97: Password

"9..."

"8..."

The cold countdown, like a death knell rung by the Grim Reaper, struck Wang Dalong's heart over and over again.

Above his head, a giant rock the size of a truck came crashing down with a whistle that tore through the air!

The world-shattering aura made his scalp tingle!

Wang Dalong was so scared his soul almost flew away, and he instinctively closed his eyes!

"BOOM—!!!"

The scene he imagined of being crushed into meat paste did not happen.

After a world-shaking explosion, a blinding golden shield burst open above their heads, forcefully decomposing that giant rock into a sky full of golden powder.

A violent shockwave instantly swept through, and the entire underground cavern let out a groaning wail of "creak, creak," as countless pieces of rubble mixed with golden dust rained down like a storm.

The jade pier beneath their feet shook violently, splitting open with hideous cracks, looking as if it could fall apart at any moment!

"Brother Feng! Brother Feng! Stop reciting poetry here! Hurry and think of something!"

Wang Dalong jumped three feet high in terror, pointing at the motionless Golden Warrior and then at the deadly countdown on Lin Feng's wrist, his voice cracking.

"It's not hacking at us anymore, but this ghost of a place is about to collapse!"

However, Lin Feng acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.

He ignored the apocalyptic scene of the world falling apart around him, ignored Wang Dalong's pig-slaughtering wails, and took a step forward to face the Golden Warrior's mirror-smooth metal mask.

At this moment, Lin Feng's world went completely silent.

His mind was clearer than ever before, and those images of the rise and fall of civilizations within the 'eye of omniscience' flowed before his eyes with incredible clarity.

He felt the sorrow and resolve of that ancient leader, and even more so, he felt that heavy hope entrusted to the future, spanning hundreds of millions of years.

That wasn't just a password.

That was a civilization's final words!

Lin Feng spoke.

Using an ancient, raspy tone filled with a strange rhythm, he spat out the Ancient Zhuojin Star Language word by word.

"The falling of the stars is not the end..."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a clap of thunder, piercing through this space that was about to be destroyed.

The countdown, the falling rocks, and the giant waves all seemed to be put into slow motion at this moment.

The Golden Warrior's blue core suddenly changed its flashing frequency with every syllable he uttered!

"...but rather to sow new seeds within the dark soil."

When the last syllable, carrying endless tragedy and hope, fell from Lin Feng's mouth,

The entire world went deathly silent for a moment.

The light of the blue core in the Golden Warrior blocking their path flashed frantically at an unprecedented speed, almost merging into a single blinding blue light!

In Lin Feng's mind, that majestic voice rang out again, but it was no longer a questioning one; it was a high-speed mechanical determination.

[...Verifying...]

[...Thought waveform match... Emotional spectrum consistent...]

Lin Feng only felt an invisible force sweep through his brain, and that vision of the civilization's end, along with that heavy sense of sorrow, was instantly read!

[...Identity... confirmed as... 'Witness'...]

[...Authorization... granted...]

"Hum—!"

As soon as the words fell, the golden barrier surrounding the Escape Pod vanished without a trace, like mist blown away by the wind.

The Golden Warrior's massive metal body slowly took a step back.

It raised its arm and made an extremely human-like, standard "please" gesture toward the streamlined Escape Pod behind them.

"I... Holy crap!"

Wang Dalong's eyes nearly popped out, and his mouth hung open wide enough to fit a goose egg.

He looked at the respectfully bowing golden hunk of metal, then at the calm Lin Feng, his brain completely stalling.

"This script is all wrong! Brother Feng... you... you're using cheats, aren't you?! How do you even know how to speak an alien language?!"

"Stop talking nonsense, get in!"

Lin Feng didn't bother to explain; right now, every second was bought with their lives!

He rushed over in a stride, pulled open the crystal canopy of the Escape Pod, and was the first to dive in.

"Oh, oh, oh!"

