Chapter 66 Familiar Memories! I know this place well!
In an instant, space in the star sea twisted.
The massive form of the Moon Shadow gradually appeared in the star sea, with its escort ships revealing themselves one after another.
Immediately after, the Moon Shadow transformed into a stream of light, instantly vanishing from its current position.
The escort ships also turned into meteors, following the Moon Shadow and disappearing from their original location.
Soon, Lu Jin realized that the Moon Shadow had arrived in a completely new star system.
A nascent star, burning brightly, radiated infinite heat at the center of the star system.
And in this star system, apart from the star, there was only one planet.
"Reporting, High Priest, the vessel has arrived at the designated location!"
"It seems we are the first Holy City to arrive in this star system."
Before arriving at this star system, Lu Jin had heard news about other Holy Cities from High Priest Yu Xin.
The Golden Humans were not as rare as Lu Jin had imagined.
On the contrary, their numbers were even greater than the entire population of the Solar System combined.
But apart from a portion of these Golden Humans who resided in the Holy Terra star system, most of them chose to leave their homes aboard Holy Cities to follow the trail of the Sacred Emperor.
They constantly searched and pursued the endless treasures the Sacred Emperor had left behind in the star sea.
Now, after countless years, High Priest Yu Xin herself didn't even know the exact number of vessel cities the Golden Humans commanded.
After all, High Priest Yu Xin had been living on the Moon Shadow since she could remember.
Even now, she could only retrieve information about how many planets were in the Holy Terra star system from the Think Tank.
And for this mission, she had only rushed here quickly after receiving intelligence coordinates from other Holy Cities.
Even if it was a wasted trip, she couldn't let go of any news that might concern the Sacred Emperor.
This was their mission as Golden Humans!
But now, it seemed the Moon Shadow Holy City was the closest vessel to this star system.
Apart from the Moon Shadow Holy City, there was no sign of any other vessels in the entire star system.
Under the command of High Priest Yu Xin, the Moon Shadow Holy City gradually approached the orbital path of the sole planet.
Once the massive body of the Moon Shadow entered the planet's orbit, High Priest Yu Xin immediately began organizing personnel to conduct a series of explorations on the planet's surface.
Soon, the ground forces transmitted back information about the planet's surface conditions.
"Reporting, Captain, the first exploration team has arrived on the planet's surface."
"According to our preliminary observations, this planet is a barren desert world."
"But after investigating with energy detectors, we found that the barren desert landscape of this planet was formed post-factum."
"The planet's geothermic energy has reached a depleted state, most likely caused by artificial factors."
Geothermic energy is the most fundamental factor in evaluating a planet.
If a planet's geothermic energy is drained, that planet will completely become a dead star, incapable of giving birth to any matter.
And draining a planet's geothermic energy is no easy feat!
Even the Void Zerg, the most terrifying force in the Assimilation War, would require a significant amount of troops and time to drain a planet.
Lu Jin looked at the messages being transmitted back one after another.
"Reporting, Captain, we have discovered residual architectural traces on this barren planet!"
"Reporting, Captain, our detection devices have found large underground spaces!"
"Reporting, Captain, we have discovered a large amount of mineral residue on the planet's surface!"
Looking at the reconnaissance intelligence before him, Lu Jin's memories began to surge wildly.
A nascent sun, a star system with only one planet.
Barren yellow sand terrain, large hollow areas underground.
At this moment, an extremely familiar experience surfaced in Lu Jin's mind.
There could be no mistake!
This planet before him, that desert ruin planet!
In his previous life, Lu Jin had once led a fleet to explore this planet, but at that time, the ruins had already been emptied.
His fleet had only found a few meager resources within those ruins.
This memory, in his mind, was basically just a trivial matter.
After all, in his past life's memories, Lu Jin had followed fleets to explore countless planets and seen countless civilization ruins.
But now, recalling it, the memories in his mind began to become gradually clearer.
Looking at the planetary projection map in front of Yu Xin, Lu Jin leaned in and began to examine it carefully.
And seeing Lu Jin observing so intently, High Priest Yu Xin couldn't help but ask.
"Do you have any impression of this planet?"
"Yes!"
Saying that, Lu Jin pointed to one of the coordinate locations.
"There might be a ruin entrance here, leading to the underground civilization ruins of the planet."
At these words, High Priest Yu Xin couldn't help but be stunned.
She had only casually asked Lu Jin, but she hadn't expected him to actually be able to offer a suggestion.
