I can receive unlimited protection; my parents handed me over to the state.

As soon as he finished speaking, the gates to the hundred training grounds opened with a bang.

The black hole-like vortex exudes a deadly attraction.

A global "evolution," the most brutal yet fairest, has officially begun.

Lu Yuan looked at the group of extraordinary individuals who rushed into the trial field without hesitation, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

He knew it was cruel.

But he knew even more that the enemies of the future would be billions of times more ruthless than this.

He didn't have time to nurture them gently.

He can only use the most extreme methods to create the most powerful warriors.

"Boss, that was a bit too ruthless!" Gu Tianye couldn't help but say, watching the figures being swallowed by the vortex.

"Ruthless?" Lu Yuan shook his head. "This is just an 'appetizer'."

"After they get through the first round, there will be a second round, a third round..."

"I will make them face the army of Atlantis, face the demons of hell, and even... face the very essence of chaos."

"I will forge them into a sharp dagger, capable of tearing through the void..."

Lu Yuan turned away, no longer looking at the bloody trial.

His gaze drifted into the depths of the command center.

There, Qian Sen was leading his research team, working day and night.

"Old Qian, have you found anything about what I asked you to investigate?" Lu Yuan asked through the internal channel.

"I...I've got it!" Qian Sen's voice quickly came over, carrying a hint of barely suppressed excitement and...fear.

"Commander-in-Chief! That prehistoric relic beneath the Antarctic ice sheet... we... we've deciphered part of its outer layer's data!"

"That...that wasn't a 'backup' program at all!"

"That's a... 'prison'!"

"What?" Lu Yuan frowned.

"Yes! A prison!" Qian Sen's voice trembled. "Based on the fragmented information we've deciphered, it holds one... or a group of prisoners from a prehistoric civilization known as the 'Precursors'!"

"And that so-called 'reboot program' isn't about rebooting the Earth..."

Qian Sen took a deep breath and, with all his might, uttered a word that moved even Lu Yuan.

"It's... a prison break!"

"The sole purpose of that device is to release those 'prisoners' when Earth's civilization faces destruction, allowing them to... 'take over' the Earth!"

Lu Yuan fell silent.

A prehistoric prison hidden for 10,000 years.

A group of mysterious prisoners known as the "Pioneers".

A jailbreak program that will automatically trigger in the event of the apocalypse.

He felt as if he had touched upon the oldest and darkest secret about the Earth.

"interesting."

After a long while, a cold smile appeared on Lu Yuan's lips.

"It seems this planet is much more lively than I imagined."

He glanced at the ongoing brutal trial, then at the depths of the starry sky.

It contains prehistoric prisoners who "escaped".

The Void Hunters are watching them from the outside.

"Alright."

Lu Yuan's eyes blazed with fighting spirit.

"Perfect timing, my stove is still warm."

"Let me see if your bones are harder, or if my hammer... is harder!"

"Prison? Prison break?"

Lu Yuan stroked his chin, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

This news surprised and excited him even more than the threat from the "Void Hunter".

The Void Hunters are external enemies, threats from the universe. Though powerful, they are ultimately an "external threat."

This so-called "Pioneer Prison" is actually a "hidden danger" buried inside the Earth.

A time bomb that could explode at any moment.

"Old Qian, keep cracking the code." Lu Yuan's voice was frighteningly calm. "I need to know what these 'pioneers' really are. Why were they imprisoned, and who imprisoned them?"

"Understood!" Qian Sen's voice was full of enthusiasm. "However... Commander-in-Chief, the encryption level of this relic is beyond our imagination. It uses... an encryption method we've never seen before, based on the 'rules' themselves. With our current technology, it might take... hundreds of years to completely crack it."

"A few hundred years?" Lu Yuan scoffed. "I don't have that much time to wait."

He pondered for a moment and said, "Send me all the data you've deciphered, as well as the energy fluctuation model of the ruins."

"I'll do it."

Qian Sen was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

He almost forgot that the person in front of him was an ultimate "programmer" who could modify "rules" as if they were code!

With him personally taking charge, cracking this prehistoric prison might really not take more than a few hundred years.

"Yes! I'll send it to you right away!"

Soon, a massive data stream, large enough to crash any supercomputer instantly, surged into Lu Yuan's [Chaos Godhead].

Lu Yuan closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly sank into this ocean of data composed of countless ancient runes and chains of rules.

He saw it.

He witnessed an extremely brilliant prehistoric civilization.

They piloted warships forged from stars, traversing between dimensions.

They weave "rules" into art, creating one miraculous world after another.

Their technology and magic have developed to an unimaginable level.

They are the "pioneers".

However, the scene changes.

He saw the "abyss" descend.

An endless army of abysses, exuding an aura of decay and depravity, tore through space from another dimension and surged into the world of the pioneers.

War broke out.

It was a war that lasted for ten thousand years and was incredibly brutal.

Stars are falling, the world is wailing.

The pioneers were powerful, but the abyss seemed endless.

Ultimately, the pioneering civilization met its end.

But before they were completely wiped out, they made a crazy decision.

Some of the elite among them chose to use a forbidden technique to fuse their souls with the "Abyss"!

They tried to use the power of the abyss to fight against the abyss!

