Miss Witch, it's time to clean up the entries

Chapter 366 Humanity's Self-Salvation Plan, The Rift

There are still six months until the wager with God.

The Civil War altered much of the continent's topography, but the Holy Empire, protected by the Labyrinth, retained its original landscape, including the Bone Forest of Greenfield and the Rift in the North.

Legend has it that the Gift entered the rift along with the evil god Abel, but Li En decided to go to the Gates of Hell in the Bone Forest first.

The unknown is the most terrifying place. Only by knowing where the gates of hell lead can we know the difference between this place and the rift.

The exploration team consisted of six people: Dorothy, Sophie, Miriam, Soraya, and Jessica.

Since leaving last time, Li En has not returned to the Bone Forest for a year and a half.

This place has long been renamed the Golden Forest.

Apart from the Skeleton Monster Zone, the rest of the land became the territory of the Green Territory, where humans, treants, and goblins lived together peacefully and worked hard to survive.

Most of the buildings in the forest are still rustic cottages made of logs and stone, with roofs covered with vines and flowers. The architectural style of the tall buildings in the Green Shade Lord City has not been carried over to the forest, probably because most of the residents here are still commoners.

Farmers are using a modified "tree spirit symbiotic farming" method to grow crops, where wheat and magic berries grow in the same field.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, goblin craftsmen and human apprentices were forging enchanted farm tools together, their laughter echoing amidst the flying sparks.

Under the care of the tree spirit elder, the children learned basic magic, and orbs of light danced in their palms, reflecting their innocent smiles.

A colossal "Mother Tree" stood in the center of the forest, its trunk adorned with ancient wood-grain runes and radiating a gentle life energy. That was Soraya's true form, but she was now able to completely separate from it.

The tree spirits, in their ethereal form, drifted among the flowers, whispering gentle words to encourage plant growth.

The treehouse village is built among the branches and connected by bridges woven from living vines. Humans and goblins can apply for temporary accommodation and experience "life in the air".

Li En and his group did not disturb the peaceful lives of the civilians, but crossed the heartland and entered the territory of the skeleton monsters.

On the grass before the Gates of Hell, a dozen or so skeleton knights stood motionless like statues, their stark white skeletons wreathed in eerie blue phosphorescence. Behind them, hundreds of skeleton soldiers stood in neat rows, their empty eye sockets glowing with crimson light, their rusted swords and axes trembling slightly in the chilling wind.

Li En's boot crushed a withered bone, the faint cracking sound like a pebble thrown into stagnant water. The skeleton knights turned their heads in unison, their jaws clicking.

Upon discovering the intruders, the Skeleton Knights led the charge, unleashing a torrent of bones.

In the past, Li En would probably have been terrified to see this army of undead, but now they were just corpses in his eyes.

When the torrent of bones approached within a meter of Li En, everything suddenly froze.

An invisible barrier seemed to condense around Li En. When the skeletons touched that barrier, they were dissolved by a mysterious force, turning into dust and drifting away with the wind.

A scorching smell filled the air—the smell of the skeletons being purified.

Even without Li En personally lifting a finger, the passive defense of the war domain is enough to make these skeleton monsters vanish into thin air.

After dealing with the guards at the entrance, Li En, Sophie, Soraya, Dorothy, and Miriam continued forward.

The Gates of Hell, composed of hundreds of intertwined skeletons, emitted a mournful wail as Li En and his companions approached; the wail had the power to pierce the soul.

But Lee En only found it jarring.

Li En stretched out his hand, and the white bone archway trembled, with countless skeletons making terrified clicking sounds, as if they foresaw the coming of the apocalypse.

Four angels spread their wings, surrounded by holy flames.

Sophie, wielding her frost-covered spear, stepped into the underground palace. The bone archway attempted to close, but she shattered it with a single thrust of her spear.

The skeleton guards swarmed forward, only to be swept into a shower of ice crystals the instant they got close. Every step she took left a trail of frost, the bone wall crumbled before her, and the necromancer's curse dissipated around her.

Soraya floated in mid-air, her hands clasped in front of her chest, and vines rapidly spread throughout the entire underground palace.

The skeleton warriors had barely raised their weapons when they were bound by vines, which drained their soul flames.