After a moment of thought, High Priest Yu Xin immediately directed an exploration team to the coordinates Lu Jin indicated for investigation.
Before long, the exploration team sent back news.
"Reporting, Captain! We have discovered a ruin entrance!"
"Based on the scale of the entrance, the size of this civilization ruin is likely enormous!"
Immediately after, a series of pictures appeared before everyone.
A dilapidated but still visibly massive ruin entrance stood before the exploration team.
On the stone bricks of the entrance, a series of runes were inscribed.
And when Yu Xin saw these characters, she immediately stood up.
"There's no mistake, these are the ancient characters used by Holy Terra!"
"Quickly go to the Think Tank and ask for a translator skilled in ancient languages!"
Yu Xin had been away from home for too long; for these ancient characters that only existed on Holy Terra, she now had to rely on specialized translators to understand them.
Soon, the translator arrived.
He looked at the characters in the pictures before him and translated them word for word.
"Suppress... Calamity... Honor belongs to... Legion."
The characters at the entrance had been largely erased by the erosion of wind and sand.
Based solely on this incomplete information, High Priest Yu Xin was unable to analyze the true purpose of this civilization ruin.
And Lu Jin, looking at the characters in the pictures, sighed in his heart, realizing these were the ancient characters of Holy Terra.
Even in his previous life, he had never delved into studying the ancient characters of Holy Terra, as there was too little information available about them.
"High Priest, if you don't mind, I can lead a Holy City team to explore the interior of the ruins."
After all, Lu Jin in his previous life had already explored these ruins.
Although the ruins had been emptied at that time, he at least knew their basic structure.
This was much better than exploring blindly.
And High Priest Yu Xin, considering that Lu Jin could directly point out the ruin entrance, couldn't help but look at him.
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Chapter 67 The Emperor's Guidance! The Golden Gate!
"Why are you so familiar with the ruins on this planet?"
Lu Jin had already prepared an answer for this question.
"When I saw this planet, a memory suddenly appeared in my mind."
"It was this memory that guided me to find the entrance to this ruin."
"And I still have some fragments of memories about this ruin in my mind."
A sudden memory?
At this moment, High Priest Yu Xin thought of Lu Jin's identity.
The most blessed person!
Could this also be one of the blessings bestowed by the Sacred Emperor?
If so, then it's not surprising!
After all, it can be almost certain that this is indeed a ruin left behind by the Sacred Emperor.
The ancient Holy Terra script at the entrance is enough to prove this point.
So, High Priest Yu Xin looked at Lu Jin, thinking to herself.
Perhaps this is the Emperor's guidance; it's a good thing Lu Jin was brought along this time!
"Very well, in that case, I will dispatch an elite squad, plus an exploration squad, to accompany you into the interior of the ruin."
"Subsequently, we will also dispatch more squads to enter the ruin for support and investigation."
"May the light of Holy Terra illuminate your path, and may the guidance of the Sacred Emperor lead you out of perdition..."
After a devout and solemn prayer and blessing, Lu Jin headed to the deck area.
This time, he didn't even need to activate the prometheus; he could easily land on the planet's surface by simply taking the spaceship provided by the Holy City.
With a jolt of the spaceship, Lu Jin had already landed in the designated area.
When he stepped out of the spaceship, he was immediately shocked by the sight before him.
Because the originally barren desert area now had one building after another erected.
Military camps, research institutes, archaeological zones, warehouses... At the entrance of the ruin, the personnel of Moon Shadow Holy City had already quickly established a functional small base.
This couldn't help but make Lu Jin once again marvel at the undeniable potential of the Golden Humans.
Just as Lu Jin finished observing this small base, a fully armed squad arrived before him with their equipment.
"This subordinate is from Exploration Squad 43, also a translator, Li Cheng, greetings to Lord Lu Jin."
"This subordinate is Yu Shi'an, Captain of Holy City Guard Squad 56, greetings to Lord Lu Jin."
Lu Jin took a quick look; this team was fully equipped, both in terms of professional personnel and hardware facilities.
Such a team would be extremely easy for Lu Jin to command.
So, after a brief self-introduction, Lu Jin led the squad into the interior of the ruin.
Following the passage at the entrance of the ruin, Lu Jin led everyone downwards.
Gradually, the sound of wind and sand from outside began to diminish, and eventually, only the sound of their footsteps could be heard in the enclosed space.
