Chapter 771: Door

Behind the door...

He hesitated, undecided.

Silence fell; the dozen or so Awakened Ones behind Lin An, upon hearing this word, flashed an unnatural hint of wariness in their expressions.

It was clear that the military exercised unusually strict control over this news.

"I'm sorry, Lin An..."

"Comrade?"

Not knowing how to address them, several people steeled themselves to say they truly could not provide any information.

Even though Lin An had saved them.

His expression remained unchanged.

Lin An casually uttered a few keywords, indicating that this information was not what he sought.

"1875 secret room, second turn."

"There was a middle-aged man who looked like an officer, wearing a white glove on his right hand."

"Before dying, he told me, 'Ghosts came out from behind the door.'"

!?

His steps faltered; the news struck like a bolt from the blue.

"Zhao Ge!? Captain Zhao!?"

"He's dead!?"

The Awakened One running at the front blurted it out instinctively.

The white glove was the only piece of equipment Zhao Anguo had throughout the agility trial.

It wasn't special equipment, just an ordinary cut-resistant glove with a slight attribute boost.

Not long ago, it was Zhao Anguo who, at the critical moment, activated his gene lock to lure the monster away.

If Lin An's information meant that other Awakened Ones could speak before death,

they would certainly not believe it.

But Zhao Anguo?

They would believe him.

This stern, taciturn middle-aged man, as solid as a stone, had the same innate ability as his peers.

Upon near-death, he automatically entered a heavily wounded state, escaping death and withdrawing from combat.

In the capital, this middle-aged man often volunteered to take on the task of luring high-ranking mutants.

His eye sockets were red.

Recalling how Zhao Anguo, during the Weeping Angel's massacre of the crowd, this unremarkable middle-aged man silently lured the monster away, yet ultimately still died at its hands.

A wave of grief welled up in their hearts.

Escaping death and withdrawing from combat meant that, even after Zhao Anguo was instantly killed by the monster, he still had a chance to opt out of the trial.

Combined with Lin An's earlier statement,

they instantly realized that Zhao Anguo, before dying, might have witnessed some earth-shattering secret, so much so that he was willing to sacrifice his life to leave the information behind.

To speak, or not to speak!?

"Door..."

"Door..."

His face showed struggle.

After exchanging glances, they took a deep breath.

"Comrade Lin An, we believe in you!"

"We can tell you about the door, but..."

Their expressions were unusually solemn; several even grabbed Lin An, establishing a private chat channel before daring to continue speaking.

"But you must not leak any information about the 【Door】!"

"This concerns the survival of our war zone! It concerns the lives of billions, even tens of billions of people!"

They fixed their gaze on Lin An, as if their forthcoming words would be a betrayal of their own faith.

Had Lin An not previously warned them and displayed various unbelievable abilities,

and with Zhao Anguo having left information with his life...

several would rather die than divulge even a hint of information.

Standing in place, Lin An unexpectedly looked at their expressions and slowly nodded.

It seemed he had stumbled upon an enormous secret...

"The 'door' refers to a massive bronze gate guarded by the military in the Underground City Project!"

Inside the hastily formed private chat channel.

As soon as the first sentence was sent, Lin An's eyelid twitched suddenly.

Underground City Project? Bronze Gate?

The three words "bronze gate" inevitably reminded him of the gate summoned by the Death God Crystal...

The place where the Spiritual Aberrations appear is also a bronze gate.

He instinctively blurted out:

"What is the Underground City Project?"

"Guarded? The Underground City is beneath the capital!?"

"Are there monsters inside?"

"You guys managed to mobilize so many Awakened Ones this time—could it be related to the Underground City Plan?"

Reacting extremely quickly, Lin An instantly found a large amount of hidden information in that brief sentence.

His expression stalled.

The speaking soldier hadn't expected Lin An to notice so many factors; he could only give a bitter laugh:

"Comrade Lin An, don't ask any further..."

"The Underground City Plan—we can't tell you, we can't speak of it, and we don't even know the specifics."

"As for other questions, I can only tell you... it is..."

Lin An nodded without changing his expression and did not press further.

That sentence at least let him confirm three points.

1. The Underground City is beneath the capital. 2. The number of Awakened Ones is related to the plan. 3. There are monsters inside the gate.

"Let's talk about the gate first."

"We're not entirely sure when the gate appeared."

"You know, we're just ordinary soldiers, at best elites selected from the army."

"As for the gate's origin, only the highest level and the person in charge of the plan know."

As they spoke, a flicker of unease passed through several people's eyes, as if mentioning the gate frightened them.

"How big is that gate? You must have seen it, right? Is it made of pure bronze? Can you tell what kind of construction it is?"

"Have you ever gone inside the gate?"

Lin An silently noted their expressions and continued asking.

"Hmm..."

After a moment's thought, the same soldier replied:

"That gate, roughly..."

"Several kilometers big... it is a rectangular structure about 300 meters high and roughly four to five kilometers long."

"Most of the material is bronze, plus some unknown metal elements."

"Moreover, I'm not even sure it's only that long."

"At least, what I can see is that long; other parts are guarded by other units."

Such an exaggerated number that, when recalling it, he couldn't help but shiver.

Rather than calling it a gate, it's more like an entrance to another world.

Lin An's pupils suddenly contracted slightly.

Good, this information answered all his questions.

These people before him haven't entered it; otherwise they wouldn't keep talking about guarding it, nor would they be unsure of its exact length.

Just based on its volume, the possibility of it being man-made can be ruled out.

At least, it's not humanity as he knows it.

The key information lies in its size.

The gate was built solely for passage.

A chill rose.

Lin An involuntarily conjured an image in his mind.

Dark, deep underground, vast like another world's subterranean space.

A bronze door, boundless in sight, majestic, like the entrance to hell, unchanged since ancient times.

Then, how enormous...

Or what kind of existence would need to pass through such a gate?