If you were made a mascot, you would become a legend in the police force.

The stone pagoda is very close.

The colossal tower, constructed of an unknown white stone, soared into the purple-gold sky, its surface covered with ancient patterns identical to those on the bronze door.

The tower has no door.

But when Li Tuantuan walked to the tower with the "Purification Core", the patterns on the tower wall lit up automatically, and a spiral staircase slowly emerged from inside the tower wall.

"Doctor, what's the background of this tower?" Lin Wan asked, turning around.

The professor adjusted his glasses, his face beaming with academic excitement that almost masked his fear: "If my deduction is correct, this tower is the central control system for the entire demiplane. It is both the lock and the key. The reason why the Void has been sealed for thousands of years is because this tower is maintaining the operation of the seal."

"But now, the energy of the seal is waning. That's why the bronze gate was forced open, and that's why spiritual energy has revived and undead creatures have appeared on Earth."

"in other words--"

"If we don't reinforce the seal, this door will only open wider and wider, and eventually, everything in the Ruins will flood onto Earth." The doctor's voice began to tremble.

"How much stuff will come out?" Taishan asked.

The doctor remained silent for a few seconds.

"Those ghouls you've seen are just ants at the very bottom of the Ruins."

The entire place was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

Li Tuantuan had no interest in listening to the group's feasibility report on the end of the world. He was already holding the core and walking step by step up the stairs inside the stone tower.

The steamed bun clung tightly to his side, the coal briquette hovered high in the sky scouting, and the golden bean huddled in his pocket, its tail tip trembling.

The steps were narrow, and each step produced a resonant "hum" sound, as if the entire tower was responding to his footsteps.

After climbing for about five minutes, he reached the top of the tower.

The top of the tower is a huge circular platform, with a black sphere about two meters in diameter suspended in the center.

The sphere churned and churned, its surface revealing countless distorted faces that flickered in and out of existence, emitting silent screams. A pure, thick, nauseating aura of death emanated from the sphere, spreading continuously outwards.

This is the core of Guixu—a "source of death energy" formed from countless undead spirits.

At the bottom of the sphere, there is a fist-sized groove, the shape of which perfectly matches the "Purification Core" in Li Tuantuan's hand.

"This is way too obvious," Lin Wan said from behind. "It's practically like they're just going to write 'Please insert the key here'."

Li Tuantuan rolled her eyes.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: What do you think this is? A self-service locker?

But he did not act rashly. He squatted on the edge of the platform, tilted his head, and examined the black sphere with an unusually solemn expression.

Because his system is frantically refreshing the screen.

[WARNING! The target, "Core of the Void," contains the sealed wills of multiple undead beings of S rank or higher!]

[WARNING! Inserting the "Purification Core" into the slot will reactivate the seal for a short time. However, during this process, the core will release a final wave of counterattack energy!]

[Expected counterattack intensity: Super S-level!]

[It is recommended that the host ensure it has sufficient defensive capabilities to withstand the impact before inserting the core!]

A super S-level counterattack.

Li Tuantuan fell silent.

He turned around and looked at the line behind him.

Taishan was covered in wounds, yet he forced a smile. Tianyin's lips were bloodless, but she still clutched her guqin, ready for battle at any moment. Yingzi leaned against the wall, panting; her protective suit had several holes in it.

These people have reached their limit.

If a counterattack comes, they won't be able to withstand it.

Mantou rubbed against his leg, its icy blue eyes filled with determination—wherever the boss goes, it will go.

Jin Dou poked its head out of the pocket, squeaked twice, and its tail wrapped around his finger.

A lump of coal flew in through the skylight, landed on his shoulder, and tilted its head to look at him.

"Huh?"

Boss, wanna do it?

Looking at his three brothers who had risked their lives for him, Li Tuantuan suddenly felt a strange sensation.

If this were his past life, he would have turned and run away immediately. His life was his own; he didn't care what the world did.

but now……

He looked down at his bear paw.

Furry, black and white, these are the paws of a giant panda.

He is a national treasure.

He is a formally appointed police officer.

He is the head of the Special Biological Warfare Section.

He is the captain of the "Gatekeeper" advance team.

It's an officially certified mythical creature, raised by this country with so many bamboo shoots and basins of milk.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: Damn... after all this time, it's about time I got my money's worth.

He stood up and turned to Lin Wan and his teammates.

He pointed at them with his bear paw, then at the stairs.

Lin Wan understood immediately, and her expression changed instantly.