After passing through a dark passage, the passage gradually became brighter.
Lu Jin's gaze swept across both sides of the passage, noticing that a glowing moss-like plant grew on the walls of these passages.
It was because of the presence of this plant that the visibility in this passage was not so bad.
Just then, one of the exploration personnel walked over.
"Lord Lu Jin, according to our instrument scans, a huge underground space has been discovered 500 meters ahead."
It seemed they would soon exit this passage.
Upon receiving this news, everyone quickened their pace.
Soon, Lu Jin saw a bright spot of light, and as they drew closer to it.
The light spot continuously expanded, eventually turning into a gateway.
Stepping abruptly through it, a massive underground space appeared before him!
A colossal statue of the Emperor first appeared in everyone's line of sight; this Emperor statue had a solemn expression, standing on the ground with a sword in both hands!
On either side of him were statue after statue of soldiers in power armor.
Some of these soldier statues held heavy hammers, others held sharp swords.
Of course, there were also statues holding firearms, flamethrowers, and a series of other technological weapons.
Looking at the dazzling array of statues before them, every member of the exploration squad behind Lu Jin was utterly astonished.
They took out their equipment and began frantically recording the situation here, sending messages to the ground team, asking them to dispatch subsequent units to continue investigating these statues.
However, Lu Jin did not share the Golden Humans' fanaticism for the Sacred Emperor; his gaze fell upon the golden gate behind the Sacred Emperor statue!
"This gate, like the treasures in the vault, has been set with a psionic restriction."
As a Psionicist, Yin Yue's perception of psionic energy was far more sensitive than Lu Jin's.
Therefore, after she approached this golden gate, she naturally also detected the psionic restriction on it.
Psionic restriction?
In Lu Jin's memory, when he came here in his previous life, he had not seen these statues or this golden gate.
The appearance of this ruin now was quite different from what was in his memory.
Lu Jin looked at the golden gate before him; since this golden gate was also similar to a treasure, could he activate it now?
Looking at his hand, Lu Jin seemed to have thought of something.
Then, he placed his palm on the golden gate.
Instantly, the golden gate was activated, and a large number of psionic runes appeared on its surface.
Immediately after, before everyone's eyes, this golden gate actually opened automatically.
"Captain, be careful!"
Faced with this sudden situation, Yin Yue and the others quickly shielded Lu Jin.
Even the Holy City Guards rushed to the golden gate, watching the gradually opening golden gate.
Bang!
The golden gate opened completely, and through the wide-open doorway, they saw what was inside.
This was an even larger underground space, with countless buildings and high-rises standing like trees in a forest within this underground space.
The space before them was actually a massive underground city.
Lu Jin and the others stepped into this underground city, and Li Cheng, one of the team members, was incredibly excited.
"This architectural style, without a doubt, is that of Holy Terra!"
"Beneath this barren planet, there actually exists a stronghold of the Golden Humans?"
"It's simply amazing! This is a huge discovery!"
Li Cheng was extremely excited and rushed directly into the underground city.
Seeing this, Lu Jin quickly followed his steps.
They moved through these buildings, and Lu Jin looked at the buildings before him, which were only slightly worn.
When he arrived in his previous life, these buildings had almost all collapsed into ruins, with very few intact ones.
The current scene and the scene in his memory were growing further and further apart, and Lu Jin's heart gradually became uneasy.
Something must have happened here to eventually turn it into the state Lu Jin remembered.
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Chapter 68 Ghostly Relics! Traces of the Void Insectoids!
Stepping inside a building, Lu Jin and the others began to investigate the underground city more deeply.
Soon, Lu Jin discovered some clues inside a room.
Tableware scattered on the ground looked as if it had been split in half by a sharp blade.
The smooth cross-sections, and numerous scratches from unknown objects were also present on the walls of the room!
Lu Jin explored room after room and quickly concluded that this city had most likely been attacked by some kind of creature.
It was this attack that turned the city into a ghost town.
As for where the city's residents went, a place came to Lu Jin's mind.
Behind this underground city, there was an even larger underground space.
But unlike this spacious and massive underground city, that underground space was as intricate as an ant's nest!
Dense underground passages intertwined to form a huge underground network.
Perhaps there, he could find the answer!
Lu Jin stood up, no longer planning to waste time in this underground city.
But just as he stood up, a scream came from not far away.
As the scream rang out, Silver Moon quickly returned to Lu Jin's side, drawing her weapon and beginning to guard the surroundings!
