Chapter 2

At this moment, he was inside an unusually wide underground tunnel, and vehicles identical to the black sedan he had ridden in numbered forty to fifty, forming a long black line along the tunnel.

On both sides of the tunnel stood two rows of armed soldiers holding cold, gleaming submachine guns, each standing rigidly with blank expressions—clearly elite special forces.

He also noticed that from nearly every sedan, one or two individuals roughly his own age had stepped out, all dressed in civilian clothes and appearing to be students, guided by several soldiers toward several brightly lit circular passages beside the tunnel.

At the nod of the square-faced man, Ding Yu followed a few young men and women toward the nearest circular passage.

The entire circular passage, except for a row of small white lights above, was unnaturally smooth, as if entirely made of metal.

Ding Yu and the others soon vanished into the passage.

At this point, the square-faced man and the other men in suits turned and reentered their sedans, driving away from the entire tunnel.

Two hours later.

Ding Yu and over a hundred young men and women gathered in a vast hall, all staring at a man in his forties standing on the high platform ahead.

The man wore loose casual clothing, had an ordinary face and messy hair, yet pointed at a blurry photo on the massive screen behind him while speaking fluently.

“...This massive celestial body we on Blue Star have named ‘Saitan’ is not a true planet, but a projection of a portal from another world. Look closely at these black spots on ‘Saitan’—when magnified countless times, they are in fact enormous artificial structures. If scaled proportionally to our Blue Star, they would be tens of thousands of miles in diameter. Moreover, ‘Saitan’ has not appeared for the first time on Blue Star; according to secret records and verifications, it has surfaced four times in history, each lasting over a month, with the earliest occurrence traceable to the dawn of human civilization.”

As the middle-aged man spoke, he tapped the screen, and the image shifted to an ancient mural painted on a white stone wall.

Though the mural was crude, it clearly showed two suns in the sky above a group of tiny black figures—one large, one small; the smaller sun was painted with yellow spots, the larger one with red spots.

“According to secret records, the intervals between ‘Saitan’s appearances grow shorter each time, and its size grows larger. The last appearance was only two hundred years ago, when ‘Saitan’ appeared no larger than the sun. Based on our scientists’ recent research and projections, the next appearance will likely occur within decades—or even just a few years. When it returns, it may no longer be a mere projection, but a true interdimensional portal, possibly leading to the gradual merging of the two worlds. For this reason, all nations on Blue Star signed a secret agreement a decade ago to spare no cost in preparing for this event. That is why you are here.”

“Dr. Chen, how does this concern us? We’re still students.” Though stunned, someone couldn’t help asking.

The question echoed the doubts of most in the room, and many nodded in agreement.

“This student... no, rather, all of you invited here share one common reason: last night, during ‘Saitan’s’ appearance, you all dreamed—and all dreamed of beings from another world.” The man on stage smiled in reply.

“Dreamed? Dreams of otherworlders?”

“How do you know?”

“What’s going on?”

The audience stirred in confusion; Ding Yu, upon hearing this, was left speechless.

So it wasn’t just him—so many others had had the same strange dream.

“Please quiet down, everyone. Your dreams last night were indeed connected to the other world, and I will explain everything clearly. As a representative of the government’s special affairs department, my only request is that you, with the aid of instruments, experience another dream of the other world—though this time, the dream may last longer, it will pose no threat to your lives. The government will also offer generous compensation: monetary rewards or future employment advantages. All you must do is strive to learn everything about the other world in your dreams, and upon waking, report every detail to us so we may understand it accurately. But first, we must conduct a simple test...” Dr. Chen continued calmly, ignoring the chaos below.

Ding Yu, among the crowd, fell into deep thought.

Not long after, deep hundreds of meters underground.

Inside a heavily guarded white hall, rows of sleek silver metal sleep pods lined the space.

Ding Yu and the others lay inside these pods, eyes tightly closed, faces serene.

Beside each pod stood a white-clad technician holding a device the size of a smartphone, recording data continuously.

On a high platform outside the hall, Dr. Chen and several officials observed the sleep pods through a transparent glass window, whispering to one another, their expressions grave.

The next morning, in a room resembling a classroom, a silver sleep pod stood at the front.

Ding Yu and the other youths sat at individual desks, intently listening to an elderly man with white hair speaking beside the pod—but their number had dwindled to one-third of the original, roughly thirty people.

“...After global investigations, we were astonished to find that all who could enter dreams through ‘Saitan’ this time were located within our capital city. Other nations had implemented screening measures, yet discovered no other individuals capable of dreaming into the other world. Additionally, you may not know this: you were all born on the same day—and even more precisely, at the exact same hour. This may be why only your brainwaves can interface with ‘Saitan.’ Our scientists will conduct deeper research on this later...”

“By synthesizing your dreams from last night and historical records of ‘Saitan,’ we have roughly deduced the following about the other world: it is a less advanced society with multiple nations and vast territories. Known otherworlders show no significant physical or physiological differences from our East Asian population. Most aspects of their daily life—clothing, food, housing, writing, calendar systems—bear resemblance to ancient China. Thus, the possibility that otherworlders share the same racial origin as us cannot be ruled out. Yet this world appears to possess supernatural forces. One of you, possessing an otherworlder body, witnessed a ‘human-faced fish’ that could speak. Your primary mission is to seek out and understand these supernatural forces...”

