"Pre-civilization research facilities have a strange peculiarity: if someone spends too long inside, their spirit may briefly escape their body. Once the institute senses this, the internal space enters a state of alienation, creating two distinct states: inner and outer space. This phenomenon is similar to the concept of the inner and outer worlds."

Nie Weiyang said.

"Those whose spirits leave their bodies may die or become lost in illusions. Horrific phenomena from the inner dimensions of the institute may also temporarily descend upon the human world, using the institute as a hunting ground to kill all living things.

"Under these spatial changes, living people might be in the same room but not see each other, or they might be able to see each other but not hear anything... Most often, someone who was just by your side disappears in the blink of an eye. This is because one of them has entered the inner space.

"Such changes are marked by light and shadow. For us, light is safe, while darkness is completely different. Those who hold the light source are more likely to be pulled into the inner space.

"Fortunately, the monsters' perceptions are disrupted by the laws of the material world, so they are not insurmountable opponents.

"Furthermore, their range of activity is limited to the designated research institute area. Even if the physical world is connected to the outside world, they will not cross this restricted area. If you want to end it, it's very simple: you only need to temporarily shut down the research institute's mainframe on any level. Of course, it will automatically restart after 24 hours. Even if it is damaged, it will automatically repair itself."

Han Jiangxue listened quietly, her eyes blank, as if the information had not entered her mind at all, and as if every word was engraved in her memory.

"So, the former civilization research institute is a source of danger that won't spread. If used well, it can also be used to hide people and things and avoid danger?" she asked.

"Yes," Nie Weiyang said, "but this brings up another characteristic of the institute—if any of us stay here for too long, we'll start to feel sleepy, lose our focus, and eventually fall into a trap."

Han Jiangxue was slightly stunned: "A research institute actually has such characteristics?"

"I don't know. After all, it has nothing to do with us." Nie Weiyang answered frankly, "Our position here is as experimental animals."

After hearing these words, Han Jiangxue fell silent.

...It's true... Today's human population has a maximum human content of 50%, and is not judged as Homo sapiens by the security agencies of the previous civilization. In that research institute, the only place left for them is experimental animals, right?

"A few months ago, it was hard to imagine that we had become so inhumane." Han Jiangxue muttered.

"It's okay," Nie Weiyang said, "Bloodline isn't the only criterion for measuring human nature. Too many people, even without alien blood, aren't truly human. The ultimate criterion for determining whether someone is human is ultimately their heart."

Han Jiangxue nodded in agreement.

"Players from all countries are very strong." She said seriously. This sudden answer made Nie Weiyang stunned for a moment and he almost couldn't react.

These days, the system announcements occasionally pop up some prompts from all over the world, ranging from various regions in China to all seven continents, and even from the North and South Poles.

For example, a snow monster was killed at a scientific research station in the Arctic, someone had a conflict with a primitive totem on a prairie in Africa, a witch gathering in Europe was disturbed by witchers, a church ruin with strong martial arts ethics in a big country in the north stood up and became the boss, a cowboy boss appeared in the Americas, and the challenge required a gunfight... and so on.

The last one even has a one-on-one duel mode, and the result of the duel will be recorded in its file. Now, thousands of its gunmen have died, but every day there are still people who rush up to seek death, persisting, unremittingly, and undeterred by wind and rain. It is truly amazing, so much so that some underground casinos have even opened related gaming tables, and a group of people gather in the underground space every day to watch system announcements like watching TV.

As for why there are still casinos in this world, don’t worry about it.

This planet is truly a hot place, in every sense of the word.

People who are still alive on the planet today, people who once lived together on that blue planet, people who are spreading ideas, culture and Internet information in the 21st century, are doing all kinds of things all over the world.

So, how many of them are doing similar things?

Han Jiangxue thought as she and Nie Weiyang searched the interior of the institute. It was deserted, and all the infrastructure looked as if it had been in operation yesterday. But the deeper they went, the more they felt the different atmosphere, like walking from a path of life into a dead end.

Soon, the air was filled with heavy darkness and depression.

Han Jiangxue didn't have the logical thinking to break the oppressive atmosphere, and Nie Weiyang didn't like to talk. The two of them just moved forward under the light until they saw another light with dim shadows flickering in it.

Nie Weiyang reflexively waved to Han Jiangxue, asking her to follow closely behind him, while he walked towards the direction where the light came from, holding a shining spear.