Lu Jin frowned slightly and immediately reached for his waist.
The memory pistol, freshly acquired from the Holy City, quickly fell into Lu Jin's hand upon sensing danger.
Once ready, Lu Jin and Silver Moon quickly moved towards the source of the scream.
Soon, Lu Jin arrived at the location where the scream occurred.
In an alley between two tall buildings, in a dark corner, a Holy City Guard lay on the ground.
Crimson blood pooled beneath him like a lake.
His face was contorted, as if he had seen something terrifying before he died.
His equipment was damaged, and even his helmet was nowhere to be found.
Lu Jin held his gun and slowly approached the Holy City Guard's corpse.
First, the wounds: the Holy City Guard's body was covered with numerous scratches and several fatal blood holes.
These scratches were identical to those inside the building!
Besides these, Lu Jin found a puddle of mucus next to the corpse.
With a wave of his hand, Lu Jin opened his personal terminal's detection program to analyze this unknown mucus!
"Detecting substance composition..."
"Preliminary detection results: This liquid is the bodily fluid of some creature and has strong corrosiveness..."
"Based on detection results, the probability of it being an Aido Wolf Starian is 40%, and the probability of it being a Zerg is 70%..."
Among all detections, the probability of it being a Zerg was the highest.
A full 70% probability!
But the acidity of this mucus was more than twice as strong as Zerg saliva!
Based on various data, Lu Jin's eyes gradually became solemn.
"What an unexpected result!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Jin turned and fired directly at the darkest corners on both sides of the building.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several shots in a row, and the energy reserve in the memory pistol rapidly decreased.
Even Silver Moon next to him didn't understand what had provoked Lu Jin to start shooting wildly.
But just on the last shot, as the pistol's energy reserve was about to be depleted!
Bang!
A puddle of green liquid suddenly seeped from the building's wall.
Immediately after, to Silver Moon's shock, a bizarre creature with a Zerg-like upper body but complete limbs appeared in her sight.
This bizarre creature had a spike growing on the back of its hand.
And on its back, there was a black tail like a scorpion's!
As soon as this monster revealed itself, it let out a hoarse, unpleasant roar.
After Silver Moon reacted, she immediately raised the blade in her hand!
Psionic power erupted, and before the monster opposite could even think of escaping, Silver Moon directly struck.
Slash!
A bloody wound was directly split open on the monster's back.
But even so, it was not yet slain!
"What tenacious vitality!"
Looking at the twisted, struggling monster on the ground, Silver Moon felt a lingering fear.
She hadn't discovered this monster immediately; if it had chosen to ambush Lu Jin just now, she definitely wouldn't have been able to react in time.
Thinking of this, Silver Moon felt even more apprehension.
She had lived too long in comfort with the captain and had actually let her guard down for a moment.
Before Silver Moon could feel guilty, Lu Jin took out a frost spirit crystal from his backpack.
Placing the frost spirit crystal near the memory pistol, the memory pistol, as if alive, directly devoured the frost spirit crystal.
After devouring the frost spirit crystal, the memory pistol's energy reserve began to recover rapidly.
After glancing at the bizarre creature, Lu Jin directly aimed at its head and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Another series of gunshots rang out.
Only when the bizarre creature was completely dead did Lu Jin finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The commotion here also quickly attracted other team members who were exploring nearby!
"What happened? Why are there gunshots here?"
"My heavens, what kind of monster is this?!"
"Is everyone here? Why are a few people missing?"
"Captain, we've lost contact with a few team members!"
Looking at the corpse of the bizarre creature on the ground, everyone suddenly felt an ominous premonition well up in their hearts.
There was probably more than one such bizarre creature!
And the other missing team members had most likely suffered the same fate as the deceased Holy City Guard.
They had already been attacked by the bizarre creatures and had fallen!
Li Cheng, from the exploration team, stepped forward, bravely approaching the bizarre creature and using his specialized detection equipment to investigate.
"This monster's bodily fluids have extremely strong acidic corrosive effects!"
"Not only that, but the hardness of its carapace even surpasses the sacred alloy used by the Holy City!"
"Most crucially, the gene sequence of this monster actually contains genetic data from both the Zerg and Golden Humans!"
What?
Detection results came one after another.
But each result made everyone feel extremely alarmed!
Carapace hardness comparable to sacred alloy?
Gene sequence containing Zerg and human genetic data?
