46: Chapter 46 The good news is that we survived; the bad news is that humanity only has three years left!

Section Chief Han Zheng took a step forward.

He did not raise his gun, nor did he show his identification.

In the face of such power, these worldly symbols held no meaning.

He simply stood still, his right fist clenched tightly, pressing firmly against his left chest.

This was not a military salute, nor was it any kind of standard etiquette.

It was the most direct, clumsy, yet sincere way for a battle-hardened soldier to express respect in that moment.

"Greetings, Knight. I am Section Chief Han Zheng from The Seventh Division of Huaguo."

His voice was hushed, but every word sounded as if it were being hammered directly out of his chest—steady and clear.

"It is presumptuous to say this—but we have already learned of the existence of an apocalyptic catastrophe. Faced with a crisis of this magnitude, humanity needs to gather every bit of strength it can muster."

Section Chief Han Zheng lifted his head, his gaze crossing the five-meter distance, looking directly into the eyes behind the slits of the helmet's visor.

"I represent Huaguo and hope to establish cooperation with Kindling."

As his voice fell, the soldiers at the entrance of the corridor subconsciously straightened their backs.

Professor Zhou's gaze darted rapidly between Section Chief Han Zheng and Liu Yuyan, and he even forgot to breathe.

Wang Hao clenched his fists.

The hall was terrifyingly silent.

Liu Yuyan did not answer immediately.

She had anticipated this scene.

From the moment the Chairman sent her to Qin Province, she knew that what she had to face was more than just an E-Rank Anomaly.

If it were her former self, the Liu Group president who only understood business maneuvering, she would have asked the same question:

Why doesn't Kindling step into the spotlight and use official power to expand its reach?

But now, she knew the answer.

"Human nature."

Two words came from beneath the helmet, calm and without a ripple.

Yet these two words were like two red-hot iron nails, precisely driven into the very core of the air in the hall.

Section Chief Han Zheng's pupils constricted sharply.

Liu Yuyan looked at him, her voice remaining steady.

"I know you are good people. The way you protected your companions tonight and were willing to stand at the forefront with your guns is no different from the people on the Kindling murals."

She tilted her head, her gaze passing over Section Chief Han Zheng and sweeping across the soldiers, professors, and graduate students behind him, each with their own distinct expressions.

"But—can you guarantee that everyone is?"

"The first enemy an organization with extraordinary power must face when it steps into the light is not the exotic beasts."

"It is covetousness, suspicion, control, and exploitation."

Section Chief Han Zheng's jaw tightened abruptly.

He wanted to retort, wanted to speak of national discipline, the resolve of the high-level officials, and that all selfishness must give way in the face of human survival.

But when he opened his mouth, not a single word came out.

Because he understood it too well.

He had been struggling within the system for twenty years; the dark corners he had seen were even thicker than the black mist in these ruins.

An extraordinary organization—what did that mean?

Immortality? Invincible power? A weapon to overturn the world order?

Once exposed, Kindling would face frantic probing from all countries, all factions, and all ambitious people around the world.

Today they send people to talk about cooperation, tomorrow they might send people to steal the Kindling.

The day after, perhaps, there would be a war fought by humanity itself for the sake of seizing that extraordinary power.

The exotic beasts wouldn't even have arrived, and humanity would have already finished itself off.

"But..."

In the corner, Chen Yiming could not hold back any longer.

The young graduate student's face turned bright red; passion and idealism overwhelmed his fear.

"But human technology is constantly developing! As long as you give us time, we will definitely be able to develop weapons to deal with Anomalies and exotic beasts! We can cooperate; Kindling provides the data, and we will do the research!"

Liu Yuyan turned to look at him.

The helmet hid her expression, but that gaze caused the rest of Chen Yiming's words to get stuck in his throat.

She was silent for two seconds.

"How many years would that take?"

Her voice was very light.

"Ten years? Twenty years?"

She did not continue.

But every word was like a cold hammer, striking at the hearts of everyone present.

Section Chief Han Zheng gritted his teeth, the rusty taste of blood spreading in his mouth.

He picked up the topic that no one dared to touch.

"There is not enough time."

His voice was rough and dry, every word frayed at the edges.

"Three years."

"The great catastrophe is about to erupt completely."

These words fell into the hall like an iceberg crashing down from ten thousand meters, instantly draining all the temperature from the air.

Professor Zhou closed his eyes, his graying eyelashes trembling.

Zhao Xiaohe's fingers gripping the notebook were white from the force.

Chen Yiming's flushed face turned pale in an instant, his lips trembling twice, unable to make a sound.

The youngest of the five soldiers subconsciously lowered his head.

Three years.

And then, the land beneath their feet, the sky overhead, that wooden door back home, that bowl of hot noodle soup Mom cooks... perhaps, all of it would be gone.

The air was bone-chillingly cold.

It was not the lingering chill of an Anomaly, but the temperature of despair itself.

Watching this scene, a very soft sigh came from beneath Liu Yuyan's helmet.

"Perhaps... there is still a chance."

Everyone's gaze, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, shot toward her instantly.

"There are ruins left behind by past generations of Kindling on Blue Star. Just like this one."

She raised her hand, her silver-white vambrace pointing toward the surviving battle murals on the eight stone walls.