They succeeded.

They gained unprecedented power, tore apart the army of the abyss, and even launched a counterattack into the dimensions of the abyss.

But at the same time, they also failed.

Their souls were utterly corrupted by the abyss. They became more brutal, more insane, and more eager to devour everything than the demons of the abyss!

They became... the new "Abyss"!

The surviving pioneers, untouched by contamination, made their final choice in despair.

They sacrificed everything to activate the most powerful seal, sealing their corrupted compatriots, along with themselves, deep within the core of this blue planet, Earth.

The ruins beneath the Antarctic ice sheet are the "lock" of this enormous seal.

The so-called "jailbreak" program was not intended to allow those corrupted "pioneers" to take over the Earth.

Instead, when the seal is about to break and Earth's civilization is unable to withstand the abyss (or other threats), the sealed, uncorrupted souls of the pioneers are released, allowing them to merge with life on Earth through a process of "possession" or "descent" to wage a final... struggle.

This is the truth behind the "Pioneer" program.

A lament for civilization, filled with tragedy and sacrifice.

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze now filled with a complex emotion.

He never imagined that such a sad story was buried beneath the feet of this planet.

"How's it going, boss?"

Yan Ji looked at him and asked with some concern. She could sense that Lu Yuan's emotions had been somewhat fluctuating just now.

"It's nothing." Lu Yuan shook his head, suppressing his chaotic thoughts.

"Just discovered some... interesting old relics."

He did not tell them the story of the pioneers.

Because it is not necessary.

What's past is past.

Now, it is he and his "Legion of Gods" who are protecting this world.

"Oh, right," Lu Yuan said to Yan Ji, remembering something, "I found a very interesting method for applying the rules of 'fire' in the Pioneers' database. It explains how to elevate fire from the concept of 'burning' to the levels of 'information erasure' and 'entropy increase.' You can study it when you have time; it should provide considerable inspiration for your 'Phoenix True Fire.'"

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and a golden stream of information entered Yan Ji's brow.

Yan Ji shuddered. She closed her eyes and carefully comprehended the vast and profound knowledge in her mind, her face showing an expression of ecstasy and shock.

She felt that a new world was opening up to her.

"And you guys too." Lu Yuan looked at Gu Tianye, Xiang Batian, and the others. "Don't just keep practicing mindlessly. I've compiled all the combat techniques and rule insights from the Pioneer Civilization and put them into the central database of [Pangu]."

"Each of you can exchange for learning opportunities based on your own authority and battle merits."

"Don't embarrass me. If I have to personally deal with any Tom, Dick, or Harry next time we encounter them, you'll all need to be sent back for retraining!"

"Yes, boss!"

Everyone responded in unison, their eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.

They knew that this was the most precious treasure Lu Yuan had given them.

Just then.

"Drip—drip—drip—"

A piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire Pangu Temple.

It didn't come from inside the Earth, but from... deep space!

"Report to Commander-in-Chief!" A researcher's voice rang out over the loudspeaker, tinged with fear, "Pangu's over-the-horizon space radar has detected... detected a large-scale... space distortion phenomenon near the Kuiper Belt at the outer edge of the solar system!"

"There are... there are a large number of unknown objects approaching the solar system via space jumps!"

Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed.

He knew that what was bound to happen would eventually happen.

He took a step forward, and his figure instantly appeared on the bridge of the Pangu Temple.

Before him, on the enormous holographic star map, in the region representing the edge of the solar system, countless dazzling...red dots of light appeared!

Those points of light, densely packed, numbering in the thousands, resembled an approaching... blood-red locust plague!

Each point of light represents a ship... no, a being, an unknown entity radiating an aura of terror!

"Zoom in on the image!" Lu Yuan commanded in a deep voice.

The camera zooms in rapidly.

When they finally saw the true nature of those "unknown entities," everyone on the bridge couldn't help but gasp.

That's not a warship.

Instead, they were giant cosmic beasts, each as large as the moon and of various shapes!

Some of them resemble giant centipedes composed of countless black crystals.

Some resemble fleshy planets floating in space, covered in eyes and tentacles.

Others are simply a mass of shadow composed of pure dark energy, constantly changing shape.

They all exude the same aura.

Coldness, greed, evil... and an extreme desire for "rules" and "life"!

"Void... Hunter..."

Lu Yuan looked at the monsters and slowly uttered these four words.

He hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly, and... in such large numbers!

This is no longer a reconnaissance team.

This is a void army... powerful enough to flatten an entire galaxy!

"Their target is Earth," Qian Sen's voice rang out from the side, filled with solemnity. "To be more precise, it's you. The aura of 'chaotic divinity' that you exuded during your previous battle with the End is, to them, the most delicious 'food' in the universe."

"I know." Lu Yuan nodded, but there was no fear on his face.

Instead, a hint of... eagerness appeared on his face.

"Pass on my orders."

Lu Yuan's voice, transmitted through the Pangu Temple, spread throughout the world.

"The Legion of God, all assembled."

"All trials are suspended."

"The real 'graduation exam' is about to begin."

He turned around, looking at the deep starry sky outside the bridge, his eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit.

"Notify the kitchen to prepare more barbecue grills."

"Today, we..."

"Have a good meal."