The summer sun set slowly, but night would eventually fall, blanketing the land in darkness where only embers would cling to life.
At that moment, everyone in Research Lab 3 paused their work at the blare of the alarm, converging towards the large screen.
Lu Zhi stared intently at the screen. From a high vantage point, the entire city was laid out before his eyes.
Crimson clouds burned across half the sky. The sun, having cast its last brilliant rays upon half of Nianfeng City, now saw its light challenged by a sudden, black sphere in the sky. Light could not penetrate it, could not pierce through, like a wall cutting off dawn from darkness.
The black sphere lay dormant in the sky, its ominous aura gradually spreading.
"This seed is earlier than the last one... by 6 hours," Du Xi Ming's fingers flew across the keyboard, his hand speed a blur. More staff members took their seats at their respective workstations.
"Has the seed's level been identified?"
"Not yet. Data is still being processed; it will take another fifteen minutes."
"Tell the cloud satellite team to hurry. Notify all departments. The seed's center point is in area B-26. The predicted range of the cage is about 700 square kilometers. Quickly compile and report the number of civilians within this area..."
Watching the orderly commands and coordinated preparations for the impending cage, Lu Zhi found a thought surfacing, a sigh of emotion: 'This is humanity. Even without divine protection, they can still forge their own future. Fragile, yet not weak.'
"You two, come with me," Elder Hong suddenly spoke, turning to gesture for Lu Zhi and Shen Qi to follow him.
Lu Zhi wondered if he intended to speak with him privately about the divine imprint.
Lu Zhi and Shen Qi followed Elder Hong into a private elevator, which led them to a large library. Shelves upon shelves of books filled the entire space, guarded by numerous robots and surveillance equipment.
"The divine imprint is found on fragmented pages within the ruins of the 13th ancient civilization. It's the only clue we've found by chance. Although we've searched through countless ancient texts, regrettably, we still know very little." Elder Hong unlocked a bookshelf's electronic lock and retrieved two repaired yellowed pages.
Shen Qi picked up one of the pages.
Lu Zhi leaned in beside him to take a look. After a moment, he said, "This crawling script... why does it look so much like a child's scribbles?"
He couldn't understand it at all. To be blunt, it looked like earthworms had crawled across the page. How could they possibly translate and interpret it?
Shen Qi lowered his gaze to the top of Lu Zhi's head, then slowly to his fair, slender nape, and drawled, "Why don't you just sit on my lap?"
Lu Zhi realized he had leaned almost half his body into Shen Qi's embrace. He immediately straightened up, his expression resigned. "Your sudden personality change is very unsettling."
His cool demeanor, ever since leaving the bell tower, had been steadily collapsing, as if the facade had been torn away, revealing his true nature.
Shen Qi casually hummed, "You'd best get used to it."
Lu Zhi: "???"
Get used to what? He felt like there was a hidden meaning in Shen Qi's words.
"Sit down," Shen Qi pulled out a chair and sat.
Lu Zhi, not understanding, didn't ask further and sat with him. Elder Hong, who had gone to fetch the documents, also sat opposite them. "If you wish to understand the divine imprint, you must first understand the divine mark," he said.
Here it comes. Lu Zhi's spirit soared, and he listened intently to Elder Hong's explanation.
The explanation of the divine mark was not far from what Lu Zhi had learned in novels. The mark signified that humans, upon entering ancient civilization ruins, encountered deities, gained their recognition, and were bestowed a symbol of power.
The abilities of superhumans were called 'Nen,' while the divine mark was called 'Yuanli.'
Elder Hong said gravely, "The use of the divine imprint likely requires the power of faith."
"Power of faith?" Lu Zhi murmured, repeating the words, a frown creasing his brow. "Does this mean one needs to gather followers and gain their faith to activate the divine imprint? Isn't that... something only a self-proclaimed god would possess?"
"No, no, no. At first, we thought so too, but because of you, we gained another possibility." Elder Hong's words revealed that he had always known of Lu Zhi's existence; Lu Zhi had indeed been under surveillance all along. Only the matter of him possessing the divine imprint was something discovered today.
"Elder Hong, I hope you can keep this confidential for now," Shen Qi tapped the table with his fingers, his eyes deep. "You should understand, he is very important."
Elder Hong chuckled, "If you didn't trust me, you wouldn't have come to me."
Lu Zhi asked, "Elder Hong, you haven't told me about the other possibility yet." Although Shen Qi had already told him he was being monitored, hearing it from someone else still felt unpleasant.
"The divine imprint, to put it nicely, means being the deity's most beloved follower, able to borrow all of the deity's power. To put it bluntly, it means selling one's body, mind, and soul to the deity. Any defiance will result in the annihilation of both soul and body." Elder Hong said earnestly, "You have offered yourself to the deity. The power of faith required to use the imprint comes from you."
Lu Zhi was stunned, a sudden sense of clarity washing over him. He instinctively raised a hand to his chest and said, "As long as my faith is strong enough, the power of faith for using the divine imprint is my devotion to my deity."
Elder Hong smiled kindly. "Precisely. Though this is merely speculation. These two fragmented pages record: 'My most revered deity, please accept the faith of your most loyal follower, and bestow upon me the power to sweep away the darkness and spread the light.'"
Lu Zhi: ... He felt inexplicably embarrassed.
He wondered if, to use the imprint, he would have to shout out loud in front of everyone, "Abracadabra energy..." No, wait. He would have to shout, "My deity, please grant me the power to sweep away the darkness and spread the light!"
Shen Qi propped his chin on his hand, glancing at him with interest. "Why are you covering your face?"
Lu Zhi peeked at Shen Qi through his fingers and coughed. "I'm just a bit... embarrassed."
"You can try it now. This old man also wants to see what the divine imprint looks like." Elder Hong's eyes were full of anticipation.
Lu Zhi's eyes clearly conveyed his resistance. He was conflicted about whether to try calling out, enduring the shame. Tremblingly, he placed his hand over his heart...
Fortunately, Shen Qi's communication device suddenly received an urgent call. After hastily bidding farewell to Elder Hong, Lu Zhi, like a little tail, ran closely behind Shen Qi. For the first time, he felt it was good to have Shen Qi around, at least it saved him from embarrassing himself to death.
"Brother Shen, the seeds have started to sprout."
Back in Research Lab 3, Du Xi Ming pointed at the large screen.
Lu Zhi suddenly realized it was already evening outside. The black sphere was changing. A black tentacle extended from the sphere, followed by a second, then a third... After a total of eight tentacles extended, black liquid sprayed down from within the sphere.
The writhing, viscous liquid instantly expanded over hundreds of square kilometers. The eight tentacles forcefully plunged into the ground, their dark shadows consuming the earth, forming a massive, semi-circular black curtain.
Everyone and everything within the curtain gradually disappeared, as if ruthlessly erased from the world, leaving only a vague, mist-like veil, isolating them within a cage.
"It looks like a spider..." Lu Zhi stared at the apex of the cage, where eight tentacles were rooted in place, the entity beneath them all food.
"Let's go," Shen Qi called to Lu Zhi and turned to leave.
Once in the elevator, Lu Zhi asked, "Where are we going?"
Shen Qi: "Into the cage."
As the elevator doors opened, Lu Zhi abruptly stopped. Outside stood two exceptionally handsome men. One of them was glaring angrily at Shen Qi.
Lu Zhi instinctively moved away from Shen Qi, his expression clearly stating, 'I don't know him.'
Shen Qi: ...
Heh, quick to distance himself.