"Perhaps in some ruin, there remains a method left by our predecessors to deal with the great catastrophe. It is possible."

It was not a promise, nor was it a guarantee.

Just a "perhaps."

But in that icy cave of despair created by the "three years," these four words were like a lifeline dropped from the sky.

Section Chief Han Zheng grasped it.

Professor Zhou opened his eyes abruptly, light reigniting in his cloudy pupils; exploring Kindling ruins was his lifelong pursuit, and the sole reason for his archaeological team's existence!

Zhao Xiaohe's hand was shaking, but as the pen tip landed on the notebook, her handwriting was steadier than ever before.

Just then, in the center of the stone platform, the previously dim and lusterless circular groove of the formation—lit up.

A soft golden light rose from within, spreading out as smoothly as ripples in water, silently forming a two-meter-high gate of light before everyone.

A door.

A door leading to the outside.

The Anomaly dissipated, the millennial seal completed its final mission, transforming the remaining energy into a gift.

A path home.

In front of the screen of light, everyone prepared to evacuate.

Wang Hao stood still.

He hesitated for a few seconds, as if using all his strength, before plucking up the courage to walk up to Liu Yuyan.

"Wait a moment."

His voice was somewhat dry, carrying a tremor he himself had not noticed.

"I am a descendant of Kindling. I also want to protect humanity and safeguard civilization. But..."

He lowered his head and glanced at his hands.

Those hands that had been driving a ride-hailing car for eight years, rough and calloused.

There was no holy light, no flames.

"But I have no power."

Liu Yuyan looked at him quietly through the slits of her visor.

Looking at this man who had used a ride-hailing car to crash through a steel beam wall and used a bent steel bar to shield his pregnant wife.

"You are a descendant of Kindling."

Her voice dropped by half a degree, carrying an unquestionable affirmation.

"Then first, hone yourself. Presumably... everything has its arrangement."

She took a bronze piece-shaped pendant from her waist and held it in her palm.

She looked at Wang Hao one last time.

"You have the belief of Kindling in your heart. That is enough."

A flash of golden light.

Space, like a piece of paper gently crumpled, wrinkled for an instant.

The silver-white figure disappeared.

Even the last glimmer of holy light circulating on her armor dissipated completely.

Wang Hao stared at the air where she had vanished, his throat feeling as if it were blocked by a ball of scalding cotton; he could neither swallow it nor spit it out.

He had been acknowledged.

Acknowledged by the... Paladin of Kindling.

A hand patted his shoulder.

The force was not great, but it was steady.

Section Chief Han Zheng walked over; he didn't say any words of comfort, just patted him.

Then he turned and faced the others.

"Let's go. Pass through the screen of light."

Ten people walked in single file into the golden screen of light.

The touch of the screen was warm and soft; the moment they passed through, there was a slight sensation of weightlessness in their bodies.

The next second, their feet stepped onto the rough rock surface—the front hall.

They had returned to that initial domed space.

Behind them, the golden gate of light, formed by the remaining energy of the millennial seal, rippled like water for a moment, then quietly faded away.

Wang Hao was the first to turn back.

The screen of light had already disappeared.

The stone wall had returned to its gray-brown rocky appearance, flat, rough, and without markings, as if the entrance to another space-time had never existed.

The only change—that bronze piece that had torn his clothes and flown out was now quietly embedded in a groove on the surface of the stone wall, facing outward, with the two characters "Kindling" gleaming with a dull bronze-green color in the flashlight's beam.

Wang Hao stepped forward, reached out, and took it down.

The moment the bronze piece entered his palm, a trace of faint warmth remained; three seconds later, it cooled completely, turning back into an ordinary, heavy piece of metal.

He clutched the bronze piece in his palm, holding it tight.

A life-and-death ordeal had passed.

But some things remained in his bones forever.

At the end of the corridor, the iron door that had previously been welded shut by the power of the Anomaly was now wide open.

Cold wind poured down from the direction of the shaft, carrying the scent of pine needles and damp earth, unique to the late autumn nights of the Taibai Mountains.

The scent of being alive.

"Quick! Quick!"

Professor Zhou was the first to rush toward the iron ladder.

The sixty-one-year-old man was climbing the iron ladder faster than his two twenty-something-year-old graduate students, his military boots stepping on the rusty rungs, making a "clanging" sound.

"The recorder's data and image materials, back them all up in three copies! No, five! Film, hard drives, USB flash drives—store them separately! Not a single one can have any issues!"

His voice echoed in the narrow shaft, carrying a kind of manic excitement, like one who had just survived a disaster.

Chen Yiming and Zhao Xiaohe followed closely behind.

The two young people had identical expressions on their faces; their brains were crashed by the massive influx of information, yet driven by the instincts of archaeologists, they were shaking with excitement.

After witnessing history truly come alive, professional instinct was far more ferocious than the instinct for survival.

Section Chief Han Zheng was the last one to climb the iron ladder.

He turned back and took one last look at this empty front hall.

The flashlight's beam slowly swept across the dome, landing on the star chart whose meaning he had only truly understood at this moment.

That mysterious arrangement of stars remained silent in the darkness, like an eye that had always been open, spanning a thousand years.

It was staring at the invisible crack in the sky.

It had been staring for a thousand years.