88: Four Symbols Data Disk, Clues to the Bronze Gate

When Lin Tian's cold declaration, accompanied by the destructive Aura of the "Bulwark" mecha squad, descended upon this ravaged battlefield, time seemed to pause.

Inside and outside the headquarters of the "Pangu Biotech" group, all surviving employees and guards, after experiencing an instant reversal from Hell to Heaven, erupted in thunderous cheers and cries.

It was a wild joy of surviving a catastrophe, a fervent worship at the sight of a god's arrival, intertwining into a powerful Mental Energy torrent that shot up into the sky.

They looked at the figure who had appeared out of nowhere, single-handedly turning the tide, their gazes filled with almost pilgrimage-like reverence.

Su Mucheng, in particular, hurried forward, her high heels making a disordered sound on the broken rubble.

When she ran to Lin Tian, the icy will that had supported her unwavering fight finally melted, and her body swayed slightly from excitement and exhaustion, on the verge of collapsing.

Lin Tian reached out and steadily supported her arm.

Tears could no longer be held back in her eyes, like a breached river.

Gratitude, worship, lingering fear, relief... all sorts of extremely complex emotions surged in her chest, finally transforming into a choked, almost inaudible sentence: "You... you finally came."

Lin Tian gently comforted her, patting her shoulder softly, and said in a calm tone, "I'm here, and everything is over."

His voice was not loud, but it carried an absolute power that could calm people's hearts.

However, his mind, like the most precise supercomputer, calmly analyzed the incident and maximized the benefits.

'Saving them is an inevitable choice,' he thought.

'But emotional salvation is just a facade, a means to an end.

The core objectives are, first, to preserve my most important industry, which is the cornerstone of my future commercial Empire, and cannot be lost; second, to guard that crucial 'authority chip,' which is related to the subsequent game with that mysterious 'Duke,' and is bait to lure out the big fish; third, through this savior-like appearance, to completely win over Su Mucheng and the entire group, elevating their loyalty from commercial employment to an absolute, unshakeable level of faith.

Hearts are the cheapest and most expensive weapon.

Killing three birds with one stone—this is the optimal solution for maximizing benefits.'

In the dictionary of an ambitious hero, there is never simple benevolence, only precise calculations and clear goals.

After calming everyone, he then, led by Su Mucheng, traversed the scarred city and headed straight to the group headquarters' core vault.

This was the primary target of the enemy's previous attack, and also his ultimate destination for this trip.

The vault was located three hundred meters deep beneath the headquarters building, doubly protected by multiple layers of superconducting alloy armor and a quantum energy matrix, making it impregnable.

Had the enemy not deployed three S-Class Experts for a saturation attack, perhaps ten times more troops would not have been able to shake it in the slightest.

As Lin Tian stepped through the ten-meter-thick vault door, engraved with defensive runes, the familiar mechanical prompt in his mind arrived as expected.

【Ding! Detected a special check-in location: Vault of the Four Symbols Guardians.

This place contains the residual Aura of the Ancient Era's 'Four Symbols Martial God.'

Would you like to check in?】

"Check in."

【Check-in successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a four-star reward: A-class Mental Energy amplification weapon — 'phoenix perch zither'!】

A gentle stream of information flowed into Lin Tian's mind.

This was an ancient zither made primarily from the remains of a Phoenix, a legendary and long-extinct Sacred Beast from the Ancient Era that once nested on the Parasol Divine Tree, supplemented by ten-thousand-year warm jade and extraterrestrial meteoric iron.

It was not only a marvel of craftsmanship but also capable of greatly amplifying the combat power of Mental Energy practitioners.

The sound waves produced by playing it could even bypass physical defenses and directly attack the enemy's Soul Origin.

'A good addition,' Lin Tian thought to himself.

His current Mental Energy was already extremely powerful, but his attack methods were relatively singular, relying mostly on the purification and suppression of the Heart of God.

The appearance of this 'phoenix perch zither' just made up for his shortcomings in Mental Energy attack methods.

Although it was only A-class, its special amplification effect on Mental Energy might produce unexpected miraculous results in certain specific situations.

He quietly put away the ancient zither and turned his gaze to the depths of the vault.

He looked at Su Mucheng, who had calmed down, and asked the core question of this trip: "The enemy attacked here at all costs, even risking a direct war with the Long Family.

Do you think they were merely after that 'authority chip'?"

Su Mucheng took a deep breath, her expression becoming extremely solemn.