“You are the final candidates who passed the test. Your brainwaves not only interface with ‘Saitan,’ but remain stable enough to use the ‘Zero’-type sleep pod. The ‘Zero’-type is one of the greatest inventions of this century; its core component is made from an extremely rare new material found only in minuscule quantities on Blue Star—fewer than a few hundred units exist worldwide, and all allocated to our nation are in this base. The ‘Zero’-type sustains human life for years using only nutrient fluid. Each pod is equipped with a sub-system of Blue Star’s most advanced AI, ‘Taiyuan,’ capable of continuously monitoring your health, maximizing your brainwave amplification, allowing extended stays in the other world, and even assisting you in influencing the behavior of your possessed otherworlder body—though the degree of influence varies by individual and circumstance. I will now teach you step by step how to summon and use ‘Taiyuan’ in your dreams...”

“The identities of the otherworlders you will possess vary—most are ordinary people, but a few hold special status. Remember: the specific identity of your possessed body is strictly confidential. Do not exchange information about your assigned identities with others...”

The third night, inside the white hall.

The once-full rows of silver sleep pods now held only thirty-odd units.

Ding Yu stood beside one pod, staring as several uniformed technicians performed final adjustments around it. His gaze shifted and met the nervous eyes of a young girl beside the neighboring pod.

The girl had fair skin and delicate features; upon meeting Ding Yu’s gaze, she blushed slightly and gave him a small nod.

Ding Yu forced a faint smile and nodded back, then instinctively glanced at the new silver nameplate affixed to her pod: clearly written in black characters were “Xu Ting”—likely her name.

Soon after, under the technicians’ assistance, everyone lay down inside their pods.

As the outer transparent glass lids sealed shut, Ding Yu took a deep breath, feeling uneasy—but Dr. Chen’s voice still came clearly through the pod:

“In one minute, the sedative gas will activate. Before then, I will repeat the three most critical points. One: protect your conscious awareness. If your possessed otherworlder dies, your physical body on Blue Star won’t perish, but due to consciousness synchronization, your mind may suffer damage. Two: during ‘Saitan’s’ duration, you will remain in your pods. Based on past data, this period will last roughly one month, but dream-time flow may differ from real-time flow. If you remain in the dream longer than a month, do not panic—when real time reaches the limit, we will awaken you. Three: your primary mission is to investigate the existence of supernatural forces in the other world. Gather as much detail as possible, and if possible, learn to control this power directly through your possessed body. Now, I wish you all a successful journey. I will be here waiting for your return.”

“Sedative gas activating. 10, 9, 8, 7...”

As the countdown ended, white mist poured from every pod. Ding Yu felt a sweet fragrance enter his nose and mouth, then lost consciousness.

Ten minutes later, pale green liquid filled each pod entirely.

On a platform separated from the white hall by a single wall, Dr. Chen stood beside a stern-looking man in a crisp military uniform, watching the hall’s interior on a massive screen, speaking quietly.

“Dr. Chen, can this truly prevent the coming catastrophe on Blue Star?”

“General Xu, I don’t know. This is the only outcome calculated by ‘Taiyuan.’ You know how ‘Taiyuan’ was born—we can only trust it.” Dr. Chen replied solemnly.

The military man nodded silently.

At that moment, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed through the hall:

“Unknown energy detected. Affecting the entire base. Third-layer defense shield breached. Local electromagnetic field under disturbance...”

“No! Taiyuan, activate emergency defense protocols immediately!” Dr. Chen’s face turned pale; he grabbed a microphone and shouted.

But the sleep pods began to tremble, each crackling with electric sparks, some exploding outright...

Half an hour later, Dr. Chen and the uniformed officer stood inside the white hall, faces grim, surveying the devastation as technicians reported.

Eighty to ninety percent of the pods emitted black smoke; some newly awakened individuals were being helped out, dazed and confused.

“Report: Only three ‘Zero’-type pods remain operational. All others have sustained varying degrees of damage and must be repaired before reuse.”

“Immediately retrieve other intact pods and reinitiate the dream protocol for those who woke up.” Dr. Chen ordered anxiously.

But before the technicians could act, the hall’s speakers emitted a pleasant female voice again:

“Doctor, we’ve confirmed: the unknown energy originated from outer space. It and ‘Saitan’ have both vanished simultaneously.”

“Outer space? ‘Saitan’ vanished?”

“Impossible!”

This time, Dr. Chen and General Xu shouted together, locking eyes in utter disbelief.

At the same moment, deep within the underground base, inside a massive unmanned chamber sealed by over a dozen layers of thick armor, a cold mechanical voice echoed:

“Base database data loss... loss... sub-system sequences missing... initiating replication and reconstruction... reconstructing... reconstructing... missing sub-systems replicated... self-checking... issue resolved...”