Chapter 31: Portal Entry
The military transport arrived at Portal Facility Seven at exactly 7:15 AM. Lin Feng pressed his face against the window as the massive complex came into view, his breath catching in his throat.
He'd seen pictures. He'd studied schematics. He'd read hundreds of reports about dimensional portals.
Nothing prepared him for the reality.
The portal itself dominated the center of the facility—a swirling vortex of energy thirty meters tall and twenty meters wide. Colors that shouldn't exist twisted through the gate: purple bleeding into silver, gold fracturing into shades of blue that hurt to look at directly. The air around it shimmered with residual energy, and even from inside the transport, Lin Feng could feel a strange pressure against his mind.
Analysis Protocol alert: Unknown energy signature detected. Dimensional distortion confirmed. Recommend caution.
No kidding, Lin Feng thought.
"First time seeing a real portal?" Chen Hao asked from the seat beside him. His roommate's voice carried a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
"Yeah." Lin Feng couldn't look away. "It's bigger than I expected."
"Wait until you step through," Tang Yue said from across the aisle. She'd visited the portal once before with her family. "The pictures don't capture the feeling of crossing dimensions."
The transport pulled into a secure parking area. Through the windows, Lin Feng could see the facility's defenses: guard towers every fifty meters, automated turrets tracking movement, and dozens of military mechas patrolling the perimeter. This wasn't just a research facility—it was a fortress.
"Listen up!" Instructor Zhao's voice cut through the nervous chatter as students filed off the transport. He stood at the front of their group, a grizzled Tier 16 veteran with twenty years of Land of Origin experience. "Before we proceed to the portal, there are security protocols you will follow exactly. No exceptions."
The five teams—twenty-five students total—lined up in formation. Lin Feng's Team Seven stood together: himself, Chen Hao, Tang Yue, Li Xin, and Wang Min. After their VR training success and the Gauntlet record, they'd developed a comfortable coordination. Even Li Xin had stopped his early antagonism.
Instructor Zhao gestured toward the facility. "Portal Facility Seven is classified as a Class-A military installation. Unauthorized personnel are shot on sight. You are here because you earned authorization through your performance. Don't make me regret approving it."
He started walking, and the students followed. The path to the portal led through multiple security checkpoints, each more stringent than the last.
At the first checkpoint, armed guards verified their identity chips against the facility database. Lin Feng noticed the guards were all Tier 10 or higher—this wasn't a posting for rookies.
"Scan shows Lin Feng, student ID NDA-2060-18472, Team Seven authorization confirmed," a guard announced. "Proceed to checkpoint two."
The second checkpoint featured energy scanners that examined their soul spaces. Lin Feng felt an uncomfortable tingling as the scanner passed over him, like invisible fingers probing at the edges of his consciousness.
"Soul mecha detected: Logic Frame, Tier 1, registered and verified. Equipment manifested: White-tier leg components, four Colorless-tier supplementary parts. Total energy signature: 500 units. Proceed."
The third checkpoint was biometric—retinal scans, fingerprints, and voice recognition. The facility's AI cross-referenced everything against government databases, searching for any signs of infiltration or impersonation.
"All students cleared for portal entry," the checkpoint officer finally announced. "Proceed to the briefing hall."
The briefing hall was a large amphitheater adjacent to the portal chamber. Through reinforced windows, Lin Feng could see the swirling gate more clearly now. The energy patterns were mesmerizing—chaotic yet somehow structured, like turbulent water following invisible currents.
Analysis Protocol query: Attempting pattern recognition on portal energy flows.
Warning: Pattern complexity exceeds current processing capacity. Recommend observation only.
Colonel Zhang, the facility commander, stood at the podium. He was a mountain of a man, Tier 22, with a scar running down his left cheek and eyes that had seen too much death.
"This is your final briefing before entry," he began without preamble. "What you're about to do is leave Earth and enter another dimension. Some of you think this is an adventure. Some of you think it's exciting." His gaze swept across the students. "You're all idiots if you think either of those things."
