And yet, as human beings, they were actually going to kill gods?
For a moment, an inexplicable fighting spirit welled up in the heart of this special operations officer with a military background, and a mad smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Kill gods!
He did not understand strategy or command.
But—
If there is a war, when summoned, I will return!
If the gods dare to invade Daxia, then so what if we kill them!
South Sea, Central Hall Administrative Office.
Even with Elder Jin personally bringing Lin Fan along, they still had to go through layers of security checks before the special operations officer finally led Lin Fan into a small courtyard.
A red wooden table came into view, with a magnificent painting of the vast rivers and mountains of the motherland hanging behind it.
Beside it stood the national flag of Daxia, a splash of searing crimson.
In the executive chair, an old man was reviewing documents. He looked steady and restrained, yet even sitting quietly, he exuded an aura as unshakable as a great mountain and as unfathomable as an abyss.
The current National Chairman of Daxia!
Looking at the old man before him, Lin Fan could not help but feel a surge of heartfelt reverence.
In his past life, countless nations saw their mountains and rivers shattered, and countless foreign citizens dropped to their knees before the gods, becoming vassals of the divine and reduced to walking corpses who sang praises to the gods.
Only Daxia, under the leadership of this old man, held out until the very end, becoming the final hope of humankind!
When the gods descended and the winds and rains rocked the nation, some wailed and beat their breasts, some hid beneath the eaves from the rain, and some borrowed umbrellas and wore rain capes. Only Daxia refused to dodge the rain, preferring to sing and die proudly in the storm rather than live dependent on others.
"Surrender. Rather than die, you might as well kneel before the gods, henceforth worshiping them and throwing yourselves into the embrace of the divine."
"Kneel, and you will live. Isn't that good?"
Countless times, the old man faced such temptations.
Yet the only reply they ever received was the old man's firm and resolute words.
"My Daxia boasts a glorious five-thousand-year history! The First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han carved out these majestic mountains and rivers!"
"The Hundred Schools of Thought and millions of sages left behind a resplendent literary legacy!"
"The moment the gods arrive, a few words of intimidation are enough to make you renounce even your ancestors? Are you still human?"
"A century of war and a century of struggle have allowed us to stand tall and straighten our spines. How can we kneel once more?"
"My Daxia has nothing else, but we have the backbone left to us by our ancestors. The people of Daxia kneel to the heavens, to the earth, and to their ancestors! Beyond that, not even the gods can make us kneel!"
"We will fight to the death and nothing less!"
From that moment on, the Son of Heaven guarded the gates of the nation.
From top to bottom, the whole of Daxia fought to the death!
With mortal flesh and blood, they struck back against the gods!
This old man was the undisputed Emperor of the Realm.
In those years, the three characters Zhang Maocai had become the soul of Daxia that supported the entire nation!
Indeed, on the Death God list, this name ranked first—even higher than Lin Fan!
Sitting on the sofa in the office were several other people.
The top think tank of Daxia.
Lin Fan cast a special glance at the gray-haired old man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Though advanced in years, his eyes were like the starry night sky, carrying an unusual composure, calmness, and profound wisdom.
The chief scientist of Daxia, Chen Yan!
He had single-handedly spearheaded the combat mecha project, helping Daxia tide over its early crises and buying precious time.
Ultimately, he even became one of the flesh-and-blood God-Makers himself, awakening the divine profession of the God of Wisdom, condensing race-secret divinity, and finally deducing the cultivation laws for the human race to attain godhood.
Those cultivation laws, capable of helping humankind ascend to godhood, were enough to change everything.
It was only a pity that they came too late.
"You're here?" The old man's voice broke Lin Fan's train of thought.
The National Chairman laid down his pen, raised his head to look at Lin Fan, and could not help feeling a trace of surprise.
Even though he had seen countless peerless talents and young prodigies, he had never expected that the person who prompted Elder Jin to make an urgent late-night phone call would be a teenager in front of him.
Judging by his appearance, he should still be in high school, right?
"Lin Fan, Class 3, Grade 2 of Jiuzhou No. 1 High School, reporting to the National Chairman!"
With a straight back, Lin Fan gave a standard military salute to the old man before him.
A stern aura, unbefitting a youth of his age, emanated from his body.
"Mm." The National Chairman dispensed with any pleasantries and cut straight to the point. "Elder Jin tells me you specifically asked to see me to report an emergency concerning the life and death of the nation."
