes, trying to see even a trace of shock or greed in this powerful man's eyes.

However, Fang Cheng's eyes were like a bottomless, icy pool.

He seemed completely unfazed, as if he had never heard of the word before.

"Ancient civilization ruins?"

Fang Cheng read it aloud, his tone slightly doubtful.

The masked man was stunned by what he saw.

How could a monster with such overwhelming physical strength, surpassing even S-class beings, be unaware of the existence of the ruins?
Where did he get all these amazing skills?
But the masked man dared not ask, and could only brace himself for an explanation, fearing that the other party might crush his head out of impatience.

"Simply put... it's an ancient world site that existed in ancient times and has survived to this day."

The masked man lay on the ground, carefully observing Fang Cheng's expression while racking his brains to come up with a sentence:

"This kind of thing is recorded in many ancient books, such as the Taoist grotto heavens and blessed lands, the Buddhist small worlds, and the World Tree in Western mythology... They are all referring to the same thing."

"It's normal that you don't know; 'ultra-ancient civilization ruins' is actually a term used by official researchers."

"In our circle of supernatural beings, there is another more common name: the Other Shore World."

As they were speaking, a series of rustling footsteps could be heard around them.

The Illuminati members, who were originally scattered around, were intrigued by the "secret" mentioned by the Masked Man and came closer.

Fat Tiger held his broken arm, wincing in pain but not uttering a sound.

Old Chen had an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, while Fei Ying twirled a butterfly knife between her fingers.

The three men stood in a triangular formation around him, effectively blocking all of the masked man's escape routes.

Hawkeye crouched on a high vantage point, his dark sniper rifle muzzle locked onto Fire Dragon, the last remaining member of Bloodthorn, to prevent the guy from taking the opportunity to escape.

Stared at by several pairs of murderous eyes, the masked man swallowed hard again, and could only grit his teeth and continue:
"These spaces are like enlarged versions of the secret realms inherited by aristocratic families, but hundreds of millions of times larger, since they are the real worlds."

“They originally depended on the world we live in, were interconnected through special channels, and had their own natural laws and ecosystems.”

"Millions of years ago, an apocalyptic catastrophe occurred, destroying all those worlds and severing all passages. Only fragments of information remain, scattered in the myths and legends of various countries."

Fat Tiger, who was standing nearby, was completely confused. He couldn't help but scratch his bald head and interjected:

"Bullshit! Since it's already destroyed, what does it have to do with us now? It sounds like a charlatan telling a story!"

"Of course it does matter!"

The masked man hurriedly shouted, fearing that his words would not attract the attention of the crowd and that his life would be in danger at any moment:
"In the past few decades, everyone has been saying that spiritual energy is reviving, and there are more and more people with awakened abilities. What do you think is going on?"

He began by asking a question, then proceeded to reveal a startling truth:

"That's because the doors to the ruins were loose, and those disconnected passages are being reconnected!"

"The so-called spiritual energy is not a gift from heaven and earth at all. In fact, it comes from pollutants in the world, a kind of high-concentration radiation energy."

"These pollutants seep in continuously from the cracks in the ruins, eroding the genes of ordinary people and forcibly inducing mutations. Those who can't withstand it die, while those who do become the superhumans like us."

Upon hearing the word "pollution," Old Chen's eyelids twitched violently.

He subconsciously touched his unusual ears, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

"In fact, governments around the world have long discovered these ruins. They followed the clues to find the entrances, set up the highest level military restricted areas, and then sent suicide squads to explore them."

The masked man caught his breath, and after catching his breath, continued to throw out the bait:

"Anything that spills out of there is priceless."

"Whether it's cutting-edge technology far surpassing modern civilization, cultivation resources that can transform a person, or various rare treasures, none of these can be found in our world."

"For example, this 'clown mask' on my face is a strange object that was peeled off the face of an ancient corpse, and it can withstand fatal damage."

As he spoke, he pointed to the strange mask he was wearing, to prove that what he said was true.

Fang Cheng lowered his hands, crossed them over his chest, and asked casually:
"If there are so many resources and treasures, why is it called a civilization ruin? Where are the humans inside?"

