"But don't forget the most important point!"
Druig's eyes were bloodshot, veins covering his pupils as he roared almost madly, "Without Nick Fury's authentication, you'll never pass the final checkpoint of the Reishi Laboratory!"
He still had one final trump card—Nick Fury himself.
The essential requirement for entering the Reishi Laboratory was Nick Fury. Besides DNA and other biometric verification, there was also a passphrase.
"Let me tell you one more thing, Eternal."
Alexander let out a mocking laugh before leisurely saying, "I've already completed every authentication procedure in advance. The only reason I was hiding in your shadow was because I needed someone to bring me down here."
Druig felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His face turned ashen, and it was as if his pride had been shattered into pieces and trampled beneath someone's feet.
"There's only one reason you failed."
Staring into Druig's furious eyes, Alexander enunciated every word.
"Because you... underestimated human intelligence."
"AAAAAAAH——!!!"
Unable to endure the humiliation any longer, Druig's rage exploded. Psychic energy surged forth like a tidal wave, transforming into a sharp blade that stabbed toward Alexander.
"You lowly creature! How dare you deceive your god!"
Yet Alexander didn't move in the slightest.
He merely looked at Druig with mocking eyes.
The psychic energy, as violent as an erupting volcano, slammed directly into a spatial fracture layer and vanished without a trace like a stone sinking into the sea.
Alexander remained completely unharmed, the disdain in his eyes growing even stronger.
"An idiot like you... isn't worthy of becoming humanity's god."
With that, Alexander turned and walked into the middle passage, completely ignoring Druig's furious curses and roars behind him.
Watching Alexander disappear before his eyes, Druig seemed to lose the strength in his spine. He collapsed limply onto the ground, staring blankly ahead like a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.
"So this is... humanity?"
Looking absentmindedly at Fury, Druig sighed bitterly.
"Thinking about it now... although we sowed the seeds of technology, we never realized that your wisdom had already surpassed ours."
Time and time again, he had been toyed with by humans.
Even without overwhelming power, they had relied solely on wisdom and strategy to deceive even a master of mind control like him.
"At least the objective has been achieved..."
Druig let out a desolate sigh before waving his hand, releasing a wave of psychic energy.
"At the very least, I'll let you wake up during the final moments of your life."
The unconscious Fury was awakened by the psychic shock, and the shackles binding his mind fell away.
"Open your eyes and take a look around, Nick Fury."
Druig suddenly became curious about what sort of despair Fury would show once he learned his plan had failed. Perhaps it would make him feel a little better.
"I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
The awakened Fury rubbed his forehead, his brows knitted tightly together. He sneered.
"You don't have to tell me. I can already guess most of it. Someone found the correct path to the Reishi Laboratory, didn't they?"
"Oh?"
Druig raised an eyebrow and grinned.
"As expected of someone who managed to deceive me. You figured it out so quickly."
"Was deceiving you supposed to be difficult?"
Fury shot back mockingly.
"I've met people like you who can control minds long ago. Deceiving people like you is actually the easiest thing in the world, because you never doubt your own abilities."
Druig's expression darkened at those words. The corner of his eye twitched as he shouted angrily,
"So what if you deceived me? Someone still found the Reishi Laboratory!"
"I expected that."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing the news, Fury remained perfectly calm.
There wasn't the slightest trace of surprise, as though he had anticipated it all along.
"You... why aren't you worried at all?"
Seeing him so calm instead made Druig uneasy.
"Could it be that the middle path doesn't lead to the Reishi Laboratory?"
"No."
"That is the correct path."
Sitting down cross-legged, Fury gazed in that direction and said calmly,
"No plan can ever be absolutely foolproof. That's why I prepared a final contingency long ago. The moment someone releases that monster..."
"...He will awaken."
"...He?"
Druig's pupils contracted slightly.
"What do you think Ruins No. 0 was actually built for?"
Without any warning, Nick Fury fixed Druig with a pair of hollow black eyes.
That gaze sent chills down one's spine.
After a moment of silence, Druig shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.
"It is..."
"...a tomb."
Nick Fury parted his lips into a grin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth that radiated an eerie chill.