A strange emptiness spreads between light and shadow, which is the atmosphere that everyone who enters this space will feel.

The emptiness in the soul spreads, gnawing at emotions and hopes, and constantly shaking people's minds.

But in Nie Weiyang's headphones, the originally soft and gloomy music changed its tone, and the drumbeats became heavy and powerful. He leaned on the ground with his spear and looked at the scene in front of him.

"Dang——" The sound of metal collision echoed throughout the space, and they walked out of a dark passage.

Ahead lay a brightly lit hall, with three passageways connecting it, forming a cross. Rows of computers lined the hall, but all had black screens.

A figure rushed from a computer to a distant passage. Nie Weiyang recognized who it was and shouted, "Qiao Xing?!"

Qiao Xing seemed not to hear anything and disappeared into the darkness. Nie Weiyang's heart sank, and he subconsciously grabbed Han Jiangxue's shoulder to make sure she was still there.

In such an urgent and dangerous situation, his actions were faster than his perception and thinking, but he still came up empty-handed.

At this moment, Han Jiangxue disappeared.

Nie Weiyang wasn't surprised by this. What really surprised him was that, in his field of vision, the light and darkness remained unchanged. After all, he was the one holding the light source. If anyone had to enter the inner space, it should be him.

……How is this going?

Was it some unknown change that occurred in a place he didn't know about, or—from the very beginning, when they entered the institute, they fell into the inner space?!

Nie Weiyang cautiously scanned his surroundings, not extinguishing the light on his spear as he slowly entered the hall. Two blurry circular symbols on the floor and ceiling stared at him silently. As he approached, neatly arranged computers began to flicker, the darkness receding, revealing green noise.

Soon, they turned on, and several blurry logos appeared, flickering slightly.

The music in his headphones faded. As noise flickered, the boundary between light and darkness began to blur, and a void descended. In the distorted space, all the screens turned toward Nie Weiyang, facing him one after another. He looked around. The foggy world was vast and broad, like a boundless, gentle heart. Countless green screens showed him the same snowflakes, as if endless tombstones were facing him. And he looked closely. They were engraved with the same words:

【142°12.2′E，11°19.9′N】

The plot is moving too slowly. Let me think for a moment...

Chapter 155 Hello everyone, I am announcing the fourth

In just a moment, Nie Weiyang broke away from the dark and chaotic realm.

He staggered two steps and felt a slight headache for the first time in a long time, but the pain did not come from the longitude and latitude coordinates themselves, but from the obscure boundary.

He felt like a drop of water that had fallen into a torrent and emerged from it unscathed. This should not have happened, but it did happen, without any explanation.

Subtly, Nie Weiyang felt a sense of familiarity.

Just like in a certain period of time in the past, he had suddenly fallen into that gray world, among those bright green tombstones, but he really couldn't remember when he had been there.

——Then it can only be after death and before rebirth.

In just a moment, Nie Weiyang locked onto the target.

He was almost certain that in his previous life, between death and rebirth, he must have visited that realm. So, was that the Netherworld?

No... the underworld is dark. It is not the ambiguous and turbulent, soft and cold gray. It is even less likely to be filled with endless tombstones and convey some kind of message to him.

【142°12.2′E，11°19.9′N】

What's this?

This was beyond Nie Weiyang's knowledge. He leaned on the table with one hand, pondered for a moment, and finally just wrote down the coordinates and gave up thinking for the time being.

At this moment, he had returned to the brightly lit hall, but there was still no one around, only four dark passages.

Nie Weiyang simply sat down on the spot and turned on a computer.

If anyone else tried to start it, it would definitely not respond, but the CSSS series security personnel's work ID was swiped across the seemingly extremely old card reader, and the computer turned on obediently.

Nie Weiyang opened the log file with a clear goal, and as expected, the log was empty, without even a record of the log deletion operation itself.

He opened the database again, and the files were disappearing rapidly. Within two breaths, only one file remained:

The Bottom of the Trench—142°12.2′E, 11°19.9′N, Challenger Deep

Questions that had no answers just now now have answers.

Nie Weiyang was thoughtful. He tapped the screen with his finger and opened the document.

This is an article introducing the 'origin of life'. In the text, it describes the Mariana Trench and Challenger Deep as the 'womb of the planet', and the entire planet as the 'mother's embrace'.