"What is it?"
Lin Fan let out a breath.
His young voice echoed within the office.
"Three months from now, the gods will descend."
"The mountains and rivers will shatter, and the nation will cease to exist!"
Chapter 5: The Truth of the World
Every single word was pronounced with resounding force.
The office fell into a brief silence, until suddenly—
"Audacious!" A think tank member stood up, glaring at Lin Fan. "Do you know where this is? Do you know who is sitting right in front of you? How dare you utter such nonsense about the nation ceasing to exist?"
"Gods? How could such things exist? Did you come here specifically to play a joke?"
"Hehe, the youth of today..."
The members of the think tank looked coldly at the daring teenager, their fists clenched.
Every single one of them possessed rigorous and thorough scientific knowledge; how could they possibly believe in gods?
Furthermore, how dared this teenager say here, right in front of this old man, that the nation would cease to exist?
"Old Jin," Chen Yan's emotions did not fluctuate much, though he glanced at Elder Jin. "Did you come all this way just to play a prank?"
Elder Jin slowly stepped forward.
"I don't want to believe it either."
"But what he said is likely the truth."
"I believe him!"
"This is going to be a war!"
Jin Minmin clenched his fists.
At this moment, the tone of the veteran general who had spent half his life on horseback admitted no doubt.
For a moment, all the think tank members widened their eyes. Elder Jin's expression did not look fake at all; he was dead serious!
"Elder Jin is right," Lin Fan said in a heavy tone. "This will be a war—a war that surpasses all our past understandings, and a war that, in the future, we have already lost."
"Gentlemen, I am a returner from fifteen years in the future, one of the future Guardian Gods of Daxia!"
"To you, this war is an illusory and ethereal future; but to me, it is history I have lived through myself! Fifteen years of bloodshed! I witnessed the extinction of humankind!"
"This time, our opponents are gods! All kinds of gods!"
"Three months from now, the gods will descend. If we do not make preparations in advance, everything I experienced will repeat itself: the people will be plunged into misery and suffering, and the nation will cease to exist!"
"National Chairman, gentlemen!" Lin Fan clenched his fists and looked at everyone with a solemn expression. "I know all of this sounds incredible, but please, believe me!"
With every word Lin Fan spoke through gritted teeth, his words were soaked in blood!
Given his current status, only by winning the trust of these top leaders could he enable Daxia to prepare!
A think tank member sneered, "Heh, fifteen years..."
"What if," Chen Yan said, his eyes devoid of the slightest mockery and instead filled with deep seriousness, "I mean, if what you are saying is true, how do you prove it?"
True scientific workers never shied away from any bold conjectures, nor did they avoid the worst-case possibilities.
It was precisely because of the existence of such people that Daxia could eventually become the final hope of humankind!
Chen Yan was a man truly worthy of being called a pillar of the nation!
"Last night, Lin Fan provided a coordinate located in the deep-sea trench east of Ludong, at the intersection of the Eurasian and Pacific plates."
Elder Jin walked respectfully to the National Chairman and handed over a USB flash drive with both hands. "At a depth of five thousand five hundred and sixty-four meters on the ocean floor, an unmanned submarine filmed this strange footage."
Before long, an image appeared on the projection screen.
Pitch-black seawater was churning.
The heavy sound of water was suffocating.
Beneath the deep sea lay utter darkness; within this gloom, even the searchlights of the unmanned submarine could illuminate less than ten meters.
It was an overwhelmingly oppressive feeling that exuded despair.
Even though nothing had appeared yet, Chen Yan, sitting on the sofa, still furrowed his brow, feeling as though a heavy boulder was blocking his chest.
The deep sea had always been unknown.
Beneath that darkness, no one knew what lurked.
And humankind could only rely on those tiny searchlights to explore the dark.
Suddenly!
"What is that?"
"What thing is that?"
Two think tank members wore expressions of astonishment.
The next moment, as the unmanned submarine drew closer, the blurry object in the footage rapidly enlarged, and the office fell into absolute silence.
Not a sound was heard!
Only the sound of trembling breathing remained.
On the screen, a gigantic skull appeared!
What a colossal skull it was! Even the ten-meter search range was unable to illuminate it completely, and the most advanced wide-angle camera could only capture half of the head!
Gleaming white bones lay sleeping motionlessly on the ocean floor.