How was this possible?
Li Cheng's expression grew increasingly solemn after seeing this series of detection results.
"I suddenly feel like we've opened a Pandora's Box!"
"If such a monster were released, it would undoubtedly cause immense turmoil in the Star Sea!"
"We must relay this news to the High Priest as soon as possible!"
After this series of tests, Li Cheng could deduce that the true identity of the bizarre creature before them was very likely the High-ranking Zerg recorded in Holy Terra's database.
The one that only existed in records, whose danger was no less than that of Subspace Demons.
More terrifying than ordinary Zergs, and capable of continuously devouring prey to choose the optimal evolutionary path... the Void Zerg!
+++
Chapter 69 The Insect Swarm Invades! The Might of the Holy City!
"Void Zerg? This is the Void Zerg?"
"I've also seen information about the Void Zerg in the Holy City's database."
"But why do these Void Zerg look different from what was in the records?"
Facing everyone's questions, the knowledgeable Li Cheng offered an explanation.
Unlike ordinary Zerg, the Void Zerg can devour and absorb the genetic information of other creatures.
Based on this genetic information, they constantly undergo metamorphosis and evolution, gradually becoming apex predators!
This is also the most troublesome characteristic of the Void Zerg!
If a Void Zerg devours enough genetic information, its strength will reach an extremely terrifying level.
Lu Jin stood by, listening to Li Cheng's words, and silently nodded in agreement.
However, what Li Cheng didn't know was that besides their troublesome evolutionary trait, the Void Zerg had another problematic characteristic.
That was rapid reproduction and the zerg queen consciousness!
A single Void Zerg, given sufficient resources, can even reproduce a large number of Void Zerg on its own.
These newborn Void Zerg inherit the genes of the previous generation of Void Zerg.
And the consciousness of all Void Zerg is connected to the zerg queen consciousness.
Like a network, any information transmitted by a Void Zerg to the zerg queen consciousness is then distributed to other Void Zerg.
So, Lu Jin looked around; perhaps in the darkness, other Void Zerg had already received the information and were rushing towards them.
Just as Lu Jin expected, as soon as they sent the message to the ground forces.
Silver Moon, next to Lu Jin, immediately became alert, because her released Psionic network now detected several unknown creatures approaching.
"Captain! Something is approaching us!"
"Not only that, their numbers are growing!"
Hearing this, Lu Jin also quickly became vigilant.
Indeed, it was as he expected; the resources on this planet were almost depleted.
And now, they were likely seen as a supreme delicacy in the eyes of the Void Zerg!
"Everyone, pay attention! Those monsters are coming!"
After the warning, everyone quickly gathered.
The Holy City Guard proactively took on the responsibility of outer defense, protecting the exploration team and other defenseless Golden Humans in the center.
After forming their formation, Lu Jin immediately chose to command the troops to move towards the outer perimeter.
Having learned of the Void Zerg's existence, Lu Jin no longer dared to lead this small team to continue exploring the interior of the ruins.
No one knew better than him the danger of these Void Zerg!
But just as they had retreated a certain distance, Lu Jin's gaze suddenly fell upon one of the buildings.
Atop the building, a Void Zerg stood out.
Its gaze fell upon Lu Jin and his group, its greedy and sinister stare completely undisguised!
Hiss... The Void Zerg let out a hiss, as if in excitement, or perhaps summoning the surrounding Void Zerg.
Suddenly, a dark shadow lunged at the team!
Before Silver Moon could act, Lu Jin decisively fired, directly hitting the dark shadow with a shot!
The hit shadow plummeted to the ground, revealing itself to be a Void Zerg.
However, compared to other Void Zerg, its muscles were more developed, which was why it moved faster.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several bullets accurately hit the Void Zerg's vital points.
But with more and more Void Zerg, even everyone working together found it difficult to fend them off!
After firing the last bullet, Lu Jin pulled a frost spirit crystal from his backpack and loaded it into his memory pistol.
But just then, the team suddenly stopped.
Because at the entrance, a large number of Void Zerg had already blocked the gate before them.
Hundreds of Void Zerg formed a encirclement, beginning to approach Lu Jin and his group.
Shelia stepped forward, preparing to release her Psionic energy to deal with these Void Zerg.
But before she could act, a roar suddenly came from the entrance.
Boom!
Accompanied by a loud bang, a cannonball exploded amidst the numerous Void Zerg.
