Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 84 No Door
Bai Yuetian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the man hovering in the air, his face filled with surprise and uncertainty.

He tilted his head slightly to communicate with ASH in his mind.

"ASH, do you have a match for this guy in your database?"

Almost instantly, ASH's clear and steady response rang in Bai Yuetian's mind.

"No records matching these facial features were found, and this person's information does not exist in the database."

"Tsk, no such person found?" Bai Yuetian muttered, clearly dissatisfied with ASH's reply.

Yang Chen's gaze passed over the suspended man and fell back on the hibernation pod.

"We detected an unidentified flying object crashing here, so we rushed over to check. The life support capsule you were in has been damaged. If we hadn't arrived in time, you would be dead."

Upon hearing Yang Chen's words, the man turned to look at the hibernation pod, pondering for a moment.

He couldn't run away now, and the two people in front of him didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards him.

"I only remember my name, Wumen," Wumen said slowly.

Upon hearing the name, Bai Yuetian chuckled: "Your name is quite fitting. You can pass through walls, so you're called Wumen (meaning 'no door')?"

Wumen: "."

Wumen remained silent for a while, his brows furrowed, as if he was trying hard to recall things from the past.

"I feel like I'm a test subject." Wumen's memories seemed to be gradually becoming clearer, and his words became more coherent.

"Yes, the Hela Empire. Because my existence is extremely rare, they captured me to conduct experiments."

Wumen's words echoed in the cramped escape pod: "The Hela Empire... experimental subject..." He pressed hard on his temples.

"The rest... I can't remember... it's a blank."

His eyes were filled with confusion and self-doubt.

Wumen suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed on Yang Chen and Bai Yuetian: "What did you mean by the old world you were talking about? Now... now it's the new world?"

Yang Chen did not answer immediately. His deep gaze lingered on Wu Men's pale face for a moment, as if assessing his true condition.

He flicked his right hand almost imperceptibly.

The invisible force that had been enveloping Wumen vanished instantly.

"Uh!"

The feeling of weightlessness disappeared, and Wumen groaned as his feet firmly touched the cold metal floor. He swayed for a moment before barely managing to stand.

He moved his hands and feet with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, confirming that he had indeed regained his freedom, but his gaze toward Yang Chen was filled with even deeper apprehension.

"It's a bit complicated to explain." Yang Chen's voice was calm and even. He stepped aside to make way for the hatch and pointed to the desolate and lifeless ground covered with sand and gravel outside.

"Come out with me and you'll understand. Look at the new world now."

Wumen hesitated for a moment, instinctively feeling a resistance to the unknown.

But these two people in front of him are his only source of information right now, and... he desperately wants to know how long he has been asleep and what the world has become.

He took a deep breath, followed Yang Chen out of the cabin.

Bai Yuetian crossed his arms and looked at Wumen with great interest before slowly following him out.

As soon as he stepped out of the cabin, Wumen was immediately blinded by the glaring light and had to squint.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, the sight before him struck him like a thunderbolt, leaving him frozen in place, as if the blood in his body had solidified.

barren.

As far as the eye could see, there was an endless, lifeless wasteland.

The earth was dark, and in the distance, enormous vines reached straight into the sky.
The sky was a depressing leaden gray, devoid of any vibrant colors that belonged to the "world" in my memory; there was only a desolate wasteland.

"What...what's going on..." Wumen's voice was dry and hoarse.

Bai Yuetian walked up to Wumen, his voice tinged with mockery: "Brother, it seems you've had a really long nap. The world you remember is long gone, completely gone. Now we call that the old world."

Wumen suddenly turned to look at Bai Yuetian, his eyes filled with disbelief and horror.

"It's over? How did it end up like this?"

"How did it all end up?" Bai Yuetian shrugged.

"As for the specific details, well, the world collapsed, monsters roamed, and then everyone was finished." He paused and looked at Wumen.

"So? What are your thoughts?" Wumen silently looked at everything around him, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word.

After a long pause, he finally asked, "Is this the whole...is this the whole scene?"

"More or less." Bai Yuetian patted Wumen on the shoulder.

Just then, the figures of Devouring Beasts slowly appeared around them.

They stared intently at the Gateless, the source of life exposed in their field of vision.

"Damn, how did a Devouring Beast get here?" Bai Yuetian frowned and looked at Wumen, asking, "Dude, can't you use the Return to Origin skill?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Bai Yuetian slapped himself in the face.

"I don't need to ask you anything."

Wumen looked at the strangely shaped creatures around him and asked, "What are these things? Are these the monsters you were talking about?"

"They're the ones who destroyed the world?"

"This is nothing." Bai Yuetian grabbed Wumen's arm. "Let's go first. Someone will explain things to you when we get back."

"Let's go!" Bai Yuetian grabbed the still somewhat dazed Wumen and ran wildly toward the Swift.

Wumen staggered along passively, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the Devouring Beasts emerging from behind the sand dunes and crevices in the rocks.

"These... are the monsters that destroyed the world?" Wumen's voice was filled with disbelief.

"They're called Devouring Beasts, and they specialize in absorbing life essence," Bai Yuetian said without turning his head, his pace quickening.

"I'll have ASH explain it to you later."

Yang Chen was already waiting at the cabin door, and led Wumen through the back of the Swift.

Bai Yuetian sat back in the cockpit. ASH had already started the engine on its own when it saw the Devouring Beast. After all three of them returned, the Swift slowly took off and sped away into the distance.

The cabin was dimly lit, and the person, without a door, leaned against the cold wall, looking completely lost and bewildered.

He looked at Yang Chen opposite him, and was about to ask something when Yang Chen stood up and walked to the communication panel next to him.

Wumen squinted, trying to see clearly.

The panel displays the communication information: Bai Yuekui.

"Orange, take him directly to the ecological base. I'll wait for you here."

"Okay, we'll be there soon," Yang Chen replied.

Yang Chen walked back to his previous spot, sat down opposite Wumen, and pointed to a seat with a seatbelt next to him: "Hold on tight, we'll be there soon."

Where are you taking me?

Wumen heard the woman on the other end of the communicator say that she was going to take him to the ecological base.

What is this ecological base? It doesn't sound like a good place. Am I going to become an experimental subject again?
Wumen looked at the seat Yang Chen pointed to, hesitated for a moment, and finally sat down and fumbled to fasten the seat belt.

"Where are you taking me?" he repeated the question. "And what is that ecological base...?"

Yang Chen stared calmly at Wumen, as if he could see through the fear in his heart: "A safe place."

He paused, then said, "ASH, explain to him what has happened since the end of the Old World, focusing on the Mana ecosystem and the Devourers."

“Okay.” Ash’s gentle voice immediately rang out in the aft cabin of the Swift.

Almost as soon as ASH finished speaking, a projection appeared in front of Wumen.

“Mr. Wumen,” ASH’s voice continued.

"Based on the information fragments about the Hela Empire that you provided, and the model of your hibernation pod, it is estimated that you entered deep hibernation at the end of the Old World, approximately 5 to 10 years before the outbreak of the Cataclysm."

An aerial view of a bustling metropolis appeared on the projector screen, with towering buildings and heavy traffic, just like the blurry, normal world in Wumen's memory.

But this scene was quickly switched.

Wumen stared intently at the Mana flowers on the projection, which exuded an eerie aura.

The world is being destroyed by... plants?
ASH will continue to be explained.

As Ash continued his narration, Wumen's expression became increasingly blank.

(End of this chapter)