"At the deepest part of the Reishi Laboratory lies buried an ancient demigod."
"He... is the greatest treasure within all of Ruins No. 0."
"And also..."
"...its strongest guardian."
For some reason, looking at Fury's sinister expression reminded Druig of a certain saying.
The moment before dawn arrived...
...was the most dangerous moment of all.
...
...
...
"Darkvision!"
"Enhanced Intuition!"
"Airflow Perception!"
Holding the parchment in his hands, Alexander cast three spells in succession.
Although he had found the correct path, that didn't necessarily mean it was safe.
He knew Nick Fury's nature far too well, so the more critical the moment became, the more cautious he had to be.
The surrounding bronze walls seemed capable of swallowing all light, creating an environment of absolute darkness.
Fortunately, with Darkvision, Alexander could still clearly observe his surroundings.
The walls were covered with countless inscriptions and symbols, along with simply sketched illustrations that seemed to tell a story.
However, the drawings were far too crude, and since he wasn't a professional archaeologist, he couldn't extract any useful information from them.
The only thing he could determine was that this appeared to be a mausoleum, one built to bury someone of extraordinarily high status.
The enormous pillars lining both sides of the passage were wrapped in a metal resembling gold, and various ritual objects used for sacrificial ceremonies further confirmed that conclusion.
Holding his breath, Alexander advanced several hundred more meters before an enormous bronze gate came into view.
If nothing unexpected happened...
...that would be the final checkpoint leading to the Reishi Laboratory!
The lintel was engraved with intricate patterns.
Countless angels coiled around the door's hinges.
On either side of the gate were carvings of two angels—one a handsome man, the other an incomparably beautiful woman.
Six pure white wings extended from behind each of them, scattering holy feathers into the air.
Taking a deep breath, Alexander silently recited the passphrase according to the "god's" instructions.
He then placed the DNA, retinal scan, and the other biometric materials obtained from Fury into the designated slots one by one.
After the instruments embedded within the gate completed their scans, the enormous bronze doors shook violently.
Turning gears slowly pulled them apart, opening a passage just wide enough for a person to enter.
"Finally... finally..."
Filled with excitement, Alexander stepped directly through the bronze gate.
The scene that greeted him instantly overturned everything he thought he knew about the world.
It was...
...an utterly horrifying being.
No...
Perhaps it shouldn't even be called a living creature.
Rather, it was a higher lifeform that had transcended biological existence itself, existing in an abstract form.
Its main body resembled over a hundred hideous mouths forcibly fused together into an enormous bloated mass of black flesh.
Hundreds of slick tentacles extended from its body, while six feet resembling goat hooves supported it from below.
The instant Alexander looked directly at that "horrifying being,"
blood immediately poured from all seven of his facial orifices.
It felt as though an enormous storm had erupted inside his brain, unleashing endless raging waves with enough destructive force to tear him apart.
"AAAAAH..."
Alexander clutched his splitting head, feeling as though it were about to explode.
He hurriedly averted his gaze and cast several calming spells upon himself in succession.
Only after forcibly stabilizing his turbulent mind and soul did he finally gasp for breath in lingering fear.
Large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, yet he didn't dare look at that terrifying being again.
Such a horrifying existence...
...was actually suspended in midair like dried fish, pierced through by hundreds of bronze chains.
Just what kind of terrifying place...
...was Ruins No. 0?
As Alexander lowered his head, he suddenly discovered that directly beneath the higher lifeform stood a sarcophagus made of black stone, immersed within a pool of pure golden liquid.
At some point...
...the sarcophagus had already opened.
A man with short black hair and bronze-colored skin sat naked upon its edge.
His body was covered in numerous tattoos depicting obscure and profound images.
Each tattoo was different from the others.
The only one that could barely be distinguished was the vivid crimson pattern covering his chest.
Its lines were filled with explosive tension, as though an actual demon had been engraved upon his body.
"Those who trespass upon this tomb..."
"...shall die!"
The man drew a longsword out of thin air.
Boundless killing intent poured from his eyes like a tidal wave.
The entire bronze hall suddenly began to shake violently.
An overwhelming pressure crashed down like a tsunami, nearly suffocating everyone present.