The video continued as the unmanned submarine explored bit by bit.
The neck.
The torso.
The arms.
The legs!
It was unmistakably a gigantic, standing humanoid skeleton!
Finally, the footage stopped in front of the massive skull. Its pitch-black, hollow eye sockets appeared on screen, as if gazing through the monitor at everyone present, the ferocious skeleton seemingly smiling.
Even though those seated here were top-tier leaders of Daxia, at this moment, a sense of insignificance arose in everyone's hearts—like ants facing a giant whale.
Facing this unimaginable existence face-to-face, even though it was already dead, still made everyone feel a shock and a tremor originating from the soul.
This was a downward gaze from a higher plane of life.
"This... this is a human body..." Chen Yan said with a dry voice. "But how could a human..."
Another think tank member said with a trembling voice, "Estimated height: two hundred meters."
"They are not human. They are existences that surpass humans." Lin Fan let out a breath. "If you are willing, you can call them gods."
"This will be our future opponent."
"It... they?" Chen Yan felt the hair all over his body stand on end. "You mean..."
"That's right. These fellows are more than just one." Lin Fan lowered his voice, seemingly recalling something. "The most crucial point is that three months from now, some living gods will remember this forgotten Plane and descend upon it."
For a moment, the scene fell silent.
"No, that's not right! This is all just talk on your part without any proof!" A think tank member stood up and looked straight at Lin Fan. "I'm not targeting you, but for matters like this, the source of information must be verified!"
"You must produce concrete evidence! A mere video could also be forged!"
"This is being responsible to Daxia, and responsible to the citizens of Daxia! Because once this matter is confirmed, do you know what it means?"
Indeed, with current technology, forging such a video was not entirely impossible.
And this matter was of truly momentous consequence.
"The video is real," Elder Jin stood behind Lin Fan, his tone firm. "It was sent back directly by the unmanned submarine I dispatched."
"However, since you want evidence—"
"Chen Yan," Elder Jin said, placing his hands behind his back and looking at Chen Yan, "half an hour ago, I had someone urgently deliver an unknown fragment to the Daxia Research Institute under your name. Now, are the analysis results out?"
Remembering that white, unknown fragment, Chen Yan suddenly turned his gaze toward the video and said in astonishment, "You mean that fragment..."
"That's right. It was found on the ocean floor surrounding this skeleton." Elder Jin nodded. "You can think of it as the bones of a god—if those lives can truly be considered gods."
Trembling, Chen Yan pulled out his phone. "I'm calling right now!"
Yet before he could even place the call, the office door was knocked upon.
The director of the materials analysis department at Daxia's First Research Center walked in briskly, not even bothering to change out of his white lab coat, holding a thick stack of documents and a white object with a solemn expression!
The analysis results were simply too astonishing!
Right behind him, the directors of the biological research department, the historical artifacts department, and the chemical analysis department also walked in wearing white lab coats and looking tense.
"Elder Chen, this thing you had me test..." The materials analysis director's fingers were trembling. "Does it really exist?"
Chen Yan's expression turned stern. "What is it?"
"Through multi-department testing, the hardness of this thing exceeds the limits of current technology! It is simply not man-made!"
"Furthermore, some of the elements within it are things we have never seen before—they aren't even in the periodic table!"
"The most anomalous part is that through structural analysis, we have preliminarily classified it as biological bone!"
"Yet the biology department has been unable to identify what kind of creature this could possibly be. After carbon-isotope testing, the chemistry department discovered that this creature... dates back five thousand years!"
"Five thousand years ago was precisely when dinosaurs went extinct, early humans were in the ancient era, and the Daxia civilization had just been born... But how could such a creature appear during that period and possess bones of such strength?"
"The discovery of this species is enough to upend our past understandings and subvert our comprehension of this world!"
The department directors reported their findings, each of them wearing expressions of disbelief!
Elder Jin suddenly interrupted, "If such a creature exists, how do we counter it?"
The director of the materials department wiped cold sweat from his forehead with a pale face. "If this creature still exists, then... based solely on this skeleton alone, they would not fear any conventional firepower strike!"
"Unless we use nuclear weapons!"
"What?!"
Hearing these words, even Elder Jin could not help letting out a low gasp.
Unless nuclear weapons?!
This kind of life had already grown formidable to such an extent?
"This..." Chen Yan touched the bone fragment with a complex expression. It was cold and hard.