"No! You want to stay behind alone? I won't allow it!"

Li Tuantuan ignored her and looked at Mount Tai.

Taishan understood. Although his eyes reddened, he gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and hoisted Lin Wan, who was still protesting, onto his shoulders.

"Let me go! Shi Gandang, put him down right now!"

"I'm sorry, Captain Lin. It's the captain's order." Taishan's voice was muffled.

"Everyone, evacuate the stone tower!" Taishan turned and shouted to his team members.

The team members gritted their teeth and ran towards the stairs one by one. Before running, each of them glanced back at the fat panda standing at the top of the tower, its back to them.

No one said anything sentimental.

Because they knew that panda hated pretentiousness the most.

After everyone had evacuated the stone tower.

Li Tuantuan took a deep breath and looked down at the steamed bun in her arms, the coal ball on her shoulder, and the gold beans in her pocket.

"You all go too."

The three animals stared at him, none of them moving.

The steamed bun lay sprawled at his feet, refusing to get up, no matter what.

The coal ball folded its wings tightly and tucked itself into its collar.

Jin Dou simply bit the edge of his pocket, and he couldn't pull it off.

Li Tuantuan looked at them, and a smile involuntarily crept onto her face.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: A bunch of disobedient brats.

Without saying anything more, he raised the "Purification Core" that emitted a warm golden light and walked step by step toward the black sphere.

He paused for a second as he approached the groove.

Then, he pressed down with his palm.

The moment the golden crystal was embedded in the groove.

The entire demiplane was trembling.

A storm of energy, interwoven with black and gold, erupted from the center of the sphere, carrying the roars and curses of countless undead, and swept towards Li Tuantuan!

"Skin of copper and bones of iron!"

Golden light covered his entire body.

The steamed bun opened its blood-red maw, transforming the power of frost into a shield that enveloped the entire team.

The coal ball let out a sharp cry, and dark shadow power was released from its black feathers, counteracting the curse of the undead.

Although Jin Dou was trembling with fear, it used its meager spiritual power to desperately protect Li Tuantuan's consciousness.

Waves of black energy storms crashed against them.

Li Tuantuan felt as if she had been run over by ten trucks at the same time, or as if she had been stuffed into a washing machine and tossed around eight hundred times.

But he did not back down.

The 300-pound body was like a rivet, firmly nailed to the core.

He held the purification core with one bear paw, held a steamed bun in the other hand, carried coal briquettes on his back, and had gold beans in his pocket.

The storm lasted for a full three minutes.

Three minutes later, the distorted faces inside the black sphere disappeared one by one, and the aura of death was gradually purified.

In the end, the black sphere transformed into a completely transparent crystal.

The ancient patterns on the top of the tower were all illuminated.

A golden beam of light shot up from the top of the stone tower, piercing through the purple-gold sky!

Meanwhile, on the other side of Earth...

In the Qinling Gorge, the patterns on the huge bronze door are also fading in sync.

The two doors began to slowly close.

"The door is closing!" General Longxiang shouted. "Attention everyone! The advance team... the advance team hasn't come out yet!"

Just one last second before the bronze door was about to close completely.

A black and white figure, carrying a ball of white fur, with a crow perched on its shoulder and a bulging pouch in its pocket, shot out from the crack in the door as if blasted out by a cannon, crashing onto the canyon floor and carving a fifty-meter-long furrow.

Immediately afterwards, a dozen or so human team members, covered in dust and dirt, jumped out one after another from the crack in the door.

The last one to come out was Taishan, with Lin Wan on his back, who was desperately pounding on his back.

"Bang!"

The bronze door closed completely.

The patterns on the door have all gone out.

The gate connecting to the Ruins of Return has been sealed once again.

At the end of the furrow, Li Tuantuan lay sprawled on the ground, his body covered in soot, his fur almost completely burned off.

He raised a trembling bear paw and gave a thumbs-up to everyone who had gathered around him—the general, the soldiers, and the team members.

Then, she rolled her eyes and fainted.

[Ding! The core of the Void has been successfully sealed! One-time reward: +100000 Merit Points!]

[Ding! Blessed by national fortune! The host gains a permanent passive ability: Immortal Body of National Treasure—As long as the national fortune of China endures, the host will not truly die!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have officially been promoted to SSS-level!]

The notification sounded for a long time.

But Li Tuantuan could no longer hear anything.

He's dreaming.

In his dream, he finally got to eat the real, top-quality purple bamboo shoots.

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