The blunt words sent a chill through the room.
"The Land of Origin has killed better pilots than you. It's killed Tier 30 veterans. It's killed people who knew what they were doing." Colonel Zhang's voice was hard. "You're going to Green Valley Zone, which is considered 'safe' by our standards. That means only a seventy percent chance of encountering Tier 3 or higher threats in your authorized area."
He pulled up a holographic display showing casualty statistics. The numbers were sobering.
"Last year, forty-two academy students died in Green Valley. Seventeen lost limbs. Thirty-four suffered permanent soul mecha damage requiring months of recovery." He let that sink in. "And that's the safe zone."
Lin Feng's hand unconsciously moved to his chest, where his soul mecha resided in the dimensional space overlapping his body. The thought of permanent damage made his skin crawl.
"Now, the rules you will follow." Colonel Zhang activated another display showing a map of Green Valley. "Your authorization extends three kilometers from Forward Outpost Delta in any direction. That's it. Step beyond that boundary, and we will not retrieve your bodies. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the students responded in unison.
"You will maintain communication check-ins every two hours. If you miss a check-in, we assume you're dead or incapacitated and will send a recovery team. If you trigger your emergency beacon, we'll extract you immediately, but your authorization is revoked for the rest of the semester."
More holographic images appeared—different types of beasts.
"In your authorized area, primary threats are Tier 1 Rabbit Beasts and Scorpion Beasts. You've trained against these in VR. Reality is different. The VR versions don't bleed. They don't scream when you kill them. They don't try to claw their way to you with half their body destroyed." Colonel Zhang's voice was cold. "Real combat changes people. If you can't handle it, use your emergency beacon. No shame in recognizing your limits."
He paused, studying the students' faces.
"Your mission duration is six hours. You'll enter at 0800 hours and extract at 1400 hours. Any team that fails to return by extraction time will be considered MIA, and search operations will commence at 1600 hours." He deactivated the holograms. "Questions?"
A student from Team Three raised her hand. "Sir, what's the recommended engagement strategy?"
"Don't die." Colonel Zhang's answer was blunt. "Beyond that, stick to your training. Your instructors have prepared you for the most common scenarios. Trust your team, manage your energy, and don't take unnecessary risks for better drops. Equipment can be replaced. You can't."
No one else raised their hands.
"Final warning." The colonel's expression was grave. "The moment you step through that portal, you are in enemy territory. Every other race in the Land of Origin sees humans as competitors for resources. If you encounter non-beast entities—other races—you retreat immediately and report their position. Do not engage. Do not attempt communication. Retreat. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. You have fifteen minutes to prepare. Teams will enter at five-minute intervals. Team One goes first at 0800 hours." He gestured to the exit. "Dismissed."
The students filed out of the briefing hall toward the preparation chambers. Lin Feng's mind was racing, processing everything he'd heard. The statistics, the warnings, the absolute certainty in Colonel Zhang's voice that some of them might not come back.
This wasn't VR anymore. This was real.
"You okay?" Tang Yue asked quietly as they walked.
Lin Feng realized he'd been silent. "Yeah. Just thinking."
"The casualty numbers?" Chen Hao's usual cheerfulness was subdued.
"We're prepared," Li Xin said firmly. He'd changed a lot since joining Team Seven—less arrogant, more focused on team success. "We broke the Gauntlet record on our first attempt. We can handle Green Valley."
"We'll be careful," Wang Min added. The quiet speed specialist had gained confidence through their coordination training, but she was still cautious by nature. "Following the plan, staying together."
"Right." Lin Feng nodded. "We stick to the strategy. Conservative hunting in the eastern forest sector. No unnecessary risks."
The preparation chamber was a large room with individual stalls where pilots could enter their soul space and manifest their mechas for final checks. Lin Feng sat in stall seven and closed his eyes.
The transition to soul space was instant. The infinite white void opened around him, and Logic Frame stood at the center—fifteen meters of blue and silver metal, his White-tier leg components gleaming slightly brighter than the rest of the Colorless-tier frame.