The Void Zerg at the center of the explosion were directly torn to shreds.
Immediately after, tanks representing Moon Shadow Holy City drove directly into the ruins!
And the commanding officer at the forefront was none other than Temple Priest Cong Tianxing, who had previously befriended Lu Jin.
Seeing that Lu Jin was unharmed, Cong Tianxing breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, Lu Jin was the strongest blessed individual in the history of their Moon Shadow Holy City.
If he were to be killed by the Void Zerg here, the entire Moon Shadow Holy City would probably have to atone to the Sacred Emperor for it!
"Everyone, listen to my command! Immediately eradicate all Void Zerg!"
With Cong Tianxing's order, a large number of tanks behind him rushed into the ruins.
But at this moment, those Void Zerg seemed to realize that they were no match for the Holy City forces.
Without waiting for the tanks to advance, those Void Zerg directly dragged away the bodies of their companions and fled towards the depths of the ruins!
Seeing this, Cong Tianxing became even more unrestrained, directly ordering the tanks to bombard the area!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As one cannonball after another landed in the underground structure, this historical underground city began to collapse with a roar.
Looking at the gradually collapsing underground city, the memories in Lu Jin's mind slowly began to overlap.
It turned out that the ruins he had seen in his previous life were caused by the bombardment of the Holy City forces.
Soon, the Holy City forces established a temporary operational command center at the entrance.
High Priest Yu Xin from the Moon Shadow also received news of what had happened in the underground city.
"Void Zerg! I didn't expect an unknown number of Void Zerg to exist underground on this planet!"
"I will report this news to the other Holy Cities and record it in our database!"
"You all defend the entrance to this ruin. Next, I will hold a judgment meeting with the other Holy Cities."
Judgment meeting!
It seemed the appearance of the Void Zerg had made the Holy City realize the existence of a crisis.
Now that Pandora's box had been opened, trying to close it would be futile.
Therefore, whether to continue exploring this ruin or directly implement an annihilation plan, they still needed to discuss further.
Lu Jin sat in the open space of the command center, looking at the statue of the Sacred Emperor standing not far away.
Why did the Void Zerg appear here?
What was the deal with this structure?
Were there any survivors inside?
Just as Lu Jin was wondering, he felt a wave of dizziness.
His vision gradually distorted, and he immediately sensed something was wrong!
"Silver Moon!"
Silver Moon, beside him, immediately reacted, releasing her Psionic pressure.
The terrifying Psionic pressure instantly enveloped Lu Jin, and Lu Jin's mind quickly cleared.
Lu Jin looked around and discovered that, apart from Psionicists like Shelia, everyone else had fallen into a lethargy state.
+++
Chapter 70 The Sleeper! The Final Moment!
Yu Tiancang, upon sensing something amiss, decisively activated his newly acquired psionic armor.
It was only under the protection of the psionic armor that he managed to avoid falling into a deep slumber.
Lu Jin's gaze fell on a tall and robust figure that had appeared not far away, at some unknown point.
Upon realizing Lu Jin and his group's presence, the figure not only did not disappear but instead approached them directly.
Seeing this, Yin Yue and You Lan immediately stepped in front of Lu Jin.
Shelia also sensed that the opponent's psionic level was extraordinary, and her eyes gradually sharpened!
"Be careful, the opponent is very strong!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of dull footsteps, like drumbeats, continuously echoed in Lu Jin's ears as the unknown figure drew closer.
When the figure came near, it actually stopped on its own.
At this moment, Lu Jin also clearly saw the figure.
It was a warrior wearing power armor, with the mark of the Holy City and another unknown mark inscribed on both sides of the power armor.
Power armor from the Holy City?
No!
Although the power armor in front of him bore the mark of the Holy City, its appearance and style were completely different from the Holy City's power armor.
Its body was massive and robust, yet it lacked the usual bulkiness of power armor.
Instead, this set of power armor resembled a knight clad in heavy armor, exuding a sense of power while also giving everyone a feeling of inherent authority.
The material of this power armor was also different from what the Holy City used.
The surface of the dark green armor was covered with scratches and cracks.
Through the cracks in the armor, one could vaguely see something inside flickering like flames.
The entire style of the power armor felt like it came from the underworld, filled with an eerie and deathly aura.
As Lu Jin watched the flickering state within the cracks, he even wondered if there was a real user inside this armor.
Just as both sides were at loggerheads, the armor opposite them actually spoke first.
