Don't go to the moon, there are gods on the far side of the moon.

Five minutes after the press conference ended, the space city experienced a power outage.

It's not a building.

It's the entire city.

The high-rise buildings went dark, the streetlights went out, and the backup power supplies for hospitals, exhibition halls, and data centers seemed to have been cut off by the same hand. As darkness descended, the moon in the sky shone abnormally bright, like the only server still running above the city.

Then, all the screens lit up at the same time.

Mobile phones, GG license plates, car navigation systems, bank queuing machines, and convenience store POS screens.

Regardless of whether there is electricity, the same round far side of the moon is displayed.

In the center of the gray wasteland, the shadow of the broken pillar of heaven was clearer than it had been the night before.

At the end of the shadows, the Southern Heavenly Gate opened a crack.

Countless screams echoed throughout the city.

Inside the abandoned transfer station, the old monitoring host started up on its own, and red text scrolled across the screen:

[Warm-up for Nantianmen]

[Human interface location in progress]

[Star Official Verifiers Enter]

Lin Jibai kicked the computer screen and shattered it.

"Walk."

Xu Wangshu had already stuffed the lunar soil box into the shockproof case: "Where to?"

"The drainage ditch in the west of the city. There is a maintenance road leading out of the space city from there."

"How do you know everything?"

"Poor people don't go home through the front door."

They rushed out of the transfer station.

The streets were in chaos, cars were stuck in traffic, and sirens blared everywhere. Some people knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the moon, some were live-streaming on their phones, and some covered their ears, saying they heard someone calling their names from the sky.

Lin Jibai carried Xiaoman on his back and ran close to the wall.

Xiaoman's body temperature kept dropping, and her breath was covered in frost.

"Brother, I heard them."

Don't listen.

"They said that as long as I go back inside, the pain will stop."

Lin Jibai gritted his teeth: "Liar. Whoever told you to leave me is a liar."

At the intersection ahead, three men in black emerged from the crowd.

The astrolabe badges on their chests gleamed coldly, and the chaotic crowd around them seemed not to see them, automatically circling around them.

The leader raised his hand.

"Human interaction needs to be handed over."

Lin Jibai didn't waste any words.

He pushed Xu Wangshu into a side alley, then carried Xiaoman on his back and rushed toward a closed hardware store next door.

The roller shutter door was locked.

He swung the wrench to break the lock, crawled inside, and pulled down a row of steel cables and a nail gun.

As the man in black entered, his foot suddenly tightened.

The steel cable tripped his leg, and Lin Jibai pulled the pin on the nail gun, driving three steel nails into the cement wall.

The man in black fell down.

But he did not cry out in pain.

He braced himself on the ground with his palms, twisting his joints at an angle that was not human, and actually tried to stand up.

Xiaoman, perched on Lin Jibai's back, trembled as she said, "Brother, they're empty inside."

Lin Jibai grabbed an industrial plastic bucket from the shelf, smashed it to the ground, and then threw a lighter at it.

Flames rose up.

The man in black finally paused.

"Afraid of fire?" Lin Jibai sneered. "That makes things easier."

Xu Wangshu burst in through the back door: "The drainage ditch inlet is blocked!"

"Who sealed it?"

"I don't know, but the seal says Tianheng."

Lin Jibai's eyes darkened.

Tianheng knew the city better than they did.

Or rather, part of the space city already belonged to Tianheng.

Suddenly, an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

The city’s emergency response system was restored, but not by government notification; it was Wen Zhaolin’s voice.

"Fellow citizens, please remain calm. The communication anomaly that occurred tonight is due to visual interference during the pilot test of the Earth-Moon Ladder. Tianheng Group will bear all losses."

His voice was gentle and steady, like a light in the darkness.

Please do not spread unverified myths and rumors.

Lin Jibai looked up at the large screen on the street.

Wen Zhaolin stood in the live broadcast room, with a model of the Earth-Moon Ladder behind him.

At the top of the model is a broken pillar of Buzhou Mountain.

Xu Wangshu whispered, "He's using panic to build credibility."

"More than that," Lin Jibai said. "He's testing who can hear the real sound."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the screens in the city flickered briefly.

Behind Wen Zhaolin's live stream, another layer of images suddenly appeared.

Through the cracks of the South Heavenly Gate, countless kneeling shadows looked up.

They whispered in unison:

"Return to your place."

"Return to your place."

"Return to your place."

Xiaoman covered her ears in pain.

The lines between her eyebrows lit up.

The men in black all turned to her.

Lin Jibai knew he couldn't take the main road anymore.

He looked at the drain on the floor of the hardware store.

An old-style cast iron cover leading to the combined sewer pipe.

It's dirty, narrow, and dangerous.

But it can walk.

He pried open the well cover and handed Xiaoman to Xu Wangshu first.

"Get out of here."

Xu Wangshu frowned: "And you?"

Lin Jibai picked up a can of gasoline and a blowtorch.

"I'll cover the rear."

The man in black stepped through the flames, his clothes burning, yet he continued forward.

The leader's chest star chart was so bright it was blinding.

"Lin Jibai, verification begins."

Lin Jibai lit the blowtorch, and flames roared out.

"Come."

He stood in the dark hardware store, with a well leading underground behind him and a star official dressed in human skin in front of him.

Moonlight shone through the broken glass.

For the first time, he clearly heard a low hum within his own bones.

thump.

thump.

It was like a broken pillar beating a drum for him.