Full-Time Public Enemy

Benjamin immediately offered his support. "Let's move."

The people from the Empire and the Star State immediately sprang into action, moving through the stone forest toward the altar.

Charles shook his head helplessly, feeling that he had drawn the short straw this time. After the members of the Confederation perished, the benefits the Empire and Star State had promised the Freedom Alliance would likely be docked and reduced.

But Charles was not one to simply sit and await doom. Once this operation concluded, he planned to secretly report Andon's and Benjamin's actions to the Confederation. He would let them know the "truth" in exchange for a discounted price on military sales!

Neutral, isn't it? Just don't offend either side, then betray them both.

Chen Gu also quickly made his way to the altar with the others. Standing atop it, next to the enormous circular hole, he suddenly felt a bit dazed. This hole, a full two hundred meters in diameter, seemed as if an incredibly immense life form had reached out a hand from the starry sky above, piercing the altar with a single stroke and scooping out something from below.

Chen Gu felt as if he had just relived that moment.

It's the effect of Mind Belief, Chen Gu realized, utterly astonished. What kind of life form would have an arm two hundred meters wide? And could reach from beyond the stars, descending directly onto a planet? Only a super lifeform! Or perhaps… those dreadful entities from the Endless Realm had once directly interfered with the real world!

Even Mergle, who had once pursued Chen Gu, did not possess such massive size.

Super lifeforms possessed various mysterious and unpredictable abilities. Many could even inflate their bodies to exceed the volume of a star during battle. However, the owner of that arm was clearly only here to find something and was not in its combat form.

Chen Gu tried to discern whether it was a super lifeform or an entity from the Endless Realm. However, upon closer recollection, he found that his memory of that "personal experience" had become extremely vague. He barely remembered what had happened and could not distinguish any details.

Therefore, he could not judge from the arm's shape whether it was a super lifeform or one of those terrifying entities from the Endless Realm.

Andrei saw Chen Gu standing dazed beside the circular hole, staring down into the darkness, and could not resist mocking, "What, scared?"

Chen Gu shook his head slightly, preoccupied with heavy thoughts. He paid no attention to this man doomed to die.

Andrei let out a loud laugh, then controlled his mecha to leap forward and plunge into the circular hole. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Seen from above, the heavy mecha, several dozen meters tall, seemed insignificant against the backdrop of the two-hundred-meter-wide circular hole. The hole was like a formidable mouth lightly swallowing a small insect.

After Andrei, the others also entered one after another. Chen Gu glanced around; Andon and Benjamin remained unmoved. They won't go before I do.

Chen Gu smiled casually. His mecha's thrusters ignited, and it flew into the circular hole.

WHOOSH—

The lights on the mechas turned on, one after another, illuminating the area as everyone descended. The depth of the circular hole surpassed Chen Gu's imagination—a full 12,000 meters!

This depth also made Chen Gu realize that what had created this hole was not an arm but an organ like tentacles.

This being... it must be even larger than I initially imagined, Chen Gu mused.

At the bottom of the circular hole, illuminated by their lights, they could see stone walls. Many were shattered, but some bizarre murals were visible on the intact sections.

These murals might have been painted in the past, but now the pigment had flaked off, leaving behind only a reddish-brown stain, like dried blood from a sacrifice.

The group cautiously approached the stone walls, prepared to examine the murals. The presence of murals confirmed that a civilization had once existed here.

The wall Andrei approached depicted a grand celebration in crude lines: lizard-headed creatures with two legs, four arms, and massive tails, dancing and playing music before a giant circle of fire.

In the center of the fire circle stood erected columns, each binding different giant beasts. Some columns held dozens of strange, two-headed creatures with octopus-like bodies!

The strangest part was the thickest column in the center, topped with a huge disc filled with various eyeballs!

From the sky, numerous tentacles were slowly descending, apparently aiming for those eyeballs.

Engrossed in the mural, Andrei suddenly noticed tiny worms slowly emerging from the eyeballs in the painting!

Startled, Andrei leaped back. On other murals, similar worms began to silently surface in different spots.

Soon, more and more of these worms appeared. The stone walls looked as if they were sprouting hair, so dense and numerous it made one's skin crawl.

Andon and the others looked grave, but Chen Gu appeared somewhat bemused. Aren't these just those iron threadworms?