Dorothy snapped her fingers, and arrows shot through the endless bone corridor like meteors. Each arrow struck the skull of a skeleton mage with pinpoint accuracy, the necromantic energy vaporized by the holy light. The bone golem roared and charged, only to be pierced through its core by a single arrow, its massive body collapsing with a deafening crash.

Miriam conjured a massive barrier of light, blocking all necromancy. Skeleton hounds lunged, only to be shattered by the holy shield. She pressed one hand to the ground, and holy runes spread across the earth, sealing off all the skeletons' regeneration abilities. When Skeleton Lord Marcoss rose from his throne, Miriam merely glanced at him coldly, stealing away all his time and causing him to decay completely.

Because the team was so strong, Li En didn't even need to make any plans; he could just sweep through.

Li En was initially somewhat disappointed, believing that this place was just a palace of bones built by the Skeleton Lord Marcosis and had no connection to the previous civilization.

But after the Skeleton Lord Marcosius died, the underground palace collapsed, exposing the buildings hidden underground.

That was an abandoned laboratory.

This underground palace was built on top of this laboratory, similar to a tomb on top of a tomb.

Only after clearing away the ruins of the empire could the true nature of the laboratory be seen.

The gray-white laboratory has many damaged reinforced concrete walls, with one or two sections of steel bars exposed. Inside the reinforced concrete walls is another layer of wall similar to bulletproof glass. It is these walls that support the entire building, allowing it to remain intact underground even after many years.

Five clocks hung on the wall, which had stopped, but still displayed the time of the five countries.

On the faded white lab bench, some experimental equipment was scattered haphazardly. The test tubes and beakers had long since dried out, and the remaining chemical reagents looked mottled and old in the transparent glassware.

The floor tiles were loose, making a dull thud when stepped on. A few specks of dark, dusty grime peeked through the cracks in the tightly closed storage room doors. Piles of documents and notebooks lay in the corners, covered in a thick layer of dust, like the sediment of time.

On the central experimental table, a half-open safe lay silently, its contents stolen, leaving only fragments scattered on the floor. The wall sockets and plugs were rusted and could no longer provide power to any of the instruments.

But these images were all impacting Lee En, Jessica, Dorothy, Sophie, Soraya, and Miriam.

This laboratory, at least, proves that Tiger's words were not entirely lies.

Li En picked up the documents and notes from the ground. The language recorded on them was the international language he had studied for six years, but there were still many obscure and difficult professional terms.

The diary, written in English, records the world's secrets discovered by human scientists.

[...It turns out there's another world above ours, and we're merely lab rats they created and observed. To put it figuratively, we are three-dimensional beings, while they are four-dimensional or even higher-dimensional beings. We're like a movie or an animation they created, and if we don't follow their predetermined path, they will destroy us, just like they destroyed the dinosaurs before...]

Humanity cannot sit idly by and wait for its demise. Now that we know of their existence, we must find a way to communicate with them…

[...some people heard their voices, and they claimed to be gods...]

[...Our plan is flawless and will surely lure those self-important fellows...]

How naive we were! How could we possibly defeat those guys? Our plan ultimately angered them, the world was destroyed, and humanity could only save itself…

The experimental documents documented the human self-rescue plan, Project Rift.

Humans firmly believe that God has more than one testing ground, so there must be another world besides the one in which humanity exists.

The Rift was originally created in the laboratory. It was a passage to a new world built by humans based on the theory of the universe of character and the theory of wormholes.

After this rift came into existence, humanity sent wave after wave of elite members into it, but unfortunately they all failed and were unable to reach the new world.

Humanity still didn't want to give up on the plan. They believed that their inability to cross the rift was due to their own weakness, so they began to modify genes, fusing humans with animals, or transplanting human consciousness into powerful animals to create new humans or superhumans. But they still failed to bring back good news for humanity.

Ultimately, humanity had no choice but to hibernate and pray that the apocalypse would pass.

Inside those sealed storage rooms were many giant test tubes that had lost their function. The nutrient solution inside the test tubes had dried up, and some cyborgs lay desiccated in the test tubes; they were failures.