"Because... they've all died out long ago."

A flicker of fear crossed the masked man's eyes, as if he were recalling a nightmare:
"That can be described as a true hell. No matter how glorious the previous civilization was, now only ruins remain."

"Those who went in only saw the ruins of buildings and monsters distorted by radiation; there were no intelligent beings they could communicate with."

"Speaking of which, the human race in our world also experienced the apocalypse, yet we were able to survive, multiply, and rebuild civilization. It's like winning the lottery."

"How do you know so clearly?"

Hiei toyed with the butterfly knife, squatted down, and waved the tip of the knife in front of the masked man's nose:
"Are you making this up to fool us?"

"I didn't make this up! I actually crawled out of there alive!"

The masked man's voice suddenly rose, and he abruptly raised his hand to remove the mask from his face, revealing an extremely ugly face.

The face was covered with dark purple spots, like scars from a fungal infection, making it look frighteningly grotesque.

“More than a year ago, Da Xiong and I were members of the suicide squad and were forcibly thrown into that ruin number 03 by the military.”

"Before we went in, the experts gave us special training, and these words were all popular science information they provided."

"The environment there is harsh and extremely deadly for ordinary people. They have to wear biohazard suits like astronauts and life support masks to barely survive."

"Even so... most of them died inside, and most of the rest went insane or turned into monsters that eat people and drink blood."

"These scars on my face are from staying inside for too long and being eroded by radiation!"

At this point, he glanced at the enormous corpse of the bear not far away, a complex look flashing in his eyes:

"Of course, Big Bear and I were relatively lucky. We didn't die inside, and we even underwent mutations. I awakened my psychic powers, while Big Bear turned into a monster with immense strength."

Listening to the masked man's words, Old City couldn't help but ask:
"Did you go in just for exploration and resource searching?"

"No, these are secondary."

The masked man shook his head, his voice lowering:
"Our main task is to establish a long-term outpost there and carry out 'live assimilation'."

"Live assimilation?"

Fang Cheng was taken aback by this strangely impressive term. "To put it bluntly, it's a human sacrifice."

The masked man forced a bitter smile, his tone full of self-mockery:
"That world is full of pollutants, naturally repelling us outsiders. The various ancient viruses alone are deadly enough."

"Therefore, scientists came up with a way to relocate large numbers of animals and plants from our world to this new area to neutralize the pollution sources."

"In this process, these organisms undergo dramatic mutations and evolution, giving rise to new species that are better adapted to the environment of the ruins."

“In the very beginning, the authorities even threw a large number of death row inmates and prisoners of war in there, making them work inside while acting as ‘human filters,’ thus creating a safe zone.”

"It wasn't until recent years that experts developed special protective suits to add safety measures for explorers."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng frowned slightly, and his tone turned colder:

"You capture those orphans, also for the so-called human sacrifice?"

"No, they are more advanced 'active materials'."

The masked man shook his head again, gritting his teeth as he said:
"The group of crazy scientists in the military lab discovered a research result: the blood of awakened superhumans contains natural antibodies against pollutants, allowing them to survive in the Otherworld for a longer period of time."

“Especially young people with supernatural abilities, who are less exposed to pollution, have relatively pure bloodlines, and have strong genetic plasticity, are the best living blood banks.”

"They extract specific gene sequences from blood, create a neutralizing agent, and inject it into explorers, allowing ordinary people to move around in the ruins like in the normal world."

"In order to mass-produce this potion, the Xiao family has been like mad dogs, capturing rogue cultivators and other extraordinary individuals everywhere. Our Blood Thorn Mercenary Group was forced to do these heinous things because we accepted their mission!"

At this point, the masked man squeezed out a few tears and began to play the victim:
"President Fang, gentlemen, I have no choice..."

"Although Big Bear and I gained special abilities, we also developed mutations and diseases as a result. We have to endure excruciating mental torment every day, and only that kind of medicine can suppress the pain."

“I didn’t actually want to kill anyone. Back in the day, I was a law-abiding citizen who helped old ladies cross the street.”

"It's all because of those bastards from the Xiao family and the military that they forced us into prostitution! They forced us into the ruins and made us risk our lives for them, collecting experimental materials everywhere. I really am a victim too!"

