189: Chapter 187 Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, "Genesis"

Dragon Country,

East Sea Defense Line Command Center.

Less than two hours after the graduation ceremony ended,

General Zhan Kuang received an emergency notification sent by Eagle Country through the highest-level diplomatic hotline.

The content of the notification was very short,

but... every word made one's scalp tingle.

After General Zhan Kuang finished reading, he fell silent for five seconds and threw the cigarette he had been holding all day into the ashtray.

"That madman William is indeed not someone to be trifled with."

He picked up the communicator and dialed Luo Yu's channel.

At this moment,

Luo Yu was in the back garden of Modu University, surrounded by a group of junior students asking for photos.

Godzilla was being rubbed by several bold girls in turns. The hot-tempered Godzilla surprisingly didn't get angry; he even rolled over to show his belly for scratches. It was unclear whether his temperament had improved after evolving to the planetary level or if he simply liked the feeling.

"Hiss~"

Godzilla let out a comfortable hum and kicked his four short legs.

"Don't spoil him, or his tail will be pointing to the sky when we get back," Luo Yu said to the girls, then picked up the communicator.

General Zhan Kuang recounted the situation in full detail.

After Luo Yu finished listening, his expression didn't change.

Beside him, Su Zhiruo noticed that he took an extra look at the southern sky after hanging up. Her intuition told her something had happened.

"What's wrong?"

"A little piece of trash has started making trouble again."

Luo Yu put away the communicator and scooped Godzilla, whose fur was already standing up from being rubbed, back from the girls.

"Let's go, the walk is over."

...

An hour and a half later.

East Sea Defense Line Command Center, temporary war room.

General Zhan Kuang, Fierce Fire, as well as the Northern Border Federation's Minister of National Defense and the Western European Alliance's Military Committee Chairman, who were connected via holographic projection, were all online.

Eagle Country's intelligence chief was also there, appearing in the corner of the screen in an extremely humble posture.

His face was practically screaming the words, "I really did my best."

"That's the situation." After finishing the report, General Zhan Kuang projected a holographic copy of the notification onto the central sand table.

"Dr. William was abducted during transit. The organization that took him is of unknown origin, and their methods were extremely clean. Six SSS-Class Awakened agents lost contact within three minutes, and their whereabouts remain unknown."

"The last message William sent mentioned 'genesis' and the 'Final Plan'. According to limited data provided by Eagle Country, 'genesis' is a secret laboratory he built privately under the Antarctic ice sheet."

"The exact location of the laboratory is unknown."

"As for what exactly is in the laboratory, Eagle Country says—they aren't entirely sure either."

After finishing this last sentence,

General Zhan Kuang glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the Eagle Country intelligence chief in the holographic projection.

The Eagle Country intelligence chief's face twitched, and he could only speak in somewhat broken Chinese: "General Zhankuang, I can explain. Many of Dr. William's research projects were conducted independently. He had his own funding chain and intelligence network; even the President couldn't fully control him."

"Enough."

Luo Yu's voice came from the head seat of the meeting room.

The voice wasn't loud,

but everyone fell silent.

He wasn't wearing a military uniform, just his usual casual clothes. Godzilla was lying on the table, gnawing on a piece of rib swiped from the cafeteria. It was unclear if he could actually bite through it, but it kept making cracking sounds.

"Cut the nonsense. I just have a few questions."

Luo Yu held up one finger.

"First, who were the people who took William?"

The intelligence chief wiped away sweat: "Based on the analysis of residual energy traces, the opponent's combat style doesn't belong to any known Awakener system, nor does it match the energy signatures of Abyssal Giant Beasts. The technical department's preliminary judgment is—it may be related to a High-dimensional civilization."

The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became heavy.

High-dimensional civilization.

Ever since Pandora was subdued, this concept had been hanging over everyone's heads.

Everyone knew what the spatial beacon at Area 51 meant, but because of Luo Yu's powerful presence, no one dared to mention it—or rather, they were unwilling to.

Now,

it was being laid out on the table.

Luo Yu didn't respond and held up a second finger.

"Second, what exactly was William doing in Antarctica?"

"We... are indeed not entirely sure," the intelligence chief's voice grew smaller. "But a partially destroyed memo mentioned a keyword—'Titan Clone'."

As those words landed, the expressions of several people in the meeting room changed simultaneously.

Titan Clone?

Cloning whom?

The answer was self-evident.

General Zhan Kuang almost dropped his cigarette.

Luo Yu, however, let out a chuckle.

"Interesting."

"Marshal?" Fierce Fire asked tentatively.

"I said it's interesting." Luo Yu looked down at Godzilla, who was gnawing on the rib. "Someone wants to knock you off again, Godzilla."

"Hiss?"

Godzilla raised his head, half a rib still hanging from the corner of his mouth. His vertical pupils were filled with the meaning of "Who's so blind?".

"Forget it, keep eating."

Luo Yu pushed his head back down and looked up at the holographic projection.

"Third question."

He didn't hold up a third finger.

"Can you lock onto the specific location in Antarctica?"

The intelligence chief shook his head: "We have used all satellite resources for scanning, but the thickness of the Antarctic ice sheet and the special magnetic field environment have rendered all conventional detection methods ineffective. Moreover, three hours ago, one of our polar-orbiting reconnaissance satellites suddenly lost its signal while passing over Antarctica."

"After it was restored, the last image sent back showed... something that shouldn't be there appeared in a certain area of the Antarctic ice sheet."

The intelligence chief projected a satellite photo onto the sand table.

It was an ice field in the heart of the Antarctic continent, a vast expanse of white with nothing there.

But in the very center of the photo, there was a crack on the ice surface.

The crack wasn't large,

estimated to be only a few hundred meters long.

The problem was—there was light at the edge of the crack.

A pale purple light.

A pale purple light seeping up from beneath the ice.

The meeting room was silent for three seconds.

Luo Yu stared at that purple light, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Pandora, coiled around his wrist like a bracelet, suddenly began to tremble violently. Its emerald-green single eye opened wide, and its entire body emitted a high-frequency hissing sound.

Luo Yu looked down at it.

"You recognize it?"

Pandora's thoughts came through, intermittent but exceptionally clear this time:

"Smell... of home, it's... the way home... not good... will... draw them... here..."

Luo Yu's expression finally changed.

It wasn't fear,

but a kind of instinctive reaction when a hunter catches the scent of prey.

He stood up and snatched Godzilla up from the pile of ribs.

"Meeting adjourned."

"Marshal?"

General Zhan Kuang hadn't reacted yet.

"Prepare the fastest transport plane."

Luo Yu walked toward the door with quick steps and said, "Destination—Antarctica."

"Now?"

"Now."

Luo Yu pushed open the meeting room door and looked back at the purple crack on the screen.

"What that old man William opened might not just be a door."

"But a nest."