Li En, Sophie, and others found a portal leading to the rift in the laboratory. The portal was abandoned and marked with a large "Do Not Use" sign.

Li En suspects that the lost documents contain the design principles and manufacturing process of the Crack, which is humanity's top secret.

In retrospect, Project Rift has actually failed.

Humans cannot travel to the new world through the rift; the new world is one that Tiger built upon the foundation of the old world.

The rift has undergone changes over tens of thousands of years and has become distorted. Crossing the rift can indeed lead back to an ancient civilization, but that is equivalent to traveling through time.

This was Li En's guess, but he would soon be able to verify it.

If the portal here is still usable and can still teleport them all into the Northern Rift, then his idea is correct.

The end of the crack is where you cross over.

"Where exactly is this place? What are these things?"

Dorothy asked in confusion.

"Laboratory, a legacy from the previous civilization."

Lee En explained.

"The previous civilization? It seems they didn't have magic."

Miriam said.

"Yes, you can try to travel back in time and find a way to open this portal."

Li En patted the experimental equipment and said to Miriam.

Miriam nodded, and her figure instantly disappeared from everyone's sight.

Miriam traveled back 100 years to a place buried underground, devoid of any life.

She traveled back 200 years, and this place was still buried deep underground.

They traveled back 500 years and the Skeleton King built a dungeon on it.

They traveled back 1000 years, and the laboratory was still buried deep underground; there was no one there.

Miriam was sweating. If she hadn't become an angel and didn't have to worry about losing control of her magic, she would have given up.

She has never traveled through more than 1000 years of time, but now, in order to find a way to open the portal, she may have to try it once.

Before Miriam's eyes appeared an illusory river of time. She swam in the river, and if she wanted to continue forward after more than 1000 years, she had to expend more physical strength and energy, like rowing against the current. Every now and then, the torrent of time would rush over and slap her backward.

Finally, Miriam successfully traveled tens of thousands of years ago, and the laboratory appeared before her eyes.

Many people in white coats were walking back and forth in the laboratory, speaking in a language that Miriam couldn't understand, seemingly discussing something important.

Miriam's eyes lit up. They'd finally arrived!

She entered this space-time, causing a stir among everyone in the laboratory.

"who are you?"

The people in white coats looked at Miriam in surprise and asked in a language she didn't understand.

Oh no, I didn't have time to become invisible because I used up all my strength.

Miriam thought to herself that, considering the inevitability of fate, even if she appeared now, it would not affect the future course of events.

As an Angel of Change, Miriam only needs to use her authority to make communication between the two parties smooth and automatically translate language into words she can understand.

“I am the angel of time, Miriam. Tell me how to use your portals, and I will save everyone in the future.”

Miriam said casually.

The people in white coats exchanged bewildered glances, then looked at Miriam in surprise. "What portal?"

"It's your Rift Project."

"What Rift Project?"

Surprise was evident in their eyes.

Miriam slapped her forehead. Oh no, she had transmigrated too early.

It seems the Rift Project hasn't materialized yet, and the portal isn't ready either.

Since that's the case, then I'll supervise them to make sure the Rift Project and the portal are completed.

In short, if she travels back in time and finds the right point in time, she can't afford to make any mistakes.

Under Miriam's guidance, humanity embarked on the Rift Project, a self-rescue plan, and the construction of portals.

Based on the blueprints in her mind, Miriam provided them with a lot of help.

When Miriam returned to Lyon's side, she was finally able to use the portal accurately.

Because she watched this door being built.

The portal buzzed, and the six people were instantly sucked into it.

When the light returned, they found themselves inside a crack.

All around was an endless void, deep and dark, dotted with stars.

Li En clenched his fist, feeling the unknown force flowing in the air.

Sophie stared wide-eyed, filled with curiosity about this supernatural phenomenon. Dorothy nervously gripped Lyon's hand, who gently patted the back of her hand in reassurance. Soraya closed her eyes, seemingly sensing the pulse of the crack, while Miriam remained expressionless, as if it were all part of her plan.

The air currents within the rift were sometimes calm and sometimes violent. After a short while, they finally entered the first level of the rift, the Frosty World.

The biting cold and the raging wind gave them an incredibly real sense of touch.

"The rift is back."

(End of this chapter)