Beep...beep...
In the cold, damp, and pitch-black underground space, the sound of water droplets falling on the stone bricks can be clearly heard.
Tap...tap, tap!
However, the approaching footsteps of humans shattered the tranquility of the place.
The lights also came with the humans, illuminating the entire underground space.
This area is flat and square, roughly the size of two standard football fields, and about fifteen meters high, making it extremely spacious.
The ceiling, walls, and passageways are all made of granite bricks with moss growing between the cracks, and the load-bearing granite pillars are so thick that it takes three adults to hug them.
To the left and right, as well as at the end directly opposite the entrance/exit passage, are numerous "door frames that are 14 meters long, wide, and high.
A small plaza resembling an altar sits in the center, with four indistinct giant statues, seemingly deliberately covered in mud, standing at the four corners of the platform.
Tap tap!
Led by Lieutenant Kraus, the American troops were the first to rush out of the passage.
The soldiers quickly dispersed, using the stone pillars as cover and relying on the visibility provided by their shoulder lights to advance steadily, with the mercenaries belonging to Atlas following closely behind.
Soon, the soldiers completed the search and confirmed that everything was normal and there was no immediate danger.
Immediately afterwards, a large number of people poured into the underground space, opened their equipment cases, and began setting up high-powered lighting equipment and some professional measuring and research instruments.
Sui Yang, however, walked straight to the center, stepped over seven steps, and ascended the sacrificial altar.
Looking around, besides the four statues, what caught Sui Yang's attention was a platform composed of nine giant floor tiles, engraved with an unusual 'symbol'.
It is the head of a human skull.
[Blood...fresh blood....]
Upon hearing this, Sui Yang frowned slightly, considering whether or not to continue to follow those cold words.
Having watched countless films, he felt that everything at this moment pointed to the breaking of a seal in a horror adventure film, releasing some extremely evil thing.
But the skull symbol in front of him seerned somewhat familiar to Sui Yang.
Not only Sui Yang, but also the personnel belonging to Atlas were on high alert and the mercenaries were also on high alert to ensure that they could deal with any emergencies at the first moment.
While the American troops were looking around to make sure there are no potential enemy ambush, they were more confused than anything else.
They belonged to the 10th Special Operations Group of the U.S. Army, stationed at a base in South Africa. On June 3, they received orders to provide full protection for an important figure and rushed to Ghana in West Africa ahead of them.
On June 4, Atlas's cargo ship arrived at the port of Accra. After a brief rest, it ventured deep into the Comoe primeval forest.
Initially, the group of US soldiers treated this operation as a routine "bodyguard" mission.
However, before entering the ruins, Sui Yang said to them, "Children, you are the warriors I have chosen... especially you, Lieutenant Jack Krause."
That statement, combined with the current situation, inevitably made the soldiers wonder if Sui Yang was going to sacrifice them.
After all, they have been influenced by movies, television, comics and other media since childhood, and believe that the superheroes and supervillains in this world are born and formed naturally
Because they obeyed orders and were not under any real threat, they maintained a relatively harmonious relationship.
On the other hand, Sui Yang, who had been mistakenly identified by Jack Krause and other US military personnel as having the potential to be a supervillain, decided to take a gamble after a few seconds of contemplation. He drew the dagger hanging from his waist with his right hand and slashed his left palm.
Bright red blood dripped uncontrollably downwards.
Tick-tock!
The moment the blood droplets hit the brick surface, they exploded and splattered in all directions.
More and more blood dripped and gathered, gradually flowing into the engraved gaps.
Immediately afterwards, Sui Yang felt a suction force, which caused blood to gush from his left palm.
Furthermore, the blood gushing out of the body was no longer affected by gravity, but instead flowed directly into the crevice as if by its own will. In the blink of an eye, a blood-red skull appeared before Sui Yang's eyes.
boom!!
Suddenly, a blinding golden light burst forth from the cracks in the engraving.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The stone pillars, originally covered in moss, were now enveloped in golden flames, making the underground space as bright as day without the need for high-powered lighting equipment.
Crack...crack!!
Then, the clay covering the statue cracked like glass and fell away, revealing its original appearance...
The giants are dressed in futuristic yet rugged and retro power armor, wielding giant swords with chains or rifles with cannon calibers.
!!
Before Sui Yang could even react, the golden light emanating from the skull markings instantly gathered around him.
The light started traveling around his body as if it was searching for something, then the light started converging on Sui Yang forehead.
At this moment, he was in excruciating pain. His skin felt as if it were being forcefully crushed by an electrified ironing board, burning and stinging, and his blood felt like it was about to boil.
Fortunately, the excruciating pain was short lived, and after it subsided somewhat...
Sui Yang, on the contrary, felt refreshed and extremely comfortable. His senses, such as hearing and vision, were further enhanced, and he could even vaguely perceive the emotional fluctuations around him.
Having completely calmed his mind, Sui Yang looked around at the giant statues, combined with the skull symbol, and the changes that had occurred in his body...
'This isn't psionic energy, is it?!"
(Idk if Sui meant warp energy since I'm using Google translate for this so correct me y'all if it is warp energy)
The reason why he cursed in his mind was that Sui Yang realized that his time travel was inextricably linked to the monsters and demons in Warhammer 40k!
Isn't that giant statue on the altar the Astartes, who is known as the "angel"?
The skull is also the symbol of the human empire, and Sui Yang also believes that the source of the cold, ruthless voice in his mind is most likely the human emperor who "loves the whole but not the individual"!
Was he chosen by the emperor to travel to this parallel world that incorporates characters and settings from American TV series and games?
Sui Yang wasn't sure, but he knew that anything related to Warhammer 40k meant that bizarre things like demons, warp, and chaos gods also existed.
He was speechless.
To be honest, the idea of giving up almost took the lead, but more people thought that they had already survived for more than a hundred years, so what was a little more time?
Moreover, theoretically, when he traveled to a world involving knowledge of subspace, he would have been immediately targeted by the evil god, yet he remained unharmed.
"Mr. Sui! The door is indeed open!"
The sudden reminder interrupted Sui Yang's brief moment of distraction.
Upon hearing the sound and looking in that direction, he discovered that the 14 x 14 meter threshold directly in front of him had been transformed from granite into a mercury-like liquid metal.
Seeing this, and considering the thoughts in his mind that "the door to other worlds will open" and "it is up to you to decide whether humanity can survive" it shows that he has a lot of room to maneuver.
The primary task at present is to explore the world beyond the first gate and try to enable Atlas to 'learn from others' strengths and compensate for its weaknesses to obtain revolutionary weapons and equipment.
Having an absolute technological advantage, the next step is to eliminate the so-called "superhuman" threat in this world and ensure Atlas's absolute dominance.