"Now, I have proven the existence of gods," Lin Fan said slowly. "Next, gentlemen, I will let you see the truth of the world."
"Welcome to the world through the eyes of the gods."
Chapter 6: The Conception of the Steel Great Wall
"No."
As expected of the chief scientist, Chen Yan quickly recovered from his shock and sensed that something was amiss. "Since that skeleton exists, it means they came to Earth long ago, and furthermore..."
"That's right." Lin Fan nodded. "They came to this Plane long ago, but back then, we had Eastern Martial Gods protecting us."
"The owner of that skeleton is a Tier 8 God of Strength."
"He was beaten to death raw by the Great Deity Kuafu and tossed into the sea!"
Chen Yan's expression instantly froze, and he muttered in a low voice, "Kuafu... You mean those myths..."
"Those ancient gods all existed. When those gods invaded Blue Star back then, they were beaten back by these Eastern Martial Gods working together." Lin Fan took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, after the battle, they died. Even if any survived, they have now fallen into slumber."
In his past life, humankind did not hold out until all those Eastern Martial Gods fully awakened; and even when some occasionally awoke, they were hunted down and killed by those gods working together.
At that time, humans were too busy struggling to survive to protect those newly awakened Eastern Martial Gods.
This was the pain in Lin Fan's heart!
He still remembered the sight of that Monkey holding a staff, roaring up at the heavens, only to be struck dead by divine lightning in the end!
Lord Guan stood holding his blade, with no one behind him and the sky full of gods before him!
Lu Fengxian stood alone on a mountaintop, surrounded by ten thousand demons at the foot of the mountain!
This was the humiliation of humankind!
"Back then, they protected us and consequently fell into slumber."
"Now, we must prepare ourselves to protect them, and to protect ourselves!"
"History must never repeat itself!"
Chen Yan rubbed his face. "So, we can no longer rely on external help."
Yet despite saying this, a trace of fortitude seemed to appear on everyone's faces.
The gods were undeniably formidable.
But Daxia also had a group of gods silently protecting them!
"Since that's the case, let's use our own power to strike back against the gods!" Chen Yan suddenly laughed. "What an honor that an old man like me will one day become an opponent of the gods!"
"Wait," a think tank member suddenly said, "are those gods really harboring hostility? The gods we understand should be..."
"This brings us to the nature of gods as a lifeform," Lin Fan said calmly. "To put it simply, gods are different from us. For us humans to gain power, we must train our bodies to make them strong."
But gods were different.
Natural-born gods in the God Realm contained a Divine Domain within them, cultivating a faithful race that worshiped them inside it, using the offerings of believers as their power.
Some powerful gods could even conquer other Planes, turning those Planes into their subordinate realms and transforming the creatures within them into their believers.
"As for Blue Star, its six billion potential believers and boundless Divine Domain area are enough to drive any god mad."
"Most of the religious stories passed down on Blue Star—except for the legends of the flesh-and-god Eastern Martial Gods—are fakes, spread by the believers of the gods who once visited here."
"Gods are not kind and affable. No matter how those lofty existences whitewash themselves, the fact is that the self-proclaimed noble gods are just like us—flesh and blood, capable of dying, and their so-called divinity is equally filled with greed."
"The only difference is that their power is far stronger than ours."
"When an individual possesses power that transcends limits, what will happen? Gentlemen should be able to imagine."
As Lin Fan's words fell, everyone fell silent.
Human greed was already terrifying enough.
Power, money... it was greed that forged war after war.
But when all was said and done, constrained by their own physical limits, humans still had to consider certain boundaries in their actions.
Yet when a group of fellows who broke conventional limits of strength and possessed the same greed arrived at Blue Star...
"That will be an all-out feast," Lin Fan said in a deep voice. "To them, Blue Star is like a piece of fat meat within reach—a sheepfold overflowing with fat sheep!"
"Invasion and aggression!"
"Their purpose in invading is to turn all of us into believers, so that from then on, we will have no individual will, living only to worship the gods and fulfill their desires, while turning our land into their Divine Domain!"
Lin Fan looked toward the National Chairman.
He was waiting for the old man's decision.
Two paths lay before the old man.
Follow Lin Fan's suggestion and resist the gods!
Or prepare to kneel before the gods.
The former was fraught with countless difficulties. The latter offered peace and survival!
Most crucially—
Kneeling seemed like a very easy thing to do!