This wording reminded Nie Weiyang of something: Mother Goddess Worship.

After all, humans are humans after all. They can create so many fancy cults on Earth, so it is even more impossible for the return sect to be the only one thriving in the new world.

Among many cults, the Regression Sect has the largest number of members, while the members of the Mother Goddess Cult are the most mysterious. They worship motherhood, the mother planet, food, drinking water, pregnancy, reproduction, and other behaviors related to life and the continuation of life.

All their religious activities revolve around the ocean, because they believe that the ocean is the amniotic fluid of primitive life. Without the ocean, nothing would appear.

This is indeed true from the perspective of biological evolution, so their persuasiveness is even greater.

The power of the Return Sect comes from the outside world, from demons that cross the sky. The professions and skills of the Mother God Worship Sect come from the power of the planet itself.

That power transcends the mortal world, transcends civilization, transcends race and individual life...

Its name is [The Principle of the Cycle of Life and Death]!

In addition, there are other sects, such as the "Earth God Cult". The object of their worship is the mysterious planet of the New World itself. They are the biggest enemies of the Mother God Cult because they also worship the "principle of the cycle of life and death", but believe that it is just a messenger from the planet.

The Cult of Life also worships the principle of the life-death cycle. While they're considered the most lawful of the three sects, they're far from benevolent. They simply aid the boss in whatever they do. They can even summon projections of various bosses to fight, though calling these projections monkey-like is a bit of a disparagement.

There is a branch within the 'Cult of Life' that later became independent, called the 'Cult of All Living Beings'. They believe that all living beings are gods, and the object of their worship is every extremely powerful individual player. They can even summon projections of these individuals to fight, but their summoning sacrifices are the blood, bones, brains and flesh of 'ordinary gods'.

There was also the Star God Cult, whose objects of worship were the stars, and they had a good relationship with the Return Sect. And then there was the Light Worship Cult, whose objects of worship were the source of all light and heat, and they had a good relationship with the Star God Cult, because everyone loved the sun. But from the beginning, Nie Weiyang was prepared to guard against their worship of the Second Administrator.

Among these, the highlight is the "Cosmic Tide Cult". They insist that there is a tidal phenomenon in the light and darkness, life and death in the universe, and now the "tidal time" has arrived.

In their teachings, the New World is a garbage dump, and humans are thrown here just to deal with garbage. If humans are unwilling to obey the arrangements, they are evil, terrifying, dark, cruel, and should be destroyed.

Therefore, the relationship between this sect and all other sects is completely hostile, and even the Return Sect does not like them.

Compared to the Cosmic Tide Cult, the Return Cult could even be considered friendly, even though most other sects, big and small, disliked the Return Cult, believing them to be traitors...

In the previous life, the activities of the Mother Goddess Cult were always carried out in coastal areas and islands in the ocean, and never entered the inland areas.

This time...

…I’m afraid that the development of things has become completely different.

Nie Weiyang frowned, and slowly clicked his fingers to delete the document.

This information cannot be seen by other people in the institute, as it will only cause unnecessary reveries and fantasies.

Challenger Deep, 142°12.2′E, 11°19.9′N.

This is a place that humans cannot go to now, and Nie Weiyang has never been to in his previous life. Even if there is a signpost pointing to it on the road ahead, he will not rashly try to go there.

He simply engraved the coordinates in his mind, stood up to check the cable layout, walked into the darkness, and headed towards the familiar server room.

When the weight of knowledge can crush a person's soul, and a wrong choice made by a strong person can destroy the fragile order, unnecessary thinking and attempts will also become poisonous.

Compared to the secrets hidden in the Challenger's Abyss... he wanted to know more about why the Mother Goddess Cult summoned the clone of the [Principle of the Cycle of Life and Death] that they absolutely could not control.

After all, another name for this thing is: [Planet Incarnation·Alienated Ecosystem]!

Yes, I will resume three updates starting tomorrow.

The main storyline is progressing too slowly. I'm getting anxious, anxious, anxious.

The inability to provide information quickly will cause some problems, but these will be solved as long as more updates are added. After studying it for three minutes, I realized that thinking too much is not as good as updating as much as possible (), so I decided to beat myself up and squeeze out more updates.

(Thumb bunnies crawling all over the ground) (Turns into a white Arctic twintail elf)