"Your Majesty's aura... After so many years, have you finally remembered us?"
Facing the unknown entity's question, Lu Jin remained silent and did not answer easily.
Was it because of the blessing on him that this guy was attracted?
In this underground ruin, besides the Void Zerg, there were other presences.
This made Lu Jin even more intrigued by this as-yet-undamaged ruin.
Seeing Lu Jin remain silent, the unknown armor opposite him moved slightly, and its every action carried a strange sense of sadness.
"My name is Sleeper. Blessed one, please find us and save us."
With that, the power armor in front of him, like a reflection in a mirror or a flower in water, twisted and then vanished before Lu Jin's eyes.
Strange!
Extremely strange!
And after this unknown power armor disappeared, the people in the camp gradually woke up.
"Damn it! How did I fall asleep?"
"Were we just attacked?"
"Is anyone injured? Has any equipment been destroyed?"
After a period of confirmation, the awakened people found that they had suffered no losses.
This couldn't help but make them extremely puzzled.
At this moment, Lu Jin recounted all the situations he had just encountered to Li Cheng.
As the most knowledgeable person in Moon Shadow Holy City, perhaps he could explain everything he had just learned.
"Sleep? Phantom?"
After some confirmation, Li Cheng frowned slightly.
He had never seen such a bizarre thing before—power armor without a physical body?
How was this even possible?
Could it be an energy being?
But if it were an energy being, how could it survive in these Void Zerg nests, which were like wolves and tigers?
After some thought, Li Cheng stated that he also could not confirm the strange situation Lu Jin had encountered.
Perhaps, only by returning to Moon Shadow Holy City and consulting the database could he ascertain it.
And just at this moment, they once again received news from Moon Shadow Holy City.
"Lu Jin, I have already contacted the captains of the other Holy Cities."
"After our discussion, we believe that a 殲滅計劃 must be implemented on this planet as soon as possible."
"So, now you all pack up and prepare to evacuate this planet."
Evacuate?
Annihilation?
Lu Jin frowned deeply; in his past life's memories, this planet had existed here perfectly intact.
It had not been annihilated by the Holy City!
And in this ruin, there were no Void Zerg.
So, which part went wrong?
Could it be that his existence caused a butterfly effect, leading to the current outcome?
Watching the retreating crowd, Lu Jin stopped.
He felt that there must be a part of this ruin he had not yet explored!
If merely annihilating the planet could completely eradicate these Void Zerg, then the Assimilation War would not have been so difficult.
There must be something in this underground ruin that could restrain these Void Zerg.
And these things were precisely the weapons left by the Sacred Emperor to deal with the Void Zerg!
Thinking of this, Lu Jin felt that he could not retreat just yet!
Since there were weapons that could target the Void Zerg, he had no reason not to get his hands on them.
Whether for the present or for the future Assimilation War.
Thus, Lu Jin decisively chose to connect with High Priest Yu Xin.
"Is the Annihilation Plan absolutely necessary?"
Hearing Lu Jin's words, High Priest Yu Xin also stated very seriously:
The danger of the Void Zerg could even affect the balance and safety of the entire star sea.
Therefore, no matter what, the Void Zerg must be nipped in the bud as soon as possible.
Moreover, this Annihilation Plan was jointly approved by the leaders of many Holy Cities, so even if High Priest Yu Xin expressed opposition now, it would be futile.
After learning that this Annihilation Plan could not be revoked, Lu Jin asked High Priest Yu Xin:
"Does the Annihilation Plan need to be executed immediately?"
"No, the Annihilation Plan requires the joint effort of 5 Holy Cities."
Next, High Priest Yu Xin had to wait for the other 5 Holy Cities to arrive in this star system.
And the 5 Holy Cities closest to this star system would need at least 5 hours to reach it.
This meant that if Lu Jin wanted to do something on this planet, he only had the last 5 hours!
"5 hours? That's enough!"
"Within the next 5 hours, I will lead my people to explore this ruin."
What?
Hearing Lu Jin's objective, High Priest Yu Xin was somewhat incredulous.
Was Lu Jin crazy?
It was now confirmed that this ruin contained a large number of Void Zerg.
Even a slight misstep could lead a Psionicist to become food for the Void Zerg.
Yet, Lu Jin not only did not plan to evacuate but instead intended to actively enter the Void Zerg's nest to investigate the entire ruin?
"Lu Jin, what you're doing is too risky!"