She knew that after witnessing Lin Tian's god-like methods and the Thunder Legion, the secret her Family had guarded for generations might only be safe and correct if entrusted to this man.

She explained, "Mr. Lin, you don't know.

Our Su Family is not an ordinary commercial Family.

Our ancestors were once the 'Azure Dragon' general under the 'Four Symbols Martial God' of the Ancient Era, who single-handedly reunified the Nine Provinces of Huaxia and established the first Martial Dao Imperial Dynasty after the 'Great Catastrophe,' responsible for guarding his core technology and Legacy."

"In this vault, besides the 'authority chip' you know about, we have also guarded a relic of the Martial God for generations.

That is their true target — the 'four symbols data disk.'"

This new term made Lin Tian raise an eyebrow slightly, and he keenly felt that he was about to come into contact with a deeper secret.

Su Mucheng did not hesitate.

She walked to a wall in the deepest part of the vault, made of a single piece of obsidian, extended her delicate hand, bit her fingertip, and dripped a drop of crimson blood into an inconspicuous Dragon-shaped groove on the wall.

Immediately, her pupils glowed faintly, and a complex iris data was read by the wall.

Dual verification of gene and iris.

Rumble...

The heavy obsidian wall slowly moved aside, revealing a more hidden compartment.

Inside the compartment, a square data disk made of an unknown translucent crystal quietly floated in a soft energy field.

On its surface, carved with ancient characters Lin Tian had never seen before, were the totems of the Four Sacred Beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, full of ancient, mysterious, and powerful Aura.

"According to ancestral teachings, the 'four symbols data disk' records the Martial God's lifelong efforts and Legacy, and is the 'key' to unlocking a ultimate secret.

And those four 'authority chips' are the 'energy' to activate this data disk."

Su Mucheng's voice trembled slightly from revealing her Family's greatest secret, "I guess that mysterious 'Duke' has likely gathered the other three chips through various means."

Lin Tian slowly stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the "four symbols data disk."

But what made his pupils suddenly contract was not the data disk itself, but the groove in its center.

It was an extremely peculiar, irregular groove, as if left by an external force tearing it apart.

This shape...

He almost instinctively took out the "prehistoric civilization alloy fragment" from his storage space, which he had obtained from the "War Emperor's Mausoleum" and whose composition could not be analyzed by any instrument!

The two compared, fitting perfectly, a flawless match!

"So that's how it is..."

Lin Tian instantly understood everything!

From the "alloy fragment" of the War Emperor's Mausoleum, to the proxy war launched by the "Duke" in Africa, to the current encirclement of "Pangu Biotech," all seemingly unrelated events had a clear underlying thread pointing to the same ultimate goal!

The 'Duke''s goal was not some so-called "prehistoric superweapon" at all!

That was just a smokescreen to mislead the world!

His true purpose was to activate this "four symbols data disk" by collecting the four "authority chips"!

And the "four symbols data disk" needed to be combined with this "prehistoric civilization alloy fragment" to become a complete "key"!

A key... to the legendary SSS-class restricted area, the most mysterious Seventh Restricted Area that even his grandfather Long Zhanye spoke of with great reverence — the "bronze gate"!

The 'Duke''s ultimate goal, like his own, was that mysterious "bronze gate"!

All the clues, at this moment, were perfectly connected!

Lin Tian reached out and, under Su Mucheng's astonished gaze, slowly pressed the "prehistoric civilization alloy fragment" into the groove of the "four symbols data disk."

Buzz—!

The moment the two perfectly fit, the data disk was instantly activated!

The totems of the Four Sacred Beasts erupted with dazzling four-colored light: the Azure Dragon coiled, the White Tiger roared, the Vermilion Bird spread its wings, and the Black Tortoise expanded the sea!

A grand star map, incredibly complex and containing countless star coordinates and spatial parameters, was projected into the air of the vault.

The core of the star map pointed to an unknown cosmic region marked as an "absolute forbidden zone" by the Law of the Universe.

That was where the "bronze gate" was located!

Looking at this incredibly clear star map, Lin Tian smiled.

That smile carried a hint of cold mockery and absolute control.

"Duke... You racked your brains, laid out your plans globally, and even resorted to war, but you overlooked one thing."

"That is, the last, and most crucial, key is in my hands."

At this point, the conflict between the two sides completely transformed from an indirect, vague game to a direct, unavoidable final showdown centered around the "ultimate secret"!

And now, holding the intelligence advantage and the ultimate key, he had already seized the absolute, unshakeable initiative in this showdown!