"Pooh!"

Fat Tiger spat a thick wad of phlegm in his face without any hesitation:

"You were so arrogant just now, threatening to kill my whole family, and now you're the victim? Your skin is thicker than a bear's."

Even the masked man didn't dare wipe it; he just kept begging for mercy.
"I was wrong, I was really wrong! We had no grudges or enemies in the past or present, it was all a misunderstanding."

“In that case, I can compensate you for your medical expenses and give you all the 500 million in my Swiss bank account.”

"And that ruin, I know a secret smuggling route that can bypass the military blockade."

"I'm very familiar with the area inside, so I can be your guide. As for the good stuff inside, we'll split it 20/80... no, it'll all be yours!"

Fang Cheng looked at the groveling creature at his feet, pondered silently, seemingly deep in thought.

The silence lasted for a few seconds.

Those few seconds felt like an eternity to the Masked Man.

Then, Fang Cheng suddenly spoke up and asked a very inappropriate question:
"I just killed your own brother, don't you hate me?"

"Hate? How could I hate!"

The masked man seemed to have heard a joke, shaking his head vigorously like a rattle-drum, and swearing to the heavens:
"That's because he's not as skilled! In this dog-eat-dog world, weakness is the original sin, so he has no one to blame but himself!"

Seemingly feeling that his reasons weren't sufficient, he hastily added a few more sentences, spittle flying everywhere:

"Besides, Big Bear's brain was already damaged by radiation, turning him into a monster that only knows how to eat meat and drink blood."

"Keeping him alive would only bring trouble. To die at the hands of a peerless expert like Chairman Fang is a blessing he earned in eight lifetimes!"

"Really, I should thank you for your great mercy in freeing him from this wretched body!"

These words immediately created a somewhat awkward atmosphere on the rooftop.

Fat Tiger, standing next to him, stared at the masked man with his mouth agape, as if he were an alien. Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he turned his head away with a look of disgust.
"Damn it, I used to think I was pretty ruthless in the underworld, but compared to you, I'm as innocent as a primary school student."

Even a cold-blooded killer like Fei Ying couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and put away the butterfly knife in his hand.

As for the fire dragon, which was hiding in the distance, it felt a chill run down its spine, as if it were the first time it had met this usually arrogant and domineering boss.

To save his own life, the leader of the prestigious Bloodthorn Mercenary Group completely abandoned all shame.

Fang Cheng squinted, his fingers gently stroking his chin.

Although this person is a shameless and spineless coward, the bargaining chips he holds are indeed somewhat valuable.

The 500 million in cash is secondary; the key is the hidden passage leading to the ancient ruins.

The Illuminati cannot grow and expand overnight.

If we can acquire the advanced technology or cultivation resources from the ruins, the strength of the entire organization will surely experience a qualitative leap.

and……

Fang Cheng recalled the "dead world full of monsters and radiation" that the masked man had just described.

An ordinary person might feel fear.

But what welled up deep in his heart at this moment was not fear, but a long-lost excitement.

Stronger monsters, harsher environment.

Doesn't that mean higher experience points and an opportunity to break through physical limits?

"That sounds pretty good..."

Fang Cheng silently made his plans.

Just as he was about to speak.

Chug tug tug——

A muffled whirring sound came from afar, breaking the silence on the rooftop.

"what sound?"

Old Chen raised his head alertly and listened intently.

Everyone then looked in the direction of the sound.

In the distance, in the pitch-black night sky, several red signal lights flashed rapidly.

Neon lights flicker and dazzle among the towering buildings.

A dark gray, matte-painted attack helicopter, like a giant black eagle tearing through the night, swooped down rapidly towards the top of the Silver Wing Building.

Beneath the fuselage, the dark muzzle of the machine gun gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the sweeping searchlight.

Seeing this, the fire dragon, who was huddled in the corner, was instantly overjoyed.

He jumped up suddenly, waving his hands and shouting as if he had seen his own father:
"They're here! It's our men! The military's reinforcements have arrived!!"

Upon seeing this, the masked man's eyes lit up instantly.

(End of this chapter)