Wang Dalong snapped out of his daze and scrambled inside on all fours.

The space inside the pod wasn't large, with only two seats and a console so simple it had only one button.

As soon as the two of them were seated, the transparent crystal canopy closed automatically with a 'click,' sealing out all the noise from the outside world.

Almost simultaneously, the voice of the Golden Guardian rang out in Lin Feng's mind for the last time.

[...Emergency escape procedure... initiated...]

[...Destination: Surface...]

[...Good... luck... Witness...]

Before the words could fade, a terrifying sense of acceleration slammed into them, pinning them both firmly against their seats, making even breathing stop!

"Swoosh—!"

The Escape Pod had no acceleration process; like an electromagnetic railgun shell, it launched instantly and dived headfirst into the underground lake ahead!

The lake's surface didn't even have time to ripple before it was pierced through by them!

"Rumble—!!!"

The very second after they left the pier!

The entire underground cavern could no longer hold up and underwent a world-shaking collapse!

That massive pier, white as jade, along with the Golden Warrior who had loyally guarded it until the very last moment, was completely swallowed by billions of tons of rock and soil, buried forever in the depths of this planet's core!

The Escape Pod was incredibly fast in the water.

Wang Dalong's face was pale, feeling as if his internal organs were about to shift out of place; he could only grip the handrail tightly, even his screams stuck in his throat.

"My god... this thing is ten thousand times more intense than a roller coaster..."

Lin Feng's face was also somewhat pale, but he endured the discomfort and suddenly looked back.

Wang Dalong subconsciously followed his gaze and looked back as well.

Then, they saw the most shocking and tragic scene of their lives.

Behind them, in that world shrouded by endless rock layers and darkness, the entire Golden City was performing its final act.

Light!

Endless golden light seeped out from the cracks in the thick rock layers, dyeing everything behind them an eternal gold!

The gold that made up the city was turning into the purest energy.

There was no world-shaking explosion, no heart-wrenching roar.

There was only a grand, tragic, yet incredibly gentle... farewell.

The city that carried the final legacy of a great civilization, the El Dorado that countless people dreamed of, after sleeping for tens of thousands of years, finally chose to disappear from this world completely and cleanly in this manner.

Leaving not a speck of dust, leaving no trace of greedy desire for future generations.

"This... this is..."

Wang Dalong was shaking all over; looking at that light, witnessing the end of a civilization, his eyes instantly turned red.

As a chronicler, almost out of instinct, he held up the special camera he had been clutching tightly and aimed the lens at the brilliance behind them that was about to return to eternal silence.

He knew he was recording a piece of true history that would never be known to the world, yet was enough to overturn the entire world's perception.

The Escape Pod suddenly rounded a massive bend.

The magnificent, creation-like light behind them was completely cut off by the thick, boundless rock walls.

The world returned to darkness.

"Whew... whew..." Wang Dalong put down the camera, panting heavily as he slumped into his seat like a dehydrated fish.

"We survived... we really survived..."

Lin Feng also breathed a sigh of relief, his tensed nerves finally relaxing a fraction.

However, just then,

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

A piercing alarm suddenly blared within the cramped cabin!

The breath the two of them had just let out was instantly caught in their throats again!

Above the console, a blood-red warning icon was projected!

[Warning: Hull structure damaged! External water pressure exceeds safety threshold!]

[Warning: Energy system failure! Estimated total shutdown in 30 minutes!]

Wang Dalong's face turned white in a second.

"No way, Brother Feng?! What's the situation? Just got out of the ICU and being sent straight to the crematorium?!"

This Escape Pod had clearly been damaged during the previous collapse and high-speed transit!

In this bottomless underground river, once they lost power, their only fate would be to be crushed into a ball of meat paste by the terrifying water pressure!

Lin Feng's pupils shrank fiercely.

He stared intently at the continuously flashing red warning and that cold, heartless countdown.

Thirty minutes!

They only had thirty minutes!