Analysis Protocol status check initiated.
System operational: All modules functioning.
Beast database: Loaded (Tier 1-2 threats).
Terrain maps: Green Valley data integrated.
Team coordination protocols: Active.
Emergency procedures: Armed.
Energy status: 500/500 units.
System overhead: 60 units (12% capacity).
Available combat energy: 440 units.
Lin Feng ran through the mental checklist he'd developed over the past week. Combat protocols, emergency retreat routes, communication procedures, energy management guidelines. Everything was as ready as it could be.
He opened his eyes and exited the stall. The rest of Team Seven was emerging from their own preparations.
"Everyone good?" Lin Feng asked.
Four nods answered him.
"Teams One through Six, proceed to the portal chamber," a voice announced over the intercom. "Team Seven, stand by."
They watched through the observation windows as Team One approached the portal. The five students looked tiny next to the swirling vortex of energy. The lead student—a tall guy with a Tier 2 assault-type mecha—raised his hand in a confident wave to the observers before stepping forward.
The moment he touched the portal, he vanished. No flash of light, no dramatic effect. One moment he was there, the next he simply ceased to exist on Earth. The rest of his team followed one by one, disappearing into the dimensional gate.
Five minutes passed with agonizing slowness as Teams Two through Six entered. Each time, Lin Feng watched students walk into the unknown and disappear.
"Team Seven, proceed to portal chamber."
Lin Feng's heart hammered against his ribs as they walked through the reinforced doors. The portal chamber was massive, with the gate dominating the center. The energy pressure was stronger here—Lin Feng could feel it pushing against his consciousness like a physical force.
Analysis Protocol alert: Dimensional energy interfering with processing. Efficiency reduced to 87% while in proximity to portal.
Instructor Zhao met them at the chamber entrance. "Remember your training. Six hours, three-kilometer radius, regular check-ins. Your emergency beacons are synced to our systems." He looked at each of them in turn. "Good luck."
Lin Feng led Team Seven toward the portal. Each step brought them closer to the swirling energy, and the pressure increased. Ten meters away, he could feel the hair on his arms standing up from ambient energy. Five meters, and his breath came shorter, as if the air itself was thicker.
Three meters from the portal, he stopped and turned to face his team.
"We've trained for this," he said quietly. "We know what to do. Stay together, follow the coordination protocols, and we'll all come back safely."
"Together," Chen Hao agreed.
"Together," Tang Yue echoed.
Li Xin and Wang Min nodded.
Lin Feng turned back to the portal. The swirling energy was hypnotic up close—patterns within patterns, colors bleeding into each other, a gateway to another world. He took a deep breath, feeling the familiar calm of systematic preparation settling over his nerves.
Analysis Protocol: Recording baseline data. Portal crossing in 3... 2... 1...
Lin Feng stepped forward.
The world inverted.
There was no other way to describe it. One moment he was in the portal chamber, the next everything was wrong. Up felt like down, left felt like inside-out, his stomach lurched in six different directions simultaneously. Colors he'd never seen before flashed across his vision. Sounds that couldn't exist echoed in his ears.
Analysis Protocol error: Dimensional transition detected. Recalibrating spatial reference frame. Processing... Processing...
The sensation lasted both an instant and forever. Time stretched and compressed. Lin Feng felt his consciousness pulled through something vast and incomprehensible—the space between dimensions, where the rules of reality bent and twisted.
His soul mecha resonated with the dimensional energy, Logic Frame vibrating in response to forces it had never experienced. The sensation was overwhelming, disorienting, and utterly alien.
Then, just as his mind started to fracture from the impossible sensations, everything snapped back into focus.
Lin Feng stumbled forward, his inner ear screaming contradictions about up and down. His lungs burned. His head spun. Every sense reported conflicting information as his brain struggled to adapt to wherever he'd just arrived.
He was through the portal.
He was in the Land of Origin.